Strength Training for Women Over 50 – Introduction
Strength Training for Women Over 50 + Full-Body Workout Routine
Exercise is good for everybody’s body.
Young, old, male, and female; everyone can benefit from regular workouts.
But what type of exercise should you do?
In general, men tend to gravitate toward strength training, while women often prefer group workout programs and cardio.
Of course, there are exceptions to this observation, and some men enjoy things like spinning and step aerobics, and there are plenty of female bodybuilders and powerlifters, even over 80, like the phenomenal Shirley Webb!
But, in many cases, there is a workout division, and men and women tend to enjoy different kinds of exercise.
This is unfortunate because the type of workout you AREN’T doing could be the thing you need most.
If you skip cardio in favor of weights, your cardiovascular fitness and long-term health may suffer.
On the flip side, if you do a lot of cardio but seldom lift anything heavier than your water bottle, you could become weak and susceptible to injury.
So, most people need to do cardio AND weights to achieve a decent all-around fitness level.
But what if you are a woman in her 50s?
Is it too late to start strength training?
Should you just stick with yoga, Pilates, and Zumba?
Absolutely not!
This article explains the benefits of strength training for women over 50, reveals some of the best exercises, and provides you with a simple full-body beginner workout routine to follow.
The Benefits of Strength Training for Women Over 50
Not convinced that strength training is the right workout for women over 50?
Consider these benefits and then decide!
Increased muscle mass
Muscle mass tends to peak while you are in your early 30s.
After that, muscles start to get smaller and weaker with every passing decade.
This is a part of the aging process.
However, women tend to be more lightly muscled than men and experience a dramatic change in hormonal levels during menopause.
This means they tend to lose muscle faster and sooner than most men.
Lifting weights regularly will help preserve and even increase muscle mass as you age.
It’ll also help tone and condition your muscles, so you look and feel better.
Increased strength
Losing muscle means losing strength.
While you probably have no interest in being able to lift massive weights in your 50s, being weak can have an adverse effect on many aspects of your life.
Muscle weakness can make everyday tasks more difficult than they need to be, from walking up stairs to carrying groceries to just getting out of bed in the morning.
The longer you can preserve your strength, the longer you’ll be able to live an independent and fulfilling life.
Stronger bones
Lifting weights doesn’t just affect your muscles; it also affects your bones.
Like muscle mass, bone mass tends to decrease with age, especially during and after menopause.
Left untreated, loss of bone mass can become osteoporosis, which is a medical condition characterized by weak, porous bones that are prone to fracture.
Combined with a healthy diet, strength training can help minimize and even reverse bone loss.
Weight control
Many women gain weight and fat during their 50s.
This is partly the fault of menopause and also the result of being less physically active.
Middle-age spread doesn’t just affect men!
Strength training increases muscle mass, which will have a positive impact on your resting metabolic rate.
Also, lifting weights burns calories just as effectively as cardio.
All in all, whether you want to lose weight or hold off middle-age weight gain, strength training can help.
Better balance and coordination
Balance and coordination tend to decrease with age.
Balance is your ability to keep your weight over your base of support, while coordination is your ability to move and control your limbs.
Poor balance and coordination will increase your risk of suffering a fall.
Unexpected falls can be catastrophic in older people and often lead to injuries and fractures.
Lifting weights will improve your balance, enhance coordination, and reduce your risk of suffering a fall.
And, if you are unlucky enough to take a tumble, having stronger muscles and bones will make your body more injury-proof.
Better mental health
There is a strong link between a healthy body and a healthy mind.
Exercise has been shown to boost many aspects of mental health.
Working out with weights can:
- Lower the risk of depression.
- Reduce cognitive decline and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Reduce stress and anxiety.
- Improve mood and self-esteem.
- Boost creativity and productivity.
Lower risk of chronic diseases
Like all forms of exercise, strength training can help lower your risk of developing some of the most common chronic conditions and diseases.
Also, being fit and strong means that, if you are unwell, you’ll bounce back sooner.
Lifting weights can help reduce your risk of:
- Coronary heart disease
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Kidney disease
- Type II diabetes
- Obesity
- Some types of cancer
- Arthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Chronic back pain
- Depression
The Best Strength Training Exercises for Women Over 50
Firstly, it’s important to understand that ALL strength training exercises are good for women over 50.
Strength training exercises are gender-neutral!
That said, here are a few particularly beneficial strength training exercises for women in their 50s.
#1. Goblet squat
Target muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, core.
Squats are one of the best exercises you can do for your lower body, and the goblet squat provides an easy way to make them more challenging and effective.
All you need for this exercise is a single dumbbell or kettlebell.
How to do it:
- Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest, just below your chin.
- Stand with your feet between hip and shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward.
- Brace your abs and pull your shoulders down and back.
- Bend your knees, push your hips back, and squat down until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Do not round your lower back.
- Stand back up and repeat.
Goblet Squats
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#2. Hip thrust
Target muscles: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, core.
Want a firmer, stronger butt?
Who doesn’t?
The hip thrust is a very lower back-friendly glute and hamstring exercise.
How to do it:
- Sit on the floor with your upper back against an exercise bench.
- Rest a barbell or dumbbell across your hips and bend your legs, so your feet are flat on the floor.
- Drive your feet into the floor and lift your hips up until they form a straight line with your knees and shoulders.
- Lower your butt back to the floor and repeat.
- You can also do this exercise flat on the floor, i.e., no bench, and without the weights.
Hip thrusts aka Floor bridges without weights
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#3. Lunges
Target muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, core.
The lunge is basically an alternating single-leg squat.
As such, it’s good for developing balance and coordination and strengthening your legs.
Done with or without weights, this is an excellent strength training exercise for women in their 50s.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet together and arms by your sides.
- Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rearmost knee down to an inch above the floor.
- Push off your front leg and return to the starting position.
- Do your next rep with your other leg.
- Alternate legs for the required number of reps.
- Make lunges harder by holding dumbbells in your hands.
10-Minute Squat and Lunge Workout at Home
For a deeper dive into the differences between squats and lunges, see this article:
Lunges vs Squats: Which Is Better for Your Strength and Fitness?
#4. Three-quarter push-up
Target muscles: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps, core.
The humble push-up is one of the best upper exercises you can do.
The three-quarter version also known as knee push-ups is ideal for women as you won’t have to lift such a large percentage of your body weight.
How to do it:
- Kneel on all fours with your hands about shoulder-width apart, fingers pointing forward.
- Move your knees back, so your shoulders, hips, and knees form a straight line.
- Tense your abs and pull your shoulders down and back.
- Bend your arms and lower your chest to within an inch of the floor.
- Push yourself back up and repeat.
- Move your knees close to your hands to make this exercise a little easier.
- Move them further back to make push-ups harder.
How to do push-ups for beginners (step-by-step tutorial)
#5. Seated rows
Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, deltoids, trapezius, rhomboids, biceps.
Seated rows work the opposite muscles to push-ups, i.e., your upper back.
These muscles are crucial for improving and maintaining your posture.
Poor posture is common in older women and can make you look and feel much older than you really are.
How to do it:
- Sit on a cable row machine and hold the handle in both hands.
- Your legs should be out in front of you, knees slightly bent.
- Sit up tall, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your abs.
- Bend your arms and pull the handle into your midsection.
- Lead with your elbows and drive them back behind your body.
- Extend your arms and repeat.
- No cable row machine? No problem! You can also do this exercise with a resistance band looped around your feet and sitting on the floor.
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#6. Plank
Target muscles: Core
Core is the collective term for the muscles of your midsection, namely your rectus abdominis or abs, obliques, transverse abdominis, and erector spinae.
Core muscles
Planks are one of the best exercises for this muscle group.
How to do it:
- Kneel down and place your elbows and forearms on the floor.
- Brace your midsection and walk your feet back, so your shoulders, hips, and feet form a straight line.
- Hold this position (but never your breath!) for the desired duration.
- Make this exercise easier by bending your legs and resting your knees on the floor, i.e., a three-quarter plank.
Benefits of the plank exercise
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Push-up Plank Challenge
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Strength Training For Women Over 50 – Full-Body Workout
While you could just do a few sets of the above exercises from time to time, you’ll get better results if you do a more structured workout.
So, follow the plan below and do it 2-3 times per week on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Feel free to do some cardio on the days in between.
But, before you hit the weights, prepare your muscles and joints with a short warm-up.
Start with 5-10 minutes of easy cardio, followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your major muscles and joints.
Do just two sets of each exercise for your first few workouts and increase gradually as you get stronger.
All the exercises are described in the previous section, so refer back to them to ensure that you’re doing each movement correctly.
Fit Apprentice® Beginners Strength Training Workout for a Woman over 50
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Recovery |
| 1 | Goblet squat | 2-4 | 12-20 | 60-90 seconds |
| 2 | Hip thrust | 2-4 | 12-20 | 60-90 seconds |
| 3 | Three-quarter push-up | 2-4 | 12-20 | 60-90 seconds |
| 4 | Seated row | 2-4 | 12-20 | 60-90 seconds |
| 5 | Lunge | 2-4 | 8-12 per leg | 60-90 seconds |
| 6 | Plank | 2-4 | 20-45 seconds | 60-90 seconds |
Strength Training for Women Over 50 – Wrapping Up
A lot of women over 50 are nervous about starting strength training.
They believe that lifting weights will make them overly muscular and masculine.
This worry is unfounded as women are not hormonally equipped to build massive muscles, and that goes double if you are in your 50s!
Instead, strength training is so valuable for women in their 50s that it should be compulsory.
It offers so many benefits that it really is one of the best forms of exercise for long-term health and longevity.
So, don’t delay, and start strength training today.
Your body will thank you for it!
Jessie Hilgenberg’s 6 Reasons Why Women Should Lift Weights
What’s Next
Now that you have an excellent start at strength training for yourself, what about him – that man in your life reclining in the lazy boy?
As men age, many accept the middle-aged muffin-top spread and completely give up sports unless they are watching a game.
Giving up on working out is a BIG TIME blunder whether that guy is your friend, father, brother, son, or husband.
However, while getting older is inevitable, the good news is that he can slow his decline into frailty by getting out of his man cave and maintaining a fitness program.
This article: Strength Training for Men Over 50 + Full-Body Workout can motivate a man over 50 to start exercising and explains the modifications he needs to make to get the most out of his training!
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Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer),