Why Women That Weight Train May Live Longer
You’ve probably heard me talk before about my love of strength training. But I’ve also made it my mission to bust through the myths held by women who resist lifting weights, fearing that it will make them look too “bulky” or muscular. This couldn’t be further from the truth! And weightlifting simply has too many benefits to risk skipping it, especially for women.
According to a study of nearly 100,000 adults that appeared in a 2022 issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, this practice may even prolong your life. Participants who lifted weights, tracked over an average of 9 years, were found to have a 9% lower risk of death from all causes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. And those who combined just 1-2 sessions of weight training per week with moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise showed a whopping 41% lower risk of death.
My Omni Diet exercise plan, which recommends 30-60 minutes of activity, 6 days per week, combines both strength training (working with weights to strengthen and tone your muscles) and interval training (walking, running, cycling, or other aerobic activities) so you can achieve these maximum benefits.
But if you need more evidence regarding the wonders of weight training, look no further—below, I’m going to review 5 of the top weight training benefits for women. These are just some of the ways this crucial category of exercise will help you feel better, look better, and live longer.
5 Weight Training Benefits for Women
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Better Mental Health
We all love the physical perks, like a more toned body and higher energy levels, that we get from a regular exercise routine. But one of the best results of weightlifting is the immediate boost it gives to our mental health. This holds true at any age—from kids to senior citizens (and, no, it’s never too late or too early to start). In fact, an analysis of 38 studies found that just 10-30 minutes of moderate-intensity anaerobic activity (like weightlifting) is the type of exercise that gives the most significant boost in mood.
Other studies have shown that within just minutes of exercise, people feel happier. Over the years, researchers have found it helpful in combating loads of mental health symptoms and conditions, from anxiety and depression to panic attacks and low moods. It also helps relieve stress and encourages better sleep, which itself is a key component of optimal mental health—all without the negative side effects of antidepressant medications.
When lifting weights, you’re focused on the task at hand, which helps take your mind off any problems that might be stressing you out. During and after a kick-butt weightlifting workout, I always feel calmer, clear-headed, motivated, rejuvenated, and ready to take on my day. I also feel stronger mentally and physically, so I can live life with a greater sense of capability and optimism. Plus, while better mental health can boost your lifelong longevity, the good news is that you don’t have to wait to enjoy these feel-good benefits—they’re something you can experience right now. So get lifting!
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Optimizing Brain Function
Because mental health is brain health (and vice versa), it’s no surprise that weightlifting not only keeps the mind calmer—it helps keep the mind sharper. Researchers have found that resistance training can help prevent cognitive decline, which accompanies debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. That’s because exercise is a key factor in preventing brain atrophy, deterioration, and loss of neurons.
Strength training, like weightlifting, also reduces the risk for various diseases that can accelerate cognitive decline. For example, research has shown that strength training and increasing overall muscle mass lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 32%. Other studies have linked strength training to more stable blood sugar levels and reduced insulin resistance—both instrumental for optimal brain performance.
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Reducing Disease Risk
As someone who has fought and beat cancer, I must emphasize that inactivity is a major risk factor for this all-too-common disease. Specifically of interest to women, numerous studies have found a link between daily exercise and a lowered risk of breast cancer. In fact, researchers have estimated that daily exercise not only reduces a woman’s breast cancer risk by 10-20%—it does so regardless of a woman’s age or weight.
Weight training helps prevent other debilitating diseases, too. That’s because it positively affects many bodily functions, including:
- Making your lungs more efficient
- Strengthening your heart, muscles, and immune system
- Lowering the production of stress hormones by the adrenal gland
- Decreasing joint pain
- Lowering stress levels and blood sugar
In general, exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect—and we know that chronic inflammation promotes disease. So, when you lift weights, you help strengthen and preserve your entire body.
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Weight Control
Weight control isn’t just about looking a certain way—it’s about protecting our health and longevity. And weight training helps with weight control in several ways. First, it boosts your metabolism around the clock. Because a pound of muscle burns 6 calories daily, while fat burns only 2, the more muscle you have, the better your metabolism. And the “afterburn effect” means that weight training allows you to burn more calories in the hours and even days after your workout ends. Muscle also pays you back by allowing for more intense workouts, enhancing your overall fitness.
But that’s not all—there are even more benefits when you replace fat with muscle through weightlifting. Reducing belly fat is especially important, because we know that excess abdominal fat fosters inflammation and decreases brain volume and health, increasing the risk for memory problems and other symptoms of cognitive decline. As an extra bonus, weight training boosts sensitivity to the hormone leptin, which tells your body to stop eating when you’re full, so that you’re less prone to overindulging.
For optimal results, don’t forget to match your strength training workout routine with a healthy diet. Also, prioritize getting enough protein to ensure you’re building muscle through your weightlifting efforts. I love to fuel my workouts with a smoothie using OMNI Protein Powder in Vanilla or Chocolate.
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Protecting Muscle Mass and Bone Density
The National Institute on Aging points out that age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, which is called sarcopenia, is simply a side effect of getting older. After reaching their peak levels at 30 to 35 years old, our muscle mass, strength, and performance slowly declines, then takes a sharper downward turn after age 65 (for women) and 70 (for men).
However, muscle mass is a “use it or lose it” proposition. And when you’re maintaining or growing your muscle mass through weightlifting, you’re protecting your mobility, your ability to recover from medical setbacks, and your very mortality. When I was an ICU nurse, I saw for myself that frail elderly patients were at greater risk of death. They were more likely to have falls and broken bones, and they took longer to recover from illnesses like pneumonia.
It’s also well-known that weightlifting has a positive effect on bone density and the overall health of our bones. This is especially important for women, as they commonly lose bone density during menopause. The strain of lifting weights encourages the production of bone tissue, which strengthens bones, decreasing the risk of issues like osteopenia, osteoporosis, and bone breaks later in life.
Lifting Weights for a Longer Life
As you can see, I have a lot of reasons to shout from the rooftops about the need for weight training—especially among women. When we pick up those weights and start building more muscle, we reap so many benefits, from maintaining healthier brains to building stronger bones. Ultimately, weightlifting will help us not only live longer, but live better, at any age.
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