Strength Training isn't Optional - Here's Why You Need it Now

When most women hear “strength training,” a lot of myths and misconceptions come to mind. Maybe you picture women in bikinis flexing muscles on stage, or imagine you’ll be forced to lift huge barbells from day one. You might worry about getting bulky, being intimidated by gym culture, or even afraid of getting hurt. These images and fears can make strength training seem overwhelming or just “not for me.”

Strength training is essential across your entire life, from postpartum recovery through to maintaining strength and independence well into your later years. It’s a powerful tool designed to empower you, support your health, and help you live actively at every stage of life.

Let’s bust the myths and set the record straight.

What Women Think Strength Training Is

• Something for bodybuilders or athletes, not “normal” women like me.

• Something I don’t need because I’m fine just walking, gardening, or doing Pilates.

• Women in bikinis flexing muscles on stage.

• Getting “bulky” or “too muscular”.

• Being thrown into the gym expected to lift heavy barbells immediately.

• “Go hard or go home” extreme gym culture.

• Intimidating gym bros, but also other women that can make the gym environment daunting - some are anxious about being filmed during workouts.

• Something that will be painful, unpleasant, or a struggle to keep up with.

• Something you do to punish your body for something you ate.

  
  

No wonder many women avoid strength training! But it’s not the reality.

What Strength Training Actually Is

Strength training is much more than lifting heavy weights or building bulky muscles. It’s a whole-body approach to improving movement, function, and overall health. The goals are varied and holistic: to build lean, defined muscle; enhance your functional strength for everyday tasks like carrying groceries or playing with your kids or grandkids; improve mobility and balance to move freely without pain or limitation; and support overall health and well-being so you can enjoy your favourite hobbies and life to the fullest.

Strength Training Supports Bone Health

Bone density actually begins to decline gradually from your 30s - not just suddenly in your 60s as many believe. This means the sooner you start strength training, the better you can lay down and maintain strong, healthy bones to help prevent osteoporosis and fractures later in life.

✅ But not all exercise protects your bones. To build or maintain bone density, your body needs the right kind of mechanical stimulus - specifically progressive strength training and, when appropriate, impact-based movements.

How Strength Training Builds Bone Density

🧱 High-intensity resistance training (lifting moderately to heavy weights at around 70–85% of your capacity, or training close to fatigue) places stress on bones through muscular tension and joint loading. This kind of training has been shown in research to be effective at improving bone density, even in postmenopausal women. It’s especially valuable when high-impact isn’t suitable due to injury, pelvic floor concerns, or age-related frailty.

🦘 High-impact exercises like jumping, hopping, stepping down from a box, or controlled drop landings create the kind of ground reaction forces that stimulate bone, especially in areas most prone to osteoporotic fractures like the hips, spine, and wrists. It’s the landing phase - the absorption of force - that matters most, not doing hundreds of box jumps or burpees. Quality over quantity keeps it safe and effective.

Professional Supervision for Osteopenia and Osteoporosis

⚠️ If you’ve already been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis, these movements must be approached with care. Strength training is still safe and highly beneficial, but only when prescribed and supervised by the right professionals.

✅ In Australia, the most qualified person for this is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) - an allied health professional trained in exercise for chronic and complex conditions. They understand fracture risk, bone-loading protocols, and how to progress safely and effectively.

A Physiotherapist may also be appropriate if they specialise in musculoskeletal or bone health and have access to a well-equipped training space (not just clinical rehab tools). For best results, they should be integrating progressive resistance training, not just mobility and corrective work.

Why Some Exercises Aren’t Enough for Bone Health

🛑 Light resistance, Pilates, yoga, and general “toning” workouts don’t apply enough mechanical load to stimulate bone growth or prevent further decline. They do not provide the bone-preserving stimulus needed to reduce fracture risk.

The Serious Risks of Hip Fractures

📉 And the stakes are high: hip fractures in people over 65 carry a one-year mortality rate of 15–30%, meaning up to one-third may die within a year of injury. This is largely because such fractures often lead to prolonged immobility, increased sedentary behaviour, complications like infections or blood clots, and a loss of independence that impacts overall health. Many more experience a permanent loss of independence. This underscores the critical importance of maintaining bone health and preventing falls. Protecting your bone health with appropriate strength training isn’t optional - it’s crucial for living well and ageing strong.

Beyond Bones and Muscles: Whole Body, Mind, and Spirit, Benefits of Strength Training

Improves Agility, Power, and Balance

Strength training builds whole-body stability and core strength, key factors in preventing falls, which are a leading cause of serious injury in older adults. By enhancing your ability to react quickly and maintain balance, it helps protect your independence and quality of life.

Supports Brain Health and Metabolic Waste Removal

Strength training increases blood flow and stimulates neural pathways, improving focus, memory, and overall cognitive function. It also boosts circulation, helping your body clear metabolic waste more efficiently through improved blood flow, lymphatic movement, and enhanced recovery processes.

Reduces Chronic Aches and Muscle Pain

Many people suffer from chronic aches - not just joint pain, but also muscle-related issues such as fibromyalgia, plantar fasciitis, or frozen shoulder. The right strength training - done progressively and with appropriate technique - conditions muscles and connective tissues to become more resilient, reducing pain and inflammation. When tailored appropriately and not overdone, it can significantly improve daily function, reduce flare-ups, and support long-term comfort and healing.

Enhances Flexibility and Mobility

While static stretching has long been seen as the go-to for flexibility, research shows that dynamic, loaded movement through full range of motion is often more effective. Strength training, when done with proper technique and progressive overload, encourages your joints and muscles to move under control through a wide range, improving both flexibility and mobility far more sustainably than passive stretching alone.

Benefits Mental Health and Sleep Quality

Regular strength training releases feel-good hormones that reduce anxiety and depression, while fostering a sense of accomplishment. It also supports sleep by helping regulate your body’s stress response, reducing nighttime restlessness, and improving overall sleep quality. While it doesn’t directly boost melatonin, it encourages a healthy circadian rhythm and lowers chronic stress - two key factors in getting deeper, more restorative sleep.

Builds Confidence and Hormonal Resilience

Seeing progress, feeling stronger and more capable, boosts self-esteem and body image. For women in midlife and menopause, strength training supports symptom management and resilience to stress, making this stage of life easier to navigate.

Endless Variety to Keep You Engaged

With thousands of exercises, styles, and modalities to choose from, strength training can be tailored to your unique interests, goals, and lifestyle. This variety keeps motivation high and workouts fresh. The possibilities are truly infinite - with countless progressions and variations designed to match your level of challenge and help you keep progressing toward your goals.

And Guess What? You Can Eat More - While Losing Fat!

By stimulating muscle synthesis, strength training increases your body’s need for protein and calories, helping you eat more to support muscle growth and recovery. Strength training also improves insulin sensitivity, which helps regulate blood sugar and fat storage, supporting better fat metabolism.

Building muscle raises your resting energy expenditure, meaning your body burns more calories at rest, which can aid fat loss over time. Additionally, after strength workouts, your body continues to burn calories during recovery.

Cardiovascular exercise complements strength training by increasing calorie burn and improving heart and lung health, further supporting fat loss.

Combining strength training, cardio, and a balanced, nutrient-rich diet is key to losing fat while gaining strength and improving body composition.

It’s Never Too Late to Start

Progression and safety come first, and every small step counts toward a stronger, more resilient you. Even women beyond their 60s can start strength training and improve function, mobility, and quality of life. Building a healthy, strong, and long life means starting strength training as early as possible. While it’s never too late to begin, it’s especially essential to start from your mid-30s onwards, including during perimenopause. This is the time when bone density begins to decline, and hormonal changes can impact muscle mass, energy, and recovery. Beginning strength training early helps you lay a solid foundation that supports your health, mobility, and independence for decades to come.

Functional Fitness for Real Life

Ultimately, strength training prepares your body for daily activities and challenges - not just for appearance in the gym or on stage. It’s about building real-world strength, resilience, and confidence so you can live fully and independently.

Why Strength Training Is More Than “Exercise”

For many women, especially across generations, there’s a common but mistaken belief that activities like Pilates, yoga, gardening, or regular walks are enough for true health and fitness. The reality is these activities do not build the muscle or bone strength your body needs to fully support daily life, prevent injury, and maintain independence. Relying on them alone leaves critical gaps in your physical resilience and long-term health.

Strength training is the missing link that helps you not only maintain independence but also thrive - whether that means playing sports, lifting heavier groceries, managing stairs without fatigue, or simply feeling steady and confident in your movements.

A “Strong Core” Isn’t the Whole Story

"Core Strength & Stability” is often misunderstood as the ultimate fitness goal. Entire industries—from Pilates to rehab clinics have built programs around this concept. And while core strength does matter, it’s been over-emphasised and taken out of context.

You’ve probably heard things like:

“You just need to strengthen your core to fix your back pain.”

“A strong core will improve your balance.”

“If your core was stronger, you wouldn’t have this issue.”

But here’s the truth:

🛑 Back pain is complex, and it rarely comes down to your core alone.

🛑 Core exercises by themselves won’t prepare you to lift, carry, twist, or move confidently through your day.

🛑 Relying on planks, crunches, Hundreds, reformer work, balancing on a bosu, or squatting with your feet on a Pilates ball - completely misses what real strength and stability look like.

I’m so tired of hearing people say, “I need a strong core” as if that alone will prepare them for life’s demands - whether it’s horse riding, lifting kids, or carrying shopping. The truth is, you need full-body strength and power, not just isolated core work.

Doing exercises lying down or balancing on one leg won’t cut it. You need to be standing, moving your body through all directions, and lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling real weights - just like you do in everyday life. Jumping, hopping, changing direction, and handling resistance builds the kind of strength that actually protects you from injury and lets you move confidently.

And here’s what most people don’t realise:

Squats, deadlifts, and other strength exercises train your core far more effectively than hundreds of reps of Pilates-style ab work - reformer included. These movements challenge your core to stabilise under load while coordinating with the rest of your body, which is exactly what your core was designed to do.

Why Pilates Isn’t Enough — And When It Can Become a Problem

Pilates, including reformer classes, is often positioned as the ultimate solution for core strength and control. But at some stage, many women hit a wall and find they can’t progress further in strength or function. Pilates often focuses on small, controlled movements and doesn’t typically build the load-bearing strength needed for daily life or bone health.

Additionally, Pilates can put strain on the pelvic floor, especially for women with a hypertonic pelvic floor or those who experience doming and downward pressure during certain exercises. Without proper guidance and strength training focused on pelvic floor safety and whole-body function, this can contribute to discomfort or pelvic floor dysfunction.

Why Cardio Matters Too

While strength training builds muscle, bone, and stability, cardio exercise is also crucial. Maintaining or improving your VO₂Max - a measure of cardiovascular fitness - helps you stay out of the fragility zone that can threaten your independence as you age.

Both forms of exercise work together to keep your body resilient and capable.

The Power of Progression

Strength training is not a quick fix or one-size-fits-all solution. It’s a lifelong journey of gradual progression, starting from where you are and building up safely and effectively.

Progression means:

• Preventing injury by respecting your limits.

• Building confidence through measurable improvements.

• Keeping training interesting with endless variety.

• Ensuring continuous gains in strength, mobility, and health.

• Breaking through plateaus and avoiding boredom.

• Supporting sustainable habits that last a lifetime.

• Step by step, rep by rep, you create a stronger, more resilient body ready for whatever life brings.

And It’s Actually Fun!

Many women find strength training enjoyable and rewarding. You can start noticing results like feeling tighter, stronger, and more energetic after just a few weeks. These quick wins motivate you to keep going and build lifelong habits.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Whether you’re a health or wellness coach wanting to add expert strength training to your toolkit, or a woman ready to start building strength safely and confidently, I’ve got you covered.

Join my Tailored Coaching, Thrive Foundations or Progressive Technique Course to learn the right way to build strength, improve mobility, and support long-term health - without guesswork or extremes.

Let’s make strength training accessible, effective, and empowering — at any age.