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For most of our lives, Gen X and Millennial baddies have been sold a few workout and fitness lies: One, that things like green juice detoxes work (they don’t), two that you need to eat less to be healthy (it’s the opposite), three that lifting weights will just make you bulky, like a WWE Wrestler, and four, which us Latinas probably heard a lot, that fitness is just something you do to “look good”. But in fact, it has everything to do with aging well — like still being able to lift your own carry-on at 70, on your way to an amazing vacation in Costa Rica
Turns out, all of these things are lies and urban myths, and also you need to start lifting weights: It’s a dealbreaker if you want to age better. It was never about being skinnier, or cutting calories – this just makes us weaker and sets us up for failure later in life.
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I know everything changed for me for the better when I started eating more protein (much more!) and lifting heavier – whereas in my 20’s I was all about pilates and weights no larger than 3lbs.
We talked to Dr. James Fisher, Chief Science Officer of The Exercise Coach, who studies aging and muscle physiology, about what’s actually happening in a woman’s body after 40 — and why it’s absolutely critical to shift your thinking from focusing on losing weight to protecting muscle.
We’ve been told for decades that exercise is about getting smaller. What does the science actually say muscle is for at this stage of life?
I think we’ve unintentionally sold women the wrong reason to exercise. For years the message has been about shrinking — losing weight, fitting into smaller clothes, burning calories. But biology tells a completely different story.
After 40, muscle becomes one of your body’s most valuable organs. It plays a role in metabolic health — that’s not just calorie expenditure, but also glucose disposal, which research suggests may help regulate blood sugar. It also stores amino acids your body draws on during illness, produces signaling molecules called myokines that appear to benefit the heart and brain, and supports bone strength and balance — all of which factor into how independently you’re able to live later in life.
So the question changes from “how do I lose weight?” to “how do I protect the tissue that’s protecting me?” The goal isn’t simply to become lighter. It’s to become stronger, more resilient, and metabolically healthier. When we fixate on weight alone, we risk sacrificing the very muscle we should be trying to keep.
What actually happens to a woman’s muscle mass in her 40s and 50s — especially through perimenopause — if she doesn’t change anything?
As estrogen begins to decline during perimenopause, the body becomes less responsive to the normal signals that maintain muscle. Protein synthesis becomes less efficient, recovery slows, body fat tends to increase — particularly around the abdomen — and muscle quality gradually declines.
Many women don’t notice it right away, because the number on the scale may stay the same. But underneath, they’re slowly losing muscle and gaining fat. And muscle loss isn’t just about appearance — every bit of muscle lost can make everyday movement a little harder: standing from a chair, climbing stairs, carrying groceries, catching yourself before a fall.
The encouraging part is that muscle stays remarkably adaptable. Women in their 70s and 80s can still build meaningful strength with the right resistance training. It’s never too late to start — though earlier is certainly easier.
You’ve said cognitive fitness is part of this conversation too. What’s the connection between strength training and brain health as we age?
We’re beginning to understand a real relationship between muscle and the brain. When muscles contract, they release those myokines I mentioned, some of which appear to influence inflammation, blood flow, and the production of a protein called BDNF that supports the growth and maintenance of neurons.
At the same time, strength training itself is a neurological task. Every repetition asks your brain to recruit motor units, coordinate movement, and maintain balance. There’s growing evidence linking greater muscular strength to lower rates of cognitive decline, and some studies associate resistance training with improvements in memory and processing speed. It’s part of why balance and reaction-based drills matter too — falls don’t happen in a controlled gym setting. They happen in the middle of ordinary, complicated moments.
A lot of midlife women are seeing real success with GLP-1 medications. How does strength training factor in?
I think it’s essential. GLP-1 medications are effective at reducing body weight, but weight loss isn’t selective — the body doesn’t just shed fat. Without the right intervention, a meaningful percentage of the weight lost can come from lean tissue, including muscle. If you’re only tracking the number on the scale, you may be unintentionally reducing the tissue that keeps your metabolism functioning well.
The good news is the fix is fairly simple: consistent resistance training a couple of times a week, alongside adequate protein and hydration, appears to help preserve — or even build — muscle while the medication does its work. The goal isn’t just weight loss. It’s fat loss while holding onto (or gaining) muscle, which is what actually supports long-term health and helps prevent regaining the weight.
Cardio has been marketed as “women’s exercise” for generations. Why might strength training matter more after 40?
Cardiovascular fitness matters for everyone, but not at the expense of muscle. If I had to recommend just one form of exercise after 40, it would be strength training. It supports muscle mass, bone density, balance, insulin sensitivity, and cognitive function — it directly addresses many of the changes that come with menopause and aging, including bone density loss.
Cardio is wonderful for heart and lung health, but it doesn’t provide the same stimulus for maintaining muscle or protecting bone. Some of the leanest older adults are also among the frailest — being lean isn’t the same as being strong, independent, and physically capable. Ideally you do both. But strength is the foundation everything else depends on.
What does “healthspan” actually look like for a woman who wants to be traveling, gardening, and lifting her grandkids at 75?
I love that word — healthspan. It’s not just about living longer. It’s about how many of those years you spend capable, independent, and fully engaged with your own life.
In practice, that’s walking through an airport instead of being wheeled through it, and then lifting your own suitcase into the overhead bin. It’s kneeling down to plant something and getting back up without needing a hand. It’s recovering well from an illness, avoiding a fall, and still doing the things you love. None of that disappears overnight — it fades gradually if it isn’t invested in. Every strength session is a small deposit into the woman you’ll be twenty years from now.
For someone who’s never touched a weight and feels intimidated by gym culture — what’s a realistic place to start?
Less than you’d think. Two sessions a week, about twenty minutes each, focused on the major muscle groups with real effort and real recovery time, can produce meaningful improvements in strength and metabolic health. You don’t need hours in the gym. You don’t need to become a bodybuilder. You don’t need dozens of exercises.
What matters is consistency and genuine effort, not volume. And if a loud, mirror-lined gym isn’t your thing, that’s worth honoring — a quieter, more private setting can be exactly what makes it sustainable.
ABOUT Dr. James Fisher:
With more than 225 locations nationwide and proprietary Exerbotics® technology powering personalized workouts and balance assessments, The Exercise Coach is positioning itself at the intersection of fitness, longevity, and preventive wellness. Watch a clip here.
The takeaway, if there is one: the goal was never to take up less space. It was to be strong enough to keep showing up for your own life — the stairs, the suitcase, the grandkids, the garden. That’s worth training for at any age.