Strength Training After 50: Why Adding Weights Burns More Fat
For years, I walked right past the weights at the gym.
I would head straight for the treadmill or the Stairmaster — because that is what we were told burns the fat — and I left the dumbbells to the bodybuilders. That side of the room, I figured, was not for women. Back in the day, that is just how it was.
Then the research started coming in. And here is what we now know: strength training may be one of the most effective ways to burn fat there is — especially as you age. The best way to lose weight, it turns out, might just be to add weights.
Here is the simple version of why. Past midlife, you lose muscle every year unless you work against some resistance to keep it. Muscle is where your body burns most of its energy, so the less of it you have, the slower everything burns — and fat builds up, especially around the middle. Strength training is how you reverse that. Study after study now finds it lowers body fat, reduces the deep fat around the middle, and keeps it off in a way hours of cardio alone often cannot.
The research behind this
Wewege, M. A., et al. “The Effect of Resistance Training in Healthy Adults on Body Fat Percentage, Fat Mass and Visceral Fat.” Sports Medicine, 2022.
Mekary, R. A., et al. “Weight Training, Aerobic Physical Activities, and Long-Term Waist Circumference Change.” Obesity (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), 2015.
And it is rarely too late to start. Women in their seventies and eighties have built real strength back on simple routines — the very people everyone assumed were long past it.
Once I understood the research, I could not walk past the weights anymore.
And it is not only about the fat. Strength is also what lets you live your life without needing a hand. Can you carry the big case of water in from the car on your own? The heavy jug of laundry detergent up the stairs? The grandchild who wants to be picked up? That everyday strength is not automatic after a certain age. You build it, or little by little you lose it.
In almost forty years of walking alongside women on their health journeys, I have watched so many of us pour everything into getting smaller — eating less, doing more cardio, chasing a lower number — while the one thing that would actually turn the tide went ignored. We were taught to shrink. We were never really taught to get strong. So if no one ever handed you this, that is not a failing in you. You get to learn it now.
And I bet you did not know strength training is right there in the Bible.
“She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.”
Proverbs 31:17
You probably never pictured the Proverbs 31 woman — the one we hold up as the model of a godly wife — with strong arms. But there it is, tucked right into the middle of her portrait: her arms are strong. The word behind “woman of noble character” is one the Old Testament almost always saves for a warrior — strength, valor, might. And here it is, talking about a woman running her home and holding it down. It does not say her arms were lovely. It says her arms were strong — strong enough for the work in front of her.
You build strength so you can keep doing the good work God has given you — for years longer than you thought you could.
This is what our Get Active month is all about at Weight Loss God’s Way. We began with walking. This week, we add some strength.
This Month’s Practice — Get Active, God’s Way
Weight Loss God’s Way is not a diet or a weight loss guide. It is a movement — changing the way women approach their health and their weight-releasing journey. We change small habits one or two at a time.
Your one step this week: if cardio is all you are doing, add some strength.
You do not need a gym or heavy equipment. A few simple moves with light dumbbells, a resistance band, or just your own body weight — a couple of times this week — is plenty to start. Fold it in alongside your walking, and pay attention to how you feel.
So this week, if the only exercise you are getting is cardio, that is your invitation. Add a little strength, and let your body surprise you.
Getting stronger with you,
Cathy
This message first appeared in Spirit-Filled Sundays, my weekly email for women who want to release weight and get healthy God’s way.
Not sure where you are on your journey? The free Breakthrough Assessment shows you where you are in the five stages and what to practice first — not a plan, a place to start.
