Stronger With Age: Why Weightlifting is the Key to Healthy Aging

If you’re over 50 years old, there’s a high probability that your doctor has told you that you’re now more likely to break a bone, suffer a fall, develop cardiovascular disease among other age-related diseases that are more common in older adults.

What if I told you that there are ways to prevent and even reverse these events from occurring?

It’s not a magic pill or superfood. It’s weight lifting.

Weight lifting is important for all ages but one could argue that now more than ever, building muscle mass is a crucial piece of the aging puzzle. While the exercises you perform might be the same as when you were younger, your goals might have changed over the years.

Perhaps unlike your younger counterparts who are using weight lifting as a tool to improve their running performance or to look like a body builder, you have a different motivation now. You want to stay as healthy, active and independent as you can as you age.

You also might be someone that has never focused on weight lifting before, but it’s never too late to start. Before you get going, it’s important to make sure you’re taking the right precautions and start this weight lifting journey off on the right foot.

It’s recommended to have an updated physical from your primary care physician to give you the green light to start lifting weights.

Now that you’ve been cleared for lifting, where (and why) should you start?

Why You Should Care About Weightlifting

Studies have shown that up to 30% of adults over 70 years old report difficulty with walking, standing from a chair or climbing stairs. These mobility limitations are linked to higher likelihood of falls, chronic disease and mortality [1]. Not only that, but these are all activities that are requirements of daily living and are nearly impossible to avoid.

One of the causes for this potential decline in physical ability as we age is associated with age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, known as sarcopenia. It’s estimated that muscle mass peaks around ages 30-35, and then gradually declines years after, with a faster rate of decline occurring around 65 years of age [2].

The more muscle mass present, the more support and protection the bones have, making them more resilient to stress and potential injury. Not only does muscle mass reduce the risk of fracture, but it can help to prevent a fall from occurring in the first place.

In addition to combating sarcopenia, lifting weights has been proven to slow and even reverse osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become less dense and more fragile as a result of old bone being broken down at a rate faster than new bone is being developed. One of the many superpowers of weight lifting is that it can reverse this bone degradation.

This happens as a result of applying stress on bones which triggers a cellular response to stimulate new, healthier and denser bone tissue [3]. Consistent strength training not only stimulates bone formation, but increases bone density as well, especially in the hips and spine, which are areas where fracture risk is relatively high in aging populations. How convenient!

Stronger muscles also help to improve your balance and coordination. You can improve your body’s ability to sense your position in space (proprioception) particularly through core and lower body strengthening. The better the proprioception, the more skilled your body is in fine-tuning microadjustments as you’re walking on a cobblestone or a brick road, or if someone brushes up against you in the grocery aisle.

The more powerful your muscles are, the faster your reaction time works in preventing a stumble from turning into a fall.

Assess Your Risk

Now that you’re aware of the numerous, but not all-encompassing benefits of strength training, where do we start?

It can be beneficial to get a baseline assessment of your current body composition, which includes fat mass, lean muscle mass and bone mineral density. A scan known as a DEXA (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) provides you with a detailed analysis of these factors, in addition to diagnosing conditions like osteoporosis as discussed above [4].

Establishing a baseline allows you and your healthcare team to have objective data points to track your progress and compare results throughout the year. However, while a DEXA scan can serve as a solid baseline assessment, getting a scan before you start weight training is far from required.

Compound Lifts 101

Not only does weight lifting improve your balance and coordination, reduce sarcopenia and potentially reverse the risk of osteoporosis, but it also improves your ability to perform daily activities.

The idea behind this is simple: Practice makes perfect.

The more you rehearse a specific movement pattern, the easier it will become and the more second-nature it will feel.

Including compound lifts in your workout program will make daily movements like walking, negotiating stairs, gardening or emptying the dishwasher feel easier. Compound movements are exercises that incorporate multiple muscle groups as well as the movement of two or more joints. These exercises are great at all ages, but especially as we age, because they mimic real-life activities and stimulate greater strength gains compared to isolation exercises, which focus on only one muscle group. Examples of compound lifts include a squat, bench press, deadlift, farmer carry or a row [5].

These exercises aren’t just picked out randomly from a hat; they mirror movements that you have to do on a daily basis.

Training a squat allows you to better pick up an object that fell on the ground.

The bench press translates well into improving the ease of closing a door, pushing a shopping cart or mowing your lawn.

The deadlift improves your ability to bend forward to tie your shoe, lift furniture or garden.

A weighted farmer’s carry improves your ability to carry heavy bags of groceries, and a row will improve your ease of opening doors and help your posture.

There are motions that you’re performing numerous times everyday, so why not try to make them look and feel as good as you can?

Age-Related Lift Modifications

While you might not be lifting as much weight or completing as many repetitions as your younger counterparts, the intention behind each exercise is the same. However, there’s no “one size fits all” approach to weight lifting, so these exercises might need to be changed or modified depending on various factors. Some of these special considerations may be limited spinal or shoulder mobility, achiness in the knees or hips or presence of a prior injury. While these are factors to be made aware of and treated around, they should not be viewed as roadblocks to prevent you from weight training.

When you’re first starting out on your weight lifting journey, you want to start slow. Focus on proper form, and as you grow more confident with certain movements, your trainer or physical therapist will advise you when it’s time to up the weight. If you’re training around an injury, you may need to decrease the weight and aim for higher repetitions of the exercise instead. It’s important to give yourself enough rest time between each set to ensure the last repetition looks and feels as good as the first repetition.

As we age, it’s important to never push through pain while working out. “No pain, no gain” is not a validated quote to live by. Your body communicates with you through pain and it’s important to listen to what it is trying to tell you. Lastly, as we age it’s recommended to prioritize proper rest and recovery after your workouts. This includes proper sleep, hydration and nutrition. When you fuel and recover well, you’ll come back stronger and better equipped for the next workout.

Conclusion

Activities such as getting dressed, cleaning the house, carrying your grandchildren and going up and down the stairs are all important daily activities that you don’t want to lose the ability to do. The goal as we age is to remain as strong and independent as possible, allowing you to continue doing the activities you love. It’s essential to start your weight lifting journey with a personal trainer or physical therapist who will take the time to learn your specific goals, come up with a safe training program and assess your form every step of the way.

Despite the body’s natural inclination to lose muscle mass and bone mineral density as you age, remember there are things you can do to stop and even reverse some of these processes. Now more than ever, strength training should be prioritized to strengthen every other aspect of your life! Here’s to aging with grace, strength and confidence.

References

1. How Can Strength Training Build Healthier Bodies as We Age? | National Institute on Aging, www.nia.nih.gov/news/how-can-strength-training-build-healthier-bodies-we-age. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
2. BLSA study design and measures | National Institute on Aging. (n.d.). https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/labs/blsa/study-design-and-measures
3. Care, Tasman Health. “Building Stronger Bones: A Guide to Combating Osteoporosis through Weightlifting – Tasman Health.” Tasman Health, 6 Mar. 2024, tasmanhealthcare.com.au/a-guide-to-combating-osteoporosis-through-weightlifting/. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
4. Cleveland Clinic. “Osteoporosis.” Cleveland Clinic, 20 July 2023, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4443-osteoporosis.
5. Bowman, Alisa . “The Many Benefits of Resistance Training as You Age – Mayo Clinic Press.” Mayo Clinic Press, 27 Sept. 2024,