How Strength Training Benefits Women

Strength training is important but many females worry about the effects of strength training on their bodies.

So let's start with this statistic - most women lose between a third and a half kilo of muscle each year beginning around the age of forty; they gain at least that much in body fat and they lose a similar amount of bone.

These changes accelerate at menopause - women can lose 2.3 kg of muscle in just five years of menopause. If nothing is done to counteract this trend, by the age of 80 women will only have about a third the muscle that they had at the age of 40.

Strength training can reverse all this, as well as increasing vitality and strength, improving mood and sleep, creating better balance and flexibility, reducing the risk of heart disease, and decreasing the risk of diabetes, cancer, arthritis and other debilitating conditions.

Here's what strength training can do:

Preserves muscle mass during weight loss

According to a University of Michigan research study, at least 25% to 30% of the weight that woman lose by dieting alone is not fat but lean tissue, muscle, bone and water. Yet, it has been proven that through strength training women can preserve muscle mass while still losing weight.

In a study done by USDA Human Nutrition Resource Center on Ageing at Tufts University, conducted by Miriam E Nelson, PhD, it was found that strength training, as compared to dieting alone, improves fat loss, increases bone density (without the benefits of hormone replacement therapy), improves balance and increases vitality.

This study took ten overweight women averaging 40 years of age, and gave them individual customised food plans. Fifty percent of these participants performed strength-training exercises twice a week, the others merely followed the prescribed diet.

The results, which were published in the Journal of American Medical Association, showed that the diet-only volunteers lost an average of 5.9 kg during the study, but 1.3 kg of this weight loss was lean muscle mass.

The women who strength trained lost approximately 6 kg, only a little over what the diet only volunteers lost. However, the exercising women gained 0.6 kg of lean tissue and experienced a total fat loss of 6.6 kg!

This means that the group that performed strength training twice a week lost 44% more body fat than the diet-only group. The women in the study wound up much stronger, with only a small increase in muscle mass. They averaged 173% gain in strength, but their thigh muscles were only 8% bigger. Not a difference you'd notice, especially with the loss of body fat.

Increases bone density

Research has long documented a strong relationship between the amount of muscle in a person's body and the amount of bone. Increasing muscle mass through strength training increases bone density. In Dr Nelson's study, it was found that women who strength trained did not lose bone density over the year period.

The strength training group gained an average of 1% of bone in the hip and spine, comparable to the bone deficit from the non-exercising women in the control group, who lost 2% to 2.5% of bone mass. This is a significant difference of 3% to 3.5% in bone mass.

Improves strength in elderly

Typically a woman of 70 faces a 30% chance that she will break her hip if she lives another 20 years. Each year, about 300,000 people wind up in hospital with hip fractures because of osteoporosis. Half of the victims never go home again ... and 20% of them die from complications within a year. A woman is more likely to die as a result of a hip fracture than from breast cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer combined.

Many studies have documented the positive effects of strength on older adults. Interestingly, studies on adults up to 96 years of age have documented 100% to 175% increases in strength, gains that are similar to those found in studies with 40-year-olds. This means that no matter what a person's age, they can make the same statistical strength gains.

In the mid-1980s, one of the scientists at the Tufts Center on Ageing (Walter Frontera, MD) conducted a strength training study on 60 and 70-year-olds. While traditionally strength training exercises were performed on seniors at only 40% to 50% of their capacity, Dr Frontera had his volunteers exercise at 80% of capacity (the ACSM guidelines for strength training).

The findings shattered myths about aging: there were no injuries and no cardiac episodes during the study and in just 12 weeks the muscles they were exercising became 10% to 12% larger and a whopping 100% to 175% stronger!

Maria Fiatarone, MD, conducted another study relying on Dr Frontera's findings. The study subjects were six women and four men from nursing homes, aged between 86 and 96. They performed high intensity strength training workouts three times a week on the same kind of machines that 25-year-olds were using at the gym, starting at a safe level and progressing gradually as strength increased.

All the participants in Fiatarone's study had at least two chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis. Most relied on walkers or canes and several had leg muscles so weak they couldn't even rise from a chair without assistance.

The results of the study, which were published in the Journal of American Medicine Association, showed that in just eight weeks, these frail, elderly men and women increased their strength by an average of 175%. During a test of walking, speed and balance, their scores rose by an average of 48%. Two participants discarded their canes.
Improves balance
An important factor explaining the loss of balance as women age is that they become more sedentary, and their muscles atrophy. In the Nelson Study, the women who did not exercise showed an 8.5% decline in balance over the year's study period. In contrast the women who strength trained improved their balance ability by 14%.

This 22.5% difference is because of their enormous improvements in strength and in part to the associated neurological improvements. The decline in balance for the non-exercising group may be attributable to the fact that this group was one year older, and one year weaker.

Protects against osteoporosis

The loss of bone mass that occurs after menopause is frightening in most women. A woman typically loses 1% of her bone mass, especially during the first five menopausal years, thereby dramatically increasing her risk of osteoporosis.

Because women are living so much longer, there is a real risk that their skeletons will not last as long as the rest of their bodies. To prevent this bone loss, and other effects of menopause, doctors often prescribe Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

Morris Notelovitz MD, PhD, from the Women's Medical and Diagnostic Center in Gainesville, Florida, studied women who'd been on HRT for at least six months. All continued taking estrogen but half also performed strength training for a year.

At the end of the study, the HRT-only group had maintained their bone density, but the HRT women who had strength trained gained bone (an average of 4% in their wrists and 8% in their spines).

Therefore, women who either choose natural herbal remedies, or choose chemical HRT can maximise the bone densification effects of the therapies by strength training.

Counteracts depression

It has been documented that strength training enhances mood, improves coping skills and boosts self-confidence. Active people suffer less from bouts of anxiety and depression that plague nearly three out of every ten people.

Nalin Singh, MD and colleagues at Tufts University looked at 32 men and women who suffered from chronic depression. They directed half of these individuals to perform strength training.

The other half simply received health education. Twelve weeks later, 14 out of the 16 members who strength trained felt better and no longer met the clinical criteria for depression. But only six members of the education only group enjoyed similar relief. This impressive success rate is comparable to that produced by highly effective anti-depressants.

Alleviates sleep difficulties

Additionally, in Dr Singh's study of depression, it was discovered that strength training helps individuals who have sleeping difficulties. Ten people in the strength training group and seven in the health education group reported sleep problems when they joined the project.

After twelve weeks, six of the ten strength training volunteers reported they no longer had difficulty sleeping. In contrast, no one in the health education group improved. People who exercise fall asleep more quickly, sleep more deeply, awaken less often in the middle of the night and sleep longer. These benefits are comparable to those using medication but with absolutely none of the side effects.

Boosts energy

Another positive effect of strength training is the increased energy the participant feels. In Nelson's study, the non-exercising group became 25% less active over the year period. But the women in the strength training program were 27% more active. This was accomplished, not by trying, but simply as a byproduct of the strength training.

If you’re sick, you go to the doctor. If you’ve got a tax problem, you see an accountant (or an attorney!). Have a toothache? You’re off to the dentist. Leaky pipes result in a call to the plumber. So why is it that so many people attempt to solve their health and fitness problems without consulting an expert?

I don’t know exactly, but I encourage you to make the investment in yourself – in your quality of life – by hiring a qualified professional to educate you and help you get started.