A new study from the University of NSW has discovered women aged over 50 can get similar benefits from resistance training as their male counterparts.
The researchers looked at the results from 1,400 older men and women, aged 50 to 90, across 30 studies – most with no prior experience with weights.
They broke the data down into two categories – absolute – which looked at overall gains – and relative – which looked at percentages based on body size.
They found no sex differences in changes in relative muscle size or upper body strength – meaning women see the same benefits as men.
While men are more likely to gain muscle size, these gains are relative to women based on body size.
When it came to relative lower body strength, older women actually saw the highest increases.
Women and men have different training needs
Historically, people have thought that men benefited more from resistance training than women, but the researchers say the findings show this is not the case – and older women shouldn’t be worried about picking up those dumbbells.
They add that this highlights women and men should also be training differently to maximise the benefits.
“Older men might benefit from higher intensity programs to improve their absolute upper and lower body strength … but older women might benefit from higher overall exercise volumes – that is, more weekly repetitions – to increase their relative and absolute lower body strength,” Dr Amanda Hagstrom, exercise science lecturer at UNSW Medicine & Health and senior author of the study, said.
With resistance training shown to have a host of health benefits including improved balance, stamina and bone density, it’s certainly food for thought.
