I’m not one for New Years resolutions but if there was one fitness trend I wish everyone would explore in 2025 it is adding resistance training to your movement plans for the new year.


In 2024 we saw an increased trend towards fitness moving away from vanity measures to focus more on longevity and functional, purposeful strength. Books like Outlive by Peter Attia started to shift our attention toward something he calls healthspan, or how well we live, not just how long we live.


So how do we get to live well longer?


Well that is a complicated discussion and multifactorial to say the least. But if you are looking for actionable steps toward a longer healthier life, most of the current literature agrees that maintaining muscle mass has a significant role to play not just in helping us participate in our lives fully for longer but also in reducing our all cause mortality. 


Studies have shown that strength gains are accessible at every stage of life, not just in our youth. In fact, if we don’t start to take preventative measures to not just build but maintain our strength, we are at risk for losing between 5-8% of our muscle mass per decade after age 30.


Adding muscle mass has multiple benefits beyond just maintaining your strength though. In her new book, The Next Level; Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond, Dr. Stacey Sims, exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist, lists the following benefits of heavy lifting specifically for women as they enter both perimenopause and menopause:


  • Increased Metabolic Rate: When more muscle tissue is active it consumes energy at a higher rate. This increase in metabolism is seen both during exercise and at rest increasing the number of calories burned and the relative percentage of fat burned.


  • Improved Posture and Joint Stability: As we age we lose some of the stability in our ligaments and wear and tear contributes to increased joint space making our joints less stable and potentially more painful. Increasing your muscle mass provides another framework of stability while also increasing the tension of your tendons that support your joints. 


  • Stronger Bones: Resistance training is an excellent way to increase your overall bone mineral density especially in your cortical bone, the hard outer shell of your bones, both of which are critical to preventing fractures.


  • Improved Blood Pressure: Your muscles act as pumps for your blood, returning blood from your extremities through your venous system as well as helping your blood vessels constrict and dilate more efficiently. Given that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of mortality in women, maintaining a healthy blood pressure is an important benefit.


  • Maintaining a Healthy Body Composition: We already mentioned that lifting heavy weights can increase muscle mass and increase fat burning but more specifically it is helpful in reducing central body fat, a high risk factor for many diseases among women as well as overall fat storage. 


  • Increased Immunity: When you lift heavy weights, proteins that assist with the growth and activity of immune cells are released to reduce inflammation and increase your immune response.


(Adapted from Dr. Stacey Sims, Next Level)


Have we got you excited yet?


Before you start lifting weights you may want to consider the following:


Outdated but still firmly ingrained fitness theories used to discourage women from lifting heavy for fear of bulking up. While there is little to support this idea now, it should be weighed against the fact that while lifting high repetitions or light weights will contribute to muscle tone, actual muscle strength has a much more protective effect on both our function and overall health. To get those effects, you need to be lifting moderate to heavy weights.


Lifting heavy requires special attention to form and is not something to casually jump into without guidance. We strongly suggest that you are properly evaluated by your healthcare provider to rule out any contraindications and you work with a qualified health or fitness professional to help you safely add progressive weight with good technique to your workouts.


Do you need help integrating lifting into your workout regime?


Exercise prescription and readiness evaluation are part of the regulated scope of our health professionals. Our team has training in assessing whether resistance training is safe as well as taking additional lifestyle factors in to help you build out the individualized plan that best meets your goals and challenges. You can book an assessment with a member of our physiotherapy or chiropractic team here.


Ready to jump in? Our clinical team and movement therapy team have collaborated in a class to help you build strong foundations to safe and effective strength training. This women’s only class has a limited enrolment of 6-8 participants so our instructors can make client specific modifications and pay close attention to your form. Join one or multiple of our weekly classes here.