Why Women Need to Weight Train For Optimal Health and Wellness
- Brainz Magazine
- Nov 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 14
Rosanna Shillolo is a certified yoga instructor, personal trainer, and nutrition coach. She runs a lakeside hot yoga studio in Ontario, Canada, which also offers stand-up paddle board (SUP) yoga classes and guided tours and has produced a 3 part vinyasa yoga video series available online.
If you’re a woman over 40, chances are you’ve started to experience some hormonal changes associated with menopause. Hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, weight gain, lower libido, and mental fog are just a few potential undesirables that can span from the earliest onset of symptoms in perimenopause right through to our postmenopausal years, with varying degrees of intensity in between. It certainly doesn’t sound like the most wonderful time of our lives, but what if we didn’t have to look at this chapter with dread? What if there’s a remedy to minimize and control this list of negatives associated with this stage of life?
Good news! There’s now plenty of scientific research to support having an optimistic outlook for this transitional phase of life, and it overwhelmingly points to the importance of resistance training. So, what is resistance training? It is any type of exercise that involves your own body weight or equipment to build muscle mass, endurance, and strength. There are many types of strength training, such as bodyweight exercises, weightlifting, and circuit training.
There are a number of positive benefits this type of training has on a woman’s health at any stage of life, but the impacts appear greatest as we age. Research shows that strength training can improve menopausal symptoms such as the severity and frequency of hot flashes and a drop in estrogen, while improving strength and bone density, which are both negatively affected as women age. Science has found that resistance training activates epigenetic changes, turning on genes linked to strength, repair, and longevity. This means it actually upgrades your DNA to help you live a longer, healthier life.
Mental health can really take a hit during this decade or longer period of change, but several recent studies show weight training can be as effective as prescription medication for stabilizing moods. Resistance training acts as an antidote to anxiety and depression by releasing endorphins and producing serotonin, our body’s natural “feel-good” hormones. Some studies suggest women are more sensitive than men to these positive mental health benefits from consistent weight training. Exercise can also increase BDNF, a protein important for brain growth, which can lead to a reduction in depressive symptoms. In 2018, a peer-reviewed journal (JAMA Psychiatry, vol. 75, no. 6) found that participants who performed resistance training showed a significant reduction in symptoms of depression.
There can be an inverse relationship between self-esteem levels and growing older, but weight training has been shown to improve body image and feelings of empowerment, along with the physical strength gains.
Recently, a study by researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health showed that resistance training can reverse cognitive decline in older women. It can further reduce dementia risk in women by boosting cognitive functions like memory and executive function, promoting neural growth, reducing inflammation, improving blood sugar control, and enhancing the physical structure of the brain.
Catching more Zzzz’s is another positive effect from weight training, as it triggers muscle repair signals that encourage deeper sleep by reducing anxiety and stress and balancing the nervous system to promote relaxation. It may also boost hormones linked to better sleep, which can be very welcome relief during the hormonal changes that can compromise sleep quality.
Resistance training also helps improve stability and balance, which helps prevent injury. When women lift weights two to three times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes per session, bone mineral density is increased through Wolff's Law, which states that bones can grow in response to forces that are placed upon them. In other words, creating pressure on your joints through weight-bearing exercises can actually help you build stronger, healthier bones. This is important to counterbalance the decline in estrogen that can lead to osteoporosis.
Weight training can significantly improve blood sugar metabolism in women by increasing insulin sensitivity, boosting muscle mass, and reducing body fat, which leads to better glycemic control. It can also reduce pro-inflammatory markers by decreasing visceral fat and increasing anti-inflammatory myokines from muscle cells. Added bonus, working out increases blood flow, which can positively influence libido.
There’s no better time to get started on a program than today. I recommend hiring a personal trainer when first starting out to ensure you’re balancing all body parts and doing exercises safely. It can also keep you accountable and consistent, having someone monitoring your progress. If a trainer isn’t in your budget, there are plenty of free workouts available on platforms like YouTube. You don’t need a fancy gym or a lot of equipment. A full-body resistance training routine can be done from home using your own body weight, a few dumbbells, kettlebells, and resistance bands. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part, but movement creates momentum. Motivation will follow once you start showing up for yourself and begin to feel the positive shift in energy, health, and well-being that comes with weight training.
Read more from Rosanna Shillolo
Rosanna Shillolo, Yoga Instructor, Wellness Coach. Entrepreneur
Rosanna graduated from The University of Guelph with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. She personally experienced the positive impact of exercise and good nutrition both mentally and physically and wanted to help others do the same. She first became certified as a CanFitPro Personal Trainer. Years later, due to injury, she sought out yoga to heal her body and discovered it also helped balance a busy family life raising three children. Living on the lake inspired Rosanna to take her yoga practice to the water and naturally to a Paddle Canada certification as a stand-up paddle board (SUP) instructor to offer SUP yoga classes. Most recently, she was certified as a Precision Nutrition Coach so that she can offer a wide range of wellness services.
