If you’ve scrolled FitTok lately (or just gone to a gym), you might have noticed a shift. Folks used to be hyperfocused on cardio, but these days, strength training is all we can talk about. People of all ages and genders are picking up heavy weights and using strength training equipment.
Denise Chakoian, a certified fitness trainer and owner of Core Cycle and Fitness LaGree, considers strength training a must for adults over 50.
“Once you hit 50, the game changes,” she says. “Your body starts working against you in ways you don’t always feel until the damage is done. I tell every client over 50 that strength training isn’t optional — it’s the closest thing we have to a fountain of youth.”
Amanda Dvorak, CPT, a certified personal trainer with Garage Gym Reviews, agrees that strength training is vital for the health of people over 50.
“Adults naturally lose muscle mass with age, a process called sarcopenia, and bone density declines, as well,” Dvorak says. “This increases the risk of frailty, falls, fractures and loss of independence.”
Dvorak adds that strength training stimulates muscle protein synthesis, improving muscle mass, bone density and stability. Plus, she points out that it improves metabolic health, lowering your risk for chronic conditions that are more likely to develop after 50, including heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
“Perhaps the most overlooked benefit is functional independence,” she adds. “Being able to carry groceries, get up off the floor, climb stairs and travel comfortably depends on strength and mobility, both of which are improved by resistance training.”
No doubt: Feeling strong, staying healthy and keeping your independence are worthy objectives. But how many minutes of strength training do adults over 50 need? Chakoian and Dvorak weigh in.
How many minutes weekly?
“For most relatively healthy people over 50 who aren’t currently lifting weights regularly, I recommend two to three strength training sessions per week for a total of about 90 to 150 minutes,” Chakoian says. “It’s enough to elicit worthwhile stimulus for muscular strength, (muscle increase), bone density and metabolic health. But it’s not so much volume that you risk overtaxing a body that simply doesn’t recover like it did when you were 30.”
Dvorak recommends a slightly lower mark: at least 60 minutes of strength training per week, broken down into 30-minute sessions, for people over 50.
Part of the reason that the two trainers don’t exactly agree is that there’s no official guidance. For instance, the American Heart Association is clear that adults should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio activity per week. But the same organization advises adding strength training twice per week, without a minimum or maximum time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people 18 and older “get at least two days a week of muscle-strengthening activities that include all major muscle groups.”
Dvorak clarifies that the major muscle groups are legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms.
Factors to consider
Another reason it’s hard for trainers to pinpoint an amount of weekly strength training is that factors like experience, health status, intensity and the amount of weight you use all matter.
For instance, Chakoian suggests:
■ People who are new to exercise or returning from a lengthy layoff, injury or health crisis start at 20 to 30 minutes twice per week. (“I’ve seen far too many well-intentioned people come in fired up, smash themselves during their first few workouts, and wind up hurt or so sore they never return,” she says.)
■ People with chronic conditions, such as arthritis, heart disease or osteoporosis, do zero minutes of strength training unless they are medically cleared.
■ People with chronic conditions start small, with lighter volumes, sometimes doing 15 to 20 minutes of strength training weekly.
■ Seasoned athletes 50 and older who have been lifting for years cap their strength training workouts at 45 to 60 minutes, three times per week.
Intensity, which Dvorak defines as the amount of weight you use relative to your strength, can also affect your weekly strength training log, but “not in the way you might think.”
“For instance, if you are using very heavy weights relative to your strength level, you will need more rest — two to five minutes — between sets in order to fully recover and make the most of the following set,” she says. “This can lead to a greater amount of time spent in the gym, but even though a lot of that time is spent resting, it’s still one of the most effective ways to build strength.”
On the flipside, Dvorak says you might do a ton of reps with less rest using lightweight exercises. “It could make for a much shorter workout, but in terms of building raw strength, that’s not the most effective way to go about it,” Dvorak says.
Structuring a workout at 50-plus
OK, so what is the most effective way to structure a strength training workout if you are over 50? As a reminder, Dvorak recommends logging at least 60 minutes of strength training per week, or two 30-minute sessions. She says you can use the time wisely by:
Doing a minimum of three sets per major movement pattern (squat, hinge, push, pull and carry) per session. “In practice, this will look like three sets of five different exercises per session, or 15 total sets per session,” Dvorak says.
Work to a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of seven out of 10. Dvorak suggests thinking of RPE as “reps in reserve.” “A seven out of 10 RPE is equivalent to three reps in reserve (RiR), so at the end of the set, you should feel that you only had three reps ‘left in the tank,’” she explains.
Target reps based on weights. “If you have access to weights that are relatively heavy for you, you can accomplish this with fewer reps,” Dvorak states. “If you’re using very light weights, you may need to do 12 to 15 or more reps per set.”
Keep reps per set to 15 or less if you have proper weights. Dvorak shares that this number is plenty if you have proper weights. Otherwise, you turn it into more of a cardio workout versus a musculoskeletal one, which she says minimizes the perks of strength exercises.
For what it’s worth, she points out that the number of reps you complete is less important than your RPE, so focus on hitting that seven out of 10.
