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Best strength exercises for women over 40: 7 moves to start with

Forty is not a warning sign. It is a good time to start lifting properly.

By Susmit Jalan, coach at Online Fitness Worldwide.

Work. Family. Parents. Your own training slides to the bottom of the list. It happens.

Here is the short version. Lift something, at least twice a week. WHO and the NHS both ask adults to train all the major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.[1][2]

Why it matters more now: one widely cited review puts the muscle loss in inactive adults at 3 to 8% per decade.[5] Strength work is how you push back.

You need a chair, a wall, some floor, and a backpack or two dumbbells.

The 7 best strength exercises for women over 40

  1. Squat to a chair

    Why
    Legs and hips do most of the work of daily life. Stairs, the floor, the car. ACSM advises doing big, multi-joint moves like this first in a session.[4]
    How
    Feet hip-width apart. Sit back to the chair, touch it lightly, stand up. Knees follow the toes. Chest tall. Too easy? Hold a dumbbell or a backpack at your chest.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. ACSM's starting range for beginners is a load you can lift 8 to 12 times.[4]

  2. Hip hinge with dumbbells or a backpack

    Why
    The back of the body: glutes, hamstrings, back. All on the NHS list of major muscle groups.[2] It is also the pattern for lifting things off the floor.
    How
    Soft knees. Push the hips back. The weight slides down the front of the thighs. Back long and flat, not rounded. Stand up by squeezing the glutes.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. Slow on the way down.

  3. Press-up: wall, then desk, then floor

    Why
    Chest, shoulders and arms. The NHS starts at the wall with 3 sets of 5 to 10.[3] The lower your hands, the harder it gets.
    How
    Body in one straight line. Elbows angle back, not out to the sides. Lower with control. Push the wall, desk or floor away.
    Dose
    3 sets of 5 to 10. When 10 is easy, move your hands lower.

  4. One-arm row

    Why
    Upper back and arms. It balances all the pushing, and all the hours at a desk or on a phone. Back, shoulders and arms are major muscle groups too.[2]
    How
    One hand on a chair or bench. Flat back. Pull the dumbbell or backpack to your hip. Pause. Lower slowly.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 each side.

  5. Split squat or step-up

    Why
    One leg at a time. ACSM recommends both two-leg and single-leg exercises.[4] Single-leg work also asks for balance, which you use on every step you climb.
    How
    Split squat: one foot forward, one back, lower the back knee towards the floor. Step-up: a sturdy step, whole foot on it, drive up through the front heel. Hold a wall if you need to.
    Dose
    2 sets of 8 to 10 each leg.

  6. Back extension, lying face down

    Why
    The UK consensus statement on exercise for osteoporosis recommends spinal extension exercise to improve posture.[7] It trains the muscles that hold you upright.
    How
    Face down, forehead on a towel, arms by your sides. Lift the chest a few centimetres. Shoulders back and down. Lower slowly. No big arch.
    Dose
    2 sets of 8 to 10. Hold 2 seconds at the top.

  7. Heel drops and small hops, if your bones allow

    Why
    Bone responds to impact as well as load. The same consensus statement recommends resistance and impact exercise to maximise bone strength.[7]
    How
    Heel drops: rise onto your toes, then drop onto your heels with a firm thud. Ready for more? Small, quiet hops on the spot. Land soft.
    Dose
    Start with 10 to 20 heel drops on most days. Hops only once the drops are easy and pain-free.

How much is enough?

The target for adults: 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate activity, plus strength work for all major muscle groups on 2 or more days.[1][2] For beginners, ACSM suggests 2 to 3 strength days a week.[4]

Then progress. ACSM's rule: when you can do 1 or 2 reps more than your target, add 2 to 10% to the load.[4]

Heavy lifting can be safe when it is coached. In the LIFTMOR trial, 101 postmenopausal women with low bone mass trained twice a week for 8 months. The group doing 30-minute supervised sessions of heavy lifts and impact work (5 sets of 5, above 85% of their maximum) gained 2.9% in spine bone density. A low-intensity home group lost 1.2%. One minor adverse event was reported.[6] Those sessions were closely supervised and the women were screened first. It is not a home plan.

Strength counts for long-term health too. A meta-analysis of cohort studies linked muscle-strengthening activity with a 10 to 17% lower risk of death from any cause, and of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The biggest drop was at about 30 to 60 minutes a week.[8] That is observational. A good reason, not a guarantee.

A sample week

Sample only. Not a prescription. Adjust it to your body, your history and your diary.

  • Day A, for example Monday: squat to a chair, press-up, one-arm row, back extension. 2 rounds to start, then 3.
  • Day B, for example Thursday: hip hinge, split squat or step-up, one-arm row, back extension. Same rounds.
  • Most days: heel drops and a brisk walk.
  • Stop each set with 2 or 3 good reps left. Keep at least one day between strength days.

Want it coached live?

Iron Hour is the strength session. 60 minutes, 1:1. Set-up, warm-up, primary lift, accessories, cool-down. We watch every rep and set the load for today.

Coming back after years off? Return is 45 minutes, 12 alternate-day sessions a month. Want more structure? Lean Reset is 20 sessions a month, 1:1. Prefer company? Open Floor is a small group.

Coached live on Google Meet, Zoom or FaceTime. In Hindi or English. On IST.

Not sure yet? Start with a 30-minute consultation. It is a conversation, not training. Booking holds a time. The fee is agreed directly.

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Before you start

General information, not medical advice. ACSM's screening model says: if you are inactive, have no symptoms and no known heart, metabolic or kidney disease, you can start light to moderate exercise without medical clearance and build up gradually. If you have one of those conditions, or symptoms such as chest pain, unusual breathlessness or dizziness, get medical clearance first.[9] If you have osteoporosis or have had a fracture, get specialist advice. The UK consensus advises avoiding postures with a lot of forward bending of the spine, and says people with a vertebral fracture or several low-trauma fractures should usually keep impact to the level of brisk walking.[7] Pregnant, recently had a baby, or have pelvic floor symptoms: clearance first. Not exercised for some time? The NHS suggests speaking to your GP first.[2]

ASCA Level 1 (strength and conditioning) and ACE (anatomy and biomechanics). These are credentials held by the coach. Neither body endorses this business or this article.

Sources

  1. [1] World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: WHO; 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128
  2. [2] NHS. Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/
  3. [3] NHS. Strength exercises (page last reviewed 28 February 2024). https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/strength-exercises/
  4. [4] American College of Sports Medicine. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687–708. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670
  5. [5] Westcott WL. Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2012;11(4):209–216. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0b013e31825dabb8
  6. [6] Watson SL, Weeks BK, Weis LJ, et al. High-intensity resistance and impact training improves bone mineral density and physical function in postmenopausal women with osteopenia and osteoporosis: the LIFTMOR randomized controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res. 2018;33(2):211–220. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.3284
  7. [7] Brooke-Wavell K, Skelton DA, Barker KL, et al. Strong, steady and straight: UK consensus statement on physical activity and exercise for osteoporosis. Br J Sports Med. 2022;56(15):837–846. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-104634
  8. [8] Momma H, Kawakami R, Honda T, Sawada SS. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Sports Med. 2022;56(13):755–763. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-105061
  9. [9] Riebe D, Franklin BA, Thompson PD, et al. Updating ACSM's recommendations for exercise preparticipation health screening. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015;47(11):2473–2479. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000664