Women and Muscle Deep Dive

Why women should lift weights.

Post summary

• A deep analysis of how muscle impacts women’s health. I read nearly 100 studies and spoke to the top researchers in the field.

• We’ll cover the concerning state of women and muscle. You’ll learn how muscle:

  • Protects your heart.

  • Helps survival rates if you get cancer.

  • Improves your metabolism.

  • Helps you sleep better.

  • Helps against pain and illness.

  • Protects you from death.

  • Adds years to your life …

  • … And life to your years.

  • Protects your brain.

• Good news: The lessons apply to men, too.

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The post

The most important people in my life are women—hi, Leah and Mom. So I began researching the most impactful ways women can live longer and healthier lives.

That sent me down a rabbit hole of the unique health risks women face—and surprising solutions. The research surfaced one theme again and again: Muscle.

Muscle is critical. Yet today, women are losing it—and it’s quietly driving worse health outcomes and shorter lifespans.

I analyzed nearly 100 studies and spoke to the top researchers in the field. Here’s what I found:

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In August of 1981, a study first warned of an insidious new health problem: “skinny fat”—people who appear thin yet carry a disproportionate amount of body fat.

Excess fat, no matter your scale weight, was linked to issues like heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic issues.

But in the early 2000s, evolving research showed a flaw in the theory. Many overweight people were healthier than skinny-fat people, even though they carried far more fat. Was fat really the culprit?

After another decade and a half of research, scientists now believe the real issue isn’t just having too much fat—it’s not having enough muscle.

Consider a recent study of nearly 50,000 Canadian women aged 40 and older. It found that women at the highest risk of death had a “healthy” BMI but the lowest levels of lean muscle. The women with the least amount of muscle were, in fact, more likely to die compared to women with excess fat.

“It’s a hidden and growing condition,” Carla Prado, Ph.D., told me. She researches muscle at the University of Alberta.

Prado has seen patients who look and weigh the same but have double-digit differences in muscle mass. For example, one 150-pound woman may have 120 pounds of lean mass while another could have 90 or less.

When we get bigger, we typically put on more muscle in addition to fat. But our population today is heavier yet less muscular than they were a decade ago, according to a study in the journal Clinical Nutrition.

One in five 60-year-old women suffers from clinically low muscle mass, according to other research. Prado told me the condition is now creeping into younger populations.

Prado believes two culprits are to blame: declining activity levels and the increasing popularity of detox and ultra-low-calorie crash diets.

While some women have embraced strength training, the total number of Americans meeting the national strength and aerobic exercise guidelines actually fell slightly from 2011 to 2015, according to the CDC. The data shows women are far less likely to lift weights.

Muscles only stick around if you use them, and your body burns muscle for fuel and protein when you diet and drastically reduce your calorie and protein intake.

Starting in your 30s, muscle naturally dies off by up to eight percent per decade.

The upshot: Whether you’re a few years from 30 or saw the number pass sometime during the Reagan administration, your muscle golden years are now.

Start building today, and a massive body of research suggests you’ll gain more, better, stronger tomorrows.

All it takes is a bit more protein and as little as five sets of strength exercises per week, according to a study in the Journal of Sports Science.

“That’s what I love about muscle,” said Suzette Pereira, Ph.D., a microbiologist and muscle researcher. “You never lose the ability to build it. Give muscle the right input—exercise and nutrition—and it will grow.”

Here are the benefits of adding enough muscle:

It protects your heart …

To understand why muscle can help you beat heart disease—the number one killer of women—consider what researchers call the “obesity paradox:” Obese people are at greater risk of developing heart disease because due to issues like high blood pressure and fatty buildup in their arteries, but once diagnosed they are 33 percent less likely to die from the disease compared to their normal-BMI counterparts, according to a study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

One reason is that heavier people tend to have more muscle mass, which their bodies build to carry their extra weight. More lean mass strengthens your heart by forcing it to pump harder and more efficiently.

The lesson: Build muscle without the fat, and you’ll get the benefits without added risk, said Salvatore Carbone, a heart disease researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University

… and helps against cancer

Question: Does muscle safeguard you from cancer?

Answer: Early research suggests it might, but scientists aren’t yet certain.

The scientists do know, however, that you’re better off with more muscle if you happen to be one of the 38 percent of women who develop any type of cancer.

“Independent of what stage cancer you have,” Prado told me, “if you have low muscle, your survival is going to be shorter.”

Muscle may improve immunity and act as a “buffer” that metabolizes chemotherapy drugs more efficiently. Prado’s research found that more muscular women experienced three times fewer chemo side effects like fatigue, infection, and nausea, helping them power through their treatment.

It also helps recovery. People who lifted weights three times a week after chemotherapy regained their energy and improved their quality of life quicker than those who didn't hit the gym, according to a study in the European Journal of Cancer Care.

It lights up your metabolism…

Muscle is not only a safety net against disease but also against weight gain. It even gives you more room to indulge.

“Your ability to use sugars and burn fats is all tied into your muscles,” Pereira told me.

People with more muscle mass are better able to process sugar, helping them fend off fat gain and diabetes, according to scientists at UCLA. Practically speaking, this means the more muscle you have, the more likely your next bowl of Ben & Jerry’s will be soaked up and used as training fuel rather than stored as fat.

.. And helps you turn down

A good night’s sleep is like a trainer, therapist, and nutritionist in one.

It can improve your sports performance, lower your anxiety, and lead you to eat nearly 700 fewer calories each day (more than a Big Mac’s worth!), according to research.

That’s why it’s so troubling that 63 percent of women report having sleep issues at least a few nights a week, say scientists at the Sleep Foundation.

The softest path to better sleep? Hard exercise. Women who paired lifting and cardio reported the best sleep quality and required the least amount of sleep to function optimally (just seven hours and ten minutes compared to seven and a half hours for non-exercisers.)

Lifting can be especially powerful: It helps you fall asleep quicker, sleep sounder, and reduce your need for sleep medications, according to a review in the Journal of Physiotherapy. A single weight session can do the trick, say researchers in Brazil.

It conquers pain and illness…

As many as 80 percent of people may experience low back pain each year, say researchers in Australia.

Your prescription: Core exercises like the bird dog, side plank, and curlups.

The moves prevent back pain by bolstering the muscles that stabilize your spine, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo.

And if you want to ward off a fever, the only prescription is more barbell—lifting may prevent the common cold by increasing natural killer cells, an especially aggressive type of white blood cell, discovered researchers in Korea.

“Adequate muscle reduces a patient’s risk of infection and increases recovery rates, too,” says Prado.

… and makes you harder to kill

The average person will be in three to four car accidents in their lifetime, and wrecks are the leading cause of death for women aged 15 to 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Say you get in a bad car accident. Being in shape may reduce your risk of dying by up to 80 percent, according to a study in Emergency Medicine Journal.

The scientists say that underweight and obese women are particularly at risk, potentially due to how their weight shifts upon collision.

What’s more, less-muscular people stay in hospitals longer and face more complications, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Later in life, the most dangerous and common accident is falling—and strength training can reduce your risk of falls by 40 percent, according to a study in Age and Aging.

It adds years to your life …

Older people with more muscle were 30 percent less likely to die over 16 years—regardless of their BMI, according to a study in the American Journal of Medicine.

Muscle mass likely reflects an active lifestyle and acts as a protein reserve if a person becomes ill.

Other research shows that older people considered overweight actually had a lower risk of death compared to their normal weight counterparts, thanks in part to the extra muscle mass that comes with added weight.

… and life to your years

Longevity is great, but your years should be worth living. Lifting weights may improve your happiness.

In one study, every new mom who finished a four-month weightlifting program reported no postpartum depression. Only half of their counterparts who did flexibility training were depression free. (Bonus: The lifters also lost six pounds of fat.)

Another study in Clinical Nutrition found that older adults with more muscle reported better quality of life, largely because it helped them stay active.

“Muscle is what allows you to do the things you love as you age,” says Pereira. Power training—lifting explosively—seems particularly effective for improving life satisfaction because it improves your ability to do everyday tasks, according to researchers at Wake Forest.

It boosts your brainpower …

From 2000 to 2014, deaths from major diseases like heart disease, stroke, and HIV fell—but Alzheimer’s deaths rose by 89%, nearly doubling over the time. The neurodegenerative disease is now one of the top killers of women over the age of 65.

Research shows a dose of iron can help. A study conducted in Brazil found that older women improved their memory by nearly 30 percent after lifting just two hours a week for nine months.

Another study discovered that women who lifted twice weekly improved their mental ability by more than 10 percent, while those who did balance training saw no benefit.

Even younger brains get a boost: College students who regularly strength train get significantly better grades, according to scientists at the University of Texas at Austin.

Exercise may “work” by increasing the size of the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center. Or it could just be that people who exercise are more driven to learn.

Have fun, don’t die, pick up something heavy-ish.

-Michael