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Answered in 8 episodes

How many days a week should I lift weights?

Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated

The short answer

Three to four days a week is Nikkiey's core recommendation for women over 40: 30 to 45 minutes per session, built on compound lifts and progressive overload, with walking on off days and seven to eight hours of sleep. Lifting six or seven days a week, she says, breaks down muscle faster than you can rebuild it.

Hear it from the show

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  1. Nikkiey's exact prescription: how many days, how long, and what to do in each session

    Plays from 22:41 · Ep. 398: How Women Over 40 Lose Fat When the Scale Won't Move

  2. Nikkiey on three to four days and why she now lifts less in her current season

    Plays from 18:22 · Ep. 294: Why Cardio Isn't Burning Your Belly Fat After 40

  3. Leah on accepting that three to four days, not five or six, got her results

    Plays from 23:48 · Ep. 355: Why Eating More Helped Me Lose Fat After 40

  4. Sal Di Stefano on why just two strength sessions a week can be enough

    Plays from 55:10 · Ep. 92: How to Build Discipline for Fitness, With Sal Di Stefano

  5. Nikkiey on why fewer focused training days beat working out every day

    Plays from 12:43 · Ep. 213: Fitness Mistakes Women Over 40 Should Stop Making

The full answer

If you have been training five, six or seven days a week and not seeing results, that is the plan, not you. On Ep. 398, Nikkiey explains that without recovery your body produces more cortisol, which she links to fat storage around the midsection. Rest days are not lazy days. They are building days, when muscle actually grows. Her recovery plan is simple: three to four lifting days, walking on the other days if you like to move, and seven to eight hours of sleep, because growth hormone peaks in deep sleep.

The episodes give a range rather than one rigid number:

  • On Ep. 92, Sal Di Stefano says strength training works in low doses, and twice a week for 45 minutes done appropriately can have profound effects on strength and metabolism.
  • On Ep. 228 and Ep. 213, Nikkiey puts the number at three to five or four to five focused sessions, with four as a good target.
  • On Ep. 355, client Leah was used to five to six days from past trainers. Her WarriorBabe coach moved her to three to four days with rest, and suggested sprint intervals instead of longer workouts if she wanted more.

Nikkiey also shares on Ep. 294 that in her current season, while rebalancing her hormones and thyroid, she lifts two or three times a week plus a day of yoga and a day of Pilates. She used to train seven days a week. Your number can shift with your season, and if hormones or a medical condition are in the picture, work with your doctor.

What matters more than the count is how you train. Use compound movements and progressive overload: the last two to three reps of a set should feel challenging, and when they don't, add weight. If you are a cardio lover, she suggests easing in by swapping one cardio session a week for strength training.

From The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.

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    Not on their own. Nikkiey explains that F45, Orangetheory and CrossFit include strength work but don't prioritize muscle growth the way a progressive overload program does, because everyone in the room does the same workout. Keep the classes if you love them, but make them about 20% of your training and progressive lifting the other 80%.

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    How do I get over gym anxiety?

    Start by remembering that almost nobody is watching you. Nikkiey says most of the judgment lives in your own head. Then make it easier on yourself: learn the exercises on YouTube before you go, wear a hat as blinders, start small in a quiet corner, and walk into the weight room anyway, even scared.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    Will lifting weights make me bulky?

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