Why Every Woman Needs to Lift Weights

00:00Strength is not just like an aesthetic quality that we all chase after. It is a very important functional one. And losing it does not just affect how you look. It affects what you can do. It affects your independence. It affects the lifestyle tasks that you do every single day. Women who strength train consistently have measurably higher bone density than women who do not. So cardio does not do this. Walking does not do this. Not to the same degree that heavy resistance training does. It literally improves every area of your health and your life.

00:37What's going on, everybody? Hey, you guys. Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show. Or if this is one of your first episodes, welcome to the show where on these episodes we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and most importantly, feel really, really confident in your life.

01:07In your own skin. So in today's episode, I think I've talked about this over and over and over and over and over again. However, I think it's really important to continue to push this message out there, especially with the feedback that we got from JJ Virgin's podcast episode. If you haven't listened to that, I highly recommend that you go and listen to it. It's evident that no matter how much. It's evident that no matter how much I talk about this topic, it doesn't get old and it's really important for everybody to hear it.

01:41And that is that strength training is not optional as you get older, my friends. Like it's a non-negotiable. It's probably the most important physical investment that you can make for your body, for your health, for your independence, and for your quality of life as you age. And most women are either not doing it, or they're not doing it consistently, or they're not doing it with enough intention to actually get what it can give them.

02:11And so I'm talking about that in today's episode. I'm going to lean in. I'm going to lean in, guys. I'm going to lean in because maybe I've been too fluffy in the other episodes where I talk about this topic. But ultimately, when I lean in, it's because I want to give you guys tough love because I love you. And I want you guys to win. And I want you to succeed. And I want you to understand this importance because I think it's extremely important for every single woman as you continue to get older. So I want to start with the reality first because I think once you understand what is happening to your body, when you are not actively building and preserving muscle, the urgency of this conversation becomes impossible to ignore.

02:54When you are in your mid-30s, like where I am now, your body begins to lose muscle mass at the rate of roughly 3% to 8% per decade. And I've talked about that before. But after 50, that rate accelerates. And by the time that it is, most women reach their 70s without any intentional resistance training. They have lost a significant portion of muscle that they had in the earlier years.

03:27Like if you guys can think about it, like think about your moms or grandmoms. Like that's where my immediate thought went to, right? You guys know that I took care of my grandmom after she had a stroke and I lived with her. And you could tell that she didn't work out a day in her life. She didn't do strength training a day in her life because what she looked like in her early years of life, she looked frail and old in her later years of life. And I've seen this one too many times by working in the healthcare field for nine years. In long-term healthcare and dementia units and in assisted living. And then five years in the emergency room.

04:00So you guys, I've seen this. I want to make this like apparent and known. This is so important. And it comes with like that muscle loss. It comes with a cascade of consequences that touch every single area of your health and your daily life as you get older. One being, first of all, and you'll probably notice this sooner rather than later if you don't incorporate strength training, but your metabolism slows down. And when I say that, people say that all over. But what I mean by that is muscle, your muscle, this tissue on your body,

04:35the muscle that you have is metabolically active tissue. Meaning you need constant fuel to provide it and to keep it alive. And you need constant stress to challenge it every single week. And it burns calories at rest. Like it doesn't stop. It's metabolically active. It's always going. It's always looking for energy. It's always, if you're not feeding enough, it's going to, your body and you're working out and you're not eating enough, if your body is going to tap into it, and it does that all throughout the day.

05:06If you're not giving it enough of what it needs. Every pound of muscle that you lose, then, means that your body requires fewer calories to function. Which means that the same food that you have always eaten starts producing different results on your body. This is why people say, well, how I once ate in my 20s, I can no longer eat in my 40s. This is because this is happening internally to your body. And then the fat accumulates more easily.

05:37Weight loss becomes progressively harder for you to do. And the like restrict eat, restrict cycle that never worked great starts working even less. This is what's going on internally is because your body needs muscle, not just for strength and longevity, but to just keep your body pretty much functioning well, especially as you age. And to that point, if you guys didn't hear me well there, it's like what worked in your 20s isn't working in your 40s.

06:12It's because you think about are you incorporating strength training into your weekly routine? And I mean like three to four times a week. If the answer is no, then that is why this is happening. Another thing is to piggyback off what I said by working in the healthcare field for nine years, your bones weaken. I've seen one too many hip fractures. People coming in, you can look at their body and you can look at and be like, you don't exercise. They are frail. Muscle and bone health are directly connected. And the mechanical loading that strength training places on your bones is one of the most powerful stimuli for maintaining bone density.

06:52Women who do not strength train are at significantly higher risk for osteoporosis. And the fractures and loss of independence that come along with that. Do you know how many times that I've had sat in with a social worker that was talking about placement for an elderly woman who had just broken her hip and the weight that I not only saw it on her, but the way that I then saw on the family. Talk about heavy to have to make some type of those choices because independence is now lost.

07:25Like I'm not saying this is scary. I'm saying this is like this is this is a risk of of of not doing strength training as you continue to age. It is a direct consequence of skipping weights. And in your head right now, you're probably like, oh, I'm too afraid to pick a waist or I'm too long gone. That is not true. And I'm going to squash some of those later in this podcast. So just stay with me as I continue on on what's actually really happening inside your body. Your hormones shift harder. Muscle tissue plays an active role in hormone regulation, including insulin sensitivity, including the weight of estrogen metabolism.

08:02And, you know, everyone knows this. I'm talking like high level estrogen naturally declines when you start perimenopause and menopause. And that means that maintaining muscle mass is one of the most powerful tools available for maintaining symptoms, maintaining body composition changes, and most importantly, maintaining your metabolic health. There is so are so many testimonials with inside of warrior babe that have improved insulin resistance in their older years of life that have just by just implementing strength training.

08:37And obviously diet is a huge portion of this. I always say that diet is king and exercise is queen. But when it comes to this topic, like doubling on both of those things is so important so that you can manage these symptoms as you age. Women who go into menopause with – and I've seen this. I've seen women come in. And I know that I'm set up for like prime time walking into menopause because not only of what I've done to my body in the last decade and what I continue to do consistently and also the education that I have, I'm blessed to walk into menopause strong, well-developed, right?

09:14My body being well-developed muscle. But I see so many women who come into warrior babe who maybe are adoring menopause and they're gaining muscle. And so that right there, it's not too late. I've seen one too many women just break that, break that narrative, like not even like make completely false. And they're doing that with inside the community as well for other women too. But walking into menopause by doing – by implementing these things, if they are perimenopause, they are now strong and well-equipped and well-developed to navigate that transition significantly better than those who are not or who do not.

09:52Also, your functional capacity declines, like the ability to do everyday lifestyle things, like carry groceries, get up off the floor, climb stairs without your knees aching, be able to be able to pick up your grandchildren, be able to open a jar. I've seen strength training help to not reverse arthritis but improve symptoms of it. Like the amount of times myself, I've caught myself and fallen because of this ability that I have,

10:23but I've also seen women that do strength training like at the dog park who are strong and fit, who have stumbled and have been able to catch their balance before ultimately falling. And that, all of that, all of what I just said, that depends on muscle. Strength is not just like an aesthetic quality that we all chase after. It is a very important functional one. And losing it does not just affect how you look. It affects what you can do.

10:55It affects your independence. It affects the lifestyle tasks that you do every single day. This is what happens without strength training. And all of the things that I just mentioned here, your functional capacity declines, hormones shift harder, your bones weaken, your metabolism slows down. This is what happens without strength training. It's not in some distant future either, my friends. It's starting right now, quietly in the background,

11:26unless you are doing something to stop it. Quick break. If you're finding this episode helpful so far, it would mean a lot if you could hit pause for just a second, leave a quick rating or a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from it. Your support helps more women discover these tools to build muscle, lose fat, and feel confident. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. Now, let me tell you what strength training actually does,

11:57because I don't think most women have ever been able or been given a complete picture on it. And that complete picture is extremely important to understand. It's not just let me aesthetically look good and get toned and be fit. It rebuilds and preserves muscle. So this is an obvious one. But I'm going to say clearly, you are not just maintaining what you have. Progressive resistance training, progressive training, progressive strength training,

12:27whatever terminology you want me to say and how you want me to say it, done consistently, can actually build new muscle at any age. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss,

12:58Warrior Babe is here for you. At Warrior Babe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today

13:28to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. So if you think that the doctor is telling you, oh, well, this is just something that like you got to get used to as you age or like it's impossible to build new muscle tissue as you get older post-menopause because of X, Y, Z. BS. I am calling hard BS on that.

13:58Women in their 60s, in their 70s, who begin doing a properly structured strength training program, I have seen be able to gain measurable muscle mass. The biological capacity to build muscle does not disappear as you age. It requires more intention, yes, like you can't just be in the gym going through the motions and if you're afraid, like I know you guys are like, oh, I'm afraid of getting injured, well then hire a personal trainer when you're inside of the gym to do the workouts with you

14:28or inside of Warrior Babe, VIP one-on-one coaching, they have accountability and calls weekly to be able to talk about these things and monthly one-on-one conversations with your coach to be able to look at your form and be able to optimize the things that can help you go into a workout feeling more confident if that is one of the things in your mind saying, well, I'm too afraid to do X. Stop with the excuses. Get past the excuses or ultimately when you're in your 70s,

15:00there's, you're gonna, if you don't do strength training, you're gonna look drastically different than somebody who does and of all the things I've already listed. And I'm saying this with tough love because I want you guys to quit doing the classes and Pilates. Like, you can do Pilates for functional strength and mobility or functional stretching and mobility, but please stop thinking that Pilates is going to give you muscle and build muscle. Nothing

15:30other than strength training and the amount of resistance that a dumbbell and a barbell are putting on your body is going to supersede what strength training can give you when it comes to building muscle. Yes. So, it requires more intention. It requires you to be inside the gym and challenging yourself. It requires you to eat more protein. It requires you to have more recovery. For those of you guys who are training six days a week, stop. But, like, it requires those things, but it is absolutely there for you to be able

16:01to gain, for you to be able to build muscle. You are never too old to build something. Also, the reason why I can eat 2600 calories is because I've elevated my resting metabolism. So, every pound of muscle that you add, and I've seen more people do this, raises the number of calories your body burns at rest. Not during workouts, but at rest. So, me sitting here filming this podcast or you sitting at the desk, you sleeping,

16:31you watching TV, more muscle mass means a faster metabolic rate around the clock. This is why the women who commit to strength training do not have to eat less and less and less to maintain their body composition as they age. This is why when you see and go to Worry Babe's website and you go to our success page and you listen to testimonial videos, interviews, you read things, the main wins that we have inside of Worry Babe is that they are eating more food

17:02than when they joined the program which is ultimately helping them to gain muscle and now they have built the metabolic engine that keeps things running efficiently. That is the word efficiently. As I said earlier, it also dramatically improves your insulin sensitivity. Muscle tissue is the primary state of glucose uptake in your body. therefore, more muscle

17:33means more places for blood sugar to go in layman terms which means better blood sugar regulation, lower insulin levels, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and less fat sores driven by insulin resistance. That right there you guys, if you have insulin resistance and you're not strength training is a huge reason why you need to be strength training.

18:03It is one of the most powerful interventions available for metabolic health. In many cases, it is more powerful than medication for early stage insulin resistance. I promise you that. I will lay my life on it. Why? Because I've seen hundreds if not thousands of testimonies inside of Warrior Babe saying that this has improved in their life. It protects your bones. I mentioned this already but I want to go deeper because it matters enormously for women specifically.

18:33The mechanical loading of strength training stimulates bone forming cells called osteoblasts. I'm bringing in the clinical area of my nursing degree when we were in the orthopedic unit. So yeah, it brings in that. This is how bone density is maintained and even increased. So cardio does not do this. Walking does not do this. Not to the same degree that heavy resistance

19:04training does. Women who strength train consistently have measurably higher bone density than women who do not. And bigger bone density means lower fracture risk which as I mentioned earlier in older age is directly correlated with your independence, with your quality of life and in some cases even survival. Falling down. It could be a broken hip or it could be a life or death situation. This is why guys it's so

19:34much more than just like aesthetics and like I want to be toned. Like I said like it literally improves every area of your health and your life. Other areas it does. It improves and balances your hormones. It protects your brain. It gives you back your confidence. confidence. Again I'm not just talking about aesthetic confidence here though like that is real and valid. I'm talking about like the deep cellular confidence that comes from knowing what your body can actually do.

20:05I did a Q&A on my Instagram last week and one of them one of the questions was what kept you motivated the beginning of your fitness journey? Guys it was one winning because I was in the bodybuilding world. I was motivated to win but at the same time I was also motivated to see what hard things I could actually do right and what my body was actually capable of and me actually setting my mind to something and being like this is going to be extremely hard and

20:36I don't know what I'm getting myself involved with but I want to see I want to succeed and I want to be able to see how far I can go with it. That's confidence right from adding weight to the bar week after week from picking up something heavy and feeling strong from inhabiting your body as like capable and this powerful thing rather than this problem to be managed as I talked about in a couple episodes earlier about what about if you're looking at fitness different like what about if you're looking at fitness all wrong and

21:06it's why I brought in like faith and like how we need our steward our body is this valuable piece that is given to us by God valuable thing that has been given to us by God rather than looking at it like this is just a problem that I have to fix. You are capable you are powerful and we have been given this one body to do right but for it like that confidence does not come from sure like if you guys sign up for marathons and do half marathons there's this high like there's runners high but the

21:38confident I don't truly believe confidence comes from cardio it it it doesn't come from the scale it comes from building something and knowing that you build it and knowing that you did the hard things and knowing that like you walked into the weight room when it was intimidating and you picked up the weight and you still did it right that's where confidence comes from. Really quick I want to spend like a few things that I hear most often from women that are not strength training because I think they deserve

22:08a direct response it's more so like the excuses that I hear. And I just want to lean in again and give you guys some tough love on it. I hear a lot of and there's probably like some things like this stirring in your mind as I've been talking throughout this episode today when I emphasize the importance of strength training and I talk about all the time there's still so there's social media posts for me the social media posts for Maggie about it where it's like well I don't want to look like a man and I don't want to get too bulky. We have talked about this before and I will keep saying it

22:39until it stops being a barrier. Building significant muscle mass as a woman is genuinely very difficult. It requires years. I've been in this for 11 years doing it the right way and do I I mean I have muscle yes but if you see me in person I have a very beautiful feminine structure. Getting to that muscle mass it requires years of intentional progressive heavy training combined with eating in calorie

23:10surpluses in order to get that big. It does not hear me loud and clear. It does not happen accidentally. It does not happen because you started lifting three days a week. The women that you picture when you think of too muscular have worked extraordinarily hard for years to look that way and some of them are taking drugs to get them to be enhanced to get them to look that way or enhancing themselves to get that look.

23:40You will not stumble into it. What you will stumble into with consistent strength training is a body that is leaner, sexier, more defined, stronger and most importantly like I said earlier more metabolically efficient. That is the outcome. Not bulking. You won't look like a man. Promise me or promise I promise you on that. Another one that I hear and I'm sure it's popping up too in your eyes's brains well I don't know what to do.

24:10I don't know where to start. I don't know the weight room is intimidating. I don't know what to do in the weight room. This is the most honest and most solvable excuse that I hear or objection that I hear. Not knowing is a starting point. Not a disqualification. Every woman who is strong today, me, for example, or the women that you see on Moria Bebbs website did not know what she was doing at some point. I've told you guys this story multiple times.

24:40I had to YouTube every single exercise before I went into the gym or even sometimes mid-workout just to understand because my workout programs didn't come in this fancy app where they gave me this tutorial video. It was an email with day one, hamstring, glutes, calves, and the exercises listed. And I looked at these exercises and I'm like, what the heck is a side-laying single leg leg press?

25:11So I would YouTube it and I would get to know what I'm supposed to do. That it, please don't tell me that you are the woman and if you are, we need to have a conversation because I will lean into you that at the start of something looks at the next next task that has to be done and you're like, oh no, this isn't for me. I'm done. I'm out. Girl, we need to have a heart-to-heart. You can't back out of something without taking the first step to try something and take action.

25:41You're not a quitter, right? So you can't immediately disqualify yourself from trying something. You just, you start by learning. You learn by starting. You start with the basics and you build from there. You have so many tools and resources at your fingertips to be, to get and feel confident in the gym. There are coaches. There are programs. There's Warrior Babe VIP. There's communities, our free community on Facebook. There's resources that we give in Warrior Babe everywhere. They're specifically

26:11designed to take a woman from knowing nothing to feeling completely at home with macros or with a barbell. the knowledge gap closes when you step into it, when you learn by starting. So walk into the weight room and just have the figure it out type of mentality, guys. That's what you need to do in order to be successful. And then I kind of talked about this one earlier. I'm too old to start. No, you're not. Please. Like the research is

26:42huge on this. Women in their 60s or 70s or 80s who begin structured resistance training programs gain muscle. They improve bone density. They increase their metabolic rate. They do everything increase their improve their quality of life. You guys see it. It's on Instagram. It's on social media. You are not too old to start. The best time to start strength training is now. It was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now, right? Like the best time to do it is right now. Mine is what I just said.

27:12The best time to do it is right now. And then the last thing is I don't have enough time. I just want to like go through this computer and like me filming and like if this is your excuse, I just want to shake you. Guys, I have seen busy moms with three different careers, a responsibility at home still make time to get in 45 minutes a couple times a week. That is enough to

27:44produce meaningful, measurable results in muscle mass and strength and in your body composition. That is maybe two to three hours per week, you guys. Per week. You mean to tell me that you don't have those hours a week to dedicate for you? I call BS again. Straight up. It's just because one, your time management is whack and you need to do better with your time management. And two, you're not making it a priority. Next time, you've heard me say this before, next time you

28:14say I'm too busy, just say, please be honest and real and transparent. I'm just not making it a priority. The return that you get by going into the gym three days a week for three hours a week is a faster metabolism, stronger bones, better. I mean, the upside is crazy. Two to three hours per week is the best investment that you will ever make into yourself. Okay? So I hope that like me pouring into you

28:45right now is giving you guys like a virtual shake. And that I hope that you know, you go in, you do some compound movements this week. You, you, you're progressive with it. There's episodes on being on progressive strength training. We don't know what that means. And you are consistent over time with it. And you actually eat enough protein and you force yourself, not force, you challenge yourself inside of the gym to not just go through the motions, but actually put

29:15that stress on your body that it needs in order for your muscle to be stimulated to grow. And it's possible. It's possible. The version of you at 60, 70, 80, her quality of life, her strength, her independence, her health, that is being determined right now by the choices that you are making literally today. not someday, literally now. And also, strength training is there's, it's not vanity. It's not optional. It's not something that you do when you have

29:46extra time or when you feel motivated. It is the most important, like I said, physical investment available to you as a woman who wants to age powerfully instead of quietly declining. I've seen one too many people decline. But I've also seen thousands of people age powerfully. And if this is like, you guys are like, I'm here, I'm ready. Go check out Warrior Babe. There's nothing better than when you are motivated to do something and you understand the importance of it to take action and to get yourself into a program

30:16that is one, aligned with what you need and we're going to meet you with where you're at and then get you on the path to successfully reaching the goals of what I just talked about in this podcast. WarriorBabe.com. Check it out. All right? And share this episode for somebody in your life who needs to hear it. And I'll see you guys in the next episode. Love y'all. Peace out. Hey, really quick, before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment

30:47to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all of the difference, helping more women discover the tools they need to transform the fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.