If you’re old enough to remember when jogging went mainstream (the ’70s) or the aerobics craze infiltrated fitness centers (the ’80s), then chances are you’ve already joined one of the latest top-trending exercises of this decade: strength training.
With fitness training for older adults clinching the No. 2 spot in the 2026 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) annual list of top fitness trends and strength training at No. 7, more older people are filling the nation’s weightrooms.
Catherine Jankowski, PhD, a researcher on aging and professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing, says: If you haven’t joined them yet, do it now.
“I always tell folks that when they start getting their AARP mail just before they turn 50, if they haven't started doing resistance training by then, that's a good time to start. The effects of resistance training in the 50-and-above age group is so important,” she said.
Jankowski, chair of Nursing’s Division of Adult Health Wellness, focuses on helping older adults maintain their independence through exercise.
An ACSM fellow, Jankowski has seen a shift in the value given strength training in recent years, a change she said can lead to better and longer lives for everyone.
Here are some of the well-researched benefits she says adding weights to your routine can have on your health.
Muscle loss is associated with aging and contributes to loss of strength and function. Called sarcopenia, age-related muscle loss begins around age 30, stealing about 3% to 5% of a person’s muscle mass per decade before accelerating around age 60.
Without maintaining muscle strength, people gradually lose their ability to stay active and engaged in life, contributing to loss of independence and social isolation, Jankowski said.
Another highly recognized benefit of strength training is a reduced risk of falls. “Our power, our ability to generate strength quickly, actually declines more than just our strength. And that becomes very important, because power is often what keeps us from falling when we trip, for example,” Jankowski said.
“So if we are walking down the sidewalk in Denver and there is a tree upheaval in the sidewalks, as there often are, we might trip on that. If you have muscle power, your legs will react quickly, and you may stumble, but you won't fall.”
Benefits at a glance
Strength training helps:
- Preserve muscle mass
- Build and maintain bone strength
- Reduce fall risk
- Improve balance and power
- Support joint health
- Control blood sugar
- Improve mood and cognition
- Promote independence
Falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries in adults 65 and older, with 1 in 4 older adults reporting a fall each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Muscle weakness accounts in part for the high incidence of falls, and lower bone density that also comes with aging contributes to the severity of falls in older people.
“If there's a fall, there can be a fracture, particularly of the hip (which loses its ability to absorb impact), and those can be difficult to recover from,” Jankowski said.
Women have a higher rate of hip fracture but more often recover than men, who have a very high one-year mortality rate after hip fracture, she said.
Of note: See how CU Anschutz researchers are taking a big STEP toward helping Coloradans prevent falls.
Once bones stop growing in mass and length, usually in young adulthood, keeping them strong becomes a lifelong task, Jankowski said.
“After bone maturity, there are two balancing physiological processes that are always going on: building bone, losing bone,” Jankowski said. “We can't stop them. We shouldn't stop them (it’s an essential maintenance process called bone remodeling). We just need to keep them even.”
Aging makes the balancing act more challenging for both sexes, and menopause adds another layer of difficulty for women.
“For women, starting before menopause, there's a change in how our bones turn over, and we have more loss of bone and less formation of bone,” Jankowski said.
“But even if there's some part of the process that we cannot overcome, we want to keep it as balanced as possible,” she said, adding that exercise with strength training is key to success.
Of note: See how exercise can be even more important during menopause.
“When you do weightlifting, for example, the muscles are contracting. The muscles are connected to bone via tendons, which pull on the bone. That creates a strain in the bone, which signals cells and communication between cells in the bone to begin formation.”
Weight-bearing exercises (climbing stairs, hiking, standing exercises) are also important for bones. Walking may not be enough to protect against bone loss. Bones need a greater stimulus to trigger formation and prevent loss, Jankowski said.
“Stepping up and down off benches or curbs or going up and down stairs are some simple exercises that actually put more strain on our bones than walking and stimulate the bones for formation.” Doing squats and free-weight exercises while standing are also effective, she said.
Moving strength-training exercises are even better, such as performing squats and lunges while holding dumbbells, Jankowski said. “You're stimulating and strengthening your legs, stimulating your balance, and stimulating your bones. So it is a trifecta.”
That’s not to say that weight machines are not good for muscle and bone health, she said. “You are still bearing extra weight on the bones, and your muscles are contracting and pulling on the bones. It’s just good, if you can, to mix it up.”
Did you know? Your bones store 99% of the body’s calcium, so without enough calcium (and vitamin D to facilitate absorption) in your diet, your body will leach the mineral from your bones, leaving them at risk for breaking.
Anyone with arthritis knows, it’s hard to keep moving with weak, stiff or painful joints. Starting a weightlifting program can be harder, but persevering with the guidance of an expert will be worth the effort, Jankowski said.
“The worst thing we can do to our joints is not use them. We have to stimulate the joints. We need to make those joints bend and move, because that movement actually helps keep the fluid moving.”
Strengthening the muscular system – which includes muscles, tendons and ligaments, all of which help support the joints – will strengthen the joints as they adapt to the exercise, she said.
“That's why I like the ‘start low and go slow’ motto for people that have not been exercising for a while or are just getting into weight training. The tendons also have to be trained and adapt.”
If after weightlifting a person’s knees, for instance, become too painful for movement, your routine needs to be re-assessed, she said. “It's probably not the right exercise, or it could be that the start was too aggressive.”
Key points:
- Strength training can help preserve muscle mass and power and help older people maintain the ability to do everyday activities and remain independent.
- Weight-bearing and resistance exercises stimulate bone remodeling, helping maintain bone density and lowering the risk of fractures.
- Improving muscle strength, balance and power help older adults react more quickly to trips or slips, reducing the likelihood of serious falls.
- Strength training also supports blood sugar control, joint health, mood, cognitive function and overall quality of life, helping people stay active and independent longer.
Weightlifting has also been shown to help control blood sugar levels, lower all-cause mortality and improve mood and cognition.
“Exercise of all types, including resistance exercise, improves mood,” said Jankowski, adding that’s important to her chief goal of helping people remain independent and living in their homes and community. “Independence requires both mental and physical health. The two cannot be clearly separated,” she said.
Poor mood leads to less mental stimulation and less socializing. In older adults, this could contribute to isolation, loneliness and even less exercise, perpetuating the cycle, she said.
“Overall, I would say resistance exercise improves the quality of life we can have for however long we're going to live. Our ability to move and feel strong helps us to also remain social, and that is a very, very important aspect of aging,” she said. “Really, what doesn’t it benefit?”
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