Older women who lift weights—even just one arm or leg at a time—gain muscle and fight off the natural muscle loss that comes with aging.

Scientific Claim

Strength training, regardless of unilateral or bilateral approach, increases lean tissue mass in post-menopausal women, demonstrating that resistance exercise effectively counteracts age-related muscle loss in this population.

Original Statement

“The unilateral-training group had a greater increase in lower-body LTM compared to the control group (P<0.05); both training groups had greater increases in LTM of the upper- and whole-body compared to the control group.”

From study:The effect of unilateral and bilateral strength training on the bilateral deficit and lean tissue mass in post-menopausal women

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

definitive

Can make definitive causal claims

Assessment Explanation

The RCT design with a non-training control group allows definitive causal claims about resistance training’s effect on lean tissue mass in this demographic.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

The effect of unilateral and bilateral strength training on the bilateral deficit and lean tissue mass in post-menopausal women

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2006 Jun

Both types of strength training—using both arms/legs at once or one at a time—helped older women build more muscle than not training at all, proving that lifting weights works to fight muscle loss after menopause.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

The effect of unilateral and bilateral strength training on the bilateral deficit and lean tissue mass in post-menopausal women

Score: 47

DOI: 10.1007/s00421-006-0165-1

Similar Assertions

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