Older adults, even those over 85, can gain just as much leg strength as younger seniors from 12 weeks of regular weight training — and some even gain a bit more!

Older women who started out weaker in their legs got stronger in their legs more than the stronger ones after doing leg exercises for 12 weeks, but everyone gained about the same amount of muscle and upper-body strength.

In young women, doing resistance training three times a week for 10 weeks with either the same exercises or varied exercises leads to similar improvements in leg muscle thickness and strength, meaning changing exercises does not produce better results.

If older guys who are already active do full-body strength training three times a week for three months, they’ll get stronger legs and bigger leg muscles—even without adding extra protein to their diet.

If older women who aren't used to working out do 12 weeks of strength training—using 8 exercises and doing 10 to 15 reps each time—they’ll get noticeably stronger in both arms and legs, gain muscle, and improve key health markers, whether they do one or three sets per exercise.

If you're a guy who lifts weights and gets close to failure—like stopping just 1 or 2 reps short—you'll get just as strong as if you pushed yourself to the absolute max. Over 10 weeks, both ways boost leg strength by 20–35%.