Do men and women get stronger the same way when they lift weights after 60?
Evaluation of sex-based differences in resistance exercise training-induced changes in muscle mass, strength, and physical performance in healthy older (≥60 y) adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Women showed greater relative strength gains despite lower absolute gains.
Most assume men dominate all aspects of strength gains due to higher testosterone and muscle mass—but this shows women’s proportional improvement is actually superior.
Practical Takeaways
Older women should celebrate proportional gains—they’re improving more relative to their starting point than men.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Women showed greater relative strength gains despite lower absolute gains.
Most assume men dominate all aspects of strength gains due to higher testosterone and muscle mass—but this shows women’s proportional improvement is actually superior.
Practical Takeaways
Older women should celebrate proportional gains—they’re improving more relative to their starting point than men.
Publication
Journal
Ageing research reviews
Year
2023
Authors
Stephanie E. Hawley, Z. Bell, Yijia Huang, J. Gibbs, T. Churchward-Venne
Related Content
Claims (5)
When older men and women over 60 do strength training, the men tend to get stronger in their arms and legs than the women do, even when they’re doing the same workouts.
When older men and women over 60 start lifting weights, women tend to get stronger faster relative to how strong they were at the start—especially in their arms and legs—compared to men doing the same workout.
When older men and women over 60 do strength training, men tend to gain more total muscle mass than women, but when you account for their starting size, both sexes improve at about the same rate.
Women and men gain muscle at about the same rate relative to how much muscle they started with, but women end up gaining less total muscle because they usually start with less muscle to begin with.
When older adults (60+) do strength training, men and women gain muscle and get stronger in basically the same way—no big differences between the sexes.