Why older women walk faster after lifting weights
The improvement in walking speed induced by resistance training is associated with increased muscular strength but not skeletal muscle mass in older women
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Skeletal muscle mass increased by only 2.4%—not enough to explain the 3.7% improvement in walking speed.
Common belief is that muscle growth drives functional gains, but here, muscle size barely changed while performance improved significantly.
Practical Takeaways
Older women should focus on progressive resistance training that builds strength and muscle efficiency—not just muscle size.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Skeletal muscle mass increased by only 2.4%—not enough to explain the 3.7% improvement in walking speed.
Common belief is that muscle growth drives functional gains, but here, muscle size barely changed while performance improved significantly.
Practical Takeaways
Older women should focus on progressive resistance training that builds strength and muscle efficiency—not just muscle size.
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Sport Science
Year
2017
Authors
L. Santos, A. Ribeiro, B. Schoenfeld, M. A. Nascimento, C. Tomeleri, M. F. Souza, F. Pina, E. Cyrino
Related Content
Claims (4)
When you lift weights over time, the main reason your body becomes leaner and more muscular is because your muscles grow bigger—not because you're losing fat or anything else.
When older women do strength training for 8 weeks, they tend to walk faster if their leg muscles get stronger or work better—but not if they just gain muscle mass or lose fat.
After doing strength training for 8 weeks, older women got stronger and their muscles worked better—but their muscles didn’t get bigger. This suggests their brains and bodies got better at using the muscles they already had, not at making new muscle.
When older women lift weights for 8 weeks, their muscles don’t get much bigger, but they do get stronger and walk faster—so it seems like something other than bigger muscles is helping them move better.