Strength training delivers a long list of benefits, especially for women over 50. But time is often the biggest barrier. A September 2025 study offers an encouraging takeaway: two 30-minute weight-training sessions a week may be enough to build muscle, which can support steadier metabolism and better mobility as you age.
The small study, included 42 healthy people who followed a lifting program using one set of eight to 10 reps per exercise.
Participants were split into two groups:
- Training to failure: pushing reps until they could not complete another rep with good form
- Leaving reps in reserve: working hard but stopping while they still had some capacity left
Participants completed nine exercises targeting major muscle groups twice a week for eight weeks. Each session lasted 30 minutes.
Afterwards, researchers looked at changes in muscle thickness in selected areas of the body, along with measures of muscle strength, power and endurance.
All participants increased strength and built muscle, regardless of whether they trained to failure or left a few reps in reserve.
“In our study, the workouts were sufficiently hard to challenge the participants’ muscles beyond their present capacity,” said exercise science professor Brad Schoenfeld. “This is key to making continued muscular gains.”
The result matters because it suggests that consistency and effort may matter more than long workouts, especially for people trying to fit strength training into a busy week.
A lot happens in the body when you lift, including muscle strain, metabolic stress and signalling inside the muscle, exercise and nutrition sciences academic Luke Pryor explains. Even shorter sessions can tap into those processes.
Short sessions can also mean less rest between sets, which may increase metabolic stress. “By shortening the recovery time, it drives up metabolic stress,” Pryor said.
Pryor added that participants already did resistance training, which suggests this approach may also work for people who are not starting from scratch. “These shorter sessions are really effective for those who are sedentary, but this shows that even in folks who have been exercising for a number of years, you can still maintain or even grow skeletal muscle in these shorter sessions,” he said.
Benefits of strength-training
Strength training supports far more than appearance. Research suggests lifting can help support bone density, which becomes increasingly important with age.
“There are also links to longevity and hormonal improvements,” registered dietitian Albert Matheny said. Strength training can also increase metabolism, he noted.
“Resistance training has a plethora of benefits for almost all organ systems,” Schoenfeld said. “This includes improved ability to carry out tasks of everyday living, enhanced metabolic function, better cardiovascular health, better mental health, and greater injury resistance, among others.”
How to get started with weight-training
If you want to start lifting, Matheny suggests giving yourself extra time early on to learn the basics. “You have to work a bit to figure out the right weight to get the most out of each exercise,” he said. If it is an option, a session with a qualified trainer can help with technique and safe progression.
While the study used exercises that mostly targeted one muscle at a time, Matheny recommends prioritising compound movements, which use multiple muscle groups. Pryor agrees: “You want to do exercises that recruit a lot of muscle.”
Matheny recommends focusing on moves like:
- Push-ups
- Squats
- Lunges
- Deadlifts
- Pull-ups
Schoenfeld also suggests keeping rest between sets under two minutes to make the most of your time. But he recommends choosing exercises that match your goals and preferences. “Ultimately, personal choice should dictate which exercises you select,” he said.
Any strength training is better than none. You may not even need 30 minutes to benefit. As long as the workout challenges your muscles, “you can even get results with 20-minute sessions,” Pryor said.
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