If you’re reading this and thinking “I should have started lifting weights years ago,” you’re right. But if you’re using that as an excuse not to start today, you’re missing the point entirely.
The best time to start strength training was when you were young. The second best time is right now, no matter how old you are. Whether you’re 25, 55, or 75, building muscle strength is one of the most important things you can do for your longevity and quality of life.
Here’s what you need to know about when to start, why it’s never too late, and why weight training beats cardio for building the muscle your body needs to thrive.
Starting Young: Building Your Strength Reserve
Let’s be honest: starting strength training in your teens or twenties gives you a massive advantage. When you build muscle and strength early, you’re creating a reserve you’ll draw on for the rest of your life.
Here’s why starting young matters:
You’re fighting time from day one. After age 30, you naturally begin losing muscle mass and strength unless you actively work to maintain it. The more muscle you build in your youth, the more you have to lose before it becomes a serious problem.
Falls become deadly after 65. Dr. Attia shares a sobering statistic: “Once you reach the age of 65, your mortality from a fall that results in a broken hip or femur is 15% to 30%. And of all the people who survive, 50% will never again regain the level of function they had before the injury.”
Why do people fall? It’s not just balance. When you trip or step off a curb unexpectedly, your body needs to react explosively to catch yourself. That requires fast-twitch muscle fibers that allow you to adjust quickly. These are the first fibers that atrophy as you age.
Muscle protects your metabolic health. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, a physician trained in geriatrics and nutritional science, explains: “Skeletal muscle is your primary site for glucose metabolism, fatty acid metabolism. It’s your glucose sink.”
When you have substantial muscle mass, glucose from the carbohydrates you eat gets stored in muscle as glycogen. Your blood sugar stays regulated, and you maintain insulin sensitivity. Without adequate muscle, glucose ends up in your liver and fat tissue, increasing your risk of Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
The earlier you build this metabolic machinery, the better equipped you are to maintain your health as you age.
But What If You’re Already Older?
Here’s the good news that many people don’t realize: You can build muscle at any age.
Dr. Lyon is emphatic about this: “Anyone at any time can get stronger and put on muscle. Anyone at any time can get stronger and put on muscle.”
Research consistently shows that even people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s respond to resistance training by building strength and muscle mass. You might not build muscle as quickly as a 25-year-old, but you absolutely can get stronger.
Dr. Layne Norton, a nutrition and exercise science researcher, explains: “When we look at how much muscle you can build after a certain age, you can build the same amount of muscle as a percentage of your starting skeletal muscle mass.” In other words, even if you’ve lost some muscle over the years, resistance training can help you regain it proportionally.
Studies on older adults show remarkable results:
- People in their 70s and 80s who begin strength training can increase their muscle mass and functional strength significantly
- Even individuals who have never lifted weights before can make substantial gains
- Strength training improves balance, reduces fall risk, and enhances quality of life at any age
The problem isn’t that you can’t build muscle when you’re older; it’s that we’ve normalized decline. We see our parents slow down, get weaker, and lose muscle, so we assume that’s just “what happens.” But it’s not inevitable. It’s a choice.
As Dr. Lyon puts it: “The traditional framework of aging is in part the way that it is because we have divorced the idea of skeletal muscle from health. Because of that thought process, we have divorced skeletal muscle health from overall health and wellness and longevity.”
Don’t Wait: Every Year Matters
If you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s and haven’t been strength training, the worst thing you can do is wait another year. Every year you delay is another year of muscle loss, another year of declining strength, and another year closer to the point where falls become life-threatening.
According to Dr. Andy Galpin, exercise physiologist and professor of kinesiology, muscle strength is “by far a stronger predictor of both how long you’re going to live as well as how well you will live within those years.”
Dr. Lyon adds the stark reality: “If you are in the lower one-third of strength, you have roughly a 50% greater risk of dying from nearly anything.”
That’s not a typo. Being in the bottom third for strength means you have 50% higher all-cause mortality compared to being in the top third. This isn’t about looking good; it’s about survival and quality of life.
Why Weights Beat Cardio for Building Muscle
Many people, especially as they get older, stick to walking, cycling, or other cardiovascular activities. These are great for heart health and general fitness, but they won’t build or maintain the muscle mass you need.
Dr. Lyon is clear on this point: “There is no replacement for resistance training and muscle mass. There is none. You will not get the same stimulus by doing cardiovascular activity.”
She explains further: “If an individual is solely focused on cardiovascular activity, this will not maintain in a meaningful way these Type 2 or bigger bulky muscle fibers. When you lose skeletal muscle mass, you also see a change in metabolic health.”
Here’s what this means in practical terms: cardio doesn’t prevent sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). Only resistance training does.
Cardiovascular exercise has its place. VO2 max (a measure of cardiovascular fitness) is indeed a strong predictor of longevity. But you can’t replace strength training with cardio and get the same benefits. The ideal approach is both, but if you’re currently doing only cardio, adding strength training will provide benefits that your running, cycling, or swimming alone simply cannot deliver.
Any Exercise Is Better Than Nothing
Let’s be clear: if you’re currently walking 30 minutes a day instead of sitting on the couch, that’s fantastic. Don’t stop.
All movement is good for you. Walking, swimming, dancing, yoga, cycling; if you’re moving your body instead of sitting, you’re ahead of the game.
But if you could only pick one type of exercise for longevity, health, and quality of life as you age, the science is overwhelmingly clear: strength training wins.
Not because cardio doesn’t matter (it does). Not because flexibility isn’t important (it is). But because building and maintaining muscle strength provides benefits that no other form of exercise can fully replicate.
What Strength Training Actually Looks Like
Before you panic about needing a gym membership or complex equipment, understand this: strength training doesn’t have to be complicated.
Resistance training simply means moving your body or a load against resistance. This includes:
- Free weights (dumbbells, barbells)
- Machines at the gym
- Bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges)
- Resistance bands
- Kettlebells
Dr. Lyon shares a perfect example: “My dad was doing resistance bands with bicep curls in Ecuador. I’m okay with that. If you want to do that, and that’s how you’re going to do your upper body or your arms, fine.”
The point is to move against resistance, not to follow some perfect program.
The Minimum Effective Dose
Multiple longevity experts converge on similar recommendations:
Frequency: 3 days per week (minimum 2 days if that’s all you can manage)
Volume: 10 to 20 sets per muscle group per week
Rep Range: 7 to 12 reps per set (the sweet spot for muscle growth)
Approach: Full-body workouts are ideal for most people, focusing on compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and presses
This is not a huge time commitment. Three sessions per week, 45-60 minutes each, including warm-up. That’s less time than most people spend watching TV in a single evening.
The Brutal Reality of Not Starting
Let’s talk about what happens if you don’t strength train:
Frailty destroys quality of life. Without muscle strength, eventually you can’t get out of a chair without help. You can’t carry groceries. You can’t play with your grandchildren. You lose independence and end up in a nursing home. Two-thirds of nursing home residents are women, largely due to loss of strength and muscle.
Your metabolic health declines. Without adequate muscle mass to serve as your glucose sink, you become increasingly insulin resistant. Your risk of Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome skyrockets.
Falls become increasingly likely and deadly. That single misstep off a curb at age 70 could mean a broken hip, surgery, loss of function, and potentially death within a year.
Dr. Lyon’s message is simple: “You are never going to regret being stronger. Period, end of story.”
How to Get Started (Even If You’ve Never Lifted Weights)
If you’re convinced but don’t know where to start, here’s the simplest approach:
Step 1: Start with what you have. No equipment? Begin with bodyweight exercises like push-ups (or knee push-ups), squats, lunges, and planks. Have resistance bands? Use them for banded squats, rows, and chest presses.
Step 2: Train 3 times per week. Pick three non-consecutive days (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday). Do 2 to 3 exercises for lower body and 2 to 3 exercises for upper body each session.
Step 3: Warm up properly. Spend at least 10 to 20 minutes on dynamic stretching, mobility work, and light movement before you lift. This dramatically reduces injury risk.
Step 4: Progress gradually. The key to getting stronger is progressive overload: gradually increasing the challenge over time. This can mean adding more weight, doing more reps, or improving your form. You don’t need to progress every workout, but over weeks and months, you should be getting stronger.
Step 5: Prioritize recovery. Sleep 7 to 9 hours per night. Eat adequate protein (roughly 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of body weight). Don’t do heavy strength training on consecutive days. Listen to your body.
If you’re over 50 or have any health conditions, consult with a healthcare provider or work with a qualified trainer who understands how to program for older adults. Nobody expects you to start with powerlifting. You begin with bodyweight movements, progress to light weights or resistance bands, and build from there.
Dr. Stacy Sims, an exercise physiologist specializing in women’s health, describes working with people who started completely sedentary: “Over three months, we did a series of bodyweight and kettlebell type exercises in a circuit, followed by walking, and people started with 51% body fat, not being able to get through the warm-up, not being able to hold themselves up in a plank, and in three months, they could plank for two minutes. They could walk for three miles.”
The point is clear: there is never an age or skill level when your body will not respond to strategic stress.
The Bottom Line
The ideal time to start strength training was when you were young. If you’re still young, start now and build a strength reserve you’ll thank yourself for decades from now.
If you’re older and haven’t been training, the second-best time to start is today. Research shows you can still build muscle in your 70s, 80s, and beyond. But don’t wait another year, another month, or another week.
Any exercise is beneficial, but if you’re serious about longevity, metabolic health, fall prevention, and maintaining your independence, strength training isn’t optional. Cardio is important, but it won’t build the muscle mass you need to thrive as you age.
As Dr. Peter Attia puts it: “No one in the final decade of their life ever said, ‘I wish I had less strength and I wish I had less endurance.’ You cannot be too strong.”
Start building your strength today. Your future self will thank you for every rep.
References:
Lyon, Dr. G. Featured on The Diary of a CEO: The Anti-Obesity Doctor: If You Don’t Exercise, This Is What’s Happening To You
Attia, Dr. P. Featured on The Diary of a CEO: Anti-Aging Expert: Anti-aging Cure No One Talks About
Attia, Dr. P. Featured on The Diary of a CEO: The 7-Day Training Blueprint To Live Longer
Galpin, Dr. A. Featured on Huberman Lab: Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size & Endurance
Norton, Dr. L. Featured on Huberman Lab: Dr. Layne Norton: Tools for Nutrition & Fitness
Tsatsouline, P. Featured on Huberman Lab: Pavel Tsatsouline: Build Strength, Endurance & Flexibility at Any Age
PubMed: Strength training in older adults
Harvard Health: Adding weight lifting to workouts may boost longevity
TIME Magazine: Why Strength Training Is the Best Anti-Ager
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