Start Strength Training for Good Health

And the health payoffs are big. Just a few months of strength (also called resistance) training—at home, in a gym or fitness center—can lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, help you avoid osteoporosis, decrease arthritic symptoms and build muscle so you remain active and independent for years to come.

Losing muscle with age

Most women know that aging can weaken our bones. If left untreated, this condition (called osteopenia) can lead to osteoporosis. A related process—called sarcopenia—happens when our muscles and lean body mass begin to decline.

"The loss of muscle mass starts in your early 30s," says Michael J. Hewitt, Ph.D., research director for exercise science at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson. "By the time a woman is in her mid-40s, she may have lost 6 to 7 percent of her muscle mass."

If that muscle isn't retained or rebuilt, you lose strength. You also lose metabolic rate, Hewitt adds, which causes you to gain weight. Eventually, as muscle mass declines further with each decade, everyday activities—such as rising from a chair, putting away the dishes, or getting out of the bathtub—may become too difficult to manage.