Lift for Longevity: Why Strength Training Is the Best Thing You Can Do After 35

Here's the plot twist in modern fitness. The most compelling reason to lift weights isn't how you look in a vest or a sports bra. It's your blood sugar, your bones, your balance and, according to a growing pile of research, how long you live.

The numbers that changed the conversation

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Momma and colleagues) pooled prospective studies on muscle-strengthening activity. Doing 30 to 60 minutes a week was associated with a 10 to 20% lower risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, and with lower diabetes risk. It isn't a case of more is always better, though. The curve flattened, and at very high volumes the benefits were less clear. Combined with aerobic exercise, the associations were stronger still.

That's why both the World Health Organization and the NHS tell adults to do muscle-strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on at least two days a week, on top of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity (or 75 to 150 of vigorous).

The HN24 take this isn't a bodybuilding programme. Two solid sessions of 30 to 45 minutes a week ticks the box.

For him

Keep the engine and the chassis

From about your 30s onwards, you gradually lose muscle unless you give it a reason to stay. Less muscle means a lower capacity to handle glucose, a creeping waistline and, eventually, a harder time getting off the floor. Men also tend to carry fat around the middle, where it's most metabolically harmful.

Strength training pushes back on all of it. You don't need to max out. You need to train close to effort, with good form, and add a little load or a rep over time. That principle, progressive overload, is the whole game.

For her

Bones, menopause and the strength revolution

For women, the case is even sharper. Oestrogen helps protect bone and muscle, and as it falls through perimenopause and menopause, bone loss speeds up. The NHS lists weak bones (osteoporosis) among the longer-term effects of menopause.

For years, women with low bone mass were told to stick to gentle exercise. The LIFTMOR trial (Watson and colleagues, 2018) challenged that. Postmenopausal women with low bone mass did 8 months of supervised, high-intensity resistance and impact training: deadlifts, overhead presses, back squats and jumping chin-ups with drop landings. They improved bone mineral density at the spine and hip and their physical function, with no serious injuries, compared with a low-intensity home programme. The key word is supervised. They built up gradually with coaching.

That's why the lifting rack has become one of the busiest corners of women's fitness, and why Pilates on its own, lovely as it is, may not load bone enough.

Your two-day starter plan

Do each session twice a week, on non-consecutive days. Choose a weight that leaves you 2 or 3 reps from failure on the last set.

Day A

1. Goblet squat: 3 sets of 8 to 12
2. Dumbbell bench or floor press: 3 x 8 to 12
3. One-arm dumbbell row: 3 x 10 each side
4. Glute bridge or hip thrust: 3 x 12
5. Dead bug: 3 x 8 each side

Day B

1. Romanian deadlift with dumbbells or a kettlebell: 3 x 8 to 10
2. Reverse lunge: 3 x 8 each side
3. Overhead press: 3 x 8 to 10
4. Lat pulldown or band pull-apart: 3 x 12
5. Farmer's carry: 3 walks of 30 to 40 m

Add weight when you can complete the top of the rep range on every set. Write it down. A training log is the cheapest performance tool you'll ever own.

No gym? No excuse

A pair of adjustable dumbbells or a couple of kettlebells covers most of the plan above. Backpacks filled with books, 5-litre water bottles and a sturdy step work too. Plenty of community gyms and park outdoor-gym stations across South Africa will do the job.

Ground rules for staying uninjured

• Learn the hinge and the squat before loading them. One session with a qualified coach or biokineticist is money well spent, especially if you have back or joint history.
• Warm up with 5 minutes of easy cardio plus a light set of your first lift.
• Sleep and protein are part of the programme (see our protein guide).
• Get medical clearance first if you have heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure or known osteoporosis with previous fractures.

Grip, getting up and the "sit-to-stand" test

Researchers studying ageing like simple tests, because they predict independence later in life. Two you can try at home:

• Sit-to-stand: how many times can you stand up fully from a chair and sit back down, arms crossed, in 30 seconds? Track the number every few months.
• Floor rise: can you get down to the floor and back up without using your hands, or with only one? It's harder than it sounds, and it improves with squats, lunges and hip mobility work.

Grip strength is another widely studied marker of overall health. Farmer's carries and dead hangs build it directly.

You don't have to lift heavy on day one. You just need to lift a little heavier than last month.

How hard is hard enough?

The most common mistake isn't lifting too heavy. It's lifting too light for years. Use the reps-in-reserve rule: on your last set, stop when you could only have managed 2 or 3 more good reps. If you could have done 10 more, the weight is too light. As a rough guide:

• Weeks 1 to 4: learn the movements, finishing each set with 3 or 4 reps in reserve.
• Weeks 5 to 12: work at 1 to 3 reps in reserve, and add weight or reps every week or two.
• After 3 months: consider a simple structured programme, or a few sessions with a coach to check your form.

Pair it with protein and vitamin D

Muscle needs building material, so aim for a protein-rich meal after training. Bone health also depends on calcium and vitamin D. In sunny South Africa many people get enough vitamin D from sunlight, but not everyone does, especially people who cover up, stay indoors or have darker skin. Ask your doctor if you're unsure.