Why women should take up weight training

Taking up a new form of exercise can be daunting at the best of times, nevermind when it's weight lifting and involves having to face the free weights section at your gym.

But strength training has boomed in popularity in recent years, especially among women, and experts have been extolling its virtues when it comes to health and longevity for years.

Aoife Ní Eochaidh, Chartered Physiotherapist, joined Today with Claire Byrne to chat more about the benefits of hitting the weights.

While any form of exercise that you enjoy is a good and worthy one, Ní Eochaidh asserts that simply going for a walk isn't enough when it comes to fitness. "Keep the walk going, but my advice is - and I couldn't recommend this enough - how important weight training is for women for their health, and how effective it is", she said.

She added that she knows how intimidating the free weights section can be - even with over 25 years of experience as a physiotherapist herself! "But we have to get over that. It's not too difficult, take small steps."

Starting simply with weights and even resistance bands at home is ideal, if the gym feels like too big a step at first. If you have a medical condition that needs monitoring, reaching out to a physiotherapist or a personal trainer can be an excellent way of getting to grips with weights safely, if your finances allow.

So why is strength training so beneficial for women?

Ní Eochaidh said that it's very effective for weight management. She added that women, "as they're going through perimenopause from age 38 if they eat the same diet and do the same exercise, the average weight gain is two stone".

Not only that, but women of all ages, and especially those going through perimenopause or menopause, "need to be careful of our bones".

"We know one in two women in Ireland over 50 will fracture, break a bone, due to bone changes and we know that if you do the weight training, it really helps the bone density." For people living with osteopenia, Ní Eochaidh said, 40 per cent will experience a fracture.

Adopting weight training is beneficial at all ages, but it is particularly ideal to start before perimenopause sets in, she said. "The sooner you start the better."

"As women, as we lose oestrogen after menopause, we have a renewed ability for exercise. Not that we become more like men, but honestly you'll see women in their mid-50s taking up things ... that they never did before", Ní Eochaidh said.

To start at home, she recommended buying free weights, as light as 1kg each, and beginning with simple movements. "You can make your own weights at home, as well, with bottles of water."

Ní Eochaidh explained that weight training can help reverse osteopenia in some cases, though it's not always guaranteed. What you can work on, she added, is halting it.

If it's aesthetic changes you're after too, Ní Eochaidh said that within three weeks you could start to see changes thanks to the "snowball effect" of weight training: "When you start doing the weight training and going to the gym, you will start to watch the food a little bit and the diet a little bit."

Strength training also isn't restricted to free weights and sturdy gym machines: water aerobics, hiking, climbing and more are all forms of resistance training.

And if you're worried about "bulking up" by lifting weights, Ní Eochaidh assured listeners that, "if you're doing the exercises in the right order, in the right way" you should see the results you want. Working with a dietician can help further monitor nutrition, but she said: "To be honest, it is not a concern I see in my patients in my clinics."

For the full interview, click above.