Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
#158 - Why Strength Training is the Key to Fat Loss, Strength & Aging Well
728 Plays13 days ago
If you've been doing all the "right" things — eating well, staying active — but still feel like something's missing, this episode is for you. Strength training is one of the most powerful (and most underrated) tools women have for sustainable fat loss, a stronger body, and feeling incredible as we age. And yet it's the thing so many of us are still not doing.
In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly why lifting weights needs to be part of your life — not just for how you look, but for how you feel, how you move, and how you age.
Here's what we cover:
From the age of 30, women lose 3–8% of muscle mass per decade — and that muscle is typically replaced by body fat. But here's the good news: resistance training can preserve and build muscle at any age. We're talking improved metabolism, stronger bones, protected joints, better balance, and the kind of functional strength that keeps you independent and thriving well into later life.
I also share the research — including a study showing a 7.7% increase in resting metabolic rate after just 16 weeks of strength training in adults aged 50–65, and a 33% reduction in depressive symptoms across multiple trials. This stuff works, and the science backs it up.
I'll also give you a simple, realistic weekly framework — daily walking plus 2–3 strength sessions with good form, progressive overload, and consistency — because that's all it takes to start seeing real results.
If you've been on the fence about lifting, this episode will change your mind.
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 — Welcome & why lifting matters more than you think
01:32 — Muscle loss, fat gain & what's really happening in your body
03:09 — The key benefits of strength training for women
04:54 — Real life strength stories
06:23 — Joints, chronic health & the brain-body connection
09:16 — The science-backed results you need to hear
11:34 — A simple weekly plan that actually works
13:37 — Form first — why technique is everything
15:47 — Time under tension explained
18:54 — Progressive overload basics
22:35 — Finding your style & staying consistent
25:12 — Final push & how NourisHer Coaching can help
Links & Resources:
- Learn more about KHH coaching here
- Subscribe to my weekly coaching newsletter here
- Access my FREE calorie calculator here
- Connect with me on Instagram here
- Connect with me on Facebook here
- Connect with me on TikTok here
- Connect with me on YouTube here
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit.
Music b LiQWYD Free download: hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb [http://hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb] Promoted by FreeMusicPromo [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbycji-eySnM3WD8mbxPUSQ] / @freemusicpromo
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton Health Podcast.
Introduction to Strength Training
00:00:05
Speaker
So in today's episode we are going to dive into what I think is the most important part that needs to be put in place into your lifestyle to give you a healthy, balanced life. It's a missing puzzle piece as far as I'm concerned when it comes to your health and your
Benefits for Muscle and Bone Health
00:00:30
Speaker
ah lifestyle. And that missing puzzle piece is strength training. So we are going to talk about not only the benefits of strength training, you know, the stuff that you hear mentioned all the time in relation to muscles and bone density and our old lady bodies and how we need to focus on being stronger for more independence, for more functionality as we get older. I also want to talk about strength training in relation to reducing body fat and burning calories more
Sustainable Fat Loss for Women
00:01:00
Speaker
efficiently. because a lot of women that I work with come to me because they want to lose body fat and they want to do it in a sustainable way so they can finally stop yo-yo dieting. And this really is the missing puzzle piece. And it's one that's often missed by women in particular because they don't understand its importance and its value regardless. when it comes to this goal of fat loss, sustainable fat loss, and maintaining a healthy body weight as we age. they don't A lot of people don't understand how important strength training really is for that goal.
00:01:32
Speaker
So let's just talk a little bit about muscle mass, first of all, and why it matters. Okay.
Counteracting Muscle Decline in Women
00:01:36
Speaker
So we lose as females, we lose three to 8% of our muscle mass per decade after the age of 30, 30, like that is just crazy when you think about it. And then over the age of 60, that rate, the rate of decline is even higher.
00:01:58
Speaker
But what I think is really a real misconception here is, you know, a lot of us know that, you know, we're losing muscle mass as we get older and our bones are getting less dense and we are more at risk of, you know, fractures. As we get older, we get frailer. And there's this kind of misconception that as we get older, we're becoming smaller, little, tiny, frail old ladies.
00:02:20
Speaker
But that isn't the case.
Aging and Muscle Loss Misconceptions
00:02:22
Speaker
What's actually happening is, yes, we're losing muscle mass. But that what do you think that muscle mass is being replaced by? It's being replaced by body fat. So your body fat percentage will increase over time if you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle mass that you are naturally losing.
00:02:42
Speaker
And that's what strength training does. It can help preserve and enhance your muscle mass at any age. You could start resistance training at 90 and you'll see positive benefits from it. So that's really, really important to note that Resistance training is the fight against that. That replacing of muscle mass with body fat is what people know as middle age spread.
00:03:04
Speaker
And there is something we can do about it, which is our strength training.
Metabolism and Bone Density Benefits
00:03:09
Speaker
Other benefits of strength training, stronger bones. Okay, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis by stressing your bone your bones. in a healthy way, your boosted metabolism. So it helps manage or lose weight by increasing your metabolism. So you burn more calories even at rest.
00:03:27
Speaker
This is a long game kind of thing with the boosted metabolism. As you are resistance training, you're building more muscle mass on your body, which won't be bulky. Don't worry. It's not going to make you bulky. It's actually going to give you that toned look that you're looking for. And this happens over time. The more muscle you have on your frame, the more calories. Calories is your body's measurement of energy. The more calories that your body requires, the more energy your body requires just to keep you being your fabulous self because muscle is more metabolically active than body fat. So
00:04:05
Speaker
ah If you have noticed that as you get older, you seem to need less and less calories to maintain your weight or lose weight or your weight is slowly creeping up and you haven't changed anything. It's because your metabolism is slowing down because your muscle mass is being replaced with body fat.
00:04:19
Speaker
All you got to do is start lifting weights and you'll start to see all of that change in the direction you want to see it change in.
Personal Anecdote on Quality of Life
00:04:25
Speaker
but Another benefit, better daily life. It enhances your quality of life and improves your ability to do everyday activities with ease. And you might think that that's something to think of as you get older, older, but not really. You know, even by the age of 30, some people can be experiencing little niggles in their joints. They might not be able to walk up, walk upstairs as easy without or coming down a hill. Their knees might be hurting or, you know, lifting their kids can be difficult. One huge increase in like quality of life that I really noticed when I started started resistance training was my strength around lifting my kids. So when I had my first child when I was 23 and my second child when I was 26, they were three years apart. But if we take my my oldest child, for example, when I used to go out just me and him when he was one or two and, you know, he was on his feet, but he was only toddling along and he couldn't go very far. If I was going somewhere, just me and him, I had to go somewhere that was buggy friendly because I had to be able to put him into the buggy when he got tired because I wasn't strong enough to lift him very far, which was fine. And I just thought that was kind of normal.
00:05:34
Speaker
But my youngest child, he's only eight. So he is seven and a half years younger than my oldest. He's four and a half years younger than my middle child. When he was the same age, kind of one or two, I remember that me and him could go off on little adventures together. We could go down the beach or we could go to the forest or whatever. And I didn't have to have him in a buggy because when he got tired, I could lift him and I could lift him up over my head and place him on my shoulders. That's how much stronger I had gotten. And I remember thinking, wow, this is really what it's all about.
00:06:08
Speaker
That these are the things that matter when it comes to strength. yeah it's great to look good. Yeah, it's great to be able to achieve a goal. But like when it comes down to it, it's the better daily life. It's the happiness and the freedom that it brings. That's actually the most important. So more reasons to lift than joint protection. So resistance training is obviously getting your muscles stronger, which is going to protect your joints from injury and contributes to better balance, which is going to reduce your risk of falls as you age.
Chronic Conditions and Strength Training
00:06:36
Speaker
So super, super important. But you know that's that elderly people can deteriorate quite quickly after a fall as well. This is the kind of thing you want to avoid. But also, like I said, that walking downhill, another thing I noticed was
00:06:50
Speaker
I love going hill walking and but I used to find that when I'd be coming downhill continuously for a while, the sides of my knees would get very sore. And i kind of went to a physio about it. Turns out my glutes, my hamstrings were weaker. So I had to do some strength training.
00:07:06
Speaker
I had to do a strength training program that was biased towards my glutes and hamstrings a little bit more, of my posterior chain. And over time, I strengthened my glutes and my hamstrings. And now that imbalance is no longer there in my strength. So when I'm walking downhill, I don't get those same knee pains that I used to get. So little things like that that will make a huge difference, especially as time goes by. Chronic conditions. Okay, strength training is going to reduce signs and symptoms of arthritis.
00:07:35
Speaker
back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression, diabetes. All of these chronic conditions are massively improved by resistance training. I'm not saying you're going to cure any of them. I'm not saying that they are the only solution, but strength training alongside whatever else medically is needed is going to massively improve your quality of life.
00:07:57
Speaker
Cognitive health research suggests regular strength training combined with aerobic exercise may improve thinking and learning skills. So important as we get older, we want to keep sharp. And so with aerobic exercise, really, I'm just talking about just get out walking unless you're into running or cycling or swimming or dancing or whatever you like. Just get your heart rate up a little bit. For most people, that'll be a nice brisk walk and is absolutely perfect.
00:08:22
Speaker
Another reason, independence.
Maintaining Independence with Age
00:08:24
Speaker
Building muscle helps maintain independence as you age by improving balance and functional strength. I don't know about you, but I plan to be one strong ass old lady. I have lots of adventures to have. I will travel the world until, it's funny, me and Dave were having this conversation. One of the kids was asking, you know, my youngest was asking what I was going to do when I was 93. I said, I'll be i be in Australia or I could be in Brazil or I could be anywhere. And my husband was looking at me as if I was mad. I was like, that's fine. You can go to the nursing home. i will be traveling. Obviously, all jokes aside, we do want to be as independent for it as long as we can and being able to enjoy life to the fullest for as long as we can. We want to live better, not just live longer. That's what's important. And that's going to having muscle on your frame is is a massive part of this. So just like I know I've kind of given a few stories there and personal experiences, but let's talk a little bit about what the science says.
Studies on Metabolism and Mental Health
00:09:24
Speaker
So a study was done on strength training in adults age. 50 65 years of age. And after 16 weeks, there was an increase of 7.7% in their resting metabolic rate, which means the amount of calories that they were burning at rest had increased by 7.7% in only 16 weeks of strength training. And that these are people aged between 50 and 65. That is huge. That just shows how much of a difference it can make in quite a short period of time. And you can only imagine the difference that that's going to make over the space of a few years as well.
00:10:06
Speaker
It has also shown that there's 33% reduction. in depressive symptoms associated with resistance exercise training across clinical trials. 33% reduction.
Preventing Fractures and Muscle Preservation
00:10:19
Speaker
Like I said, it's not the only answer, but it these studies show it makes a hell of a difference to your mental health. Another study then has shown that people with sarcopenia, which is a reduction in muscle mass, are 2.3 times higher risk of low trauma fractures compared to those who maintain their muscle mass.
00:10:45
Speaker
And then last little stat that I'll give you. 40% of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis will suffer a fracture. 40%. That is shocking.
00:10:57
Speaker
Resistance training can help prevent this. Okay. So it's so, so, so important. Another thing that we'll say here is strength training preserves fat-free mass during dieting. Okay. And it improves insulin sensitivity. which is all critical for long-term body composition and health. Okay. So as you're losing body fat, you want to preserve your muscle as it is. And you want to make sure you're doing it the healthy way, improving your insulin set sensitivity so that you can actually maintain your fat loss as well over time. Hugely, hugely important.
00:11:35
Speaker
So what do you need
Simple Strength Training Routine
00:11:36
Speaker
to do? Like this sounds all great and it is simple. It's not always easy, but it is simple. What we're talking about here is walking and lifting weights. Okay, so walk. Daily movement is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. You do not need a rest day from walking. Your dog needs to be walked every day. You need to be walked every day.
00:11:55
Speaker
You can replace that walk with a run, a jog, a swim. a cycle, a dance class. It doesn't matter. Some sort of cardio exercise to get your heart rate up. For most people, it'll be a nice brisk walk every day. And and then alongside that, what you want to be doing is lifting weights to build lean muscle and to increase your metabolic rate.
00:12:18
Speaker
This only really needs to be done two to three times a week. You do not need to be in the gym every day. You do not need to be in the gym at all. This can be done from home, but we are talking two to three times a week.
00:12:31
Speaker
Your workout may only be 30 to 60 minutes, two to three times a week. You can definitely give yourself that time for your health.
00:12:42
Speaker
I know that can be difficult when you don't really you're not really sure how to strength train. You don't know where to start. So like I said, you can go to a gym. You can use gym machines. You can use dumbbells. You can go to classes in the gym that are geared around strength training. You can get a personal trainer who'll show you what to do. You can go to small group personal training gyms. You can work out at home using an online program. All you need are a set of dumbbells.
00:13:08
Speaker
In my and coaching, we coach people to be able to, we support people to strength train at home or in the gym, whatever suits them best. If you're strength training at home, all you need is a set of dumbbells. You can use resistance bands as well. Anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes is more than enough.
00:13:25
Speaker
Two to three times a week. And over time, it's going to make a massive difference to your to your overall health. It is really, really important that you have proper form. So proper form is essential. If you are a complete beginner, I do highly recommend you paying for either going to strength classes or hiring a personal trainer at your local gym and to show you how to move properly first, you know, to show you how to hinge, to show you how to squat so that you don't injure yourself. That's really, really important. and You may have experience in the past and it's the case just getting back to it. and So, you know, if you are working out on your own,
00:14:08
Speaker
It's quite useful to just set your phone up against your water bottle a little bit far away. Film yourself doing a couple of two, three, four reps so that you can see that what you're doing is being done properly. Because sometimes when we're doing it ourselves and we can't see what we're doing, we don't realize if we're kind of hunching our back or we're, you know, not we're not doing we're not aligning ourselves properly. So proper form is really, really important. Learn the movement before you load it up. If you're a beginner in the gym, don't go into the gym, grab a barbell, throw loads weights on it and start squatting it. You need to start squatting with no weights, then add a little bit more weight as you get better over time. But good movement patterns are really, really important. This is why classes are really helpful or a personal trainer in the short term can be really helpful. And then you can get a program.
Importance of Proper Form
00:15:00
Speaker
online with ah an online coach or with your coach from the gym and you can work away on your own once you know these movement patterns which would be the squat the hinge you know the horizontal push the vertical push the horizontal pull the vertical pull and single leg movements and core movements and once you know what you're you're at you're set for life so it's worth the little bit of investment in the gym initially to to show so or to work with a really good online coach where you're back and forth through video on on perfecting your form. Really, really, really important. Once you have the form down and the movement pattern down, it should be challenging.
00:15:39
Speaker
It should always be challenging. If your workout feels easy, you're not pushing your muscles enough. End of story. Okay. Feel the burn is another thing that's really important. Strength training is not about getting sweaty and out of breath.
00:15:54
Speaker
It's about feeling the burn in the muscles that you're working. So it's not about going as fast as you can, you know, doing 12 to 15 squats and just bursting them out as quick as you can. Quite the opposite. What you want to do is slow and controlled. Think mind muscle connection. What muscles are you working? Slowly move through each movement in a controlled way with good form.
00:16:16
Speaker
This will be a hell of a lot harder than just bouncing. but If you think about doing 15 really slow squats, you know three seconds on the way down. So you're going down, two, three, hold up tall, down, two, three,
00:16:32
Speaker
hold at the bottom and then up tall. If you do 15 of them, that's going to be so like 15 times harder than doing 15 quick squats.
Maximizing Workouts with Slow Movements
00:16:43
Speaker
You mightn't be as out of breath, but I can tell you your muscles will be screaming and that's what you want. That burn in the muscles is what you want. And you don't want your joints to be hurting. And if, for example, you're doing lunges or squats and you're feeling it in your knees, chances are your form is not right. And that's where you need to send a video to your coach and be like, am I doing this correctly? Or this is why, you know, working with ah with someone in person, especially if you're a beginner, can be really helpful. If you feel it in your joints, your body's not supporting the joint properly. And it's usually because of how you've positioned your body. You might like it in a lunge, you might be lunging far enough backwards or, you know, your knee might and might not be stacked over your ankle.
00:17:19
Speaker
anything like Anything with a squat, like your knees could be caving in. There could be lots of different things going on. It could be a mobility issue. it could be a weakness. And once you have, you look at the form and if you've got your form correctly and there's still, it's still causing pain where it shouldn't, then it might be a case of of needing to modify it or swap it out for something else that works the same muscle groups. But those muscles, that time, it's all about time under tension. It's not about flying through things, slow, controlled, moving through your movements, making it as hard as possible. and feeling the burn those pains that you feel in your muscles the next day the DOMS your delayed onset muscle soreness totally normal you should be feeling that at the beginning you shouldn't always necessarily feel it the whole way through but it's it it is normal it's nothing to worry about and if you do feel those DOMS the next day the best thing can move
00:18:14
Speaker
If you are stuck for time and you can only get your next workout in the next day, don't not do your workout because you've got sore
Managing Muscle Soreness
00:18:21
Speaker
muscles. You're not going to injure yourself. It's totally normal. OK, and obviously spread your workouts out as much as you can. Whatever you do, don't just sit around and do nothing the next day because that'll just make them worse. You want to make sure that you are getting some sort of movement in. and nice Epsom salts bath will help as well.
00:18:39
Speaker
Cold water dip. sauna, anything like that, the hot, the heat, the cold, all of that's going to work lovely as well. Protein really helps with muscle soreness as well. So make sure you keep your protein high, drink plenty of water and you'll be grand.
00:18:53
Speaker
And it's just a sign of you getting stronger. so just think of it that way. and with strength training as well, you'll notice that, you know, if you have a workout program, there'll be sets and reps and there will be a rest period between your sets.
Understanding Progressive Overload
00:19:08
Speaker
So if you've got, like I said, 12 squats to do and you've three sets of 12 squats to do,
00:19:14
Speaker
You should need that rest in between. So if your coach has given you a minute, minute a half, two minutes, whatever amount of two minutes rest between your sets, don't skip your rest period because that's just a sign. If you can skip your rest period and do another 12 squats straight away,
00:19:31
Speaker
your weight's not heavy enough. It's not challenging enough for you because you should have earned that rest. It should be so hard on the muscles that you need that two minute rest so that your muscles can recover so that you can do another 12 reps at the same intensity again. So that there's such an important part of the process because if you've got three sets, you want to try and hit those reps each time with your reps as well.
00:19:54
Speaker
Those last few should always be like they should they should always be difficult. They should feel genuinely difficult. So if you're doing, let's say you're doing an RDL or no, you're doing a lunge. Let's say you're doing lunges and you're doing eight lunges per leg. Let's say, OK, you're doing reverse lunges. So you're doing your right side first. And if when you like you're getting close to eight lunges,
00:20:19
Speaker
You know, you should be like by the time you get into rep number six, number seven onto number eight, you should be like, oh, God, I cannot I couldn't possibly do another one. If you could keep going after eight reps, your weight is not heavy enough and you need to you need to go heavier. So maybe eight reps isn't enough. So maybe you need go up to 12 reps or, you know, if you if you don't have the option to increase weight. And this is what progressive overload is. Okay. It's gradually increasing the demand on your muscles over time. So whether that's adding weight over time and always just in little increments, by the way, increasing the amount of reps that you're doing or adding sets. If your workouts feel the same week after week, it means your body has adapted.
00:21:05
Speaker
And your workouts should always be challenging because that's how your body changes. That's how you're going to build muscle and building muscle is going to be that toning up that you're looking for. It is by challenging yourself. and Like i said, in the beginning, the movement patterns
Increasing Weights and Empowerment
00:21:21
Speaker
are so important. And if you're new to training, doing some lunges or doing squats without weight, your own body weight is probably going to be enough resistance initially. But your body will adapt quite quickly. You'll get used to it. And then eventually you'll be able to hold some weight while you're doing these things. And then over time, you'll be able to hold even more weight. And this is what I always say to my clients, anyone who's training at home, you can very much get stronger at home, but you will need to be okay with investing in heavier weights over time as you get stronger, because you will get stronger. And it's the most empowering thing that you'll do. And you'll be so proud of yourself. You can do this in the gym. Obviously, if you have it in the gym, you have access to heavier weights.
00:22:02
Speaker
You can use dumbbells. You can use gym machines. You can use a mix of both. You can use barbells. And there's there's lots of different ways to resistance train. There is no one size fits all. But any good strength program program will have a mix of a squat pattern, a hinge pattern, push, pull, lunges, core exercises. All of these will be included. i say lunges, sorry, single leg. It could be, you know, split squats. It could be lunges. could be step ups. It could be Bulgarian split split squats and core exercises. And there's lots of different ways to do that. So there's loads of different types of resistance training and it really doesn't matter.
Consistency and Starting Small
00:22:40
Speaker
as long as you are using your muscles, as long as you are lifting weights, how you do it it, that's the fun bit. Go out and figure it out. Try different classes. Try different home workouts. Try what works for you. And whatever works for you is enough because it's what you do consistently. There's no point in going hell for leather for a couple of weeks, then giving up and not strength training for another few weeks or months. start small, start once a week. If that's all you can fit into your schedule, lifting weights once a week initially is going to be far better than not lifting weights at all. And you can build on it over time. Please don't be
Exploring Resources and Overcoming Self-Consciousness
00:23:20
Speaker
self-conscious. I promise you there's so many different like resources available to There's online coaches like myself that work with women who are complete beginners. There are classes, in-person classes. There's in-person personal trainers. There's women's only gyms. There's so like, look it up in your local area. There's so many different options. Like it's never been easier to find what works for you. You just have to step out of your comfort zone and remember that everyone else in the class or anyone else who's there is also feeling the same way or has felt the same way in the past. So, and I can promise you, if you're stepping into a gym, there's no one looking at you.
00:24:00
Speaker
They're all looking at themselves. Believe me. I've seen it time and time. Everybody is busy focusing on their own goals, on their own body, on their own strength, on their own exercises. And anyone who does notice someone walking into the gym that may look like a beginner is not judging by any means. If I ever see someone in the gym who looks like they are a beginner and they look a little bit unsure of things, I always think fair play to you.
00:24:27
Speaker
Like everyone has to start. So just get in there and ask questions. The people working in gyms are extremely helpful. And little quick tip here, even if you know you don't see any staff around, you're not sure how a machine works.
00:24:40
Speaker
If you see a man in the gym who's there working out, ask them. They love to help. They love to show you. It's like they're in there. The gym bros, they love to help. they They love to show you what they know and they will show you how they won't judge you. They'll only be delighted to show you how the machine works or help you out. So I'm sorry, all jokes aside, do ask questions.
Nourish Her Coaching Support
00:25:04
Speaker
And don't be embarrassed and just step out of your comfort zone. you Like I said, you can do this at home. It doesn't have to be done in the gym, but it is that important. It is that important to your health and it will be one of the best things. It'll be the best thing that you can do for your long-term health. And I don't say that lightly. So yeah.
00:25:25
Speaker
get going. Let me know. I've always loved to hear when, how things have worked out for people. So please do you always reach out to me and let me know how you are getting on and how much things might've made a difference for you. If you've made it to the end of this episode, as always, thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you all so much and please do share it. Tag me if you share it on your stories and make sure you're following the podcast, hit that subscribe button. If you would like some extra help and support with your resistance training, we do support you. I i have an online coaching business called Nourish Her Coaching.
00:26:02
Speaker
And myself, along with my coaches, we support hundreds of women. to build a strength training routine, along with working towards their health, their fitness, their fat loss goals, and, you know, building a lifestyle that works for them. That's what we do. We take people into the coaching service every month. So I'll share the link to coaching below in the show notes. If you want to have a little look, all the details are there and details of when the next intake will be happening.
00:26:30
Speaker
And thank you all for listening. And I will see you on the next episode.