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Strength training

Lifting, building muscle and staying strong at every stage.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    How many days a week should I lift weights?

    Three to four days a week is Nikkiey's core recommendation for women over 40: 30 to 45 minutes per session, built on compound lifts and progressive overload, with walking on off days and seven to eight hours of sleep. Lifting six or seven days a week, she says, breaks down muscle faster than you can rebuild it.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    Are classes like F45 or Orangetheory enough to build muscle?

    Not on their own. Nikkiey explains that F45, Orangetheory and CrossFit include strength work but don't prioritize muscle growth the way a progressive overload program does, because everyone in the room does the same workout. Keep the classes if you love them, but make them about 20% of your training and progressive lifting the other 80%.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    How do I get over gym anxiety?

    Start by remembering that almost nobody is watching you. Nikkiey says most of the judgment lives in your own head. Then make it easier on yourself: learn the exercises on YouTube before you go, wear a hat as blinders, start small in a quiet corner, and walk into the weight room anyway, even scared.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    Will lifting weights make me bulky?

    No. Nikkiey explains that building significant muscle as a woman takes years of intentional, progressive heavy training plus eating in a calorie surplus. It does not happen from lifting three days a week. What you get instead is a leaner, more defined, stronger body that is more metabolically efficient.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    Does Pilates build muscle?

    Not in any meaningful way once you're past beginner level. Nikkiey explains that Pilates can help you maintain muscle and is great for mobility, flexibility and balance, but it can't grow new muscle the way strength training can. Building muscle takes progressive overload with dumbbells and barbells, and Pilates classes don't provide that kind of load.

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  • Strength Training for Women

    How heavy should I lift?

    Lift heavy enough that the last three reps of every set are challenging while your form stays good. Nikkiey says that if you finish a set thinking it was easy, the weight is too light. You don't need huge numbers. You need a weight that's hard for you, and you need to keep adding to it over time.

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