New research suggests many remain unaware of its potential benefits in midlife
Author: Jasmine OakPublished 3 hours ago
A senior critical care nurse based in Cambridge who’s also a competitive powerlifter is urging women to think about strength training as an investment in their future health and independence.
Siobhan Taylor, 48, is the new lead nurse of the adult critical Care transfer service for the East of England and has spent almost a decade as a strength athlete.
She was the top female M1 equipped bench press lifter in 2024 and 2025 and says her experience in both critical care and powerlifting has given her two different perspectives on the importance of maintaining strength as women age.
Her comments come as research commissioned by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found just one in 10 women aged between 40 and 70 regularly strength train.
More than a third were unaware that perimenopause and menopause can cause faster muscle loss.
The research was carried out by Censuswide among 2,000 women aged 40 to 70 in July 2026.
‘Every rep is a deposit in my body pension’
For Siobhan, strength training is about far more than what she can lift in competition.
Her work caring for critically ill patients has also shaped how she thinks about strength, ageing and maintaining independence.
She said: “My work in critical care and my experience now as a strength athlete across nearly a decade, it gives me, I guess, two different ways of looking at it.”
Siobhan said she has seen women who had previously been fit and independent come into hospital after falls and hip fractures, before facing lengthy periods of immobility and rehabilitation.
“I’ve seen women come in that have been fairly fit, well, independent, they fall over, they fracture a hip because they have fragile bones,” she said.
She added: “Having the strength and muscle really does help us to maintain that physical reserve so we can A, prevent it and B, bounce back from it much quicker.”
It is that combination of her clinical experience and years of strength training which has led Siobhan to describe exercise as paying into a “body pension”.
She said: “Every rep that I do now is a deposit in my body pension in the future that I’ll be able to cash out on.
“So it’s not just a monetary pension that we need, but we need like a body pension to have strength and ability to maintain our independence and then afford our independence.”
Strength beyond the gym
Siobhan’s own powerlifting is at a level far beyond the strength training most people would need to undertake.
But she says the benefits she gets from being strong are often visible in much more ordinary parts of her life.
At work, she said it helps her move equipment, roll patients and push beds, allowing her to continue carrying out the physical demands of nursing at 48.
She said: “It’s really helping me maintain my ability and function at work.”
At home, it means carrying shopping and her gym equipment – and even still being able to pick up her teenage daughter.
“It does pay off because it means that I can carry my shopping and get my kit in and out of the gym and I can still pick up my 17-year-old daughter, which I want to keep doing for as long as possible,” she said.
Siobhan is keen to stress that women do not need to follow her into competitive powerlifting.
“I’m not suggesting that everybody needs to do what I do and bench press way over their body weight,” she said.
“But I think that as we get older, it doesn’t mean that we have to accept becoming weaker or smaller or frailer.”
Why are so few women strength training?
Despite the potential benefits, BHF polling suggests strength training remains relatively uncommon among women in midlife.
Almost a third of those surveyed – 32% – said they would like to strength train but currently do not, while another 22% said they do it occasionally and would like to do more.
Among women keen to take it up, four in 10 said they did not know where to begin, 30% cited the cost of gym membership or equipment and a quarter said they felt self-conscious exercising in front of other people.
Siobhan believes women’s relationship with strength training has also been influenced by the messages different generations have received about exercise and how women’s bodies should look.
“I feel like the misconception that strength training is not for women, it just is kind of baked into society,” she said.
The 48-year-old recalled growing up with fitness imagery which she felt focused heavily on women becoming smaller or thinner rather than stronger.
She believes that is changing as more women – and women with a wider variety of body types – become visible in sport and strength training.
But Siobhan said the weights area of a gym can still be intimidating for someone walking into it for the first time.
She believes seeing other women lifting can make a significant difference.
“More spaces where women are seen to be lifting invites other women in because representation matters,” she said.
“That means that space is also for me.”
Menopause, muscle and heart health
The BHF says around four million women in the UK are living with cardiovascular disease and is highlighting strength training as part of its work around women’s heart health.
According to the charity, oestrogen has a protective effect on the heart and the risk of cardiovascular disease rises as levels fall during perimenopause and menopause.
The BHF says keeping muscles strong can help reduce that risk, as well as helping improve blood pressure and cholesterol and maintain a healthy weight.
Research into the relationship between menopause and cardiovascular health is continuing.
The SHE-HEALS study, part-funded by the BHF and led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and University of Melbourne, is investigating changes in arteries during perimenopause and how they could contribute to an increased risk of heart disease.
Separate research part-funded by the charity and led by the University of Edinburgh reported an association between stronger chest and back muscles and a lower likelihood of heart attack.
However, only 26% of women questioned in the BHF survey associated strength training with cardiovascular health.
Forty-one per cent associated it with protecting bone health, while 34% linked it with maintaining a healthy weight and 29% with improving mental wellbeing and confidence.
For Siobhan, the issue is particularly relevant as she approaches menopause herself.
She believes conversations about women’s health should go beyond simply telling people to exercise more and should give women practical information about different forms of exercise and why they may matter.
“I think we need to be clear and specific about what that exercise should include and why it matters,” she said.
“Women need practical information.
“We don’t need to be told what to do. We need to be given enough information so we can decide for ourselves what’s best for us.”
‘Start small’
For women who want to become stronger but do not know where to begin, Siobhan’s advice is to start small.
Strength training does not have to mean immediately walking into a gym and picking up a barbell, she said.
She suggested resistance bands, bottles of water at home, a strength-based class or learning to use resistance machines and dumbbells could all provide ways of getting started.
“It’s not starting with the barbell straight away,” she said.
“Sometimes you have to work up to those little things, but knowing that every single little thing that you do pays into that body pension of the future and future you will be thanking today you for those things.”
The BHF’s Strong Woman Challenge will run throughout October, giving participants a different strength-building exercise each day.
The charity says beginner, intermediate and advanced options will be available, including exercises which can be completed seated and with minimal equipment.
For Siobhan, however, strength is ultimately about much more than what somebody can achieve in a gym.
“Strength training is not just for sporting achievement or an aesthetic goal,” she said.
“It is part of maintaining long-term health and function and for me it’s maintaining my independence.”
