If I asked you to picture strength training, I’m fairly sure I know what you’d describe. A gym. A rack of dumbbells. And someone lifting heavy who looks like they’ve been doing this for years.
I’ve lost count of the number of women who’ve told me they’d love to be stronger, but the gym just isn’t for them. Or they’re finding it hard to navigate the gym without really understanding whether what they’re doing is right.
What they’re really telling me is that the picture in their head of what strength training looks like isn’t for them. And I get it, because that picture is only a very small part of what strength training actually is.
For the most part, when we think about strength training, we picture heavy weights, barbells and lifting as much as we possibly can. But strength training doesn’t have to look like that. There are so many ways to build strength, and the right approach is the one that works for you, your body and your goals. Most importantly, one that you can stick to!
So what counts as strength training?
Far more than most people think. To me, it includes:
- TRX and suspension training
- Fitness Pilates and strength-based Pilates
- Resistance bands
- Calisthenics and bodyweight work
- Dumbbells, kettlebells and the Olympic bar
What matters most isn’t which one you pick. It’s finding a form of movement that keeps challenging your body, addresses your stability, and helps you feel strong, capable and your most confident self.
Why it matters more after 40
Our 40s can be a time when our bodies start to change beyond the odd new wrinkle here and there. Hormonal changes can affect muscle mass, bone health, recovery and how our bodies respond to exercise. None of that is a reason to go easy on yourself. If anything, it’s a reason to be a little more intentional.
Strength training gives us a way to hold on to muscle, support our bones and keep feeling strong and capable while everything else is shifting. Not to say, confident.
It’s also about thinking beyond how we feel today and investing in the body we want long term. Staying independent and mobile as we get older. Getting up off the floor without thinking about it. Carrying the shopping in one go. Picking up your kids, or one day your grandkids, without thinking twice.
And you don’t need to lift very heavy or spend hours in the gym. The key is challenging your body progressively and staying consistent. Which is exactly why it matters that you enjoy it, because nobody stays consistent with something they dread.
TRX: strength using the suspension trainer
The TRX is perhaps my favourite way to strength train, and it’s a great example that strength training doesn’t require what you’d consider a traditional gym set up. I can hang the straps from a door, a pole in one of our parks here in Sutton, or a calisthenics frame, and because they’re so lightweight and portable I can take them pretty much anywhere. My TRX Force lives in my backpack, even when I’m travelling.
Let me explain how it works, because I can understand it might sound intimidating. Trust me, this is something anyone can do, whatever your fitness level. You work against your own bodyweight, and you adjust the difficulty of an exercise simply by changing your body position. Move your feet, and something hard becomes achievable.
From low rows and bicep curls to Y-Flys, chest and tricep presses and inverted rows, there’s so much you can do. And because the straps are unstable, your core is working the whole time to keep you steady. You get strength and stability in the same rep.
One of my favourite classes to teach is TRX Pilates, where we take traditional Pilates movements onto the straps. The instability forces your core to engage throughout, making the movement more challenging and building strength with every rep and every breath you take. It’s always a fun and challenging session!
Weightlifting: building progressive strength
Of course, traditional weight training absolutely has its place. Dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells are an excellent way to build strong muscle, gradually increasing the load as you get stronger.
But lifting heavier isn’t necessarily the goal for everyone. Good strength training is about progression, control and quality of movement, rather than simply chasing the biggest number on the weights or the highest reps. Your form should always be your priority, and when you nail your form, that’s when you really start to reap the rewards.
Before progressing to heavier loads, it’s worth making sure you have a good foundation of stability, balance and movement control. More on that shortly, because it’s the part I find most people skip.
Fitness Pilates: strength built from the core
You might not link Pilates with strength training. Then you come to a class.
Combine controlled movement, resistance, stability and bodyweight and the exercises can be surprisingly challenging. In my classes we use resistance bands, small weights and the soft Pilates ball, so there’s always a way to add load or take it away depending on where you are that day. Nobody is doing the same thing as the person next to them, and that’s the point.
Fitness Pilates helps you develop core strength, improve mobility, challenge your balance and build strength through a full range of movement. And because the focus is on control and alignment, it’s a great complement to everything else you do. It’s also where most people first learn what it actually feels like to engage the right muscle, which changes how everything else in their training feels.
At the end of the day, we want our muscles to be strong and flexible.
You don’t have to choose one form of strength training
The great thing about strength training is that there isn’t one perfect method.
You might lift weights one or two days a week, come to a TRX class, practise Fitness Pilates, use resistance bands at home, or simply bring more challenging bodyweight exercises into your week. They can all contribute to becoming stronger.
The key is a balanced approach that develops not just your muscles, but your stability, balance, mobility and confidence in movement too.
Strength training shouldn’t be about punishing your body or constantly pushing to lift heavier. It’s about building a body that can support you now and for the years ahead.
The part I find is most often overlooked
Whichever way you choose to train, there’s one thing that comes first, and from my experience it’s the thing most people skip.
It’s stability.
Before we can increase the weight we lift or progress to more challenging exercises, our body needs a strong foundation to work from. That’s where the core and glutes come in. I like to look at them as a connected system rather than working on them in isolation, because together they give us stability, support and control throughout the body.
Your core isn’t simply about having visible abs. It plays a huge role in stabilising your body, supporting your spine and helping you transfer force efficiently between your upper and lower body. I often describe the core to my clients as the main train station of the body. It’s the central connector, coordinating movement and directing force where it needs to go. Just like a busy central station keeps trains moving in every direction, a strong and stable core helps your body move efficiently and with control.
And your glutes are equally important. They’re the biggest muscles in your body. Strong glutes help stabilise your pelvis and hips, and working in unison with your core they contribute to everything from walking and climbing stairs to squatting, lunging and lifting. In my experience, the clients who arrive with the tightest hips and the achiest lower backs are usually the ones sitting at a desk all day, and their glutes are often the first thing we have to wake back up.
Think of them as part of your body’s support system. Together, they’re the strongest foundation you can create for your body to move well.
Strength without stability can make it harder to progress safely and effectively.
Start by creating a strong foundation
If you’re already strength training, take a moment to think about your core and glutes:
- Can you control the movement, or is momentum doing some of the work?
- Do you feel balanced and stable when you add weight or work unilaterally?
- Can you maintain good form as an exercise gets more challenging, or does something start to compensate?
- Can you actually feel your glutes working, or mostly your lower back and hamstrings?
If any of those made you pause, that’s not a failure. It’s probably the most useful thing you’ll notice all week, and it’s very fixable.
These fundamentals make a huge difference to how well you progress. A stronger body starts with a stable foundation.
This is exactly what we explore at the Core & Glute Clinic
If you’d like to build a strong foundation for your body, strengthen your core and glutes and understand how they support everything else you do, I’m running a Core & Glute Clinic on Saturday 19 September at the Oru Space in Sutton.
10 Spetember · 3pm · Book here
We’ll focus on practical exercises, technique and learning how to actually feel the right muscles working, so you can take that into your wider training.
Whether you’re already exercising regularly or you’re just getting started, you’re very welcome. I always give options, so nobody gets lost and nobody gets left behind.
Spaces are limited so I can give everyone proper attention.
Or come and train with me any week
The clinic is a one-off, but the classes run all year. I teach Fitness Pilates, TRX Pilates, strength and conditioning and Lift across Sutton and the surrounding area, indoors and outdoors, for every level. If you’ve read this far, there’s a class in there with your name on it.
See the full timetable and book a class
And if you’d rather work one to one, or you’re coming back from an injury and want something built around you, Get in touch and we’ll have a chat about it.
Strong isn’t just about how much you can lift. It’s about how well your body can move, stabilise and support you.