If you are an older adult and you’re not doing some form of strength training, chances are ageing may not treat you kindly.
You’ve probably heard that we lose muscle (sarcopenia) at a rate of 1%-2% per year and have been doing so since our mid-thirties. This means people in their seventies have lost 30%-50% of their muscle mass. But, while muscle mass and strength are related, they are not the same.
Muscle mass is about size. It’s the physical amount of muscle tissue you have. Bodybuilders focus heavily on this. Interestingly, you can increase muscle mass without getting proportionally stronger.
Strength is about function. It’s the amount of force your muscles can produce. Strength depends on how efficiently the nervous system recruits muscle fibres, coordinates movement and times contractions. When you get stronger, your brain and spinal cord learn to recruit more motor units, fire them faster, and coordinate them more efficiently. The nervous system refines timing between muscles, reducing unnecessary co-contraction and making movement smoother and more powerful.
That’s why someone can look muscular but not be especially strong, and vice versa. Especially as we age, training for strength (and neural efficiency) matters far more for balance, mobility, and independence than simply adding muscle bulk.
Strength is what allows you to stand up from a low chair, pick up a pet, child or a bag of garden compost, climb stairs, carry groceries, recover from a stumble and get up off the floor.
Loss of strength and power – not a reduction of muscle size – is what predicts falls, loss of independence and disability. You don’t fall because your thighs look smaller. You fall because they can’t produce force quickly enough when you need it.
Metabolic Health
Studies consistently show that improvements in strength are associated with better glucose control, reduced insulin resistance, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and improved lipid profiles (cholesterol, triglycerides). Stronger, better-functioning muscles buffer metabolic decline with ageing.
Balance
Balance is not just a sensory skill; it depends on the ability of muscles to generate force quickly and accurately to control the body’s centre of mass. Lower-limb strength allows effective weight shifting, postural corrections and recovery from slips and trips.
Adequate strength also supports joint stability, reducing unwanted movement that can disrupt balance. When strength declines, balance becomes fragile, increasing the risk of falls, even if sensory systems remain intact.
Cognition
Strength training significantly improves cognitive function in older adults, where age-related decline in memory, executive function and processing speed is common. Meta-analyses show that resistance training enhances global cognition. Mechanisms include increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) – often called “Miracle Grow for the brain” – better cerebral blood flow, reduced neuroinflammation, and preserved brain volume in areas like the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which are vulnerable to dementia.
Bottom line: Strength acts as a powerful buffer against age-related vulnerabilities, which is why it is a major focus for the NeuroGym®.