Should You Wait to Start Strength Training Until After You Lose Weight?

October 23, 2025
Copy of Why Women Over 35 Need Strength Training More Than Cardio

Should You Wait to Strength Train Until After You Lose Weight? 

Let’s get straight to it, because this is important!

👉 No, you should not wait to start strength training until after you lose weight.


This is especially true If you’re a woman over 40, waiting will make your fat loss journey harder, not easier.

This is one of the most common questions women ask me:

“Shouldn’t I lose weight first before I start lifting weights?”

And while it may feel logical…for women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond, it’s actually the opposite of what you need.

Why Strength Training Matters MORE After 40

Once you hit your 40s, your physiology changes, not because you’re doing anything wrong, but because hormones shift (thank you perimenopause!) recovery changes, and muscle naturally declines.

This natural process is called age related sarcopenia, and it accelerates during perimenopause and menopause.

Losing muscle results in:

  • "slower" metabolism

  • higher body fat storage

  • less insulin sensitivity *this is a big one because perimenopause can make us insulin resistant!*

  • more fatigue

  • decreased strength

  • increased injury risk

The antidote? Strength training.

Not after dieting.
Not after losing weight.
Now.


Strength training becomes even more essential when you want to lose weight.

1. Without Strength Training, Weight Loss Includes Muscle Loss

When you are trying to lose weight and decrease that number on the scale, it is not just body fat that is lost, muscle is also lost.

Women over 40 can lose 20–40% of their weight loss from lean mass if they don't strength train and eat enough protein.

Here’s why that’s a problem:

  • your metabolism slows

  • you become less sensitive to insulin

  • you feel weaker

  • your body looks softer, not firmer

  • maintaining weight loss becomes harder

Strength training is how you fight to keep your muscle. And muscle is exactly what makes fat loss AND fat loss MAINTENANCE easier. It's also how you stay healthy and age well!

2. Muscle Is Metabolism and You Need More of It After 40

Muscle is metabolically active tissue.

Even at rest, muscle burns calories and improves:

  • metabolic rate

  • blood sugar control

  • hormone balance

  • fat loss potential

If you only diet, you lose the very thing that keeps your metabolism strong.

If you strength train while losing fat, you:

  • protect your muscle

  • protect your metabolism

  • lose fat more efficiently

  • look and feel stronger

This is the foundation of body recomposition, losing fat and building muscle at the same time. Yes it is possible and yes you can do it.

 3. Yes, You CAN Lose Fat and Build Muscle at the Same Time

Women over 40 often think body recomposition is impossible.

It’s not.

Especially if:

  • you’re newer to lifting or even newer to progressive weight lifting.

  • you’re returning after a break

  • you’ve been jumping back and forth between under eating and over eating.

  • you’ve been doing mostly cardio and it has been inconsistent at that.

With enough protein, structured strength training, and moderate calories, your body can:

🔥 burn fat
🔥 build muscle
🔥 increase strength
🔥 reshape your physique

This is why lifting before and during fat loss matters so much.

4. Strength Training Improves How Your Body LOOKS as You Lose Fat

Let’s be honest:


Most women don’t just want to weigh less, they want to feel toned, firm, lifted, and confident.

But if you lose muscle and or you do not build muscle....

  • your shape doesn’t change

  • your body may look softer

  • your clothes fit differently (not better)

  • everything feels “meh,” even after weight loss

Strength training:

  • shapes your physique

  • lifts your glutes

  • builds your shoulders

  • tightens your waist

  • gives you definition

It is ok to desire to feel GOOD in your body again.

 5. Strong Women Age Better. Period.

After 40, strength becomes your best health investment.

Muscle supports:

  • bone density

  • balance

  • joint stability

  • mobility

  • metabolic health

  • mental health

  • confidence

Cardio is supportive, I am not saying you should do no cardio!
Walking is fantastic.
But lifting is the thing that changes the trajectory of your aging.

Should You Wait to Lift Until You Lose Weight?

Absolutely not.

If you're trying to lose fat, improve your metabolism, and age strong, lifting needs to start at the beginning of your journey, not after.

Waiting only:

  • slows your progress

  • increases muscle loss

  • weakens your metabolism

  • makes fat loss harder

  • delays the results you want

You don’t get strong by losing weight first.
You lose fat more effectively by getting strong.

You Don’t Need to Feel “Ready” You Get Ready by Starting

Lifting weights is for:

  • beginners

  • women who feel out of shape or weak

  • women who’ve never lifted

  • women who want tone

  • women who want fat loss

  • women who want confidence

  • women who want longevity and health

Nobody starts knowing what they’re doing.
You learn. You grow. You get stronger.

This chapter is about doing something powerful for you.

Ready to Start Lifting Without Guesswork? Join the Inner Circle.

If you're over 35–40 and want:

  • structured strength training

  • easy-to-follow workouts

  • progressive overload built in

  • form guidance

  • mobility and conditioning options

  • community support

  • results WITHOUT burnout

Then the Inner Circle is where your strength journey begins.

👉 Click here to join the Inner Circle Strength Training Membership