Do you need to lift weights five days a week to build muscle after 60? Or can a smaller amount of training still make a meaningful difference?
It’s a question worth asking, especially if you’re beginning strength training later in life.
A major scientific review published in the January 2025 issue of Sports Medicine, and first published online in October 2024, offers encouraging findings: even relatively low amounts of resistance training can improve muscle size and everyday physical function in older adults.
What Did the Researchers Study?
Researchers examined 151 randomized trials involving 6,306 people aged 60 and older.
They compared different amounts of supervised resistance training and looked at outcomes including:
- Muscle size and lean body mass
- Lower-body strength
- Walking performance
- Mobility and everyday physical function
The researchers grouped training programs into low-, moderate-, and high-volume categories.
Training volume was based on a combination of how often participants trained, how many exercises they performed, and how many sets they completed.
Finding 1: Lower Training Volumes Can Still Work
One of the most encouraging findings was that low-volume resistance training improved several important outcomes.
These included lean body mass, lower-body muscle size, and measures of physical function such as walking endurance and the time needed to stand up, walk, turn, and sit down.
That matters because strength training after 60 isn’t just about looking muscular.
It’s also about making everyday activities easier and maintaining physical independence.
The findings suggest that people don’t necessarily need a demanding, high-volume program to see worthwhile benefits.
Finding 2: More Training May Help With Greater Strength Gains
The researchers also found that moderate- and high-volume programs appeared more effective for improving lower-body strength.
This suggests that additional training can be useful when the goal is to maximize strength.
But there’s an important distinction.
The amount of exercise needed to improve your health and physical function may be less than the amount needed to maximize your strength.
For someone starting at 65 or 70, a manageable routine performed consistently may be more valuable than an ambitious schedule that’s difficult to maintain.
Does This Mean Two Workouts a Week Are Enough?
Two weekly full-body workouts are a reasonable starting point for many beginners.
However, the study did not establish that exactly two sessions per week are best for everyone.
It examined overall training volume, not just the number of days people exercised.
Someone training twice weekly could perform more total sets than someone doing three very short sessions.
The right program depends on experience, health, goals, exercise selection, and recovery.
What About People Who Already Lift Regularly?
If you’ve been lifting for years, you may benefit from more training than a beginner.
Experienced lifters often need to think more carefully about weekly sets, exercise difficulty, and how training is distributed across the week.
But adding more sets isn’t automatically better.
Training must still be manageable enough to recover from and repeat consistently.
At Built Strong After 60, I train five days a week because it’s a routine I’ve developed gradually over many years.
That doesn’t mean someone beginning at 60 needs to follow my schedule.
What Are the Study’s Limitations?
Although the review included a large number of trials, there are important limitations.
The findings were mainly supported by studies involving relatively healthy older adults. There was less evidence for people with significant physical impairments.
Most trials had a high risk of bias, and the review rated the certainty of evidence for all muscle-strength outcomes as very low. The apparent advantage of higher volume for strength therefore needs cautious interpretation.
Most studies lasted less than 20 weeks, limiting confidence about long-term results. The review also does not establish the best schedule for someone with 14 years of lifting experience.
The researchers also compared broad categories of training volume. That makes it difficult to identify one exact number of weekly sets or sessions that’s ideal for every individual.
And because the included programs were supervised, results may not translate perfectly to unsupervised home workouts.
The study supports resistance training, but it doesn’t provide a universal prescription.
A Practical Starting Point
If you’re new to strength training after 60, consider beginning with two nonconsecutive full-body sessions per week.
Include movements that strengthen the legs, hips, back, chest, shoulders, and arms.
Start with manageable resistance and learn each movement before increasing the challenge.
You might begin with one or two sets per exercise and gradually build from there as your technique, strength, and recovery improve.
This is a practical starting suggestion, rather than an exact prescription established by this review.
People with significant medical conditions, balance problems, or recent injuries may benefit from individualized guidance before starting.
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to spend five days a week lifting weights to make strength training worthwhile.
Research suggests that relatively low training volumes can improve muscle size and physical function in many healthy adults over 60.
Additional training may help people seeking greater strength gains, but more isn’t always necessary.
The best starting program is one that challenges you appropriately, allows recovery, and keeps you coming back.
At Built Strong After 60, that’s the message I want people to remember: you can start small and still make meaningful progress.
Research Source
Radaelli, R., et al. (2025). Effects of Resistance Training Volume on Physical Function, Lean Body Mass and Lower-Body Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of 151 Randomised Trials. Sports Medicine, 55, 167–192.
DOI: 10.1007/s40279-024-02123-z
Read the published abstract on PubMed
This article is educational and does not replace individualized medical or exercise advice.