What Weights Should Women Over 40 Use for Strength Training?

One of the most common questions I get. And one of the hardest to answer with a single number — because it depends. Here's how to actually figure it out.

When women come to strength training for the first time — especially from a yoga or Pilates background — one of the first things they ask is: so what weights should a woman over 40 actually use?

And I understand why. It feels like there should be a clear answer. A number. A starting point.

The honest answer is: it depends on your body, your history, your injuries, and the exercise itself. But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you without guidance. Let me break it down properly.

What Weights Should Women Over 40 Use — And Why It Depends on the Exercise

This is something most people don't realise when they start. And it matters.

There are two different types of work happening in a program like StrongSculpt, and they use weights differently.

Strength x Pilates work — lighter weights, higher reps, longer time under tension. This is where we train the stabilising muscles. The deep core, the glutes, the rotator cuff, the small muscles that don't get much attention in traditional training but are absolutely essential. This is also where we build functional mobility — not passive flexibility, but strength through range. The kind of mobility that actually holds under load.

We use lighter weights here because the work is precise and sustained. We're often moving through different planes, challenging stability, hitting a muscle group until it genuinely fatigues. You might be surprised how much a 1,5kg dumbbell can challenge you when you're holding a single-leg position and pressing overhead for thirty seconds.

Compound strength work — heavier weights, lower reps, more load. This is where we target fast-twitch muscle fibres, build bone density, and work towards muscle hypertrophy. Squats, deadlifts, rows, presses. The big patterns. These need more weight to be effective — but only once the movement is honest.

So when someone asks "what weight should I use?" the first question back is: what are you doing? Because the answer is different.

Starting With Bodyweight — When It Makes Sense

Bodyweight is not the default starting point. If you've been moving your body through yoga, Pilates, or any regular practice, you already have body awareness. You don't need to strip everything back to zero.

Bodyweight makes sense when:

• You're working with an injury or pain that speaks up during the movement

• A pattern feels genuinely unfamiliar and you want to find it first before adding load

• You feel uncertain or uncomfortable in a specific exercise

In those cases — absolutely start without weight. Get the movement honest first.

But if you feel strong, capable, and ready — pick up a weight that challenges you. The right weight is one where the last two or three reps genuinely make you work, while your form stays clean. If you finish a set feeling like you could easily do ten more — go heavier. Trust that instinct.

What Weight Should You Actually Add?

This is a personal question and I won't pretend otherwise. But here's how I'd think about it.

The right weight is one where the last two or three reps genuinely make you work — while your form stays clean. Not grinding, not struggling, not compensating. Working. There's a difference.

If you finish a set feeling like you could easily do ten more — go heavier. If your form starts to break down before you hit your reps — go lighter. It really is that simple once you're paying attention.

For most exercises, I'd suggest starting somewhere in the 2-5kg range per hand and adjusting from there based on how it feels. Some movements will surprise you — a 3kg dumbbell in a single-leg position with a press overhead is harder than it sounds. Others will feel too light immediately and you'll know to go up.

If you're dealing with a niggle — a knee, a shoulder, anything that speaks up during movement — keep it lighter and focus on the pattern first. No rush. The weight will come.

This is what training close to failure means — and it's less scary than it sounds.

What Does "Training to Failure" Actually Mean?

I know failure sounds scary. It's not.

Failure doesn't mean collapsing on the floor. It doesn't mean grinding out one more rep with terrible form. It means you've fatigued the muscle to the point where you can no longer maintain the quality of the movement.

The moment your body starts to compensate — your lower back rounds on the deadlift, your knee caves on the lunge, your shoulders creep up toward your ears on the press — that's failure. That's when you stop. Because that's also when injury happens.

In practice, most of the time we stop one, two, maybe three reps before that point. Close to failure. Not at it. We're working hard enough that the last few reps genuinely challenge you — but not so hard that form breaks down.

That's the zone. And in that zone, real strength gets built.

The Five Exercises — And Where to Start

These are the five compound movements I start every woman with. They cover the fundamental patterns your body needs — squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge. Master these and you have the foundation for almost everything else.

Here's how to approach each one, with honest weight guidance.

1. Goblet Squat

What it does: Builds lower body strength — quads, glutes, hamstrings — while requiring core stability and an upright trunk. One of the best exercises for women starting out because it teaches the squat pattern beautifully.

How to do it: Hold one dumbbell at your chest. Feet slightly wider than hips, toes turned out a little. Sit back and down — keeping your trunk upright. You don't need to go all the way to the floor. Find your range first. Halfway is completely fine. Neutral spine throughout. Knees tracking over your second and third toe.

Weight: Bodyweight first, or one dumbbell held at chest. When you're ready: 2-4kg to start, 6-10kg intermediate. For reference — I use 15kg.

Reps/sets: 8-12 reps, 2 rounds. Start with 1 round if you're just beginning.

2. Romanian Deadlift

What it does: Trains the posterior chain — hamstrings, glutes, lower back. One of the most functional movements you can do. Also directly supports bone density in the spine and hips.

How to do it: Hold dumbbells in front of your thighs. Soft bend in the knees — not straight, not deeply bent. Hinge from your hips, not your lower back. This is the key distinction. If your lower back is rounding, you've gone too far. Feel the tension building in the back of your hamstrings as you hinge — that tension is the whole point. Keep your spine neutral throughout. Drive through your hips to stand back up.

Weight: 3-5kg per hand to start, 6-10kg intermediate. I use 15kg.

Reps/sets: 8-12 reps, 2 rounds.

3. Bent-Over Row

What it does: Builds upper back strength, which matters enormously for posture, shoulder health, and counteracting the forward pull of daily life. Also requires hip hinge stability — so it's training two things at once.

How to do it: Hinge from your hips with a neutral spine — similar position to the top of your deadlift. You can hinge all the way to a more horizontal upper body, or keep it at 45 degrees — both work. Elbows close to the body as you row. Shoulder blades will move — they'll protract as you lower and retract as you pull — but don't force a hard squeeze at the top. Think of squeezing a small walnut between your shoulder blades. Just enough, not maximum.

Weight: 2-4kg per hand to start, 5-7kg intermediate. I use 10kg.

Reps/sets: 8-12 reps, 2 rounds.

4. Reverse Lunge

What it does: Single-leg strength, balance, and stability. Harder than it looks. Also kinder on the knees than a forward lunge for most people.

How to do it: Step back with one foot. Front knee tracks over your second and third toe — not caving inward. Feel the tripod of your front foot — big toe, little toe, heel — grounded into the floor. Find your range. You don't need to touch the back knee to the ground. Never go towards pain. Core braced, trunk upright.

Weight: Bodyweight first, then 2-3kg per hand when ready. Intermediate: 4-7kg. I use 10kg.

Reps/sets: 8-12 reps each side, 2 rounds.

5. Floor Press

What it does: Upper body pushing — chest, triceps, anterior shoulder. The floor limits your range of motion slightly, which actually makes it safer for the shoulder than a full bench press, especially when starting out.

How to do it: Lie on your back. Knees bent, feet pressing down. Back of the head and sacrum on the floor. Neutral spine — not arched, not flattened. Hold dumbbells with elbows slightly below shoulder height. As you press up, keep the shoulders relaxed — don't let them creep forward or overextend at the top. Lower slowly, stay in control.

Weight: 2-3kg per hand to start, 4-7kg intermediate. I use 10kg.

Reps/sets: 8-12 reps, 2 rounds.

The One Rule That Ties All of This Together

Progressive overload. It's the name of the game — at any age, but especially now.

What that means in practice: when you can complete every rep of every set with good form, and the last few reps stop feeling genuinely challenging — it's time to increase. Either more reps, or more weight. Small increases. Consistent increases. Over weeks and months.

That's how strength is built. Not from one hard session. From accumulated load over time.

And that's exactly what StrongSculpt is designed around — a 12-week progressive program that takes you through this process properly. Three 15-minute compound sessions per week, alongside one 45-minute Strength x Pilates class. The full 90 minutes that research shows is the sweet spot for women over 40.

Included free with SoulSculpt membership — and launching in September.

Want to try the first week? → soulsculptmethod.com/free-trial-week

Or keep reading:

• [Never lifted before? 5 Strength exercises I start you on after 40.]

• [How Much Strength Training Do Women Over 40 Actually Need? Science Finally Has the Answer]

• [How to Start Strength Training After 40 Without Getting Hurt]

♡ Shaini 

Shaini Verdon is the founder of SoulSculpt Method. E-RYT 500, Pilates instructor, NASM Women's Fitness Specialist, FRC Mobility Specialist. Based in Cantabria, northern Spain.