Strong for Life: Why Strength Training Is the Perfect Partner to Yoga After 40
For many women, yoga is where movement begins to feel like something more than exercise. It gives us space to breathe, improves mobility and balance, and helps us feel more at home in our bodies.
But as we move through our 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, there is another part of the wellbeing picture that deserves our attention: strength.
Not strength as punishment. Not endless burpees, intimidating equipment or trying to make ourselves smaller. We mean the practical, life-enhancing strength that helps us carry shopping, climb stairs, get up from the floor, protect our joints and keep doing the things we love.
At Yantra, we don’t see strength training and yoga as opposites. They are complementary practices—and together they can help us build bodies that are mobile, capable, resilient and ready for life.
Why strength becomes especially important after 40
Our bodies naturally change with age. From midlife onward, maintaining muscle and bone becomes increasingly important, and the hormonal changes associated with menopause can accelerate losses in both.
That is not a reason to fear ageing. It is a reason to train intelligently.
The World Health Organization recommends muscle-strengthening activity involving all the major muscle groups on at least two days each week. The NHS also highlights that strength and flexibility work can help us increase muscle strength, maintain bone density, improve balance and reduce joint pain.
Research specifically involving postmenopausal women is encouraging. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that resistance training significantly improved both upper- and lower-body strength, with benefits for physical fitness and everyday function. Research into bone health also supports resistance and impact exercise as part of a well-designed programme—although bone responses vary, so no single class or exercise should be presented as a cure-all.
In everyday terms, building and maintaining strength may help us:
Stay independent and physically capable as we age
Support our bones, muscles and joints
Improve balance, stability and confidence
Make everyday tasks feel easier
Maintain energy and physical function
Feel more robust in the activities we enjoy
And no, it is not too late to start. Strength can be developed at any age, and you do not need to arrive “fit enough” before you begin.
Isn’t yoga already strength training?
Yoga can absolutely build strength. Planks, standing poses, balances and controlled transitions ask us to support and move our own body weight. Yoga also develops qualities that conventional workouts sometimes miss: body awareness, coordination, mobility, balance and the ability to regulate effort through the breath.
But the body adapts to the demands we place upon it. If we repeat familiar movements with the same load, our strength may eventually plateau. Progressive strength work introduces a gradually increasing challenge—through resistance, repetitions, range, tempo or complexity—so muscles continue to adapt.
This is why the combination is so valuable.
Yoga gives us mobility, awareness, balance and space. Strength training gives us progressive load and greater physical capacity. One supports the other.
More strength can make yoga poses feel steadier and help us control our range of movement. Greater mobility and body awareness can, in turn, help us approach strength work with better technique and less unnecessary tension.
Strength training doesn’t have to feel intimidating
Many women have absorbed the idea that strength training belongs to younger people, athletes or those who already know their way around a gym. Others have had experiences of fitness that felt competitive, punishing or focused almost entirely on appearance.
We want to offer something different.
At Yantra, strength is not about earning food, fighting ageing or chasing a “perfect” body. It is about building confidence and capacity. You can work at your own level, learn the movements and progress over time in a supportive studio environment.
Some days, strength might mean using weights or resistance. On others, it might be a controlled Pilates sequence, a challenging barre combination or holding your ground in Warrior II. Restorative and slower practices still matter too: recovery is part of becoming stronger, not an interruption to it.
Build your balanced week at Yantra
You do not have to choose between feeling calm and feeling strong. Our timetable brings different forms of movement together under one roof, so you can build a week that supports your whole wellbeing.
Barre
Barre Express and Barre Classique combine controlled, repeated movements with balance, coordination and muscular endurance. They are a lively way to work the legs, glutes and core while enjoying the energy of moving together.
Pilates
Pilates Foundations and Pilates Matwork develop control, alignment and strength through the centre of the body. They are ideal if you want to understand how you move, build confidence and create a strong base for other activities.
Dynamic strength and conditioning
Classes such as HHIP and Yoga Fusion bring more challenge, energy and whole-body conditioning into the mix. They offer an opportunity to raise the intensity and develop strength and fitness within Yantra’s welcoming, encouraging environment.
Yoga and hot yoga
Our yoga timetable—from steadier, accessible practices to Flow, Ashtanga, Yantra 360 (Mandala) Rocket and Yantra Hot—develops mobility, balance, body awareness and, often, plenty of strength in its own right. Yoga also gives you time to notice how your body feels, rather than simply pushing through.
Rest and recovery
Classes such as RE-SET and Embodied Yin or MyoFascial Flow and Roll help balance more demanding sessions with slower movement, mobility and restoration. A rounded movement practice should leave room for both effort and ease.
A simple way to begin
If you are new to strength work, start with what feels manageable. You might combine:
One Pilates or barre class
One strength-focused or more dynamic class
One yoga, mobility or restorative practice
From there, you can build towards the widely recommended two strength sessions each week. The right starting point depends on your current fitness, health and experience; consistency matters more than trying to do everything at once.
If you have osteoporosis, oestoarthritis, a significant health condition, pain or a long break from exercise, speak to an appropriate healthcare professional and let your teacher know before class. Exercises can often be adapted, but the right advice should be individual to you.
What are you getting strong for?
Perhaps it is carrying your luggage on your next adventure. Getting down to the floor to play with grandchildren—and getting back up again. Feeling secure on a coastal walk. Supporting your yoga practice. Protecting time for yourself. Or simply moving through daily life with more energy and confidence.
That is the kind of strength we believe in: not strength for show, but strength for life.
At Yantra, you can explore yoga, hot yoga, Pilates, barre and strength-focused movement in one warm and welcoming studio. Come as you are, begin where you are, and let us help you discover what your body can do.
Ready to feel stronger? Explore our timetable and choose the class that feels like the right place to begin—or get in touch and we’ll help you find your best starting point.
Evidence and further reading
This article provides general information and is not a substitute for individual medical advice.