Women are squandering a critical longevity tool. Here's why — and what to do about it.

A new book debunks myths about which sex is 'stronger' and shares tips that can benefit both genders.

Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva

Warmup

We’ve reached a tipping point with women and strength.

A bevy of new research and forthcoming books confirm something I anecdotally discovered in my midlife pursuit to become an athlete (the story told in my book Not Too Late):

To live longer, you need to be strong.

The evidence — reported from NPR to Vogue — is shattering long-held beliefs about both women’s strength potential and what a “healthy” female body looks like.

Two new books coming this summer tackle the topic from both a scientific and personal vantage. One is called “The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us About the Power of the Female Body.” The second: "LIFT: How Women Can Reclaim Their Physical Power and Transform Their Lives.”

Today we’re talking to the author of “The Stronger Sex” — science and environment writer Starre Vartan — about how her discoveries can dramatically influence women’s health and longevity.

Before we dive in, a recap of the facts:

• Female or male — nearly all of us need more muscle to age well.

• Building lean mass, which includes muscle, protects your bones, joints, metabolic health and cognition.

• Being weak vs. strong carries a higher risk for all-cause mortality than smoking, Type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Special Member Offer

Speaking of strength …

Paid members of this newsletter receive a 25% discount on strength training with my coach Faye Stenning.

If you want to get more serious about your strength and longevity, Faye can help. She transformed my middle-aged body and works with individuals of all ages and fitness levels with personalized programs you access online.

Here are all the benefits that come with upgraded Not Too Late (N2L) membership.

Post

Below, my exchange with Starre:

What are the most common misperceptions about women and strength — and why do they matter for women’s longevity?

The biggest and most glaring is that women are naturally weaker than men. While there are some (generally fairly small) differences between the sexes when it comes to most measures of athletic performance, the truth is that female and male bodies both have strengths and weaknesses.

It’s simply that men have defined what strength means based on what their bodies tend to do a little better.

The current societal mantra of weaker women/stronger men, which starts in childhood, means that girls never get to practice their strength as much as boys. And they are often actively discouraged from showing their strength (I was).

This hurts women directly by weakening them over their lifetimes, which affects their health and longevity because muscles grow bones and the less muscle you have the greater your risk for bone fracture and osteoporosis. My maternal grandma died of complications from osteoporosis.

How specifically are women stronger than men, according to your research?

Mainly, male bodies are a bit more powerful when it comes to explosive, short-lived strength (running short distances, picking up a heavy weight a few times). Female bodies tend to be stronger at other things, like endurance, resilience, balance and accuracy.

Female bodies also handle pain better (though that’s a complicated one), last longer (over time and in the face of adversity), have stronger immunity, and do more with less (more efficient muscles and metabolisms).

Of course, there’s plenty of overlap between male and female bodies—many women run faster than many men and can lift heavier weights. Height, genetics/build, and of course practice including lifetime experience are significant factors in what you’re strong at doing.

How can a woman being stronger benefit her male partner, if she has one?

The idea that there are “male jobs” and “female jobs” is a waste of time and talent. People should do what they are good at, what they like to do, and what they are interested in.

This goes for one’s home life and partnerships too. Having a physically strong female partner means that in a hetero relationship, not everything that requires bodily work is on the man’s shoulders or assumed to be a man’s job; jobs get divided by interest and ability, not assumed physical attributes.

My partner is a tall, muscular guy, but that doesn’t mean he has to do all the physical stuff like taking out the garbage or moving bags of mulch.

Flip side: I don’t automatically have to do all the less-physical stuff—I’d much rather take out the trash than do the dishes (I hate dishes!).

What was the most surprising data you found reporting your book?

Sandra Hunter’s pioneering work (she’s now at the University of Michigan), has shown in dozens of studies over the past couple decades that in many areas of upper and lower-body strength, women outlast men in the lab when doing lower- or mid weight lifting movements.

The women didn’t just outlast the men by a bit, but by a lot longer; some of the women could hold weights in various positions for 20-30 minutes and guys failed in 5 minutes. I’d never heard about that before and was really shocked that I had this power I didn’t even know about.

Endurance and resilience are natural powers of the female body.

Why did your grandmother teach you to shoot a gun?

My paternal grandma didn’t divide what one should know as a human being by gender. She thought all adults should be as capable as possible in all areas and it was her job as a parent to instruct me.

She taught me to sew, do laundry, garden, and cook, but also how to landscape (like building stone walls, a hobby of hers), chop and stack wood, drive backwards down a narrow road using only mirrors, change a tire, and how to maintain and fix small engines.

Learning to shoot a rifle was one of the many life skills she saw as necessary for everyone. It’s so fun! For the record, she also taught my uncle and dad all the same things, and my dad is a great housekeeper and still sews better than any man I know!

Journalist & author Starre Vartan

Tell us more about the “immunity” factor?

There’s so much to cover on this topic. Immunity is a core female physical strength that isn’t talked about all that much. Both estrogen and XX chromosomes (vs men’s XY) confer numerous advantages to female immunity and we die less from almost every disease there is because of it.

This is a deep power of female bodies and is the reason “Women live longer than men even during severe famines and epidemics” as a 2018 paper was titled, and this holds true even when social and behavioral conditions favor males.

Neutrophils, B cells, and memory cells—critical components of our immune defenses—are not just more numerous in women. They’re smarter and stronger.

A 2020 NIH study found female neutrophils to be more mature and active than males’, especially in women aged 20–30. And when it comes to B cells, female bodies don’t just produce more antibodies; they are also better at refining them. Women’s bodies continue mutating antibodies through more cycles, creating better virus-fighting responses and storing those patterns longer.

As neurogeneticist Sharon Moalem puts it, “Women have immunologically evolved to out-mutate men.”

Some women worry about body fat. What does science tell us that we probably don’t know, but should?

Fat is incredibly important for female bodies—it is key to several sources of strength. We preferentially use fat for fuel over carbs which is a key reason our bodies tend to be really good at endurance activities.

That’s not just ultra-running but more day-to-day movements too. It’s part of the explanation for why women can persist so much longer in lower-weight muscular work than men. Fat may be why female bodies excel at cold, long-distance swimming.

Fat is called the “third ovary” because it produces estrogen—so as we age, it may mitigate some of the negative effects of menopause (exactly how much body fat is best is probably individual and needs to be studied more).

Recent research has proven what many of us who aren’t naturally thin have long suspected: Being fit is more important to longevity than lower weight. Societal expectations around body size hamstrings female athletics, hurts regular active women and disempowered me when I was younger.

If someone is in their 50s or older, and has never felt strong, how would you suggest they get started and avoid injury?

I’m a dancer, and I’ve been part of community dance groups wherever I’ve lived (all over the west coast, east coast and now Australia). The participants range from 20s to people in their 90s because the wonderful thing about dance is you can always go at your own pace, and it’s literally for every “body” — you can dance in a chair if you’ve injured your foot or have limited mobility!

It’s a wonderful way to start moving and costs almost nothing. It requires muscular strength and cardiovascular stamina but you can start easy and move more as you gain strength. It feels amazing and all you need is music and you don’t need any special equipment or even shoes!

What about weightlifting for newcomers? Any advice?

I started weightlifting a couple years ago as I’m looking to avoid osteoporosis that runs in my family.

My then-68-year-old aunt inspired me to do so because she was actually diagnosed with it. She got involved with a specific program designed by Dr. Belinda Beck at Griffith University in Australia who did numerous evidence-based studies on building bone in older women (the good news is you can build bone at any age through lifting heavy weights—though coaching is imperative).

It’s called Onero and the protocol is in the US now as well—it’s incredibly empowering and my aunt says feeling stronger is an unexpected mood-boost in her 70s.

For people short on time, what are three strength-training moves you believe should be non-negotiable?

I go to the gym to lift weights, but I like doing all of these randomly throughout the day when I’m standing on line, or scrolling on my phone or at the end of a run.

• Squats - You can make them easy (hold onto a chair) or hard (do them holding something heavy). They are both effective for strength and mobility and you can do them anywhere.

• Wall pushups - I love doing pushups against a wall or fence and it’s a simple movement that again, you can make easy (acute angle) or hard (shallow angle or push off the wall or fence completely).

• Foot mobility - It’s the foundation for strength, so I never miss doing toe raises which is good for calf and ankle strength and a good little balance practice too.

Of the women you interviewed for your book, what was a common thread?

The biggest one was mind-set.

From the competitive woodchopper to the college wrestler, the middle-aged firefighter, to my paternal grandmother who raised me, and the women in Okinawa who were dancing around a bar in their 90s—these women all just had no interest in what other people thought of them and were most interested in what they thought of themselves.

They all enjoyed their bodies and what they could do with them and used them regularly. I heard not one mention, at any time, from any of them, what men thought of their bodies. There was almost no insecurity.

I found myself surprised by that but I shouldn’t have been.

Music Snack

We’re building a N2L member “Not Too Late” music playlist.

This is audio fuel in the “Let’s get it done” spirit. (Read kick-off post.)

You can listen:

On Spotify.

On Apple Music.

Note: You may need to create a Spotify or Apple Music account if you don’t have one already.

Today’s N2L Member Pick Spotlight

Today, it’s our guest’s choice — and here’s Starre’s pick.

“Let Me Be Great” by Sampa the Great

I’d love your 1-2 song suggestions either by email or in the comments below. I’ll add them to the playlist and highlight your pick in a future newsletter.

Cooldown

To dive deeper on this topic:

• A podcast “Enhancing Bone Health at Every Age” with movement scientist, Andy Galpin.

• Our newsletter explaining how most people, women in particular, probably don’t have enough muscle to age well — and what they can do about it — featuring an interview with the author of “LIFT.”

• A “Women and Muscle Deep Dive” by fellow Substack writer, Michael Easter.

Thanks for reading. As always, find something you love. Dig in. Stick with it when things get hard — and prioritize building muscle to help.

Wendy