Why Women Are Finally Done With “Shred Culture”

The first time I chose a heavier barbell instead of another punishing round of cardio, something in me shifted. 

It was not loud or dramatic, it was like a quiet click, the way a door finally sits right on its hinges. 

I was not chasing smaller anymore.

I wanted solid. Capable. Grounded.

I wanted a body that could carry me through a long life, and a mind that no longer negotiated with every calorie. In that moment I understood why the wisdom literature says “she sets about her work vigorously, her arms are strong for her tasks”, not fragile for her fears, strong for her tasks (Proverbs 31:17).

For years, much of women’s fitness was a study in subtraction: eat less, move more, then move even more when less did not deliver. But subtraction did not make us lighter on the inside, it often made us anxious, hungry, and strangely absent from our own lives. You cannot build a steady soul on a starving body. 

And the data quietly agrees. When women add purposeful muscle strengthening into their week, the payoff shows up in the outcomes that actually matter. It lowers risk of dying from major diseases and improves cardiometabolic health. One meta analysis pooling cohort studies found muscle strengthening activities were associated with roughly a 10 to 17 percent lower risk of all cause mortality and several noncommunicable diseases. The sweet spot landed around 30 to 60 minutes per week, and pairing it with some cardio looked even better.

That might sound clinical, but I hear it as permission. You are allowed to build, not just burn. Strength training is more than a look, it is a metabolic strategy. Muscle is the tissue that helps you regulate blood sugar, maintain bone density, and keep your resting metabolism from quietly slipping as the years stack up. Reviews focused on women show strength work improves glucose control and can reduce medication needs, less scrambling after energy, more steady capacity for real life.

It is not just fitness, it is stewardship.

And stewardship is the right word. Scripture never celebrates a paper thin life. It calls us to one that bears weight. When I rack a bar or brace for a heavy lift, I am not fighting my body, I am partnering with it. I am choosing what the Apostle Paul might call honoring God with your body, treating this frame as something entrusted, not something to punish (1 Corinthians 6:19 to 20). Strength work tutors that posture daily. 

Build the capacity, carry the load, serve longer.

And I have seen this with my own clients. One of my women, Gale, started building muscle with me in her 50s. 

Not in her 20s. 

Not as a lifelong athlete. 

Not with a sports background. 

She began lifting weights in her 50s. 

When we started together her DEXA scan showed extremely low bone density. She was on the verge of osteoporosis and needing medication to address it. 

Today, after intentionally increasing her protein, including carbohydrates without fear, prioritising fibre, and progressively lifting heavier weights, her most recent DEXA scan now reports the exact opposite. She has extremely strong bones, no sign of osteoporosis, and the specialists were blown away by her progress. 

We did not starve her into smallness. 

We nourished her into strength. 

This is what happens when a woman begins to steward her body the way God designed it. 

Even in midlife. Even without a sporting past. Even starting later in life. It is not too late to build.

Of course, aesthetics sit in the room with us too. Many women come to the barbell for shape, shoulders that say posture, glutes that say power, legs that read athletic. The surprise is how often the chase for a look gives way to the joy of a life. The metric shifts. Instead of watching the scale like a scorecard, you start tracking progressive overload, a little more weight, a cleaner rep, a steadier tempo. The ruler becomes the bar, not the bathroom scale. And recomposition research is increasingly on our side. Sports nutrition papers and practitioner reviews describe what lifters see in the mirror, with adequate protein and a smart plan, women can add lean muscle while trimming fat, even without drastic calorie slashing. It is slow, but it is real.

That adequate protein piece is not internet lore. A large meta analysis shows that around 0.73 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (1.6 grams per kilogram per day) tends to maximize lean mass gains from resistance training for most people. For example, a woman who is 165 lbs (75 kg) would aim for roughly 120 grams of protein daily. 

In practice this looks like prioritizing protein across each meal rather than hoarding it at dinner, and it pairs beautifully with fiber rich carbohydrates and healthy fats so you feel human while you train hard. 

Translation: you do not have to be starving to get leaner, you need to be building.

The lived experience mirrors the literature. When women lift two to three days a week with intent, compound lifts, thoughtful accessories, progressive loading - moods stabilize, sleep improves, and appetite becomes a conversation rather than a courtroom. Blood sugar swings soften. The afternoon brain fog that used to demand caffeine eases because your tissue is actually storing and using fuel well. Strength does not just sculpt a physique, it quiets noise. The prophets language about God’s still small voice has not lost relevance, it is simply easier to hear when your physiology is not shouting. 

Training becomes a routine of focused attention. 

Breathe, brace, drive, return.

Here is what a Strength + Muscle First season can look like in real life.

You choose a plan that cycles three full body days or an upper and lower split. You anchor each session with a hinge, a squat, a horizontal and vertical push and pull, then add smart accessories like rear delts, hamstrings, calves and core. You build in tiny progressions over time, like placing faithful bricks. You keep a training log because memory is romantic and unreliable. You stop chasing weekly scale drops and start celebrating the day a weight that used to terrify you suddenly moves like warm up. That is when you realize what Isaiah meant about those who hope in the Lord renewing strength. (Isaiah 40:31).

Fuel becomes calmer too. You aim for that protein target across the day. 

Breakfast gets more grown up. Greek yogurt and whey, eggs and healthy fats. 

Lunch includes an honest portion of chicken or beef with potatoes or rice and a real vegetable you can chew, not just photograph. 

Dinner does not become a detox ritual. It becomes a recovery meal. 

On training days you eat a little more. On rest days you do not panic if hunger is lower. 

And yes, you keep fiber high. Fruit, legumes, whole grains. 

Recomposition loves a steady gut. 

Strong women are regular women.

If this all sounds almost kind, that is because it is. Strength teaches a paradox the shred years rarely offered. Discipline and gentleness can live in the same body. You can push a heavy set of 3 reps and still honor your nervous system. You can say no to another late night scroll because you have deadlifts at 6am, and that no feels less like restriction and more like reverence. 

Little by little, the question changes from how can I become less to how can I carry more. 

That is not vanity, that is vocation. 

Strength and dignity are her clothing, not diminishment and doubt (Proverbs 31:25).

And culture is catching up. We are seeing more women learn to brace, to breathe, to lift heavy without fear. We are seeing group classes that program real progressive overload instead of endless novelty. We are seeing women normalize creatine in the pantry next to the coffee.

The broader research keeps stacking behind them. Muscle strengthening activities lower risk. Protein supports adaptation. Well designed training can shift body composition even when the scale does not swing wildly. These are not gym myths. They are patient, peer reviewed reasons to build.

So where do you begin if the shred voice is still loud in your head?

Start embarrassingly small and unavoidably consistent. Two lifting days a week, non negotiable, for six weeks. Keep each session under an hour. Add one long, easy walk on off days so you can recover and still move. Eat protein like it is your job and vegetables like you are grateful. Sleep like you mean it. Most of all, track the weights you lift, let the numbers tell the story your mirror takes its time to narrate.

Somewhere around week four you will notice your posture in a photo and think, oh. Around week six your jeans will fit the same number but feel different. More structure where you want strength. Softer where you want ease. And when life throws you something heavy, because it will, you will be shocked at how naturally you bend your knees, brace your core, lift with your legs, and carry it to where it needs to go. 

Strength training’s quiet gift is not just a stronger body. It is a practiced way of meeting weight without collapsing under it. 

One translation says she girds herself with strength, she makes strong her arms. That is not a metaphor you outgrow. It is a habit you keep (Proverbs 31:17).

If you have spent years negotiating with your reflection, I will not pretend this switch is easy. But it is simple. 

Build, do not just burn. 

Feed, do not just withhold. 

Measure what you can lift, not only what you weigh. 

Aim for a life that lasts, not a look that fades. 

The research will nod in approval, your energy will too. 

And in the quiet places, the early alarm, the last rep, the moment you put the bar back on the hooks and stand a little taller, you may hear what you were too depleted to notice before. 

The still voice that calls you to strength, not scarcity.

You were not made to disappear. You were made to carry weight with grace.

Strength + Muscle First is not a trend. It is a return to design.