I’ve been talking about leg strength with women for years.
In my coaching sessions. At retreats. In the Strong Calm Lean program.
And the response is almost always the same.
A polite nod. A sense that yes, strong legs are probably a good idea. And then a quiet pivot back to whatever cardio routine or calorie target they’d been focused on.
So when the Today Show invited me to talk about leg strength and longevity, I was grateful for the platform.
Because the research on this is not a gentle nudge.
It is a wake-up call.
The strength of your legs, specifically your quadriceps, the large muscles at the front of your thighs, is one of the most powerful predictors of how long you will live, how independently you will age, and how well your body will function in the decades ahead.
Not your cardio fitness. Not your flexibility. Not your body weight.
Your leg strength.
Here’s what the science says, and what you can do about it, starting today.
THE RESEARCH: What Your Legs Reveal About Your Lifespan
Let’s start with a statistic that stopped me in my tracks the first time I read it.
A large-scale study published in the Journal of Gerontology found that older adults with lower quadriceps strength had a 51 to 65 per cent higher risk of earlier death — even after adjusting for age, body size, physical activity levels and inflammation markers.
A separate peer-reviewed analysis found that quadriceps strength was a more accurate predictor of mortality risk than some of the most commonly used health indicators, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Research on the sitting-rising test, the simple act of lowering yourself to the floor and getting back up without using your hands — found that those who scored lowest faced up to six times higher mortality risk compared to those who scored highest over a 12-year follow-up period. Each one-point improvement in the score was associated with a 21 per cent reduction in all-cause mortality.
Read that again.
Six times higher mortality risk.
And a 21% reduction in risk for every incremental improvement.
This is not fringe science. This is not wellness Instagram. This is peer-reviewed research published in journals including the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
And it tells us something that the fitness industry has been slow to communicate clearly to women:
The most important exercise you can do for a long, healthy, independent life is not the one that burns the most calories.
It is the one that builds the most leg strength.
Why Your Legs?
The quadriceps are the largest muscle group in the body.
They are involved in almost every movement that keeps you upright and independent, walking, climbing stairs, standing from a chair, getting up off the floor, carrying shopping, stepping off a kerb without falling.
But their role in longevity goes far beyond mobility.
- Metabolic function – the large leg muscles are primary sites of glucose uptake. Strong quads mean better insulin sensitivity, lower blood sugar regulation and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease
- Cardiovascular health – leg muscle contractions during exercise act as a secondary pump for circulation, supporting heart function and reducing cardiovascular risk
- Bone density – weight-bearing leg training stimulates bone remodelling, reducing osteoporosis risk significantly
- Brain health – research shows stronger legs are associated with slower brain ageing and lower risk of cognitive decline, possibly due to increased blood flow and neurotrophic factor release during lower body exercise
- Fall prevention – falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in adults over 65. Strong legs improve balance, reaction time and the ability to recover from a stumble before it becomes a fall
The Sitting – Rising Test: Try It Now
One of the most compelling pieces of research in this field involves a test you can do in your living room in under a minute.
The sitting-rising test, developed by Brazilian researcher Dr Claudio Gil Araújo, measures your ability to lower yourself to the floor and stand back up – without using your hands, knees or any other support.
You score yourself out of ten. Five points for sitting down (minus one for each hand, knee or forearm you use), five for standing back up.
The research: participants who scored 0 to 4 were nearly four times more likely to have died in the following 12 years than those who scored 10. Those who scored lowest faced up to six times higher cardiovascular mortality risk.
Try it.
Not to test yourself against a standard. Not to feel bad about where you are right now.
But to give yourself a clear, evidence-based marker of where you’re starting from, and the most motivating reason I know to get serious about building lower body strength.
What This Means For Women Over 40
Here is what makes this particularly relevant for the women I work with.
Sarcopenia — the age-related loss of muscle mass — begins in our thirties and accelerates significantly after 50. And it disproportionately affects the lower body.
The quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings decline faster than upper body muscles with age, particularly in women who are not actively training them.
Which means that the woman who is walking regularly, doing yoga, even doing some cardio, but not doing progressive resistance training for her lower body, is likely losing leg strength every year without realising it.
The good news?
The research is equally clear on this:
Leg strength responds to training at every age.
Studies show that women in their 50s, 60s and 70s who begin structured lower body resistance training make significant strength gains. It is not too late. It is never too late.
The body you are in right now can become measurably stronger within weeks.
Five Lower Body Exercises Every Woman Over 40 Should Do
These are the exercises I spoke about on the Today Show. They require no gym membership and can be modified for any level.
The squat
The foundational lower body movement. It trains the quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings simultaneously and directly mirrors the sit-to-stand movement pattern that predicts longevity.
Start with a chair squat, lower yourself slowly towards a chair seat and stand back up without using your hands. When this feels easy, add resistance with a dumbbell or progress to a full squat.
Aim for 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions, two to three times per week.
The reverse lunge
A unilateral exercise that builds single-leg strength and stability — critical for balance and fall prevention. The reverse (stepping back) variation is more knee-friendly than the forward lunge and easier to control.
Keep your front knee tracking over your second toe. Add dumbbells as you progress.
The glute bridge
Lying on your back with knees bent, drive your hips toward the ceiling, squeezing your glutes at the top. This is a powerful exercise for the posterior chain, the glutes and hamstrings that protect the lower back and support upright posture.
Progress to a single-leg variation or add a resistance band above the knees.
The step-up
Using a stair or a stable box, step up with one foot and drive through the heel to lift your body. Step down with control. This directly trains the quad-dominant push pattern and integrates balance.
Height matters, even a 15cm step delivers significant training stimulus. Work up slowly.
The wall sit
Back flat against a wall, slide down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold. This isometric exercise builds quadriceps strength with minimal joint load and is an excellent entry point for women who are new to resistance training or managing knee discomfort.
Start with 20 to 30 seconds and build toward 60 seconds or more.
The Strong Calm Lean Approach To Lower Body Training
Inside the Strong Calm Lean Method, progressive lower body strength training is not optional. It is central.
Not because of how it makes your body look.
Because of what it does for your metabolism, your hormones, your bone density, your insulin sensitivity and your longevity.
The women in our program train their lower body twice a week, progressively. They see body composition changes, yes. But what they consistently tell me is that the bigger change is how they feel.
Stronger climbing stairs. More confident on uneven ground. Getting up off the floor from playing with grandchildren without a second thought.
These are not small things.
These are the things that define a life lived fully, on your own terms, for as long as possible.
If today’s article has made you want to get serious about building the kind of strength that supports a long, vital, independent life, I’d love to show you exactly how we do that inside the Strong Calm Lean Method.
In your complimentary 30-minute Roadmap Call, we’ll look at exactly what’s happening in your body, identify what’s been holding you back, and map out the most effective path forward for you.
And if I feel I can support your goals, I’ll share some options for working with me inside the Strong Calm Lean Method.
You’ve given so much of yourself to others. It’s time to give a little back to yourself.
Book Your Free Roadmap Call: www.karmabeing.com