More Women Are Embracing Strength Training

The Trend: The weight room has long been viewed as a man’s domain. That’s changed a lot in recent decades. Data from fitness platforms like Garmin Connect and Strava shows that in 2025, women were more likely than men to track strength workouts, and more than 65% of women’s logged sessions on Tonal were strength workouts. At Crunch Fitness, women now account for more than 50% of lifting platform usage, and Planet Fitness has begun a mass removal of cardio machines to make way for more strength training equipment. 

What People Are Saying: The chief executive of Planet Fitness calls the increased emphasis on strength training the “golden age of fitness.” For some women, weight training — whether bodybuilding, powerlifting, or Olympic lifting — has helped them overcome eating disorders and body dysmorphia. “Gyms might never be the same,” writes one Bloomberg journalist, but in a very good way.

What to Know: This is one trend we can fully get behind. Strength training supports muscle mass, bone density, metabolic health, and mobility — benefits that become especially important with age. For women in particular, lifting weights can help counter bone loss and preserve independence later in life. In short: the new fitness flex isn’t endless cardio, but getting stronger.