Building muscle is different to building muscle definition. When someone mentions ‘definition’, they’re referring to how visible the shape and contours of your muscles are beneath the skin; it generally comes from a combo of having enough muscle mass and relatively low levels of body fat. Building muscle is simply about increasing the amount of muscle tissue in your body.
Building more definition after 50 is absolutely not impossible – but the strategy that worked in your 30s or 40s may no longer cut it. As we age, declining estrogen levels and muscle mass (a process known as sarcopenia) can make it harder to build or maintain the visible muscles you’re after, particularly if you haven’t adapted your training as you’ve gotten older.
But good news: one common mistake could be standing between you and stronger, more defined muscles. Here, 58-year-old coach Theresa Moloney, who has trained women in midlife for over 25 years, shares the reason you might not be seeing results – and exactly what to do instead.
Muscle definition training mistake after 50
‘Years ago, when I first started strength training, I made the exact mistakes I see so many women over 50 making today. I thought that if I just worked out longer and lifted heavier, my body would change,’ she says on Instagram.
‘So I was doing all these exercises and putting together the wrong combinations. I didn’t understand that if I wanted sculpted shoulders, I had to work the front, the back and the side of my shoulders. So, I was missing pieces. I was doing the same thing for my core and my legs; I was working out harder, but I wasn’t working strategically. That’s when I learned something that completely changed the way I train.
‘You don’t need longer workouts. You don’t need harder workouts. You don’t even need heavier weights. You need the right exercises in the right combinations and that’s what creates muscle definition.’
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Moloney says the key to muscle definition is training every part of the muscle
In a nutshell, it’s about training the muscles comprehensively. For example, if you’re looking to build definition in your shoulders, doing lots of exercises that only target one part of the shoulder won’t work – even if you do them more frequently and with heavier weights. You need a combo of moves that work the front, side and back of the muscle. A dumbbell shoulder press will work the front and side delts, dumbbell lateral raises will target the side delts, and a reverse fly will target the back of your shoulders. The same principle applies to your legs and core.
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Moloney says the same principle applies to your legs
To build definition in your legs, you need to target every major muscle group, like so:
Go for the following exercises to target every area of your core:
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.