In recent years, the objectives of sports sessions have been changing: according to a Life Time survey carried out in the United States at the end of 2025, 82% of respondents said they wanted to focus more on their health and well-being in 2026. In gyms and on the networks, free weights are attracting more and more adults, including those over 40, with one idea in mind: staying in shape for a long time.
This bodybuilding boom
is driven by a double engine: the quest for
longevity and the strength of the collective. Doctors, from oncology to sports medicine, are unanimous: the muscle becomes a real preventive organ for “aging well”. It remains to understand what is happening in the body, especially in women, and why training together changes everything.
Why bodybuilding and longevity now move forward together
For the World Health Organization (WHO), aging well is “maintain functional skills allowing older people to enjoy a state of well-being“. Dr. Idriss Troussier, oncologist, goes further by recalling that “Muscle is not just aesthetic: it is a living pharmacy“, in a video published on his Instagram account @doc.anticancer. With each contraction, our muscles release molecules, myokines, which act like small hormonal messengers.
According to him, “These myokines are like health text messages sent to your whole body: they talk to your brain, your liver, your bones, your immune system and your visceral fat” and transmit a message: “repairs, protects, regulates, burns at best“This dialogue helps control blood sugar, limit chronic inflammation, protect metabolism and keep bones strong, so for Dr. Idriss Troussier, bodybuilding, “It’s preventative medicine.“.
According to the WHO, adults should do 150 minutes of moderate endurance, or 75 minutes sustained, each week, plus strengthening exercises on at least two days, and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health associates 90 to 120 minutes of weekly strengthening with about a 13 percent drop in the risk of premature death.
Bodybuilding, women and menopause: an unexpected health trigger
In women, the muscle strengthening
often remains hampered by clichés, while it becomes crucial around menopause. In Le Temps, Dr Anne Duraffourg, specialist in internal medicine and sports medicine at La Tour Hospital, summarizes: “The drop in estrogen levels compared to other hormones leads to physiological upheavals“. It describes a weakening of the bones, a progressive decrease in muscle mass and an increase in abdominal fat mass, which reflect a profound change in metabolism, and not just a question of aesthetics.
The community, a discreet engine of the bodybuilding boom
Specialists cited by AthletechNews believe that the current boom in strengthening comes as much from the quest for longevity as from the strength of the group, with group bodybuilding classes which reassure beginners.