Arms as a Status Symbol: How Muscle Became a Health Standard for Women

A new fitness frontier for women is taking shape: muscle. Across gyms from Crunch to Life Time, weight training is moving into the mainstream as women increasingly embrace strength as a health imperative and a cultural signal. New data show women’s participation in weight training rose to 14% in 2024, up from 11% in 2019, according to research from the Health and Fitness Association. The trend comes as fitness spaces reconfigure away from rows of cardio toward barbells, kettlebells, and functional rigs, a shift some studios describe as driven by a growing female membership.

The momentum is visible beyond gym floors. Women are strapping on camo-colored weighted backpacks for dog walks, and new brands such as The Carry and Yvoty are releasing sleeker, more wearable designs to fit contemporary frames. The momentum stretches into menopause-focused wellness markets, with the booming $17 billion menopause industry promoting weightlifting as a shield against muscle loss and bone thinning. “There’s been a shift in realizing that skinny, as you get older, as opposed to being strong, is detrimental,” says Joanna Strober, chief executive of Midi Health, a telehealth company serving more than 200,000 midlife women. “People are worried about their bones and looking at women who are skinny and hunched over and saying ‘that’s not what I want to be.’”

Arms, once a background signifier in fashion and media, have become a focal point for a broader cultural conversation about power, aging, and body image. In interviews and profiles, weightlifting is framed not just as a fitness outcome but as a visible marker of discipline, control, and a woman’s capacity to fight back against inequalities. In his 2023 book Outlive, Peter Attia helped push muscle into the mainstream longevity conversation, reframing strength as a tool for living longer. The trend has moved beyond the realm of biohacking communities toward everyday life for many women who see muscle as part of their health strategy, not merely an aesthetic ideal.

Lynn Jurich, who co-founded and led the solar-energy company Sunrun, has expanded her work into aging and wellness with a venture called the Female Longevity Institute. The Silicon Valley membership club, valued at roughly $10,000 a year, offers hormone monitoring, facial rejuvenation treatments, and a gym stocked with Rogue barbells and scented towels. At the center, weightlifting sits at the heart of programs intended to help women maintain confidence and connection as they age. “My peer group of senior vice presidents and CEOs who were entering late perimenopause—I saw them losing confidence at work, dropping out, going through divorces,” Jurich says. “A key goal of ours is to bring back feminine power.”

In East Hampton, NY, the Lifted Method studio reports that about 300 women cycle through weight-training classes each week. Owner Holly Rilinger says clients increasingly seek what money can’t buy: muscle. “It’s this idea of ‘I can wear my strength as a symbol of hard work,’” she notes. “Women are wanting stronger arms and looking more cut.” The emphasis on sculpted arms marks a shift from a long-running media canon in which arms were expected to be slim—whether in the waifish 1990s or the booty-obsessed 2010s—toward a now-dominant narrative in which strength is both visible and aspirational.

The shift has been accelerated by a wave of fitfluencers who frame muscularity as accessible through consistent training, while often pairing messages about supplements and gear with highly curated aesthetics. Yet proponents acknowledge a tension: strength as a democratic ideal versus the reality that visible muscularity still carries social and economic filters. Dany Garcia, a former pro bodybuilder and current chief executive of The Garcia Companies, argues that what’s being sold to women isn’t strength itself but the illusion of strength—a lean, muscular look achieved by lowering body fat. “If you’re lean, of course your muscles will show,” Garcia says. “But that’s not the same thing as being strong.” Garcia has since founded Danimás, a media venture focused on female strength, amplifying voices who frame muscle as a form of empowerment rather than a superficial end.

The argument over what constitutes true strength has sparked debate among psychologists and scholars. Renee Engeln, a Northwestern University psychology professor, cautions that the current ideal may hinge on a narrow, costly path to beauty. “The key to beauty ideals is that if they’re too easily reached, they’re no longer ideals,” she says. “It’s not enough to be thin. Now you have to be thin and visibly muscular.” Research from Missouri State University psychologist Brooke Whisenhunt indicates that attractiveness judgments have shifted among younger audiences; in Miss USA contestant trends from 1999 to 2013, contestants tended to be thinner yet more muscular, a combination that surveys suggested was increasingly attractive to peers. The pairing of low body fat with defined musculature underlines a broader social standard: arms must be sculpted but not too large, powerful but still “feminine.”

This balancing act has real implications for access and equity. Engeln notes that wealth often underwrites the ability to pursue the ideal—access to healthy foods, time for training, and professional guidance. “Never forget the most essential ingredient to achieving the ideal body, beyond genetics, is wealth,” she argues. “Wealth buys you access to healthy foods, the time and resources to make working out an unpaid part-time job.” The muscular arm, then, can symbolize power while simultaneously signaling privilege, reinforcing a standard that may be unattainable for many women.

In the studio and on social feeds, the appearance of muscular arms has become a business of its own. Celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson—the coach behind stars and pro teams—notes a shift in client goals. “I don’t have women coming in saying ‘I want big arms.’ It’s ‘I want more definition in my arms.’” He estimates that many clients seek a package deal that includes nutrition guidance, often at premium rates. “The common denominator of the women coming through my gym has always been ass, abs, arms,” he says. “These days, it’s an arm thing.” The evolving market for women’s strength thus sits at the intersection of health, aesthetics, and access, with muscle serving as a new shorthand for discipline and resilience.

Yet the push for visible muscle also invites scrutiny. Some critics contend that the current standard risks pressuring women to pursue an ideal that is expensive, time-intensive, and potentially unsustainable for those with demanding jobs or caregiving responsibilities. As the industry grows, the conversation continues about how to balance promoting health and longevity with avoiding unrealistic expectations that equate worth with appearance. The tension between strength for health and strength as fashion remains a central feature of today’s wellness discourse.

Dany Garcia’s emphasis on female strength extends beyond individual fame or marketable images. She describes her own media venture as an effort to broaden the narrative around what women can achieve with strength, framing it as a resource for leadership, resilience, and longevity. The movement’s growth has brought weightlifting into more mainstream spaces and broadened the discussion about what “health” means for women as they age, especially in the face of menopause and related health concerns. As gyms continue to reconfigure spaces and fashion brands refine products for real bodies, the image of the muscular arm remains a potent emblem—one that is at once aspirational, contested, and deeply entangled with issues of access and power.