A simple program like Starting Strength will have you train for not much more than 60 minutes three days a week and you'll make significant strength gains up to 1.5x body weight easily.
It was a great way to get started though, and I'm really happy about the changes my body went through in six months or so. After that, you have to find a different program or a trainer.
* https://www.bretcontreras.store/products/strong-curves
* https://old.reddit.com/r/StrongCurves/
I still think that SS is a good starter for the first 3-6 months, but once you can no longer jump by 2-5 pounds (1-2 kg) per workout, you've basically used up your beginner gains. (True also for men.)
SS isn't meant to be a long-term program, but mostly (a) getting people to actually do strength training with (b) proper form and (c) concentrating on the Big 5 movements that probably give the best bang-for-buck/time.
There is a starting strength lift standards which shows more what to expect from a female perspective and is indeed a lot smaller relative to body weight.
Starting strength is definitely a beginner program but it's simplicity is an excellent place to start.
After the SS program I've gone to the Texas Method and enjoyed great success, ymmv.
Resistance training is great, but let's not oversell it to others! A beginner not only needs to buy stuff (or commute to/from the gym) and create their plan and schedule it, they also need to account for spending extra time to correct their posture, have a longer recovery time, shower etc.
Thinking to get away with 60min from the get go might be discouraging.
Obviously no one is going to account for commute in how long a program takes. Some take hours to get to the nearest gym and others have home gyms.
I used to do the exercise with little a no weight, record myself and double check for a longer time, until I found that I got used to the right movements.
Sometimes you'll need to deload to correct form and you'll likely be starting to look at different programs soon enough.
For one reason or another I've had to deload, usually missing training for a prolonged period of time. I'm at my longest sustained training period in awhile now and about to attempt a new 5rm squat tonight, I'm a little intimidated:). It soon becomes more about the psychology imo.
I always found good lifting form to be a will power thing more than a skill thing. Easy to maintain when the bar was empty, very hard to maintain on the last couple reps of my heaviest sets. Did form check videos occasionally to keep myself honest but really, I knew when I had bad form.
like, it's hard to imagine what you would do for a better posture other than highbar squats, deadlifts, rows, etc
I seriously disagree with this. 60 minutes is more than sufficient if you aren't screwing around. I also think it's baffling that people are still recommending Starting Strength when there are far more efficient and productive programs to start off with.
Especially as a beginner, you can get a significant training stimulus without having to waste 2-3 hours of your day. How absurd. Think 80/20. I even think spending that much time would be more detrimental than beneficial in the beginning.
For beginners i doubt there is much variation in progress from one program to the other, and remember SS is for beginners.
The benefit of SS is its simplicity, 4 basic lifts with simple programming. Beginners benefit from such simplicity.
what do you need to buy? what posture correction are you doing? how is showering a meaningful amount of time when most people already shower daily?
you're inventing problems that don't exist.
One definitely should aim to eat well and sleep enough, but that's generally true anyway.
You do the former to become stronger, the latter to look it, and even ignoring the substance abuse (which happens in strength training, too) that adds aspects to training that are unhealthy.
I also think that strength training reaches a plateau fairly soon where endurance training gives bigger benefits than further strength training.
For the 'extreme' of what most competitors go through? Probably not.
But resistance/strength training more generally is probably beneficial:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training
For women especially, as they age about one-third suffer from osteoporosis, and lifting (heavy!) weights forces body adaptions that help strengthen bones. One also often hears about seniors slipping/falling and breaking hips, which can cause a downward health spiral: doing squats and deadlifts with respectable weights (1.0x to 1.5x your bodyweight) would probably help with that.
Some simple tests can reliably predict longevity: number of push-ups that can be done, speed of walking up stairs, and a sitting-rising test:
* https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/simple-sitting-test-...
All involved strength more than aerobic ability.
There's also the fact that strength is useful in life: from carrying children and groceries, moving (heavy) items, etc. It will also help in keeping one's independence when older: I see infomercials about electric chairs to help the elderly up and down stairs. That's completely unnecessary if one has sufficient muscle mass (which is harder to keep as one ages) for mobility and stability.
* https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-to-live-...
If one has a limited amount of time, the one activity that I'd do (and do personally) is weight training. The main disadvantage is that some equipment is needed, and with gyms closed nowadays it's hard to get much done. As a fall-back I have taken up running, but it's not my first choice (though I cycled to work pre-WFH).