Omega-3s and Strength Training
What a New Study Says About Getting Stronger After 40
You’re doing the work. Three days a week. Sometimes four.
And yet—something still feels like it’s not clicking. Recovery takes longer. The soreness lingers.
And the results feel slower than they should.
Here’s the thing most people miss: training is only half the equation.
What you put into your body between sessions matters just as much as what you do during them.
And a 2025 study just gave us one of the clearest pictures yet of how adding omega-3 fatty acids can change the game for people who strength train.
The Study: Omega-3s Meet Resistance Training
A randomized controlled trial published in the journal Nutrients in 2025 (Okut et al.) took 30 experienced male lifters—each with at least three years of consistent resistance training—and split them into two groups.[1]
Both groups followed the same structured, supervised resistance training program, three days a week, for eight weeks. Same exercises. Same intensity. Same structure.
The only difference?
One group added 3,150 mg of omega-3 fatty acids daily (specifically 1,620 mg EPA and 1,170 mg DHA).
The other group trained without supplementation.
Researchers controlled diet composition, prohibited caffeine and alcohol, tracked sleep with wearables, and even standardized water intake.
This was as close to a lab-controlled real-world study as it gets.
What They Found
The omega-3 group improved across virtually every marker tested. Not just one system—multiple systems, simultaneously.
Strength went up. Bench press increased by nearly 14%. Squat by almost 10%. Leg strength by over 15%. Grip strength by over 10%.
Inflammation went down. C-reactive protein—one of the most widely used markers of systemic inflammation—dropped by 41%. Other inflammatory markers (IL-6 and TNF-alpha) decreased by 27–31%.
Recovery markers improved. Glutathione, one of the body’s primary antioxidants, increased by 15%. Oxidative stress markers dropped by 33%.
Brain health markers surged. BDNF (a protein critical for brain function and neuroplasticity) went up 12%. Dopamine increased 19%. Serotonin rose nearly 17%.
Athletic performance improved across the board. Sprint times got faster. Agility improved. Jump height increased.
And the control group—the one doing the exact same training without omega-3s? No significant changes on any metric.
That last point is worth sitting with.
Same training. Dramatically different outcomes.
Why This Matters If You’re Over 40
If you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s and strength training is part of your life—or you want it to be—this study matters for three reasons.
Recovery becomes the bottleneck as you age. You can still train hard. But your ability to bounce back from that training slows down. Omega-3s appear to directly address this by reducing the inflammatory response to exercise and bolstering your body’s antioxidant defenses. Less inflammation means faster recovery. Faster recovery means better results.
Brain health isn’t separate from physical health. The increases in BDNF, dopamine, and serotonin aren’t just interesting footnotes. These are central to mood, motivation, cognitive sharpness, and long-term brain resilience. [3, 4] For anyone focused on healthspan—not just lifespan—this is significant. You’re not just training your body. You’re protecting your brain.
The strength gains compound over time. A 10–14% increase in strength over eight weeks isn’t just about the numbers. It’s about what that strength enables: better balance, more stability, greater confidence in your body, fewer injuries. For someone focused on longevity, that’s the real payoff.
What This Looks Like in Practice
You don’t need to overthink this.
If you supplement: Look for a fish oil product that delivers approximately 1,600 mg of EPA and 1,200 mg of DHA per day. That’s the dose used in the study, and it aligns with what the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends. [1] Important: a label that says “1,000 mg fish oil” doesn’t mean 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA combined.Read the fine print.
If you prefer food first: Two servings of fatty, cold-water fish per week can get you into a meaningful range. A 6-ounce salmon fillet alone delivers roughly 3,000 mg of combined EPA and DHA. [6] Sardines, herring, and mackerel are also excellent options—and they come with bonus nutrients like vitamin D, selenium, and protein.
If you don’t eat fish: Algae-based omega-3 supplements are a viable plant-based alternative that provides EPA and DHA directly (as opposed to flax or chia, which only provide ALA and require your body to convert it—a process that’s inefficient at best).
The key isn’t which source you choose. It’s consistency.
Omega-3s work through sustained, regular intake—not a one-time megadose.
The Bigger Picture
This study reinforces something we come back to again and again: results aren’t random. They’re the product of precise inputs.
Training matters. But training plus intentional nutrition? That’s where the real transformation happens.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing it right—and giving your body what it needs to actually respond to the work you’re putting in.
Omega-3s won’t replace a smart training program.
But for people already doing the work, they may be the missing piece that turns consistent effort into visible, measurable progress.
Your body isn’t broken. Your strategy might just need one more element.
At Sessions Personal Training, we build programs around the full picture—training, nutrition, recovery, and the metrics that prove it’s working. If you’re ready for a smarter approach, start with a free consultation at sessionspersonaltraining.com.
Sources
1. Okut, S., Ozan, M., Buzdağlı, Y., et al. (2025). “The Effects of Omega-3 Supplementation Combined with Strength Training on Neuro-Biomarkers, Inflammatory and Antioxidant Responses, and the Lipid Profile in Physically Healthy Adults.” Nutrients, 17(13), 2088.
2. Kris-Etherton, P.M., Harris, W.S., & Appel, L.J. (2002). “Fish Consumption, Fish Oil, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and Cardiovascular Disease.” Circulation, 106(21), 2747–57.
3. Gómez-Pinilla, F. (2008). “Brain Foods: The Effects of Nutrients on Brain Function.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(7), 568–78.
4. Fontani, G., et al. (2005). “Cognitive and Physiological Effects of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation in Healthy Subjects.” European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 35(11), 691–99.
5. Cotman, C.W. & Berchtold, N.C. (2002). “Exercise: A Behavioral Intervention to Enhance Brain Health and Plasticity.” Trends in Neurosciences, 25(6), 295–301.
6. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. “Omega-3 Fatty Acids — Health Professional Fact Sheet.” ods.od.nih.gov