If you're a woman headed into your golden years — or you’re already there — you want to make sure you're healthy and strong so you can look forward to continued enjoyment of every day.

How can you do that?

By making sure to add muscle-building to your weekly exercise routine.

A new study in JAMA Network followed 5,400 women (average age 79) for eight years and found that aerobic exercise isn't enough to offer optimal protection against dying.

The researchers assessed participants’ grip strength and the time it took them to stand up five times from a chair without using their arms and found that women with the greatest grip strength had a 33% lower risk of death over the study period, compared to those with the lowest grip strength. And those with the fastest chair stand time had a 37% lower risk of death.

This held true even for those who did not get 150 minutes a week of aerobic activity (although I think you'd be better off getting that, or more).

You want to target arm strength, core muscle development, thigh and calf power, and shoulder muscles. You can use resistance bands or your body weight at home, or head to the gym and do eight to 12 reps of each strength-building exercise.

To help you get started, check out my book "The RealAge Workout."