By LAURA UNGAR

When Sarah Baldassaro turned 50, she took stock of her health and began working with a fitness coach on strength training, a type of exercise that’s crucial for women in midlife.

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“Now I would say I’m stronger overall than I ever have been at any age,” said Baldassaro, 52, of Alexandria, Virginia. “My fitness level is much more like when I was in my early 30s.”

Medical experts say strength training keeps bones and muscles healthy after menopause when estrogen loss speeds up a reduction in bone density and contributes to the gradual loss of muscle mass. This type of exercise — which involves working against resistance — also helps women maintain a healthy weight and stay on track with New Year’s resolutions about fitness.

“People underestimate how powerful it is,” said Dr. Christina DeAngelis, an OB-GYN at Penn State Health.

But what should your workout look like and how do you get started?

Strength training with weights

Physical therapist Hilary Granat said bone and muscle health are intertwined: When muscle pulls on bone during resistance training, it stimulates bone-building cells.

Sarah Baldassaro, left, demonstrates a strength-training regimen with her trainer, Hilary Granat, at the Center for Orthopedic Rehab and Exercise on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Moriah Ratner)

Resistance can come from dumbbells, free weights or machines such as rowers. One example of a strength training exercise is the chest press, which involves lying back on a bench or the ground, pressing weights up from chest level and then lowering them.

It’s important to work “close to muscle failure,” said Granat, who owns Core Total Wellness in Washington, D.C. “You really have to push yourself.”

That means lifting weights that are heavy enough to be challenging and doing somewhere between six and 30 repetitions.

Sarah Baldassaro, left, demonstrates a strength-training regimen with her trainer, Hilary Granat, at the Center for Orthopedic Rehab and Exercise on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Moriah Ratner)

You’ll know you’re working hard enough if you start slowing down in tempo or speed or can’t do another repetition in good form, she said. A good rule of thumb for an exercise like a bicep curl is to lift weights somewhere between 5 pounds and 20 pounds, with novices starting at the lower end.

Baldassaro has worked her way up to 20 pounds for some exercises, incorporating techniques she learned from Granat.

She said the health coach has helped her expand her workouts beyond mostly cardio.

While she still does aerobic exercises, “the strength training has really been the difference maker for me,” she said.

No weights? No problem

Building up bones and muscles doesn’t necessarily require equipment. You can also do pushups, squats, lunges, situps, crunches or planks. Another good exercise is squatting down with your back against a wall.

Sarah Baldassaro poses for a portrait at the Center for Orthopedic Rehab and Exercise on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Moriah Ratner)

Even the simple act of getting into and out of a chair can be helpful, DeAngelis said.

“You have to engage your core going from sitting to standing,” she said. “That also allows you to work on your coordination and balance.”

There’s also what Granat calls “impact training” — exercises like walking, hiking, running, jumping, skipping and climbing stairs. On the high-impact end of the spectrum is a “rebound jump,” which involves jumping up and down from a step 10 to 30 times.

“We’re not talking about jumping hard and fast and a lot,” she said, adding that three times a week is enough.

Don’t forget about balance

Experts say middle-aged women should also perform balance exercises, which play a crucial role in preventing falls that can break or fracture bones.

Hilary Granat, left, and her client, Sarah Baldassaro, pose for a portrait at the Center for Orthopedic Rehab and Exercise on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Moriah Ratner)

These include tai chi, yoga or even standing on one leg while brushing your teeth for around 30 seconds.

All of these exercises are great for younger people too, experts say, especially since bone mass peaks at 25 to 30 years old and slowly begins to lessen around age 40.

After seeing how strength training has improved her life, Baldassaro advises others: “Don’t wait. Get started.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press Business Writer

The U.S. housing market slump dragged into its fourth year in 2025 as sales remained stuck at a 30-year low with rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates keeping many prospective home shoppers out of the market.

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Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes totaled 4.06 million last year, flat versus 2024, when sales sank to the lowest level since 1995, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales have declined on annual basis every year since 2022.

The median national home price for all of last year rose 1.7% to $414,400, the NAR said.

Sales have been stuck at around a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm.

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was around 7% a year ago and remained elevated for much of the year until late summer, when they began to ease, falling to close to 6% by the end of the year, according to Freddie Mac.

That recent pullback in mortgage rates helped drive existing U.S. home sales 5.1% higher in December from the previous month, the fastest sales pace in nearly three years.

Even so, affordability remains a challenge for many aspiring homeowners, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase. Uncertainty over the economy and job market are also keeping many would-be buyers on the sidelines.

By Todd Woody, Bloomberg News

The elimination of U.S. tax credits for residential heat pumps, solar panels and batteries will make electrifying your home more expensive in 2026, and tariffs and made-in-America mandates could add additional costs.

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Just how pricey remains to be seen. New financing models could help keep some solar and battery costs in check, according to Emily Walker, director of insights at online solar marketplace EnergySage.

Here’s what you need to know.

The tax credit repeal’s impact on prices

The expiration of the 30% federal tax credit for solar and battery installations at the end of 2025 doesn’t necessarily make the equipment more costly to buy but for homeowners with a tax liability, it does end the ability to reduce or erase their tax bill. A typical solar and battery system generated tax credits worth about $10,000.

You can still save by leasing

Tax credits remain for leased solar systems through the end of 2027, though the installer receives the incentive and passes on the savings to homeowners through lower monthly payments or other cost reductions.

A new model of solar ownership is emerging

Walker said installers who sold systems are now switching to a new model that lets residents ultimately own their solar and battery arrays while securing the savings from leasing. Called lease-to-own or a prepaid lease, a homeowner pays for the cost of the system upfront and the installer passes on the tax credit benefits as a discount. The solar company must retain ownership for a certain number of years under the tax code but then transfers title to the homeowner.

Southern California installer SolarShoppers sells its systems but company president Shawn Heckerman said he estimates that prepaid leases will account for nearly all of his business in 2026. Like other solar installers, he anticipates that demand will initially soften but recover later in the year. “I expect us to have a better year in 2026 than the last one, even with the tax credit expiring,” he said.

That’s due to soaring electricity rates and temperatures that force residents to run their air conditioners. “When we get into the summer, customer calls spike when they get their first high utility bill,” said Heckerman.

Walker also expects homeowners to continue adding panels as they install electric vehicle chargers and replace fossil fuel appliances with induction stoves and heat pumps. That can make going solar still financially attractive in the long run, even if the absence of federal incentives means adding a couple of years to the time it takes for the energy savings to equal the cost of the system, she said.

“When you’re talking about something that’s producing electricity for 25 years, it’s really just a blip,” said Walker.

New rules could raise the cost of solar panels and batteries

To receive the tax credit, leased systems must comply with new domestic manufacturing requirements that took effect Jan. 1, 2026. The federal government, though, has yet to issue final guidance on what percentage of components from China and other countries are prohibited under the Trump tax bill enacted in July.

Tariffs will also add costs

The U.S. imports most of its solar panels from China, Vietnam and other countries subject to tariffs. Nearly all batteries for residential energy storage are made in China.

Tariffs and manufacturing mandates will likely push up prices, according to analysts, but Walker said that will encourage the industry to focus on cutting “soft costs” like permitting and paperwork that result in U.S. residents paying significantly more for solar energy than those in Australia and Europe.

How heat pumps are affected

Homeowners have also lost the $2,000 federal tax credit for heat pumps that can warm and cool dwellings and provide hot water. But Francis Dietz, a spokesperson for industry group AHRI, noted that most heat pumps didn’t qualify for the incentive, which was only for the most efficient and expensive models.

“You can still get your basic or basic-plus heat pump and don’t have to worry about the tax credit going away, so it won’t make a big difference for the average consumer,” he said.

The U.S. imported 382,000 heat pumps, mainly from China and Mexico, out of 4.1 million of the devices that shipped in 2024, according to AHRI and the United Nations. But prices may rise modestly as domestically assembled heat pumps use Chinese components subject to tariffs.

©2026 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting lower again on Wednesday following mixed profit reports from several big banks.

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The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and was on track for a second straight drop after setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 84 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower.

Some nervousness was hanging over financial markets. Crude prices added roughly 1% to their big recent gains as protests in Iran could lead to disruptions in the flow of oil. Gold’s price climbed nearly 1% toward further records, while Treasury yields edged lower as investors looked for investments that are considered safer to hold.

On Wall Street, Wells Fargo helped pull the U.S. stock market lower after falling 4.5%. The San Francisco-based bank reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected, with analysts citing lower trading fees and other miscellaneous items.

Bank of America fell 3.4% despite reporting stronger profit than expected. Citigroup, which is in the midst of a turnaround under CEO and Chair Jane Fraser, lost an initial gain to slip 0.3% after its results fell short of forecasts.

Companies across industries need to report strong growth in profits to justify how high their stock prices have run recently. Analysts are looking for businesses across the S&P 500 to report earnings per share for the final three months of 2025 that are roughly 8% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

Exxon Mobil added 1.3% and was one of the strongest forces keeping the S&P 500 from a steeper loss. It rose as the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude added 0.8% to bring its gain for the year so far to 7%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields inched lower following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy.

One said that shoppers spent more at U.S. retailers in November than economists expected. That could be an encouraging signal about the main engine of the U.S. economy, but economists pointed to some concerning signals were underneath the surface. Sales of big-ticket items fell from the prior year, noted Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

A separate report said prices rose modestly at the U.S. wholesale level in November. It followed a report on Tuesday that said inflation at the U.S. consumer level was close last month to economists’ expectations, though it remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked down to 4.15% from 4.18% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, fell more modestly. It dipped to 3.52% from 3.53%.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 1.5% to another record expectations grew that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call general elections soon.

Indexes were mixed elsewhere. Stocks rose 0.6% in Hong Kong but fell 0.3% in Shanghai after a report showed China’s trade surplus surged 20% in 2025 to a record despite President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.