Attention women over 40: Why your exercise routine may not be working for you

At some point during their care, all of my female clients over 40 voice grievances about the stark change in their body when they reached their fourth decade. They feel like their typical diet and fitness routine is not as effective, they don’t recover from workouts as well and their pains and strains become more frequent than ever before. Considering that this is also typically the life stage when women can start to dedicate more time to their health and fitness, this can be incredibly frustrating. They spend more time exercising and eating healthy, yet their body composition (fat mass to muscle mass ratio) does not change.  

So, what is actually happening in a woman’s body in her 40s that causes these changes in musculoskeletal health and body composition? The simplified answer is this: decreased estrogen.

Estrogen is important for many different physiological processes, including the muscular system. Estrogen works with satellite muscle cells to repair, renew, maintain and build muscle. Thus, less estrogen means a decline in the quality of this mechanism. This has many ramifications, such as:

-decreased muscle tone and strength which results in greater load on joints

-decreased metabolism and calorie expenditure which affects body composition

-decreased demands on tendons and bones which has negative impact on bone density

-decreased regulation of blood sugar which has implications for insulin resistance and diabetes 

-decreased capacity of muscles to repair from excessive strain which has implications for work out recovery and injury

That’s a pretty hefty list of repercussions, don’t you think? But I have some good news:

If you modify your fitness routine effectively you can significantly offset the consequences. 

Your routine will need some tweaking or possibly a full makeover. In short, a properly structured strength training program is the key. For those interested in learning how to do this yourself, I will give you detailed guidelines in the next section. Before we get to that though, I’d like to discuss a few other commonly posed questions when it comes to this topic…

Do I really need to hit the gym?!

Maybe. There isn’t much equipment required to have an effective strength program that is home-friendly. You absolutely need some dumb bells - I find that adjustable dumb bell sets work especially well in terms of space management. But if you don’t want to invest OR you want to have the option to really diversify your work outs (minimizes boredom), a gym membership is ideal. Resistance bands are also a cost-friendly investment that are very useful for strength training. Let me know if you want my recommendations for any of this equipment, I’m happy to help.

Are there other types of exercise I can do instead of gym work outs/weight lifting?

In all honesty, there is not an ideal replacement for lifting, pushing, and pulling heavy things. Body weight can only go so far. With that said, swapping out 1-2 work outs per week with yoga or pilates is acceptable. I often encourage this to keep things dynamic both mentally and physically.

What about my aerobic/cardiac health? Don’t I need cardio?

If you are truly doing the strength work outs properly, you are getting adequate cardiac training! In fact, there is evidence that positive impacts of strength training on the heart surpass that of aerobic exercise in the long run. So rest assured that you can skip the elliptical or bike and manage your health optimally with strength training.

What about HIIT work outs?

Training at a very high intensity over-taxes the estrogen-satellite system. As such, I absolutely do not recommend this for women over 40. I realize that I am ruffling some feathers here, especially for busy moms who like to get a lot done in a very short period of time. While these work outs are very convenient, the impact is counterproductive.

What about running and plyometrics (jumping)?

The biggest issue with running is that many runners will only run while neglecting strength training all together. If you are going to run, you should be strength training 4 times/week at a minimum. Furthermore, both running and plyometrics are ballistic activities - simply, you are jumping. Jumping requires landing and many people do not land properly. They sink too deep or not deep enough. The landing is ratchety or sloppy. Oftentimes the spring back out of the landing is also inadequate. All of this means considerably more work for the estrogen-satellite system. In short, there is a quality issue that wears down your muscles too much. Can the proper technique be learned? Absolutely! Are ballistic activities beneficial to a 40 year old woman? Definitely! My recommendation would be to hire a physical therapist with a lot of experience in this area to help you learn the proper technique. If you are in LA, I’m happy to help you with this.

Alright, now onto the meat of the matter. If you want to learn how to structure your strength program, read on. If you would rather not, skip to the end!

Strength Training Guidelines for Women Over 40

Time Commitment

-Schedule 4-6 days of strength training each week. 

-Each session should be 45-60 minutes. 

-Alternate days between body regions. For instance, do upper body/back Monday, Wednesday and Friday; then lower body/core Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. This is important in order to give that body region adequate time to recover and actually reap the benefits you are shooting for. This is also critical in avoiding over-taxation of the estrogen/satellite cell system. 

Here are a couple of examples of scheduling options…

Exercise Selection

This is where things can get a bit tricky, so bear with me. I will make it as simple as possible! 

First, choose a combination of multi-joint and single-joint exercises. 

-Multi-joint exercises are those in which multiple joints are moving at once. Squats, dead lifts, crab walks, shoulder press, bench press, pushups are all examples of multi-joint exercises. 

-Single-joint exercises are those in which you are only moving about one joint. Knee extensions, hamstring curls, calf raises, glute bridges, bicep curls, tricep extensions, lateral arm raises are all examples. 

I recommend choosing 2-3 of each variation. Check out the diagrams below to help you understand the differences a bit better…

Second, focus on the concentric phase of exercises instead of the eccentric phase. See the diagrams below to learn the difference. 

Spend more time in the concentric (contraction) phase and relatively less in the eccentric (lowering) phase.

The one exception to this is certain isometric exercises. Isometric means you are holding a muscle contraction rather than moving through it. An example of this would be holding the top of a bridge for an extended duration or holding the extension of a tricep kick back for an extended duration. Planks are isometrics that fit into this category! 

Load, Sets, and Repetitions

This is where the science gets even more specific and counter intuitive to many trainers and therapists (unless they know the current research!). In order to have optimal results with lowest risk, high repetitions is the key for women over 40. For each set of an exercise you are shooting for 15+ repetitions. You also want to do multiple sets, say 3-4. This is a high volume work out! A lot of reps, a lot of sets. This means you need to choose loads (weights) that allow you to do that many sets and repetitions with good quality motion. If you go too heavy, your form will suffer making that exercise less optimal. 

Determining the right weight for each exercise can take time, so be patient with yourself. It may take you a few work outs to get it ironed out. As you get stronger, you will need to progress the weights so that things don’t get too easy and you can continue reaping the benefits.

Summary & A Few Final Tips

-Your strength program should be 45-60 minutes, 4-6 days/week, and alternating between body regions each day.

-Do a combination of single-joint and multi-joint exercises, 3-4 sets of each exercises, 15+ repetitions in each set.

-Focus on the concentric, or contraction, phase of the exercise - spending more time there than on the lowering phase.

-Plan! Write out your work outs for the week. Indicate which exercise, the weight you will use, and how many sets and repetitions you are planning to do. 

-Don’t throw out old work out plans! Keep them on hand so you create many different options to choose from. This will minimize boredom.

-Get help! If this all feels very overwhelming to you…or if you simply don’t want to invest the energy to create your own plan, I can help. Depending on your activity level and exercise experience, we can create a program for you in as little as 6 visits. 

Here are two work outs to get you started! Give these a try for a couple of weeks and let me know what you think. Should you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.