For Women Over 40 – Exercise Should Be Purposeful

Yesterday I went Live on Facebook talking about Women Over (or nearing) 40and their exercise.

I am a believer of  “Fitness longevity”  – being able to exercise into our old age.

So, I hate to hear about other trainers and gyms that just beat women into the ground for the sake of a “workout high”.

By age 40, most women have been pregnant and given birth or have/ had jobs long enough to where it shapes our bodies.

We have stress that impacts our body and hormonal ups and downs that also impact our bodies.

When every workout is the hardest, most high intense workout possible, you are producing MORE stress… and don’t we have enough stress in our lives?

You are breaking down your body instead of building it up.

After age 40 (and I’d say more like 35) we need a combination of :

-high intensity interval training (HIIT)…

–strength training that is appropriate for how each of our bodies move, i.e. not everyone should squat/bench press/deadlift

–longer, slower activity

-exercises that improve certain movement patterns, sometimes called corrective exercises

-exercise that improves our power (did you know that power is the first component of fitness that older people lose?)

-activity that addresses our bodies alignment between or diaphragm and pelvic floor

Yeah, I know that good feeling when you’ve worked as hard as possible and your heart rate gets up there, it’s just not the ONLY way to exercise.