Kindal with her arms crossed looking tough flexing her muscles and being a badass in her 40s.

Kindal Boyle

Is Strength Training For Women Over 40 Different?

I'm guessing you're strength training experience is limited.

Or its been a little while since you've last been consistent.

Being over 40 is actually a vital time to get into strength training.

In your 40s there are some major hormone changes happening.

It's also possible you'll experience menopause or peri-menopause.

You're muscle mass will deteriorate if you don't strength train.

And it's likely you'll begin to steadily lose bone mass... unless you strength train.

Being a woman in your 40s... this sounds dire... like we're aging to the point of death...

Yuck!

But it's not as bad as it sounds.

Here are the 3 major factors that make strength training in your 40s different from when you were younger.

I'll quickly say this now and at the end...

You can learn and go just as hard strength training in your 40s as you did or would have in your 20s.

Kindal doing floor presses and going pretty heavy. She has actually gotten strong going into 40 than she's ever been.

Just because you're "older" (by number)... doesn't not mean you have to play it safe or lower your ambitions.

Let me show you.

How Strength Training Is Different When You're In Your 40s

1. Mobility

Kindal is doing the knee into the corner of the wall stretch to help restore her hip flexor muscles and her quad muscles to their natural length.

This is the number one issue any person who's been living an adult life for decades.

The lack of mobility.

Most people have been doing the same movement patterns since they've been 30...

Working at job
Relaxing at home
Grabbing kids
Etc..

These same movement patterns lead to tight muscles because you aren't moving your joints through their full range of motion.

This is why we get symptoms like:

Forward hip tilt
Slumped shoulders
Forward protruding head and neck tightness
Knees that cave in
Persistent joint pain

[IMAGE - Kindal holder her lower back and making a pain emotion]
TITLE: Trigger Ball Therapy Increase Blood Flow In Muscles
ALT: Kindal smashing a TFL muscle in her hip to help counter act the sitting she does during the day and to improve forward hip tilt.

All of these create a lack of mobility.

And when you get into strength training... if you push too hard or do certain exercises without working on your mobility first...

You'll get hurt... typically tweak a muscle (nothing too serious, but still an injury).

Trigger ball therapy is a great solution for these tight muscles and joints.

Learn how to pick out a massage ball
Try this trigger ball routine

Stretching And Mobility Become a Big Deal

Kindal doing a thoracic spine twist with a strap what also hits her glute medius to help stretch her hips out.

Doing a full yoga class is great... but it isn't always an option so...

Doing mini-stretch routines become a really big deal.

My favorite 5 minute warmup routine is actually a great daily mobility routine.

And here's a mini-mobility routine you can add into your day. It will make you so much better.

If you stay up 3 to 4 of these over the week... every week... your body will feel infinitely better.

2. Coordination And Balance

It's shocking how much coordination we lose as we age.

And balance... don't get me started.

With a lack of coordination and balance... the exercises you'll be able to do will be limited.

For example you won't be knocking out kettlebell turkish get-ups when you just get into strength training.

Kindal doing the get up and she is at the point where her hips are raised up off the floor and her balance is being tested.

And that's okay.

Master the fundamentals. When you have the right coaching and programming mastering the fundamentals goes fast (and it's fun too).

Here are some of my favorite blog posts to help you get up so speed quickly.

Lower body stability exercises (this one is gold)
Bodyweight Burner workout (The skiers are great for balance)
Strength End Range Of Motion workout do it without a weight for coordination and mobility

This will get you started and show you how to you can work these skills into just about every workout you do.

3. Proper Body Recovery

This is the most overlooked change as you continue to workout in your 40s and beyond.

As we age into each decade our bodies need more recovery time. It's a simple fact.

(They also need a little more warm up time too before a workout!)

There are two I want to highlight here:

Sleep
Workout recovery days

Sleep For Body And Mental Recovery

Sleep is one of most important recovery methods.

It's the one thing I refuse to negotiate on. I need lights out at 9:30pm... or I'll go into bitch mode big time.

The main reason is during sleep your body releases the hormones required for muscle tissue repair.

And of course you have benefits like:

Muscle tissue repair
Brain repair
Hormone regulation

A simple way to start putting a priority on sleep is to turn off your phone 15 minutes earlier than you normally would before bed.

Either read a physical book or magazine, write in a journal, or just go to sleep.

Start improving your sleep habit one small step at a time... and stack these habits.

Workout Rest And Recovery Days

Kindal jumping rope because it's a great cardio active recovery workout you can do on your rest day and it does not have to take a lot of time.

Rest days are vital.

But in most cases a rest day does not mean sitting around doing nothing.

Rest days mean no intense strength training. You want to let your body recover and rebuild (sleep).

And you can do things to help speed this process up.

Stretch Routines

Doing a set stretch routine is a great way speed up recover and improve your mobility at the same time.

Need some help. I got you covered...

Active Recovery Workouts

Kindal doing balanced toed touches and working on a balanced based workout is a great active recovery workout that is very low intensity.

Don't be scared by the term... workouts...

An active recovery workout can be something like:

Going for a run or jog
Doing a simple mobility focused bodyweight routine
Working on your balance and coordination
Practice new exercises for the movement

Other trainers never mention the idea of practicing exercises and trying to improve.

When you practice an exercise... you're really working on the mobility of the exercise or what I call the end range of motion and the movement pattern.

Purposefully improving the movement pattern will increase your joint range of motion.

Whether you do a stretch routine or an active recovery workout ...

They don't need to be long. I suggest 10 minutes and then get back to your day.

Bottom Line... In Your 40s Double Down On Strength Training

Yes, things will be a little different.

We looked at:

Mobility
Coordination and balance
Recovery

With the right training you can easily work these into a routine that does not overwhelm or overload you.

Ignite 30 is my 30 day strength training program for women . And I specialize in helping women in their 30s... 40s... even 50s too.

Learn about me and you'll see why my experience can help you.

Your Action Plan

Don't worry about adding all three suggestions into you life right now.

Start small... pick one and add it into your day and your week. Things will snowball fast.

If you have any questions... hit me up on my socials below and reach out.

I'm here to help you get strong and unleash your inner badass.