Why Your Workouts Aren’t Working After 40 (And What to Do Instead)

Why Your Workouts Aren’t Working After 40 (And What to Do Instead)
If you’ve been working out but not seeing the results you used to, this episode is for you. Midlife fitness isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what actually works for your metabolism, hormones, and recovery.

In this episode, we’re breaking down the four keys to midlife fitness so you can stop overtraining, under-recovering, and feeling frustrated. You’ll learn:  

• Why strength training 2-3x per week is the best way to build muscle and boost metabolism  
• How daily movement (NEAT) keeps you burning more calories without overloading your body  
• Why rest days and recovery are just as important as your workouts 
• The difference between HIRT (High-Intensity Repeat Training) and HIIT—and why one works better for midlife women.

If you’ve been wondering "Why your workouts aren’t working anymore"or "what kind of exercise is best after 40", this episode will give you clear, doable strategies that actually support your body. 

Your body isn’t broken—you just need a different approach.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to train smarter, not harder!


Free Home Gym Guide: https://www.camoyler.com/gym-equipment-guide

Free Menopause Sleep Guide: https://www.camoyler.com/pl/2148586038

Get the Menopause Mini Workouts: https://www.camoyler.com/meno-minis.

We'll cover:

1. The Magic of Strength Training: Discover why strength training is your best friend for boosting metabolism and maintaining muscle mass in midlife.
2. Daily Movement is Your Secret Weapon: Learn about the power of NEAT (Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis) and how simple daily movements can rev up your metabolism effectively.
3. The Importance of Rest & Recovery: Find out why rest days are crucial and how they actually help your muscles grow stronger. Plus, get the inside scoop on the right way to do high-intensity workouts with the HURT method.

Key Takeaways:

• Strength training is crucial for maintaining muscle mass after 40.
• Daily movement, or NEAT, significantly impacts metabolism.
• Rest and recovery are essential for muscle growth and overall health.
• High Intensity Repeat Training (H.I.R.T.) is a better alternative to traditional HIIT.
• Insulin sensitivity can be improved through strength training.
• Walking can help lower cortisol levels and improve overall health.
• Progressive overload is key to building strength effectively.
• Tracking daily steps can help maintain accountability in fitness.
• Active recovery is important on rest days to prevent injury.
• Training smarter, not harder, is the goal in midlife fitness.

Timestamps:

00:00 The Importance of Strength Training
03:50 Daily Movement: The Secret Weapon
07:37 Rest and Recovery: The Missing Piece
10:35 High Intensity Repeat Training (H.I.R.T.)

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Transcript

0:00

If you're still following the approach that more is better, more cardio, more workouts, more restriction, you're likely working against your body instead of with it, and this episode is for you. We're building on to the metabolism series, and we're diving into the four nonnegotiables when it comes to fitness and midlife. And the good news is you don't need to spend hours in the gym to stay strong, have more energy, and actually support your metabolism. Hey there. I am Cam Allen. Welcome back to the Menopause Method. We are gonna talk about the things you need to focus on when it comes to midlife fitness. So let's get started. Number one, the number one metabolism booster when it comes to midlife fitness has to be strength training. Strength training is the dial mover. Unfortunately, after 40, women lose about 8% of their muscle mass per decade if they are not strength training. You're not lifting weights. You're out you're actively losing muscle, and that is not okay. Because when it comes down to it, less muscle means a slower metabolism, which means weaker bones and more fat storage, which is the exact opposite of why you're working out to begin with. Those are the things you don't want. Strength training two to three times a week will help you build muscle, increase your bone density, improve your insulin sensitivity. Now insulin sensitivity is interesting. At this stage of life, chances are you have some form of insulin resistance. Meaning, your body releases insulin when you have higher blood sugar, and the insulin's job is to take that blood sugar to the cells so the blood sugar becomes lower. The problem is most of us at this age, we have some form of insulin resistance, meaning that the insulin is not able to get the actual blood sugar into the cells. That's where strength training is like a hack, if you will. The more muscle you have, the more places you have to store blood sugar without using insulin. Simply by moving your muscles, your muscles act like sponges and soak up your blood sugar without needing the extra insulin. And that is a big deal, ladies, because insulin is a storage hormone, and we're not trying to store fat. We're trying to be strong and capable and have a joyful midlife to not store fat. So how does this look in real life? You gotta lift weights two to three times a week, twenty, thirty, forty minutes. That's it. It is not hours and hours at the gym. Now if that seems overwhelming, I have the perfect solution. It's called the menopause minis. These are ten minute strength workouts specifically designed for women in midlife. I have personally been using them since December. The scale is going down, which is great. The muscle mass is going up, which is amazing, and I'm, like, getting out of my own way. They're just ten minute workouts. The link is in the show notes. Please, please check it out. So once you are lifting weights, there's another thing that needs to happen. It's called progressive overload, and that shows that we are getting stronger over time. The easiest way to know if you're actually progressively overloading is the last few reps of each and every set should feel challenging. You should be like, oh my gosh. Can I do this? But you do it and you keep your form. But it's a struggle like that last two to three reps in each set. When you are feeling that way, you know that you are using your muscles to a point where they're actually gonna grow and get stronger between your workouts. That is the key. If you are getting to the end of the set and you're like, that was easy, and I'm like, not even breathless. Like, that was so easy. Pick up a heavier weight. Picking up a heavier weight with good form is actually going to help you make the most of your workouts. The thing is more is not better. Better is better. So rest and recovery are just important as the workout itself, and we'll talk about that in a minute. Number two dial mover is daily movement. This is your secret metabolism weapon. In fact, I did an entire episode about this, so check out the metabolism series to learn more about it. But let me tell you why this matters. It's called NEAT, and it stands for nonexercise activity. Basically, it's your daily movement, and it makes up about 15% of your daily calorie burn. And the reason why this is so amazing, it keeps our stress hormones down. Actually, if you are really honest with yourself, now that you're on this side of menopause, you're probably sitting too much. And when you're sitting too much and you're not moving as much as you used to, your knee drops and so does your metabolism. 15% of your calories are just not getting used like they used to. Walking also has other benefits because it lowers cortisol. Guess what? Cortisol is the other storage hormone that I like to talk about in menopause. So we've got insulin when our blood sugar is too high is a storage hormone, and then we have cortisol. If you're running on cortisol and caffeine ladies, that is a storage hormone, doesn't serve you at all. So walking improves your cortisol levels, lowers it. It improves your insulin sensitivity. Again, when you're using your muscles and they are contracting, that is the a natural way to lower your blood sugar without insulin. So all of this supports fat loss because those cortisol and insulin are storage hormones, and it does it without stressing your body. I I was on a call earlier today and she went on a four mile walk outside. It's been really nice in Kentucky lately. That is health beyond what I can measure. She's outside. She's moving her body. There's a lot of stress relief and other health benefits beyond just being a calorie calculator. So how does this work in real life? I would suggest starting by tracking your steps, like how much are you moving? I wear an Oura ring. You could wear a Fitbit or an Apple Watch, but keeping yourself moving is super important. So find out where you are right now and then slowly bump that number up. Whether it's 8,000, nine thousand, 10 thousand steps a day, whatever that is for you, but slowly increase that to keep yourself accountable and make sure you are moving to address this side of your metabolism. Another way that you can use walking and lower your blood sugar is to walk after meals. This is the best way to naturally lower your blood sugar. So let's say you had a meal and you feel that blah in your stomach and maybe you feel a little jittery and you notice maybe your energy is changing. For me, I know that means my blood sugar is on the rise. So what do you do? You put on your shoes, you get outside, go alone, take your dog, take your spouse, take a friend, it doesn't matter. But by moving and your muscles are contracting, you are lowering your blood sugar naturally. And also, it's a great way to digest your food. It's a nice way to catch up with your person or your friend, you know, so there's other health benefits beyond just lowering your blood sugar and just moving your body. When it comes to midlife, NEAT, the non exercise activity is way more important, I would say than cardio, a single workout won't fix a sedentary lifestyle. If you're sitting all day and you go do one workout that does not A does not equal B on this one. Okay, number three, rest and recovery. As a former CrossFitter in my 40s, this was a really hard one to accept. Oftentimes, rest and recovery is the missing piece of your midlife fitness plan. So why in the world does this matter? There's something called overtraining or under recovering. I was guilty of that for sure. That increases your cortisol and that actually slows your metabolism over time. And I know that makes no sense because we were taught, diet culture told us that we were calorie calculators. And the more we moved and the less we ate, the more our body would change than work in midlife at all. Muscles don't grow during these workouts. They grow during the rest. So what we wanna do is make sure that we are recovering from our strength workouts. So in general, like, if you do a really hard full body strength workout on a Monday, let's do something else on Tuesday and Wednesday and hit the gym again on Thursday. So, like, a Monday, Thursday split would be a a good example. Giving yourself an extra rest day. But on those rest days, don't be couch surfing. Make sure you are still taking walks and moving your body in a meaningful way. Think of it as active recovery. Here's the thing, when we are not recovering from our strength workouts, there's a higher chance of injury risk, fatigue, stalled progress, all the things. And it's like very frustrating, because you're like, I'm doing all the things I'm gonna go harder, I'm gonna dial in harder, and it backfires. So how does this look in real life? Take rest days between your workouts. Let those muscles rebuild. That is actually when they get stronger. When you are progressively overloading, as I explained a minute ago and using your muscles and causing, like, micro tears in the recovery, that is when they actually grow back and get stronger. Rest also inside of your workouts. That means it's okay to take a two minute or three minute break between heavy lifts. That does not make you lazy. That was really hard for me to overcome coming from the CrossFit world. It's okay to lift heavier and build strength, and then it's okay to rest and recover so you actually have better effort when you go to lift the weight again. Sleep, hydration, stress management, all of those things also impact your recovery more than you think. So I'm giving you permission to rest within your workouts and take rest days between your strength days. Number four, hurt. Hurt stands for high intensity repeat training. It's, I think, a smarter alternative to hit, which is high intensity interval training. Why does this matter? Traditional hit workouts can actually spike your cortisol too much in the life, and, actually, cortisol is, again, sore trauma, and we're trying to avoid that. And they actually might burn the muscle up instead of burn the fat. It was just not what we want. So high intensity repeat training is less stressful on the midlife system. And in some ways, I would say it's more effective to boost your metabolism and your strength. So this is how it works. It's short burst of effort followed by more recovery. So let's say you are going to do jumping jacks for twenty seconds. I want you to work at 80% of your effort that day, like, go for it. Be breathless, get sweaty. And then I want you to rest for e at least double that, maybe three times that. Rest until you can go again. Short burst of efforts followed by that recovery, like where you lower your heart rate and you get your breath will keep your metabolism high without overloading your body. And that's exactly what we're looking for. So how does this look in real life? Swap exhausting long cardio sessions like Orangetheory for short powerful intervals. I get a lot of feedback from my one on one clients. I write, these hurt workouts inside my programs. They love them. They don't have to think about it. They're always body weight. You just hit play and you do eight to 10 rounds, rest until you can go again, and then you're done for the day. The most amazing part is you actually have more energy for your day and you know that you're tackling that belly fat. See, hurt workouts are really magical when it comes to belly fat. So here's an example. Do jumping jacks for thirty seconds, rest fully, and then repeat again. I mean, how easy is that? We're focusing on quality effort and not endless fatigue, and that's what makes it magical. Okay. So some final thoughts for you. Midlife is about training smarter, not harder, and here is the formula. Strength training is the key factor. Strength train two to three times a week or check out the menopause minis for short ten minute workouts that are amazing. Building muscle will boost your metabolism. That's the bottom line. Number two, move daily to support your NEAT, which is your nonexercise activity. This keeps your metabolism humming. It's about 15% of your daily calorie burn. And if you're sitting on the couch all day, you're losing out on all those calories that could be burned. Number three, prioritize your rest and recovery because your muscles actually grow stronger when you let the rest happen. If you're resting within the workout, you can actually use a heavier weight and have better form, which is another benefit. And number four, try some hurt training instead of hit training to get those results without wrecking your hormones. If this episode made you rethink your workouts or maybe you're finally convinced that rest days are legit, go ahead and like, follow, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. We're tackling in the next episode what to eat for midlife fitness without restrictive diets because I'm against that, calorie counting, or overcomplicating things. If you're wondering how much protein do I actually need, Make sure you don't miss this episode. And if you're feeling fired up about midlife fitness, send me a DM on Instagram. I'm at heymamacam. I love to hear you and your biggest takeaways. Thanks for joining me today and I will see you next week.