Why Fasted Workouts Don’t Work After 45

Most midlife women are accidentally making their workouts harder than they need to be. Working out fasted might have worked in your 30s, but after 45 your hormones and metabolism tell a different story.

In today’s episode of The Menopause Method, I'm breaking down why fasted workouts stop working for women over 45 and what to do instead. If you want more muscle, better energy, fewer cravings, and a calmer nervous system, this one matters.

You’ll learn:
• why not being hungry in the morning is a stress signal
• how fasted workouts break down muscle (not fat)
• what cortisol actually does in midlife
• the simple 100 to 200 calorie pre-workout snack that changes everything
• the best way to eat after strength training to support muscle growth
• why women in midlife need a fed, not fasted, training plan
• how fueling ties into your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies
• the two-step experiment to feel stronger this week

This is the smarter midlife metabolism approach that finally matches your physiology.

Menopause Minis: 10-Minute Strength Workouts
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Chapters:
00:00 Midlife Fitness and Inflammation
06:06 Fasted Workouts Increase Muscle Loss
08:51 Workout Nutrition for Peak Performance
11:47 Pre-Workout Fuel: Strength Experiment

Transcript

0:00

Today's topic is really going to ruffle some feathers. It does every single time I bring it up. But making the simple change will improve your workouts and it will improve your efforts. You're going to see more muscle and less fat. And isn't that why you lift weights anyhow? Hey there. I'm Cam Allen. Welcome back to the Menopause Method. And before we get back to that, let me take you back to my CrossFit coaching days for a minute. I would wake up and I'd grab a coffee and I'd head straight into an intense workout. Then I'd coach for hours, and at some point, usually around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I'd realize, like, oh, I really haven't eaten a single thing today. And it wasn't because I was doing intermittent fasting. Literally, that wasn't even a thing in my 40s. And it wasn't because I was trying to burn more fat. Nope, it wasn't that. It was because I genuinely wasn't hungry in the morning. And here's the part that I didn't know back then. Not being hungry is actually a sign of your body's stress. And believe me, my 40s was full of stress. I was CrossFit, Cam. And also I was going through a divorce. And also, empty nest was part of my life. There was a lot of changes going on in my 40. All of that was stressful. I wasn't being disciplined. I was simply running on fumes and cortisol. And then when we got the Starbucks down the road, I was running on fumes, cortisol, and caffeine. I just didn't know it yet. But that habit of working out, fasted and pushing harder without true fuel was slowly wrecking my energy. It was certainly messing with my hormones and my recovery. Actually, my recovery happened first in, like, my mid-40s. And by 48, my hormones were a disaster. And if you're doing that now, I want you to hear me clearly. Midlife and menopause are not the season to train fasted. Today I'm going to show you a smarter midlife metabolism approach, how to fuel your workout so you actually build muscle, protect those hormones, and you're going to feel better. You're going to look in the mirror and see more muscle and less fat. Because what we did when we were 30 does not work after 50. Believe me. That's not failure. That's simply feedback. So why don't fasted workouts work in midlife? Let's start with the science. The real simple Version, when you go into the gym for a workout fasted, your body has no quick energy available. So what does it do? It raises your cortisol and pulls stored energy from wherever it can find it. And guess what? If you're in midlife, that often means breaking down muscle, the very thing that you're trying to build and protect. Now let's talk about cortisol for a minute. In the morning, your cortisol naturally arises. That's called your cortisol awakening effect. That's your get up and go. The right amount of cortisol gives you get up and go. And it is actually anti inflammatory. The problem is when we're running on fumes, it becomes inflammatory and, and it actually causes like extra belly fat, which is one of the number one complaints about midlife. And this is the really important piece about fitness world. That they rarely talk about it in. A meta analysis of women and exercise showed that women use more amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, during training than men do. Because maybe you've heard about men doing fasted workouts or. I had a client I worked with last year and she's like, yeah, my husband would just think about, you know, doing keto and fasted workouts and lose 20 pounds. And she's like, I tried it and that's not what happened for me. Meaning this is why we break down muscle faster when we train without fuel. So keto and fasted workouts are not for us in this stage of life. Now, when you are in your 20s and your 30s, your hormones helped actually buffer that stress. But in midlife, your estrogen is lower and estrogen is your buffer against stress. So without estrogen, your buffer against that stress is also lower. And guess what, your recovery is also slower. In fact, I would say that would be the first warning sign for me. I started noticing really strange, odd injuries and it was taking me longer to recover from workouts. So your muscle building capability is more limited at this stage of life. That means our margin for error is tinier. Working out fasted used to feel fine and it used to work and now it just feels harder than it needs to be. So I honestly believe that no woman over 45 should be walking into the gym in a fasted state. Not because I'm afraid of workouts, but because I understand the stress through midlife lens. Your workout is a stressor. It's actually a good one when you're fueled. It's a harmful one when you're not fueled. Okay, so what fasting really does in A workout. Most midlife women think working out fasted will help them actually burn fast. Isn't there a group called the Faster Way on the Internet? I think I've seen them. But here's what actually happens when you're working out fasted. Your cortisol spikes. Your body thinks you're running from a tiger, but you're not running from a tiger. You're in the gym trying to build muscle and lose fat. So what happens next? Your performance drops. You can't lift as heavy and you can't push as hard because literally you are running on fumes. Then you might notice you hit a wall early. Oh, I don't really need to do all these reps. I think I'll only do two rounds. You know all that and you may notice that you start to feel shaky or dizzy. When I was a CrossFit coach, the 4 and the 5pm class, a lot of people would walk in and get dizzy. They'd start working out and get dizzy. And immediately I thought adrenal glands, that's your stress. That's a sign that your stress hormones are too high. Maybe it's a sign of low blood sugar because you're coming from work and you went straight to your workout. Next, what happens? You actually break muscle down. Muscle is super expensive for your body to keep around. It takes effort in the gym and it takes protein on your plate and it also takes rest days. That's a lot of energy. So what happens is when energy is sparse, it'll just take the most expensive thing off the table, which is your muscle. In a review of fasted versus fed training shows that fasted workouts increase muscle breakdown by up to 20%. That means your recovery tanks. You're more sore, you're more tired, you're more inflamed afterwards. By my like 48ish, 49. That was me for sure. I didn't understand what was happening. So here's a mindset shift that really will help you make the most for your workouts. Fasted workouts aren't clean or disciplined. They're just too stressful. Now, there is one time a fast workout can make sense. And it's just one situation where fasted movement might be okay. And that is a slow, easy morning walk. Not a power walk, not a workout pretending to be a walk. Just a calm, low stress walk. The kind where you can actually talk and breathe easily. And also you're getting morning light, which I love that because you're going to help set your natural body clock. Why does this work because gentle movement lowers your cortisol rather than spiking it. Anything more intense than a nice casual walk? You need fuel. You need food. So what do you actually eat before a workout in midlife? Let's keep this really simple. Eat like 1 to 200 calories before you train. That's it. We don't want a ton of food in our belly. We don't want things sloshing around while we're working out. We just want 1 to 200 calories just to take that edge off. Think about carbs and protein, minimal fat for this. So here's some examples. Maybe it's half a banana and some protein. Like, you know, leftover chicken from the refrigerator. Greek yogurt and berries is one of my favorites. Like half of an Rx bar. Maybe like part of your protein shake, something really simple. Maybe some applesauce with collagen. One of my favorite is a few cuties. They're easy to peel and they taste delicious. Maybe it's a rice cake with a little cottage cheese. So think carbs and protein. We are not trying to eat a meal right now. We are simply giving our body the signal. Hey, you're safe, you're fueled, let's go work. And research backs this up. Studies show that pre workout carbs actually improve your performance. Because carbs give us energy and protein before exercise actually reduces the muscle breakdown. The very thing that we're trying to build when we're in the gym, this combo is what gives you that steady strength. So what do you eat after your workout? Now this is really where the magic happens. Women over 45 have the shortest anabolic window, meaning your muscles want nutrient fast so they can repair and actually grow. Our muscles actually grow and repair between our workouts on our rest days, if you will. So this is the prime time to get those 30 grams of protein and add some carbs in there too, and a little bit of fat. Do your best to eat within an hour of your workout. And here's my favorite part. After strength training, your blood flow to your muscle actually increases for this short time. And your muscles act quote younger and they absorb more nutrients faster and better. This isn't woo. This is actually your physiology. So feed them. This is an awesome time to sip on some creatine. So fueling isn't just about your physical body. The way I see it, our four bodies, our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual are all connected. And when one of those systems is out of balance, the other bodies feel it. Your physical body is the visible part it's carrying the message. Your emotional body holds the signals often you feel before you can actually name them. Your mental body shapes the story that you tell yourself. All that self talk. And your spiritual body is your deeper knowing that guides your choices in life. And when these four bodies work together, you can move through midlife with more ease, more clarity, more strength. This is not about fixing yourself. It's actually returning to the version of you who feels steady, strong, supported and whole. So let's pull this fasted workout through the four bodies. And we're going to start with the physical body. When you are fed and you go to a workout, you can lift heavier, you're going to notice that you recover faster. You're going to see and build more muscle and just feel steadier overall. Your physical body loves fed workouts. Well what about your emotional body? Well, when we have low blood sugar, we may notice irritability, we might notice overwhelm. We may have that snappy like short fuse kind of energy fueling calms the storms. So our emotional body, it feels more steady. Well what about our mental body? A fed brain makes better choices. Just like a brain that sleeps overnight, a brain that has good nutrition can make better choices. There's no more, I'll just skip it spirals. You're just like steady. You've got it. And for your spiritual body, fueling before you train is self trust. It's like saying, I'm supporting this future version of me who wants to live a strong, vibrant life. So when you start your day fueled, you signal to your body, hey, you're safe. And when you lift, you're actually going to have steady energy, better results and your strength actually reflects your effort. Because isn't it nice to actually look in the mirror and see what your workouts are actually doing to your body composition. If you were to try this just for one week, fuel before your workouts, eat some protein after and then listen to how your body responds, you're going to be surprised at how much stronger, calmer and less strained you are. In fact, this is your two step experiment. If I could give you some homework, here's your two step experiment. Try eating one to 200 calories before every single workout. Notice your energy and your mood. How did your workouts go? Were you able to lift heavier? Do you feel more like steady and strong? And then after your workout eat 30 grams of protein within that hour of strength training. And just think of it when you're eating, knowing that you just used your muscles and they are prime and ready to go to soak up all that nutrition, then I want you to notice your cravings. Are you less sore? How's your hunger? This is the smartest midlife metabolism approach there is. It's biology. It's really not your willpower. If this episode hit home, do me a favor and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Midlife muscle is the whole reason why this channel exists. And if you want to go deeper about the myths that keep women stuck, go listen to this episode that I'll link below. It's about menopause fitness myths, what really works. I promise you that your body isn't fighting you, it's actually talking to you. And when we start to listen and understand how our body speaks to us, everything gets easier. Thanks for being here, and I'll see you next week on the Menopause Method.