The Best Way to Restart Exercise After 45 Without Burning Out

Restarting exercise after 45 shouldn’t feel this hard, yet for so many women it does.

If your mind keeps saying “maybe tomorrow,” “I didn’t sleep well,” or “last time I tried I was wrecked,” this video explains why.

This isn’t about motivation or discipline. It’s about how your body, nervous system, and subconscious mind work together in midlife.

In this episode, I walk you through:
• Why restarting exercise feels heavier after 45
• How the unconscious mind tries to protect you
• The 4 bodies that shape your daily experience
• Why short workouts rebuild trust instead of burnout
• A realistic way to restart movement without pressure

If you’re ready for a supportive way to rebuild strength, check out the Menopause Minis below.
https://www.camoyler.com/meno-minis
use CAMYOUTUBE to save $20

And if you want personalized support, you can apply for 1-1 coaching. https://calendly.com/cam-heymomma/15min

Subscribe for weekly conversations on strength, menopause, nervous system health, and midlife momentum.

Watch this next: Menopause Fitness Myths Busted: What Really Works for Women 45+ https://youtu.be/bq2hWR5vzcM?si=kAoh0TMLKHgCfOl_

Chapters:
00:00 Post-Menopause Fitness Myths Busted
04:28 Excessive Midlife Cardio Harms Recovery
08:25 Lifestyle Fitness for Health Span
12:44 Midlife Fitness: Protein and Stress
13:23 Sleep, Stress, and Energy Matter

Transcript

0:02

Tell me, did you really know what post menopause was going to feel like? Let's be really real menopause comes with a lot of noise about what you should and you shouldn't do, especially when it comes to fitness. Some of the stuff you hear is very outdated. Some of it's fear based, while some of it's just plain wrong. And so today I want to clear up the top four myths I hear all the time for midlife women. All we're trying to do is get stronger, lose some fat, and feel more like ourselves again. And we're not just talking about fitness here. We're talking about the bigger picture of what actually works for your mind, your body, your hormones right now in this stage of life. Be sure to stick around to the end because I'm going to share one top thing I see every woman overlook. And it's probably the missing piece for you, too. Hey there. I'm Cam Allen. Welcome back to the menopause method. Believe me, I lived through the 90s fat free snack. Well, age, you know, where you ate the whole sleeve of cookies and then your belly hurt for days. I was there. I believed all of these myths at one time or another. And then seven years ago, when I crossed into postmenopause, the gig was up. I couldn't act like a jerk anymore. And I realized that these myths were actually holding me back from the life and the health and the energy that I really desired. So maybe you find yourself in that situation too. Okay, myth number one is a biggie because we live through snack wells. We know what they did to our guts. You just need to move more and eat less. What? This one is everywhere and it needs to go away. We already did this diet culture thing and maybe it did work in our 30s. And when we're frustrated and we our pants aren't fitting right in the waist, we go back to our old ways on our old ways. It worked because estrogen was like covering, covering for you, if you will. But once these hormones shift in post menopause, the calories in, calories out, math problem doesn't tell the whole story anymore. See, estrogen is kind of your protector of stress. It's kind of like your warrior hormone, if you will. And in postmenopause, when it reaches its lowest level, the gig is up. Now I see women 45 and older and their metabol, their metabolism is more like a mood ring. It changes based on your sleep. Are you sleeping through the night stress? How much burden is your body feeling and your recovery? That's why your metabolism is part calculator, part calories in, calories out. But I also say it's part barometer in weather. Barometer measures the air pressure, how much pressure is pushing down. So for example, high pressure would be actually a sunny day in menopause. When the burden or the pressure is high, our metabolism goes a little haywire. So part calorie in, calorie out and part barometer. That's why you can gain weight just from being extra stressed out. But eat less, exercise more. Formula is a complete myth and it does not apply to us in midlife. What's one thing your body's been trying to tell you lately? Is it get more rest or maybe take a walk, you need more movement or maybe you just are too have too much stress in your life. If you're like, ah, I don't even know what my body's saying. Please check out the biofeedback series. I did a four part series about this. How to listen to your body, all about sleep, your gut health and your stress. Please check out that series that will give you a really good head start on how to tune into your body and realize that eat less, exercise more is not something that's going to serve you. Now when you get this right, you're going to notice your biofeedback improves your energy, your mood, all the things sleep. That is your body saying you're on the right track. Keep going. Okay, myth number two. I wish this one would go away. Cardio is the best way to lose weight in menopause. That's not true. I used to think this too. There was a time CrossFit cam, I'll call her my 40s version of myself. I would do double workouts because someone said, hey, let's do a workout. Even though I'd already worked out or I was running during that time, especially my early 40s, I would do a CrossFit workout and then I would come home from the gym coaching and I'd go for a long run to clarify in my head what in the world was I doing. I also went through a stage of hot yoga and believe me, my stress hormones were out, you know, off the chart at that point. And I kept wondering why I, why am I so exhausted and why am I not recovering? By my late 40s, the injuries started to really build up My body said the gig is up. Believe it or not, the truth is excessive cardio in midlife can actually raise your cortisol too much. And the right amount of cortisol is actually anti inflammatory. But if you're living on caffeine and cortisol, I like to say you're going to notice slower recovery, more belly fat. Your body is actually going to hold on to fat. I know that sounds crazy and I know it's very common just to eat less, exercise more like myth one and you'll be like in a really severe calorie deficit and you'll be gaining weight and you'll be like, what is going on? I know I'll go for a run. Instead of doing all of that under eating and over cardioing yourself, focus on strength training. And yes, even short 10 minute sessions count. That's exactly why I created the menopause mini workouts. To prove that shorter, smarter workouts can actually build muscle, balance your hormones and actually protect your bone health without burning you out. You're actually more consistent. It's really easy to convince your brain, I've got 10 minutes, I'm worth 10 minutes. So remember, this muscle is your armor for aging. It's not about how you look so much, it's about how long and how well you're going to live. We call that health span. Strength training comes first. And once you got that dialed in, adding cardio makes a lot of sense. So my favorite way to do cardio in midlife is called hurt. It stands for high intensity repeat training. The way this works is you do an interval of work and I like to do body weight movements, let's say jump rope. So I'm going to jump rope at 80% of my max effort for the day, for let's say 20 seconds, jump rope, go hard, about 80% of my max. And then I'm going to rest harder. So if I went 20 seconds, I want to rest 20 seconds or longer until I'm ready to go again. How do you know when you're ready to go again? Your heart rate comes down just a little bit and you've got that like, I'm ready to go and then you go again. Do that for like anywhere from eight to 12 rounds, literally under 10 minutes and you're ready to go. The reason why I love hurt workouts for menopause, it gives you permission to rest until you can go again. That's why I love hurt. It's rate, it's rest based on your body and your energy of the day. And also you get to decide when the workout's over. It's really a chance to tune in and love on yourself more. If you have any questions about hurt, please drop them in the comments. Maybe I'll do a whole podcast about that. Myth number three. Oh my gosh. Please go away. If I lift, I'm going to bulk up. Oh my gosh. This one won't just won't die. The truth is, you were fighting so hard to keep muscle in menopause that bulking is like biologically impossible. In my mastery coaching class of nutrition coaches, they many of those coaches came from the fitness world where they like performed on stage, bikini models and all that. Do you know how they had to micromanage every single workout and every single morsel they put in their body to get that muscly to stand on stage in their sequent bikini? That is not what we're doing. They work so hard to get on stage and do that. We, me, you, we are lifestyle fitness people for we work out to have a better life. What actually happens when you lift weights is you're improving your posture, you walk through the world more confidently, your metabolism gets a total boost. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism responds and also it helps control your blood sugar better. So it's kind of like your posture, your metabolism, your confidence. Like how much life do you have in your life? Right, that's your health span. That's why we want to be menopause strong if you will. You're capable, you're steady, you're proud. And just remember, you don't need an hour at the gym to do this. I like to say around 60 minutes a week and you can split that up however you want. Two 30 minute workouts, three 20 minute workouts, or six 10 minute workouts, six minis. They are enough to change your body and your brain to say I am capable, I am steady, and let's go. Strength training. Does have to ask you, does strength training feel easier or harder these days? Tell me in the comments. Okay. Myth number four. You just need more discipline. Oh, my gosh. Really? No, that's not it. I get this one a lot. I just don't have the motivation. I know what to do. I just can't make myself do it. Maybe that's you, but that's where I've learned. It's really not discipline. Maybe it's your nervous system. You see, when your stress is high, your body doesn't want to push harder. It wants safety. It wants to curl up in your bed and snuggle with your dog. It wants you to lay on the couch and watch tv. That. That's why I teach my clients to shift. Like forcing yourself to actually feedback. What is your body saying? And when you learn to notice what your body's saying. I need rest versus I'm ready to lift. The difference between burnout and progress isn't actually willpower. It's actually awareness. Now, let's be honest. Sometimes you need to get off the couch, you need to get out of bed and go do weightlifting and go lift some weights. That's why the minis exist, because 10 minutes, you can do that. So out of the four myths, what's one myth you're ready to let go of? Drop it in the comments. Love to hear from you. What works now in menopause is balance. So strength training, like 60 minutes a week is the sweet spot. It gives your muscles enough stimulus to say, give them a message. Hey, stay strong. Let's go. You can divide those 60 minutes however you want. Daily movement, like walking, is really important. There's a part of your metabolism called non exercise activity, and it accounts for about 30% of your calorie burn every single day. And walking falls into that category. So moving throughout the day is a huge positive influence on your metabolism....about, of this midlife fitness to feel satisfied with your diet, to have more muscles, to actually get results from your workouts. Protein has to be part of the conversation. Next thing is managing stress and sleep like it is your job because literally it is your job. Sleep and stress management can't be like, oh, I'll think about that later. Oh, those things don't really matter. They absolutely matter. If you're not sleeping, you're not going to want to lift weights and you're certainly not going to want to take a walk. Instead your body's going to say, lady, I need some carbs, I need some energy. And you're going to find yourself in the pantry and at three o' clock in the afternoon looking for something salty and crunchy. I know that from experience versus something that's actually nourishing. I find that 3pm slump is way less when I wake up in the morning and do a workout and take a walk....you can start small. Something like the 10 minute menopause minis. They rebuild the trust with your body. Again, that's when things start working with you versus against you. So which of these myths did you believe the longest? Drop it in the comments. I read every single one. And if you're ready to actually see what works, check the links below because there's all kinds of resources for you in there. Just remember, menopause is a brand new experience with your body and I'm here to help make your midlife marvelous. Thanks for being here and I'll see you next time.