Skip These 3 Workouts If You Are 40 and Beyond

You may be wondering what's the catch but yes, you do have my permission to skip these 3 workouts below! 

If you can bear with me through some of the science, the pieces of the puzzle will start to come together if you are struggling with fat loss, fatigue, and stress.

I am 47, and these are the workouts that no longer suit my needs as I age.  

1. Workouts that leave you exhausted or sore everyday
2. Workouts that interfere with your sleep
3. Workouts that are not fun!

I used to think that my workout didn’t count unless I was exhausted and sore the next day. Many people think I workout 5 or more days a week and are surprised to find I only workout on average 3x/week plus a couple days of yoga. And when I write programs for my clients I rarely write more than a 3-day program. 

I just work smarter, not harder. Here’s how…

It’s important to note that while working out absolutely does help with stress release it also can increase your stress level. Now, if you are naturally living in a parasympathetic state, chilled and rested the majority of the time then your body can handle the stresses from your workouts and you will recover quickly. But how many of us are in a constant zen state?

However, if you are in a constant state of stress, chronically exhausted like the majority of women in their 40s then exercise at times can be more of a stressor instead of a stress reliever. Now by no means are you off the hook from exercising but let me explain further…

As we head into our 40s, we tend to be more chronically stressed…taking care of children, aging parents, financial obligations, etc. In response to these stressful situations, our bodies release cortisol. It is released slowly, lingers in the body and is hard to get rid of. It causes all sorts of havoc:  depression, high blood pressure, and weight gain just to name a few. So, if we have constant stress in our lives, we have cortisol (a yang or stress hormone) coursing through our bodies on a regular basis.

So, what happens when we don’t have enough of these stress hormones available anymore to satisfy our increasing demands? We rob Peter to pay Paul. We convert our sex hormones (progesterone) and transform them into cortisol. Now we have even more cortisol coursing through our bodies which then can lead to thyroid resistance. The glands and organs that produce these hormones become tapped out, promoting the breakdown of yin in the body, including skin, bones (think osteoperosis), and muscles. Cortisol can also impede the optimum function of insulin in process that leads to belly fat.

This whole process exhausts the poor adrenal glands and instead of responding to stressors by secreting stress hormones as they should, they collapse and cannot produce the appropriate amount of cortisol. So where does that leave you? Lethargic, feeling crappy, achy, and vulnerable to sickness, etc…

A rather vicious cycle, no?

So then how do we balance out our hormones as we age?

As we head into our 50s our sex hormones decrease. A postmenopausal woman produces about 40-60% of the sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone) that she did before menopause.  We must protect our yin/sex hormones so we can have a buffer against the effects of stress.

If you tend to have a lot of stress, multitask in your daily life or have anxiety you most likely need to protect your yin. And given the heat of this month, a gentler form of exercise may be most beneficial. That is why I have chosen Yin Yoga as this month’s theme for the classes in my Monthly Membership site. A Yin yoga practice helps stimulate healthy chi and allows the body to settle down into mindfulness. 

The key is knowing how balance your yin/yang hormones for optimal health--knowing when to boost activity and when to slow down. Everybody is different...there is no one size fits all.