Strength Training for Women Over 35: What Actually Changes?
If you've spent any time on social media recently, you could be forgiven for thinking that turning 35 means everything about fitness suddenly changes.
One minute you're happily exercising, and the next you're being told you need menopause-specific workouts, hormone-balancing exercises, special diets, and a completely different approach to training.
Firstly, I think it's fantastic that we're talking more openly about menopause and women's health. For generations, it was something that happened quietly in the background. Many of us grew up knowing very little about it and watching the women around us navigate it without much conversation, support or understanding.
The problem is that social media isn't built around expertise. It's built around attention...
The more people click on a topic, the more content gets created around it. And menopause is one of those topics. After all, around half the population will experience it at some point in their lives.
Whilst there is some excellent information available, there is also a huge amount of content that takes a small piece of evidence and turns it into a much bigger story.
As a result, many women are left feeling confused, overwhelmed and sometimes even frightened about what the future holds.
So let's separate what actually changes from what social media would have you believe changes.
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The short answer is: some things do change.
As women age, oestrogen levels gradually decline. This is a completely natural part of life and something every woman will experience.
Those hormonal changes can impact things such as:
Bone density
Muscle mass
Recovery
Sleep quality
Energy levels
Fat distribution
None of this is controversial. It's well established in the research and it's one of the reasons strength training is such a valuable form of exercise for women.
The key thing I want women to understand, however, is that these changes are not something to fear.
Social media often presents menopause as though somebody flicks a switch and suddenly your body no longer follows the same rules. But, that's simply not true.
For example, you'll often hear claims that menopause causes significant and rapid muscle loss. But, whilst hormonal changes absolutely play a role in muscle health, the reality is far less dramatic than many headlines suggest. Research shows that changes in lean muscle mass are gradual and occur over many years, not overnight and can in fact, be negated by strength and resistance training.
Similarly, menopause is often discussed as the direct cause of weight gain. The evidence actually points more towards changes in body fat distribution and the fact that many women become less active, sleep less and experience greater life stress as they age. All made harder by menopause, but not fundamentally caused by it.
None of this is intended to diminish the experience of women navigating perimenopause or menopause. Hormonal changes have a significant and very real impact on symptoms, energy levels, sleep, recovery and overall wellbeing. I experience it myself. However, I do think there's a risk in attributing every challenge we experience to "the menopause" because it can leave us feeling powerless against it. Understanding what is actually happening in our bodies allows us to focus on the things we can influence, rather than assuming everything is inevitable and entirely out of our control.
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This is the part I think gets missed most often.
Because whilst some things change, the fundamentals of building strength, improving fitness and supporting your health remain remarkably similar.
Whether you're 25, 35, 45 or 55, the basics are still the basics.
You still benefit from:
Strength training consistently
Progressive overload over time
Eating enough protein
Prioritising sleep where possible
Managing stress
Being patient
None of those principles suddenly stop working because your hormones begin to change.
In fact, they arguably become even more important. The biggest mistake I see women make is assuming they need a completely different approach. They start searching for special programmes, menopause-specific workouts or complicated protocols, when often the answer is simply to focus on the fundamentals and do them consistently.
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I'll be honest, I'm 36 and I hear the word menopause all the time. I hear it from clients, on social media, in podcasts and increasingly in conversations with healthcare professionals. Despite understanding a reasonable amount about exercise, strength training and women's health, I still find myself feeling terrified of it.
Not because of the science but because of the story I've attached to it.
Somewhere in my head sits this idea that menopause marks the point where life starts to decline. That I've somehow already lived my strongest, healthiest and most capable years and that from here things gradually get worse. It's not a pleasant thought, but I suspect it's one that more women have than we care to admit.
I don't believe that to be true. In fact, the evidence around me suggests the complete opposite. But I think many of us have grown up absorbing messages that tell us youth is something to aspire to and ageing is something to resist. We rarely hear conversations about becoming stronger in our forties, more capable in our fifties or more confident in our sixties.
The irony is that when I look around at the women I coach, I don't see decline at all. I see women doing things they never thought they could do. I see women learning to lift weights for the first time. I see women discovering confidence in their bodies that has nothing to do with what they weigh or what dress size they wear.
Strength training has a funny way of challenging the stories we tell ourselves. It gives us evidence that our bodies are still capable, still adaptable and still worth investing in. Not because it stops us getting older, but because it reminds us that getting older and becoming less capable are not the same thing.
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Whilst hormonal changes are real, I often think the biggest challenge many women face after 35 isn't what's happening inside their bodies.
It's what's happening inside their lives.
By the time many women reach this stage of life, they are juggling careers, children, relationships, households, ageing parents and a seemingly endless list of responsibilities. The mental load becomes heavier. Sleep can become harder to come by. There are simply more demands pulling on your time and attention than there were ten or fifteen years ago.
When we then layer hormonal changes on top of that, it's easy to understand why exercise on top of everything else can feel harder.
I think this is where the conversation around women's fitness often misses the mark. We spend so much time talking about hormones that we forget to talk about life.
For many women, the challenge isn't finding the perfect menopause workout.
It's finding a way to make exercise fit into an already busy life without it feeling like another thing on the to-do list.
If You're Over 35 And Feeling Overwhelmed, Start Here
If you're currently doing very little exercise and feeling overwhelmed by where to start, my advice is always the same.
Don't try to change everything at once.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is deciding they need to suddenly go to the gym four times a week, walk 10,000 steps every day, eat perfectly, drink more water, lose weight, get stronger and become a completely different person by next Monday.
It's too much.
And if you're already overwhelmed, adding more pressure is rarely the answer.
Instead, find one small thing that moves you in the right direction. Maybe that's a 20-minute walk after dropping the kids at school.
Maybe it's getting up 20 minutes earlier a couple of mornings a week and spending that time moving your body before the day takes over.
Maybe it's swapping a breakfast that leaves you hungry an hour later for one that keeps you fuller for longer.
The specific habit matters far less than people think.
What matters is the fact that you start proving to yourself that you can make a change. You can do it. Because then, suddenly this huge goal of "I need to completely transform my health" becomes "I need to find 20 minutes today”…. and that feels a whole lot more manageable.
If you make small bitesize changes over a period of time, something interesting starts to happen. The 20-minute walk becomes normal. The breakfast becomes automatic. You have a little bit more energy.
And, eventually…You start believing that perhaps you can do this after all. Six weeks later you're moving more, feeling stronger and wondering why it felt so impossible to begin with.
The Basics Still Matter Most
“If you’ve read this article hoping to find the perfect menopause workout or a secret formula for exercising after 35, I’m sorry to disappoint you.
The good news is that the fundamentals still work.
Whether you’re 25, 35, 45 or 65, if you can regularly do the things below, you’re building a strong foundation for your health, fitness and wellbeing.
✓ Strength train regularly
✓ Eat enough protein to support your training and recovery
✓ Prioritise sleep where possible, whilst accepting that perfection isn’t realistic
✓ Focus on consistency rather than intensity
✓ Stop searching for special programmes and magic solutions
✓ Build habits that fit around your life rather than trying to build your life around your habits
✓ Remember that your only competition is you
✓ Give yourself permission to start small
✓ Stop worrying about whether you’re too old, too unfit or too late”
Final Thoughts
Yes, things change as we age. Of course they do. But the fundamentals of looking after your health remain remarkably similar.
You don't need a completely different version of exercise because you've reached a certain birthday. You don't need a special programme because menopause is approaching. And you certainly don't need to assume that your best years are behind you.
Strength training isn't valuable because it fights ageing. It's valuable because it supports you through it.
It helps maintain muscle mass and bone health. It can improve confidence, resilience and independence. It gives you something that is yours in a world that often asks women to be everything to everybody else.
And, most importantly, it reminds you that your body is still capable. That's the real message, isn’t it…Getting older is inevitable.
Becoming less capable isn't.