10 Best Fitness Tips for Women Over 50

Fitness | Women Over 50 | Best Tips | How Much Exercise | FAQ

The hormonal changes of menopause are a stumbling block when you want to lose weight. Therefore, women over 50 must understand their bodies and hormones to boost fitness.

This article teaches you the ten most simple but effective tips to get fit after menopause based on science.

What a Woman Over 50 Ought to Know About Fitness

The menopausal transformation is a process of change in the female body that concludes at the average age of 51 (Peacock et al. 2022¹).

But few women know that the natural decline of estrogen already begins in the 30s.

The hormonal change presents new challenges to the female body. Due to low estrogen levels, women gain abdominal fat more quickly after 50 (Lovejoy et al. 1998²).

Moreover, the decline in sex hormones makes it more challenging to gain muscle (Maltais et al. 2009³).

Low estrogen levels decrease the feeling of satiety and the activation of brown fat, which is more easily burned as energy (González-García et al. 2017⁴).

Is It Too Late for a Woman to Get Fit at 50?

No!

Menopause sets new parameters for exercise, muscles, and metabolism. A woman who wants to improve her fitness after 50 must understand the crucial functions of the hormonal system.

Therefore, I will teach you how to work out, eat, and recover smarter based on science.

Best Fitness Tips for Women Over 50

Forget what you’ve heard so far about losing weight. Here are the ten most effective fitness tips for women over 50. You will be surprised how easy they are to execute!

1. Do Not Rely on Cardio

Steady-state cardio is an excellent way to clear your head and relieve stress. However, the positive effects of jogging and walking on body composition are immensely overestimated.

When doctors give women over 50 fitness advice, they usually recommend walking. According to researchers, this reduces lean mass by 4-6 pounds and the basal metabolic rate by 2 to 3% per decade.

A study of 1725 participants showed that two sessions of strength training per week could help women in their 70s reduce body fat and gain muscle (Westcott et al 2009⁵).

2. Prioritize Strength Training

As we just learned, muscle gains know no age limit.

A woman must prioritize strength training over all other physical activities to live a long, healthy, and fit life after 50.

Menopause causes muscle mass, bone mass, and strength to decrease, while more fat is deposited in the abdominal cavity (Maltais et al. 2009⁶).

Because of this muscle interaction and bone loss, at least one in three women over 50 suffer bone fractures (Agostini et al. 2018⁷).

Accordingly, researchers at UCLA have demonstrated that relative muscle mass, not body mass index, is critical to life expectancy (Srikanthan et al. 2014⁸).

3. Workout Wiser

What sets fit menopausal women apart from others is a more intelligent approach to weight loss. This includes a certain level of intensity.

Researchers at Adelphi University in New York, in 57 studies, found no benefit to muscle building from a longer duration of lower-intensity exercise (Carpinelli et al. 2002⁹).

To boost fitness, high-intensity training is critical for women over 50.

Moderate intensity training costs you time, contributes little to fat loss and can cause chronic injury.

Women over 50 have an easier time if they swap the countless hours on the cross trainer for short strength or HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) sessions. Just 2 x 10 minutes per week is enough.

To complement strength training, many women in menopause have good experiences with yoga. Besides stress relief, it keeps the body supple and flexible.

Prevention of injuries and preservation of lean mass are top priorities after 50. You can get both with core exercises.

4. Strengthen Your Core

When people start strength training, they often focus on the abs or arms. That you will get a flat stomach from abdominal training sounds logical, but it is wrong.

Training large muscle groups to increase the basal metabolic rate and lose belly fat is crucial.

A Danish study shows how much more effective it is to focus on large rather than small muscle groups, such as abs or arms.

Participants trained either an arm, the legs, or the arm and legs for nine weeks. That the latter gained the most arm strength sounds plausible.

However, those who only trained their legs could gain more arm strength than those who focussed on the arm (Hansen et al. 2001¹⁰).

Larger muscle groups release more hormones that are essential for building muscle. That’s why it’s more effective for your abs to do core exercises.

It is the group of trunk and hip muscles that surround the spine, abdominal organs, and hips. These muscles provide spinal stability for strength and injury prevention (Hung et al. 2019¹¹).

For this reason, the three fundamental exercises in strength training are focusing your core: squats, bench presses, and deadlifts.

But that doesn’t mean you have to lift barbells at the gym. There are excellent exercises that you can do at home without equipment.

For women over 50, just 2 x 10 minute core workout weekly can boost fitness, e.g., Monday and Thursday, for ideal recovery.

That’s how you work out wisely.

5. Get Enough Protein

Degeneration of muscle and bone health is often based on inadequate protein intake.

Due to age-related anabolic protein resistance, protein requirements increase disproportionately with appropriate training and age (Bauer et al. 2013¹²).

After 65, low protein intake noticeably weakens muscles, bones, and immune system (Rafii et al. 2015¹³; Levine et al. 2014¹⁴).

A study of 387 women 60 and older showed that a daily protein intake of at least 1.1 g/kg resulted in less body fat, muscle mass, and better performance (Gregorio et al. 2015¹⁵).

Women in their 80s achieved the best results with 1.5-1.8 g protein per kg body weight (Tang et al. 2014¹⁶).

Women over 50 who want to improve fitness have a protein requirement of 1.5-3.4 g/kg body weight, depending on exercise intensity.

Because it can reduce the release of hunger hormones and body fat percentage, protein intake is essential for weight loss (Blom et al. 2006¹⁷; White et al. 1994¹⁸).

6. Revolutionize Your Diet

Even though many people don’t want to hear it: Exercise cannot compensate for poor diet choices!

The reason for this is the hormonal system.

According to renowned endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig, it is instrumental in the development of obesity, even if initiated by cultural changes (Lustig 2001¹⁹).

In short, those who rely on highly processed industrial foods like protein bars will have difficulty losing weight.

A commercial protein bar contains more carbohydrates than proteins and an avalanche of artificial additives (*).

No human being on this planet can lose weight with these.

The fat storage hormone insulin determines whether you gain or lose weight. High insulin levels prevent fat breakdown by enzymes (lipolysis) and promote fat storage in your cells (Jensen et al. 1989²⁰; Meijssen et al. 2001²¹).

Because of high blood sugar and insulin levels, carb junkies cannot successfully lose weight (Gower et al. 2015²²).

In summary, there are three basic principles to keep in mind:

• Rule #1: Eat real food that doesn’t come from a package
• Rule #2: Reduce carbohydrates
• Rule #3: Focus on healthy fats and protein

Studies show that low-carb is better for menopausal weight loss than a Mediterranean, low-fat, or diet that meets the USDA’s dietary guidelines (Ford et al. 2017²³).

The bottom line is that a ketogenic diet is the most effective because the release of satiety hormones increases proportionately to the number of fatty acids consumed (Pironi et al. 1993²⁴).

It is also the only diet that keeps your body from burning muscle mass in a calorie deficit (Manninen 2006²⁵).

7. Incorporate Intermittent Fasting

In addition to the unbelievable trust in artificial foods, the successful marketing of the last few decades has also instilled controversial diet advice in us.

Eating constantly to lose weight is as silly as it sounds. People who consume between meals eat more daily (Stubbs et al. 2001²⁶).

They are better consumers. However, studies show that snacks don’t help you lose weight (Cameron et al. 2010²⁷).

And there’s a logical reason for that.

Eating less often is the most straightforward and safest way to lower insulin levels and counteract insulin resistance, diabetes, fatty liver, and obesity (Catenacci et al. 2016²⁸; Halberg et al. 2005²⁹).

Why intermittent fasting works so well is easily explained. It boosts metabolism and protects muscle and bone mass from age-related degeneration (Drenick et al. 1964³⁰; Rudman et al. 1990³¹)..

I recommend women over 50 who want to boost their fitness try my FREE 30-Day Fasting Challenge printable.

8. Make Sleep a Priority

Probably the most underrated factor for weight loss is sleep. Numerous women cannot get fit because they don’t get enough sleep.

About one-third of working adults sleep less than six hours a night.

With this in mind, a meta-analysis of sleep deprivation and obesity shows that under six hours of sleep increases the risk of weight gain by 50 percent (Cappuccio et al. 2008³²).

After female college students can lose muscle strength if they don’t get enough sleep (Chen et al. 2017³³), post-menopausal women must focus on at least 8 hours of quality sleep.

Ultimately, lack of sleep promotes anabolic resistance in muscle building, which increases with age (Lamon et al. 2021³⁴).

9. Try Yoga

Yoga is a mindfulness-based stress reduction technique that helps with posture and stretching.

Mindfulness-based exercise can reduce stress symptoms while increasing sleep and quality of life (Carlson et al. 2004³⁵).

In addition, yoga can improve cortisol levels, blood pressure, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood glucose (Pascoe et al. 2017³⁶).

And it is the stress hormone cortisol that limits metabolic functions and promotes the accumulation of abdominal fat (Rosmond et al. 1998³⁷).

Last but not least, yoga is a safe way to relieve symptoms of menopause and improve quality of life (Cramer et al. 2018³⁸).

Get started with yoga for beginners today.

10. Treat Yourself to a Spa Day

A day at the spa is a proven way to relieve stress (Toda et al. 2006³⁹).

Exercise puts stress on your body, even if it is healthy. Therefore, if exercise is a habit, you must not forget about adequate rest.

For women over 50 who care about their fitness, regular spa days should be as natural as exercise.

A massage at the spa not only lowers your stress hormones but helps release feel-good hormones (Field et al. 2005⁴⁰).

Furthermore, researchers found that a simple back massage improves anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, and sleep quality (Pinar et al. 2015⁴¹).

How Much Should a Woman Over 50 Exercise?

In my experience, a healthy woman over 50 can successfully boost their fitness with less than one hour of exercise per week if she exercises and eats wisely.

This is equivalent to 2 short strength training sessions and 1-3 short yoga sessions per week. For example, you work out on Monday and Thursday, do yoga on other weekdays, and get enough rest on the weekends.

However, the general rule is that you can exercise as much as your health and the doctor you trust.

Women Can Be Fit After 50!

Getting into shape after menopause is a controversial topic. My approach focuses on the hormonal system. Ultimately, hormones, not calories, set the metabolism and muscle-building framework.

Women over 50 who understand their bodies will playfully improve their fitness in the long run. And all it takes is a few minutes of exercise a week.

You can read more about exploiting hormones to improve well-being in my new book: Wiser Intermittent Fasting for Women Over 50.

Fitness for Women Over 50 FAQ

How much should a 50-year-old woman exercise?

Less than one hour of exercise can be enough if women over 50 work out wisely.

Can a 50-year-old woman get toned?

A woman over 50 who knows her hormones can get fitter than ever.

Can a 50-year-old woman still build muscle?

A woman over 50 can build muscle when focusing on strength training and protein intake.

How can a woman over 50 get fit?

With intermittent fasting, keto, and core exercises, women over 50 can get into shape quickly.

Studies ▾

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