73-Ask Me Anything: Midlife Training, Recovery, and Fitness After 35

In this episode of MilesFromHerView, host Kat answers top questions from listeners about prioritizing fitness amid chaotic schedules. Kat, a seasoned fitness coach, offers actionable tips to move from feeling stuck to making real progress without falling into perfectionist traps. She emphasizes the importance of sleep, a balanced diet, and adaptable workout routines. Kat also explores the synergy between strength training and running, particularly as women age, and how to overcome motivational slumps. Later, she teases next week's episode featuring a conversation with licensed mental health therapist Nicole on maternal rage. Tune in for insights on maintaining your fitness journey with authenticity and resilience.

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00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

00:34 Welcome to MilesFromherView

01:24 Answering Your Top Questions

02:27 Question 1: Finding Time for Workouts

09:49 Question 2: Importance of Strength Training for Runners

12:11 Question 3: Breaking the Cycle of Inconsistency

16:49 Question 4: Choosing the Right Program

18:36 Question 5: Building Strength and Confidence

21:53 Question 6: Navigating Changes in Your 40s

25:48 Actionable Steps and Conclusion

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Transcript

Kat: 0:00

In today's episode, we're changing it up. I'm answering the top questions that I received from you off of Instagram and those who replied to this podcast. And by the way, you can still. Respond to the podcast. You can still message the podcast if you have questions. I love hearing from you, so stick around because we're gonna be tackling practical strategies to move from feeling stuck to making real progress. And yes, it's so doable even in the most manic schedules. Welcome to MilesFromherView, the podcast powered by KatFit Strength, where busy women like you find practical solutions to fuel your fitness journey with authenticity and resilience. I'm Kat, your host, a mom of two active boys, a business owner, and an ultra marathon runner and a strength trainer in her forties with nearly two decades of experience. I'm here to help you cut through the noise of fads, hacks, and quick fixes. This is a space where we celebrate womanhood and motherhood. All while building strength and resilience and reconnecting with you from a place of self-compassion and worthiness. Whether you're lacing up your running shoes to go out for a run, driving your kids to practice or squeezing in a moment for yourself, I'm right here in the trenches with you. Let's dive in. Welcome back to MilesFromherView. I am Kat, your host, we are doing something different. I am tackling those questions that I hear over and over again, and they are from individuals like you who are trying to figure out how to prioritize themselves, their fitness routine, their wellbeing, but sometimes we feel stuck I'm gonna be giving you actionable tips to break free from the chaos, and if you stick around, I'll show you how to take the next step towards real results. Also, next week I have a must listen conversation with Nicole, who is a licensed mental health therapist. I have had her on the podcast before. She has some incredible insight and it was a phenomenal conversation about maternal rage and mom rage. So do not miss that. It will come out next Friday, September 26th, so I highly recommend you listen to that. But for today, let's jump into question number one. I feel like I have no time for workouts. How do I even start? I get this question a lot I totally understand. Life is very, very chaotic. I don't know what your 24 7 looks like, but I can only imagine it is filled with pickups and drop offs, career, household chores and everything and anything in between. So it is so easy to fall into this perfection trap thinking that only hour long workouts are gonna be needed, a fully outfitted gym or. Working out five to six days a week. The thing is, none of that is needed. I'm gonna say some equipment would be nice. You don't need an hour long, and you definitely don't need to work out every single day. There are things you can do, especially if you do not have time to make it to a conventional gym or if this time in your life. You don't have access to strength training equipment. Maybe you can't strength train due to injury or coming back from illness, or it is a very transitional time in your life. There are other things that you can focus on that can prioritize your fitness routine or look like a workout without, in that traditional sense picking up weights or going to the gym. A perfect workout is not always going to the gym. Prioritizing your fitness and your health does not mean exclusively. You are in the gym, lifting, attending classes. Eating, quote unquote clean. There are ways that we can prioritize our own overall health and fitness without the mainstream ideas that fitness influencers push on you. So when I have clients and myself, so whether it's a client I am coaching or myself, what I. Tell them is we wanna look at our health. Fitness is something that backs up our health, helps us maintain our health, it's not just strength training, cardio training, and mobility. It is also nutrition, sleep, stress mitigation, social emotional relationships and wellbeing. We want to know what. Is our capacity in that moment. I'm gonna pick on a point in our life, that is a highly pressurized point. If you've ever gone through that, newborn stage from delivery to newborn stage, where you're not getting a lot of. Rest and you are returning to work far too early because there aren't the supports with proper maternal leave, you are just running on pure adrenaline and no sleep. Okay, so during that time is not, it's not that. Myself or clients who are in that stage are incapable handling hard workouts. You fully can, but it's not the right time to be pushing there. So then we're gonna be prioritizing getting the sleep that we can get, focusing on getting food, not elaborate meal planning strategies, but nourishing our bodies so that we're we're covering and making sure that we're getting in touch with us, that we are getting the help that we need and the support that we need during this time. And as those things fall into place, then we can incorporate more. If you are no longer in that stage, or maybe you never went through that stage, but your career is very demanding. You're working, long days, you travel a lot. You feel like you live out of your suitcase. You don't have a lot of time in one space. Let's look at how can we be flexible with our routine. Sleep is the backbone. Dare I say, the magic elixir of our health. You need sleep. If human beings did not need sleep to maintain life it would've. Evolved away, we would no longer need sleep. You need good quality of sleep. So start there. If you're finding you are just sleep deprived, but you're trying to push yourself and maintain a strength training routine, mobility, cardio routine, and you're struggling to make quote unquote the right choices of healthy nutrient dense foods, well, let's get that sleep. Figured out because cognitively your brain needs sleep to reset. So. Focus on sleep first in that area that you are able to get as best and as quality sleep when you are traveling in different locations. From there, I say, let's start with that nutrition and overall movement It is looking at having more whole foods, so fruits and vegetables, proteins, lean proteins, and healthier fats. So looking at that, we are having 80% of our nutritional intake, that it is nutrient dense and that 20%, the more fun foods chocolate or maybe a glass of wine or you know, a pizza. So, and then overall movement, it's, it increasing those, that movement throughout the day so that you are not desk bound for hours. It is getting up. Maybe every 25 minutes to every 30 to 40 minutes for two to three minutes, walking, moving, maybe getting outside feeling that sunshine or listening to nature around you. So that you are getting that refreshment, you are getting that movement with the body. If that all seems doable, then I always say the next thing to move into that space or your capacity is mobility. Doesn't mean strength. Training is so cumbersome. Every client who I've worked with, it's a little bit different. And how we start to integrate that in because we need to be flexible where. You are at because we have to start where you are and what you have capacity for, because it's the small, consistent actions that are gonna compound over time that you can actually maintain and repeat when your life is very chaotic. Two, often I see individuals whether I train them or not. Diving into complex routines or holding themselves captive by these shoulds, I should be able to work out six days a week. I should be able to eat, quote unquote clean. I should be able to hit 10 K steps a day when the reality is flexibility and understanding where you're at and what your body needs. Allows you to take consistent action and compound those actions over time. So this is exactly what I do and how I coach my clients and they see results. They go from feeling like they can never maintain a plan to being able to maintain a plan because they understand it's not just one thing, one workout, it's how the other things outside their workout support what's happening in their workout and the rest of their life. Moving on to question two. I've been running forever. Do I really need to lift weights? Yes. I'm a runner. Whether you're new to the podcast, I'm a big runner. If you're a longtime listener, I feel like I see this a lot on the podcast. I have been a runner for my lifetime. Strength training is the backbone of running. When you pair strength training with running, it does not mean you're gonna be strength training five days a week. Really, you need two to three solid strength training sessions that can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. 40 minutes is definitely on the upper range. For me, it is structured around my training cycle. If you are someone who's no desire to run a race, fantastic. That's, that's awesome. So then let's really look at trying to get consistently one to two strength training sessions per week. Know that if you are new to strength training, you might see your mile split time. Regress a little. That does not mean strength training has ruined your running. It means your body is doing what it needs to do and adapting to the new stress stimulus of strength training that you have put on it. You may find that you're a little bit more sore, so what you need to reframe in this. Period of adding and string training is it's all good. If my mile split slows down, I might be a little sore. So let's back off the intensity with running. Maybe we decrease some of the mileage if you've been tracking your weekly mileage, that maybe we decrease that a little bit while we introduce the strength training to your run training program. If you were someone who was training for a race, I highly recommend not introducing it, definitely not in the last six to eight weeks of training. The best time to incorporate a strength training routine, being new to it, or maybe you've kind of been hit or miss in your training cycle. No big deal. Put it in during that maintenance time. So when you have had your a race and you have recovered, then start to introduce that strength training, so that it is fully integrated when you start to ramp up the intensity with your overall mileage, with your speed workouts in your run training before your next race. Question number three. I'm stuck in a cycle of motivation and inconsistency. How do I break free? Very, very, very common I find we need to redefine consistency. Consistency is not about completing every workout or never missing a workout. Life is always going to happen. Illnesses are always gonna pop up at the worst time. Work projects and work travels will cause disruption, whether for yourself or if you have a partner like that will be disruptive. Travel in general is disruptive. Big projects, holidays, school breaks with if you have children, are a dis disruption when we have these disruptions planned or not. If you have planned disruptions, holidays happen every year, summer. Break happens every year schedule those in. If you are working with a coach or a trainer, have them build that into your plan, and if that plan. I'm gonna be blunt here if that plan does not allow it, and you're not training for a bodybuilding competition. And I didn't even go as far as to say, because I'm in that boat and I work with a coach and I take vacations even when I'm training in the midst of training for a race. Now if you are an elite athlete listening to this, that's a whole different case, but. You should be able to plan for a vacation and be able to have an alternative plan to keep you quote unquote, that track towards that goal. Even if you're working with a coach or a trainer, if it does not allow it and you're frustrated because you feel like you can never have a break or you have to maintain this complex routine to see results, then I would recommend revisiting those goals and potentially. Working with someone who understands that travel, vacations, holidays, and life are gonna happen, and you're not beholden to never, ever missing a gym session because that's just not, that's just not possible, honestly. When you have a break, when you get back, it's a transition routine. It's a transition week back into your routine and that first workout make sure you do not break that appointment to yourself to start that, this could feel sluggish. I may need to go down in weights. If you're a runner, my mile split might be a little off. It's all good. Does not mean you have lost fitness. And actually losing fitness as the research shows can be a good thing to help build on fitness. So. Mentally prepare yourself like, Hey, this week is a transition week back. Allow for space for yourself to grow and not hold yourself to the shoulds and the guilt and the shame that pops up. Motivation. If we lived and only did things when we had motivation, we wouldn't get much done. This is where you have to push yourself in those times of low motivation, you have to show up in low motivation. I wanna be crystal clear here. This does not mean when you're absolutely exhausted, feel like you're getting sick or pushing through an injury or burnout that you have to force yourself to show up. Low motivation looks like this. You have a million things, maybe you have laundry piling up work, emails keep coming in and you see them dinging in your inbox. You're just a little low on energy but you don't have a big prevailing red flag not to do it. Show up and start doing. It just, it's hard. You just have to do it. The more times you show up when you don't have motivation and you override that. The mind is so brilliant at adapting. Those low medi motivation will all like low motivation will always be there. Those excuses will always be there, but they won't be so loud in your head. They'll start to become more like a whisper, so you'll be able to take action more versus deferring to inaction because you just don't feel motivated. You have a million things that you could be doing, Most times I do not have this surge of motivation. Like, yes, let me get out there and go. It ebbs and flows for me. What I have gotten really good at is being like, yeah, I don't feel like doing this, but I'm gonna show up anyway. Most often. By the end of it, I'm so grateful I showed up and did this. Question four, I'm overwhelmed by all the programs, apps, and workouts. How do I find what's right for me? This is such a great question. When it popped in, I'm like, yes, I see it all the time. I see people asking for workout programs. I see people being like, I need a program quick. What works for you? Well, to be honest, what works for someone may not work for you and your goals and life may not be aligned. There are a ton of programs and apps and workouts from free to paying to premium, cost to very, very low cost. So. Where I encourage you is absolutely know your goals. What do you want to gain by entering a program, downloading an app, or doing a workout? What is that primary thing? With that goal, we're gonna look at what is your goal today and what is the end goal? What do you wanna continue to do with that workout? Because so many women hop from plan to plan, hoping for a dramatic transformation, only feel frustrated when they can't maintain it. If you know your goal, if you know where you're at in your life, what. You specifically and where you are and what you can fit in it will help you find the program or an app or those workouts that are gonna align or going to be, that are going to set you up for success. So like if your goal is lasting, results, flexibility and understanding how to adjust with life's chaos. You need a program that meets you where you are and I might be a good candidate for you because that is what I do. My clients do see results. They do see body composition changes, whether that be inches loss, pounds lost, or pounds gained, muscle gained. Question number five. I want to feel strong and confident again, but I'm scared that I won't be able to keep up. Where do I start? This kind of goes back to, question number one and the understanding of perfection seeking and all or nothing. That is what a lot of pe a lot of clients come in battling with me. Failing or taking pauses is not bad in a fitness routine. Being curious and learning about how you can maintain and what you need in times of really high stress. Kid gets sick where project deadline is like tomorrow, you are feeling a little sick. Your partner is traveling, so everything is falling on you. Well, what do you need in those things? Are you bulldozing through and ignoring those signs that you need to scale back and mobility needs to take the place? Or maybe you need to pause that week for your workouts. Okay, so pausing in that. Very intense situation is not a failure. Very few, if any, people, when everything is falling to them. With kids work, you know, all the responsibilities of maintaining a daily life. Sometimes we do need to scale back with our workouts. The only perfect beings are those AI influencers, and yes, there are artificial intelligent influencers out there pumping out 24 7 content that makes it look like, yeah, if you can't show up for two hours a day with the whole world falling around you, then you're failing. it's understanding that being compassionate and curious with yourself is going to lead to more confidence and feeling stronger. You know, you're not failing at all. There's no falling behind. The one thing I constantly say with my clients is you're not falling behind. There's no keeping up. It's show up. Consistently that in a way that it can be repeatable, it's start small, celebrate those wins. Even if, and I can remember countless times from when my kids were babies to even now putting on workout clothes, like, I'm gonna get this workout in and something happens that prevents, and I didn't even get a workout in. I started this day in workout clothes with the intention to get a workout and. A million different things happened. Celebrate that you showed up for yourself, you took action. But there are times where things are gonna happen out of your control that are gonna prevent you from actually getting that workout in. It has nothing to do with motivation. Everything to do with life can win and gradually build that confidence. If you are unsure and you wanna learn how to strength train. Hire a coach that's gonna teach you how to strength train, to be more confident in your lifts, to to understand the basics so that you can maintain it. If you want to understand how cardio and strength training can. Work together. Again, hire someone who's going to be able to teach you that. I teach my clients the skills on how to be flexible. Is it perfect? Absolutely not, because it's not striving for perfection. It's understanding that you have to find the progress that that is going to fit your life. Question number six. I'm approaching 40 and I'm noticing changes in my body, slower recovery, more stubborn weight, less strength. What do I do? I've done a number of podcasts on this, go back through the shows. I do talk about this, but this is totally normal. Bodies change. That's a fact. It is not good nor bad. It's a neutral statement that bodies change. And it doesn't mean that you can't get stronger. However, research shows that recovery does become more important as we get older. So sleep, nutrition, mobility, and active recovery is more important than ever. I can't say it enough. Sleep holds superpowers. That's where all. Your adaptations from your workouts, that's where your cortisol levels reset. That's where your inflammation decreases. Like sleep is a non-negotiable. If you were someone who sleep is awful. But I wanna push myself in workouts. I would really recommend tackling and getting to the root causes of why your sleep is awful, because it will delay your gains and progress with building strength, that cardio capacity and nutrition changes to help support that body composition change. Sleep is. The keystone strength training is one of your biggest tools. It's going to help you maintain that muscle. Support the joints. And boost the metabolism. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. It is the largest organ in the body and it helps maintain blood sugar balance. So as we get older and we have less muscle, we become more you've heard insulin sensitivity, how you combat that is building muscle. Yes, there are dietary changes that you can do, but if you are under muscled, it can only go so far. This does not mean you need to look like a bodybuilder at all. It means you need to have a progressive strength training plan that allows for your body to constantly adapt and grow. I recommend two to three full body focused strength training sessions per week. You can combine that with a cardio. You enjoy walking regardless if you're wearing a weight vest is a perfect cardio routine. You don't need to run, if you want to start to learn how to run. Awesome. You can incorporate that in if you only can prioritize. One or the other. So strength or cardio. I recommend prioritizing strength and build more movement in throughout your day. That means getting up from your desk, finding ways to just move about the house. A walking desk is also a great thing. I too, really, really recommend on the weekends where you may have more time, or if it's a weekday where you have more time. Put in a walk, get out in nature, leave the AirPods at home, and just connect with nature and then be mindful of recovery. We all need recovery. So the key is smart, consistent training that works with your body and not against it., If you want guidance on exactly what this looks like, I'm more than happy to help map out a plan that is gonna help keep you strong and resilient all right, before we wrap up, let's pull this all together. So cross all these questions. There are a few common themes that stand out. Feeling stuck, struggling with consistency, juggling life's chaos, and not knowing where to start or how to adjust as your body changes. So here are your actionable steps that you can start today. You don't have to do all of'em. Pick one that feels doable and go from there. Number one, start small and flexible. Even 15 to 20 minutes of focus movement counts. Don't wait for the perfect time to workout or the perfect workout. Number two, prioritize the basics. Strength training two to three times a week. Mobility work, cardio. You enjoy sleep and balance nutrition. It works. It's tried and true. If you did those things every single week, you are gonna live a pretty healthy lifestyle. That is the tried and true evidence-based. I'm not gatekeeping here. That is, that is what it is. Number three, redefine consistency. So showing up in some form, whether even when motivation is low, is what builds lasting habits show up. Number four, plan around your goals and life stage strength training sessions complement running. Recovery matters more when we age. Number five, be compassionate with yourself. Pauses and adjustments are normal. Flexibility and curiosity are key. Number six, take action. Picking one thing from today's episode to commit to this week, write it down, schedule it, and make it a non-negotiable. And I'll add this Message me. Tell me what you're going to take action on. I read all my emails. I'm a one woman show, so you're gonna hear back from me, if you want help turning these actions into a plan that actually works for your life, I'm taking on new clients and would love to help you. I work with women one-on-one to create a customized program that fits your schedule, your goals, your lifestyle. Every client can expect realistic, actionable guidance, support for mindset and consistency, and a plan that grows with you. This is not a cookie cutter template plan. If this sounds like what you need, book a 15 minute consultation call with me. The link is in the show notes, and we'll figure out if we're a good fit in how to get you moving from stuck to strong. Thanks so much for listening to me on this. Ask me anything episode. Don't forget. You can message the podcast anytime with your questions. I love hearing from you and be sure to tune in next week for my conversation with Nicole, a licensed mental health therapist on maternal rage. You truly do not want to miss that episode. Thank you for tuning in to MilesFromHerView, powered by KatFit Strength Strength. If this podcast inspires you, don't keep it for yourself. Hit follow or subscribe to stay updated on the new episodes, and leave us a review to help more women and moms discover this space. Your feedback fuels this podcast and I'd love to hear what's working for you or what topics you want to dive into Next. You can connect with me on Instagram at KatFit or share this episode. Road with a friend who is ready to embrace her strength. Remember, fitness isn't about perfection. It's about showing up for yourself and finding strength in every step of your journey. Until next time, keep moving forward one mile at a time.