Build Muscle, Burn Fat: The Midlife Fitness Formula

If you've been adding more cardio to try and drop weight before summer, and it's not working, this episode is going to explain exactly why.

I know, it sounds completely backwards. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s like I did, you remember when cardio was everything. Jane Fonda workouts. Hours on the stair stepper. The formula was simple: want to lose weight? More cardio. Want to tone up for summer? More cardio.

But in midlife, that approach is counterproductive. You're checking the calorie burn on your smartwatch, hitting 10,000 steps, signing up for spin classes — and the scale won't budge. You might even be working harder than ever and seeing fewer results than ever.

This episode is part three of my Spring Into Summer series, and we're tackling the fitness piece.

I'm breaking down what happens to your cortisol and inflammation when you do too much cardio in perimenopause, why muscle mass is the real driver of your metabolism, and how lifting heavy weights (not endless treadmill sessions) is the secret to getting the toned arms and defined legs you want this summer.

Plus, I'm sharing my own story, how being forced to stop cardio after breast cancer surgery actually gave me the results I'd been chasing for years.

What You'll Learn

📌 Why more cardio increases cortisol and inflammation in midlife (making weight loss even harder)
📌 The real reason you're losing muscle mass — and why that's tanking your metabolism
📌 How to get toned arms, defined legs, and a stronger body without hours in the gym
📌 The concept of progressive overload and how to start lifting heavier than you think you can
📌 The nuance: when cardio IS helpful (Dr. Vonda Wright on jumping and bone density)

Resources & Ways To Connect

Fitness library here for strength training (use code ASHLEYS1BODI for 15% off!)
Work with Me
Book a Free Consultation Call
Connect on Instagram
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⭐️ ⭐️ Feel confident in your clothes THIS summer when you lose weight inside the The Method! The Perimenopause Weight Loss Method is designed for busy, midlife moms, who are ready to finally lose their first 15 lbs.

Tap here for more information and to enroll today (enrollment closes May 22nd)

Transcript

Hello, my friend, and welcome back to The Family Fork. We are back for the third episode in our Spring Into Summer series, and I'm so glad you're here with me today.

If you've been thinking about adding more cardio so that you can try and drop some weight before the summer, I want you to think again. And if you've already started doing this, you might have found that it's not working. It's because more cardio is NOT the right approach for you.

There are other things you can be doing with your fitness that are going to get you much closer to your goals and to the way you want to feel this summer. Things that don't revolve around endless treadmill sessions or Zumba classes.

In this series, we are talking all about how you can spring into summer so that you can truly have the summer of your dreams. You can feel amazing and have energy to do all the things that you want -- the pickleball tournaments, going to the lake with your family, biking, going on vacation...whatever you want your summer to look like.

In the first episode, we talked about the huge importance of managing your mindset and thinking differently about your health and wellness journey in order to feel the way you want this summer.

Then, in the second episode, we talked about how anti-inflammatory nutrition is one of the key ways that you can have the energy that you want this summer and really continue to feel amazing beyond summer and many years down the road.

In this episode, we are diving into why cardio is actually making it harder for you to lose weight.

I know. It sounds super counter-intuitive.

If you're like me and you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you remember how important cardio used to be. Zumba classes. Jane Fonda workouts. Hours on the stair stepper. Sweating it out in step aerobics. That was the formula. You wanted to lose weight? You did more cardio. You wanted to tone up for summer? More cardio. The answer was always more cardio.

But in midlife, that kind of cardio workout is actually counterproductive to what you're trying to achieve.

I know this is hard to wrap your brain around, because it was hard for me, too.

Right now, you think that you're doing all of the right things. You are constantly checking the calorie burn on your smartwatch. You're adding steps and trying to get 10,000 or 12,000 steps every day. You're signing up for spin classes or hitting the elliptical after work. You truly believe that if you burn enough calories with cardio in a day, you will eventually lose weight.

It makes logical sense, right? Burn more calories than you consume, and the weight will come off.

But the game changes in midlife. And you need a completely different strategy around your fitness in order to see the results that you're looking for.

Let me explain what's actually happening in your body when you do too much cardio in midlife.

When you do too much cardio, your cortisol increases. Cortisol is your stress hormone. And increased cortisol drives inflammation.

If you remember, we talked about this in the last episode. Your body is already fighting inflammation. It's working overtime just to keep up. So if you're increasing your cortisol through excessive cardio, you're just adding to the increased inflammation. You're making your body's job harder, not easier.

Plus, without that protective estrogen that you had before perimenopause, it makes it even harder for your body to regulate your cortisol and reduce the inflammation. Your body doesn't bounce back the way it used to.

And this doesn't necessarily apply only to high-intensity exercise.

Maybe you're the type of person who is working out, but all you're doing is cardio. You're just running. Or you're just doing a Zumba class. Or you're just doing some sort of online cardio workout. Maybe you love your Peloton and you're on it five or six days a week.

If this is all you're doing, you are not going to see very much change in your physique or your weight if you're in midlife. You might even find that you're working harder than ever and seeing fewer results than ever. And that is incredibly frustrating.

So what's the secret?

The secret is in increasing your lean muscle mass.

You probably know by now that as you get older, just naturally, you are losing muscle mass. It starts happening in your 30s and accelerates as you move through perimenopause and into menopause. Some research suggests that women can lose up to 3 to 5 percent of their muscle mass per decade after age 30. And that rate speeds up after menopause.

But here's what's important to understand. Muscle mass is actually a driver of a healthy metabolism. If you're losing muscle, you need to do something to replace what you're losing. Plus, you need to continue to build more muscle.

In short, less muscle means you have a slower metabolism.

Add that to the hormonal shifts of midlife, and it leads you to gaining weight AND struggling to lose weight. Even when you feel like you're doing everything right. Even when you're eating well and moving your body and doing all the things you've been told to do.

So if you want those sleek, toned arms so that you can wear tank tops this summer. Or you want defined legs so you can comfortably wear those shorts while you're on vacation. Or you just want to feel strong and capable in your body.

Here's what you need to do: lift heavy weights.

The great thing about lifting heavy weights is that if you're doing it right, you don't have to spend an hour or an hour and a half in the gym every day in order to see results.

Ideally, you are lifting heavy weights. You're increasing your weight a little bit each week or every other week. And you're not having to spend more than 30 to 45 minutes in the gym a couple times a week.

That's it. That's the formula.

No more two-hour gym sessions. No more feeling like you have to spend your entire Saturday morning on a treadmill. And no more ignoring workouts because you "don't have time". Just focused, intentional strength training a few times a week.

If you're unsure of where to get started, check the show notes. I've linked to my favorite fitness library for lifting weights, and I'm happy to guide you to a particular program that will really help you see some muscle definition in a short period of time.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking.

Often, students come to me concerned about picking up the heavier weights because they don't want to get injured. I can completely understand this. The last thing you want is to hurt yourself and set back your progress.

But I also know that your body is capable of more than you recognize.

Think about the last time you carried in a giant box of groceries from Costco. Or carried the trash out to the curb. Or did some yard work and had to carry the large bags full of lawn clippings. Or picked up a heavy piece of furniture.

You're stronger than you think. Your body already does heavy lifting in everyday life. We just need to channel that into intentional strength training.

So here's what I want you to try.

Pick up the heaviest weight that you feel comfortable with and see how many reps you can do with it.

Then, the next time, don't increase the reps. Increase the weight. Pick up an even heavier weight and see how many reps you can get through.

The goal is to keep increasing the weight and not necessarily increasing the reps. You're continuing to build muscle because you're adding more weight each time. This is called progressive overload, and it's how your muscles grow and get stronger.

What you're going to find is that you don't need to completely exhaust yourself every single time you go to work out. Your exercise doesn't have to feel like a punishment. It doesn't have to leave you so sore you can't walk the next day.

You should walk away from the gym feeling like you really worked a particular muscle group and excited to start seeing the definition in your arms, legs, glutes, and abs. You should feel accomplished, not destroyed.

Plus, the more muscle you add, the faster your metabolism becomes. It's the thermogenic effect of muscle. You are actually burning calories while you're resting when you have more muscle.

This is the opposite of what cardio does. Cardio burns calories while you're doing it. The minute you step off the treadmill, the calorie burn stops. But muscle burns calories all the time, even when you're sitting on the couch. Even when you're sleeping. Your body requires more energy just to maintain that muscle mass.

I want to share my personal journey with you, because I know how hard it can be to shift away from the cardio mindset.

Cutting out cardio was really hard for me. Up until even just last year, I always really felt like I needed the cardio. Even though I was lifting heavy weights, I also felt I needed the cardio in order to burn those calories. I couldn't let go of that belief. It was so ingrained in me from decades of being told that cardio was the answer.

And then, after my first breast cancer surgery, I wasn't able to do any sort of jumping or active-style cardio. My body just couldn't handle it during recovery.

So I started playing around with heavy weights. I used heavy weights for my legs where I could really increase the weight, even though I couldn't do a lot for my upper body at the time.

And I was shocked at what happened.

I watched my muscles grow. My legs became more lean. I started seeing definition in my legs that I hadn't seen before. And I realized that I was getting the changes that I had wanted all along.

The only way I got there is because I was forced to stop the cardio. And I could only resort to lifting the heavier weights.

Over time, I really stopped checking how many calories I had burned on my smartwatch. That number stopped mattering to me. And I started using measurements and weekly progress photos as the indicator of whether or not my weightlifting was doing the right job for me and the body that I was looking for.

The scale became less important. The way my clothes fit became more important. The way I felt in my body became the real measure of success.

So believe me, I get it. It can be really difficult to switch your mindset and understand that cardio is not really going to be the solution for you.

Now, I do want to add some nuance here.

Cardio is helpful for cardiovascular health. Your heart is a muscle too, and it needs to be worked. And some jumping is good for your bones. Dr. Vonda Wright talks a lot about how important jumping is to bone density, specifically for women in midlife.

So I'm not saying never do cardio again. A walk is wonderful. A hike is great. Some movement that gets your heart rate up is good for you.

But week-to-week strength training and lifting heavier than you think you can is definitely going to be the way that will allow you to start working out now and start getting the body that you want. That will help you to feel the way that you want come summertime.

So here's what I want you to take away from this episode.

Stop relying on cardio to burn calories. Start lifting heavy weights to build muscle and boost your metabolism.

You don't need hours in the gym. 30 to 45 minutes, a few times a week, is enough.

Your homework this week is simple. Pick up the heaviest weight you feel comfortable with. See how many reps you can do. And then next session, increase the weight, not the reps.

And if you're unsure where to start, check out the fitness library I've linked in the show notes. It offers weight lifting programs for any skill level.

Now, if you've been listening to this series and you're really trying to implement some of these things, but you still find that you're struggling to get in the right mindset or to eat the right foods, I encourage you to schedule a consultation call with me.

It's free. And I can help you build a plan that makes more sense for what your goals are and what you're trying to achieve.

That plan might include becoming a student in The Perimenopause Weight Loss Method, which is a very structured 8-week program that not only helps you get in the right frame of mind, but also helps you learn how to eat and move your body in a way that will really help you get the results that you're looking for in the long term.

If you're interested in booking a call, you can find the link in the show notes.

Coming up next week is the final episode in this series. And we're going to talk a lot about what to do when motivation fades (because it will!)

Following along with the same framework that I use in The Perimenopause Weight Loss Method, we're going to talk about how to maintain your results and what separates the women who get results from the women who keep yo-yoing back and forth between building habits and losing habits.

It's going to be a great episode, and I can't wait to see you there.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me today, my friend. I'll see you right back here next week on The Family Fork.