Strength Training After 50: The Simplest Way to Start in Menopause

How do you start strength training after 50 in a way that actually works in menopause?

Strength training after 50 can feel very different in menopause. Here’s the simplest way to start building muscle safely without burning yourself out.

In this video, I’m breaking down my Midlife Muscle Protocol for women over 50 who want to build muscle, support bone health, improve metabolism, and stop feeling wrecked by long workouts. If you’ve been trying to figure out how to start strength training after 50 without injury, burnout, or overwhelm, this is your starting point.

We’ll talk about:

• strength training for women over 50
• how to build muscle after menopause
• why rest matters more now
• walking and daily movement in midlife
• how much cardio you really need

Subscribe for simple, real-life menopause fitness help each week.

Watch next:
Why workouts feel harder in menopause: https://youtu.be/2EYvqFPWBWs

Chapters:
00:00 Strength Training for Women 50+
03:55 Strength Training Cardio Basics
08:17 Midlife Fitness: Strength Over Cardio
11:13 Strength Training Tips for Women 50+

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#StrengthTrainingForWomen
#WomenOver50Fitness
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#CamAllen

Transcript

0:00

If you're a woman over 50 in menopause trying to figure out how to start strength training again without wrecking your recovery, or maybe you're concerned about getting injured, you are in the right place. In this video, I'm going to walk through the simplest way to start strength training after 50 so you can actually build those midlife muscles, protect your bones, and actually feel stronger in your everyday life, which is why I do this, so we can enjoy and appreciate our bodies and love our life. Hey there, I'm Cam Allen, and this channel is for women over 50 who are done guessing about fitness and menopause. Here we talk about strength training for women over 50. We talk about recovery and how to build midlife muscle in a way that actually works for your body today, not younger you. We're talking about menopause you. In the last video, we talked about why workouts actually feel harder in menopause and how your buffering system has changed in this side of life. Today I'm going to show you exactly how to start strength training after 50 using something I call the Midlife Muscle Protocol. It is so simple and it works with the changes that are happening during menopause. It takes only about 60 minutes a week of strength training. And as soon as you start doing this, you're going to notice something interesting about your body. That most women completely overlook. When women over 50 return to exercise, the biggest mistake I see is them trying to recreate the workouts they did when they were younger, which means usually more cardio, these really long workouts, and like pushing through and pushing harder and never miss a Monday. But guess what? Menopause rewards precision and intention versus punishing exercise. So instead of chasing exhaustion, the Midlife Muscle Protocol focuses on just 4 things. The first part has to be strength training. For most women over 50, strength training looks about 60 minutes a week. Those are the guidelines. So some weeks might be a little bit more, some weeks might be a little bit less. I teach you to listen to your body and how are you recovering? Are you sleeping? How's your hydration? Is your nutrition on point? That might look like 2 or 3 longer workouts for you to add up to the 60-ish minutes, or it might be shorter sessions. I personally love the short sessions, like the 10-minute workouts, the Menopause Minis, because your brain can easily get on board with your body. It's really easy to say yes to a 10-minute workout. You can say, yeah, I got the time. I've got the energy to do that. And when you do a short workout, your brain chimes in, hey, that wasn't so bad. And then your body says, hey, I feel good. I actually have more energy. And when something starts to feel doable, you show up consistently. That consistency is what actually builds the muscle. So if this is helpful so far, be sure to hit subscribe and follow along because that's what we do here. Every week on this channel, we talk about strength training for women over 50. So you can build muscle, support your metabolism, and feel strong again. But strength training is only one part of the picture. So let's keep going to the second part of the Midlife Muscle Protocol, and it's rest. Rest within the workout and rest days between your workouts. Inside my programs, I teach something called BBHH, and that stands for B for breathless, B, burn. H, heavy. And the other H is heat. So when you finish a challenging set, you'll usually notice these things. You will notice that you're breathless and you need extra rest. You know, I love strength training as a cardio workout because your heart is a muscle. And if I lift heavy for me, I'm going to be breathless at the end of the set and I'm going to need a breath. You also may notice that your muscles are burning, which is the second B. Burn means that you're using a weight that is challenging your bones and your muscles to work harder. That's all that means. You may feel the muscle burn, like when you're at the end of the set. The next one is H for heavy. Does it feel heavy, or are you using the same weight you've used literally for years and you've never increased? So H is for heavy. And then the last H is for heat. That may feel like the temperature is rising in your body. It's a sign that you're working hard. Now, not all women in menopause sweat. I'm one of them that does, but you just may notice an increase in body temperature. You may not actually break a sweat. Those are the signals to look for to make sure you're using heavy-for-you weights, and that is a signal for your body that you need a little bit of rest. See, I love rest because rest helps you keep your best form and use the heaviest weight that's right for you today. That's how I teach it. That's exactly why I teach demo style workouts too. We all need a different amount of rest. Me personally, I need a different amount of rest day to day. Demo style workouts let you drop the comparison. And can we just drop the comparison? The minute you start chasing the woman on the screen, you hand away your authority. Your body is giving you the clues. That's why I love DemoStyle workouts. And when you slow down between sets and rest, you stop giving away your authority and you get in touch with yourself and your nervous system. You stop striving to keep up. You listen to you. Instead, you give your body the time and space it needs to get stronger. And you can actually hear what your body's saying. It's so magical. So that's part number 2, rest. It's okay to rest in a workout. Believe me, I had to include that in the protocol because in my 40s, I came from the CrossFit world where it was very masculine, never miss a Monday. You can rest when you're dead. Really, really not good stuff. Really like harsh things. So I had to like literally retrain my brain at age 50. No, rest is part of the protocol. Okay, the third part of the Midlife Muscle Protocol is daily movement. Things like walking and moving around your house and like everyday activity. In the coaching world, we call that NEAT, which stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It's basically your— the calories your body burns or the energy your body uses during the day when you're moving. So that's why I like— I love standing desk or taking a walk. And by the way, I need you to hear

this: 6:52

NEAT— non-exercise activity— walking is the largest changeable part of your daily metabolism. So if you're sitting all day versus moving around or using a standing desk or taking walks, your metabolism has to— sees it two different ways. Are you sitting? Are you moving? Now, were you like me? Younger me thought walking didn't count. And it didn't make a difference at all. Isn't that funny when it's actually the largest part of your changeable metabolism? Really, all it means is you're moving your body throughout the day in a non-stressful, non-exercise kind of way. So I want you to test it for yourself. How will your body respond to, I gotta get my steps, I gotta, I gotta go get my steps, or this energy? I think I'm going to go for a walk and let my dog sniff everything. I don't care how long it takes. See the difference? Your body's going to respond way differently to the dog sniff walk versus the stressful, I got to get my steps in. So we're talking about non-exercise activity, just being an active human. Daily movement supports your metabolism and your overall health without adding a whole bunch of stress to your system. And that really matters in midlife. The fourth part of the protocol is— I call it a dash of cardio, just like salt and pepper. It's just like a little seasoning, and it usually looks like short conditioning bursts, not endless cardio of younger you days. No, I have witnessed too many women train for half marathons or even full marathons in midlife and come out on the other side with less muscle, which is crazy, more fat, they look inflamed, and more inflammation. From a math problem point of view, how in the world is that possible? Calories in, calories out, that's what we were taught. How in the world can they do all that cardio and get quote unquote less fit, less muscle, more fat, more inflamed? I intentionally add the cardio last because many women are coming into menopause having years of diet culture like under their belt messaging like cardio is the way, eat less, exercise more. This is everything. But guess what? In midlife, strength training needs to come first. I'm just gonna say it. And cardio needs to take a backseat. So we add cardio last in my world. In fact, if you really do lift heavy for you, like in step number 1, strength training about 60 minutes a week, you're gonna feel your heart rate go up. You're gonna feel breathless just like a cardio workout. Plus, guess what? Your heart is a muscle. So once strength training, that habit, is dialed in, a little bit of cardio can go a long way. It can really complement your workouts. If you're looking for a structure with this kind of approach, the Menopause Minis is exactly how I teach it. They are short strength workouts designed specifically for this stage of life. So we can build muscle without burning yourself out or getting injured. As you start strength training after 50, you're going to notice something really interesting. Your core becomes incredibly important. Now, your core just isn't your abs. It's all of the muscles from your shoulders all the way down to your hips that stabilize your spine when you move. In fact, when your core is stable, your arms and your legs move better. All of that stability allows the movements like squats and rows and deadlifts to help you feel stronger and more supported instead of awkward and like stressed on your back. So if you're starting strength training after 50, I want you to keep it really simple. Just follow the Midlife Muscle Protocol. 60 minutes a week using heavy-for-you weights. Of course, form always comes first. I teach that first. And then weight heavy for you that day is next. Second, strength within your workout so you can actually use that good form and you can actually challenge your body using a heavy for you weight. Number 3, daily movement, just like walking. And number 4, a small amount, a dash of cardio once your strength habit is all built. I love this approach because it works with your physiology. Like your chemistry on the inside in menopause instead of fighting against it. Now that you know how to start strength training after 50, the next most important thing women need to learn is how to use their core correctly, because your core is what protects your spine and it makes movements like squats, deadlifts, rows, everything feel more strong and more stable. So in the next video, I'm going to walk through the most important core exercises for women over 50. And show you how to organize your core before you move your arms and your legs. So if you missed last week's video where I explained why, why in the world do workouts feel suddenly so much harder, that's linked right here. Also, make sure to watch the pinned video called Menopause Change Your Body. Here's What Works Now. That's a really helpful video because it explains the bigger picture of how strength training works differently now in midlife. So make sure you hit subscribe. So you never miss a video. We are just getting started here, and I will see you next week.