Gang, it’s time. After years of struggling with various perimenopause symptoms (hot flashes, insomnia, the occasional panic attack), I’ve noticed a distinct trend: these symptoms tend to get better when I’m working out hard. I’m not talking about going for a walk (although I love walks), but a serious workout – something that leaves me breathless and very sweaty – is what I’ve found really makes a difference.
Which is why we partnered with certified trainer (and very dear friend!!) Laurel Card, ISSA – CPT. She created a four week beginner weightlifting series just for us: women over 40 who – definitely – need to start lifting. those. weights.
Why Lifting Heavy Changed Everything For Me
Weightlifting, in particular, not only seems to help my menopause symptoms, but makes me feel really strong in general. Weightlifting has been a confidence boost, especially when skiing or hiking. I don’t worry about getting injured, and I just feel so physically capable. And I am! Not only can I lift heavier stuff, but my balance is better, my mood is better, and that sloooow (and very, very stubborn) weight gain around my middle has halted for the first time in years.
Healthline has a great article, 14 Benefits of Strength Training, about the various benefits of weightlifting (with studies linked – a detail I always appreciate). According to these studies, not only does weightlifting make your bones stronger, but it can also help to manage blood sugar levels, improve brain health, boost metabolism, and strengthen your heart – just to name a few!
Despite these proven benefits, there are still many women – especially over the age of 40 – who are hesitant to lift. I think that we’ve been fed so much…let’s go with misinformation (*cough*bullshit*cough*) over the course of our lives – that lifting heavy weights will “bulk” us up, or give us “guy muscles” – that we’re naturally apprehensive. So we stick with high reps at low weights, and, quite frankly, lose out on many of the benefits of lifting.
And if any of you have had a disappointing DEXA bone scan recently…that’s one heck of a good reason to start lifting heavy.
How To Start Weightlifting Over 40: Follow-Along With Us!
The Mom Edit kicked off a four-week beginner weightlifting series with our personal trainer, Laurel Card, ISSA – CPT. Our goal? To get really, really strong, safely. This series may be beginner level, but we’re going to lift heavy (or, rather, we’re going to work up to lifting heavy) and really reap those benefits.
This series is open to everyone, but it’s especially geared to women over the age of 40. We also have a special shout-out to the 65+ crowd – Laurel and I have been wanting our moms to start lifting, so here’s your special invitation, Mom!
The workouts are free. You can find the entire series here on our TME fitness channel, along with additional workouts (some as quick as 7 minutes!), tips on proper form, and overall motivation. Subscribe to never miss a workout!
The downloadable guide makes the plan easier. For me, the hard part isn’t the workout itself, it’s knowing what I’m supposed to do today (without scrolling through a playlist trying to remember where I left off). That’s exactly what the Beginner Weightlifting For Women Over 40: A Four-Week Guide is for. It’s basically the whole program on a page that’s easily view on your phone. All four weeks are laid out day-by-day, and every assigned exercise is actually clickable (so when you see “Reverse Frog” and think what the heck is that, you tap it and Laurel pops up demonstrating the move). The guide also includes some guidance (and our favorite recipes!!) for what to eat before and after lifting, ideas for active recovery days, and links to the exact equipment Laurel recommends.
Get the four-week guide → HERE
Want To Join Us? Here’s What You Need For Our Beginner Weightlifting Series (& Some Getting Started Tips From Our Coach)
Weightlifting For Women in Their 40’s: An FAQ
While Laurel goes into more detail in the video, we asked her to pull together a quick little FAQ to get everyone going. (Or, basically, we asked her to answer any questions that we know our moms, specifically, have been asking, haha.)
You’re never too old to start lifting weights – muscle knows no age! Muscle doesn’t know if you are 20, 40, or 70 years old. It just knows whether it is active or not. You can build muscle at any age, you’re never too old to feel and look great!
To start lifting weights at home, you will need:
Dumbbells, multiple weights – this is the full set I use – it’s pretty, haha – you can also get weights and a stand separately
Resistance bands – I use these
An exercise bench – this is mine, but you can also use a chair and your floor
You’ll have to test a few weights to find one that is manageable for you, yet challenging. If you don’t challenge your muscles enough to adapt and grow, you won’t see results. On the other side of that coin, if you lift too heavy, you will lose your form and risk injury. In this first series, we are sticking to 10 reps for everything. If you can perform all reps with ease, then your weight is too light.
You’ll know you have hit the right weight when your muscles are burning and fatiguing–when the last 2-3 reps are almost impossible to finish, that’s the sweet spot. For most people, I suggest testing first with an 8 lb weight and then going up or down from there.
I recommend at least two times per week, at a minimum! This program, however, is really geared to weightlifting four times a week. Pay attention to how your body is reacting to your workouts each day. If you need a break, take one. If you are too sore, wait a day or two. You’ll figure out what works best for you as you go; and make sure you are getting in those active rest days too.
You could get the job done in 30 to 40 minutes, but I think it’s also common to work out for an hour, especially if you’re doing a thorough warm-up and an appropriate cool-down.
When you can get through all of your reps without struggling at the end (or if you could do at least 2 more reps), then it’s time to move up in weight.
If the weight jump is too dramatic (based on the weights you own), you can also increase your reps. For example, we are starting with 10 reps. If that becomes easier for you, move up to 12-15 reps per exercise.
Waiting for results and trying to stay motivated is probably the hardest part. Results will come as long as you are consistent, I promise you that, but they will not happen overnight. Everyone is different and results will depend on many factors. It honestly could take up to 6 months to see our bodies physically changing and sculpting. Focus on how you feel and how strong you are becoming! Happily, these results will happen much quicker, more often, and will keep you motivated to keep lifting those weights. Then, before you know it, you’ll look in the mirror and see those physical results you’ve been waiting for.
Your form and your technique are very important. If your body isn’t in the correct alignment and you’re not doing the exercises properly, you could injure something. If you are trying to lift a weight that is too heavy for you, you will start to sacrifice your form, pulling in other muscles to try to finish your exercise, therefore resulting in possible injury. Another way to injure yourself is by not fully warming up or not cooling down. Also, if you need to wear an ankle brace, a knee brace, wrist brace, etc., then wear it!
It’s important to wear a flat shoe for proper alignment when learning (even Converse works), but you can also just wear your socks or go barefoot (as long as you’re not worried about dropping a weight on your foot!). That said, some people are more comfortable in a weight-lifting shoe. Nobull’s Outwork is Shana’s favorite. It has a low drop to keep your form in good alignment, with enough stability and traction to support any plyometrics you might want to add in.
Yes, and you should! Your body needs a whole heck of a lot of energy to get you through heavy lifting workouts, so carb up, ladies. Carbs are energy, and if your body doesn’t have enough fuel, you won’t make it through the workout efficiently. Either you’ll quit because your body is too tired, or you won’t be able to actually lift as heavy as you can, sacrificing the results you want.
Smoothies are a great way of giving your body a lot of energy without feeling like you’re eating a ton of food. If you’re like me, and don’t like to eat a lot of food before working out, a smoothie is perfect. Load that smoothie with bananas and berries!!! You will feel amazing and have energy. Our favorite pre (and post!) workout smoothie recipes can be found in the guide.
Ready To Start?
Grab the Beginner Weightlifting For Women Over 40: Four-Week Guide, pick a start day, and come lift with us. All the workouts are free on YouTube; the guide just makes it easy to follow.
Already finished the four weeks? Stronger Series II is the next step up. And you can find everything – videos, guides, recaps – on our Weightlifting for Women Over 40 hub.
What other questions do you have about beginner weightlifting? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll be sure to answer them in our soon-to-come workout sessions together!
Xo,
S & Laurel
Oh hey, pinners…
You read my mind! I was just thinking that I need to start lifting. Am I right in understanding that we need to get a bench for these lessons? Can we do it without one? Thanks!
Hi! You can get an adjustable bench for around $60 on Amazon if you’d like but you don’t need one. When we do certain exercises that have you sitting on the bench you can sit in a sturdy chair. When we do chest presses you could lie on the ground. When we do step-ups you could use an actual step, a sturdy coffee table, bench, or chair. During Bulgarians again a chair, coffee table, couch. The glute-focused exercises I have you do in the 4th week are hanging your lower half off of the bench. You can again do these exercises with another piece of furniture if you have it or you could also do these exercises lying on your stomach on the floor. Do what works best for you 🙂
Thank you!
What kind of schedule do you recommend if adding lifting to an existing exercise regimen that I don’t want to replace? I figure skate 2-3x a week which is a good leg and cardio workout but not so much upper body. I LOVE it and definitely have no plans to stop or cut back, but I’d like to lose some of that stubborn stomach fat from Covid days. The recommended schedule seems like way too much though in combination with skating or another commitment — I’d either be doubling up to 2-3 hours of exercise on “on” days or not having any rest days if I alternated. Shana, wondering how you plan to incorporate this with your running schedule?
I dance/teach dance 3 days a week which is cardio-heavy and leg-heavy. I put my upper-body workouts on my dancing days and my lower-body workouts on my off-dancing days. So 2 of your 3 Figure Skating days would have upper body training(workouts are about 30 minutes) and your two off Figure Skating days for lower, allowing for 2 rest days. It’s important to get those lower-body workouts in even if you do other lower-body activities like skating or dancing. I talk about this a little bit in the series. When we work our lower body our strongest muscles do all the work, for me it’s my quads. Our glutes are lazy and will always let our stronger muscles do all the work. So having a couple of muscle group-focused workouts is very beneficial, especially in strengthening our glutes. Weak glutes can lead to a lot of issues. Hope this helps!
So happy to see this post!! I couldn’t agree more! I started lifting consistently in my 40s (now 49) and I have good sleep, no weight gain, and I feel more fit than I did when I was 30.
Woohoo!!
Yes I am excited to join! This was my New Year’s resolution that I have failed to research, so I will be jumping in and following along. Question is: specific equipment that we need?
Dumbbells ranging from 10-30lbs, Resistance Bands, and a workout bench if it works for your lifestyle. All these items can be found on Amazon and places like Target.
Yaaaaas! Figuring out how to start lifting is literally on the my to-do list, and the weight section at my local store looked overwhelming when I stopped by last weekend. The timing on this could not be better. Thank you!
Also, a question: if I’m already working out more cardiovascularly (like, say, rowing machine or running 3x/week), how do I incorporate this regimen with what I’m already doing? Thanks!
I would add your rowing or running to your upper-body days. If you do long runs and are tired when done then I would start with the upper body workout first and then go for your run. Or if you can split them up in the day(lifting in the morning and running in the afternoon/ evening for example). If you are using the row machine I would do it after the lifting workout as a finisher.
Love the idea of this series! The number one tip I received from women who gave already gone through menopause is to lift to build those muscles. I turn 40 at the end of year. I have a 3 year old and my company is finally implementing return to the office 3x per week starting on April. Needless to say my free time is almost non-existent. I’d love some tips on how to incorporate weight training in a way that is easy to incorporate into a busy life.
Yes, having young kids and a busy business makes it tough to workout! I suggest putting your workouts in your schedule just like you would do for a work meeting meeting. Making it the same day, at the same time helps. I used to workout with my daughter with she was 2-4 years old. It was fun for us! Right now it may seem impossible to fit in but once you start and make it a habit it will fit into your life.
So excited about this!!
we are too!
Hi! You can get an adjustable bench for around $60 on Amazon if you’d like but you don’t need one. When we do certain exercises that have you sitting on the bench you can sit in a sturdy chair. When we do chest presses you could lie on the ground. When we do step ups you could use a step, a sturdy coffee table, bench or chair. During Bulgarians again a chair, coffee table, couch. The Glute focused exercises I’ll you do in the 4th week are hanging your lower half off of the bench. You can again do these exercises with another piece of furniture if you have it or you could also do these exercises lying on your stomach on the floor. Do what works best for you 🙂
Love this! I’m 47 and started lifting weights during the pandemic when I found I had no motivation for cardio. Really excited for workout videos to follow along to- I find I am less motivated to push myself unless I’m following along to a video or class. Thank you for all the great content.
Thank you for this comprehensive reply! I have the opposite problem lol, glutes are strong in skaters from all the stroking/spirals/camel spins, but my quads are weak, especially on the less-used side. And core of course can never be too strong!
This is right on time. I just tried on multiple pairs of pants for Easter and nothing fits. It’s like I hit 45 and my metabolism went to shit. There is belly fat that was not there 9 months ago. My diet hasn’t changed. My 10K steps per day haven’t changed but now? Something has to change. I’m signing up.
Sadly, as we age (right around mid-40s in fact) we need fewer calories every year! So if we eat consistently, we gain weight. It sucks!