Exercise for Women Over 40: A Guide to Effective Workouts and Lifelong Fitness

Exercise for women over 40 is essential for maintaining vitality, managing the inevitable changes of aging, and building lasting strength. This guide offers practical workouts and personalized fitness tips designed to empower you throughout your 40s—and beyond.

Hitting your 40s is a major milestone, and while some people celebrate reaching their 40s, others dread it. Regardless of how you feel about being in your 40s, there is one thing that’s hard to argue with – exercise is a must.

Unfortunately, a lot of fitness advice is provided by and aimed at younger people. While that doesn’t make it invalid, it is often unsuitable for older exercisers. After all, you know only too well how your body has changed since you were in your 20s.

Those changes mean that workouts that were fun, safe, and effective a decade or two ago may be inappropriate today.

That doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up your sneakers and cancel your gym membership. In fact, exercise is more important now than when you were younger. Rather, you need to modify your workouts to reflect the needs of a woman in her 40s.

In this article we discuss the importance of exercise for women in their 40s, provide solutions to the most common exercise barriers, and reveal the best workout for staying in shape in your 40s and beyond.

Why Exercise Is So Important for Women Over 40

Reaching your 40s tends to come with some very noticeable changes to how your body looks, feels, and functions. It even affects your mind. However, while aging is inevitable, you have a lot of control over how impactful those changes are.

Exercise is one of your most powerful weapons in the war against aging and can help you delay or avoid many of the unwanted changes associated with getting older.

So, how does exercise help you age more gracefully? Let’s take a look!

1| Avoid Middle-Age Weight Gain

Many people gain weight in their 40s. There are several reasons for this including less general physical activity, access to more luxurious foods, drinking more alcohol, muscle loss, a slower metabolism, and doing less exercise.

This phenomenon is so common that it has a name: middle age spread.

Exercise can help prevent weight gain in your 40s by reversing things like muscle loss and metabolic slowdown while burning the energy you are no longer using, for instance, to chase after your young children.

2| Lower Your Riske of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a medical condition characterized by weak, porous bones that are prone to fracture. It affects both genders, but it’s more common in women. That’s because women’s bones are naturally less dense than most men’s, and bone loss is exacerbated by menopause.

The good news is that weight-bearing exercise can have a profound effect on the strength and density of your bones. You’ll still lose bone mass as you age, but the right kind of exercise will ensure that that loss is minimal.

3| Preserve your Functional Fitness and Strength

Your body operates on a use-it-or-lose-it system. The less physical activity you do, the less you’ll be able to do. Fitness and strength also decline with age, which is why older people are often less physically able than their younger counterparts.

Exercise creates a “fitness surplus” so that you can better afford the loss that comes with aging. Think of your workouts as an investment for the future. The fitter you are today, the more likely you are to be in good shape in 10, 20, or 30 years from now.

4| Manage Menopause Symptoms

Menopause occurs when your body stops producing estrogen, which is the primary female sex hormone. This brings a range of physical and emotional changes, including hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain, and a higher risk of osteoporosis and heart disease. These symptoms can be distressing, but exercise offers a natural way to manage them.

Regular exercise helps regulate hormones, improves your mood, and reduces stress. Strength training and weight-bearing exercises slow bone loss, while cardiovascular workouts support heart health and reduce the severity of hot flashes.

Exercise also helps prevent the muscle loss and metabolic slowdown that often contribute to weight gain during menopause. By staying active, you can ease the transition from pre- to peri to post-menopause and maintain your overall well-being.

5| Reduced Risk of Developing Age-Related Health Problems

Getting older increases the risk of developing numerous medical problems. Regular exercise can help reduce your risk so you can enjoy a longer, healthier life. Diseases that are more prevalent in your 40s and beyond that can be helped or even prevented by exercise include:

• Breast cancer risk (through weight management and hormone regulation) 
• Cardiovascular disease (including high blood pressure and high cholesterol) 
• Chronic pain (including back pain and fibromyalgia) 
• Cognitive decline (including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease) 
• Depression and anxiety 
• Insomnia and sleep disturbances 
• Metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions like high blood sugar and excess abdominal fat) 
• Obesity and weight gain 
• Osteoarthritis and joint pain 
• Osteoporosis and bone density loss 
• Pelvic floor dysfunction (including urinary incontinence) 
• Sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) 
• Type 2 diabetes 

In summary, exercise is “big medicine” and will have a significant and lasting benefit on your health, appearance, and quality of life. Time spent working out is time well spent!

How to Overcome These 6 Barriers to Exercise When in your 40s

By now it should be clear that exercise is extremely important for women in their 40s. From warding off the dreaded middle-age spread to helping you manage the symptoms of menopause to improving mental and physical health, exercise does it all.

However, working out also requires time, energy, and resources, which may be in short supply. Such barriers can be enough to prevent you from exercising regularly.

The good news is that many of the barriers to exercise can be overcome with some planning and lateral thinking.

1| You’re Short on Time

Contrary to what many people think, you don’t have to work out for hours at a time to enjoy the benefits of exercise. In fact, even a couple of 5 to 15-minute “exercise snacks” per day can help improve your fitness and health.

Ultimately, any exercise is better than no exercise, and if you only have time for a few 20 to 30-minute sessions a week, then that’s what you should do.

2| You’re Low on Energy

Starting a new exercise routine can be tiring, and that’s especially true if you are low on energy before you begin. However, provided you follow a program that isn’t too demanding, your workouts should actually increase your energy levels, so you end your session feeling better than when you began.

In addition, being fit and strong will make physically demanding tasks less tiring, further increasing your energy levels. Regular exercise is also an effective sleep aid, so you’ll wake each morning feeling ready to go instead of dreading the day ahead.

3| You Don’t Live Near A Gym

You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to get an effective workout. Your muscles cannot tell the difference between pulling or pushing against your body weight or using a state-of-the-art gym machine. Provided you exercise regularly and with sufficient intensity, your body will adapt, and your fitness will improve.

So, no gym? No problem!

All you need is some outdoor space to walk or run and a place to do bodyweight or resistance band exercises and you are good to go. Think of any other equipment as nice to have rather than essential.

4|You Are Too Unfit to Exercise

A lot of prospective exercisers think they are not fit enough to start working out. However, even the fittest athlete started as an unfit beginner, so being a novice should not put you off.

The key to starting exercise as a beginner is not doing too much too soon. Beginners tend to adapt to exercise very quickly, so it won’t be long before you can increase the intensity and duration of your workouts. However, starting slow and easy allows you to build momentum as your body gets used to the new demands of working out.

5| You Have Pre-Existing Medical Concerns

Many medical conditions improve with exercise. Working out strengthens your heart and lungs, can lower your blood pressure, improve joint health, and balance your hormones.

That said, if you have a pre-existing medical condition, you should speak to your doctor before starting a new workout program to determine if it is compatible with your medical history.

In most cases, your doctor will be happy to hear you are embarking on a fitness journey. However, in some cases, they may want you to modify your program to avoid complications.

6| You’re Not Sure Where to Start

The internet is a wonderful thing and there is a wealth of fitness and nutrition information for you to explore. However, access to so much information can cause a lot of confusion, leaving you unsure of how to start.

The best way to avoid information overload is to find a single reputable source and stick with it until you feel you’ve learned all you can before moving on. Seek out content that matches your needs and goals, and avoid fads and influencers who are more interested in posting pretty videos than sharing useful advice.

Finally, remember that the best exercise and diet methods are usually the simplest, and if something sounds too good to be true – lose 30 pounds in 30 days, for example – it probably is. 

Ultimately, if exercise is important to you, you CAN make it part of your lifestyle. Overcoming obstacles may require some creative thinking and planning, but as the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way! 

Types of Exercise Every Woman Over 40 Needs

You don’t need to follow the latest fitness trends or do complicated workouts to stay strong and healthy in your 40s. Rather, the best exercise routine is one that’s simple and sustainable.

Here are the essential types of exercise every woman in her 40s should include, and why they matter.

1| Cardio

Cardio is short for cardiovascular which relates to your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. While it has become popular to dismiss cardio as unnecessary, especially for weight loss, it’s arguably the most important form of exercise for women in their 40s and beyond.

Being cardiovascularly fit is intrinsically linked to better cardiovascular health. Given that cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of premature death, it makes no sense at all to dismiss cardio as a waste of time.

Based on recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, most adults should aim to do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio per week. This will help develop your fitness while lowering your risk of many life-threatening diseases.

Good cardio workouts include:

• Brisk walking
• Cycling
• Dancing
• Elliptical training
• Group exercise classes
• High-intensity interval training
• Jogging
• Rowing
• Running
• Swimming

2| Strength Training

Strength training is the antidote to many of the health and fitness issues faced by women in their 40s. It improves muscle function and tone, boosts your resting metabolism for easier weight management, and strengthens your bones. And, contrary to what you might think, it won’t give you big, masculine-looking muscles!

There are lots of ways to perform strength training, all of which are equally effective:

• Freeweights (dumbbells, barbells)
• Resistance machines (leg press, chest press, lat pulldown, etc.)
• Resistance bands
• Kettlebells
• Medicine balls
• Sandbags
• Calisthenics (bodyweight exercises such as lunges, squats, push-ups, etc.)

Regardless of which option(s) you choose, the aim of strength training is to overload your muscles, forcing them to adapt and get stronger in response to the demands of your workout.

You don’t need to follow a complicated, time-consuming program to enjoy the benefits of strength training; a couple of 30-45 full-body workouts per week are all that’s required, e.g.:

	Exercise	Sets	Reps
1	Air squat	2-3	15-20
2	Hip thrust	2-3	15-20
3	Kneeling push-up	2-3	10-12
4	Single-arm row	2-3	10-12 per arm
5	Resistance band side raise	2-3	10-12
6	Lunge	2-3	10-12 per leg
7	Plank	2-3	20-40 seconds

How hard should you work?

Provided the last 2-3 reps of each set feel challenging, you are doing enough to trigger the adaptations you want. Strive to do more reps or use more resistance over the coming weeks and months to maintain your progress.

3| Core Training

Core is the collective name for the muscles that make up your midsection. Like a wide belt, these muscles surround and support your spine. A strong core can help prevent lower back pain, improve your posture, and make many of the activities of daily living easier and safer.

The core is a relatively small group of muscles and doesn’t require a lot of time or energy to strengthen. As such, you can incorporate core exercises into your regular strength training program, combine them with your cardio workouts, or perform them separately as preferred.

Core exercises fall into two broad categories – dynamic and static. Dynamic core exercises involve movements of your spine and include things like crunches, weighted side bends, leg raises, and cable twists.

In contrast, static core exercises involve preventing movement and include exercises such as planks, side planks, dead bugs, and Pallof presses.

An effective core program should incorporate both types of exercise. As your core is just another muscle group, you should train it 2-3 times per week. More than that is unnecessary and won’t produce better results.

4| Flexibility and Mobility

Flexibility and mobility are different but closely related fitness components. Both tend to decrease with age, making you feel tight and stiff. Flexibility refers to the elasticity of your muscles, while mobility is the movement of your joints. Both can affect one another, which is why they’re usually grouped together.

Regular cardio and strength training will do a lot of your flexibility and mobility. But if you are already tight and immobile or spend a lot of time sitting, you should do exercises for your flexibility and mobility several times a week, if not every day.

Most flexibility and mobility exercises come from yoga, Pilates, and physical therapy. They involve flexing and extending your muscles and joints to preserve or improve your range of motion.

Examples include:

• Cat/cow pose
• Deep knee bends
• Hip hinges
• Waist twists
• Side bends
• Seated butterfly stretch
• Seated hamstring stretch
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch
• Doorway chest stretch

Even if you don’t do dedicated mobility and flexibility training, you should stretch and mobilize your major muscles and joints at the start and end of all your strength and cardio workouts.

5| Balance Training

Balance is your ability to keep your center of mass over your base of support. Like every other fitness component, balance decreases with age and lack of use. Lack of balance is one of the reasons that older people are so prone to falls.

The best way to improve and maintain your balance is to challenge it as part of your strength training workouts. Any standing exercise that uses one limb instead of two will improve your balance.

Good options include:

• Lunges
• Step-ups
• Rear foot elevated split squats
• Single-leg squats
• Stork presses (single arm/single leg overhead press)

Building your routine around these exercises will strengthen your muscles, improve bone density, and develop better balance in one, convenient workout.

If your balance is not as good as it should be, you can also work on it by doing things like standing on one leg while brushing your teeth, putting your shoes and socks on without sitting down, and using a stability ball, BOSU balance trainer, or wobble board.

As an added benefit, most balance exercises engage your core and glutes, making them doubly beneficial.

Sample Weekly Workout Plan for Women Over 40

Are you wondering how to fit all these different types of exercise into your week? Here’s a sample weekly plan to get you started. Feel free to modify it as necessary, and note that you can incorporate gym or home-based workouts into this routine.

• Monday – 30 minutes of cardio (e.g., jogging) plus 5-10 minutes of core training.

• Tuesday – Full-body strength training including single-leg exercises for balance.

• Wednesday – 30 minutes of cardio (e.g., cycling) plus 10-15 minutes of mobility and flexibility training.

• Thursday – 30 minutes of cardio (e.g., elliptical) plus 5-10 minutes of core training.

• Friday – Full-body strength training including single-leg exercises for balance.

• Saturday – 30 minutes of cardio plus 10-15 minutes of mobility and flexibility training.

• Sunday – Rest or 30-60 minutes of additional easy cardio, e.g., a walk with your family.

Get even more from your week of fitness by accumulating 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day in addition to your more structured workouts. This will increase your energy expenditure for easier weight control while improving many aspects of your mental and physical health.

Closing Thoughts

Exercise is good for everybody’s body – especially women in their 40s. Cardio, strength training, balance exercises, and core work will improve your fitness, protect your health, and improve your quality of life.

Yes, getting and staying fit requires time and energy, but the payoff is huge, and you’ll soon start to enjoy the benefits of regular exercise.

Just remember that getting fit is a marathon and not a sprint. Look for ways to make exercise part of your lifestyle for many years to come. The more consistent and sustainable your exercise routine is, the more effective and rewarding it will be.