Why HIIT Doesn't Work for Women Over 40 to Lose Weight

What do women over 40 need to do to lose weight?

Building Muscle Mass
The best exercise for building muscle mass is undoubtably weight lifting. Having a program that is dedicated to lifting heavy is going to help anyone gain muscle mass. This is important because as we age, our muscle mass decreases by 8% every decade after age 30. Our bones need muscle to ensure that they retain mineral density well into our twilight years to avoid pain, injuries, and diminished movement. Our personal trainers can help build a program that will offset some of the loss in muscle mass you've encountered if you've never worked out before.

Since women over 40 generally have high-stress lives, low to moderate exercise programs are best to offset the cortisol level spikes we encounter. When we slow down our exercise routines, we have more time to rebuild muscle fibres and lose weight if that's something we're struggling with. Encouraging more rest days for hardcore gym-goers is also going to be a change that may come as a surprise to women who've hit the gym more than 5x a week regularly throughout their adult lives. Our bodies have different requirements now and it's time to listen!

Why HIIT no Longer Works to Lose Weight over 40
Because mature women already have high stress levels due to demanding careers and family obligations, high intensity interval training (HIIT) increases cortisol which can trigger weight loss resistance. If your body feels like its under attack 24/7, it will create leptin resistance which leads to cravings, insulin resistance which makes it harder to lose weight, and thyroid disregulation which leads to a slower metabolism. 

Perimenopausal women will experience higher hunger signals, lower basal metabolic rates, irregular estrogen and abdominal obesity. HIIT can create an environment where weight loss is impossible for many women. Inevitably, women will decrease their calorie intake in an effort to lose weight, but that does not help to effectively lose weight or keep it off.

If you've had a sedentary lifestyle the majority of your life, jumping straight into HIIT is going to agggravate the situation until you build up your baseline of fitness and increase the intensity over time. Combine that lack of fitness conditioning with increased hunger levels, slower metabolism, higher stress, low energy, lack of sleep, and we're now going to start developing lifestyle diseases that never impacted us before.

You Can Still Do HIIT if You Already Have a Consistent Fitness Routine

While some women can still benefit from high intensity workouts especially if they are training for athletic conditioning and explosive power, for many women who have never worked out before, this is one way to increase the risk of injuries from high impact exercises. If you are overweight, the joint pain is exacerbated and could cause you to stop exercising if you get hurt.

You can see benefits from HIIT workouts because they are compact, time saving, increase your oxygen consumption and lung capacity, and you can rapidly lose weight especially if you are in your 20's and 30's. This type of workout has a place in your routine but only once or twice a week. If you stop doing these workouts, the weight will come back. That's why a holistic approach to bodyweight and resistance training alongside HIIT is recommended.

Low to Moderate Workouts are Best for Perimenopause
Yoga, Barre, Pilates, and strength training workouts are best for mature women who are reaching perimenopause and post-menopause. These workouts are slow, controlled, and gentler on your joints. They will improve flexibility, muscle mass, and bone density. Steady state cardio workouts are also great for improving cardiovascular fitness and helping you lose weight. You only need 150 minutes of low to moderate exercise each week to reap the rewards. Walking, hiking, dancing, pickle ball, and light jogging are also examples of cardio if you are trying to lose weight in a more sustainable and non-stressful manner. Incorporate a variety of movements 3 - 4 times a week.

Eating a Diet of Fibre and Protein Rich Foods
Your nutrition also matters if you want to lose weight and keep it off. For women over 40, you need to incorporate more fibre and protein rich foods in your diet to help you build muscle mass. Women can't become bulky because they don't naturally produce enough testosterone to get huge quickly. Women bodybuilders spend years in the gym eating in a surplus and building their physiques. Normal gym goers will not be able to build bodies like that unless they change their eating and workout routines to the extreme. 

Adding green leafy vegetables, lean proteins like chicken, turkey, tofu, dairy, and legumes, and decreasing sugar intake can help regulate our hormones to help offset the imbalances. Speak to us about our fat loss nutrition plans that can move you in the right direction. 

Extreme Caloric Deficits Should be Avoided

You're not going to want to hear this but if you're the type of person who's been in a huge caloric deficit for months or years because that's what worked in your 20's and 30's, we're going to reverse diet you back up to maintenance calories to rebuild your metabolism. Restrictive diets are not meant to be sustained for long periods of time. They are damaging to your metabolism and overall health. An average adult woman requires anywhere from 1800 to 2400 calories a day just to be in maintenance. 

You need calories to build muscle. Your body will seek homeostasis and weight loss plateaus will become more commonplace if you continue to restrict calories long-term. We get so many people through our doors attempting to live off 1200 calorie intakes (which is the amount a 5 year old needs to live). This old internet myth about extreme caloric deficits is making the problem of weight loss resistance worse when our hormones are also out of whack.

Yes, initially you will lose water weight from slashing your calories to extreme levels. However, your body will think it's in starvation mode and resist losing weight because it thinks food is scarce. Let's stop with the fad diets and eat the right foods in the right proportions to achieve our goals.

Hormone Therapy can Offset the Negative Side Effects
There are many options for women who are experiencing hormonal fluctuations in their 40's and 50's. Hormone replacement therapy is a great tool get get a sense of control back and decrease the side effects of perimenopause. You don't need to suffer in silence. Ask your doctor for supplements and recommendations to help you with deficiencies. Since women are undergoing both physical and physiological changes during this time, it's important to seek the help of your gynecologist or menopause specialist to tackle some of the issues that you will be dealing with. 

If you are over 40 and experiencing unwanted weight gain, we can help

If you were someone who spent their entire lives being a normal weight, but suddenly have experienced weight gain for apparently no reason, we can help. Your body is undergoing changes and our expert coaches can help design a program that will kick start your metabolism. We have nutrition plans that can help you reduce body fat in a short amount of time which will motivate you to keep building new habits. Incorporating exercise into your routine is beneficial in improving your mood, sleep, sex drive, and energy levels. The longer you wait to act, the worse the problems become. How long can you afford to keep putting this off?

Our programs for women over 40 are going to be more focused on effective weight training, mobility, and flexibility so that you have less to worry about when it comes to losing weight. Starting a new weight loss program is stressful but it doesn't have to be when you are working with the professionals. Please call 1-825-945-7733 or fill out the online contact form.