Hey and welcome back to the fit me Turo fitness Podcast. I'm Turo Virta, and today we are diving into one of the most common questions I get from my female clients over 40, and that question is, do I need to train differently now? And the answer is yes, but not because your body is broken. It's because your body is evolving. Hormones are shifting, and your training and nutrition should evolve with it, not against it. So if you have been working out, eating less maybe even doing more cardio than ever. But for you, we are going to talk about how strength recovery and the right strategies can help you get stronger, leaner and feel amazing in your 40s and beyond without spending hours in the gym. So let's talk first about that, what actually changes after you are 40. So what is really happening as women move into their 40s and 5050s, perimenopause and menopause begin to shift hormone levels, especially estrogen and progesterone. So because those those hormones, they are affecting where you are storing fat, and in this age, it's often due to those hormonal changes. It's more around the belly. So the Peli menopause, it's a real thing and but it doesn't mean even your you are storing fat around biliary. Is the place where you maybe Earlier you used to gain fat around your in your legs or arms or somewhere, and now do those hormonal changes. It's for many women aids around their belly area, and those hormones affect also that how your body builds and maintains muscle, how well you sleep and recover your mood, energy and motivation. And you might also notice that what have worked in your 30s doesn't work anymore, and that's not you doing something wrong. It says the biology. So here is something, what most people don't talk about. On average, women gain between 0.5 to 1.5 kilograms of fat per year during perimenopause and menopause pause. So that means five to 10 kilo over a decade, if nothing changes so. And this is very common what I when I talk with the women, they say that there is something wrong with me. And of now, when you look at social media, this perimenopause menopause audience has become a great marketing tool, and as So, many people are selling for their fears for scarcity. What is happening and it's becoming there is all kind of supplements, all kind of magic bullets or magic solutions. What are promising you, quick results, resolving everything and honest through this, that even temperature might be small help with those things, but they are like, really minimal. It's like a drop in the ocean if you don't have these principles, these kind of cornerstones, what we are going to talk it doesn't take those small things, supplements, they make maybe 1% make the huge impact and everything out but, and the Good news is with this that it's not, it's not it's not a disaster. It's not the it is a situation you can't affect, because you have to always think that what things are under your control. So even we want or not, we are going to age, we are going to those hormones are going to shift, and there is nothing you can do, but you can absolutely control many things and take back that control. It just requires a smarter, more supportive approach to fitness. So then I wanted to talk what is, what are the four most important training shifts after 40. So let's break down what needs to change and why. So number one is always prioritize strength training and take this seriously. So muscle is your Metabolic engine, so it helps burn fat, regulate blood sugar, support joints, and it's the single best thing you can build after 40. It also protects bone density, which naturally declines after age 35 so women can lose up to 20% of bone mass in this five to seven years after menopause, increasing the risk of fractures so but the resistance training, it tells your body, hey, we still need strong bones. So it's always if you think that if you would talk to your body like you would talk to your friend or something. And often this is like that, what your actions are telling to your body. If you really think it deep, what is what you are telling with strength training, you want to say that, okay, I your body. If you don't see your body, your body doesn't know what you you have your VCs to feel energized to have to be able to wear a bikini. But if you your axes are a lot not aligned with those things. Your how your your body can't know. So you, you must send those signals also to your body. So here are a couple examples of effective strength strength exercises. So strength training is some form of resistance training, because many women believe it like, of course, it's, it's for me as a fitness if you are some fitness enthusiasm, you probably know. But there are still women who are thinking that, okay, I go biking. I go hiding, I use my legs. But that is not really like strength training. Strength training, what is definition of strength training? Is something that you are repeating. You are doing something what is so hard to do that you can't imagine to do, let's say not more than two repetitions. So it would mean that if you are cycling, you would need to cycle, use or hike as long as that, when you take the last step that you are so exhausted that you would say that two more steps I could barely not make anymore, that I'm now on my limit. And this is that's why it's definition. It's a it's a cardio exercises. So strength training is something where you are using some form of resistance. It could be dumbbells, it could be resistance bands, it could be your body weight only. And effective exercises are like thinking like a squats. You could do them with the with the dumbbells, barbell or body weight, deadlifts, push ups or bench presses, rowing exercises or pull downs, if some are able to do most women over 40, maybe with some assistance, but regular pull ups, very, very challenging exercise, lunges, overhead presses, and the theme is that you don't need a fancy gym setup. So most of my clients, actually, at this age, they are busy. They want to work out from home, and a pair of adjustable dumbbells is more than enough, or even some resistance bands, and as I mentioned, also body weight. The problem with the body weight is just that it's even it's in the beginning, it's more than enough, but at some point, exercise selection you it's becoming, at least for me, boring to do all only body weight exercises, because you have to when you are getting stronger, it becomes always challenging to find exercises that you can do only with your body weight. So in this pair of adjustable numbers where you can adjust the weight, especially with the women, is that they have their pair of dumbbells two kilodumbles Maybe one kilo RAM del dumbbells and they are using the same weights with each exercise and think that if you, if you are most likely you have a bigger muscles like your lick muscles, clothes, and a smaller muscle slighter should. shoulders and if you are using same. Aggressive overload, which means that you are going close to failure, close so you might feel it, but it's not the most optimal way and and just if you are focusing on compound movements. So compound movements are are movements that target multiple muscle groups within one exercise. And examples for those exercises are squats, deadlifts, bench press or roll movements, lunges. So those what I mentioned, overhead presses. So all kind of those, those kind of exercises, they are, they might they are not fancy YouTube workouts, what you are seeing, but they are kind of basic things. What are the best? And it's, it's one of the other most common mistakes. The which is out there is that I don't want to get cheap bulky, and, no, she won't bulk up by accident. So that takes years of specific training and eating, because there are so many women who are trying to back up Vita with purpose, and they are not able to, because it's so hard. You have to specific. You need to have really specific, really focusing on that to be able to do it. And most of the people, you don't need that, and it won't happen by accident. And what I love to say to my clients who are worried about it, I say to take pictures from yourself, like everybody should do to because you might if you are not taking pictures or follow your progress, if the scale is the only way to follow your progress, most likely you will feel frustrated, because scale often is not moving as quickly as you would like. And if you don't have any other ways to measure your progress, it's gonna be either workouts. You are tracking your workouts. You see how strong, much stronger you are getting. You take maybe circumferences, you take pictures, and from pictures you are seeing that what is actually happening. And if at some point in pixel a mural, you see some body builder what you don't like, she can always access to your workouts, access to your eating, and it won't happen losing muscle. It you can, you can lose muscle relatively quickly, so you don't need to worry about bulking up. And for most people, is two to three full body sessions is enough to see serious results. And then a second point is that don't rely on cardio to lose fat, and that is one of the biggest mistakes. Because what I what I hear that those are things, what worked in your 30s, in your 20s, you know, you just went for a run. You wanted to lose fat. You have probably heard that you need to burn more calories than you consume to lose fat, which is kind of true, but in this age, it's and because cardio has its place, it's Great for heart health and stress relief, but relying solely on running or cycling to lose fat can backfire. So because, yes, it burns calories, but it also increases your cortisol, and that doesn't help build muscle or support bone health. So because too much cardio, too little food is going to cause muscle loss and slower metabolism. Instead, use cardio as a supplement to strength training, not replacement brisk walks, biking, dancing or short heat sessions like interval training couple times a week are great, but don't sacrifice strength work for more cardio. And that is that is also like a voice, what is happening if you are. If you are, it's, like I said, cardio. It spikes cortisone. So it increases your hunger, it breaks down your muscle tissues, if you are overdoing it. So it's, it's and plus, it increases your stress hormones. So that is, that is you are going into circle or cycle, whatever you are repeating, you increase your stress levels with the hard workouts, and that causes increasing stress hormone, leading to that stories, that storage, increasing, probably decreasing your sleep. It's most likely you are suffering anyways, recovery is going to suffer, and that is kind of cycle where you don't want to be at this time. So this is, this is most women. This is cardio, overdoing cardio, or only cardio, it's huge mistake. And third point, what I always already kind of mentioned little bit, is to train for recovery, not just burnout. So in your 20s, you could maybe get away with the poor sleep, high high stress and random workouts. But in your 40s and 50s, recovery becomes a performance tool. If your workouts are leaving you exhausted for days, something is off. So here is what is actually helping try to have at least one full rest day per week. And it doesn't mean rest day. Doesn't mean that you can't move at all, that you have to lay in your couch. Recover. The most effective recovery is actually active, being active and active. By being active, I mean some gentle walks, going to the gym or using weights, doing some couple body weight exercises, doing some mobility exercises, which are not adding stress to your body, which are actually helping to release stress, and this is the most beneficial way to recover, actually faster in my 20s, I used to believe that when I had a rest day, it means that I'm not moving, I'm not getting up from couch and laying whole Sunday on couch, and that was a rest day for me. But it's actually not true, and most effective rest days are rest days where you are still somehow active but not exhausted. Other thing, what is actually helping is focusing on seven to nine hours of quality sleep. This, I'm sure you know about it. You have heard about it, and it might be challenging to get that already those perimenopause, menopause symptoms and sleep is usually something, but just trying to build a sleep routine where you are going to sleep almost same time or aiming for it's Not it's not about all or nothing mindset, but aiming to build the routine. Wind down, closing screens, maybe reading, maybe journaling if you have some stressful situations, because if you once you put your sorrows you want to do this away from your brain. Brain. You write it down. It helps you to sleep. Maybe tell you sleep faster, maybe sleep longer. You don't wake up thinking with thoughts middle of the night. So those are small things. What are actually helping and like I mentioned, walking or yoga, between tough workouts, breathing, work and breathing, there are a couple amazing things. What you can do because you can, of course, there is a lot of light that use meditate or something. I'm not that for some people. It works. For some people, not. I'm not the big fan of meditation, maybe because just I personally, I'm not able to do it and but what is actually purpose behind it, why it's working? If you think like that, how your Vegas? I'm not even sure how to pronounce it, Vegas nerve. It's your nervous system, anyways, and and how is the breathing works, what you actually need. Because for me, meditating, taking longer time for meditate, you could do the same build, kind of the same effect in your nervous system, just simple breathing exercises. And breathing exercises, like, if you think like that, how you are breathing, focusing, really on your breathing. And because, if you you are, if you are in a situation that you would need more kind of action, like a kind of boost for your energy. What increases that is actually breathing in so if you focus on on, like taking your breathing for longer, it increases your heart rate you are you become more focused and in the same at the same same time, if you want to win down, then you should fall. Focus on breathing out. That is what affects when you are so taking, for example, 25 breaths in. If your goal is to win down, get faster recovery. You take 25 to 30 breaths like through your nose. And if you are able to use it pretty into your belly and just through your nose, maybe three seconds quickly, still try to feel your belly area with air and then release it through your mouth as slow as you can and repeat 25 to 30 press, and you will see immediately how it's actually calming you. And it might not work very first time, like everything, you might need some practice, but you will start to realize and see that it actually helps. So this is just for nervous system. What is actually helping, other than what I already mentioned, journaling, writing down your Turo's, your emotions. It could be you would take your phone, old fashioned pen and paper system, taking a sauna or anything that lowers stress for me, my person. The best way, what I love to use for myself is going for a walk without phone, without any distraction, with my wife. That is my exercise, the best exercise what works for me, for my mental health, or having some low impact cardio workout where I'm either alone or with my wife without any that's kind of time for me, also for our relationship, where I'm fully present. I don't have any distractions. I don't think work is I don't think anything else. So these are just examples what work and maybe something, you get some ideas, get some try how things are working for you individually, because your body builds strength while you recover, not just during the workout. And then last, but not least, is to eat to support muscle, not starve that. So if you are lifting weights but not fueling properly, your results will plateau. And one of the biggest mistakes I see, I would say that 80, I think even over 90% of women over 40 who are starting to work with me, they are lacking with their protein. So protein is basically after 40 so because if you are not sure, make sure. Try to aim for if you're not sure how much protein you actually need, is what science is telling is and what is proven with the many, many, many researches, is aiming for 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So I like to keep this very simple and aiming for, for example, two grams. If you have it depends, of course, on your body weight. If you have a lot of weight, maybe take that lower range, or could way to think that what would be your ideal weight, where you would like to be, and that multiply that with you. It's very simple thing that if you wait now, for example, you wait 80 kilos you would like to be 70. Aiming for 140 grams is a great target. If you can't get there right away, don't worry about it. This is all about getting step by step, and the first step is always to become aware how much protein you are actually eating right now. Because many women who I start with, they are telling me that I eat high protein diet. I aim to eat a lot of protein, but they have no idea how much they are actually eating. And if you think that the examples like, I have my breakfast, I eat one egg, and that is my protein source, that is seven grams of protein. So you might think that you know protein sources, but you don't know exactly how much protein you are eating. Take a tracking app or write it down you find nowadays there is a chat, CPT, Google, if you are not sure, write it down how much you are actually eating at the moment, and then aim for sustainable improvements. So if you are like many women who I start working with, they get 4050, grams protein per day, and that is if you tell that your your goal should be 141st question is that? How the hell I should get there? So the goal is not to improve at overnight from going from 40 grams of protein per day to 141st step would be to aim for 60, maybe 70, and then with the time maybe aiming for 100 grams, 120 140 finding learning new ways to think like, what will be like, just ways of thinking for each meal, that what is going to be my protein source, where I could what kind of habits I could build that to hit my goal at least most of the days. And once you have those habits, ways of thinking, everything becomes easier, so it's not impossible. So good ways is not to have that your protein, or only with the one meal or two meals. And the most effective way is to spread it across all the meals, especially breakfast, breakfast earlier on today, protein. There are so many research that supports that if you, like most people, don't get enough protein during their breakfast, and that leads them cravings during today. And once you fix that, you start to actually feel that you are feeling fuller throughout the day, and that helps to maintain and build lean muscle, manage cravings and keep your metabolism, metabolism going. So and please don't under it, because you might think that eating 1200 calories is the answer, but often that's part of the problem. So reverse dieting or gradually increasing your calories might actually help you to feel and help to lose fat again, and there are so many, but this is not the topic for this episode. This episode was more about training part, and of course, nutrition supports what you are actually telling to your body what because if you just do training, you work out on cardio, you broke out on strength, but at the same time, you send right signals to your body with strength training. But if there is missing those building tools like protein or enough calories, even using the right signals that one part is missing, where you are actually supporting with your actions, with your nutrition, what you are actually trying to tell. So don't underestimate power of what you are trying to tell to your body, because if you think that your body, you might think that you are doing everything correctly, but those signals, what you are telling to your body, they have to align with the going to do. So here are just a couple thoughts, final thoughts, so why? So Should women train differently after 40 Yes, but not by doing less, by doing smarter and prioritize strength training two to three times a week is more than enough for most people. Support your bones and muscles with protein and recovery and don't scale. Don't chase the scale Chase, the strength, energy and consistency, because those are, by far the most common struggles, is that you have that number on the scale in your mind, and you are aiming for some number who, wherever that comes from. It might be coming from your 20s, from your 30s, or the time when you were fitting into that dress, what you still might have in your closet, and you did, once I reach that number on the scale, I will fix it. I was able to fit into that dress. But trust me, that is not going to if you it's relatively easy. I would say, even to get that number like it might take some time. But I had, I have worked with so many people that who are doing okay, you we are getting you into that scale number, but then once you hit that number, it's not the feeling, it's not the same. So it might be, is it? Is it? You have to be ready to ask questions. What is actually more important chasing that number? Because question, what I love to ask is that, if you can choose only one, you are feeling great, you chase to say you have the same feeling you felt before, but your scale shows a bit higher number than you would like, or you could get the number on the scale, but everything else, your energy levels, Your mood, everything else, wouldn't change. This is a question where most people, or almost all people, are saying that, and actually you are chasing for that feeling, not only that number on the scale, but it's just in your mind that you are chasing you need that number on the scale. And other thing is that don't try to copy what worked for you in your 20s. Don't think that in your 20s you were able to do this, no carb diet or low calorie dieted work you have you were able to lose some weight. That doesn't work anymore. You are in a new season, and that's a good thing. I have seen women in their 40s, 50s and 60s build stronger, leaner, more confident bodies than ever before, because they finally stopped dieting and started training with intention. And one of the biggest mindset shifts have been that instead of chasing the scale, you are change strength, energy and consistency. And when you focus on getting stronger, that means being able to add weight, add repetitions, tracking maybe your energy levels, tracking your consistency, because what you are tracking, you put focus on and if this episode gave you clarity or motivation, it would mean the world if you could leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify. And if you are not sure where to start with your training on nutrition, message me on Instagram at personal trainer Turo, or check out my coaching options at personalteiner turo.com I would love to help thanks for listening and gets you the next time.