The Midlife Routine: How to Incorporate Strength Training into Your Busy Schedule

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Is exercise in midlife really all that important?

Would you rather be doing just about anything other than exercising?

After all, the extra time and an open schedule can be challenging.

I get it.

The truth is, yes, exercise is important enough for you to prioritize. But not the exercise you are thinking of.

Getting older has loads of great benefits, but choosing not to include exercise and include daily movement in your schedule may set you up for health issues that are better avoided.

Exercise in midlife is necessary for longevity, health and will help you build strong muscles to maintain your independence as you age. 

And as added benefit doing the proper exercise gets your body in metabolism-boosting & fat-burning mode fast.

STRENGTH TRAINING FOR FAT LOSS

I have great news for you and some myths to bust. 

It's time to hang up those running shoes and retire from hours spent cycling. Those exercises have their time and place but are not your best option as a mature woman. 

Strength training is hands down the best and most efficient form of exercise to achieve your health and weight loss goals. 

As busy women, we all need to be strategic in our choices, so when I tell you exercise is necessary, I don't mean spending hours in the gym. What I do mean is spending time lifting heavy weights. 

The blessing of strength training, especially after the age of 50, is that you aren't required to do more to see results in muscle and bone building. In fact, you will be in your sweet spot when you limit your heavy lifting to only 2 days a week. 

You get the maximum bang for your buck when you work to overload your muscles and bring them to fatigue in a couple of workout sessions. 

So now you know you don't have to carve out tons of time to accomplish good in your body with exercising, but that still begs the question - how and when do I find time to exercise? My schedule is packed!

ROUTINES AND EXERCISE

Could you possibly think you don't have time because you don't understand how important exercise is to your health?

Are you struggling to prioritize yourself, causing you to believe you don't have time?

Creating new habits is hard, especially when you know it's something you "should" be doing. But if you shift your mindset from "I don't have enough time" to "I can find a way to make time." Or consider the thought that you have plenty of time. You may see moments in your schedule where you can fit in strength training. 

Choose to prioritize and care about those things that will help your health. Shift your priorities from not having time for exercise to making time for it.

Strength training allows you to feel good and strong and prevent osteoporosis and other diseases.

The encouraging thing is that incorporating strength training into your routine doesn't require a complete overhaul, and simply changing your mindset to prioritize your own health and commitment to regular exercise can have a positive impact.

"The point of exercise is to get better at life." Deborah Atkinson

DOES MORE EXERCISE = LESS BELLY FAT?

The short answer is no. 

I recommend allowing 72 hours of recovery between your strength training workouts. As we age, allowing proper time for recovery is vital for building muscle. Limit your workout to less than 45 minutes, including your warmup & cool-down time. For even more time-saving news, choose full-body workouts because they benefit your metabolism and muscle-building. You want to target your major muscle groups.

You might wonder what you will do the rest of your week if you only have to strength train twice. 

In the spirit of moving toward the goal of exercising consistently, the following essential exercise you want to prioritize is daily movement. 

I'm not talking about getting on the treadmill for hours but about getting your 5-10k steps daily. This can be accomplished by taking exercise breaks or working around your yard, or even picking distant parking spaces forcing you to get steps in on your way to the store or your work.

Getting rid of belly fat demands a strategic approach, as does creating better health and well-being. So now that we've covered the necessity of strength training and the importance of getting more passive everyday movements let's talk cardo.

Again, cardio is going to look a bit different. I suggest you do HIIT training (high-intensity interval training). This can be low-impact and should be limited to no more than 40 minutes total each week for all your HIIT workouts. I enjoy 8-12 minute HIIT workouts twice a week, where I work to get breathless between short recovery periods. 

This workout cycle gives you more heart and fat-burning results than doing a long-sustained run or walk.

Creating a slimmer waistline, more energy, longer life, and metabolic health take time and focus. But now you have some tools to make those things happen. 

Pair a shift in your mindset with a strategic workout plan. You must do this for your health, but you don't have to do everything simultaneously.

Choose one day each week to complete your strength training. Next, decide to walk every day for 15-30 minutes and get those habits scheduled and set. After a few weeks, add another strength training workout to your calendar and increase your walking a bit. A good progression is to grow in small increments every three weeks. Once you have all these workouts in place and can complete them in a regular routine, you are ready to increase your weights so you can continue building strength.

The power to age well, have mobility, lift heavy things, prevent fractures and falls, melt extra belly fat, and increase your metabolism is in your hands. 

Now is the right time to get moving and get muscle-building!