To cardio or not to cardio in your 40s

I'm 41 and I do around 8 hours of formal exercise a week, which is typically:

• 1 x cross fit
• 1 x spin / run
• 2 x hike in a weighted vest
• 3 strength sessions at the gym

@BogRollBOGOF love "fun and good enough". Totally agree

Things change - I got into fitness when I was 50 (now 58). My focus has mainly been strength throughout - weightlifting of different sorts and calisthenics (pull ups, dips etc) for low reps, heavy weight/load. But I've also done HIT, Pilates, park bootcamps, boxing, running (3k-16k).

I did a stint at a boxing club a couple of years ago - three times a week, an hour or two at a time, was great fun, effectively lots of intervals, less strength, did mean less sleep, and for that and other logistical reasons I switched back to more strength. It is all good 😀and I think the variety has kept me interested, learning and resilient.

I'd never change what I am doing on the basis of one or a few studies (often wildly over-interpreted as pp have said -many are done in elite athletes about how to improve performance at the margins - what matters to most of us is which gym is handy for school drop off or whether we sleep better with early morning or evening exercise or whatever), or one or two influencers, however (supposedly) qualified. Stick to the basics, consistently and enjoyably, sleep and eat well, and ignore the noise.

Re fitting it in - I am a these days a very slow runner which has the advantage that I can happily run to do the shops, to do chores, meet friends for coffee etc as I'm not a sweaty mess afterwards. Makes it much easier to fit it in and leaves me fresh for my pull ups 😀

I also subscribe to the best exercise being what you will do (and hopefully enjoy!)

Our bodies need to be used to stand a chance of thriving long term. Doing strength keeps muscles functioning into old age. Stronger muscles also support flexibility and mobility.

Cardio is important to keep your heart and circulatory system functioning well. I lost so much fitness during difficult pregnancies and birth recovery and it was miserable huffing and puffing afterwards. Getting back into walking, building into postnatal classes then mainstream classes and running was liberating. It's empowering to know you can move for hours or sprint for a bus/ out of sudden rain. No exercise type stands totally alone, but strength alone isn't enough.

Doing intense cardio repeatedly probably isn't optimal (I'm thinking HITT, spin, sprinting with few rest days) but that's pretty niche, especially in older women; more realistically cardio heavy "athletes" like runners and cyclists will have varied sessions of longer, easier workouts and one or two shorter, intense workouts.

Classes tend to be great. They're social. They tend to tick more than one fitness box off to some extent.

There's never going to be concensus on "perfect" and there's too many individual variables, so best to just stick to fun and good enough

It's an area I've struggled in big time since lockdown. In 2021, I was insanely fit as I had all the time in the world to workout and the endorphins made me feel happy and full-filled instead of isolated. I used to have a morning walk and do a strength workout six days a week, doing two days each for upper body, core/back day and legs/glutes. In the afternoons I'd do intensive cardio and in the evenings I'd practice skills and flexibility. Even as things opened up more and people could meet for outdoor exercise, I'd be outside working out with friends all the time. My DS was with me and he'd either join in with us or go to the playground next to where we were. It was amazing.

I really, really miss just having the time to dedicate to exercise like that. It wasn't the most efficient way to exercise as I'd literally spend hours and hours everyday just being active in order to have something to do. Now, with life being busier I've become more and more sedentary and I'm trying to find a way to incorporate exercise into my day. For me, it means becoming better at the easier to access forms of exercise, like running and swimming, joining a gym, so I can lift heavier and more intensively, so I'm more efficient. And wearing a weighted vest when I'm doing housework and gardening, so I'm getting more benefit out of day to day life. But god, I wish sometimes that working out five hours a day could just be my job!

The best exercise is the exercise you actually do. There is no point formulating the "perfect" programme if it only exists in the Notes app on your smartphone.

Furthermore, we are constantly getting new (and often contradictory) "evidence" about the desirability of different exercise regimes, bearing in mind the limits to some studies (e.g. done on a small number of healthy 23 year old males) and that sports science is also suffering from the same replication crisis as other scientific and medical research (i.e. results cannot be replicated by other scientists, and may therefore be junk science).

I would listen to your body and what makes you feel healthier and stronger, both physically and mentally. The fact you're enjoying this class is great, and I would be very slow to replace it with something else.

Adding strength training is a good idea. I would recommend getting a few sessions with a good personal trainer who can show you around the gym, help develop a programme for you and check your technique. There are also resistance-oriented classes, although if I were focussing on the 'perfect', I'd do my weights in the gym (rather than in a class like Pump) and take classes more for mobility and core stability (Pilates, Yoga and the like). You have various options for your resistance training: free weights, machines, bodyweight exercises. If you go down the weights path, I would suggest a programme with compound exercises that activate a number of different muscle groups, for various reasons, including that you'll get more done in less time.

I would personally be driven by functionality rather than aesthetics at your age. Lifting big numbers is fun, but there's no point being able to bench press 50kg if you can't easily get up and down off the floor.

And yet again, the best options are the ones you actually do. If you like the class environment, maybe a first step would be to try a few different formats that are more oriented to conditioning and mobility.

Best of luck OP!

This is the problem for me! I want to do 3x cardio, 3x strength and 3 x yoga / Pilates but there aren’t enough days in the week or hours in the day. I try to mix and match a balance.

It's all bollocks OP. Cardio is supremely good for you- both mentally and physically and very important at all ages.

I used to run a lot in my 20s and then kinda let it go when I had young kids and restarted in my late 30s. I am now in my 40s. My resting heart rate has gone from 71 to 55 and my HRV has jumped up 20 points. My daily stress levels have gone significantly down and my sleep quality is better (all of these measured by my whoop wrist watch so not just my subjective feelings, actual measurements). So there you go- my health indicators measured and ALL have improved.

Carry on with your cardio :)

I suspect that this depends on the algorithms you generate.
This thread is the very first time I have read "lots of cardio can be detrimental when you get older, due to too much cortisol being released".

When I over-exercise I get stress fractures and a too high level of creatine kinase (indicating muscle damage). I most likely had a fuck tonne of cortisol as well (stress), but that was probably what was driving me to over-exercise and flood myself with a runners high.

By mobility, do you mean the same as flexibility here?
I find it a lot to have to do three different types of things...

It's all over social media at the moment.

Bit of a clarification here: (4) Video | Facebook

"surely cardio is still good for your heart and general health?"

Yes! And for wellbeing and mood as you see yourself.

I don’t think the message is that all cardio is bad. I think some women prefer to switch to more strength and slightly less cardio if they were doing say 5 HIIT sessions a week.

I did find that when I was running 4/5 times a week I struggled to fit more than a couple of strength training sessions in.

I think the focus needs to shift slightly that’s all. Cardio is still important but a long walk can be very effective too. Just move and find something you enjoy.

The benefits of exercise are so well known I find it almost unbelievable that someone is suggesting that it could be bad for you. Although apparently Donald Trump believes that exercise leads to an early grave, and he is in improbably good condition for his age, so perhaps you and him are on to something!

I heard that crap about cortisol on here! I wondered where it came from. Someone actually said that you should stop doing cardio after 40, if you're a woman. Pretty sure it was on this section as well.

I'd be surprised if an actual medical expert said it. I don't know where this nonsense comes from.

Ooh this is a good tip thanks. I'm a runner and find that if I run too late in the day I'm absolutely wired and too hyped up to sleep. This didn't use to happen!

It doesn't feel weird per se. It feels a bit like when I did drugs in my clubbing days and couldn't sleep afterwards.

As for the premise of the thread, it's completely bonkers. Social media influencers will really say any old shite and get idiots to believe them.

I've done three low impact cardio sessions 10 minutes each this week at home following a video on youtube. This is absolutely fine and I'm building up to doing them daily.

That sounds like a good level of cardio and it’s such a positive benefit that you really enjoy it too.

I think as we get older we also need to get some strength training in to help with muscle loss and bone density. So I think the message has got a bit muddled in this. We shouldn’t be prioritising loads of cardio over strength, we just need a nice balance.

I used to do a track running session on a Friday night and I did find it hard to relax and sleep after - even with ashwaganda etc. But I figured it helped my running so I took the hit.

I haven’t been able to run since last Nov. Recently I’ve focused on more strength and I have noticed an improvement in body composition. So from a purely aesthetic point of view - less cardio and more weights has worked for me. But twice a week for cardio is fine.

You could try a cortisol lowering herb. I do my main sport at night and it leaves me absolutely buzzing some nights. If I feel really hyped up once I'm home, I take a couple of ashwagandha capsules as it lowers cortisol. You can get it in Holland and Barrett. I used to spend hours in bed, way too alert to sleep, but ashwagandha switches that alertness off.

I'm only echoing others but this is something that does annoy me - there is so much utter shite on the internet about what exercise is 'best' and also about the supposed drawbacks of one sort of exercise over another. The latter usually comes from people who are trying to sell something (or from lazy buggers trying to justify their laziness).

If you currently don't do anything, then just do something, anything, doesn't matter what, whatever you enjoy (that's the main thing). And it sounds like you are, which is brilliant. Once you're used to doing a bit then if you can do a bit more. Ideally you will eventually be doing some strength stuff and some cardio stuff, but worry about that later. If you're basically starting from scratch then you'll have a looong way to go before the amount of exercise you're doing is somehow 'bad' for you.

I've always loved fell running so that's been my main thing for the last 20-odd years (mid 40s now), though I have recently got back into proper strength stuff too, just freeweights at home.

Sounds like bollocks OP, and two classes isn't much anyway.

I hate cardio, so I do a bit of HIIT a few times a week. Otherwise I do yoga most days, and some TRX or weights maybe twice a week, plus dog walking.

I think the best exercise is one you'll actually do.

lots of cardio can be detrimental when you get older, due to too much cortisol being released.

wtaf.
How would I know, what harm is supposed to have happened to me?
I don't believe it for a moment.
Also, "older" means age 50+ typically, btw, or age 70+.
You won't even find studies about people age 70+ doing lots of aerobic exercise, there aren't enough of them to study (!!)

This looks very not legit site, talking about hyper-cortisol, states long list of symptoms = obesity, T2DM, and high cholesterol, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, CVD, hypertension... never mind that most sources would say that plenty of aerobic exercise tends to have exact opposite outcomes in most people. But basically, what they are describing is people who have hypercortisol BECAUSE of malfunctioning glands, like if they have Cushing Syndrome. CS doesn't happen because of lots of aerobic exercise.

Unless you have Cushing Syndrome I reckon you're safe, OP. And probably even if you do have CS.

Glad you found a fun class to go to.

I read recently that after 40 you should focus on 4 things:

Cardio
Strength
Balance
Flexibility

As they are the things that will help you as you get older.

Two classes a week is definitely not excessive