I’m 47, fairly fit, eat well and aware of how important they say strength training is at this age and stage of life, so I’m making an effort to introduce this to my usual weekly exercise of walking/gardening/yoga.
Tried out Caroline Girvin’s work out for the first time two days ago and my lower body is still aching. I’m going to try and persist and try some of the other workouts, upper body core et cetera, but this is not my usual kind of exercise and I don’t love it. I’ve never been a gym bunny, I don’t love boring, repetitive lifts and I really don’t like that my body is aching so much that I’m not enjoying other forms of exercise/hobbies as much - like gardening which I do regularly and I need my muscles to work so I can bend/lift etc!
So my questions are:
Will it get better?
If so - when??
Are there other forms of exercise I could do (or I’m already doing) which have the same benefits?
Surely if I’m walking pretty much every day with additional sessions of yoga and some physical gardening on top of that that’s enough to keep me fit and healthy both physically and mentally?
I firmly believe you should enjoy exercise and find a form that is that works for you because it makes you feel better, and then you’ll want to keep doing it. I know it’s still very early days but I definitely don’t feel better after doing a strength workout - I feel worse, and older!
I really enjoy walking, yoga, gardening, even running (when I've got my mojo back) and so I’m also not prepared to give up one of these for a super intense workout which makes me feel old and creaky every time at the end of it.
Convince me that this is important and I need to persist, or reassure me that I'm already doing enough to survive midlife/menopause!