Should You Change The Way You Exercise As You Get Older?

If you're already training consistently (ideally a mix of strength training and cardio each week) and reaping the rewards of that regular physical activity, you might not need to change much at all.

As you go through life, the fundamentals shift far less with age than the internet suggests, and you don't necessarily need to swap to a new program just because you're a year (or a decade) older.

For most adults, the CDC recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, plus at least two days that include strength training. That baseline holds whether you're 25 or 65, and honestly, most of us would benefit more from hitting that baseline consistently than worrying about finding the "perfect" routine.

In saying that, there are definitely a few real shifts worth knowing about for different stages of a woman's life, and a couple worth acting on earlier than you'd think. Here's what deserves more of your focus in each stage and why.

Your twenties and thirties: building the reserves you'll draw on later

This is the stretch where you've (generally) got lots of energy, but life can also be going through some big periods of change with new jobs, new cities, study, relationships, socializing, travel...

Some people are super committed to fitness at this stage, while others are so busy they struggle to fit in even a 20-minute workout. It really depends on what's going on in your life, but if you can, aim to exercise consistently. Do a mix of strength and cardio. The work you do here will quietly pay off for decades.

Bone is the clearest example. You build most of your bone relatively early in life, and one study points to peak bone mass being reached by your late twenties or early thirties. After that, the job shifts from building to maintaining. Women also tend to start adulthood with a lower peak bone mass than men, which means a little less in reserve later on. Strength training, weight-bearing exercise and balance work in this window are genuinely an investment in reducing your risk of osteoporosis later.

Fitness gains work in the same way. A 2016 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that higher baseline fitness and improvements in fitness in early adulthood may play a critical role in promoting cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease decades later.

The best workout schedule is always the one you'll actually do, so if you're spending these years figuring out which styles of movement you enjoy (rather than sticking to one thing religiously), that's time well spent. Building healthy habits now makes everything that follows easier.

If you've been diagnosed with PCOS or endometriosis, you may want to adjust your training around your symptoms, or keep track of how you feel at different stages of your cycle to work with your body rather than against it. And if you're not already doing pelvic floor exercises, this is a good time to start rather than waiting until something prompts it.

One thing to watch: higher energy in your twenties can make it tempting to do more than you're actually recovering from. It's worth knowing the risks of overtraining and getting into the habit of prioritising rest days early. More isn't always more!!

Training through pregnancy and early motherhood

While starting a family isn't for everyone (and obviously isn't limited to your thirties either), it often happens in this decade. It's also really common to feel some bigger shifts in your body and energy in your thirties.

If you're trying to conceive, keep moving regularly! Just be mindful not to overdo it with too much high-intensity training, and see your healthcare professional if you're unsure. During pregnancy, the goal usually shifts from progressing to maintaining, and moving with confidence through each trimester looks a bit different for everyone. Sweat has several pregnancy programs designed to keep you moving and feeling strong from bump through to birth. Just make sure to obtain clearance from your healthcare provider before you start.

Once you've been cleared to start exercising again after giving birth, take a gradual and progressive approach to rebuilding your strength and fitness rather than picking up where you left off. We've also got post-pregnancy programs built for exactly that.

Returning to fitness after having a baby can be challenging, but some women find the hardest part is actually juggling fitness and family, and the expectation that your old routine should somehow fit into a completely new life.

“At the beginning, you are on autopilot survival mode and it feels like you can’t do anything. You just need to give yourself some grace, space and time to understand that it’s a short period in your life, and if you’re able to go for a walk or fit ANYTHING in, that’s great! But if you can’t, it’s ok to just chill out,” says Kayla.

Short workouts count, and there's good evidence for how effective short workouts can be. Fit in what you can, when you can.

Your forties and fifties: why strength training stops being optional

If there's one stage where it really matters how you're training, this is it. And if exercise hasn't been part of your routine up until now, it's never too late to start.

Muscle mass declines with age in everyone. Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, can begin as early as your thirties, and evidence suggests it declines in a fairly linear way from there. One study points to muscle mass decreasing by roughly 3 to 8% per decade after your thirties, and the same research highlights how effective resistance and aerobic training are at slowing that down.

Around the same time, most women go into menopause or begin perimenopause, the transition leading up to it. And this is where a lot of the advice online gets it wrong.

Perimenopause is usually described as a steady decline in estrogen. It isn't.

“Perimenopause isn’t simply a period where all of your hormones steadily decline. Estrogen can fluctuate considerably. There can be times when levels are higher and times when they’re lower before estrogen eventually becomes consistently lower after menopause,” says Sheridan Skye, women’s health educator, registered nurse, nutritionist and personal trainer.

That distinction matters, because it explains why symptoms come and go rather than arriving on a neat schedule, and why one month can feel completely different from the last.

Most women reach natural menopause between 45 and 55, with the average around 51. Perimenopause commonly runs for around four years, though it can be considerably shorter or longer. Every woman is different.

What this means for your training is fairly specific. Resistance training moves to the top of the list (if it wasn't already), for three reasons:

• Muscle: it's one of the main places your body uses glucose, and resistance training helps it do that more effectively. That matters as fat storage shifts towards the abdomen during this stage of life.

• Bone: bone responds to load. The most rapid bone loss generally begins around a year before your final period and continues for the first few years afterwards, which makes this an important window rather than an optional one.

• Strength itself: lower muscle strength is consistently associated with poorer health outcomes, while maintaining your strength is associated with living longer and healthier.

Two to three sessions a week is a good target, and the weight should feel genuinely challenging by the last few reps of a set. As that starts to feel easier, go heavier. That gradual progression is what keeps your muscles adapting, and it's the part most people skip.

“If you’re experiencing symptoms that are affecting your sleep, your energy, your appetite, your mood, your recovery or your ability to exercise, maintaining your weight may genuinely feel harder than it did before, too. But that also doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. And it doesn’t mean you’ve suddenly lost your discipline,” says Sheridan.

If you want training built specifically for this stage, Perimenopause Strong and Menopause Strong in the Sweat app are designed for your changing body, alongside an 11-episode masterclass with Sheridan covering sleep, brain fog, bone health, nutrition, pelvic floor and hormone therapy.

Your sixties and beyond: training for independence

From your mid-sixties, the guidelines add balance work to the list, which makes a lot of sense. But we'd actually recommend you don't wait until your sixties. Add some balance training (like one-legged exercises at the gym) well before then.

“Falls happen at every age, but what changes as we age is how we handle them. Having stronger muscles helps us balance, react fast and catch ourselves when we stumble so a fall isn’t a big deal,” says Sheridan Skye, women’s health educator, registered nurse, nutritionist and personal trainer.

As your fall risk increases with age, reviews have highlighted how balance exercises can help improve independence and overall quality of life. These sit alongside the 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity and at least two days of strength work, not instead of them.

Health conditions like arthritis and osteoporosis might shape how you choose to move, but they rarely mean it's time to stop. Mayo Clinic says exercise is particularly important for people with arthritis, helping to reduce joint pain and fight tiredness. As with any condition, work out a plan for movement with your healthcare provider.

And if a full session isn't realistic, light activity still counts. The NHS says older adults should aim to include some physical activity every day, even if it's light. That's anything where you're moving rather than sitting or lying down: moving around your home, doing some stretches, walking at a slow pace, vacuuming, or getting up to make a cup of tea. If longer stretches of movement feel like too much, try making exercise snacks part of your day instead.

“I want you to think about exercise as all or something, rather than all or nothing,” says Sheridan.

The thing that matters more than the decade you're in

If you take anything away from all of this, make it this: it's never too late to start strength training.

“The most encouraging news here is that we can build muscle at any age. Our muscles retain the ability to respond and adapt to resistance training throughout our entire lives. So whether you’re starting in your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s or beyond, it is never too late to start, but the earlier you start, the better. I like to say the best time to start was yesterday. But the next best time is today, right now,” says Sheridan.

It also helps to change what you're measuring. Bodies change across a long life, and the visible signs of that aren't a problem to be corrected.

“Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is to shift some of our attention away from how our bodies look and towards what our bodies allow us to do. To be strong enough to carry our grandchildren. Fit enough to travel. Capable enough to get up from the floor,” says Sheridan.

We recommend getting the baseline right first, then focusing more on strength, mobility, and balance as the years go on.