I rarely paid attention to strength training in midlife (early on) or my 20s and 30s, because for most of my adult life, I loved running.
Not just casual running – ultra-distance running. Long days on trails, pushing my limits, seeing how far the body could go. I had several ultra marathons under my belt and running was a huge part of my identity.
But something started to shift in my early forties.
At first, it was subtle.
The long runs that used to leave me feeling energized began leaving me completely drained. Instead of feeling stronger after workouts, I felt depleted. I started catching every virus that circulated. By mid-afternoon, I often felt like I needed a nap, and by evening I was ready for bed at the same time as my kids.
Then came the part that confused me the most.
Despite all the running, I was gaining weight.
The common response many women have
When this happens, many women respond the same way I did.
We assume we need to try harder.
So we:
- Exercise more
- Eat less
- Push our bodies even harder
For a long time, this has been the standard advice: burn more calories and reduce food intake.
But for many women in their forties, this approach stops working.
In fact, it can make things worse.
What I didn’t understand at the time was that my body was entering a hormonal transition that required a completely different strategy.
The metabolic shifts of midlife
During the years leading up to menopause, fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone influence several systems that regulate metabolism:
- muscle maintenance
- insulin sensitivity
- stress response
- recovery from exercise
- appetite regulation
Research shows that muscle mass naturally declines with age, a process called sarcopenia. Because muscle tissue is metabolically active, losing muscle can gradually reduce metabolic efficiency over time.
At the same time, stress hormones and recovery capacity can change, which means the type and intensity of exercise that once felt energizing may start to feel more taxing than supportive.
For me, continuing to push long endurance training was simply no longer aligned with what my body needed.
The shift toward strength training in midlife
Eventually, I began shifting my focus toward strength training.
Instead of prioritizing long endurance sessions, I started incorporating resistance exercises that build and maintain muscle.
Strength training in midlife offers several benefits that are particularly relevant:
- Preserves and builds muscle mass, which supports metabolic health
- Improves insulin sensitivity and glucose regulation
- Supports bone density, which becomes increasingly important with age
- Helps maintain functional strength and mobility
And perhaps most importantly for me, it left me feeling energized rather than depleted.
The bigger lesson
The biggest lesson from this transition wasn’t simply about exercise.
It was about understanding that our bodies change over time, and the strategies that supported us in one stage of life may not serve us in the next. This deserves a repeat: Our bodies change over time, and the strategies that supported us in one stage of our life may not serve us in the next!
In midlife, many women benefit from shifting their focus toward:
- preserving muscle mass
- supporting metabolic health
- stabilizing blood sugar
- prioritizing recovery and resilience
This doesn’t mean running has no place. Many people continue to run and enjoy endurance sports throughout their lives. But the balance of training often becomes more important.
Endurance training, stress hormones, and recovery
Another factor that can become more relevant in midlife is how the body responds to training stress. Prolonged endurance exercise – especially at high volume – activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and increases cortisol, a hormone involved in energy mobilization during stress. In appropriate amounts this response is normal and adaptive. However, when combined with life stress, sleep disruption, and hormonal fluctuations that often occur during the perimenopausal years, repeated high-volume endurance training may contribute to greater fatigue and slower recovery in some individuals. Resistance training, by contrast, tends to stimulate muscle protein synthesis and metabolic adaptations without the same prolonged cortisol response seen with very long endurance sessions. For many women in midlife, adjusting the balance between endurance exercise and strength training can therefore support energy, muscle maintenance, and metabolic health.
Where this fits into the Body Balance Program
Inside the Body Balance Program, these topics come up often.
Rather than focusing on a single strategy, the program looks at how nutrition, movement, sleep, and daily rhythms interact to support metabolic health in midlife.
Strength training, adequate protein intake, balanced meals, and recovery are all pieces of the same puzzle.
For many women, the goal is not simply exercising more—it’s learning how to work with the body’s physiology during this stage of life.
For me, shifting from ultra-distance running to strength training was part of that process.
And once I made that change, my energy, resilience, and relationship with movement began to feel very different again.
References
- Cruz-Jentoft AJ et al. Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age and Ageing.2019.
- Peterson MD et al. Resistance exercise for muscular strength in older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. Ageing Research Reviews. 2010.
- Strasser B, Pesta D. Resistance training for diabetes prevention and therapy. Experimental Gerontology.2013.
- Kemmler W et al. Exercise effects on bone mineral density in older adults. Osteoporosis International. 2015.
- Hackney AC. (2006). Stress and the neuroendocrine system: the role of exercise as a stressor and modifier of stress. Expert Review of Endocrinology & Metabolism.
- Santoro N, Epperson CN, Mathews SB. (2015). Menopausal symptoms and their management. Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America.