Hormone-Friendly Workouts for Sri Lankan Women in Their 30s and 40s

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Hormone fluctuations happen in the body as women start to enter their thirties and forties, which affects how the body reacts to exercise. A lot of women experience a decline in their workout results, take longer to recover, and gain weight more insidiously around the belly. This is not a lack of self-control. It is biology. During this time, the body requires a different way of training that takes into account these fluctuations and doesn’t try to work against them, often years before menopause even happens. This book covers essential information about hormones and how they impact exercise and explains to you a practical, fully localised exercise program that’s perfectly suited to Sri Lankan women in their 30s and 40s.

How hormones impact your exercise needs. Exercise needs change during changes in hormones

Oestrogen also has a very important effect on how your body uses energy, builds muscle and recovers from exercise. When oestrogen production slows, typically from the late thirties or early forties, several changes take place in the body. If strength training is not maintained, building up muscle mass becomes more difficult and easier to lose. Connective tissue is protected by oestrogen and this protective effect is decreased as levels of oestrogen decrease, which increases the likelihood of developing joint and tendon injuries. Intervals between hard efforts are appreciably longer than they were when younger. Declining oestrogen causes fat to be stored in the abdomen, rather than the hips and thighs, making it more difficult to lose belly fat, a frustrating change many women notice without realising the cause. If you know what you’re looking for, you can tweak your training plan instead of getting frustrated by a lack of results that do not correlate with the amount of effort you put into it.

The shift towards strength training.The transition to strength training

The best thing women in their 30s and 40s should do with their workouts is to focus on strength over pure cardio. As people get older, the loss of muscle mass is a natural effect, and the transition of hormones in this stage of life makes this loss more substantial. Strength training directly fights this by telling your body to preserve and develop muscle that will help to keep your metabolism up and your bones strong, which also become weakened with the drop in oestrogen over time. Strength training: 2-3 sessions per week with body weight exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, glute bridges, planks, etc. No gym membership, no equipment is required. When done properly and with enough intensity, a consistent bodyweight workout at home can be a very effective exercise when done over a period of a few weeks.

Intense Cardio Can Backfire

A lot of ladies in this age bracket tend to react to gaining weight by adding on more and more high-impact cardio, thinking that it’ll resolve the issue entirely. This invariably has a great negative effect. Excessive high-intensity exercise only increases cortisol and this, along with the hormonal changes, makes it more difficult to lose belly fat, not easier. Rather than daily high-intensity cardio, try two to three moderate cardio sessions weekly, like 30-minute brisk walks, and strength training during the other days of the week. This is a balanced approach which promotes true fat loss but doesn’t push your already changing hormonal system too far with unnecessary physical stress.

The importance of recovery

As you hit your thirties and forties, recovery is even more important since hormone levels fluctuate at this time. In the twenties, a woman can recover from one intense workout in a single day, but if she’s a woman in her late thirties or forties, she may need two days to fully recover from one intense workout. Using up the fatigue and soreness without rest can raise the likelihood of injury and lead to more cortisol production in circulation, potentially exacerbating the hormonal imbalance. Take one or more complete rest days between strength training sessions and monitor your energy levels on a daily basis. If you are feeling tired, rather than energised, after exercising, you are probably overtraining and should back off on the intensity or frequency of exercise.

Select the best foods to optimise hormone levels during training. Foods for hormone-friendly training

Protein is particularly important at this age as it directly aids in the maintenance of muscle mass, which is more difficult to maintain as oestrogen levels decrease naturally. Try to get protein at each meal, including fish, eggs, dhal and chicken throughout the day. During this period,  the bone density is naturally reduced because of hormonal changes and calcium-rich foods such as dried fish, sesame seeds and dairy are beneficial. Cutting down on sugar and carbohydrate intake will help control the blood sugar ups and downs that occur during this phase and also help to control the storage of abdominal fat that directly results from top-heavy sugar and refined carbohydrate intakes that have gone unchecked for too long.

A Sample Weekly Routine is provided below

Today (Monday), it is 30 minutes of lower body bodyweight strength training (squats and lunges). The walk is 30 minutes and is quite brisk on Tuesday. Rest or gentle yoga day is Wednesday. On Thursday, you will get 30 minutes of upper-body strength exercises such as push-ups and planks. Friday is another walk in the cool. Saturday is a full-body strength session, in which all the movements learned in the past week have been integrated into one session. Sunday is dedicated to full or light stretching only, and is meant to give your body adequate recovery time to truly recover in this hormonal phase, before the working week and training program start again on Monday morning.

Be Patient and Consistent

Many women had the quick results in their twenties that they’re used to, but the results with hormone-aware training may come more slowly. This is not to say that the approach is failing. It indicates that your body is reacting correctly to the challenge of training in a real hormonal shift. Continue to strength training, do a sensible amount of cardio, get plenty of sleep and recovery, and believe in your body’s ability to adapt and keep you strong, healthy bones, and metabolism for years and years after your 40s.