Feeling like the Tin Man when your feet hit the floor – and winded on a single flight of stairs – doesn’t have to be “just your 40s.” In this episode, we call BS on the idea that midlife means inevitable decline and lays out a clear, doable plan for rebuilding strength, muscle, and pep in your step over the next six months. No doom and gloom here – just evidence-informed training that respects your real life.

You’ll learn exactly how to structure your workouts for results: which compound lifts to prioritize, how to sprinkle in isolation work the smart way, and why adding power and plyometrics helps you feel quick and athletic again. We’ll also touch on where cardio fits for women over 40 so you can train wisely without living in the gym.

• The base of your lifting should be this

• Should you do cardio with your lifting?

• Why avoiding power work or impact over 40 backfires

• When to use isolation exercises

• Why 6 day a week bro splits aren't working for women 40+

Enjoyed this episode and want more?

Ready to have the plan done for you – with full-body strength, smart power progressions, and cardio that actually fits your life? Grab a 7-day sample of Strong with Steph at stephgaudreau.com/workout – then join the program and let Steph lay it out so you can just open the app and lift.

For many women over 40, cardio brings up memories of the 90s and early 2000s – endless hours on the elliptical, chasing a smaller body, and pushing through with Red Bulls and salads. It was an era marked by toxic fitness culture, and the fallout left a lot of us burnt out, swearing off cardio completely. But now, with energy, stamina, and health markers changing in midlife, it might be time to take another look at how cardio fits into your life.

In this episode, we explore what it means to rebuild a healthier relationship with cardio. From my personal journey – burnout from endurance sports, swinging the pendulum into strength training, then finding my way back to cardio on my own terms – to practical ways you can ease it back into your routine, this conversation is about healing from old patterns and creating balance. You’ll also hear answers to common questions about what counts as cardio, how to tell if it’s moderate or vigorous, and how to weave it in with your lifting.

• Why so many women over 40 have a complicated history with cardio

• The role of diet culture and body ideals in shaping our relationship with endurance exercise

• How to reframe cardio as a supportive tool instead of punishment

• Practical ways to bring conditioning back without burnout or dread

• Guidelines for balancing cardio with strength training so both work together

• Simple strategies for starting small and progressing over time

Motivation for working out episode

Enjoyed this episode and want more?

If you want a lifting program that tells you exactly what to do, try 7 days of Strong with Steph here >> https://stephgaudreau.com/workout

Share this episode with a friend looking to improve their strength training knowledge.

Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite streaming platform for new episodes!

Ever wonder if you’re lifting enough weight to truly see progress? You’re not alone – this is one of the most common questions in the gym, especially among athletic women over 40 who want to keep getting stronger without wasting time on unchallenging workouts. In this episode, you’ll learn a simple, almost foolproof way to gauge your lifting intensity – one you’ve probably never considered before – plus how it stacks up with other methods like RPE, reps in reserve, and bar speed.

We’ll explore what the science says about how your body (and face) signal effort, why “playing it safe” too long can stall your gains, and how to use these cues to choose the right weight every time. Plus, we’ll address the appearance-based fears that sometimes hold lifters back and reframe what really matters for strength, longevity, and performance as we age.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• A surprisingly effective visual cue to know if your weights are challenging enough.

• How facial expressions connect to effort and fatigue – and what research shows.

• Other key indicators like bar speed, RPE, and reps in reserve to cross-check your effort.

• Why small, strategic weight jumps are more effective than big, intimidating increases.

• The bigger trade-off when fear of wrinkles or “ugly lifting face” prevents pushing yourself.

Studies:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25435786/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30562370/

Enjoyed this episode and want more?

If you want a lifting program that tells you exactly what to do, try 7 days of Strong with Steph here >> https://stephgaudreau.com/workout

Share this episode with a friend looking to improve their strength training knowledge.

Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite streaming platform for new episodes!