2712: The 5 Biggest Fitness Mistakes Middle-Aged Women Make that Destroy Progress

0:00Adam Schafer:If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump. Mind Pump. With your hosts, Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, look, we're going to talk to middle-aged women who are struggling with their fitness. What they seem to be doing isn't working. What you're doing isn't working. We're going to talk about the five biggest fitness mistakes. These are so common. We see them all the time. If you fix these, watch what happens to your body, your fitness, and your progress.

0:38By the way, we have a group coaching group where our trainers help women through this process.

0:43Adam Schafer:It's musclemommymovement.com. Everybody gets a week for free. Hop in there, get some free coaching. It's awesome. If you stick around afterwards, it's great, but a week for free for everybody. Also, this episode is brought to you by a sponsor, Seed. Seed is the world's best probiotic, hands down. Go check them out. Go to seed.com forward slash Mind Pump. Use the code 25MINDPUMP. Get 25 % off your first month's order of their daily symbiotic. All right, real quick.

1:09Justin Andrews:If you love us like we love you, why not show up by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over at MindPumpStore.com? I'm talking right now. Hit pause. Head on over to MindPumpStore.com. That's it. Enjoy the rest of the show.

1:23Adam Schafer:All right, today we're going to talk about the five biggest mistakes that women in middle-aged make when it comes to fitness that completely destroys their progress. It gets in their way. It stops things from happening, prevents them from burning the body fat they want to burn, and getting the body and fitness that they desire. We're going to break them down and talk about why they're huge mistakes. Let's get to it. Do our best not to mansplain. No.

1:47Justin Andrews:I feel like we have to say we had like 80 % of our clientele was this category.

1:52Sal Di Stefano:Okay, I love that you say that. It's one of my pet peeves when, and we've gotten this to 10 years we've been doing this. There's always a handful of people coming, I wish you guys would have a girl on the show. It's like I feel more confident training a woman, a middle-aged woman, than I do a young teenage boy or an older guy. That was most of what I helped. I have more experience training. And I'm not going to, by no means do I think I came out the gates an expert. I learned a lot of things the hard way and didn't know what the hell I was doing. But through years and years and years and hundreds of female clients that I trained, I think I got pretty good at doing that.

2:38Sal Di Stefano:I think you guys would agree too. That's most of our demographic. It's still the largest demographic. By far. It's not even close. It's not even close. You'll go to a gym that has 10, 15 trainers, and you may see three to four guys getting trained that day. Maybe.

2:53Adam Schafer:The rest will all be women. It's the largest demographic still. It was when we were training clients. And this is a very difficult, this can be a difficult demographic to train even today, not because there's necessarily anything that's happening physiologically that makes it very difficult. Now, I do know hormones change and we've had episodes talking about things like perimenopause and menopause that can definitely change how the body adapts and reacts, but the rules still apply. In other words, the things that work still work. And what we see with this demographic is there are common mistakes and common beliefs in this age group that still persist and i know this because when we talk to people when we do live events when we talk to people on the show when our trainers are training people in this age group women in this age group we have to talk them out of doing a lot of these different kinds of things do you think do you

3:51Sal Di Stefano:think that's still largely due to marketing and how they're marketed to yes and i and and now

3:56Adam Schafer:the younger so it's interesting you say that because the younger uh demographic right gen z and even millennial women, but definitely the younger demographic has figured this out. And it's largely because social media and media and the fitness industry has started to finally start to communicate the right things. But 15 years ago when I was training clients, it wasn't like that. In fact, 10 years ago when we started the podcast and we talked about some of the stuff that we're going to talk about today, it was actually controversial. We would actually get a lot of people who give us a lot of pushback.

4:28Now, all the data supports it.

4:30Adam Schafer:All of our experiences support it. We've known this forever. I've known this for over 25 years, training people. But still, when we get clients here with our trainers, it's like we still have these conversations. Yeah, you still hear it. Because these beliefs still persist. So I'll start with the first biggest mistake. Now, if you look at the, again, if you look at the demographic of middle-aged women and you look at the forms of exercise that they prioritize, almost at the bottom of the list. And I mean prioritize. I don't mean the one that they do because a lot of women will do this to some degree, although they're not doing it properly, which we'll get to.

5:04Adam Schafer:But they definitely don't prioritize this, and that is lifting weights. They don't prioritize lifting weights. The typical demographic of the middle-aged woman's workout routine does not put strength training at the forefront. Yeah, it's a cornerstone. And it needs to be at the forefront. So the things that will combat the signs of aging, the weakness that starts to happen, muscle loss, bone weakening, fat gain, hormone changes, muscle is what reverses all that. Muscle is a metabolically active, hormone-sensitive, hormone-producing. You can even say it's a hormone-producing. It doesn't directly produce hormones.

5:42Adam Schafer:it does building muscle does create a promote should i say a hormone profile that looks like a younger hormone profile through the through the muscle building process their routines just don't when you look at a routine of a middle-aged woman generally speaking it typically looks like a lot of other stuff with some lifting weights sprinkled in and then the way that they lift weights isn't even a strength training it's not even done in a way to build muscle and that's a huge huge mistake

6:09Sal Di Stefano:Well, wouldn't you say that this was the main catalyst for us building the Muscle Mommy group? I mean, there's a bit of misunderstanding around that too. This is not a group that's just for mommies. It was really a group that was -

6:22Adam Schafer:That was a term that was - Muscle Mommy means a woman who wants to build.

6:25Sal Di Stefano:Yeah, it was really designed for this exact reason for we wanted to put together a group of women that are focused on strength training to build muscles. You do not have to be a mom. you can be you can be young you can be old you can be single it does not you can have five kids it doesn't matter uh but it's it's a group to encourage uh women to continue to strength train and make strength training and getting stronger the cornerstone of their their program and to let them see the benefits of what that looks like when you do when we say build muscle uh here's what

6:59Adam Schafer:tends to happen especially for a woman in this age group because she may have grown up uh where you hear the term building muscle and you automatically think of a bodybuilder or it sounds very masculine. And for someone who's trying to build a physique or create a physique that's lean, sculpted, toned will be the word that some people will use. They say, well, I don't want to get bulky. I'm trying to get leaner. I'm trying to get bigger. So here's what happens through the muscle building process. Number one, obviously you build some muscle, that balances out hormones, muscle sculpts and shapes the body, and muscle is very metabolically active.

7:37Adam Schafer:So if you're noticing as you get older that your metabolism doesn't seem to be as fast as it used to be. It's like I eat certain foods, and before I could get away with it, now suddenly I just gain body fat. That's because your metabolism is not being leveraged towards fat loss. Building muscle, or even the process of building muscle, does this. And then also muscle is very dense tissue. In other words, if you lost 10 pounds of body fat, but replaced it with 10 pounds of muscle, so your weight on the scale stayed the same, you would lose about a quarter of the size. Your overall mass shrinks. Yes, because a pound of fat versus a pound of muscle, a pound of fat takes up about 20 % to 25 % more space than the pound of muscle.

8:19Adam Schafer:So you've lost a quarter of the size, so you're tighter, even though you weigh the same on the scale, and muscle offers shape, right? Because you built muscle. Where'd you build it? your butt, your back, your shoulders. So now you've got more shape to your body.

8:31Justin Andrews:It's really your only insurance policy and anti-aging method that you could apply. And so to focus on muscle building, it really, I guess the misconception is that cardio, it's so focused on all the movement and the burning of the calories because of the body fat when in fact building the muscle actually is the method that's going to produce all of those results.

8:55Sal Di Stefano:you know also prioritizing lifting makes their ultimate goal way easier way easier so if the ultimate goal is to lose body fat or to shape the body whatever building muscle and focusing on lifting as the main cornerstone will make that process significantly easier it's the fastest way to get because because in our an argument someone might make is like well my friend my girlfriend I mean, she just started doing those marathons and running and she lost 15 pounds or I, you know, I used to run and when I would run, I would, I would easily keep my weight down. And so I liked when I, so I've done it before this way.

9:33Sal Di Stefano:It's like, yeah, it's not, it's not, not possible to lose weight on a scale through other modes or modalities, but lifting weights will get you to the desired outcome faster and easier and more sustainable. Once you do that, it is a no brainer.

9:46Adam Schafer:Well, it boosts your metabolic rate and it leverages your body to burn body fat. So here's what I'm talking about, right? So I like to use an investment analogy or making money. I could either work and make a certain amount every hour that I work, which requires my activity, right? Requires me to show up and work. Or I could find a way to take the money I have, place it in an account that generates money on its own, right? That's what happens when you build muscle. You actually teach your body to burn more calories on its own. You also improve insulin sensitivity, which leverages more fat loss.

10:20Adam Schafer:You also increase the amount of what are called androgen receptors. As you build muscle, you get more androgen receptors. What does that mean? That means the testosterone you have in your body, and yes, I said testosterone. It's just as important for women as it is for men. It's just different ratios. Testosterone in women does the same thing as it does in men. It's libido. It's strength. It's fat loss. It's energy. So when you have more androgen receptors, whatever testosterone you're producing, has more places to attach to. So now, again, you're leveraging your body in a way to burn more body fat, which means it's less work.

10:53Adam Schafer:This is less work. Less work done in the gym, more work done on its own is what happens through this process of strength training. Now, when we say lifting weights, that doesn't mean any form of exercise with weights. Now, this is just a little side note here with this particular point is that a lot of women will say, well, I do lift weights. I do this body pump class, or I do this circuit training class, or we lift weights in a method that makes me sweat a lot or whatever. And really what you're doing is you're just doing cardio with weights. The lifting weights that we're talking about is traditional strength training, where the goal is to get stronger.

11:30Adam Schafer:The goal isn't to lift weights faster. The goal isn't to do a bunch of circuits. The goal isn't to class. The goal, and literally what it looks like, is I lift a heavy weight for 12 reps with an exercise. I rest for two minutes. I do another set. The goal is build muscle. That is the goal with lifting weights. And that should be the cornerstone. And what's cool is we are finally starting to get female voices that are promoting this. People like Dr. Tina, Dr. Estina, Estima, excuse me. Gabriel Lyon. Dr. Gabriel Lyon. These are women who are also middle-aged who are talking about like, and Dr. Gabriel Lyon loves sharing the data and showing like, this is how you get the body you want.

12:08Adam Schafer:This is how you become more resilient. It's through strength training. So the cornerstone of your routine should be strength training. That's the cornerstone. The second mistake that women in this demographic make is they do lots and lots and lots of cardio, tons and tons of cardio, whether it's on a treadmill or classes or running outside. The belief is I'm burning all these calories doing this activity. But the problem with doing lots and lots of cardio is cardiovascular activity trains your body to build endurance. So if you want endurance, that's great. Go for it. But if you're looking for fat loss and you're looking for a sculpted shaped body with a good hormone profile, don't do tons of cardio.

12:48Adam Schafer:Tons of cardio counters the signal of muscle building. Okay. Having lots of endurance means you don't have big muscles or a lot of muscle. So lots of cardio activity actually does the opposite. It actually promotes muscle loss. Now you're not burning muscle, but you are telling your body to pare muscle down. And so lots and lots of cardio produces with a low calorie diet, which we'll get to next, a skinny fat body with a hormone profile that looks terrible. A hormone profile that throws you into menopause sooner or causes testosterone depression and issues with estrogen and progesterone. So you're doing all this work, all this sweating, and you're like, why is nothing happening?

13:27Adam Schafer:I'm eating so little. I'm doing less cardio. Why is my body not changing? I initially lost some weight, but now I've plateaued so hard. Well, what's going on? What's going on is you're literally teaching your metabolism to put it very plainly, although it's more complex than this, you're teaching your metabolism to slow down. So don't do hours and hours of cardio. If the cornerstone of your routine is strength training, then do a little bit of cardio for your health, but the cornerstone should be strength training. Your goal is to get stronger. When it comes to your workout, if you're getting stronger in combination with stuff with diet, which we're going to talk about, you will get the body that you want.

14:02Justin Andrews:The variability you get from weight training is so much more significant. Like inevitably doing cardio too much and too frequently getting this repetitive stress that adds up over time to where your joints actually start, you know, sending a pain signal. We get restriction there. And there's actually an aging effect to that. If you stay in it long enough where your body, you get this oxidation effect.

14:26Adam Schafer:They've done some studies on what forms of exercise are the best for the skin. And strength training is the only form of exercise. All forms of exercise have done properly. if they improve your health, you'll get better skin. Okay. But only strength training promotes collagen synthesis in the skin. So it literally will make your skin look younger. Now, why is it? Why is strength training promoting the building of collagen, the collagen matrices in my skin? Well, it's when you're building muscle, you're sending a signal that says increased protein synthesis. That's you want, you get that locally to the muscles you train, but you also get the systemic effect where your body's trying to build.

15:01Adam Schafer:And it's also builds your skin.

15:03Justin Andrews:More useful, healthy profile.

15:05Adam Schafer:The data show this. The data actually shows this. So strength training is a way to actually give yourself the – make your skin look younger, lift weights, if that's what you're looking for.

15:15Sal Di Stefano:I think it's important to note or at least bring up right now, since this is where we're at, talking about between cardio and lifting, the form of lifting weights that a lot of women are doing too is not the proper form of lifting weights. That's what I said earlier, yeah. And so calling out the Barry's Boot Camps, the Orange Theories, the F45. That's not lifting weights. This is that form of lifting weights is closer to cardio than it is to actually lifting weights. And so there's, I think there's a whole cohort of people that choose to do all the running, like you're saying, and a lot of family members that still think cut the calories, go for runs.

15:51Sal Di Stefano:That's the way to get in shape is the method that's completely wrong. And the circuit training type of classes of weightlifting is not that much better. It's like a fraction better than what just going out for a run is for them. Because the rest periods in lifting weights are one of the most important parts. That's what makes it muscle building. And I know this firsthand from teaching Orange Theory classes. I used to stop my classes in the middle class and literally stop the group. And the reason why that is, and I can't speak for F45 because I didn't teach there, even though I know Barry's boot camp at F45 has a similar mentality around lifting weights, and that they encourage the burn and the heart rate.

16:37Sal Di Stefano:In fact, in Orange Theory, you get points for keeping your heart rate up, and it is almost impossible to go there with your friends and not be competitive about who gets the most points. and you get the most points by keeping yourself in these elevated heart rates and keeping your heart rate elevated like cardio training, which that's what that is, while lifting weights defeats the purpose of lifting the weights. It makes the weight training not weight. You may as well skip the weight part and just stay on the treadmill for the extra 20 minutes and you'll get the same benefits. And so there is this misconception of just because I'm lifting weights that I should to be getting these benefits that you're talking about.

17:14Sal Di Stefano:You only get those benefits if you actually do this in a more traditional form where you have rest periods and you rest between each one of your sets. And that looks very different.