Best Exercise Tips For Women In Their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50+

In my early to mid-twenties, I was invincible. My body could take on a variety of challenges; lack of sleep, poor nutrition and even cigarettes. I went about my day in a haze, never considering that those habits would one day come back to bite me. And boy did they!

But this isn’t a woe-is-me post; I’ve spoken openly about my autoimmune disease and other struggles because I want to motivate others to thrive despite their setbacks and rise above the noise. Which of those habits caused what health issues? Hard to say, and does it really matter? What I think matters the most is embracing the art of proactively living your life and pursuing your health.

Not waiting for the right day to start that routine you’ve been thinking about. Not looking at so-and-so and wishing you could have their body, life, whatever. Don’t react to life and hope the door doesn’t hit you on the way out – live it intentionally. These are the words of wisdom I would give to my younger self. And while I wish I hadn’t been so unhealthy, I’m grateful for the perspective it gave me. I didn’t know how sick I was until I was better.

This includes, especially, movement.

Back in the day I punished myself with 2-3 hour gym marathons and counted how many M&Ms I was allowed to have (cause you know, as long as you count the calories it doesn’t matter that the food itself is total garbage, right?). I obsessed over every detail and entered deep depression when the scale didn’t give me the number I was looking for.

Exercise was a punishment and I went to great lengths to make sure I could maintain a super slim (for me also super unhealthy) figure. I didn’t look forward to exercise the way I do now, because its sole purpose in my life was to punish my body for the 15 M&Ms and 3 Twizzlers I’d had moments prior. It was a twisted, unhealthy and self sabotaging cycle.

It wasn’t until I met my then boyfriend (and future hubby) Sham – the Founder of Inspired Wellness – that my eyes were opened to an alternate reality. He inspired me to let go of the habits that weren’t serving me. To eat for nourishment and nutrition and not just count arbitrary and calories. To exercise because my body loved the endorphin high and the strength I found within a tough workout was the same strength exhibited in daily life.

And of course, to give up those cigs. I have a sneaking suspicion they played a role in completely messing up my gut microbiome and led to my autoimmune disease; but that’s a whole separate post. What I learned more than anything? No matter how old you are, it is never too late to forge a new path.

No matter what stage you’re in, this post is dedicated to the best exercise tips for the decade of life you’re in so you can thrive for years and years. Let’s get to it!

Exercise in Your 20s

On one hand, being in your 20s is amazing because you can generally achieve just about anything physically and recover in record time. The bad news? You tend to abuse your body with the unhealthy habits I talked about earlier. This also tends to be a time of exercising for a certain aesthetic without giving attention to what really matters: your HEALTH! If this is you, turn it around with these tips:

Quick Tips

• This is a WONDERFUL time to test our different workouts and see what suits you best. Find something and stick to it – consistency is key for longterm results.
• Think bigger picture; what you are doing now is setting the stage for the rest of your life. Don’t squander it by assuming your body will bounce back quickly forever … because it most certainly won’t.
• Focusing on aesthetics is fine, but don’t forget to revel in the other benefits of exercise, including its effects on mental health. Your 20s is a trying time in the mental health department. So many societal assumptions and influences about who you should be and look like, while at the same time you’re finding yourself and building your voice. Exercise is an excellent way to give yourself a bonafide endorphin boost on a consistent basis.

Something To Note …
While you can get away with HIIT training most days of the week, it’s SUPER important that you incorporate mobility and flexibility into your routine, too!

Exercise in Your 30s

Oh, speedy metabolism – where did you go!? For most women in their 30s, there’s a noticeable decline in the ability to eat whatever the heck you want and still lose weight. No longer can you out-train a bad diet. This is a blessing and a curse, because it forces you to get healthy or deal with the consequences.

Quick Tips:

• Helllooo muscle mass. It’s going to start going buh-bye by around age 35 if you’re not regularly performing some sort of strength training. What does this mean for your body? For starters, it will compound the natural decline in bone density that’s already starting to occur, which can lead to more sprains and fractures later on in life. Less muscle mass also equals a decreased metabolism.
• It’s extremely important to keep that oxygen flowing through your body by way of exercise. Doing so decreases your risk of heart disease (the #1 killer of women in America).
• If you’ve struggled to get into a routine until now, it’s important to think about how you can turn that around ASAP. Hiring a trainer or joining a studio (if you’re local to Sacramento, come check us out learn more here) is a good way to ensure you take action. Just make sure you do SOMETHING, as it’s vital to get into a routine as soon as you can. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got online and local programs and would love to help you. Go here to contact us!

Something to Note…
Try to get your heart rate up every day for at least 15-20 minutes, and take fitness classes that incorporate strength training + cardio for added heart benefit. Make sure you’re incorporating strength training (as part of a HIIT workout or separately) at least twice per week. It’s more important now that you treat recovery as a big player in your routine: 7-9 hours of nightly sleep, foam rolling and stretching should make regular appearances in your life.

Exercise in Your 40s

This decade is a time where you’re piecing together the various elements from years prior to find your ideal blend. You may notice that recovering from exercise takes longer than it used to, and that you need more sleep to feel truly rested and rejuvenated. As in your 30s, it’s important to maintain a consistent movement routine.

Quick Tips:

• Strength training on its own has wonderful benefits, but if that’s all you’ve been doing, consider adding some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) to your life. ACE guidelines:

“High-intensity exercise can help promote muscle-building hormones while increasing caloric expenditure, both of which are important. Furthermore, explosive exercises can help improve muscle elasticity, which is reduced during the aging process. Regular strength-training exercises make skeletal muscle tissue strong, but don’t challenge the elastic connective tissue that surrounds it. Adding exercises like kettlebell swings and plyometric jumps helps improve tissue elasticity.” – Pete McCall

• At this age, around 2-3 high-intensity workouts per week is perfect and allow your body to recover properly.
• Switch it up! Don’t do the same workout routine for months at a time. Constantly try new exercises (another benefit of attending classes and/or hiring a trainer to design your workouts) so your body doesn’t adapt and become less efficient.

Something To Note:
Yoga is good for any age, but especially in your 40s and beyond to help increase flexibility and mobility, which will give you an added benefit when performing different exercises, further reducing chance of injury. Consider incorporating 1-2 classes per week.

Exercise in Your 50s+

At this stage in your life, exercise is more important than ever for good health. You can literally help stave off and even reverse some facets of the natural aging process by remaining active. This is also a time when various chronic conditions start to make themselves known if they haven’t already (arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, high LDL cholesterol and heart disease to name a few).

Quick Tips:

• Functional training for the win! This is a great time to focus on exercises you perform in daily life; squatting, reaching, pulling, pushing, pressing. This will keep you functional and fit beyond your training sessions, classes and/or solo gym sessions.
• Your baseline metabolic rate is naturally lower, so it’s still important to strength train for an added boost (not to mention it helps ward off osteoporosis and makes joints stronger and more flexible).
• At this stage, there are likely physical imbalances that occurred throughout the years, so if you suspect there’s something off it’s important to correct those before starting a routine. If you’re unsure, consulting a trainer is a good bet.

Something to Note:
If you are going through menopause, the varying degrees of estrogen can do a number on your metabolism and waistline. Staying active can drastically improve this. PLUS, there’s a surge in oestrogen post-exercise that can help with those pesky hot flushes! Make sure to fit in at least three days per week of exercise.

Whew! There you have it – how to stay healthy at any stage of your life. I hope this post has inspired you to reach beyond your self-imposed limitations and see your potential. Being active is so much more than the scale and the mirror; it is, quite literally, LIFE affirming in so many ways. I hope you take this message to heart and start to see it as a vital form of self-care, even on those crappy days when you’d rather not do it. I’m rooting for you!

Now, I’d love to hear from you: what are some of your favorite exercises?

Until Next Time, 

Christina Sanghera

P.S. Ready to take things to the next level? Don’t think about – DO IT! We’re here to help with Season 15 of our Get Fit Challenge! Go here to join us before we sell out. We’re ready and waiting to help you lose weight, get rid of chronic ailments and feel your best EVER. Join locally in Sacramento or from anywhere in the world via our online program! 

About Inspired Wellness
We are a wellness movement aimed at cultivating greatness in all areas of life. We believe that everything is connected and that having the body of your dreams shouldn’t come at the price of your mental and emotional health. You CAN have it all; you just need some determination, grit and the desire to truly change your life!

Catch us locally in sunny Sacramento CA inspiring lives at our wellness center with fitness, nutrition and lifestyle programs, or online doing the same thing with our new online training site + community coming soon!

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