35 Min Perimenopause Strength Workout for Women Over 40

You Can Finish a Perimenopause Strength Workout Feeling Better Than When You Started

This low impact perimenopause strength workout is one I made for myself during a week when I honestly didn’t have much left in the tank.

I’m right in the thick of my symptoms at the moment. My energy has been really low these last couple of weeks, and the thought of jumping around for half an hour was absolutely not happening.

But I still wanted to train. I wanted to lift something heavy, get a bit of a sweat on and actually feel like I’d done something. So I built this.

Six supersets, every major muscle group, some balance work, a few of those smaller stabilising muscles we tend to forget about, and a deep core finisher at the end. And not a single jump anywhere.

It’s one of those workouts where you finish knowing you’ve worked, but you actually feel better than when you started. Grab three sets of dumbbells. Let’s go.

What You’ll Gain From This Perimenopause Strength Workout

Here’s what this perimenopause strength workout gives you:

• ✔️ Full body strength across every major muscle group in 35 minutes
• ✔️ Zero jumping, so you can train hard without adding unnecessary impact
• ✔️ Balance and single leg work that carries over into everyday life
• ✔️ Stabilising muscle work through the shoulders, hips and glutes
• ✔️ A deep core finisher that goes well beyond another round of crunches

Workout Overview

Why This Perimenopause Strength Workout Format Works for Women Over 40

Strength helps protect the muscle we naturally start losing. From our late thirties onwards, maintaining muscle becomes more important, and the hormonal changes that come with perimenopause can make that even more challenging.

Muscle matters for strength, bone health, metabolism and simply staying capable as we get older. That’s why this workout is centred around resistance training rather than turning everything into bodyweight cardio.

Supersets let us get a lot done without spending all day training. They’re probably my favourite workout format because they’re so efficient. You pair two exercises together with only a short rest, so while one muscle group gets a break, something else is working.

Your heart rate stays up, the workout keeps moving and you can get a proper sweat on without needing to jump around the room.

Low impact does not mean easy. It simply means we’re taking the jumping and pounding out of the workout. The squats, lunges, deadlifts and heavier dumbbells can absolutely stay.

I want to make that distinction because low impact is so often presented as the beginner option, and that isn’t how I train or how I program these workouts.

I make them for women who still want to work hard but don’t necessarily want, need or tolerate loads of jumping anymore. Maybe you’ve been training for years. Maybe your joints aren’t loving the impact.

Maybe your energy is low. Or maybe you’ve simply decided that jumping around isn’t necessary for you. You’re not stepping down your training. You’re just choosing a different way to create the challenge.

There are modifications on screen, so beginners can absolutely join in too, but this perimenopause strength workout was designed to give experienced exercisers something substantial without the impact.

And on the weeks when your energy has completely bottomed out, that can be exactly what you need. Consistency over intensity. Strong and energised, not exhausted.

The Full Perimenopause Strength Workout

Warm Up

1️⃣ Squat + Reach
2️⃣ Alternating Reverse Lunge + Reach
3️⃣ Good Morning + Reach
4️⃣ Plank Walkout

Every superset below runs for 2 rounds at 45 seconds work and 15 seconds rest, with 15 seconds rest between supersets.

Superset 1

1️⃣ Sumo Squat | 8kg/17.5 lbs
2️⃣ Alt Shoulder Press | 8kg/17.5 lbs

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 15 seconds before the next superset

Superset 2

1️⃣ Kickstand Deadlift Knee Drive (L) side | 10kg/22 lbs
2️⃣ Kickstand Deadlift Knee Drive (R) side | 10kg/22 lbs

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 15 seconds before the next superset

Superset 3

1️⃣ Rotating Row | 8kg/17.5 lbs
2️⃣ Wall Sit + Bicep Curl | 6kg/12.5 lbs

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 15 seconds before the next superset

Superset 4

1️⃣ Chest Press | 10kg/22 lbs
2️⃣ SL Hip Thrust (L) side | 10kg/22 lbs
3️⃣ SL Hip Thrust (R) side | 10kg/22 lbs

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 15 seconds before the next superset

Superset 5

1️⃣ One DB Front Raise | 8kg/17.5 lbs
2️⃣ Reverse Lunge Swing | 6kg/12.5 lbs

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 15 seconds before the next superset

Superset 6

1️⃣ Chest Fly Leg Lowers | 6kg/12.5 lbs
2️⃣ Side-Lying Clamshell (L) side | 6kg/12.5 lbs
3️⃣ Side-Lying Clamshell (R) side | 6kg/12.5 lbs

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 15 seconds before the next superset

Deep Core Finisher · 2 rounds at 30 seconds work and 10 seconds rest

1️⃣ Bear Hover Hold
2️⃣ Bird Dog (R to L)
3️⃣ Bird Dog (L to R)
4️⃣ Modified Hollow Hold
5️⃣ Plank Hand Walk

Workout Complete 🔥 Burn ~277 Calories

Exercises Worth Calling Out

Wall Sit + Bicep Curl. This one looks fairly innocent written down. It isn’t. 😂 Your legs are already working just to hold the wall sit, and because your body is fixed in position there’s very little room to cheat the curl with momentum.

Your biceps have to do the work. Get your thighs as close to parallel as feels comfortable and try to hold that position for the full 45 seconds.

Kickstand Deadlift Knee Drive. I love a kickstand deadlift because you get a lot of the benefits of single leg work without spending the entire set trying not to fall over. That means you can actually load the exercise properly.

The knee drive at the top adds another balance challenge, which is something I think is really worth continuing to train as we get older. Bring the knee through with control rather than swinging it up.

Chest Fly Leg Lowers. This gives you upper body and core work at the same time. As your legs lower, your lower back will naturally want to lift away from the floor.

Your job is to keep control through your core and only lower the legs as far as you can while maintaining that position. If that means your range is smaller, that’s completely fine. The range can improve as you get stronger.

Trainer Tips

• ✔️ Choose a weight that makes the final 10 seconds feel genuinely challenging. You shouldn’t be cruising to the buzzer
• ✔️ Get all three sets of dumbbells out before you press play because the rests are short
• ✔️ On the single leg hip thrusts and clamshells, focus on the squeeze rather than rushing through the reps
• ✔️ During the deep core finisher, quality matters more than simply hanging on. Drop to your knees for the plank hand walk if you start losing your position
• ✔️ If your energy is flat, reduce the weight before automatically deciding to skip the workout

Who This Perimenopause Strength Workout Is Perfect For

This low impact perimenopause strength workout is especially useful when your energy can feel completely unpredictable.

Maybe your energy has bottomed out. Maybe your joints aren’t particularly enthusiastic about impact right now. Or maybe the thought of doing a high intensity jumping workout makes you want to close the laptop before you’ve even started.

You still want to lift. You still want to feel strong. You just don’t want your workout to wipe you out for the rest of the day.

It’s also a really solid option if you simply want a full body strength session without jumping.

Shift workers, anyone training early in the morning, people working out in an apartment with neighbours downstairs, or anyone who prefers to keep impact out of their training can all get plenty from this format.

Save This Perimenopause Strength Workout

I’ve made you a workout card for this one too.

You can fill in your weights on screen and save it, or print it out and write everything in by hand. Either way, you’ve got the whole workout laid out in front of you without needing to keep pausing the video.

👉 Low Impact Strength Workout Card | Interactive PDF

Want a Full Month of Training Like This?

If this is the kind of training your body is asking for right now, Low Impact Max Out gives you 28 days of it.

It’s joint friendly strength and conditioning planned out for you day by day, without a single jump anywhere in the plan. Squats and lunges stay in because they were never the problem. The jumping was.

Every workout links directly to the video, and every box is a real fillable field, so you can log your weights and tick off each workout on your phone while you train. Or print the whole thing out and fill it in by hand. Whatever works.

👉 Free 28 day calendar: https://mailchi.mp/garagefitnessgirl/low-impact-max-out
👉 Full plan, every workout linked, fillable logging, $17: https://buymeacoffee.com/pennyb/e/564445

What to Try Next

👉 35-Minute No Repeat Full Body Strength Workout for Women Over 40
👉 35-Minute Knee-Friendly Strength Workout | Standing, No Repeat
👉 35-Minute Full Body Strength Workout | Compound Lifts with Dumbbells

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this workout suitable for perimenopause?

Yes. In fact, I made this perimenopause strength workout while very much living through it myself.

Strength training becomes especially valuable through perimenopause because maintaining muscle and bone becomes more important as we age. The low impact format also gives you a way to keep training hard on the days when adding loads of jumping simply doesn’t feel like the right choice.

What weight dumbbells should I use?

I used 6kg/12.5 lbs, 8kg/17.5 lbs and 10kg/22 lbs.

If you’re newer to lifting, start lighter and build from there. My usual test is simple: by the final 10 seconds of the interval, the weight should feel challenging enough that you’re very happy to hear the buzzer.

Can I do this workout as a beginner?

Yes. Use lighter dumbbells, take the modifications shown on screen and, if you need to, complete one round of each superset instead of two.

You don’t need to change the whole workout. Just adjust the load and volume to suit where you’re at.

How many calories does this workout burn?

I burned roughly 277 calories, but calorie burn can vary enormously depending on your body size, the weights you use and how hard you’re working. Treat that number as a rough guide, not something you need to chase.

How often should I do this perimenopause strength workout?

Two or three full body strength sessions a week can work really well, particularly if you’re allowing recovery between them.

If you’d rather have the month planned out for you, my free Low Impact Max Out calendar does exactly that, with every workout chosen for you.

Do I need a gym?

No. Three sets of dumbbells, a mat and a little bit of wall space is all you need.

Is low impact the same as knee friendly?

No, and this is an important distinction.

Low impact means there’s no jumping, but exercises like squats and lunges can still be included. My knee friendly workouts remove squats and lunges as well.

This workout is low impact, not knee friendly, so if squats and lunges are currently an issue for you, one of my knee friendly sessions will be the better choice.

Give this perimenopause strength workout a go and let me know how you find it in the comments on YouTube.

And I want to know which superset gets you, because I have a feeling that wall sit might have something to say. 😂

Consistency over intensity. Strong and energised, not exhausted. Always. 🔥

Penny x