Why I’ve changed the way I combine lifting and conditioning through perimenopause
Should you do strength and cardio in the same workout after 40? Here’s how my own answer to that question has changed.
For years, strength and conditioning went hand in hand for me.
I come from a CrossFit background, and I absolutely loved that style of training. I loved lifting heavy, conditioning hard, combining the two and seeing what my body was capable of.
I trained that way because I genuinely loved feeling incredibly fit and strong. I loved being challenged, I loved getting better at things, and being lean was really just a happy bonus that came along with it.
For a long time, that style of training worked brilliantly for me. But right now, in this season of perimenopause, something has changed. I simply don’t have the same amount of energy to throw at every workout that I used to.
Maybe that changes again one day, and I genuinely hope it does. But I’ve realised that training the way I did ten years ago just isn’t working for me anymore.
I still want to be strong. I still want to be incredibly fit. I still love feeling challenged. I just need to get there differently.
Building Muscle Has Become a Much Bigger Priority
This has probably been the biggest realisation for me over the last year.
I’ve always had a good amount of muscle from years of training, and I’m incredibly grateful for that. But through perimenopause I’ve noticed some pretty significant changes in my body.
I feel softer than I used to. My shape has changed. And this has happened despite the fact that I’m still someone who trains consistently three or four times a week, walks every day and generally lives a very active life.
For a while I think it was easy to assume that if I was still exercising hard and doing plenty of conditioning, I was covering all my bases. But I’ve realised that isn’t necessarily true.
If what I want is more muscle, more shape and that lean, athletic look I’ve always felt most comfortable with, then simply doing more conditioning isn’t going to create that for me.
I actually need to build muscle. And that requires proper resistance training.
Research supports what many women notice through this stage of life. The menopausal transition can be associated with changes in body composition, including reductions in lean mass and increases in fat mass and central fat distribution, sometimes without a dramatic change on the scale.
That has really changed the way I look at my own training.
I’m less interested in asking, “Did I work hard today?” and much more interested in asking, “Did I actually give my muscles the kind of training they need to grow?” Those are not always the same thing.
Why Proper Resistance Training Matters So Much to Me Now
When I say proper strength training, I’m talking about giving the muscles enough resistance and enough quality work to actually create a reason for them to adapt.
That means using weights that genuinely challenge me, repeating movements often enough that I can track progression, and gradually increasing the demand over time.
It also means allowing enough recovery within the workout that I can use those challenging weights properly.
That is quite different from picking up a pair of dumbbells and moving quickly through a workout simply because the workout happens to contain weights. Both styles can be useful, but they don’t necessarily produce exactly the same training effect.
Resistance training has consistently been shown to improve strength and body composition in women, including increases in functional muscle mass and reductions in fat mass. A recent large review found those benefits in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
And for me, that is the piece I feel I need to put much more emphasis on right now.
I’m not looking at the softness I’ve noticed in my body and thinking I just need to make the scale go down. That isn’t the whole answer.
I want to rebuild and preserve the muscle that gives my body more shape, firmness and that athletic look I personally love.
Conditioning Is Still Important, but It Isn’t Going to Do That Job for Me
This doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly gone off conditioning. Not even close. 😂
I still love it. I love feeling fit. I love pushing myself. I love the feeling of having really challenged my cardiovascular fitness.
But I’ve stopped assuming that because I’ve done a hard conditioning workout, I’ve also done everything I need to build muscle. That’s the difference.
A hard MetCon or HIIT workout with weights can absolutely challenge your muscles. It can be a fantastic workout. But if building muscle is one of my biggest priorities, I also need training where that is the actual focus.
That’s one of the reasons I brought GFG Lifts back.
I wanted somewhere I could focus much more deliberately on hypertrophy-style training, with repeated sets, challenging weights, accessories and enough recovery to actually perform the work well.
And I think this week is a perfect example of how both styles can fit.
This Week Is a Perfect Example
I’ve released two very different workouts this week.
Over on GFG Lifts, there’s my new Upper Body Pull Day.
That workout has a very clear goal. We’re training the back and biceps with focused strength work, repeated sets and targeted accessory exercises.
I’m not worried about keeping your heart rate elevated throughout the workout. I’m far more interested in whether the muscles we’re training are actually being challenged enough to create progress.
Then on Garage Fitness Girl, I’ve released my Barbell Strength + SIT Workout.
That workout gives me something different. I still get proper resistance work, but I also get short, hard sprint intervals that challenge my cardiovascular fitness.
And right now, that combination works incredibly well for me because I still get that conditioning fix I love without needing to turn the entire session into a long, relentless high-intensity workout.
SIT Has Been a Bit of a Game Changer for Me
One of the hardest things for me through perimenopause has been accepting that my energy just isn’t where it used to be.
Long, hardcore conditioning sessions used to be something I could throw myself into regularly and recover from. Right now, I can’t. At least not without feeling like the cost is far greater than it used to be.
What I’ve found with SIT is that I can work really hard for a very short period, recover, and then get back to the strength work. That suits my body incredibly well right now.
I still get to feel athletic. I still get to push myself. I still get a proper cardiovascular challenge, but I don’t finish feeling like I’ve completely emptied the tank.
And importantly for my current goals, I still have enough energy to make the lifting worthwhile. That balance has been huge for me.
So Should You Do Strength and Cardio in the Same Workout After 40?
Sometimes. There is nothing inherently wrong with combining them.
Research on concurrent training shows that resistance and aerobic exercise can coexist within the same overall program, and combining the two can improve cardiovascular fitness while still supporting strength and body-composition outcomes. Research in postmenopausal women has also found small improvements in body composition and metabolic health from concurrent training.
But that doesn’t mean every workout needs to contain both. That’s the part of my own training that has changed.
There are days when I want a proper hypertrophy session and I’m perfectly happy to let it be exactly that.
If building muscle is the goal of the session, I want to use enough resistance to really challenge the muscles, get enough quality sets in, and recover well enough that the next set is still productive.
I’m no longer worried that a workout somehow wasn’t hard enough because I wasn’t breathless throughout it.
Then there are other days when combining the two makes perfect sense. That’s where Strength + SIT works so well for me.
I can still prioritise the lifting, add short doses of hard conditioning, and get the best parts of both without feeling like I’ve spent the entire session battling fatigue.
I Also Don’t Need Every Bit of Cardio to Be Hard
I walk every day. It’s not exciting, but it has become a really important part of how I train.
It gives me regular movement and aerobic work without adding another demanding recovery load.
Then when I want harder conditioning, I can use SIT or another interval session strategically rather than feeling like I need to smash myself every day to stay fit.
At the moment, that combination feels far better for me than trying to recreate the way I trained in my 30s.
What My Training Looks Like Now
My training isn’t based around one perfect formula. I’m working with the body and energy I have right now.
That means I want proper hypertrophy-focused strength sessions in my week because building and preserving muscle is a priority.
I still enjoy workouts that combine strength and conditioning, especially when they’re structured in a way that lets me genuinely lift rather than simply race through the weights.
I sometimes finish a strength session with short sprint intervals because that’s a very manageable way for me to maintain the conditioning I love. And I walk every day.
The biggest difference is that I’m no longer trying to get everything from the same style of workout.
If Your Body Is Feeling Softer After 40
This is something I think a lot of women will relate to.
You can still be exercising. You can still be fit. You can still be consistent. And yet your body can look very different from the one you were used to.
That doesn’t automatically mean you simply need to lose more weight.
The menopausal transition itself is associated with changes in body composition, including loss of lean mass and shifts in where body fat is stored.
For me personally, that’s been an important distinction. My goal right now isn’t just to get lighter.
I want more muscle. I want the shape that comes from muscle. I want to feel firm, athletic and strong again.
And while nutrition obviously matters enormously for body composition, I can’t diet my way into more muscle. That part requires resistance training.
A 2026 systematic review of resistance training in women found improvements in muscle mass and reductions in fat mass across both premenopausal and postmenopausal groups, which is a pretty good reminder that women absolutely can still build and improve their body composition as they get older.
So Where Does Cardio Fit?
I don’t think the answer is to throw cardio out.
Cardiovascular fitness matters enormously for health, fitness and quality of life. And personally, I don’t want to give up the feeling of being well conditioned.
What I’ve changed is the hierarchy. Muscle-building work now gets protected space in my week. Conditioning fits around that.
Sometimes that means it happens in a completely separate workout. Sometimes it means a Strength + SIT session. Sometimes it’s a few short intervals after my lifting.
And a lot of my lower-intensity aerobic work simply comes from walking.
For where I am right now, that feels like a much better balance.
This Season of Training Looks Different
I haven’t stopped wanting to train hard. I haven’t stopped loving conditioning. And I certainly haven’t lost the part of me that enjoys a challenge.
I’ve just had to become much more strategic about where I spend my energy.
Right now, proper hypertrophy training gives me the muscle-building stimulus I’m looking for. Walking gives me consistent movement and aerobic work. SIT gives me the harder conditioning I still genuinely enjoy, but in a format my body seems to recover from far better.
Maybe that changes again. I hope my energy comes roaring back and I find myself wanting more of the hardcore conditioning I used to love.
But for now, I’m not trying to force my body back into an old style of training just because it once worked for me.
I’m finding a new way to get the things I still care about.
Muscle.
Fitness.
Strength.
And feeling like myself.
Try Both Approaches With Me
If you’d like a proper muscle-focused lifting session, try my new Upper Body Pull Day on GFG Lifts.
👉 [WATCH UPPER BODY PULL DAY]
And if you’re like me and still love your conditioning, try my new Barbell Strength + SIT Workout.
You’ll get focused strength work followed by short sprint intervals, and there are dumbbell alternatives throughout if you don’t have a barbell.
👉 [WATCH BARBELL STRENGTH + SIT]
You don’t necessarily have to choose between lifting and conditioning. But if building muscle is the goal, make sure you’re actually giving your muscles the training they need.
Penny x
