Training for Menopause Fat Loss: What Women Over 35 Must Stop Doing
Training for menopause fat loss is different to what worked in your 20s and 30s. If you’re over 35, exercising regularly, eating well, and still not seeing change, the problem isn’t your effort. It’s your strategy.
Hormones shift. Recovery changes. Muscle becomes more important. And doing more cardio while eating less is no longer the answer.
Let’s look at what needs to stop.
I’m Amanda, a ‘nearly’ 54 year old coach, who is post menopausal, and trust me, I have tried it all! I have tried eating less, working harder, reducing carbs, adding more workouts, lifting heavier, taking supplements and yes some of these things work and are an important part of the equation, but let’s start with the ork the same at 45, 50, 60+
Eating less and moving more worked when hormones were different.
Now? It often backfires.
Why Training for Menopause Fat Loss Requires a Different Approach
Oestrogen plays a role in how we store fat, how sensitive we are to insulin and how well we recover from training. As levels fluctuate during perimenopause and decline post-menopause, the body becomes more reactive to stress and less forgiving of extreme dieting. Diets are not the answer.
Training for menopause fat loss means:
• Prioritising strength over endless cardio
• Supporting muscle retention
• Managing stress load
• Fuelling properly instead of under-eating
It’s not about trying harder. It’s about adapting smarter.
Stop Overtraining When Training for Menopause Fat Loss
More sessions do not equal better results.
When stress is already high from life, work, poor sleep or hormonal fluctuations, piling on high intensity workouts can increase cortisol levels. Elevated stress hormones can make fat loss harder, not easier.
Training for menopause fat loss requires:
• Progressive strength training
• Planned recovery
• Structured programming
• Rest days without guilt
You don’t need to annihilate yourself. You need to stimulate adaptation.
Undereating Is Sabotaging Your Menopause Fat Loss Results
Many women over 35 are still trying to eat less and move more.
Chronic under-fueling can:
• Reduce metabolic output ( I want to explain that further)
• Disrupt sleep
• Increase cravings
• Make recovery slower
• Encourage muscle loss
Muscle is your metabolic ally during menopause. Losing it makes fat loss harder.
When you consistently under-eat or over-stress your system, your body adapts to protect you. It thinks, “Energy is scarce. We need to conserve.”
So it:
• Lowers resting energy expenditure
• Reduces spontaneous movement (you fidget less, move less without realising)
• Slows certain hormonal signals
• Becomes more efficient at using fuel
In simple terms: your body becomes more economical.
You’re eating less… but your body is also burning less.
That’s why some women over 35 can be training hard, eating very little, and still not seeing fat loss. The system has downregulated to survive, not thrive.
Training for menopause fat loss means fuelling for performance and repair, not restriction.
Cardio Alone Will Not Drive Menopause Fat Loss
Sweating buckets feels productive. Watching calorie burn numbers feels validating.
But cardio alone will not reshape your body. As coaches we love it when you show us your stats, and tell us how effective our sessions are, but if this isn’t getting you closer to your goals, you need to look at the bigger picture.
Strength training:
• Improves insulin sensitivity
• Supports bone density
• Builds lean muscle
• Increases metabolic demand
• Changes body composition
Cardio has a place. But it cannot be the foundation of training for menopause fat loss.
Muscle must become the priority.
Stop Letting the Scale Measure Your Menopause Fat Loss Progress
The scale does not measure:
• Muscle gain
• Reduced inflammation
• Improved hormonal balance
• Better sleep
• Increased strength
You can look leaner, feel stronger and perform better while the scale barely moves. Personally I have been the same weight but dropped 2 clothes sizes from increasing muscle mass and fueling right. Read that again, it’s powerful and proves the scales are not the most important measurement of success.
Training for menopause fat loss is about body composition, not just body weight.
What Actually Works for Training for Menopause Fat Loss?
We shift from:
Exercising → Training
Eating “healthy” → Fuelling for adaptation
Doing more → Recovering better
Chasing burn → Building muscle
And that is exactly what I will you teach inside the Train for Change Workshop.
In this one-day deep dive, we cover:
• How to structure strength training properly
• How to fuel workouts for hormone support
• Why stubborn fat gain happens
• How to reduce stress load
• What your body needs now
If you’re ready to go beyond surface-level advice, you can register to receive full details about the Train for Change Workshop here.
Ready for Ongoing Support?
The workshop leads into our 8 Week Train for Change Programme, starting after Easter on 13th April, where you get:
• Structured strength programming
• Nutrition guidance for adaptation
• Weekly accountability
• Education around hormones and recovery
• Clear progression
This isn’t about extremes. It’s about training for menopause fat loss in a way that works for your body now.
If you’re tired of trying harder and getting nowhere, register to receive more information about the 8 Week Programme as soon as its launched. CLICK HERE
You don’t need more discipline.
You don’t need another food rule.
You need a smarter strategy for training for menopause fat loss.
And once you have that, everything starts to move.
IMPORTANT:
This information is for general education and is not suitable for anyone with serious health conditions or a current or past eating disorder.
