With the best of intentions but armed only with the knowledge we got from decades ago, from yesterday on YouTube or AI, we could be doing it wrong. Exercises like these many women are getting wrong after 40, can change the trajectory of your aging and not only not be giving desired results but taking time and energy that could be placed somewhere with far better results.

I shared this with our community members months ago because the reactions were significant. So I wanted to expand the reach and perhaps give you a little insight to why you may be not only not getting the results you want but getting the opposite of desired results.

Knee Strengthening Exercises You May be Getting Wrong After 40

What you think is the problem: weak quads

What may really be the problem: weak glutes

Though some amount of knee isolation can be helpful (sharing a resource that won’t hurt and may help you), it’s three things that are often the issue:

• Tight hips
• Weak glutes
• Poor quad: hamstring ratio

To target tight hips: pigeon pose (I do mine on the Power Plate for added benefit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcPwOm-fF9Y

To target weak glutes: small isolative exercises are your first stop. If you go for squats, deadlifts, lunges or step ups without strong glutes, the wrong muscles will continually be doing the work. You’ll be reinforcing poor movement patterns. Don’t be afraid to back up and do some real “work” even if you can lift heavy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERU-ajYfEQ0

To isolate hamstrings: Try some very small movements, shorter range of motion and lighter weight (potentially just your leg) may be the first thing you do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxKSNP4zxgo

[I’m actually testing something new right now to help isolate hamstrings and improve gait that you may be interested in: .] If you are out of alignment, with rotated hips this may be a game-changer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iQrB5SF-9o&t=1335s

A big issue in strengthening the hamstrings is the hip flexors have a reciprocal activation.

That makes it challenging to improve hamstring strength because the stronger, and tighter, hip flexor will interfere. So though you’re doing a “hamstring exercise” you may not be improving the hamstring strength. That’s what made my experience with Protonics so important. You sit for hours, unless you’ve managed to figure out walking, standing or have a more active job.

Glute Exercises You May be Getting Wrong After 40

This I emphasized previously. The “big exercises” may not be recruiting enough of the right muscles if you haven’t gotten the neural activation optimized.

For our members, the Glute Challenge is inside the Flipping 50 membership and it pairs well with any of our 12-week strength programs, reinforcing results if glutes are a weak link.

Not a member yet? Perfect time to join!! Or you can find Glute Challenge here.

Low Back Exercises You May be Getting Wrong After 40

What you think is the problem: tight low back and weak abs/core

What is really the problem: tight hips and weak glutes and an overburdened lower back because of these.

The hip joint is supposed to be a mobile joint. Most of us are sitting too much, then may be attempting to exercise (yah us!) but not be releasing tight hip flexors and getting optimal strength and stretch in the hip or hamstring. The lower back is more or less a “victim” because any torque created due to lack of glute strength and hip mobility.

Running vs Walking for Exercise You May be Getting Wrong After 40

What we think we should do to get in shape faster: running

What may work better during peri (and post menopause): walking

Calorie for calorie, minute to minute running wins. But it was never about calories burned, it was about what the calories did to your hormones that matters.

Running in the middle zone (zone 3), is where most go wrong. It’s an intensity where, compared to lower movement or high intensity exercise there are few benefits and often more detriments.

If you love running, it feels good, puts joy in your heart, there is a way to include it. But if you think that running wins over walking for optimizing fat weight loss, it’s false.

For women, the biggest roadblocks to weight loss are

• lack of protein and overall calories to support the muscle needed
• too much cortisol worsening anabolic resistance
• long duration “cardio sessions”

High Intensity Workouts You May be Getting Wrong After 40

Going to bootcamp?

Just stop.

Do strength training. Do HIIT cardio sessions. Don’t do them together.

Don’t do them in addition to a full list of the rest of things!! You’re sabotaging your own results.

Coming up you’ll hear about the secret of timing during those HIIT (or SIT) workouts that could make all the difference.

Resources Mentioned:

The Ultimate Glute Challenge:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/the-ultimate-glute-challenge

Protonics:

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iQrB5SF-9o (For Debra’s confirmation)

Get it here: https://www.flippingfifty.com/protonics

for YouTube video… I want to be sure that we insert footage of the protonics demo and knee strengthening stretching, leg extension, me in a plank doing glute exercise, side plank snippets)

AND A QR code with the cover of the Glute Challenge book

Metabolism Makeover 2.0:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/mm2

Other Episodes:

12 Strength Training Mistakes in Menopause Robbing Your Results: https://www.flippingfifty.com/12-strength-training-mistakes-in-menopause

Do You Have a Dominant Side? Joint Pain Solutions I’m Using Right Now: https://www.flippingfifty.com/overcome-gut-issues

Changing Habits for 2025 Health Optimization: https://www.flippingfifty.com/changing-habits