For women 40+, high intensity exercise isn’t the answer anymore.

As we age, physiological changes occur that affect how our bodies react to exercise. The high intensity, often plyo-driven exercises that worked so well in our 20s and 30s no longer are the answer. Luckily, there is a way to adapt our approach to exercise that can still provide an intense workout with much greater results and greatly reduced risk of injury.

Let’s take a look at the reason why our old way of working out is no longer the answer.

Obviously as we age, our joints can’t handle what they used to, leading to a higher likelihood of injury and long recovery times, so for that reason alone we should consider changing what we do.

But there’s an even greater reason to adjust our approach to fitness. As we hit 40 and beyond, the way our bodies deal with stress changes. Our so-called fight or flight response kicks in much quicker, resulting in a spike in cortisol levels. This can be good in short spurts (such as an emergency situation), but has negative consequences if high for long periods of time. This leads to:

* Leptin resistance, which causes increased cravings, especially for comfort foods
* Insulin resistance, which makes it harder to lose weight, especially from around the middle
* Thyroid deregulation, leading to a slower metabolism

This stress response increases with age (fyi it increases nearly three times more with age for women than for men).

So what’s the answer? Do we have to stop working out hard? Luckily, The Teddi B Method ………