Stop Telling Women to Stop Exercising. Period.

There's a narrative spreading through the perimenopause wellness space right now. And I need to push back on it.

Stop doing cardio. Stop doing HIIT. Quit running. Give up yoga.

Women over 40 are being told, from a lot of directions right now, to stop.

And I think it's wrong.

The Problem With "Stop"

There is almost no scenario where telling a woman to stop moving is good advice.

Running is good for you. HIIT is good for you. Yoga is good for you. Dancing, cycling, hiking — all of it. Good.

The question isn't "should I stop this?" The question is "what is this actually giving me — and what isn't it giving me?"

Those are completely different questions. And confusing them is doing real harm.

Should Women Over 40 Stop Cardio? Here's the Truth

Should women over 40 stop cardio? No. But here's what actually changes.

We lose muscle mass faster. Bone density faster. Our fast-twitch muscle fibres — power, explosiveness, reaction speed — are the first to go. And this isn't purely hormonal. It's age-related. It happens to men too.

What addresses it most directly? Strength training.

Not instead of everything else. Alongside it.

I have a student in her fifties — strong, fit, consistent. She does intense cardio, strength trains, does yoga. Nobody should be telling her to stop doing her cardio or her yoga.

But if you're moving regularly and something has quietly shifted — less explosive than you used to be, a little weaker, less confident in your body — the answer isn't to stop.

It's to add.

What I Learned the Hard Way

For years I was deep in one discipline. Really deep. The kind where you go all in, train with the best teachers, and start to absorb the philosophy around it — including the part that says this is all you need.

I believed it. The way I always do when an argument is convincing. I went for it.

And then I noticed something. Certain things were easier than they'd ever been. But I was also getting less powerful. Less explosive. Something that used to feel natural started feeling uncertain.

I didn't connect it immediately. I just knew something had shifted.

Then came the hip pain. Constant.

So I started pulling at the thread — because I don't accept things at face value for long. I feel my way through them. I dig.

What I found: years of beautiful movement, and almost no progressive strength underneath it. A body that could move well and wasn't strong enough to support itself under real demand.

I added strength training. The pain went away.

And then something else happened that I hadn't expected.

I felt confident again. In my body. In what it could do.

Not just stronger. More certain.

I hadn't expected that part.

What This Means

If you love running — run. If cardio makes you feel alive — do it. If yoga has been your practice for twenty years — keep going.

Just ask yourself honestly: do I feel as strong and explosive as I did a year ago? Are my bones getting the load they need?

If yes — great. Change nothing.

If you're not sure — don't stop. Add strength training alongside what you're already doing.

Keep moving. Always keep moving. Just add what's missing.

The Formula That Works

This is the formula I come back to time and time again. For me, for my students, for women who are already moving and want to add strength properly.

I add other things around it — surfing, HIIT occasionally, SIIT. But this is the foundation. This is what works.

3 × 15-minute compound strength sessions per week Short, focused, progressive. The movements that train your fast-twitch fibres, build bone density, and create real strength. Not complicated. Not long. But done consistently and close to failure — this is where the change happens.

1 × 45-minute Strength x Pilates session per week This is where strength meets body intelligence. Compound movements with Pilates precision — core control, active mobility, end-range strength. Not passive flexibility. The kind of mobility that holds under load.

Walking Daily. Outside. This isn't cardio. It's nervous system regulation, hormonal support, and the aerobic foundation the research says matters for longevity.

And if you love your runs, your HIIT, your swim — keep them. This formula works alongside whatever you're already doing. It doesn't replace it.

Total strength training: 90 minutes per week. Exactly what the Harvard research identifies as the sweet spot for women over 40.

This Is What StrongSculpt Is

In September I'm launching StrongSculpt — the compound strength part of this formula, built as a standalone programme. Progressive Strength 3 x 15 Minutes + Strength x Pilates 45 minutes. That's 90 minutes a week. Less than 1.5% of your week.

Progressive. Compound. Designed specifically for women who already move well — who've done yoga, Pilates, running, sport — but are beginners in training with weights.

Not beginners in their bodies. Beginners in load.

Because the answer to "should I stop cardio?" is almost never yes.

Add strength. Do it intelligently. Do it consistently.

StrongSculpt launches in September. Add your name to the waitlist here:

→ soulsculptmethod.com/strong-sculpt-wait-list

♡ Shaini

Shaini Verdon is the founder of SoulSculpt Method. E-RYT 500, Pilates instructor, NASM Women's Fitness Specialist, FRC Mobility Specialist. Based in Cantabria, northern Spain.