The Big Cardio Vs Strength Debate: What Women Over 60 Really Need When It Comes to Exercise

“Ignore the cardio machines and only do strength training.” “Only use a weighted vest for bone health.” “Walking is enough.” “Be careful when doing strength training because you have fragile bones.”

Are you now more or less confused about exercising during the midlife transition? Well, I don’t blame you. I would be too.

What you are about to read next is going to hopefully clear the fog and misconception and enormous confusion about strength and endurance training for women after 60.

Why Exercise Matters

Let me start you off with a few statistics to highlight the importance of exercise.

In the United States, cardiovascular disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined. About one in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. In 2022, 13.9% of Americans age 65 and older met both the aerobic guideline and the muscle-strengthening guideline in their free time. That was 16.8% at ages 65 to 74, 12.3% at 75 to 84, and 6.2% at 85 and older.

These are numbers that need to be taken seriously and you might imagine now: there is no one or the other, no magic pill and no shortcut.

Women over 60 need both strength and endurance training to protect heart, bones, muscle and with it: metabolism.

My name is Patricia Siegel, Sports Scientist, Personal Trainer and author of forthcoming Johns Hopkins book ‘THE MENOPAUSE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE TRAINING BLUEPRINT’, Spring 2028.

My goal is to clear the confusion on exercise for women in midlife with a clear blueprint and structure that is needed.

Let’s break down how you can structure strength and endurance training for the most benefit.

Endurance Training

This is the part that protects your heart from cardiovascular disease and burns most of your calories DURING the exercise. It can be broken into various intensity levels often measured by heart rate or perceived effort. The two main levels women over 60 should focus on are Zone 2 and Interval Training.

Zone 2 is defined as low intensity endurance training in which your body uses mostly fat as fuel and also has been labeled “conversational pace” effort. During the exercise you would be able to speak a few sentences but won’t be able to sing. It sits at a heart rate of about 60-70% of your max heart rate. To make it easier for you if you are newer to structured endurance training, the “talk test” is your best measurement. If you are unable to speak a few sentences, slow down – if you are able to sing, you have to pick up the pace a little bit.

Walking is a great entry point but know that walking alone at the same pace after 4-6 weeks won’t be enough anymore. You will need to pick up the pace, choose different and more challenging terrain or change your endurance modality to a slow jog for example. Our bodies are fascinating in the way they adapt, at any age.

Engage in Zone 2 training twice a week for about 35-45 minutes minimum.

The next pillar is interval training. Interval training triggers VO2 max adaptation, the maximum intake of oxygen during harder efforts. It is directly linked to longevity and can be structured in various ways. During interval training you will engage in a hard effort followed by a recovery period, repeated throughout a few sets.

You can be creative with it. What I like for beginners is a hard effort of about 30 seconds with an easy effort for about a minute, repeated 4-5 times. This can be progressed to longer intervals and shorter recovery time. Start here and practice it for a maximum of 1-2 times per week, not more.

Strength Training

Muscles and bones react to an ever-changing input/load by increasing in size. Women over 60 lose muscle mass due to the loss of estrogen, and it is imperative to stop the decline and maintain and gain muscle mass to protect bones and metabolism and simply be functional in life. An insurance policy.

The most straightforward principle when it comes to muscle is progressive overload. In a nutshell, it means setting progressive changes within your training routine which can mean more sets, more reps, heavier weight or a change in tempo of how you move the weight.

Aim for 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps, feeling you will have “two more reps” in the tank. Choose a weight that is challenging enough to achieve that. Aim for 3 days of strength training split into either two upper body and one lower body or 3 full body sessions.

Bones need an additional stimulus to adapt. Progressive Strength training helps bone density, but impact training needs to be added for the full benefit. This can be heel drops, skips, hops, jumps (if done safely). You can add these to your strength training days and not as a separate session.

Here Is an Example Week

Monday: Lower Body Strength

Tuesday: Zone 2

Wednesday: Upper Body

Thursday: Intervals

Friday: Zone 2

Saturday: Upper Body Strength

Sunday: Rest

I hope this clears a little bit of the confusion when it comes to exercising in midlife.

Let’s Hear from You:

What takes up most of your week right now? Are you able to structure a week like that or does something get in the way?