This is the body recomposition revolution.
I am a former personal trainer and educator for over a decade
who is obsessed with teaching women 35 plus how to finally
drop fat and completely reshape their bodies through science
backed nutrition and training protocols optimized to meet your
body's changing hormones. Classes in session.
Welcome back to the body Recomposition Revolution.
This is Robin, and today we are covering something that is
incredibly contentious to some and super confusing to everyone,
and that is what is better for burning fat, cardio or weight
training. There are so many opinions on
this, so we're just going to dive into the science and if you
have listened before, you know that every single time I start a
podcast episode, I start with a learning objective.
I do this because after I was a personal trainer, I was a public
school educator for upwards of 10 years and I know that it is
research based and proven that whenever you Start learning
about something new, to have the learning objective stated
clearly prior to engaging in the content primes your brain to
receive all the information that's about to come at you.
So today our learning objective is by the end of this episode,
you'll understand which type of exercise, cardio or strength
training burns more fat for women over the age of 35 and
exactly why your workouts need to shift as your hormones
change. To put it concisely, today we
are going to cover which type of exercise cardio strength burns
more fat for. Summary Actually, I know the
reason this topic really gets people heated.
I have so many runner friends that I admire deeply.
I they are true athletes. I try to run, I do run here and
there, but I use cardio strategically.
I also have many friends who are very opposed to cardio pretty
much in any form. Everyone has their opinions.
You know what they say, Everyone has their opinions.
They have their own goals, their own ideas of what is ideal both
athletically and aesthetically. But today we are going to dive
into the research through the lens of a woman post age 35
whose goal is to drop fat and gain muscle.
That is the route we are taking in identifying what cardio does
to our body, how we can do cardio strategically, and how we
can utilize weight training and cardio together to meet our
aesthetic goals. And in this podcast, again, that
is body recomp. We are trying to gain muscle.
We are trying to drop that. As a former teacher or a forever
teacher, as I like to think, one of my friends reminded me of
that recently. I truly believe in the mantra
that education is power, and it brings me so much joy to empower
women through education. I love to give you the why
behind what I'm asking you to do.
We're going to go through the science today.
The science behind why this topic matters and the reason why
cardio versus weight training is so imperative for us to examine
is most women are taught that fat loss is about burning
calories. So when they want to lose belly
fat, they jump straight to doing more cardio, more running, spin
classes, hours on the elliptical, walking, walking,
walking, running, running, running, going to never ending
classes, starving themselves. More, more, more, more, more.
And the assumption is that more sweat equals more fat loss.
Everything I just said is the opposite of what you should be
doing if you want to drop body fat, especially after age 35.
And I know that that approach might have worked when you were
2025 thirty. It doesn't work now.
It does not work because your body is different, your hormones
are different. It's responding to stimulus
differently. So when we approach fat loss
with our first instinct, which it is still my first instinct,
when I kind of put on a few pounds, I kind of want to tone
up. It is my first instinct to start
grinding away on the treadmill. I do it now.
I have to actively stop myself from overdoing it with cardio
because it is wired in US. It is wired in us to just see a
problem that we want to address. The problem being we're gaining
weight and to do whatever we need to do to get rid of it as
quickly as possible. We'll get up at 5:00 AM, go on
the treadmill for two hours, do it again in the afternoon until
you can burn all of those unwanted calories, burn all that
fat or just starve yourself. And that, that grin and bear it,
that that mentality is such a woman thing, you know, like we
will just do what needs to be done, even if it hurts, even if
it's not pleasant, because we know we need to do it.
We push through, we grind, we torture ourselves and it's just
we are everything to every but ourselves.
And you need to do this for yourself.
Listen, learn, embrace how your body is changing and give it
what it needs to be, everything you want it to be.
You deserve to have that body you work so hard to obtain, and
you deserve to do it in a way that is not going to damage your
metabolism, damage your joints, tear your body down to nothing,
and then it'll just come back bigger because you have no
metabolism to support the weight loss.
Your metabolism went in the tank, you literally ran it away.
So do this for yourself. Listen, learn.
Learn how to embrace how your body is changing and give it
what it needs. The methods we're going to go
over today are science backed. They are research based and they
are all about giving your body the fuel and recovery that it
needs to accomplish the aesthetic and athletic goals you
want to see. Because you deserve that.
Your body deserves to be taken care of and not crumpled outside
at 5:00 AM running away to nothing.
Because as women, you carry a lot on your shoulders and some
of you carry it loudly, some of you carry it quietly, some of
you carry it with the support of others.
And unfortunately, some of you carry it all alone.
And I have such a desire. I have such a desire to help
women understand how to feel confident and strong and how to
take care of their bodies. To reflect that.
I want every woman to feel comfortable taking up space,
filling her plate, feeling at peace in their body, whatever
that looks like, and to just make it happen by teaching you
how to strengthen that vessel that you are in.
Because I have been there. I have been all different shapes
and sizes. I have gone from 120 lbs to
almost £200. I know the emotional turmoil, I
know the heaviness that comes with being uncomfortable in your
body and it's reflected in every action.
Every thought, every interaction you have with anybody in your
day comes down to if you are feeling at peace in yourself.
So today we are going to go over how most women accidentally
start sabotaging their fat loss while they think they're doing
the right thing. And I am one of those women.
I am one of those women. I still do it to this day.
But after age 35, as your estrogen shifts, your metabolism
does slow down and your muscle building pathways change.
And that old calorie burn model that breaks down?
Let's start here with this all too common myth.
And the myth is cardio burns fat.
Well, this is a surface level truth that often misleads women.
It misleads me, it misleads my clients.
And up until the last year, have I really discovered why cardio
isn't doing the same thing that it used to do to my body when it
comes to trying to lose fat. So let's start with the truth
part of the myth that cardio is the best way to burn fat.
So truth. Yes, cardio burns calories, but
only during the cardio session itself.
Now, once you stop moving, the metabolic impact drops off.
Now, after we hit age 35, our estrogen levels tend to decline
just a bit with which has a small negative impact on our
muscle. OK.
Our muscle is our metabolic engine.
You need that muscle to continue fueling your metabolism.
But as that metabolism slows down inevitably with age, we try
to combat that with excessive cardio.
I've done it. I see all of my clients doing
it, doing it. They run, run, run thinking that
they are going to lose weight by doing that wrong.
Excessive cardio. And I don't just mean running.
I'm not coming at runners, love you runners.
I am coming at everybody who is jumping around in those fitness
classes five days a week, that's excessive cardio.
Everybody who's on the stair climber for an hour a day,
that's excessive cardio. On the treadmill every single
day, multiple times, that's excessive cardio.
So these long, arduous, intense running sessions that leads to
elevated cortisol. What is cortisol?
Cortisol is a stress hormone and that's stress hormone promotes
fat storage, especially in the abdominal area.
OK, rise in cortisol equals rise in belly fat.
High cortisol, high belly fat running lots of running equals
high cortisol unless you are combating it with eating enough
protein. So about one 1.2 grams of
protein per pound of ideal body weight and heavy strength
training. That's the only way you can
integrate running into your measurement because if you're a
runner, if you love running, by all means, keep running.
That's what life's about, is doing those things that you find
enjoyable, right? The things that you have
community in, friends in. I have clients who run, They're
amazing, but you want to know what they do now?
They lift heavy and they eat enough protein, and I watch
their bodies continue to gain muscle and drop fat and look
smaller and more toned than they've ever looked before.
So excessive cardio is not going to help you keep or build
muscle. The only thing that's going to
help you keep and build muscle is eating enough protein and
lifting heavy. And you need that muscle to keep
dropping fat. You need that muscle to build
underneath the skin to give you that toned look that you're
looking for. Without the muscle that you get
from lifting and eating enough protein, you're going to look
skinny fat. Even if you run away all your
body fat, your skin's going to be sitting on top of your bones
with no muscle underneath it. So you're still going to look
skinny fat. You want the toned look to get
that, you need muscle. Running's not going to get you
that. So All in all, remember when you
are running without doing those two things I just mentioned,
protein and lifting, you are burning calories at the cost of
your metabolism. Yes, you're going to burn 200
calories during that run, but your metabolism is now going to
crank down efficiency. It's not going to run like a
Buick. We want it to just be taking in
a ton of gas. Have it be this premium loaded
car, run smooth, looks good, but instead you're running like a
hybrid Kia of so I don't even know what you're doing, but
you're you're going nowhere fast.
Let's cover the science. So the science shift what
actually is happening inside your body after 35.
Now this doesn't happen to everybody after age 35.
I honestly haven't experienced much of this, but I have so many
friends and family who have that it has totally rocked my world
in terms of what women need to have that body they are working
so hard for in the gym. So after age 35, your estrogen
naturally it starts to decline a bit and that makes it harder to
build and maintain. And with that estrogen decrease
comes a cortisol sensitivity increase as well as your
insulin's sensitivity. That changes, and then your
muscle protein synthesis becomes harder to trigger, and all that
means is it's just harder to build muscle.
Now, I know you cardio Queens are feeling the same way I did
when I was learning that cardio isn't really doing me much good.
But there's a way to strategically integrate cardio
into your life where you can still have that chill time on
the treadmill, the stair climber outside, running in your class,
doing whatever you want to do because you enjoy it.
And that is as long as you are pairing it with weightlifting.
And let's talk on the timing with that.
So weightlifting needs to come before your cardio session if
you're doing them on the same day.
Weightlifting before cardio is so much more effective because
after age 35, we need to polarize.
Our training doctor, Stacey Sims always uses that word polarize.
And when you think of polarize, think of loud, shocking,
intense. We want to shock for
neuromuscular system. We want strong, intense
neuromuscular signaling in our lifting sessions, and we get the
strongest signals when our body is fresh.
That's why sleep is so imperative, but that's also why
we don't do cardio before we lift our heavy weights.
Do your 5-10 minute warm up on the whatever you want, but we're
talking about a full blown high intensity interval session
lasting like 20 minutes or more or some zone 2, maybe around 45
minutes. We will not be doing that before
weightlifting. We will be doing that after
weightlifting because if you are fatigued from your cardio
session, which you will be whether you feel it or not, that
dampens the signals we're sending to our nervous system.
And remember, we want to polarize those signals that we
are enforcing on our neuro system.
We need sharp, clear commands enough to generate force and
intensity while lifting to have that polarizing effect on our
muscles. We want that intense effect on
our muscles. We want to tear and RIP them.
But if we're doing our cardio first, our lifting sessions,
they're just, they're not going to be as potent.
I want to go back to the objective we have for this
episode. And that objective is By the end
of this episode, you'll understand which type of
exercise, cardio or strength training, which just means
lifting weights, burns more fat for women over the age of 35 and
why you need to shift your workouts as your hormones begin
to change, which happens after age 35.
O. Here is the truth.
Strength training builds muscle. Building muscle raises your
resting metabolic rate. Muscle is metabolically active
tissue muscle or lean mass that supports hormone health, insulin
sensitivity, and continuous fat loss.
And I can speak to this because back when I used to be a cardio
queen and the times that I've shifted into cardio queen mode,
I have to eat way less at all times just to stay lean and to
look skinny fat. Now that I have a solid
structure under my skin of muscle, I can eat almost twice
as much as I used to eat, and I still stay small, smaller, a
smaller pant size than I did when I was doing 10 times as
much cardio. That's nuts.
But it's because of the muscle I have that is a metabolically
active tissue that enables me to eat, to eat what my body needs.
So the more muscle that you have, the more fat you burn
around the clock, not just during your workouts.
With cardio, you're just burning calories.
During your workouts with muscle, you are burning calories
around the clock. Now, don't fret if you are a
cardio queen. There is a time, there is a
place, and there is a strategy to integrate cardio into your
regimen in a way that won't leave you with all the bad side
effects that I was rambling on about in this episode.
Because cardio is. It's a support role.
It's not the primary driver for fat loss.
It's not. It is a tool we use to help our
bodies lose fat along with muscle and protein intake, but
it's not the primary cause of fat loss.
OK, so here it is. Here is your clear research
backed breakdown of how cardio needs to change for you if
you're above the age of 35, especially if you're in
perimenopause or post menopause. Because at this point we need
intelligent, strategic cardio instead of those chronic long
sessions, those chronic hours you spend on the treadmill or
outside. We don't want to do that
anymore. We need to be strategic #1 high
intensity interval training, HIIT and Sprint interval
training, SIT. Those are the acronyms and I was
getting them mixed up. I recently had to just dive into
this and what is the difference here?
And there is a difference. So hit high intensity interval
training and SIT Sprint interval training.
These are time efficient, so they're fast and they are
hormone supportive and they are great for fat loss and muscle
preservation. They're going to to enable you
to keep the muscle that you're building when you're lifting
weights and eating enough protein.
So HIT is short bursts anywhere from like 30 to 90 seconds at
around 80 to 95% of your Max heart rate.
And then it's a short recovery. Now sit is even shorter and even
higher intensity at those peak intervals for only about 10 to
30 seconds. So for me, when I'm doing sit,
I'm almost at 180. My heart rate is almost at 180
for that 10 to 30 seconds. And then I need to wait a full 2
to 4 minutes so that I can completely recover so that I'm
back to baseline around like 1/21/10.
And that is the that is what Doctor Sims refers to when she
says polarized. Because that big discrepancy
between your Max all out intensity for 10 to 30 seconds
compounded with that going back to baseline, that's giving your
body huge shocks. Now you don't want to do that
for like 1/2 hour, no. So for your HIT, your high
intensity interval trainings, that is still intense, but just
a bit less intense than sit. If you're new to this, maybe
start with HIT and that's going to be 80 to 90% of your maximum
heart rate. So the total duration of your
HIT workout, 20 to 30 minutes, that's it.
And the working intervals, they're going to be about 30 to
90 seconds at 80 to 90% of your effort.
So when I say my Max effort, I'm going at about 172, that's
around 80 to 95, 90% of my Max heart rate.
OK, so I'm at around 172 for 30 to 90 seconds and then my
recovery is around 60 seconds. So the recovery ratio is 1 to
one, one minute of really high intensity and one minute off or
one to two, one minute of really high intensity and two minutes
off. Now you're going to do this HIT
workout for six to 10 rounds and then the frequency one to two
times per week. HIT is more moderate than sit.
It's still intense, but it allows a.
Bit more volume than sit still. It's best that you keep it short
to avoid big hormone disruptions and then sit Sprint interval
training, which is what I've been really into lately.
I love it It's only 12 to 20 minutes.
It's the high intensity 90 to 100% where I'm almost at 180 for
my heart rate that's only 10 to 30 seconds.
Anybody can do that recovery, 2 to 4 minutes.
I'm hanging out, I'm looking at my phone, I'm chit chatting with
my friend, 2 to 4 minutes, and then I'm back at it for 10 to 30
seconds. And you only have to do that
four to six times Max, 4 to 6 times Max.
The whole workout takes, as I said, 12 to 20 minutes, and you
want to do that one to two times per week.
So the reason why these workouts are short, these are
neurologically and hormonally demanding.
They are polarizing. So more than 20 minutes of sit,
there's no increased benefit to that.
It's just increased stress, which is the opposite of what we
want to do. Longer does not equal better at
this point in our life. It's just not it.
More is not more. When hormones are fluctuating.
The goal is stimulus, not stressed.
You should feel energized afterward and not completely
wrecked the way you are when you drop into an Orangetheory class
or when you're in some crazy fitness class where you're in
kind of like a 160 or like a zone 3 heart rate where you're
you're really busting the whole time and when you're done,
you're cashed. It was 45 minutes of absolute
torture. You're done.
That's not how you're going to feel after your high intensity
intervals. You're going to be like, that
was awesome on to the next part of my day.
Now, if you are a running girly or a biking girly or just
somebody who likes that chronic long duration steady state
cardio, OK, that's OK. It's not ideal because it
elevates your cortisol for too long, which promotes fat storage
and then it breaks down your muscle, it decreases your
metabolism. It really does, even though it
doesn't feel like it because you're working.
But if it's something that is enabling you to have a sense of
community and something you really enjoy doing, have that,
just have it like once a week, twice a week Max.
I have 3-4 clients that are runners.
They're amazing. They have been body recomping
for the whole year. They now have visible stomach
muscles. They do 1 temple run per week
and then one just like 1 long run, you know, at their pace.
So, so unless you really, really enjoy long distance running and
it helps with your mental health and just don't even worry about
doing it, you can still do your zone 2.
So zone 2 cardio. I'll have a whole episode of
that. I do that a couple times a week.
It's great. It's when I do a lot of work.
Just listen to podcasts, have my moment and then you're neat,
NEAT. Your non exercise activity
thermogenesis. That is where the most of the
majority of your calories are being burned during the day.
It's when you're walking around, you're doing light chores,
you're doing the dishes, you're vacuuming, you're getting to the
park, you're getting through the parking lot, your whatever, just
your natural movement. And if you just keep kind of
moving throughout the day, that does a world of difference in
terms of your calorie burn on a daily basis.
Here's a tip for you. If you, you have an Apple Watch
or a phone, which you do set a timer for every hour on the
hour. And when that timer goes off,
you know you need to get up and move for 5 minutes, do some air
squats, walk around the house, go put your laundry away, walk
out to the mailbox. Sometimes if, if I'm sitting for
a long period of time working on this podcast or what have you, I
have my timer on my watch. It will buzz and I will stand
up. I'll go downstairs, I'll take
the garbage out. There's always, it's a bag of
garbage. I know it needs to go out.
That's what I do. I get up and I move.
I like to have a strong meat because I don't like to do a lot
of cardio. OK, let's wrap this up.
So our hierarchy for women and what they're going to do for
cardio, so it's strategically working with you to drop fat
while keeping your muscle is Sprint intervals, sit or hit.
Do those one to two times a week.
OK #2 walking or low intensity movement.
That's like a zone two walk. Or maybe that's your long run
that you like to do. Done.
Do that one time a week, 2 * a week if you'd like.
Now, if you're a chronic jogger, stop doing that.
You can't do that anymore. You can only do it once or twice
a week. That's how you're going to keep
your metabolism up. That's how you're going to keep
your lean muscle. Be a runner, do your thing, have
your community, just don't do it more than twice a week.
And if you are that runner, I love, honor, respect you, but
make sure you are lifting. Make sure you are eating enough
protein. That's the only way that you can
keep the fat off and build the muscle at the same time as being
a runner. That loss after 35 is not about
working harder or doing more cardio.
It is all about working smarter with your hormones, with your
muscle, with your metabolism. And I have to tell myself that
every day. Actually, I have people who tell
me that a lot. I had one tell me that at the
gym today. You need to work with your body
and not against it. And that's exactly why I do what
I do because I love educating women and myself at the same
time on how to fuel, how to train and how to treat our body
in a way that is honoring them where they are now because they
are different now. And our strategies have to
reflect that. So thank you for tuning in.
You will hear from me in a couple weeks.