Cardio or Weights After 35: What Should I Actually Be Doing?

Cardio or weights? Walk more or lift heavier? HIIT or Pilates? And apparently now we should all be doing something called Zone 2 as well.

No wonder women tell me they have absolutely no idea what they’re supposed to be doing.

There is so much fitness advice aimed at women, and somehow most of it manages to make movement sound far more complicated than it needs to be.

So if you’re wondering whether you should be doing cardio or weights after 35, my answer is probably less exciting than Instagram would like:

You don’t have to choose.

Strength training matters — but it doesn’t have to take over your life

I’m a big fan of strength training, particularly as we get older, because maintaining muscle and strength supports our health, independence and our ability to keep doing the things we want to do.

But that doesn’t mean you suddenly need to become someone who spends five evenings a week in the weights section of the gym.

A couple of well-planned strength sessions can be incredibly valuable, and strength training can look very different depending on what suits you. You might use dumbbells at home, resistance machines at the gym, a barbell, bodyweight exercises or a mixture of all of them.

It also doesn’t mean lifting the heaviest weight you can possibly find. The aim is simply to give your muscles enough of a challenge that they have a reason to adapt.

And, as with most things, the best version is the one you can actually keep doing.

Cardio still matters too

There seems to have been a strange shift online where weights are now presented as the “good” form of exercise and cardio is treated as though it is somehow less worthwhile.

I don’t agree with that either.

Walking, cycling, swimming, running, dancing or anything else that gets your heart and lungs working has huge value. Cardiovascular fitness matters for your health, your stamina and how capable you feel in everyday life.

So if you genuinely love getting on a bike, going for a run or heading out for a long walk, you do not need to stop because somebody on social media has decided women over 35 should only be lifting weights.

Movement really does not need another set of rules.

What are you actually trying to achieve?

This is the bit that often gets missed.

Before deciding which exercise is “best”, it is worth asking what you actually want movement to give you.

Maybe you want to feel stronger carrying shopping or luggage. Perhaps you want to walk up a hill without feeling completely wiped out, return to exercise after a long break, or simply feel more confident knowing what to do when you walk into a gym.

For some women, exercise is also one of the few things they do entirely for themselves and they simply want to enjoy it again.

Those are all valid reasons to move, and they may require slightly different approaches.

That is why there is no single perfect routine for every woman over 35.

More isn’t automatically better

This is where I think a lot of women get caught.

They decide they need to exercise more, so they create a plan that would require an entirely different life to maintain.

Five workouts a week can sound very achievable on Sunday evening. It can feel rather less realistic by Wednesday when work has overrun, somebody needs picking up and you’re exhausted.

Then one missed session becomes two, and suddenly it feels as though the whole week has gone wrong.

You do not need the perfect exercise routine. You need one that still works when life is normal — and normal life includes busy weeks, tired days, holidays, illness and the occasional complete lack of enthusiasm.

You’re allowed to enjoy it

Exercise does not have to be punishment for what you ate, compensation for a weekend or something that only “counts” if it makes you sweat enough.

Movement can support your strength, health, energy and confidence, but it can also simply be something you enjoy.

That matters more than people sometimes realise.

If you spend your whole time doing exercise you hate because you’ve been told it is the most effective option, you are far less likely to keep doing it.

Enjoyment is not a frivolous reason to choose one kind of movement over another.

So… cardio or weights?

Ideally, there is room for both strength and cardiovascular movement across your week.

But I would not start by trying to build the perfect programme.

I would start with:

What can I realistically do, and what would I actually like to keep doing?

For one woman, that might be two strength sessions and plenty of walking. For someone else, it might be weights twice a week and cycling at the weekend. If you are starting from very little movement, the first step may simply be rebuilding the habit rather than worrying about whether your routine is perfectly balanced.

There is no prize for creating the most impressive plan.

The aim is to find a way of moving that supports your health and your life rather than becoming another thing you constantly feel you are failing to do.

And if what worked for you five or ten years ago no longer fits your life now, that does not mean you have failed.

It might simply mean it is time to find something that does.

Want some help finding what works for you?

I work with women 35+ who want to feel stronger, fitter and more confident with movement without turning exercise into another all-or-nothing project.

Whether you need 1:1 Personal Training, a programme to follow more independently or support working out what movement fits your life now, we can start from where you are.

Find out more about Personal Training 

Not ready for PT yet? You can also find me on Instagram.