Move · 5 min read
Why your core changes after 40, and what to do about it
It isn't that you stopped trying. The rules changed. Here's the new rulebook.
Written by Michelle
If crunches used to work and now they just hurt your neck, you're not imagining it. As estrogen drops, we lose muscle faster, connective tissue gets less springy, and the deep core and pelvic floor need more deliberate attention than they did at 30.
What's actually going on
- Muscle loss speeds up, so strength work matters more than calorie burn.
- The deep core switches on more slowly, so you have to find it before you load it.
- Recovery takes longer, so shorter and more often beats long and brutal.
What I changed in my own training
I swapped two of my cardio days for strength, I stopped doing anything that made me hold my breath, and I started treating twenty focused minutes as a real workout. It is.
Keep reading.
All of the journal
Your first class is free
Reading is good. Moving is better.
Try a 22-minute Pilates class on the house. No card, no password.
ThenLiked the class? It's the first workout of four weeks, three a week.
See Core Years Foundations