Can working out too much stop fat loss after menopause?

Nikkiey is blunt about this one: too much working out could be the reason you aren't seeing results. After menopause, she says, cortisol is already naturally higher, and adding more training stress pushes it up further. Elevated cortisol is the hormone she ties to storing fat, especially visceral abdominal fat. Her answer is that lowering stress by cutting back on training days will create more results, not fewer. The same logic is why she doesn't recommend lifting fasted and wants you eating enough throughout the day, because under-fueling is another stressor.

There is nuance. Answering a member named Cheryl, Nikkiey says it depends on your hormones. In her view it isn't true for women whose hormones are functioning normally, but it can be true for women with hormone fluctuations or naturally high cortisol. She is clear that this is outside her scope to prescribe, so work with your doctor to find out where you stand.

Overtraining also looks different than you might think. Nikkiey says anything outside your program is overtraining, because the workouts and cardio are built around a specific goal with progressive overload. If a day feels easy, the weights go up next week. Adding more can hurt your results, energy, recovery and sleep, and extra cardio while you're building muscle trains your body for endurance instead of strength. She shares the story of a member whose InBody scan showed her muscle mass dropping while she did six days of CrossFit, five days of WarriorBabe workouts and cardio every day. Nikkiey put that loss down to overtraining and skipping recovery.

If you've been doing more and getting less, it's the plan, not you.