Are full body workouts better than body part splits for women over 40?

Nikkiey explains that after 40 your body is under a different kind of stress: hormones fluctuate, stress stacks up, and recovery isn't as fast. Hammer your legs with five exercises on Monday and limp around for three days, and you start skipping workouts, losing momentum and telling yourself you're not consistent enough. Her point is that it's the program that isn't built for you, not you. She lived this herself. When she went back to a bro split for a month, one leg day left her so sore for three days that she couldn't keep up her goal of running 8 to 10 miles a week.

The full body structure she uses is simple. Each session covers legs, glutes, back, chest, shoulders, triceps and biceps, one exercise per muscle group, with abs rotated in. Because she isn't saving energy for four more exercises on the same body part, she can push close to failure on that one movement. Each muscle then gets four to five days of recovery before it's trained again. She says the body responds well to that steady rhythm of stimulation and recovery, rather than extreme workouts followed by long gaps. It's also faster. Her old leg days ran an hour to an hour and a half, while a full body session takes her 45 to 50 minutes. WarriorBabe recommends this style for women in their 40s, 50s and 60s for faster recovery, better sleep and results.

The show also adds some nuance. On Ep. 64, Nikkiey says there's nothing wrong with bro splits, powerlifting or CrossFit, and she may still run a bro split block herself. If you thrive on splits and recover well, that's fantastic. Whatever style you choose, keep two things constant: strength training and progressive overload. And remember her reminder that soreness doesn't equal success. Progress does.