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From 1 episode and 4 videos

What exercises should a full body workout for women over 40 include?

Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated

The short answer

Nikkiey's full body workouts draw from joint-friendly staples: Smith machine or pendulum squats, hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, seated leg curls, rows, lat pulldowns or assisted pull-ups, incline presses, cable lateral raises, overhead tricep extensions and curls. Each session you pick one per muscle group, usually six or seven exercises, and push each one hard.

Hear Nikkiey answer it

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  1. Nikkiey walks through her joint-friendly gym exercises, muscle group by muscle group

    Plays from 2:24 · Video: Joint-Friendly Full Body Gym Workout for Women Over 40

  2. The order she trains muscle groups and why six to seven exercises is enough

    Plays from 3:45 · Video: How to Structure a Full Body Workout in Menopause

  3. On Ep. 64, what a full body training day actually looks like for Nikkiey

    Plays from 28:23 · Ep. 64: Full Body Workouts vs Bro Splits: Which Is Better After 40?

  4. A dumbbell version built around step-ups and exercises that spare the joints

    Plays from 1:15 · Video: 6 Joint-Friendly Exercises to Build Muscle After 40

  5. The weekly rules: one leg move a day, overload, warmups and accessory work

    Plays from 6:32 · Video: Full Body Workout Routine for Women Over 40: 4-5 Days

The full answer

Nikkiey's structure is simple: one strong exercise per muscle group, in roughly this order: legs, glutes, back, chest, shoulders, then triceps and biceps. Abs get rotated in every other session rather than every day. She says the minimum is about five to seven movements, and with focus and tight rest periods the whole workout fits into 45 to 60 minutes. Because it's the only exercise that muscle gets that day, she goes all in and pushes close to failure instead of saving energy for four more moves on the same body part.

On Ep. 64, Nikkiey explains that she often opens with a compound lift such as squats, a chest press, a barbell row or an overhead barbell press, then works through the remaining muscle groups. Legs show up every day because they're a big muscle group that drives energy expenditure. In her 4-5 day routine video she adds a few non-negotiables:

  • Progressive overload on compound lifts like deadlifts, squats and hip thrusts
  • An intentional warmup, which she calls an injury prevention tax
  • Accessory volume for shoulders, triceps and back, often lagging areas after 40
  • Core and balance work to protect your spine and posture

The exact exercises depend on your setup. Her gym version leans on machines and cables chosen for joint support, like seated leg curls over lying ones and incline presses that are easier on the shoulders. Her joint-friendly dumbbell version swaps in step-ups instead of squats or lunges, dumbbell bench press instead of push-ups, inverted pull-ups to build toward full pull-ups, and dumbbell front raises.

If hammering one body part has left you too sore to show up, Nikkiey's point is that it's the program, not your consistency. Spreading the work across the week gives each muscle steady stimulus and real recovery.

From Nikkiey Stott and WarriorBabe's coaching. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.

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