{"id":952294,"date":"2026-05-11T09:18:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/952294\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T09:18:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:18:27","slug":"too-much-cardio-after-40-why-womens-bodies-may-respond-differently-from-mens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/952294\/","title":{"rendered":"Too much cardio after 40? Why women\u2019s bodies may respond differently from men\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-size: inherit; list-style: none; -webkit-user-drag: none; overflow: visible; font-family: inherit; color: inherit; display: block;\">Cardio is excellent for heart health, circulation, lung function, and mental well-being. The problem begins when it becomes excessive and replaces everything else.<\/p>\n<p>Many women over 40 unknowingly enter a cycle of:<\/p>\n<p>Doing more cardio<br \/>Eating too little<br \/>Losing muscle instead of fat<br \/>Feeling constantly tired<br \/>Seeing fewer results<br \/>\u200b<br \/>Excessive cardio can increase cortisol, the body\u2019s primary stress hormone. When cortisol remains elevated for long periods, it may contribute to stubborn belly fat, fatigue, cravings, and disrupted sleep.<\/p>\n<p>\u200b<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9235827\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Research <\/a>published by the US Office on Women\u2019s Health notes that aging women naturally lose muscle mass over time, making strength preservation especially important after 40.<\/p>\n<p>This is where many traditional fitness plans fail women. They focus heavily on calorie burning but ignore muscle protection.<\/p>\n<p>Muscle matters far more than many people realise. It supports metabolism, balance, blood sugar control, bone strength, and long-term mobility. Losing it too quickly can make aging physically harder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cardio is excellent for heart health, circulation, lung function, and mental well-being. The problem begins when it becomes&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[265835,265832,1630,105,16,15,265831,265834,265833],"class_list":{"0":"post-952294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-best-exercises-for-women","9":"tag-exercise-and-women","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-women-and-exercise","15":"tag-women-in-40s-exercise","16":"tag-women-in-their-40s"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116555199762803947","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}