35+ who lift - how do you recover AND have a life?
36F, married, no kids. I’ve worked out most of my life, but mostly lighter home workouts, walking and stretching. About 6 months ago I started seriously lifting weights and holy shit - I LOVE what it’s doing to my body. I’m stronger, fitter, and seeing changes I never got before.
The problem is recovery is killing me. I eat pretty clean, prioritize protein, take creatine, magnesium, electrolytes, etc. But as I get stronger and lift heavier, recovery seems to get harder. Sometimes even two rest days between leg/glute workouts aren’t enough, and the day after a hard session I can be absolutely DEAD. I’ll end up skipping upper body, cardio, yoga, or even normal daily activity just to recover.
Right now I can get away with it because I work from home with an extremely flexible schedule and don’t have kids. Some days I can literally just sleep and rest. But I’m planning to have kids relatively soon, and it makes me wonder: how do women actually maintain serious strength training with full-time jobs, kids, a home, and normal life?
I’m completely fine with something like 4 strength days + 2 lighter walking/stretching days. I’m not trying to train 7 days a week. But sometimes the recovery knocks me down to barely 2 workouts.
Would genuinely love practical advice that still allows me to continue building my muscles but also manage a normal life.