Unfortunately, you can be working out and doing all the right things on paper, and still not have the results show up in your body in the way you expect.
Sometimes, you’re showing up, moving regularly, lifting weights, and working hard to squeeze in workouts on a busy schedule - doing all the things you think should work. And yet, you’re still not seeing results. Not on the scale, not in the mirror, not in the way your clothes fit, and not in your confidence either.
This is one of the most frustrating places to be: doing “all the right things” and quietly wondering why nothing seems to be changing. And here’s the thing: most women in midlife aren’t experiencing this because they aren’t consistent enough. It’s that consistency alone is no longer enough to drive meaningful change.
Past Beliefs
You can be working hard three to five days per week, rarely miss a session, and still feel stuck if the work you’re doing isn’t giving your body the right signal. A big part of the problem is how we’ve been taught to define a “good” workout.
For decades, fitness culture has blurred the line between sweaty and effective. Workouts that leave you breathless, drenched in sweat, and exhausted were considered products. And while those types of workouts have a place, sweating and exertion are reliable indicators of success or results.
If the bulk of your workouts prioritize constant movement, little to no rest periods, and high intensity, your body is getting very good at tolerating fatigue, which doesn’t automatically translate to changes in strength, body composition, or confidence. This is especially true in midlife when recovery and hormones begin to play a much bigger role. For many women over 35, this is exactly why they feel so stuck, even though they are working hard. The effort they are putting forth is real, but the alignment is off.
Why Consistency Alone Isn’t Enough
Consistency matters, but only when what you’re repeating is actually effective for your goal. You can work out regularly and still stay stuck if you’re not giving your body a reason to change and adapt. When you’re consistently repeating the same weights, the same effort level, or the same type of workouts, your body will maintain, not change. Now, if you’re looking to maintain your exact results, that’s fine. But if you have body composition goals, you’ll need to shift your approach a bit.
This is where many women feel totally blindsided. They’re consistent for months, sometimes even years, and assume that results will inevitably follow. But when they don’t, frustration creeps in. It’s really hard to keep showing up when you feel like you’re giving so much only to be let down. It becomes a question of why you’re even bothering.
The truth is, results are available on the other side of a mindset shift and a new, more optimal approach to fitness and training.
The Difference Between Sweaty and Effective Workouts
A lot of workouts are designed to make you sweat - short rest times, high reps, and constant movement. You finish these types of workouts feeling exhausted, heart racing, and sore the next day. Throughout the course of our lives, this is the exact type of workout that has been promoted as productive and effective. But sweaty and effective are not the same thing.
Sweaty workout train endurance and fatigue tolerance. Strength training workouts challenge your muscles with enough load (and enough rest) to actually build capacity. Muscle, strength, and the coveted “lean and toned” look are developed through targeted strength training workouts.
When the bulk of your training is done in the “always moving,” high-calorie-burning zone, your body gets good at just surviving the workout, progressing from it. We want to make progress.
Sweaty workouts train endurance and fatigue tolerance. Strength-focused workouts challenge muscles with enough load—and enough rest—to actually build capacity. When most of your training lives in the “always moving” zone, your body gets good at surviving the workout, not progressing from it.
Why Random Workouts Kill Confidence
Workouts that change up all the time are often viewed as “fun” and as a way to “keep your muscles guessing.” But when every workout is different - new exercises, new formats, new rep schemes - it’s difficult to build confidence.
When workouts aren’t consistent, nothing becomes familiar. You never quite know if you’re improving because you’re never practicing the same things long enough to get better at them. And you’re unlikely to be tracking them either. While variety can be fun, too much randomness makes progress invisible.
Why Repeating Movements Is How You Get Better
Repetition is where strength actually develops. Repeating the same movement regularly allows you to nail your form, refine your technique, understand your body, and gradually apply progressive overload. This is how strength and confidence are built - not through novelty, but through recognition and mastery.
Some women believe that repeating workouts is too boring, and if that’s you, I would challenge you to rethink your approach and your definition of “fun.” The older I get, the more I value results and simplicity. I would challenge you to examine the results you’ve gotten from following random workouts that change all the time and ask yourself if you’re satisfied with them.
For many women, especially as we hit midlife and after, random workouts produce random results at best. It’s only when we discover that honing in on the basics of strength training and repeating them with intention is how changes are truly made that we start to see the body composition results we’ve been working so hard for.
How Long Does It Actually Take to Feel Stronger
Unfortunately, strength doesn’t announce itself on a neat, predictable weekly timeline. Especially for those of us in midlife, it can take several weeks, even months of training consistently to start to notice strength gains, movements feeling steadier, or confidence increasing.
If you’re coming into a strength training journey expecting constant, visible changes, you’re setting yourself up to feel disappointed and as if it isn’t working. But the truth is, if you’re following an optimized plan and you’re showing up consistently with effort and intention, then progress will inevitably be happening; it just might be quieter than you expected. This is normal. Building muscle and re-shaping your body takes a long time. Longer than most people would like, but you need to be committed and in it for the long haul to see lasting results.
How to Know If Your Program Is the Problem
Sometimes the issue isn’t you, it’s the structure of the program you’re following. If you’re following a fitness program that offers no clear progression, no method for tracking weights and reps, no intentional repetition, and no allowance for rest, then your body isn’t being guided toward change. You’re simply staying busy instead of building muscle and results.
Many women in midlife have been following certain programs for years and are very loyal, which is wonderful. And I will always be an advocate for some movement is better than no movement. But the truth is that, if you found yourself here, you are probably questioning whether or not the program you’re following is truly the best fit for you and your goals. Maybe you stopped seeing results and feel like you’re working hard to no avail. Oftentimes, a change of plans and a new mindset are all that’s required to start seeing results again.
What to Do When You’ve Tried Everything
It’s exhausting when you feel like you’ve tried everything and still aren’t seeing results. At this point, it’s not about chasing the next best thing or working harder; it’s about learning and embracing the basics and committing to a plan that’s realistic for your life and goals.
When women come to me saying they’ve tried “everything,” it usually means they have dabbled in a little of everything, but haven’t fully committed to a specific plan that’s designed for women in midlife who want to build muscle, decrease body fat, get stronger, and protect their bodies as they age. If this is you, I invite you to try Simply Strong.
How Simply Strong Helps You See Real Results
Simply Strong was built specifically for women over 35 who are tired of working hard and not seeing results. The programs inside Simply Strong are not about chasing exhaustion and novelty, but about repeatable, progressive strength training that respects midlife bodies, recovery, and real life so that effort turns into results.
If you’ve been dabbling in strength training but haven’t seen the results you were hoping for, it doesn’t mean strength training isn’t for you (because it is! It’s for everyone). It usually just means that you need a new, more aligned approach that’s designed to help your progress, not just stay busy and check a box.
