5 Must‑Do Exercises for Women Over 40

Why You Need This Checklist

What if the exercises you've been avoiding your whole life are the exact ones your body is desperately waiting for? Most women over 40 have been handed the same tired advice for decades — light dumbbells, arm circles, cardio classes, body weight circuits. You show up, you put in the work, and yet nothing changes. Sound familiar? Here's the uncomfortable truth: your body isn't failing you. Your routine is. The muscle groups that protect your knees, support your spine, fix your posture, and drive your metabolism are being completely ignored every time you grab those 2-pound dumbbells. And the longer they go untrained, the harder daily life gets — the knee aches, the lower back stiffness, the rounded shoulders, the feeling that your body is just slowly giving up on you. It doesn't have to be that way. Imagine standing taller without thinking about it. Imagine your back pain easing not because you stretched more, but because you finally built the muscles that were supposed to support your spine. Imagine actually seeing your arms, your glutes, your posture change — not in spite of getting older, but because you finally started training the way your body actually needs. That's what happens when you stop avoiding the movements that matter. WarriorBabe — one of the most trusted voices in fitness for women over 40 — spent 30 years running marathons and teaching group classes without ever touching the exercises in this checklist. When she finally did, everything shifted. Her community has helped women like Chris, a 55-year-old assistant principal who went from a size 42 waist to a size 32, dropped from an extra large to a small, and now walks into every room with her head up. The difference wasn't more cardio. It was picking up real weight and training smarter. This PDF checklist breaks down all five exercises — the goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, overhead press, hip thrust, and bent over row — with exact sets, reps, form cues, and beginner tips pulled directly from WarriorBabe's coaching. Every step tells you what to do, how to do it, and what mistakes to avoid so you can start safely and build confidence from day one. Stop waiting for the right moment. Print this checklist, take it to the gym, and start training the way your body has needed all along.

What's Inside — Preview

Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.

DECIDE Choose a dumbbell weight that is genuinely challenging for a goblet squat — not so light you could do 30 reps

DO Perform the goblet squat: hold a dumbbell at your chest, feet shoulder-width apart, sit hips back and down until parallel to the floor, keeping chest up and knees tracking over toes

DO Complete 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps of goblet squats, 2 to 3 times per week

AVOID Avoid skipping squats out of fear of knee pain — weak muscles around the knee are the actual cause of knee pain, not squatting

DECIDE Select dumbbells for the Romanian deadlift — start light to learn the hinge pattern before adding load

+ 17 more action items inside...

5 Must‑Do Exercises for Women Over 40

Why You Need This Checklist

What's Inside — Preview

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