How Strength Training Helps Your Mental Health After 40

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

Most women that I've coached are afraid of change, and that's totally normal. There's nothing right or wrong about that. But I think that when you have a more resilient mindset to bring to the table on a day-to-day basis for yourself, when it comes to your family, your kids, your work, your overall reality in your environment, and you're engaging in strength training, and you have the ability to adapt and to change, and your brain gives you that ability by improving its neuroplasticity, strength training is going to do that.

Nikkiey: Hey, you guys. What's going on? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I'm your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode 182. Today I'm going to dive into a topic that I think is incredibly important, and that is the mental aspect of strength training.

So many people think about strength training and imagine lifting heavy weights, building muscle, improving their overall physical fitness. But it's not just that. I know people have talked about this in the space, and we've probably talked about it on the podcast many times, but one of the most powerful things strength training can give you is improved mental health. So today I want to dive into that and explore how lifting weights reduces anxiety, how it boosts your mood, and how it helps you build overall mental resilience.

The first thing I want to talk about is the mind-to-body connection that strength training offers. I remember at the beginning of my journey, I always had the hardest time connecting my mind to my muscle, and I knew that was really important to create that pathway to engage the muscle and make it break down. Then, obviously, after the gym, you repair it, but you have to engage that pathway in order for growth to happen. At the beginning of my journey that was really, really hard for me to do. I remember spending time watching YouTube.

The hardest muscle for me to engage was my lats, the back, the latissimus dorsi. I remember YouTubing how to engage that muscle and learning how to do pull-downs appropriately. I had never worked out my back a day in my life before I started strength training the right way in 2015. I YouTubed all those videos, and I was teaching myself, creating mental cues and teaching myself how to engage that mind-to-muscle connection, but also the mind-to-body connection.

Our brains and our bodies are deeply interconnected, and the benefits of strength training extend far beyond the physical. When you engage in strength training, you're not just building muscle. You're also working on your mental well-being and creating pathways to be more in tune with your body, which I think is so freaking cool. That's what we're going to dive into today, along with a lot of other aspects.

I'm actually going to spend some time talking about the stress strength training puts on our body, but also how, long term, it can help reduce levels of stress. First, I want to talk about the science aspect and how strength training affects the brain, and then we'll dive into the cortisol aspect, the stress aspect of it.

You guys have heard this so many times, right? When you lift weights or work out, you release endorphins, those feel-good chemicals in your body that reduce pain and boost your mood. You've probably heard of that one. You've also heard of a runner's high. But that also applies to strength training. For those of you who are runners and want to build muscle, you know you may need to enter a chapter of your life that reduces running.

I'm not saying you have to entirely stop for a long period of time. There are totally ways of introducing both, where you can run and strength train to build muscle. But I would say that's a more advanced concept to understand. So for a lot of women we coach at WarriorBabe, we say, okay, we're entering this chapter of focusing specifically on strength training. And a lot of women say they're afraid of losing that runner's high they experience when they're running.

I remember one of my first clients, who is actually one of my best and dearest friends to date. We were training for the Boston Marathon when she first started working with me back in 2016, 2017. After that, she wanted to focus on strength training. We were doing both for a little bit, but then we solely entered the world of strength training. At one point in her journey, she said, Nikkiey, I'm really missing the runner's high. But you can also get that high in strength training. It applies to both. It's just about tapping into a different mental attitude when you're strength training.

Just as you can run for miles and feel this boost in your mood, and you're so happy and feel so good, the same applies to going into the gym and doing a strenuous, challenging workout. In both, you're challenging yourself. What I always said to her is that you have to really challenge yourself with the strength training to release those feel-good hormones. It's not just about going into the gym, doing the workout and thinking, okay, I showed up, I'm here, and kind of going through the motions.

You're not going to experience that high by just showing up and saying, okay, I have three sets of this, without physically exerting yourself, challenging yourself, and increasing your weight over time so the last couple of reps in a set are challenging. That's a stress level, just like the stress level you're at maybe at your fifth, sixth or seventh mile, wherever you start to hit that runner's high. It's the same thing with a certain set or rep where you're really challenging yourself, and then you're meeting that strength training high.

So they both apply across the board. That's the first component I wanted to talk about: the effects strength training has on the chemistry of our brain, releasing those feel-good hormones. You've all heard those things, but what I really wanted to talk about was the difference between the high you get with strength training and the runner's high you get with running.

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Nikkiey: Now, what I really want to spend the bulk of this podcast on is the way strength training reduces levels of stress hormones like cortisol in our bodies. High levels of cortisol over time can lead to, and I'm sure you've heard this, chronic stress, anxiety, and even depression. But by engaging in regular strength training on a weekly basis, you're not only managing your stress levels, you're also protecting your mental health in the long term.

Now, some of you may be thinking, I just said strength training reduces stress hormones like cortisol, but there's also an acute increase in cortisol that strength training causes in our body. It sounds counterproductive, like I'm going back on what I said. But I want to explain: there's an acute increase in cortisol, and then there are long-term effects, where strength training promotes the release of all of these really good things, like the feel-good hormones I just talked about, that counteract the negative aspects of cortisol, leading to an overall reduction in stress and an improved mood in the long term. So while I said strength training reduces levels of stress hormones, it does in the long term.

But when you're doing an intense strength training workout on a given day, cortisol levels do temporarily rise. I wanted to talk through this because I've been seeing it in the fitness space and there are confusing elements to it. People say you shouldn't strength train because... and I shouldn't use words like never or always, but you get what I'm saying.

The uneducated will say you shouldn't strength train because it's raising your cortisol levels. What I want to bring to the table is clarity around this. When you exercise, you are temporarily increasing your cortisol levels. But it's a natural response, because cortisol helps mobilize energy in your body by increasing your blood glucose levels, breaking down protein into amino acids, and stimulating fat metabolism.

This acute increase is a normal part of the body's stress response and helps you power through your workout. The temporary rise in cortisol is happening to help you power through and give you energy to get through the workout. Long term, while your cortisol levels will spike during and immediately after an intense strength training workout, regular strength training actually helps lower your baseline cortisol levels over time.

This is because engaging in regular strength training and physical activity improves your body's overall ability to manage stress. Like what I talked about a little bit ago with endorphins, your body's feel-good hormones, when you're releasing those consistently across months and years, that constant release of feel-good hormones is counteracting the negative effects of cortisol in your body, which helps you manage stress and improve your mood in the long term.

So basically what I'm trying to say is that during a workout, strength training temporarily increases your cortisol levels to meet the energy demand of your exercise. The long-term impact, with consistent training, proper recovery, the right sleep, the right hydration, and eating right, is that it helps regulate and lower overall cortisol levels. And this improves your body's ability to handle stress day to day in the long term. So while you may have a temporary spike during and immediately after intense exercise, that's just your body's normal response to give you the energy you need to get through a workout.

But in the long term, it improves your ability to manage stress and reduce your overall cortisol levels. I've mentioned this so many times on the podcast: we do sex hormone testing, thyroid testing, A1C testing, cortisol testing, vitamin D testing. We do all these types of testing for our new clients on the way into WarriorBabe. One of those is cortisol.

I think I've said in previous podcasts, I don't know an exact stat, but something like 85% of the results we get back show that our babes have high cortisol levels. And that's not surprising. The majority of people lead a very stressful lifestyle. When we see that, we know we're kind of already doing our job, because we have our babes engaging in regular strength training. And we know that after six months, nine months, one year in our program, we're going to see that cortisol level come down.

That's assuming they're doing it consistently. We can have these lab results and we can tell you what to do, but you have to be the one to apply it and do the work. I wanted to spend time talking about that because cortisol is becoming a very popular topic in the fitness space. Maybe I'll do another podcast on cortisol that dives deeper, outside of just strength training. But if you aren't engaging in strength training, I hope this empowers you to start, knowing the long-term positive effects it gives you.

And if you are engaging in strength training, keep at it, because you're doing the thing your body wants you to be doing, and it will help in a natural, holistic way to reduce cortisol levels. Now, that's not everything in terms of how strength training positively affects your mental health. We talked about the release of endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in your brain, and we talked about cortisol.

Strength training has also been shown to improve your brain's neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to adapt and change. I don't have stats to back me up on this, but from interacting with humans on a day-to-day basis, having had over 17,000 women inside our programs and personally coaching thousands of them, most women I've coached are afraid of change, and that's totally normal.

There's nothing right or wrong about that. But I think that when you have a more resilient mindset to bring to the table on a day-to-day basis for yourself, when it comes to your family, your kids, your work, your overall reality in your environment, and you're engaging in strength training, and you have the ability to adapt and to change, and your brain gives you that ability by improving its neuroplasticity, strength training is going to do that. This means lifting weights can actually help your brain become more resilient and better able to handle stress and challenges.

Change is sometimes scary for people. But imagine a world where change wasn't scary and you were so excited for what change could offer you and bring you, and you're like, challenge accepted. Some of you are maybe like that, which is freaking awesome. It's hard to come by. But for others, maybe this is a really cool selling point to engage more. Like I said, strength training is so much more than just the physical body.

It gives you all of these additional benefits to your mental well-being. It also promotes the growth of new brain cells, especially in the areas associated with memory and learning. Where my brain goes with that is dementia and Alzheimer's. You guys know, if you've listened to the podcast from episode one, that I spent upwards of...

Nikkiey: Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply. All right, let's get back to the show.

Nikkiey: ...years, man. Nine in total in healthcare, and a decent amount of that, about five years, was inside a long-term skilled nursing facility, in the dementia unit, taking care of patients who weren't independent anymore. I saw dementia firsthand: combative patients, people you couldn't really have a conversation with. I've seen that world.

That's one of the reasons my health felt so important to me. I didn't want that to be what happened in the long run. So strength training growing new brain cells, specifically in the areas associated with memory and learning, is just so freaking important to me. Those are a few of the ways mental health is positively impacted by engaging in strength training.

Nikkiey: Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply. All right, let's get back to the show.

Nikkiey: I also wanted to spend a little more time on the mental resilience aspect. One of the most powerful aspects of strength training, as I've touched on, is its ability to build mental toughness. Think about it. You go into the gym and set goals, like lifting heavier weights or completing a challenging workout. You're pushing your limits, both physically and mentally.

And you should be. As I touched on, you shouldn't be showing up and just going through the motions. A huge component of your results comes from showing up and pushing yourself to your limit. I don't care if you're 45, 55, or 65 years old. Your limit is typically, honestly, more than what you think it is.

So this is a little tough love, a little nudge: the next time you work out, see how much you can push the ceiling of what you think you can do. Obviously without getting injured. You know your body best. But you know you can do a little bit more, or one more rep. Each time you go in and complete a challenging workout, lift a heavier weight, or hit the push-up count or pull-up count you wanted, each time you achieve a specific goal, you're proving to yourself that you're capable of more than you thought.

That alone builds so much confidence. It builds so much mental resilience that carries over into other areas of your life. Imagine you just finished a grueling workout. You've been there. Or maybe some of you are thinking, I haven't been there yet, but I'm hearing Nikkiey right now and I'm going to go into the gym, really push it, and see what I've got. Do it. But imagine you've completed it. You pushed through the discomfort, lifted more weight than you ever had before, and came out on the other side stronger.

I've talked about this inside our community. We do weekly community calls in the VIP program, and I remember talking about this in one of the topics, about me specifically. You can actually go see this on my Instagram. It was my squats. Squats are my least favorite exercise, and it's mostly because I'm in my head about it. I'm thinking, I'm going to crush my spine, or I'm going to tear my ACL again, or something's going to happen.

So I'm always afraid to push heavy weight in that specific exercise. And this could be any exercise for you; it doesn't have to be the squat. This is just an example. I remember doing more weight than I thought I could, and I proved to myself that I can actually do that. Even this far into my journey, I'm still proving to myself that I can go beyond my limit, get outside my comfort zone, and seek discomfort.

I think it's so important to seek discomfort and really push through it, because you're going to have a sense of accomplishment. You're going to think, oh, I can do this. You have confidence. You believe in yourself more. And that sense of accomplishment isn't just about physical strength. It's about mental toughness. You've shown yourself you can overcome challenges, and that mindset can help you tackle obstacles outside the gym as well. So again, strength training is so much more than physical strength, changing your body composition, and all the other things people think about when they think about strength training.

It's about developing this type of mental resilience and toughness that you can carry into work, into life, into family, into your kids, and teach your kids this. I think that's such an impactful, empowering thing to be able to do. It's also a way of grounding you. It requires focus. It requires discipline. It requires consistency. All qualities that help you manage stress and stay present day to day.

In a world where we're constantly bombarded with phones, distractions, and stressors, strength training can be a form of active meditation. That's why I love it so freaking much. Sometimes I have a hard time meditating. I've actually welcomed it back into my mornings, and the first couple of days were so, so tough, you guys. But strength training in and of itself is a form of active meditation, because you are required to focus, which a lot of people have a hard time doing. Think about whether that's you, if your mind wanders throughout your entire workout: what am I going to make for dinner?

I have to pick up the kids from soccer practice at this time. I had this argument at work today. Your mind's wandering. You're not connecting with your body. And if you're not connecting with your body, it's really hard to be focused, and it's really hard to want to go back and do that thing again. I challenge you to go into your workout with no distractions, because you already have so many distractions in your outside life. I've heard so many women say that one hour of their workout is their me time. Put your phone on do not disturb.

Nothing is going to fall apart. No fires will happen. And if one does, people will ring through do not disturb multiple times to get your attention. I think it's so important to think about it this way, because it can really help you change your mental attitude. Maybe you know you want to eliminate stressors, or you want to bring meditation into your practice. This is a way to start, by looking at it from this perspective.

So that's a lot of what I wanted to bring to the podcast today. All to say, we've all been in situations where we felt overwhelmed and stressed. Speaking from my perspective, hitting the gym and lifting weights has always helped me clear my mind and regain focus. And the sense of accomplishment I feel after a challenging workout is truly unmatched.

It's a reminder that I'm capable of overcoming any obstacle. I think that's a really important reminder for you to take into your next workout, and apply some of the things I talked about today. Strength training is so much more than looking better, physical strength, and changing your body composition. It has a positive impact on your mental well-being and your mental health, with positive long-term effects it can offer you as well. So I'm just bringing that perspective to your mindsets and thought processes.

I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. If you did, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a comment or a review. The reviews go so far, and I haven't seen a review in a couple of days. It has pushed us out of the ranking we've worked so hard to hold onto, top 10 in fitness. I think we're around 19 right now. So please, if you haven't yet, take 30 seconds and leave a review. That would mean the absolute world to me, and it would help somebody else.

Once this podcast gets pushed back up to the top, people can easily access it and listen, and it can help them too. That's what I'm all about. I'm one person; you guys are many. So help spread the word. I appreciate you guys. I'll see you in the next podcast.

Nikkiey: Hey guys, real quick. If you're interested in taking your body to the next level, losing body fat, building more muscle, and feeling more confident, do it alongside one of our 30-plus professional coaches. Work one-on-one with her to eliminate all of the guesswork you may have. All you need to do is the work she tells you to do to reach your goals. To learn more, click the link below this podcast and apply to our VIP program right now.