In Training, Less Is Often More (Especially As You Age) 👇

I have been sharing a lot of quality posts in our WWLW Facebook group and our members are loving it.

So I wanted to send you this one as well.

If you want to read it on FB and read the comments (they are awesome and informative), you can check it out HERE.

One thing I want to talk about today — and something I see a lot with women — is the idea that more is always better in training.

Especially as we get older…
it’s usually not.

Let me explain.

Lifting weights should be the stimulus.
Think of it as the spark — the match that lights the fire.

But results don’t happen during the workout —
they happen during recovery.

Training is a constant balance:

Stimulate → Recover → Adapt → Repeat

And when that balance is off, progress slows… or stops altogether.

One of the biggest patterns I’ve seen over the last 20+ years of coaching women is this:

• If 5 sets are programmed, 7–8 must be better
• If 8 reps are written, 12 must be better
• If 3 days are planned, 5 must be better

And while doing “more” can feel mentally satisfying —
more tired, more sore, more exhausted —
that doesn’t mean it’s better training.

Fatigue is not a badge of honor.
Being beat up is not progress.

Optimal is optimal.

The goal should be to start with the lowest effective dose of training…
and then build only as needed.

Because here’s the part most people miss:

Volume is a tool — and your body has to earn the right to handle it.

You absolutely can do more over time.
You can build training capacity.
You can improve work tolerance, recovery, and resilience.

But it has to be progressed intentionally, not emotionally.

You don’t jump from 3 days a week to 5 days a week just because motivation is high.

You build capacity by doing things like:

• Adding one set here and there over a few weeks
• Adding a fourth day only when recovery is solid
• Increasing volume slowly while keeping performance high
• Watching the signs your body gives you (sleep, soreness, energy, joint pain, strength levels)

Because once you cross your recovery limit, the results you want get replaced with:

Aches, fatigue, stalled progress, poor sleep, low motivation, and burnout.

For many women:

• 3 days of lifting is perfect
• 4 days can work really well
• 5 days often becomes too much (unless you’ve built up to it)

More days = less recovery
Less recovery = less progress

So what’s actually better?

More…
or
Optimal?

From personal experience — I turn 52 next month — I can’t train the way I did at 32 or even 42.

If I went into the gym now and crushed myself with tons of volume thinking “more is better,” I’d pay for it.

And the same thing happens to a lot of women who’ve been training for a while — or who are getting back into it — and try to train like their “younger self.”

That’s why quality matters more than quantity.

Lower the sets.
Lower the reps.
Lower the number of training days.

Then slowly build until you find what’s optimal for YOU.

Better is better — not more.

Hope this helps.

Coach Rob
Women Who Lift Weights