🏃🏾♀️ "Just Move More": Why Exercise Advice for Women Often Misses the Mark
When movement feels like pressure not power
“You just need to exercise more.”
It’s advice women hear constantly from doctors, podcasts, social media, and even ourselves. But what happens when the very thing that's meant to energise you exhausts you? Or causes pain? Or triggers anxiety?
This post explores why generic fitness advice often falls short for women, how different bodies respond to movement across life stages, and how to reclaim exercise on your own terms.
🧠 1. What the Guidelines Say
According to NHS and WHO recommendations, adults should aim for:
150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week (like brisk walking or cycling)
Plus 2+ sessions of strength training that target all major muscle groups
Sounds simple until you add in hormonal shifts, fatigue, mental load, perimenopause, postnatal recovery, pelvic pain, or chronic illness.
The truth? These guidelines were not designed with women's bodies in mind, especially not those juggling multiple health, hormonal, or life-stage realities.
🩺 2. What Women Say
Many women describe feeling like they’ve somehow failed when exercise stops feeling good. They blame themselves for the exhaustion, the joint pain, the heaviness, or the way their bodies don’t “bounce back” like the fitness influencers promised.
We’ve heard from women who pushed through intense workouts, only to feel shaky and fatigued for days after. Others felt confused when exercise routines that once felt empowering suddenly became uncomfortable, painful, or emotionally draining especially after childbirth, illness, or entering perimenopause.
There’s a pattern here: women are internalising the struggle as personal failure, rather than recognising that much of the exercise advice they’ve been given simply wasn’t made with their bodies, hormones, or recovery needs in mind.
This isn’t laziness. It’s a mismatch between what’s marketed to us and what our bodies are actually asking for.
⚖️ 3. Why Exercise Needs to Evolve with You
Women’s bodies are not static they shift constantly through hormonal cycles, life stages, and seasons of stress, energy, or recovery. Yet most mainstream fitness advice treats the female body as though it should respond the same way, all the time.
During menstruation, for example, energy often dips especially in the days leading up to a period. This is when restorative movement like stretching, walking, or yoga may feel better than pushing through high-intensity workouts.
In the postpartum period, the focus shouldn’t be on “getting your body back,” but on gently rebuilding your core, pelvic floor, and joint stability especially before returning to impact-based or high-load exercises.
In perimenopause, many women find their usual workouts start to feel inflammatory, exhausting, or even disruptive to sleep. Recovery becomes more important, and resistance training plays a bigger role in maintaining bone health and strength. But cortisol-sensitive movement like pilates, swimming, and walking often feels more supportive.
And if you’re in a more sedentary season whether due to work, parenting, or mental health micro-movements still count. Desk stretches, short walks, gentle mobility work: they all contribute to a body that moves and breathes more freely.
Ultimately, what works for you matters more than what burns the most calories or fits a particular aesthetic. The goal isn’t to “keep up” it’s to move in a way that works with your body, not against it.
🧘🏾♀️ 4. What Might Help
If you're struggling with exercise, here’s how to take back control:
👟 Start where you are - even 5 minutes counts.
🩻 Work with, not against, your cycle - track energy highs/lows to tailor movement.
💪🏾 Prioritise strength - especially in your 30s and 40s, strength training supports metabolism, bones, and hormones.
🧘🏾 Embrace slower styles - like Pilates, breathwork, or yoga. It’s still “valuable” exercise.
💭 Redefine consistency - 3x per week is still movement. Rest is productive, too.
🤝 See a women’s health physio - especially if you feel pain, pressure, or instability during exercise.
You don’t have to “smash it” to make it count. You just need to move in a way that feels safe and supportive.
🌿 Final Thought
Movement should feel like a gift not a punishment, not a project, and definitely not a competition.
If you've been shamed, sidelined, or sold a version of exercise that leaves you feeling worse, you're not alone.
There’s a way back to strength and it starts with listening to your own body, not the algorithm.
📚 Further Reading
Use these search terms to learn more:
Reframing Exercise Through the Life Course
Get Active Your Way
Fitness tailored for real women’s lives
💬 Let’s Talk
Have you ever been told to "just exercise more" when what you really needed was rest, guidance, or a different kind of support?
Tell us your story below. Your experience matters.
