How Personal Trainers Support Women Balancing Work, Family, and Fitness

Having worked with dozens of El Paso women in their 30s and 40s as their personal trainer, the number one reason I get to explain their hiatus from the gym is that they just don’t have the time. When you add up the obligations that come from career promotions and increased responsibilities at work that come at this stage in their lives, along with being good moms who are raising growing children who are involved in numerous activities, it’s easy to understand why fitness has to take a back seat. Unfortunately, when this happens, health complications can start to pop up and those that already existed can become exponentially worse.

Woman performing deadlift leg exercise under supervision of a personal trainer

If you haven’t been giving it much thought to work with a personal trainer, it’s at this stage in your life when you should start seriously consider hiring one. Personal trainers can mold workouts to fit your specific needs, goals, and limitations, along with providing the structure and accountability that will help you stay consistent. Also, if stress is often getting the better of you and having you feel tired all the time, understand that these consistent workouts may be the best answer for you.

Productive Workouts

One of the most common misconceptions about fitness is that women have to spend hours and hours at the gym, as well as eating the most boring food imaginable — this is not true. In fact, even as a personal trainer, myself, I cannot stand do two or three hour workouts, especially multiple times a week, and I have never come across a busy woman that would ever want to do that, either.

Supersets are an amazing training strategy that women with little free time can add to their workouts, which is why I commonly employ them for myself and my clients. Essentially, a superset is where you perform a set of two separate exercises before you take a rest between said set. For example, I like my supersets to be comprised of one upper body and one lower body exercise, such as a bench press and barbell back squat, which means that the chest muscles are able to recover while squats are being performed, then recover more during the rest period between sets. Employing this strategy is great for building muscle and toning up in a quick 45-minute workout, but if you only have 20-30 minutes to workout, use less weight and shorten rest breaks between sets.

Structure and Accountability

Having structure is what helps to keep busy women fully employed and their kids out of trouble at school, so it should make sense that having the same structure in your workout routine can be beneficial in reaching your fitness goals. For me, as a Navy veteran and former collegiate athlete, I am convinced that having structure and accountability not only helps busy women reach their fitness goals, but it is an absolute requirement. When you clearly communicate your fitness goals to a personal trainer, this gives him a road map when creating the training plan for you to follow.

Of course, in El Paso, most of us are at work from 9 to 5, which means that a lot of gyms are most crowded two to three hours before people go to work and two to three hours after getting off work. When the gym is crowded and planned exercises have to be substituted, an experienced personal trainer can call audibles to employ exercises that train the same muscles as planned. For example, if barbell back squats were planned, but all squat racks are being used, I simply switch to dumbbell squat variations. On the contrary, while a novice may be able to do the same, their lack of experience and training knowledge may go too light or heavy, and won’t be able to calculate the proper repetition range for the intended fitness goal.

Stress Management

Demands from increasing responsibilities at work and moms that are doing their best to properly raising their children are among the most common reasons women in their 30s and 40s are often feeling stressed out, frustrated, and devoid of energy. With all of this going on, it might sound strange when I say that committing to a workout routine can reduce stress and increase energy levels, but that is precisely what is proven by scientists. In a study published in 2022, researchers concluded that “moderate intensity exercise interventions of at least 6 weeks are on average beneficial for fatigue, energy, and vitality in healthy individuals” (1), meaning that health benefits come from consistent exercise, instead of just an occasional workout, here and there.

Under the guidance of a skilled personal trainer, busy women in their 30s and 40s can improve their moods, sleep quality, and vitality, which comes when stress is properly being managed. Additionally, increased exercise activity means more calories are burned compared to sedentary lifestyles at work and home, so you can give yourself more freedom to occasionally indulge on some of your favorite foods (just remember to keep it as an “occasional” event).

Conclusion

Life as a busy woman in her 30s and 40s is not doomed to poor health because life at work and being a mom is too demanding. With the help of a personal trainer, these women can get the productive workouts that comfortably fit into their schedules, the structure and accountability that produces the desired results because workouts are occurring on a consistent basis, and stress management becomes a reality. You have invested so much of yourself for your career and family, and when you are in your 30s and 40s, now is the perfect time to start investing in yourself by hiring a personal trainer.

About the Author

Julio Lopez is a Navy Veteran, former collegiate athlete, and personal trainer with a Master’s degree in Nutrition. He is the founder of 365 Physique Personal Training and Nutrition, where he specializes in helping women in their 30s and 40s build a healthy lifestyle into their busy schedule. You can find Julio training his in-person clients at Versatile Fitness and sharing practical tips on Instagram and TikTok @juliolopezfitness.

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1. Wender, C. L. A., Manninen, M., & O'Connor, P. J. (2022). The effect of chronic exercise on energy and fatigue states: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 907637.