Are You Making These 5 Common Functional Fitness Mistakes After 40?

Turning 40 changes the game. Recovery takes longer, and the routine that worked in your twenties and thirties may not deliver anymore.

Here's the reality: most people keep doing the same plan and wonder why progress stalls. You're not alone. I coach a lot of clients in their 40s and 50s, and these patterns show up all the time—and they're fixable once you know what to adjust.

Here are the five biggest functional fitness mistakes that show up after 40, plus straightforward fixes that don't require blowing up your life.

Mistake #1: You're Still Obsessed With Cardio (And Skipping Strength Training)

I get it. Cardio feels safe. It's familiar. You hop on the treadmill, zone out to a podcast, and boom, workout done. Plus, isn't cardio supposed to be the magic bullet for fat loss?

Here's the problem: After 40, your body is literally losing muscle mass every single year. Women can lose up to 1% of their muscle annually, and here's the kicker, you can lose up to 6% of your power. That's not just about looking good in a tank top. That's about being able to carry groceries, play with your kids, and maintain your independence as you age.

When you focus primarily on cardio, you're essentially accelerating muscle loss while your metabolism slows down. Not exactly the outcome you're going for, right?

The fix is simpler than you think: Aim for 2-3 days of strength training per week, with maybe 2 days of moderate cardio. Your strength sessions don't need to be crazy intense or take forever. Even 30-45 minutes of functional movements like squats, pushes, pulls, and carries will make a massive difference.

And yes, lifting weights will make you stronger AND help with fat loss. Win-win.

Mistake #2: Your Range of Motion is... Let's Call It "Creative"

Look, I've been there. You're doing your squats, feeling proud that you're moving your body, but you're barely bending your knees. Or you're cranking out pushups that would generously be called "half reps."

Poor range of motion isn't just ineffective, it's actually working against you. You're stressing the wrong joints while completely missing the muscles you're trying to target. Plus, functional fitness is supposed to translate to real life. How's a quarter squat going to help you get up from a low chair?

Here's what full range of motion should look like:

• Squats: Your thighs should hit parallel (or as close as you can safely get)

• Pushups: Your chest should nearly touch the ground

• Pull movements: Full extension at the bottom, full contraction at the top

Can't get there yet? That's totally fine. Modify the exercise instead of cheating the range of motion. Do pushups on an incline, use a box for squats, or work with resistance bands. Your future self will thank you.

Mistake #3: You're Either Skipping Your Warm-Up or Turning It Into a Marathon

Skip the extremes. Don't sprint from your car to the rack, and don't turn your warm-up into its own workout. Keep it short, targeted, and useful.

Smart warm-up, simple rules:

• 3-5 minutes of easy movement to raise core body temp

• 2-3 dynamic drills that match the day's main lifts

• 1-2 light ramp-up sets of your first exercise

10-15 minutes, max. Prepare, don't pre-exhaust.

Mistake #4: Same Routine, Same Results (Or Lack Thereof)

You know that saying about doing the same thing and expecting different results? Yeah, that applies to your workout routine too.

I see this constantly, people find a routine they like and just... stick with it. Forever. Same exercises, same weights, same everything. Then they wonder why they've plateaued.

Your body is incredibly smart and adapts quickly. If you're always doing the same 15-pound dumbbells for the same 12 reps, your body basically shrugs and says, "Okay, we've got this handled. No need to change anything."

The solution isn't to constantly chase new workouts (that's actually counterproductive). Instead, focus on progressive overload:

• Add weight when you can

• Increase reps or sets

• Improve your range of motion

• Try more challenging variations

Even small changes keep your body guessing and improving.

But here's the flip side: some people go too easy on themselves. Yes, you need to train smarter after 40, but you still need to challenge your body. If you're finishing your workouts feeling like you could do twice as much, you're probably not pushing hard enough.

Mistake #5: You're Sabotaging Your Recovery (Especially Sleep and Nutrition)

This might be the biggest one because it affects everything else. You could have the perfect workout routine, but if your recovery is trash, you're fighting an uphill battle.

Training late isn't ideal for everyone, but if evenings are the only time you can be consistent, it's fine—protect your sleep. Aim to finish harder sessions 2-3 hours before bed when you can, keep the post-workout wind-down calm, and prioritize a regular sleep schedule so recovery stays on track.

Protein supports muscle repair, strength, and recovery as you age and train. A practical daily target is 0.7-1.0 grams per pound of your target body weight. Spread it across meals you already eat and you'll cover your bases.

Simple ways to hit that target:

• 25-30g about every 3-4 hours throughout the day

• Start each meal with protein

• Include protein within 1-2 hours after training

Sleep is non-negotiable. Poor sleep messes with your hormones, your recovery, your motivation, and your results. If you're consistently getting less than 7 hours, that needs to be priority number one: even before fixing your workout routine.

The Movements That Actually Matter

Here's the thing about functional fitness: it should translate to real life. You don't need to do 47 different exercises. Focus on these fundamental movement patterns:

• Squats (sitting down, standing up)

• Pushes (pushing things away from you)

• Pulls (pulling things toward you)

• Carries (picking up and moving stuff)

• Single-leg work (because life doesn't happen with both feet planted)

Master these patterns, progressively challenge them, and you'll build strength that actually matters for your daily life.

The Bottom Line

Look, fitness after 40 isn't about training harder: it's about training smarter. Your body can still do amazing things, but it needs a different approach than it did in your twenties.

The good news? These fixes are totally doable. You don't need to overhaul your entire life or spend hours in the gym. Small, consistent changes in how you approach functional fitness will compound over time into significant improvements in how you feel and move.

Start with one or two of these adjustments. Give them a few weeks to become habits. Then tackle the next one. Your future self: the one who's still strong, mobile, and independent: will be so grateful you started today.

Need help putting this all together? That's exactly what we do at FORMA Coaching. Check out our services to see how we can help you train smarter, not harder.