125: Q&A: Why HIIT Stops Working, Why It’s Harder to See Results After 30, Why You Need More Recovery & More
Why Your HIIT Workouts Stopped Working (And What to Do Instead)
Feeling exhausted despite crushing your workouts? Discover why HIIT stops working after 30, how cortisol is sabotaging your results, and why recovery isn't lazy, it's the secret to actual progress.
You're showing up. You're sweating. You're pushing through every burpee, every sprint, every "just one more rep." Yet somehow, your energy is in the gutter, your body feels like it's constantly inflamed, and that fire you used to have? Gone.
Here's the truth bomb: the problem isn't that you're not working hard enough. It's that your body has outgrown the strategy you're using.
In this week's Q&A episode, Tara breaks down exactly why the fitness tactics that worked in your twenties are actively working against you now, and more importantly, what to do about it. If you've been feeling like you're stuck in a cycle of exhaustion, soreness, and diminishing returns, this one's for you.
The Real Reason You're Exhausted (Hint: It's Not Lack of Motivation)
Let's get one thing straight: if you're constantly tired, it's not a character flaw. It's not because you're lazy or losing your edge. Your energy crashes are a recovery issue, not a motivation problem.
Think about it. You can't willpower your way through a nervous system that's been running on overdrive. When your body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode from chronic high-intensity training, poor sleep, and the general chaos of adult life, motivation becomes a biological impossibility. Your body literally doesn't have the fuel to generate that drive.
This is where most fitness advice gets it backwards. We're told to dig deeper, push harder, and "find our why." But what if your body is actually screaming for you to stop, rest, and rebuild? That's not weakness, that's wisdom.
Why Your Body Stopped Responding After 30
Remember when you could do back-to-back spin classes, grab drinks with friends, stay up late, and still bounce back the next day? Yeah, those days are over. And there's a physiological reason for that.
After 30, your body doesn't tolerate chaotic, random workouts the way it used to. Your hormones shift, your recovery capacity changes, and what once gave you results now leaves you depleted. You're not broken, you're just trying to train like you're 25 while living the full, complex life of someone in their thirties or forties.
The mismatch is real. You've got work stress, family obligations, maybe kids, less sleep, and a nervous system that's already maxed out. Then you layer on high-intensity interval training multiple times a week, and wonder why your body is waving the white flag.
The HIIT Trap: Why Always Training Hard Keeps You Tired and Wired
Here's where things get interesting. HIIT isn't inherently bad, but it becomes a problem when it's your default setting. When you're constantly spiking cortisol through intense workouts, you're essentially telling your body that you're being chased by a bear. Daily.
This chronic cortisol elevation leads to inflammation, disrupted sleep (hello, 3 a.m. wake-ups), blood sugar chaos, and a nervous system that can't downshift. You end up tired but wired, exhausted during the day but unable to truly rest at night. Sound familiar?
The cruel irony? You're working out to feel better, but the very thing you're doing is keeping you stuck in a stress loop. Your body interprets those brutal workouts the same way it interprets actual danger. And when your system thinks it's under constant threat, it holds onto fat, crashes your energy, and tanks your motivation.
Strength Training: The Smarter Signal
So what's the alternative? Strength training. Real, intentional strength work gives your body a high-return signal without completely frying your nervous system.
Unlike the chaotic nature of HIIT, strength training is predictable. Your body knows what's coming. You lift, you rest between sets, you progressively challenge your muscles without sending cortisol through the roof. This type of training builds resilience instead of just depleting you.
Plus, strength training supports your hormones in ways that constant cardio simply can't. It helps regulate blood sugar, improves insulin sensitivity, and gives your nervous system actual breaks. You're still working hard, just in a way that works with your body instead of against it.
Motivation Is Not a Mindset Issue, It's a Body Issue
Let's talk about motivation, because this is where things get deep. We've been conditioned to think motivation is all mental, just a matter of getting your head right. But motivation is actually driven by dopamine, stable blood sugar, quality sleep, and whether your body feels safe.
When your nervous system is dysregulated, when you're running on cortisol and caffeine, when your blood sugar is on a roller coaster, motivation disappears. Not because you're weak, but because your body has literally run out of resources to generate that drive.
This is why you can't just "mindset" your way through chronic exhaustion. You have to address the physiological factors that make motivation possible in the first place. Sleep. Recovery. Nervous system regulation. Blood sugar stability. These aren't nice-to-haves, they're the foundation.
Rest Isn't Lazy, It's How Your Hormones Stabilize
Here's the paradigm shift: rest is not the absence of effort. It's an active support for hormone regulation and nervous system downshifting. When you rest, you're giving your body permission to repair, rebuild, and rebalance.
For women especially, this is critical. Your hormones need space to regulate. Your adrenals need a break from constant cortisol production. Your nervous system needs to know it's safe to shift out of survival mode. Rest provides all of that.
This doesn't mean lying on the couch indefinitely (though some days, that's exactly what you need). It means strategic deload weeks, incorporating yoga or walking, prioritizing sleep, and understanding that progress happens in the recovery phase, not just in the workout itself.
What Real Self-Care Actually Looks Like in Midlife
Let's get real about self-care for a second. It's not bubble baths and face masks (though those are nice). Real self-care in midlife looks like protecting your sleep like your life depends on it, because your energy does. It's saying no to that 6 a.m. bootcamp when your body is begging for rest. It's choosing a strength session over another HIIT class because you understand the long game.
Real self-care is also letting go of the idea that you need to earn rest through suffering. You don't have to destroy yourself in a workout to be worthy of recovery. You can train in a way that's sustainable, effective, and actually enjoyable, imagine that.
And here's the kicker: prioritizing your recovery isn't selfish. When you're running on empty, you can't show up for anyone, not your family, not your work, and definitely not yourself. Taking care of your body is how you stay in the game long-term.
The Bottom Line
If you're exhausted, inconsistent, or feel like your drive has disappeared, it's time to stop forcing progress and start adapting to the body you're actually living in. That means training smarter, not just harder. It means understanding that recovery is productive. It means giving yourself permission to let go of strategies that worked a decade ago but are actively working against you now.
Your body isn't broken. It's just asking you to listen.
Ready to train in a way that actually works with your body? Share this with a friend who needs to hear it, or DM us on Instagram @broads.podcast and let us know which insight hit home for you.
