Movement in midlife can feel confusing. What once worked suddenly doesn’t. Energy fluctuates, motivation shifts, and too many women find themselves blaming their bodies instead of understanding them.

For this conversation, I sat down with Carly Harvey, a personal trainer and Clubbercise instructor who works with women across perimenopause and menopause, helping them rebuild strength, confidence, and trust in their bodies without falling into restriction or pressure.

Carly’s approach is refreshingly real. She believes in balance over perfection, working with hormonal rhythms rather than fighting them, and creating fitness routines that fit into real lives, not idealised ones. In this interview, we talk about cycle syncing without complexity, adapting workouts during perimenopause and menopause, and why fun, flexibility, and compassion are essential for long-term consistency.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by exercise, disconnected from your body, or unsure how to move in a way that truly supports you in midlife, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

You’re a big advocate for balance over restriction. How did learning to work with your cycle, rather than against it, change your own relationship with fitness and your body?

I personally spent years beating myself up for not being able to do “what I should be doing” which caused me to write off entire weeks rather than working with my body. When I realised that I needed to adapt, I became more empowered and proud of all the things I could do, and this made me more motivated to do some form of activity, giving me back the power.

Cycle syncing is often presented as complicated or only for women with perfect routines. How do you make it realistic for busy women juggling work, kids, and life?

Cycle syncing really sounds complicated, to be honest – it’s just understanding that our bodies are different at different phases of our cycle. I coach busy women who lack time, and my main focus is to simplify and teach women to work with their bodies & recognise all the efforts they make, no matter how big or small. Flipping the switch in their mindset changes everything; it creates positive thoughts, and motivation grows through this shift. Helping women to understand their bodies prevents the traditional consistency block that too many encounter.

Many women feel confused when their energy, strength, or motivation fluctuates across the month. How can understanding the menstrual cycle help women stop blaming themselves and train more effectively?

Teaching women to understand their menstrual cycle and the impact it can have on energy & strength actually builds motivation to keep going and just make adaptations – there’s so much to be said for making women feel “normal” rather than then feeling confused and beating themselves up. This knowledge prevents women from giving up.

As women enter perimenopause and menopause, the cycle becomes less predictable. How do you adapt workout strategies when hormones are shifting, and consistency feels harder?

During the peri and menopause stages of life, everything seems to be less predictable, and it isn’t always easy to know the phase that a woman is in. In these times, I coach women to listen to their body to understand that we cannot fight it and teaching them to allow lighter exercise sessions when needed is actually more beneficial and not to be seen as a weakness.

You work in high-end wellness spaces like Champneys but also speak very honestly about real bodies and real lives. How do you help women optimise workouts without falling back into pressure, perfectionism, or diet culture?

Working in high-end spaces like Champneys has no impact on my coaching or my message, and I believe that women want “real and honest”, no matter where they train. They’re tired of perfectionism. They’re busy and just want to feel their best without overwhelm or stress, and I believe social media & too many different regimes have caused women to become confused. When shown simple methods with easy-to-understand instructions that reduce food guilt and exercise overwhelm that fit their lifestyle, women are happy to make the changes they need. I help them by assessing their lifestyle – the time they have available, stress factors & medical factors & hormonal changes. Using this information helps me to prescribe the right regime and I will always start with smaller steps rather than big leaps. This gives them more opportunity to create “wins” and be proud rather than pulling themselves down for not doing something. In my experience, motivation is built on these wins, and this brings consistency, which brings results.

What are the biggest mistakes you see women making when they train through menopause, especially when following plans designed for younger bodies?

The biggest mistakes I see are women comparing themselves to who they once were, their younger self that didn’t have the stress, the lack of time or the hormonal changes they now have. It causes women to give up on themselves, which is sad to see, as with the right support, working with their body and accepting things to be different means that women can still feel their best despite being over 40!

Strength training, cardio, fun movement, rest… how do you help women decide what to prioritise at different phases of their cycle or hormonal transition?

I give women the freedom to take control back in all areas of life, not just fitness and diet. I will coach them to move through the scale; for example, movement is the baseline. If they are tired, have no energy or strength for even a shortened workout, then simple movement is the go-to. But giving women the freedom to understand why they feel their best despite the way the my do and how to keep moving within these moments helps them not feel like a failure. I give my clients options for self-care alongside a candlelit bath. A book… anything that is just for them. The action of investing in yourself is priceless, and I see clients blossom with this.

You teach Clubbercise, which brings joy and freedom into movement. Why do you think fun is such an underrated but powerful tool for consistency and hormonal health?

Fun movement is so powerful. We don’t always want to exercise, but the feel-good vibes that clubbercise brings help women not only to exercise (I’m yet to find a woman who doesn’t love dancing) but to feel free from life for a moment. People ask me all the time, “What’s the best exercise?” and my answer is always the same: “the one that you love”, and with most people loving music and dance, Clubbercise is a sure way to bring consistency with exercise. It’s a powerful tool for fitness, particularly post 40 when many women are carrying more stress, feeling a little lost & at times depressed, all whilst trying to keep a “lid” on everything. This is an escape, to feel free, to take them back to those fun years they once had… when life was solely about them. We know exercise is beneficial for hormone health, and this class is more accessible to women due to its fun nature & less strict “exercise” regime – it’s ultimately just a dance fitness party!

For women who feel disconnected from their bodies after divorce, burnout, or major life change, how can movement become a way back to confidence rather than another demand?

Movement can become a way back to confidence for women, particularly those who have encountered struggles such as divorce, major life changes and burnout, because it is solely for them. Although it can be a little overwhelming doing something new, women who start small and stick to their regimes grow in confidence, which impacts their entire life happiness. I coach women to focus on how they feel after each exercise session, to give themselves praise for what they’ve done… in time, this removes the thought that it is just another “demand” on them, and that’s when the magic happens, and healthy, happy women are reborn.

If you could leave midlife women with one truth about cycle-aware training, menopause, and feeling strong again, what would you want them to know?

I want midlife women to know that they’re more than capable, that small steps repeated bring the biggest life-changing results. I want them to free themselves of guilt and bad feelings, to practice acknowledgement of their daily wins, as this holds the key to everything. Their bodies aren’t broken; they are just different land needs different methods.

What stood out most in this conversation with Carly was her unwavering belief that women are not failing; they’re simply being asked to train differently. Midlife fitness doesn’t require harsher discipline or younger-body plans. It asks for awareness, adaptability, and a willingness to listen. When women stop comparing themselves to who they once were and start responding to who they are now, something powerful happens: confidence returns, motivation stabilises, and movement becomes supportive rather than stressful. Carly’s work is a reminder that consistency isn’t built through pressure, but through permission. Permission to adapt. Permission to rest. Permission to choose joy as part of strength. If this interview resonated with you, consider it an invitation to soften your expectations, honour your body’s signals, and redefine what feeling strong really means in this chapter of life.

If my words have helped you, a small contribution here will allow them to continue reaching the women who need them most. Also, don't forget to join me on Substack, where I share my Love Notes, a gentle pause in your week to reflect, realign, and reconnect in midlife. It’s not just another newsletter; it’s an intimate circle where I offer fresh intentions, soulful prompts, and simple but powerful shifts to inspire purposeful, creative living. Together, we’ll uncover the small but meaningful changes that help you design a life that feels beautifully your own.