Do These Things To Thrive On The Bike After 40 With Marissa Axell

Imagine going from feeling strong and fast and loving every minute on the bike to feeling so exhausted you can barely keep your eyes open. That’s exactly what happened to Marissa Axell, a Cat 1 cyclist and cycling coach, when perimenopause hit in her late 30s.

She had no idea what was happening. And she had never even heard the word perimenopause. But Marissa did the research, made changes, and now strives to help other women in this age group.

In this conversation, we talk about the biggest training mistakes women over 40 make, how to balance strength work, skills training, and recovery without losing your mind, and the mental tools Marissa uses with her athletes use to push through the hard stuff.

If you’ve ever worried your best riding days might be behind you, this episode will make you excited for the future again.

Listen To The Interview

Key Takeaways

Don’t have time to listen to the full episode? Here are some of the key takeaways.

Stop Thinking More Volume Is the Answer

• More volume without adequate recovery leads to getting slower, not faster
• Women over 40 experience a stress response to excessive training that can cause weight gain, illness, and injury
• The shift needs to be away from volume and toward what your personal physiology actually needs right now
• That means prioritizing strength training to combat muscle loss, and skills work to improve efficiency on the bike

Strength Training and Skills Work Are Non-Negotiable

• Focus on the “big five” movements: squats, deadlifts, lunges, presses, and rows/pulls
• Follow gym sessions immediately with cadence drills on the bike to transfer that muscle activation directly to your riding
• Work toward pedaling 10–15 RPM faster than your normal cadence to build efficiency
• Skills work isn’t just for mountain bikers — it matters across road, gravel, and every discipline

Recovery Is Training

After 40, your hormones are no longer quietly managing your stress response for you. That means you have to actively work your parasympathetic nervous system or your training won’t stick.

• Protect two dedicated recovery days per week and treat them as sacred
• Use those days for mobility, breath work, yoga nidra, or non-sleep deep rest (NSDR)
• Stack recovery habits into what you’re already doing — foam roll while watching TV, do breath work before bed
• If you miss a training day, let it go. Don’t cram it into your recovery day.

You Don’t Have to Do It All

• Communicate your training needs to your family ahead of time, don’t assume they’ll figure it out
• Ask yourself: is there one thing I could delegate this week that would free up time for me?
• Small shifts (like a meal kit on training days or asking your kid to handle one chore) can open up your schedule more than you think
• You are not the last person on the list. Your goals matter too.

Build Confidence With a Confidence Resume

Women consistently underestimate themselves. Marissa has a practical tool for changing that:

• Sit down and write out everything you’ve done in the last 6–12 months to show up for your training
• Include the early mornings, the hard rides, the times you made space for yourself when it wasn’t easy
• Read it out loud to yourself, really take it in
• Stop comparing yourself to who you were 15 years ago. That’s a trap. Look at what you’ve built recently.

Use Process Goals to Race Smarter and Hurt Less

Whether you’re racing for the first time or chasing a PR, Marissa’s process goal approach helps you stay focused and out of your own head when things get hard.

• Break your event into thirds. Each third has one simple process goal to focus on
• That goal might be holding a specific heart rate zone, pacing conservatively early, or attacking every climb
• Use a personal mantra to crowd out the thoughts that tell you to stop; you can’t think two thoughts at the same time
• Try counting down from 100 by sevens during hard intervals. It delays mental fatigue and teaches your brain to work through discomfort

Connect With Marissa Axell

👉 Instagram: @marissa.axell
👉 Website: axnfitnessandcoaching.com

Other Episodes You’ll Enjoy

• Selene Yeager Interview: How To Thrive On The Bike Thru Menopause
• Tips For Cycling After 40 With Sylvie D’Aoust
• Are You Biking On Empty? Supplements, Macros, & Sweat Science I Kyla Channell

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