Menopause Monday —Lift Heavy!

Welcome! September is Perimenopause Awareness Month,
and I'm starting a new blog series, Menopause Monday. Let's dive in, shall we . . .

​You know what area of research has been neglected in the science world for too long?

Women’s health in general and menopause/perimenopause specifically.

The research dollars are mostly dedicated to men. 

We are NOT small versions of men. 

We are women with a completely different hormonal makeup and when menopause hits, things that may have worked for us prior — lots of cardio and not eating enough — won’t cut it anymore. 

We’ve been told “your symptoms are just the way it goes with menopause," so get use it. 

Uh, no. 

Luckily a lot of women of “a certain age” hitting perimenopause/menopause now, are also doctors and researchers, doing studies to help themselves and the rest of us. 

In addition to being a Somatic Educator, I’m also a Personal Trainer and Behavioral Change Coach with a ton of sub-certifications in everything from pilates to brain health training. Even with all my education, I wan’t happy how my body was changing either. 

Now I'm doing the continuing ed.

I’m putting myself through the paces.

I’m tweaking my diet.

And I want to share what I’m learning and how things are going. 

Welcome to Menopause Monday!
​

Let’s kick off Perimenopause Awareness Month with tips on exercise.

Ditch the endless cardio. Time to lift HEAVY! 
Probably at the top of most midlife women’s frustrations is weight gain, particularly around the belly. 

So many women say, "I'm cutting back on my food intake and alcohol, and exercising like a mad woman, and my belly keeps getting bigger. WTH!?" 

As our hormones change, the exercise routines that had worked for us in the past, can now actually increase our cortisol levels. The cortisol levels can result in stored visceral fat around our organs, increasing our mid sections. 

We can all (women and men) benefit from lifting HEAVY. 
No ladies, you won't bulk up, but can change your body composition so you burn the belly fat, and protect your tendons and bones, along with a ton of other health bennies.

Don't start lifting heavy quite yet!
If you haven’t lifted weights in awhile —or ever —be sure to learn HOW to do strength exercises properly first. You'll start with lighter weights at first and do more reps with them. Working with a qualified personal trainer would be very beneficial.  

If you aren't sure what weight to start with, consider what you lift in your daily life. Grocery bags, bags of dog food and garden soil, etc. You are probably stronger than you think! Lifting light weights like 2-3 pounds may be too light to help you get stronger so you can progress. You want to lift an amount that challenges you by 10-12 repetitions, does slowly and with proper form. You may start with 2 sets of reps, with a break in between exercises. 

​You can also start with body weight exercises, if you don't want to invest in weights yet. Body weight exercises can be challenging and require a lot of somatic awareness of where you are in space, how to preform the exercises properly and may be more fatiguing than hand weights so you may only do a few reps to start with. Examples of body weight exercises are push ups, lunges, squats, planks, tricep dips, step ups, and Superman back extensions. There are many ways to modify these exercises so most people can perform them, such as doing push ups on the side of kitchen counter vs on your knees or toes on the floor.

Again, working with a personal trainer can give you feedback on how to do the exercises well, and modifications if needed. 

Preparing to lift heavier weights takes time. I mean months of time, especially if you are starting from scratch.   

Once you have a solid foundation of how to perform strength exercises properly, it may be time to up the amount of weight you lift. At this stage you can lift heavier weights, aiming for an amount that challenges you by 8-10 reps.

After a few months of incrementally increasing the amount of weight you lift in the 8-10 reps range, you can bump up to lift an amount of weigh that challenges you by your fifth repetition, and have to rest by your eighth one. Of course, do all your reps with good form. 

Some women worry they will "bulk up" if they lift weights. First, it's challenging for women to get "bulky" muscles. Being in perimenopause/menopause makes it even harder. Beside that, I'm talking about strength training (getting stronger), which is different from hypertrophy training (building muscle mass). If you want, you can read more how they differ. 

Work with a certified personal trainer. Be sure to find one who will design you a plan, not just have you do a random workout the day you go to the gym. (I'd be happy to help you out! I’ve been certified by the American Council on Exercise since 1997.)

You can do a lot with a home gym set up.
Here are some of my favorite equipment options I use at home: 

• suspension trainer, similar to a TRX, which uses your body weight as your gym
• stairs
• a few pairs of dumbbells (at times, I hold two pairs at once to increase weight without having a ton of different weight options)
• chair
• Swiss ball
• medicine ball
• gliders

Aim for 2-4 days of strength training. Target the major muscle groups (back, chest, arms, hips/butt/legs) with a day off between.

To mix it up, I like to do a set of 3 different exercises to target each area. An example might be 1) incline chest flies, 2) tricep push ups, and 3) stagger arm push ups. (If your strength training knowledge is small right now, just do the basic push ups. You can even start on by doing them at the edge of your kitchen counter!)

The other critical component to any perimenopause/menopause workout plan is interval training. I’ll go into that more in the next post, but I believe it’s best to start off with a foundational strength training program so you get stronger, improve your posture and have healthier joints before doing high intensity exercises. 

Where does Somatics fit into all this? 

• Somatics is great for reducing stress, which is super important for everyone on this planet, and especially for women at this stage of life.
• As we age our interoception and proprioception (our ability to sense our movement patterns and sense where we are in space) can wane, which can impact how we exercise and do things like strength train. Somatics can help you better control your body so you have good form and less likely to get injured. 
• Great compliment to mobility and fascia work, and good for warm up and cool down to workouts. 

What I’m experiencing 
It is just over a month since I refocused my fitness efforts. 

I’ll tell you, I lost about 1 pound on the scale. Even that fluctuates a bit.

I have lost a few inches collectively from my belly, hips, thighs and chest.

I am making positive changes to my body at a time when most women at my age are sliding in the opposite direction.

I aim to have a longer healthspan, not just lifespan. 

As a species we weren't intended to live for decades after menopause. Science, vaccines, nutrition and sanitation has helped humans live longer. But who wants to just be on the planet longer, only to be weak and frail? 

I know there are quicker ways to lose weight, but I don't consider them an option.

Ozempic and way too few calories won’t make me stronger. It will just make me weaker. Those options will rob my bones of calcium, make my joints and tendons more susceptible to injury, distort my posture which will impact my breathing, internal organs and brain health. It's a downward spiral. 

Muscle is my medicine of choice. 

I’d rather take good care of the body I have.

I want to live stronger, not just longer. 

If you'd like any help on your journey, please reach out. I have nearly 30 years of health and fitness training, and perimenopause/menopause is a whole new frontier for us to explore together! I'm excited, are you?! :-)