Strength Training: A Vital Tool for Women Over 40

00:00 Strength training essential during menopause for vitality.

04:21 Great form and challenging weights matter.

06:09 Strength training for lifelong empowerment and health.

In this episode, you'll hear: 

1. Master the Basics: Discover why muscle matters in menopause and how preserving it equates to not just strength, but vitality.
2. Simple Yet Effective: Starting strength training doesn't have to be overwhelming. Learn how just two 30-45 minute full-body workouts per week can transform your life without leaving you exhausted.
3. Life-Long Results: Tips on seamlessly integrating strength training into your weekly routine, ensuring you feel strong and empowered for life's adventurous journeys.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to the Menopause Method. Hey there I'm Cam Allen and we are gonna talk about one of my most favorite subjects ever strength training. In my forties I was a crossfit crazy lady and I learned some beautiful things about the human body and what strength really does for you physically and mentally, but today we're gonna talk about strength training in menopause like essential tips for your muscle and for your vitality. Because let me say this there are no frail old ladies on my watch not on my watch ladies so we're going to talk about you know action steps to get going. So we're going to first start like why does muscle matter in menopause? Here's some yucky stuff. Either you're doing something on purpose to keep them or you're actually losing it. Starting around the age of 30, we lose 3 to 8% of our muscle mass per decade, per decade, and that accelerates after 60. So, like, in this menopause transition, like, you gotta do something about this, but here's something that's even more alarming. It's actually your muscle strength can decline even faster than the muscle mass. Some studies show that your strength decreases 1 to 2% every year starting in midlife, and it ramps up significantly after 60. So, again, no frail ladies on my watch. Now we know there's a ton of health benefits from strength training. Anywhere from, like, optimizing your metabolism, which means, basically, your body is working at optimal level. We want that. Also, your bone density. If you were to fall, the stats are not good about broken hips and your longevity. We do not. If we do fall, we wanna be able to bounce right back, and being strong in your muscles and keeping your bones strong is part of that formula. We just want resilience as we age. Like, one of my goals is literally to carry in all of my groceries in one trip forever. That's my goal in life, one of them. And then the other part would be adventures, like having strength and stamina to go do the things you wanna do. My husband and I love hiking, and I want and my kids. I hike with my kids too. I wanna do that for as long as I can. And one of those ways is actually strength training. So I have the energy and the vitality and the strength and the stamina, all the things, to do those adventures. Now there's some other benefits, you know, like blood sugar control and things like that. We'll get into that in another episode. Really, this is a jump start guide to help you get moving and getting you in the gym, and it could be your home gym, lifting some weights and getting stronger. One of the side effects that I didn't realize about strength training until I look back, like, when I look back on my forties was the confidence I gained to actually go through a divorce and make it to the other side of menopause. So confidence, you have the confidence to get through the hard stuff of life. And we know there's gonna be hard stuff in life. But when you do something in the gym physically, it, like, translates to your whole life, and I want that for you. So here's the bottom line. If you're not actively strength training, you're losing muscle in midlife. I know that stinks, and I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but again, no frail ladies on my watch. Okay. So here are some of the basics to get started. The programs I write are super simple. It is not CrossFit. I gave that stuff up. Believe me at menopause. So at least twice a week, I want you to lift weights. So twice a week, I want you to lift weights. The workouts are about 30 to 45 minutes, and you work out your full body. None of the split stuff. None legs on one day and arms on one day and chest on another day. Nope. Nope. Nope. We're doing full body workouts twice a week, again, 30 to 45 minutes. I love it because, 1, it doesn't leave you exhausted on the couch, but, 2, it you have time to go enjoy and live your life. Being in the gym at all times for hours on end is not what I prescribe. Not at all. So I do believe in great form. Great form is essential. Learning how to move your body through time, space, and gravity will serve you through midlife in on your adventures and all the things, carrying your groceries, whatever it is, picking up your grandkids from the ground or playing with your new puppy like we have at our house. Great form always matters. Always matters. And then the next thing, once you've got your form dialed in, then I want you to use the heaviest weight you can, a weight that is challenging. See, we can get away with doing 2 workouts a week when we are using a weight that the last few reps are like, can I do this? Like, really challenging. And then when you do it, you're like, damn. I did it. That's how I want you to feel. So the last few reps of each and every set need to be challenging. Again, form first and then figure out your weights. And then over time, those weights are gonna increase because you are getting stronger, and that's important. That's called progressive overload, and that's really important. In the show notes today, I'm gonna have some sample workouts for free to show you exactly what I mean. They'll have form videos. They'll have written descriptions, and it'll get you on track. It'll give you a sample of what I'm talking about here. So the next part of this conversation, so now you know what the workouts are. They're not overwhelming. They don't take that long. You can do it with 2 sets of dumbbells, a lighter set for your upper body, and a heavier set for your lower body. Or you can go to a gym, whatever whatever works for your life. I personally love working out in my house because makeup is optional, bras are optional, and I don't wear shoes. If you ever see any of my videos, I rarely wear shoes unless I'm leaving the house. So I get to do those things, you know, in my basement. So anyway okay. So the third thing I wanna talk about is fitting strength training into your routine for long term results because, like, this is going I want this to be part of your life. I want you to feel strong and empowered and, like, love your body instead of all the menopause and all these symptoms. I wanna flip that for you. Strength training is one of the ways to do that. It's going to improve your health. It's going to improve your confidence, and it's going to improve your, like, adventures, which I'm all about. Okay. So how do you do this? Plan your week. Yeah. I know that's not exciting or fun. I want you to look at your week, whether it's on Sunday. I like to do Sundays. So on Sunday or you know, look at my calendar. What do I have planned? Where are my workouts gonna go? And, again, you need to find 2 pockets of time. That's it. Two pockets of time. Typically, I'm a Monday, Thursday girl, but I'm flexible because life is, you know, life. So plan your week and really look at, you know, where are the pitfalls that could happen? Where are the roadblocks that could possibly happen? And then make a plan for it. Like, if you have something going on on Thursday, can you do it on Friday morning? So really take a chance to look at it. Okay. So those are some of the strength basics. I don't want you to miss the next episode though because it talks about sleep. Sleep is critical in our recovery from strength training, and also you have to have energy to actually want a strength train. And if you're not sleeping, I know how hard that is. So make sure you tune into the next episodes you learn about sleep. And don't forget to grab those free work sample workouts in the show notes. And I will see you next time.