What if women were taught about the impact of age and dwindling estrogen on their strength and muscle mass, I bet there would be less fear around getting “too muscley” much less obsession with thinness. I bet many more women would be on a focused mission to get strong AF. I bet many more women would embrace aging gracefully by nurturing oneself vs anti-aging gimmicks. It’s a privilege to age not to be perceived as bad. It’s like we are not allowed to and if we do, we are doomed to pharmaceuticals and being decrepit. I for one do not buy into that BS.
Men and women both lose muscle and strength with age. We have all seen it or are experiencing it. If we do nothing to mitigate it, we can expect to lose around 8% of our strength each decade after turning 30, this isn’t very old. For women, the menopause transition can exacerbate things further. I’ve been active my whole life, from running and teaching group fitness to strength training. Strength training is what will create longevity. Strength training will prevent and even stop osteoporosis. Not yoga, not Pilates. Though if you have never worked out or it’s been a while, those modalities are a great place to start. Strength training with weights and heavier than what is offered in most group fitness classes. I should know. I’ve been in this business for over 30 years teaching group fitness classes and coaching groups and one-on-one. I digress …
Estradiol is our most potent form of estrogen. It declines during perimenopause before eventually flatlining. Estradiol is an anabolic hormone and without it our bodies are not as good at building muscle. This is where nutrition and strength training come in. Men have this hormone as well just different amounts. Important note. I’ve been in menopause since I was 31. I had a hysterectomy. I didn’t do hormone replacement. I did (and do) everything via food, strength training, cardio, yoga and working in. Working in is meditation. Any time I get a signal from my body that is related to menopausal signals. I will check my hydration, nutrition, working out and working in, mindset, breathing which will all affect sleep. I find if I do not move enough (especially strength training), was not on point with food, this carries over to not being on point with water. My mindset will be off and then a heat wave wakes me up. Did I mess anything up? NO. I just assess and adjust. Am I thinking too much? NOPE! I am simply connected to myself and my needs. No one else gets to do that for me. Most people are disconnected and happy to be told what to do and given meds so they don’t need to think. Therein lies the problem. Want to learn to meditate and connect back to your intuition? Please message me this is what I do to help you become successful!
Estradiol is also very important for strong muscle contraction and for generating power and force because of its direct action on myosin (the fibrous protein which acts as the motor behind our muscle contractions). If you have muscle loss, not challenging the muscle you are going to get weaker and more prone to falling and breaking a bone. You essentially become helpless.
“When researchers take estrogen away from animals, their ability to regenerate muscle stem cells (also called satellite cells) can plummet 30-60%. Likewise, when researchers take muscle biopsies in women, they see the same thing” Stacy T. Sims, Next Level. This is insane!! Strength train ladies! You will not get bulky and big. Even if you did, which is biologically impossible without the assistance of actual steroids, who cares! I would rather be big and bulky with muscle and self-sufficient than skinny, weak, and helpless; with a higher mortality rate that comes with that.
Lifting weight and importantly building up to lifting heavy (1-6 reps) on compound exercises like squats, dead lifts, bench press, can help to stimulate our satellite cells and replace the muscle and strength building stimulus that we lose as estrogen declines. DO NOT FEAR IT. Click on the link to Build some muscle. I have online and inperson services available. It doesn’t have to be and shouldn’t be 1-6 reps every workout. That is a committed process. This is where the science of programming comes into play. Most people do not understand how to do this let alone program it for themselves. This is where I come in. Over 30 years’ experience in this game and the experience of being in menopause for over 20 years and learning to nurture the aging process gracefully and not as though it is a disease to be stopped.
The amount of BS articles every year focused on getting women their Summer Body Ready. I used to do them! It’s a marketing strategy. I still wanted you to make it a lifelong journey. If only there were a fraction of that effort put into helping women truly understand their hormones and physiology and guiding us on how to get OLD LADY BODY READY. Click on that link I have the program for you!! There are people out there with great information. You have to swim through it and use discernment. I have a handful of people where I get my information from, I use discernment and go into a mediation to connect with my Soul. There is NO COOKIE CUTTER approach. Click on that link because I assess and design your program. Every woman is different because every woman didn’t have the same approach to their body when it came to food and working out.
Peeps…there is trauma here as well. It’s not all physical reasons. That story will come out later. I did only one extreme measure when it came to food. I was in my late teens. It was Bulimia. I sorted that out myself after seeing someone who was horrible. That is what got me on the path of health and wellness. I did minimal damage to my metabolism, and I have stayed active my whole life. I teach it!! My symptoms or as I like to call them my signals are minimal but not to be ignored. That bulimia was emotional healing. Much bigger back story. Not relevant here. Those traumas are the reason when we get older, they become our self-sabotaging behaviors. We need to meet them head on. Not easy I know! I have lifecoaching services, reach out!! If what you are dealing with is out of my scope, I will refer you to some great people.
What if the principal reason why we sabotage ourselves is because it represents how we get our emotional needs met?
What if we paradoxically focus our effort not toward what we want but rather toward resolving what blocks us from realizing what we want?
But you need to start somewhere, and those answers will come when you get started because that is when the blocks come. To become the person, you want to be you need to heal those parts of you to get there.
It’s never too late to start. Start over as many times as it takes. I’ve started over a million times. I never gave up.
If you’re not ready to start working out, start walking more.
If you’re too scared to walk into a gym or a studio, do a home workout (I can help, you don’t need a ton of equipment)
If you’re not ready to track all your food, track protein only. This has helped more of my clients than I can count.
If you’re not ready to eat fruit and vegetables at every meal, eat a serving during ONE meal.
Whenever a big habit change seems insurmountable, break it down until you can find what you CAN do.
The key to success is smaller and consistent steps.
Those pictures of me range from 43-53. This is what consistency can look like. Choose your hard.
Any questions let me know below or shoot me an email.