Getting your Sweat on may may be holding you back. ..exercise demystified.

Women everyday come to me wanting to do well by their bodies and their health - but the vast expanse of the internet has us at odds with what to do! Move more! Do less cardio. Do more cardio! Eat less. Eat MORE protein. Take Hormones. Don’t take Hormones. It’s dizzying!

In today’s class - let’s tackle exercise!

In our youth, growing up, media has us slaving to the cardio - jazzercise, pump classes, aerobics and all the neon we could squeeze our shiny happy tooshies into. It was most important to move, and the more gesticulation the better. Glow - not sweat - and we were promised dress sizes would drop and our lives would become infinitely better rising to 70s perm and pearly white smile heaven. Headband not included.

Though we’re long past the leotards and wrist sweat bands - we have hung onto the ideal that we as women need to follow the one way track down the cardio highway to get to the end result that we are craving.

Then comes along IG, FB and the influencers and we get jostled into thinking that was tried and true no longer is. What’s even worse, is when we try to double check our new and shiny resources, we come up against age old tropes that don’t seem to subscribe to the changing scientific landscape - not least of which the changing geometry of our bodies. Add in a sense of urgency and we feel like we are running in a house of mirror unsure of where to turn bashing into our likeness in all the wrong places. No wonder we can’t get ahead.

Ok. So here’s the deal - and the practical advice.

The standard advice for women in perimenopause and menopause is 150mins per week of active exercise.

That’s 30minutes of moderate intensity - like brisk walking - every day.

We’ve known for a while that the steps walked in a day - upwards of 9000 a day has a way of keeping sickness at bay. And this is great news.

BUT here is what I see in clinic EVERY day.

Believing that more is better and fitting in all the cardio to get the heart pumping - while great for cardiovascular health, in our menopause transition years will not have the effect on our body composition that we are hoping for. And I see women running (no pun intended) to what they know - moving more and eating less and it doesn’t work!

THIS is what all the influencers and menopause ads are targeting and suggesting endless steady state cardio doesn’t help.

In very simple terms, the stress on the body increases with all the steady state long run/bike/hike cardio, our body needs more energy but the way our body manages the energy transport from our blood sugar to our muscles isn’t as effective. What ends up happening is the body steals from our muscles to get the energy up and in the end we go the opposite way of body composition than we hope, weaker muscles and less lean muscle mass…and an increased storage system to our gut.

Ya. I know. It sucks.

So what to do..? Well this is where the strength training, sprint training and High intensity training (HIIT) comes in and what everyone is talking about.

Increasing the strength training with heavier weighs (when you feel safe to do so) has the effect of increasing our lean body mass, helping us shed the unwanted layers of the menopause fat cloak and manage the blood sugar transport system far more effectively. Same goes for exercise sessions that are short and sweet and very intense - funny that efficiency in exercise is exactly what we need!

Now I’m going to circle back - what if this is still All. Too. Confusing??

Well then…the message I wrote back to a friend asking about what to do;

Here is my longer answer:

Gonna chime in here as a Physio and say -

what an awesome question! And you are right. It IS confusing. .

I’d first ask - what are you into?

What do you love to do and then go from there because any exercise starts with what you can see yourself doing consistently. So…what blows your hair back? Floats your boat?!

Cardio is not a fast track to weight gain and it holds massive benefits for health - shout out to all my ultramarathoners, runners, cyclists, xc- skiers.

It’s when women are doing only this that we run into problems. Stress on the body and its joints etc.

Love to run/cycle/swim? Let’s add weight training (LHS), sprints, mobility work and rest as a platform and supporting regime to what is your air (the endurance if that is your thing).

So the answer is - it depends - and the great news is - there is flexibility in how you go about it!

Start with the big picture of what you love, or want, have time for and enjoy.

Then let’s look at what your goals are and build something from there.

The key here….let’s try to make this complex thing a little more simple (KISS principle) so that you enjoy what you are doing while taking care of you in the best way possible

LHS, mobility, eat to nourish fuel and enjoy, rest, take care of stress - focus on what we want because our bodies are amazing when we take care of it.

What an awesome question! Keep us posted on what helps with those ah ha moments that resonate for you.

Listen - this transition is a moment to pause. (here we go again with the puns). Take stock and figure out what it is that you want and let’s take the steps together to shift the course.

I’ve got you.

Stop playing small.

xo

Karin

If you know of someone who is struggling, it may help to share this along. The more we know, the better we can move forward confidently.