Some of you may be wondering why a 40 year old is obsessed with talking about the menopause š¤·āāļø As we head past our 40th birthday, especially in our mid to late 40s we are unwittingly thrusted onto the hormonal rollercoaster of perimenopause and the chaos of hot flashes, fatigue, night sweats, insomnia and emotional lability that accompanies it.
Perimenopause (which means āaround menopauseā) usually starts some time in your 40s, but for some women changes start as early as their mid 30s! š² Perimenopause refers to the time during which your body makes the natural progression to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years. The level of estrogen (the main female hormone) fluctuates unevenly during perimenopause and you may start to experience menopause-like symptoms such as irregular menstrual cycle, hot flashes, reduced strength, weight gain, night sweats, and sleep problems. Most health problems in women after 40 are linked to declining estrogen levels, contributed to by physical inactivity, dietary deficiencies, and other changes associated with ageing.
Physical activity and exercise have a positive influence on menopause related health problems, especially weight gain (and fat distribution), bone density (and osteoporosis risk) and cardiovascular problems. The sooner you start to exercise the better! Sadly you canāt ābankā exercise that you have done in the past. It doesnāt matter if you were super active during school or āusedā to play sport. You need to get active (and stay active) prior to, during and post menopause to reap the benefits.
Did you know the majority of research about running is conducted on young men?
Does this extrapolate to women over 40?
Hell NO!!!
Our female hormones responsible for the menopausal pandemonium also mean that generic training plans based on male physiology arenāt going to be applicable. So why are we following generic training and nutrition advice that wonāt work for us? We need to understand our female physiology and plan our training and nutrition to work in harmony with our hormones to reach our full potential.
I Empower Women to not only Survive, but to Strive & Thrive through Menopause!
I help Women age 40+ Run Faster, Further & Stronger and Stay Injury Free by Training in Harmony with their Female Physiology to surpass their running goals. We lead crazy busy lives, so I teach women to train SMARTER not Harder and still SMASH their goals!
Aside from the obvious external anatomical differences, the main difference that impacts us with regards to exercise and our response to training, is our different sex hormones that dominate after puberty:
šāāļøMen have significantly higher levels of testosterone
šš»āāļøWomenās key sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone fluctuate regularly throughout the menstrual cycle, go crazy and fluctuate unpredictably during perimenopause, and drop off almost completely postmenopause.
The natural fluctuations of our hormones impact:
šŖOur ability to make muscle
š„Our metabolism - the fuels that we burn and spare
š“ Our ability to recover from training
š¦Plasma volume levels - which are needed to sweat
š„µ How well you tolerate the heat
š¤¬ Moods
š¤Æ And so much more!
I am passionate about helping other women SMASH their running goals and do the #outrunthemenopause through my blog, podcast (coming soon!) and courses.
If you are experiencing perimenopausal, menopausal or postmenopausal symptoms (or know you will at some point in the future) and would like the support of an AMAZING community of awesome women just like You, who understand what you are going through, and are available for help pick you up when you are down, be a shoulder to cry on, a place to vent your frustrations, and a place to laugh at the craziness of what we are all going through while also discussing our running antics, then join my Facebook group:
Running To, Through & Beyond Menopause https://www.facebook.com/groups/runningtothroughandbeyondmenopause
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