Why It’s So Important to Lift Weights as a Woman
Strength Training Helps Maintain Muscle Mass, Bone Density, and Overall Health During Menopause
First, allow me to define “menopause”. It seems so misunderstood.
The day you hit 12 months of not having a period… that’s menopause. It’s just one day. 7-10 years prior to that is PERIMENOPAUSE and every day after it is POST-MENOPAUSE.
The average age of menopause is 51 and is characterized by a significant drop in estrogen levels. We need that estrogen! Estrogen is crucial for maintaining bone density and muscle mass. As it drops, women are at an increased risk of osteoporosis and sarcopenia. These changes can lead to an even greater risk of fractures, falls, and a general decline in overall health and functionality. Awesome.
So what do we do? How do we function without it? I’m a firm believer in chatting with your doc about HRT, but today let’s talk about lifting heavy weight. It’s all relevant, so please don’t think I’m suggesting you run out and curl 50#. We all start somewhere, and for me I’ve started over and over again - not recommended! Besides talking to your doc to get them on board with you lifting weights, let’s understand WHY.
Why Is Strength Training So Important?
Lifting Weights Maintains and Builds Muscle Mass
Ready to fight sarcopenia? Wait, what’s sarcopenia?? It’s loss of muscle because we’re AGING. Ugh. So how do we manage it? WE LIFT WEIGHTS. This stimulates cells to create protein, which helps maintain and build muscle tissue. Be consistent in your strength training and you can slow down sarcopenia.
Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest compared to fat tissue. Keep and build muscle mass through strength training and you can manage weight. BOOM.
Enhancing Bone Density
As our estrogen declines so do our beautifully strong bones. But when you practice weight-bearing exercises (lifting weights, resistance training, plyometrics), it applies stress to the muscle, tendons and bones. Your body then says WHOA! More bone please! This helps reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
Improving Bone Strength: Stronger bones = less chance of breaks and fractures. This is particularly important for post-menopausal women, who are at a higher risk of bone loss. We have control over helping our bones or ignoring their cries for help. Osteoporosis can be preventable.
Your Overall Health Improves
Cardiovascular (Heart) Health: By strength training and adding cardio to your routine, you can help reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and enhance overall heart health. How? When you work your muscles they ask the heart to pump oxygenated blood to them asap. This dilates the vessels reducing pressure and strengthens the heart muscle. (It’s waaaaay more involved than that, but you get the picture.)
How’s Your Balance? Strength training improves muscle strength resulting in better balance and coordination. Without these things our reflexes are slow and can cause us to fall and break bones. If you feel any hesitation to do something because you’re afraid of losing your balance, trust me, you can gain it back starting today. Hack: try standing on one leg while you brush your teeth in the morning and the other leg at night. Don’t lean on the counter and cheat! Feeling strong and stable creates confidence and that’s SEXY!
Brain Health: Exercise, including strength training, has been shown to improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. It also enhances cognitive function. <mic drop> Enough said.
Ok, So How Do I Get Into This Strength Training Thing?
Start Slow
If you are new to strength training, start with light weights or resistance bands. I can’t express enough the importance of working with a solid trainer to get you going. Proper form and patience to increase your workout intensity is key to staying as free from injury as possible. Not sure about getting a trainer? I have a 6-week training guide with 18 full length video workouts, an ebook all about what you’re going through with nutrition guidance and recipes AND a library filled with how-to exercises. It’s all right here!
Shake It Up!
Full-body workouts ensure balanced muscle development and overall strength. And honestly, for beginners and even intermediate athletes, it’s simpler to hit it all in your workout instead of breaking up muscle groups. That can come in time if you’re interested.
A squat doesn’t have to be the same day after day. There are so many variations of exercises – it doesn’t have to be monotonous! Again, this is where a trainer will help.
Don’t Give Up
Your best bet to making a difference in your body is to lift 3 days per week. Even 2 will help, but 3-4 is even better... over time. Don’t dive into too much right off the bat. Focus instead on being consistent because it is crucial for building and maintaining muscle mass and bone density.
Gradually increase the weight or resistance as your strength improves. This principle, known as progressive overload, is essential for continued progress and adaptation. Once again, hire a GREAT trainer to help you do it right.
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Muscles need time to recover and grow stronger. Listen to your body and rest when you need to. Nobody cares that you lift 8 days per week when you look run down and keep getting injured.
You can’t out-exercise a bad diet! Build it in the gym and expose it in the kitchen. You’ve heard that, right? It’s so true! Get your protein with a balanced diet and stay hydrated to maintain optimal muscle function and recovery.
The Daily Aches and Pains
Dealing with Joint Pain
Remember to warm up appropriately before your workout – not doing so forces your joints to do the work. Result? Joint pain! Now maybe you have painful joints regardless. Opt for low-impact strength training exercises, such as using resistance bands or water-based exercises like aqua aerobics.
Speaking of warming up, always warm up before and cool down after your workouts to reduce the risk of injury and alleviate joint stiffness.
Is It Motivation or Discipline? Both?
Set achievable short-term and long-term goals to stay motivated. Make a chart. Or a vision board. Take pics in your favorite outfit you want to fit back into or just feel better wearing. Leave sticky notes on your mirror about how freaking awesome you are! (Pro Tip: Write those notes like you’re writing them for your child, partner, friend, etc. Trust me, it works)
Find your tribe! A workout buddy can make workouts way more fun and force a friendly relationship with accountability.
Be consistent and you can negate the effects of hormonal changes. It’ll help you look better, feel better and BE a better human! Listen to your bod, start slowly, rest up and HAVE FUN!
Questions? Ask away right here!
Coach Ditty.
