Fitness for Menopause - Power Up, Not Down

Why "Polarisation" is the Secret Weapon for Your Fitness in Menopause

Let's face it, my friends, perimenopause and menopause bring a whole new set of changes and challenges. But here's the good news: there's no need to slow down! In fact, this is the perfect time to “power up” your health and fitness with a training approach called polarisation. Once you’ve tried it, you won’t look back as you move away from feeling frustrated that you’re losing fitness, despite exercising in the way you always have, towards feeling motivated, energised and stronger than ever. Sounds too good to be true? Read on!

Why "Business As Usual" Won't Cut It Anymore

If you’re 40+ (like me), you've likely noticed that your old workout routine just isn't delivering the same results. As we head through perimenopause: the bit leading up to menopause when our hormones go completely haywire before tapering right down as we experience menopause itself, our bodies do not respond in the same way to exercise. Sticking to those "middle-of-the-road" endurance workouts (think long, steady cardio) can actually be counterproductive. They leave you feeling drained without triggering the kind of adaptations we need for optimal health and fitness in this stage of life. Plus, the prolonged increase in stress hormones brought about by this type of workout, can actually make your menopause symptoms worse - eek!

Enter Polarisation: The Key to Unlocking Your Strength & Fitness in Midlife

Polarisation is all about creating a structured contrast in your training. You’ll ditch the middle ground and instead focus on two distinct training types: high intensity and recovery.

Here's how it works:

• High-Intensity: Think HIIT workouts incorporating short (but oh-so-challenging) bursts of activity or lifting weights that really challenge you. This is where you push your limits, triggering your body to adapt and build strength, power, and cardiovascular fitness. In this zone, the real magic happens for menopausal women – improved insulin sensitivity, better body composition (as the body gets sufficient stimulus to build muscle), healthier bones and a boost in metabolism.

• Recovery: This is just as important as the high-intensity work! Prioritise rest and recovery days to allow your body to rebuild and adapt to the training stimulus. Whilst you’re recovering, it’s important to nourish your body properly with good food and plenty of hydration. You can throw in some gentle walks and mobility work here too if you feel the urge to move your body, but nothing too strenuous.

How do I pull all of this together?

Well, the good news is that you don’t have to think about this as I’ve done it all for you with my Online Fitness programme! Here’s how my two classes work together to tick all the training boxes you need in perimenopause, menopause and beyond:

Online Strength - Lifting Heavier for a Stronger, Healthier You

As we age, building muscular strength and power becomes even more important. This is where heavier weights come in. Forget the myth of getting bulky – (a) it is actually really hard for us women to do this and (b) would take a very specific type of training coupled with a very specific nutritional programme.

Besides, strength training helps with so much more than just aesthetics. It improves stability and joint health, strengthens bones for osteoporosis prevention, and even helps regulate blood pressure. It also helps with your body composition by improving the ration of lean tissue (muscle) to body fat. Lifting lighter weights which you might have done in other classes, primarily builds muscular endurance, which is great, but during menopause, we want to prioritise building strength and power for a healthier future.

If this sounds a bit daunting, please don’t worry. My classes are for any woman who either wishes to start strength training or is already strength training but wants to lift heavier. We break down every move so that you feel confident and strong and I’m always on hand to help with anything which doesn’t “click” or to help tailor the workouts to suit you.

Online HIIT - Jumping for Joy (and stronger bodies!)

HIIT stands for “High Intensity Interval Training” and the key bit here is the word “high”. Most of what is marketed as HIIT is actually more like “MIIT” - medium intensity interval training! This means falling into the trap of working in a “middle of the road” endurance zone, which is just going to wear you out without triggering the adaptations which will improve your health and fitness. Not good.

We need to be working at an effort level of 8/10 in these workouts, and that will look different for every woman. The most important thing is that you work at a level which is right for you. The good news is that we only do this in very short blasts, but this is all it takes to pull the trigger and nudge our bodies to get fitter and stronger.

Incorporating impact or jumping exercises into your routine is another secret weapon, especially if we take our bodies in different directions as we do so (forwards/backwards/sideways) which we do in every Online HIIT class. These exercises "wake up" your muscle cells, improving their power and composition. They also help us to improve our bone density. Imagine bounding up the stairs with ease as you head into later life – that's the power of plyometrics! If you’re a total beginner with this type of training, again, we can build up to it together. I offer lots of progressions and you start at a level which is right for you and your body. We can also work together to help you build up to jumping with confidence if you have an existing pelvic floor condition such as leaking when you exercise. This doesn’t mean you are not allowed to jump!

Working Hard AND Smart

Here's the beauty of polarisation for those of us that are experiencing the squeeze of being a woman in midlife: you don't have to spend hours in the gym. Yes, you will work hard but because of the challenging level of work, shorter bursts are all you need and with my classes you are done and dusted in 30 minutes.

The key is to work with your body, not against it. Embrace the rest days and prioritise proper sleep and nutrition to fuel your workouts and recovery and your body will pay you dividends.

Remember, I'm in this with you! As a woman experiencing perimenopause myself, I understand the challenges that come with this phase but also I know how satisfying it is to feel you are getting stronger and fitter with every workout, especially if you are coming from a place where you almost feel you’re moving backwards!

Let’s ditch the “slow down” mentality and get ready to “power up” with some polarised training together - remember you can find out more about my online classes here and if you’d like to try a class for free, or find out more, then just drop me a message!