Эпизоды
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The timing of your exercise hurts or improves exercise benefits in menopause. If this is new stay with me! If this is like a review or you’re a trainer and you’re unsure of how to relate these things to your clients, you stay with me too! This is a great refresher and for some trainers the first time they’re ever hearing it!
If you’re a trainer or health pro, don’t miss the She Means Fitness Podcast, and be sure if you’re not getting results for your midlife and beyond clients you’re aware of our sponsor of this show, the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist®. Since 2018 we’ve been providing the course and CECs, and now, this is not a course, it’s a business. Learn more here.
Questions I Answer in This Episode:
Why type and timing of exercise matters more in menopause? [00:07:56] The normal curve of hormones during the day (and night) [00:08:48] How exercise affects hormones [00:10:06] Some examples of how exercise timing change has supported symptoms of menopause [00:15:38] First steps to try if you’re a little “addicted” to your exercise [00:38:49]Let’s review hormones related to exercise (in menopause or any stage):
Cortisol is at its highest level at 8am and lowest at 2am when you’re functioning optimally. During times of stress, whether chronic or acute cortisol levels spike (also increasing blood sugar). Insulin levels will increase if blood sugar rises, in order to lower blood sugar levels. By late afternoon, cortisol levels are low and not providing the energy we’ve enjoyed during the morning. So if we exercise, your body will convert another hormone into cortisol. In the evening, progesterone levels rise to help facilitate the chill and relaxation that helps provide a sound night sleep. During deep cycles of sleep, we release testosterone and growth hormones which improve muscle growth and repair. Why Doing Intense Exercise Early Improves Exercise Benefits in MenopauseSo you don’t misinterpret, this isn’t a suggestion for intense exercise every day. Doing intense exercise early improves exercise benefits in menopause. Also true, intense exercise late might interfere with exercise benefits in menopause.
The two keys in the conversation on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) are:
cortisol during exercise cortisol after exerciseWhat does cortisol do?
Cortisol is responsible for physiological changes, such as the quick breakdown of fats and carbohydrates and a rise in blood sugar for immediate energy, and repressing the immune system to focus your energy on whatever you’re doing at the moment.
The blood sugar elevation you see on your Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor is normal and not a bad thing (provided you’re recovering quickly from that spike that is caused by a legitimate need). The glucose has been released so it can be used:
It’s when you see your CGM continue to be elevated after your HIIT session, or crash, that you want to be concerned about.
The quality of your recovery is important. In menopause, particularly perimenopause, recovery can be slowed or insufficient simply because of the changes in hormones. The same stressors in your life can potentially have a greater negative impact on your cortisol.
Additionally, some of the keys to recovery are hard to get in midlife:
Sleep Down time for Meditation and breath-slowing exercises Foam rolling or massageDecades of conditioning work against us getting adequate nutrition and hydration. If we still operate with “eat less, exercise more,” we generally don’t have enough fuel to recover, and hydration could be impeded by low sodium intake. So many of us grew up with messaging about low salt, low sodium being the goal and have taken it so far that we’re not actually hydrating by drinking water only, or worse, water with sugary substances.
Exercise Early Improves Exercise Benefits in Menopause But Not If…One big mistake women make with HIIT is doing it too much or doing it after a workout that was lower intensity, assuming it’s short and feeling you didn’t work hard enough.
We often assume feeling good after exercise is wrong. We’ve been conditioned by the media that it should be hard or hurt to be effective and should be under that threshold of cortisol elevation.
There is a psychological effect from HIIT that differs from cardio activities. Studies on HIIT and high intensity weight training show these are safe and create positive feelings. The brain gets bathed in neurotransmitters after HIIT sessions that give a boost of creativity or problem solving.
While you CAN do HIIT and strength training on the same day, it is not recommended daily. Hard exercise is more beneficial at your capacity.
When you’re in a period of extremely high stress (emotional and or physical) because of that overall load, the allostatic load interferes with recovery.
During Perimenopause, the roller coaster of hormones can mean HIIT is not even ideal for you at all. If you do it and respond positively, 1-3 short sessions a week of not more than 45 minutes of HIIT is ideal. Beyond that point, injury rates go up significantly. Tendons can become more rigid and connective tissue is reduced thanks to lower estrogen. Awareness about this sweet spot of enough - not too much - is really important. I call it the MVP, MINIMUM VIABLE PHYSICAL activity to get results. Doing more gives you less ROI, it might tip your bucket so much that you are headed to breakdown instead of a more resilient body.
During post menopause, the hormone roller coaster has generally calmed down and you can potentially include HIIT. You may be able to increase it up to 4 short sessions a week.
First Steps to Improve Exercise Benefits in MenopauseSkeptical or a creature of habit that it’s hard to change even if you’re not getting the results you want? If you say, your belly fat is not budging, in fact seems to get worse, here’s my suggestion.
Let's use the analogy of science by the Glucose Goddess (we’ll link to that episode). If you have a plate of food and change nothing but the order you eat that food, you can change the impact of your blood glucose by up to 75%. Let’s say you find it hard to give up your exercise habits. Change to exercise intensely only in the morning and light exercise or movement late in the day.
Two things to keep in mind:
Intensity comes from duration too. So hiking 2 or more hours may also spike your blood sugar. Lack of fuel before, during or after exercise (for recovery) will also increase the negative impact on your cortisol.There you have it, keys to improve the exercise benefits in menopause:
Time intense exercise early in the day Even low to moderate intensity exercise can become intense if the cardiac drift is prolonged enough to elevate cortisol and it remain elevated, or if The habits before, during or after don’t facilitate quick recover with the right fuel and rest to avoid muscle breakdownReferences:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25560699/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1728869X22000338
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9990535/
Resources:
My Favorite CGM:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/myglucose
Flipping 50 Membership:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe
Flipping 50 STRONGER 12-week program:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Cortisol Hormone: Don’t let it derail your fat loss efforts:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/cortisol-hormone/
Best HIIT Workouts for Women Over 50 | Fat Burning:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/best-hiit-workouts/
The Blood Sugar Belly Fat Loss Connection for Women Over 40:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qnjwjT5-nc
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Personal drama or personal trauma? One and the same? What is it, and how does it shape your health and happiness?
Let’s explore the connection between everyday irritations and deeper trauma. From bad hair days to betrayal, uncover how personal drama impacts your well-being and how to move past it to live the life you deserve.
My Guest:
Dr. Debi Silber, founder of the PBT (Post Betrayal Transformation) Institute and National Forgiveness Day (celebrated annually on September 1st). An international bestselling author and acclaimed speaker on FOX, CBS, The Dr. Oz Show, TEDx (twice).
Her podcast, From Betrayal to Breakthrough, is also globally ranked within the top 1.5% of podcasts. She empowers others to overcome betrayal and reclaim health, happiness, and confidence.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What is betrayal? How does it show up? [00:05:00] How does betrayal impact your health, work and relationships? [00:05:50] Why do we stay stuck? [00:18:30] How can our biggest crises become our greatest gifts? [00:21:50] Who needs healing most, the betrayed or betrayer and how are these paths similar or different? [00:23:30]Connect with Debi:
https://thepbtinstitute.com/
On Social:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/InspireEmpowerTransform
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/debisilber/
TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@debisilber
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/debisilber
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/DebiSilber
Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debisilber/
The latest TEDx: “Do You Have Post Betrayal Syndrome?“:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyqOR69dHiU
TEDx: Stop Sabotaging Yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX30i6nC7ro
The From Betrayal to Breakthrough podcast:
https://thepbtinstitute.com/podcast/
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Healing Trauma to Lose Weight: What if it’s Not Stress?
https://www.flippingfifty.com/healing/
The Hidden Reason for Belly Bloat:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/reason-for-belly-bloat/
Your Brain Better | A No Negative Side-Effects Method
https://www.flippingfifty.com/your-better-brain/
Resources:
Flipping 50 Membership:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe
Flipping 50 STRONGER 12-week program:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger
Discovery Call with Debra:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/wellness-coaching-for-life/
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Having a better menopause experience alone ensures you increase longevity and your health span. Usually we talk about preserving muscle, reversing bone loss, and enhancing walking speed to do so. Today, it’s a lot less sweat and breathlessness. but probably the hardest exercise I could ask you to do.
Research shows that older individuals with more positive self-perceptions of aging, measured up to 23 years earlier, lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of aging.
If you don’t like what you see, change it. Change the people around you, change what you’re doing or not doing.
The research study consisted of 660 individuals aged 50 and older who participated in a community-based survey, the Ohio Longitudinal Study of Aging and Retirement (OLSAR). By matching the OLSAR to mortality data recently obtained from the National Death Index, the authors were able to conduct survival analyses. The findings suggest that the self-perceptions of stigmatized groups can influence longevity.
If perceptions about aging are formed by the age of 6, you might want to consider that we’ve likely contributed to our children’s and grandchildren’s early death or improved longevity, one or the other.
You and I have either helped them live longer stronger or believe the little things we’ve said, and I quote from people and potentially myself having said this:
“I’m getting old,” which we don’t usually say with a positive spin. This is most likely first said often at age 25 or at 30 when you have at least ⅔ or ¾ of your life left to live.
“It’s hell getting old.” -said at any age
“Just you wait.” -said to younger women about trying to get or stay fit
“Grandma is old, honey, you have to be careful.”
“There’s nothing good about it.” -in reference to getting old
“So, that’s when it happens/when things start falling apart.”
“I am my mother.”
But, how important are these offhanded, casual, lighthearted comments really?
Increase Longevity Through Growth and a Positive OutlookA 2018 Plus One study found that the chances of dementia can be lowered by 49.8% if a positive outlook is maintained.
Who do you surround yourself with? What are your own thoughts? Do you think about yourself in 20, 30 or 40 years? What do you see? How does it feel? What are you doing and who are you doing it with?
Physical exercise and nutrition are the two most important of the tangible things you can do. Your mindset, however, is number one. Yes, you should move every day and we eat every day. We think 60-70,000 thoughts a day and 90% of those are the same as yesterday. We continue living the same pattern and change becomes hard.
While preparing for a class reunion, I looked through old yearbooks filled with messages like, “keep being you” or “don’t forget who you are when you go to…. [university].” In reality, we didn’t intentionally do it, but that advice is some of the worst we could have given each other.
“Keep changing and evolving, growing and becoming” would have been wise beyond our years but even teachers didn’t write things like that.
Increase Longevity With a Youthful MindsetDr Ellen Langer, the Mother of Mindfulness, tells us that we will stay stuck getting the same results, changing very little, if those habits aren’t changing WHO we are. Unless your best habit is to break habits that keep you doing and repeating thoughts that aren’t getting you results, you’ll continue on the path you’re on now. Virtually, you won’t change much.
The reframing of anything is possible. You’ve probably done it.
For instance, you may have had to run in high school for punishment if you lost or you made mistakes or talked too much in class. Running then was bad.
As an adult you may have come to love running maybe because someone you loved or envied did it and seemed to enjoy it.
Not eating for a long period of time seemed so difficult, it was like dieting, which has a negative connotation stemming from deprivation. But today we know not eating between meals and going 12 hours between dinner and breakfast without calories is positive, and that some often go 16 or more hours without consuming calories and call it intermittent fasting.
So when I go in for a fasting blood test and all that means is I haven’t eating after dinner and it’s 7:30 and they ask if I’m fasting or the phlebotomist asks what I’m going to eat first, as if I must be starving, I’m always a bit surprised they refer to it as a hardship not to have eaten for 11 hours, while I was sleeping most of the time.
A reframe, right?
Dr Ellen Langer’s well-known Counterclockwise study (there’s a book by the same title) with older adults asked to pretend “as if” they were their younger selves for a short time. They were exposed only to music, periodicals, movies of the time they were younger and by the end of the week older adults who arrived using canes, moving slowly, could hear better, see better, were playing touch football. Simply by changing their thoughts about aging.
References:
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002, Vol. 83, No. 2, 261–270
Copyright 2002 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0022-3514/02/$5.00 DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.83.2.261
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0191004
Levy BR, Slade MD, Pietrzak RH, Ferrucci L (2018) Positive age beliefs protect against dementia even among elders with high-risk gene. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0191004. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191004
Other Episodes You May Like:
Think You’re Too Old? Ageism Dismantled with Ashton Applewhite:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/ageism-dismantled/
The Senior Games | Off The Scale and Onto a Starting Line:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/senior-games/
Positive Aging Sources:
How to Change the Way You Age | Bolder is Better:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/growing-bolder/
What, When & Why to Exercise for Women 40+ Challenge Bundle
https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/uncategorized/what-when-why-to-exercise-for-women-40-challenge-bundle/
Resources:
Flipping 50 Membership:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe
Flipping 50 STRONGER 12-week program:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger
Discovery Call with Debra:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/wellness-coaching-for-life/
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Have you ever wondered why you feel better based on the colors you wear? In this episode, you’ll understand just how your fashion is related to your personality.
Know the difference between “image” and “essence". Discover how to use fashion as a tool for self-expression and personal growth!
Today’s guest is my personal color expert (in addition to my voters on IG who helped nail the ultimate Mother of the Groom dress I wore!), and now she can be yours too.
My Guest:
Jennifer Butler is a master of color and style. Holding degrees in Art history, Sociology and Spiritual Psychology she builds on her fashion expertise, knowledge of human nature, and understanding of color, to develop individual DNA based color palettes and style profiles that reveal the essence of an individual’s personality. She is also the author of Dress Your Essence.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What’s the difference between Image and Essence? [00:07:10] What are the 12 Fashion attitudes and how do they affect how we dress ourselves? [00:09:30] Why do you say "Beauty is a Spiritual Practice? [00:16:30] How does your book help us to "Dress in our Essence"? [00:19:40] What inspired you to write this book and put much thought into the colors you wear? [00:15:30] What are the 3 first steps to get started Dressing our Essence? [00:31:00]Connect with Jennifer:
https://JenniferButlerColor.com/
Dress Your Essence Book Link:
http://www.worldchangers.media/jennifer-butler-dress-your-essence
Free Essence Quiz:
https://learn.jenniferbutlercolor.com/quiz
Train Your Eye All Four Season-Archetypes:
https://vimeo.com/118613102/4aa456ebb0
On Social:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JenniferButlerColor
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/JenniferButlerColor/
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Beyond Color: Confidence, Radiance, and Energy in Your Closet:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/color/
Younger for Life with America’s Holistic Plastic Surgeon®
https://www.flippingfifty.com/younger-for-life/
Resources:
Flipping 50 Membership:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe
Flipping 50 STRONGER 12-week program:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger
Discovery Call with Debra:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/wellness-coaching-for-life/
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Building muscle during menopause takes a unique stimulus compared to PRE menopause and is also unique during peri and post menopause.
Of course there’s more. Are you trying to lose weight, gain muscle, prevent osteoporosis, reduce or avoid medication, do you have adrenal fatigue or long haul?
In this episode I’ll discuss the research on protein and call back to a recent episode about exercise volume for building muscle during menopause.
Questions I answer in this episode:
How have protein recommendations changed over time (then and now)? [00:08:00] What are women’s protein needs during menopause? [00:17:30] What are the effects of protein on building muscle during menopause? [00:11:00] As a refresher, what is the resistance training volume for pre, peri and post menopause? [00:19:50] How important is recovery—and are you doing it right? [00:30:20]Based on RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance), protein consumption is 0.8g per kg (of body weight) per day. This is about 55 grams of protein for a 150-pound woman — but that’s only enough to maintain nitrogen balance and prevent deficiency in sedentary women. It is not enough to help you build muscle.
Let me explain why that is true. The reason for that recommendation is important to understand.
As you age, anabolic resistance increases, meaning you need more protein and stimulus for muscle protein synthesis. More emerging research indicates “that amount may no longer be an appropriate recommendation.” That statement was the conclusion of a 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis addressing the protein needs of people who are exercising and/or trying to lose weight. Researchers concluded, “The RDA for protein of 0.8g of protein / kg / day may no longer be an appropriate recommendation.”
Scientific Research on Building Muscle During Menopause
An interview with Bill Philips, PhD, in May 2024, on the What, When & Why to Exercise for Women 40+, with his primary research focus shifting to that of midlife women, he could already say that the single simplest way to support fat loss and optimal body composition is to increase protein even if you didn’t change your caloric intake.
A 2022 meta-analysis recommends adults should consume nearly 1.5g of protein / kg / day of protein to maintain and/or augment muscle strength along with resistance training. Small-statured women with low reserves may need even more to prevent muscle loss, strength decline, reduced activity, and increased risk of falls or disease.
For active women, whether you are competing or you are intentionally exercising more than 3 times a week for a purpose of achieving fitness or reduced fatness, the 2023 International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends at least 1.5g of protein / kg / day and maybe even more. “Daily protein intake should fall within the mid-to-upper ranges of current sport nutrition guidelines (1.4–2.2 g of protein / kg / day) for women at all stages of menstrual function (pre-, peri-, post-menopausal, and contraceptive users) with protein doses evenly distributed, every 3 to 4 hours, across the day.”
One thing to note is that hitting the “ballpark” is not enough. You need to meet the threshold. Whether it’s reaching muscle fatigue, breathlessness during exercise, or consistent protein intake, falling short means missing the full benefits.
For women in perimenopause, it requires less stimulus than for postmenopausal women with the most hormone decline and most advanced age contributing to anabolic resistance. (inability to gain lean muscle).
Training and Protein: Building Muscle During Menopause
When it’s recommended to have at least two total body resistance training sessions a week, that minimum may best serve:
Women in perimenopause Those with adrenal fatigue or long haul Time constricted Others who require a longer recovery periodAnd within those workouts, there needs to be adequate volume achieved with a number of muscle groups, sets, and weight to muscle fatigue.
Postmenopausal women require greater stimulus to build lean muscle. You can aim for 4 HIIT sessions per week and increase resistance training volume if 2 sessions aren’t enough, provided protein, sleep, and stress are optimized.
The biggest obstacle to exercise is time. The second though is time for recovery. An aging muscle needs more stimulus overload. It needs greater recovery to repair the microtears that are innate to workout out intensely.
If you’re an active 150 lb postmenopausal woman who wants to improve lean muscle and decrease fat, to reach the upper range of protein that would be 2.2g of protein / kg body weight / day.
68 kg x 2.2 g of protein = 150 g of protein
To get this, here is a sample protein consumption per day
50 g x 3 meals
35-40 g x 4 meals
For strength training, 15-minute weight training sessions likely lack adequate volume in a session, unless focused on one muscle group. This is useful for beginners learning form or those with adrenal stress or special conditions but may not provide adequate stimulus for muscle growth. In a minimum, do 5-8 sets with some rest between puts you at a need for 15-20 minutes. That’s no warm up and cool down. Again, that’s a single muscle. Even 30-minute sessions may not allow you adequate stimulus for your muscles.
Where to Find Support for Building Muscle During Menopause
Personal trainers and fitness instructors, even with degrees or certifications, lack training on menopause and hormonal influences. They’re entering the field with the minimum viable knowledge. But eager to help solve a problem like weight loss or earn money, they may only do as well as they know.
Advice or training from a 20, or 40-something woman showing what’s working for her may not work for the goal you have and the hormone status you’ve got. Someone trained solely in nutrition on clinical recommendations may not necessarily be up to date on contemporary needs of older women and their hormonal status.
It’s coming, but until we start demanding it, here’s how to advocate for yourself:
To determine protein and exercise needs consider:
Activity level and goals Current hormone status What you’ve been doing and how it’s working 2.2 g protein per kilogram for active and or postmenopausal women Volume of exercise – from sets of major muscle groups – increases with age Recovery from exercise is as important as the exercise itselfIn an upcoming podcast, I’ll share how to start increasing protein, how to plan a day of protein and position it for support of muscle protein synthesis and blood sugar control. Watch for masterclasses monthly where we deep dive with our members
References:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7231581/ https://sportsmedicine-open.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40798-022-00508-w https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10210857/Other Episodes You May Like:
My Post Menopause Workout Week Experiment | What I’m Doing: https://www.flippingfifty.com/my-post-menopause-workout/
Protein Consumption in Menopause (Revisited): https://www.flippingfifty.com/protein-consumption-in-menopause/
Resources:
Stronger: Tone & Define https://www.flippingfifty.com/get-stronger/
Flipping 50 Membership: https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe/
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Today’s episode is a refresher course or your introduction if you’re new to Flipping 50 and not quite sure you can make the connection between sex hormones and bone density. Share this with younger women to understand “more than seen and felt symptoms” of perimenopause.
Many women aren’t aware of the options, pros and cons of hormone health. The more we know, the more we can make our own informed decisions.
Bone density declines at menopause, and postmenopausal increases fracture risks. But do you know the importance of estrogen and testosterone in your bone health? Stay tuned to review the relationship between your sex hormones and bone density.
My Guest:
Dr. Doug Lucas is a double board-certified physician specializing in osteoporosis reversal and hormone replacement. After training at Stanford University, he transitioned from orthopedic surgery to anti-aging and regenerative medicine, gaining a fellowship in Anti-Aging and Metabolic Medicine and started Optimal Human Health MD (OHH) which is his nationwide telehealth practice.
Dr. Doug educates the world through The Dr. Doug Show: Bones, Hormones and HealthSpan (YouTube), HealthSpan Nation and other platforms, while also mentoring physicians to prioritize patient-centered care.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What is the role of sex hormones in maintaining or improving bone density? [00:15:22] Can hormone replacement therapy (HRT) improve bone health? [00:18:32] What is the relationship between hormone decline and bone density? [00:14:17] What are the best strategies to maintain bone density with low hormone levels? [00:30:09]Connect with Dr. Doug:
https://www.optimalhumanhealth.com/On Social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDougLucas/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dr_DougLucas Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_douglucas/Other Episodes You Might Like:
Bone Health, Osteoporosis, Osteopenia Tips You’ve Never Heard: https://www.flippingfifty.com/bone-coach/ Build Bone After Osteoporosis: https://www.flippingfifty.com/build-bone-after-osteoporosis/ Can I Still Start Hormones 10 Years After Menopause? Doctors Respond: https://www.flippingfifty.com/start-hormones-10-years-after-menopause/Resources:
Flipping 50 Membership: https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe Flipping 50 STRONGER 12-week program: https://www.flippingfifty.com/getstronger -
If you deal with menopause brain fog, mild depression or anxiety any time of year, this is for you. It’s also for anyone who wants the latest science on exercise and brain health. The evidence around how movement affects mental well-being is growing, and I want to share some of the most impactful insights with you.
Almost all types of exercise seem to show benefits on mental well-being. Activities like resistance training, yoga, other mind-body activities, aerobic exercise, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can support brain health to some extent. In this episode I’ll share which exercise helps most, specifically on menopause brain fog, mood, or anxiety.
No matter when you’re listening to this episode, it’s relevant for multiple reasons and seasons. But as I release it during the holiday season, it can have more impact. Whether you might be facing memories of loved ones you’ve lost, whether it was this year or in years past, or the traditions, memories, or emotions that come with the season that make this time of year bittersweet. While holidays can be magical and full of warmth, they can also feel heavy, bringing sadness, anxiety, or emotional struggles to the surface. For women with menopause brain fog and memory issues, the holidays can have an even greater impact.
Beyond Menopause and Brain FogGlobal prevalence of depression in perimenopausal women are at 33.9% and 34.9% in postmenopausal women. Why? This may be due to estrogen and progesterone fluctuations, sleep disturbances and greater susceptibility to negative effects of stress.
Most adults with depression don’t receive adequate care - due to the stigma or the fact that they don’t respond well to antidepressants. And pharmaceuticals don’t address the physical comorbidities associated with depression.
Exercise is well accepted as an alternative or complement due to accessibility, acceptability and safety. Even physical activity below public health recommendations can yield significant mental health benefits [and is a necessary place to start].
Menopause Brain Fog, It’s Not Just YouA recent study published in the Biomedical Central Public Health Journal of over 200 randomized controlled trials show exercise interventions may have more potent antidepressant effects than SSRIs.
A study examined which of 5 exercise interventions helped reduce depression levels most in postmenopausal women and if certain population characteristics responded differently.
The Exercise Interventions:
Stretching Exercise Aerobic Exercise Resistance Training Mind-Body Exercise Multi ExerciseMind-Body Exercise had the greatest effect on easing anxiety, followed by Aerobic Exercise. Exercise helps because it creates a controlled stress response, increasing resilience to anxiety.
Years ago, I shared a study showing yoga boosts cognitive function more than muscle conditioning. A study published in Menopause: The Journal confirmed that mind-body exercises reduce fatigue, insomnia, depression, and anxiety.
Why mindbody? Yoga increases melatonin levels, balances nervous system and improves
brain-derived neurotrophic which improves cognition and memory.
Best Exercise for Menopause Brain FogThe menopause brain fog experienced by many women may improve most with HIIT, being characterized by periods of “all out” exercise to breathlessness.
A study in the Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry in 2018 showed a Wingate protocol study on HIIT:
Exercise Structure 30 seconds of all-out effort (fast-paced or against resistance) per interval 4 - 6 intervals per session, with 4 minutes of recovery between intervals Total Intense Exercise Time 2 - 3 minutes of intense exercise per session lasting a total of 20 minutes, including rest periods Training Frequency 3 sessions per week (totaling 15 minutes of high-intensity work per week) Results 2 Weeks - Improved skeletal muscle oxidative capacity 6 Weeks - Equivalent to traditional endurance training (40 - 60 minutes, 5 sessions per week) Additional Benefits for Midlife Women: Time - HIIT sessions take 1.5 hours a week, compared to other traditional endurance training 4.5 hours a week Cortisol - Short HIIT sessions avoid the cortisol spike (40 - 60 minutes is the tipping point where cortisol spikes negatively)Most women say they feel more energized, lighter, and more focused after HIIT compared to long endurance sessions. Studies on postmenopausal women with osteoporosis found that high-intensity, high-impact protocols led to positive responses, with low injury rates and high retention.
Other Exercises for Menopause Brain FogResistance training also proves popular among women with anxiety, potentially due to the fact that the increase in heart rate and intensity is temporary, strength gains are made fairly quickly for a beginner and that carries over to increasing motivation, improved sleep.
Walking outdoors with friends combines three sources of serotonin for women, particularly: movement, sunlight, and venting/talking.
References:
Han, B., Duan, Y., Zhang, P. et al. Effects of exercise on depression and anxiety in postmenopausal women: a pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. BMC Public Health 24, 1816 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19348-2
Min Chul L, Sung Ki L, Suk Yool J, Hyung Hoon M. New insight of high-intensity interval training on physiological adaptation with brain functions. J Exerc Nutrition Biochem. 2018 Sep 30;22(3):1-5. doi: 10.20463/jenb.2018.0017. PMID: 30343552; PMCID: PMC6199482.
Xu, Hong MM; Liu, Jian MD; Li, Peishan MD; Liang, Yujie MD. Effects of mind-body exercise on perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Menopause 31(5):p 457-467, May 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002336
Resources:
BLISSMAS 12-Day Challenge:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/blissmas
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/save-your-brain/
Six Powerful Ways To Keep Your Perimenopause Brain Sharp:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/perimenopause-brain/
Exercise Your Way to a Better Mood in Menopause:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/better-mood-in-menopause/
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Let’s have a quick flashback on fitness then and now, a look at fitness routines as you age. We're going to talk about how we exercised through the years with my guest Linda Malone who is 65. She’s been in the fitness industry as a personal training and fitness expert. She’s doing some marketing and helping fitness and health pros develop their copy.
My Guest:
Linda Melone is the founder of The Copy Worx, a copywriting business targeting health and fitness businesses. She’s a seasoned copywriter, former personal trainer, and a fitness specialist for women over 50. She once ran an online fitness program for women over 50. She also hosts a podcast, B2B Marketing & Copywriting.
Her byline appears in top publications including MSN Health, Oxygen, TIME, Shape, Self, AARP, and the Huffington Post, among many others. She was also a ghostwriter for a high-profile television celebrity fitness expert.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
How did you start your fitness journey, and how has it shaped your life? [00:05:58] How has your workout routine changed, and what inspired those shifts? [00:07:37] Reflecting back, what do you wish you’d known in your 30s when training women over 50? [00:19:04] What are the biggest physical changes and abilities you've noticed over the years? [00:18:01] What are your top 3-5 tips for women embracing midlife at 65? [00:22:45] What are the biggest myths about exercising as you age? [00:26:09]Connect with Linda:
https://thecopyworx.com/
On Social:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LindaMeloneWrites/
Instagram: https://x.com/LindaMelone YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@thecopyworx
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-melone/
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Ageless Aging: Believe it or Not?https://www.flippingfifty.com/ageless-aging/
Truths and Myths: Lifting Heavy in Menopause for Bones & Body Comp:https://www.flippingfifty.com/lifting-heavy-in-menopause/
Exercise for Bone Density Then and Now:https://www.flippingfifty.com/exercise-for-bone-density/
Resources:
Meditation:https://www.brain.fm/
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In my 20s, I would go for a run within an hour of waking. But as the years went by, I would linger over coffee and my studies or work. Even though I still wanted to move in the morning, I realized the best quality creativity and focus were accessible to me in the first hours of the morning. It wasn’t the same later.
Eventually, I realized that if I focus on studying or work on a project and delay my workout until later, I could get another boost of focus when I return, refreshed and showered from exercise.
Even when I was training for Iron -distance triathlons, 3 to 4-hour long sessions of running, biking, or swimming could be tiring. I may have had some good ideas on the bike, but overly long sessions left both mind and body drained and exhausted.
The science behind this has a lot to do with cortisol, which helps our brains handle stress and concentrate more effectively earlier in the day. Mental focus is best between 10am and 2pm, but this may vary based on whether you’re a morning or night person.
For me, it’s the quiet of early morning.. typically between 5am and 9am.. that offers the best focus. But if you’re a night owl, you may find focus and get things done later. But only a few of us can focus really well late at night.
P.S. Waiting a little while before exercise has another benefit backed by science: it reduces the risk of back injuries. After an hour of moving around before getting to the gym (like getting dressed or driving) the pressure on spinal discs lessens, lowering the chance of herniation. You can check out the link of another episode below for Myths, Causes, and Solutions for Back Pain.
My Morning Routine and Clear ThinkingA fascinating article on sleep cycles, naps, shorter sleep spans and no naps might make you a believer in naps. Even me, as a fairly proclaimed non-napper, I find it difficult to wake up and re-engage in the day after a nap. But the science behind napping is compelling.
There’s something about working too long. When we push through long work hours without breaks (a common Western habit), it disrupts the potassium-sodium balance and keeps us in a Beta brain wave state. Beta waves are for analyzing and alertness. When we sleep, we get Theta waves which are for creativity and higher mental functions. If you study meditation at all, you’ll hear about different waves.
As we fall asleep, our brains move from Beta (awake and analyzing) to Alpha (calmer and quiet mind), then Theta (half-awake or half-asleep), and finally Delta (deep sleep). Research says, we cycle through these stages in 90-minute intervals during sleep and even during the day, our brains naturally focus best in 90-minute bursts. So, if your mind starts wandering after about 90 minutes, it’s normal. We do better with a 20-minute break for productivity and creativity than powering through. The quality of the work is better.
I discovered this myself by pure accident, and then began to lean into it more as I learned more about the brain. What is hard for me is to honor the habit of meditation first thing because when I wake, I tend to want to start my usual habits. It’s true for most of us. And if you have a dog, your habits change real fast!
If you are finding you aren’t as productive or energetic as you like, and you’re ready to try a new routine, here are some suggestions so you can find a morning routine that works for you.
4 Steps to Create Your Own Personal Instead of Adopting My Morning Routine!Learn your personal patterns: keep a track of your energy during different parts of the day, and you’ll eventually see which are the best moments for you to work and rest. We all have this Basic Reset-Activity cycle, but you can learn more about your own personal best routine, even within the confines of work, kids or dogs!
Now, this is not going to work best until you’ve begun optimizing habits like high protein/low carb breakfasts; avoiding coffee-only till noon rituals, avoid skipping meals. You’re not using wine to wind down every night. None of this is going to help you as directly with day time energy if you’re sabotaging yourself.
Maximize your peak cycles: plan your day in order to take advantage of the moments where you have the most energy.
I share this with health coaches and trainers in our Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist program and with our team members too. Though there are things that have to be done on a 12 and 24-hour period within our business, we allow flexibility in our team members to do them.
Where we have issues is if there are too many errors, oversights, and it becomes obvious someone isn’t firing on all cylinders, assuming they are the right person for the job.
Take a break: When you’re in a down cycle, it’s better to rest than power through. Rest is not optional.
My personal mental breaks from work are physical movement. After 3 or 4 hours of morning focus, I’ll break to workout. In the afternoon, between sessions, I’ll get Moses outside and play fetch with him or do one of what I’ve coined our 10-minute Longevity snacks. The dynamic balance and agility moves actually require thought, but of an entirely different kind, and definitely away from a screen.
Get enough sleep: Sleep deprivation results in a prolonged cycle, lowering your productivity.
My Morning Routine Can be Different to Yours
For me, sleep has always been non-negotiable. Even in high school, I didn’t “sleep in” well. Slumber parties wrecked me for the next couple days. And I was in bed by 10:00pm most high school nights. I just preferred it. Now, all of us were teens with different sleep habits at one point, but even in high school and college, I was up irritatingly early for my dorm roommates at least.
Women in Midlife are more susceptible to negative effects of stress. That’s going to impact our brain as well as our physical body. Doing either of these types of stressful work early in the day will reap better rewards.
For women in midlife, working with cortisol levels in this way is also beneficial. You can avoid the conversion of other hormones necessary for sleep and rest to cortisol to supply the energy in late-day intense exercise. It seems to go well for women during, but the quality and quantity of sleep is negatively affected.
By studying scientific processes and anecdotally having thousands of clients flip their intense workouts to am, we’ve seen improvements in their energy, fitness, and fatness.
References:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/npr2.12042
https://fmidr.com/the-power-of-the-sleep-cycle/
https://hive.com/blog/90-minute-time-blocking/
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Morning Routines, Training to Fatigue, and Defining “Fueled”: https://www.flippingfifty.com/morning-routines/
Successful Habit Change for Health, Fitness, & Wellness After 50: https://www.flippingfifty.com/successful-habit-change/
Myths, Causes, and Solutions for Back Pain with Dr. Stuart McGill: https://www.flippingfifty.com/myths-causes-solutions-back-pain/
Resources:
BLISSMAS 12-Day Challenge: https://www.flippingfifty.com/blissmas
Flipping 50 Membership: https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe
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What you don’t know about GPL-1 drugs may hurt you, or your opportunity to improve your health. Misconceptions could limit your ability to make an informed decision about whether they’re right for you.
Whether you’re someone considering these medications for your own health or a fitness professional trying to better understand how they fit into the broader health landscape, this episode will offer valuable insights on what you don’t know about GPL-1. We’re not having a persuasive argument here. Instead, we want to provide a balanced and nuanced discussion, offering you the information needed to make a well-rounded decision.
We are opening up the conversation again with a physician who's been using GLP-1 for a long time. She’s sharing what she’s seen and experienced and if you’re a health and fitness professional, stay tuned as we have something special for you too.
My Guest:
Dr. Tami Meraglia MD is a leader in Functional Medicine specializing in Hormones, Weight Loss and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. She is the best selling author of The Hormone Secret, published by Simon and Schuster, has appeared on Good Morning America, Fox, ABC, NBC and many podcasts and summits as a health expert. She lectures nationally and internationally and is the Medical Director of BioThrive Life that offers personalized medical programs in person in Seattle and virtually across the USA.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What are the risks and benefits of these medications? [00:11:01] (Benefits), [00:33:10] (Risk) If you use them do you need to take them for life? [00:11:19] If you use them does the weight loss involve muscle loss? [00:40:48] Future of GLP1 medications [00:28:23]Connect with Dr. Tami:
https://www.biothrivelife.com/
On Social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/askdrtami/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askdrtami/Other Episodes You Might Like:
How to Spot Menopause Misinformation: A Doctor Talks: https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-misinformation/ Your Glucose Levels in Menopause with the Glucose Goddess: https://www.flippingfifty.com/glucose-levels-in-menopause/ -
Our stance:
Flipping 50 believes each woman is unique.
That said, we favor fed exercise over fasted exercise when it is intense. That is, high intensity interval training, or strength training with the intent of preserving lean muscle mass and avoiding frailty or fragility occur within the eating window and ideally bookended by protein consumption if for muscle or bone mass.
We do acknowledge that exercise may “feel hard” when exercise is performed fasted giving the perception of “working hard.”
However, we suggest based on research and 4 decades of primary observation, women actually exercise harder related to their capacity for exercise when fueled. That is, they will go faster if being timed, go further within a timed test, lift more weight or perform more reps to muscular fatigue.
Fasted Exercise Pros and Cons During PerimenopauseA 27% muscle loss has been reported between early and late stage perimenopause. This is most likely due to multifactors: insomnia disrupting anabolic hormones and together with other signs and symptoms of menopause interfering with desire to workout, as well as a drop in estrogen, testosterone and growth hormone levels, and an increase in cortisol levels.
This is an important consideration when looking at fat loss vs lean muscle gain and priorities. Mitigating potential loss of muscle is a critical factor in aging well and overall metabolic health.
What Science Says
Some studies (review of literature) suggest that before prolonged exercise, fueling provides more benefit but before short exercise, results are inconclusive. A 2013 study on sumo wrestlers eating a ultra high calorie, 50% fat diet burned more fat after exercise done fasted. However, we’ve got to consider…. How like you are that? Extremely high calorie and 50% fat? In almost the same time frame, college women were fed vs fasted in exercise and showed no difference. Their diets probably reflected at least a little closer to yours and their hormone profiles also at least slightly more like you.
The problem is, few studies about fasting and exercise exist on midlife or postmenopausal women.
Women who are at risk for accelerated muscle and strength losses.
In studies for the last 10 years, fasted vs fed with the same hypocaloric diet there was no difference in increased fat loss due to fasted vs fed.
I hear comments from women who believe they are burning fat for fuel when they’ve fat-adapted, however, without measuring this, we don’t know it to be true. The crossover is only visible when you’re measuring in a lab. It would mean that at the same speed and intensity previously (watts) you were burning fat vs carbs for fuel. We can see that in clinical lab testing during progressive exercise testing using stages. Your cardiovascular fitness level may also improve meaning for the same speed your heart rate isn’t as elevated. That’s another way to hypothesize you’re burning more fat for fuel at higher levels.
I want to remind you that at a certain point we all cross over. If you’re “working hard” in high intensity interval training you are NOT burning fat during. You’re burning a lower percent of fat for fuel during. Because you’re burning calories - that is your energy expenditure is higher - you are still burning more fat.
Your goal is not to burn a high percent of fat for fuel during.. Or you’re doing that best at rest.
The data is not there to support higher fat burning during HIIT fasted. It’s not there to support higher fat burning after HIIT if fasted.
What seems most important is a hypocaloric diet, performing optimal exercise intensity for energy expenditure. And resistance training improves post workout FFA circulation most compared to HIIT.
To support anabolic response to strength training, especially for women when more prone to anabolic resistance, fed exercise makes the most sense.
Fasted Exercise Pros and Cons with Obese Women
For women who can’t seem to lose fat weight, and are in good adrenal health, after employing a foundation of high protein, 3 meals no snacks, fasting at least 12 hours overnight, extending the fast and testing can help shake a plateau.
The approach needs to be unique to individual needs and goals to lose fat weight and gain lean muscle mass. It may need to be addressed step by step to first improve metabolic health (blood lipids, blood pressure, insulin, glucose), with close observations on skeletal muscle to determine success.
For other women though, recomposition is best addressed by focus on gaining lean muscle mass and not slowing progress. We do know strength can be gained during fasting, at least in the beginning. Muscle mass doesn’t improve during fasted exercise.
Again, important to remember, the research featuring women in menopause and post, with anabolic resistance is minimal. Anabolic resistance is the resistance to gaining lean muscle mass. Basically, the older we get the more you have to work for it.
So, if you focus on losing fat, you may also lose lean muscle if you’re doing it by fasting. Like many things including exercise, the solution may be cycling fasting duration with alternating periods of time (weeks/months) with primary focus on muscle gains vs fat loss.
But the one constant should be monitoring your personal results. Is your lean muscle mass going up or down? Is your body fat going up or down? Is your gut health/digestion/elimination improving?
To Unpack Your Personal Fasted Exercise Pros and Cons, PrioritizePrioritize goals:
Longevity (autophagy)
Avoidance of frailty, fragility
Improvement of balance and stability
Increase in bone density
Gut health
Emotional eating/relationship with food
Consuming inadequate fuel can make women store more fat. It may depend on whether you are in perimenopause vs postmenopause. According to Stacy Sims, it’s the hypothalamus related to the kisspeptin hormone. Thyroid hormone gets down-regulated within a short period of a few days.
You feel like you’re exercising “hard.” But you’re not necessarily exercising to your capacity. You’re simply struggling. It’s not the same as a quality intensity workout.
If you’re more athletic, you want to do more endurance or more peak performance, the more you have low calories while taxing your system.
Increasing protein without changing anything, even without exercise, body fat loss will be facilitated within 3 months.
For women who struggle with dieting or a history restrictive eating or binge-purging, using a time restricted eating window can be complicated by the desire to also restrict calories. The low fuel intake means low micronutrient intake. Frequent testing would be extremely beneficial for women who also ideally will monitor their skeletal muscle mass, body fat percent and blood glucose levels on a daily/weekly basis.
For extremely active women, fasted exercise reflects poorer performance:
Slower walking pace Lower endurance Longer recovery periods Less muscle mass gains Less fat loss (compared to fed exercise at higher intensity)Resources:
Smart Scales:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/flipping50/list/GFTU3QXMJ07G?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfflipping50_7CD0CBB5VP0Q08ZGZ7JF
Dr. Mindy Pelz:
https://www.youtube.com/@DrMindyPelz
5 Day Flip:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/5-day-challenge-new/
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29315892/#:~:text=Fasted exercise increased post-exercise,mitochondrial adaptation and substrate utilization. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301369 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242477/Other Episodes You Might Like:
How to Pair Intermittent Fasting and Exercise After 40: https://www.flippingfifty.com/intermittent-fasting-and-exercise/ How Emotional Eating Can Be the Hidden Reason for Weight Gain: https://www.flippingfifty.com/reason-for-weight-gain/ End Diets, Food Rules, and Emotional Eating: https://www.flippingfifty.com/freedom/ -
Intermittent fasting can be very sexy. But does it help or sabotage emotional eating? Some emotional eating experts we’ve hosted have strong feelings about intermittent fasting and those who have emotional eating anchoring their relationship with food have a strong aversion to it.
In this episode we tap into, if intermittent fasting, how, and how not to potentially.
My Guest:
Laurie Lewis, Wellness Coach, shares how to maintain exceptional self-care while dealing with life's complicated and fast-paced circumstances.
By using Intermittent Fasting, Laurie encourages the chance to break free from diet models, connect with the body’s inner intelligence and experience improvements in every aspect of life.
With an eating window every day for seven years, now at 61 years old, Laurie’s biological age (at the cellular level) of 40 years old. From her menopausal struggles to vibrant health serves as an inspiration, embodying the potential for profound change through Intermittent Fasting.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What is your history of emotional eating? 00:04:50 What’s your definition of intermittent fasting? Do you think there are optimal windows? 00:10:30 How could having an (optimized) Eating Window improve every aspect of your life? 00:09:30 What are the challenges for women with disordered eating and emotional eating trying to use Intermittent Fasting? 00:21:30 Why do you think the focus on menopause and hormone replacement overlooks emotional eating, emphasizing physical fixes instead? 00:18:50 What is the root cause of most women’s challenges with their weight loss and health? 00:15:50 Do you find that many women treat Intermittent Fasting more like a diet, leading to a dramatic decrease in caloric intake and a lack of nutrient-dense foods and adequate protein? 00:27:40 What are your top 3 tips on how to start Intermittent Fasting TODAY? How does a woman know that she should or shouldn’t? 00:20:10Connect with Laurie:
https://FastForwardWellness.comOn Social:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FastForwardWellness/ Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/fast_forward_wellness/Other Episodes You Might Like:
How Emotional Eating Can Be the Hidden Reason for Weight Gain:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/reason-for-weight-gain/ Midlife Changes with Intermittent Fasting Expert Gin Stephens:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/midlife-changes/ Low Energy Availability in Menopause? Eating Too Little to Feel Good or Age Well:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/low-energy-availability-in-menopause/Resources:
Hot Not Bothered Challenge:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/hot-not-bothered-challenge-2023/ STRONGER 12-week program:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/get-stronger/ -
My post menopause workout has been working. Let me say that first. I’m lean, as lean as I comfortably want to be, and my muscle remains high, I’m not losing it. If anything, I’ve gained more in the last 2 years as I bumped intensity and recovery in my routine. By that, I mean more volume in my workouts but also more recovery time between sessions. It’s about being smart with rest as much as it is with pushing through the actual workouts.
Recovery time between strength sessions by the way isn’t just a lazy couch potato time. It's an active recovery. I’m doing sprint intervals, agility drills, mobility work, and lots of walking or hiking. These kinds of activities help me stay conditioned, keep my metabolism going, and ensure that my body remains strong.
But in doing it, I’ve also had the opportunity to see my readiness score soar. Meaning, I’m ready for a high quality workout. I'm primed for high-quality sessions. That readiness translates into better results over time.
Some accidental discoveries have made me question if I was assuming what worked for me was the BEST for me.
So here I am, using the last 90 days of 2024 to testing and experimenting and sharing it all with you.
Questions We Answer In this Episode:
How it started. [12:25] What I’m trying. [13:35] Why I’m personally testing. [21:15] What are the results - any difference in muscle, fat, mindset, sleep etc. [22:35]I’ll update you on my progress via social media - most often in short stories on Instagram. For a longer video, I’ll summarize it on the podcast. So if you prefer audio you have it and if you want to see a little more demonstration of exercises to help illustrate the video, you’ll have it in the YouTube video which will be short. And we’ll do a cheat sheet for you.
My Post Menopause Workout: Total Body
Walking or 10 minutes of brief interval walk/run
Walking lunges, lunge matrix, spyders, light core engagement
3 sets each wall sit and single leg Squat
5 sets of leg press in a monster/drop set
5 super sets of chest,
5 sets bent over row with a dynamic balance exercise
5 sets of triceps
3 sets of biceps
4 sets of lat pull downs
5 sets of ham curls
3 sets of limited ROM leg extensions
Total of 38 sets
Notes:
You may bump from 5 to 6 sets or from 3 or 4 to 5 reaching 40 and changing it up. Some days, I might do less lower body and focus more on upper body work, but it’s always a total body workout. Never do squats without doing a hamstring-specific exercise. Most people, both men and women, tend to be quad-dominant, and only doing squats can make this imbalance worse. Fire up that rear kinetic chain - —this means incorporating movements like hip thrusts, deadlifts (within your safe range of motion), or ham curls to really target the hamstrings and glutes. Switching to only UPPER or LOWER during workouts is really hard.First, it ties me to the gym. which I’m not a huge fan of. I love my flexible schedule and need it.
So for the first two weeks here’s how I did the FLIP. In baby steps.
I took a gradual approach, starting with one total body workout, similar to the plan I’ve outlined. After that, I introduced one upper body-only workout and one lower body-only workout each week. This change bumped up my total workout time by about 1.5 hours per week, which allowed me to add more sets and volume to each session. Each of the upper and lower body workouts required additional time because to ensure I was doing enough sets for each muscle group, I had to expand the time spent on both.
So here’s what each day looked like.
My Post Menopause Workout: Split Routine
Leg Day looked like this: (not including warm up because that stayed relatively the same)
6 sets Leg press monster
5 sets hamstring curls
5 sets limited ROM leg extension
5 sets Side lunges
5 sets single leg squats
3 sets of seated calf raises
5 sets hip thrusts
Total of 34 sets
Upper Body Day looked like this:
2 sets of Chest Fly and push up
5 sets Chest Press superset with
5 sets Bent Over row
5 sets Lat pulldown with
5 sets biceps curls
5 sets of triceps supersets (a super set)
4 sets shoulder exercises (a super set)
3 sets Cable row alternate with
3 sets 1 minute hang
Total of 37 sets
During Month Two, I will switch things up considerably.
Instead of one total body day and a mix of upper and lower, I’ll be doing two leg days and two upper body days each week. I can tell you right now that this will be hard. This shift is going to be tough, and I already know it. The challenge won’t just be physical—it’s also about finding the time and energy. I have a busy schedule, so the commitment to consistently hit these sessions will be a challenge.
Balancing workouts with work and personal life is tricky. Being tied to having to go to the gym or even just getting a workout at home is hard. Since I work at home, I try to get out unless I’m shooting videos or tight on time.
The other challenge is timing. My days start early and sometimes can stretch into the evening, go late and I don’t do high intensity work late in the day. But, if you’re someone who prefers evening workouts or if that’s the only time you have, go for it! Make your schedule work for you. The only thing to keep in mind is that evening workouts can shoot your adrenaline up, which might make falling asleep a little bit harder.
Resources:
Discovery Call: https://www.flippingfifty.com/wellness-coaching-for-life/
Ultimate Assessment: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/coaching-programs/private-coaching-90-min/
Other Episodes You Might Like:.
5 Menopause Workout Tips from Recent Exercise Studies: https://www.flippingfifty.com/menopause-workout-tips/
Your Perimenopause Workout vs Your Post Menopause Workout: https://www.flippingfifty.com/post-menopause-workout/
What They Don’t Teach Women About Strength Training and should: https://www.flippingfifty.com/teach-women-about-strength-training/
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If you or someone in your family deals with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or you’re simply in midlife dealing with changing hormones, this episode and the book we’re discussing, Heal your gut, save your brain, will be one you don’t want to miss.
My Guest:
Dr. Partha Nandi, M.D., F.A.C.P is the creator and host of the internationally syndicated medical lifestyle television show, Ask Dr. Nandi. He is the Chief Health Editor at WXYZ ABC Detroit, a practicing physician, renowned international speaker, appearing at TEDx, medical conferences like Digestive Disease Week and keynotes for organizations such as Medtronic, Phathom Pharmaceuticals, and Eli Lilly.
Dr. Nandi partners with global health organizations, including the Ministry of Health in Jamaica and India and WHO. He give inspiring talks to international conferences and symposia, meeting global health leaders.
His mission, “To Be Your Own Health Hero,” incourages individuals to take control of their health. His latest book, “Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain”, explores the connection between gut and brain health.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What inspired you to write "Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain"- [00:05:25] Explain the gut-brain axis and why it is so critical for overall health?- [00:09:26] How did your father’s stroke influence your research?- [00:06:38] What are the most surprising connections between the gut and brain? - [00:10:15] How does the gut influence conditions like depression and anxiety? - [00:12:41] What are some practical steps to improve gut and brain health? - [00:18:43] How do lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, and stress management play a role in maintaining a healthy gut-brain connection? - [00:22:10] Can you talk about your Five Pillars for Optimal Health? - [00:19:16] Can you share real-life gut health success stories? - [00:34:08] What are the key takeaways of your book, “Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain”? - [00:42:01]Connect with Dr. Nandi:
https://www.AskDrNandi.com
On Social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AskDrNandi/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askdrnandi/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@askdrnandi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/askdrnandi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/askdrnandi
Other Episodes You Might Like:
Your Brain Better | A No Negative Side-Effects Method:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/your-better-brain/
Get and Keep Your Brain Fit, Healthy, and Strong:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/leaky-brain/
Lose Weight, Gain Energy and Eliminate Pain with a Gut Cleanse: Dr Vincent M. Pedre:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/lose-weight-gain-energy-and-eliminate-pain-with-a-gut-cleanse-dr-vincent-m-pedre/
Events or Affiliate partnership we're promoting in this episode:
Resources:
https://www.healyourgutsaveyourbrain.com/
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Here are three strength training workouts designed specifically for women in menopause. These focus on maintaining muscle mass, boosting bone density, and supporting hormone balance. Each workout should be done 2–3 times a week, allowing at least one rest day between sessions.
Workout 1: Full Body Strength (45 min)
Warm-up (5-7 minutes):
March in place or light walking Arm circles, leg swings, and hip openersMain workout:
Squats (with or without weights) – 3 sets of 10-12 reps Push-ups (on knees or toes) – 3 sets of 8-10 reps Bent-over rows (with dumbbells or a resistance band) – 3 sets of 10-12 reps Step-ups (use a sturdy chair or bench, alternate legs) – 3 sets of 10 reps per leg Plank hold – 3 sets of 20-30 seconds Bicep curls (dumbbells or resistance bands) – 3 sets of 10-12 reps Deadlifts (with dumbbells, focus on glutes and hamstrings) – 3 sets of 10-12 repsCool down: (5 minutes of stretching)
Focus on hamstrings, quads, chest, and back.Workout 2: Upper Body Strength (40 min)
Warm-up (5-7 minutes):
Light arm swings, shoulder shrugs, and walking lungesMain workout:
Dumbbell chest press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps Lat pull-down (or assisted pull-ups if available) – 3 sets of 8-10 reps Dumbbell shoulder press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps Tricep dips (use a bench or sturdy surface) – 3 sets of 10 reps Hammer curls – 3 sets of 10-12 reps Renegade rows (dumbbells in a plank position) – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per side Lateral raises – 3 sets of 10-12 repsCool down: (5 minutes of stretching)
Stretch shoulders, chest, and arms. No Lower bodyWorkout 3: Lower Body & Core Focus (45 min)
Warm-up (5-7 minutes):
Light squats, hip circles, and side lungesMain workout:
Glute bridges – 3 sets of 12-15 reps Lunges (stationary or walking) – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per leg Leg press (if at the gym) or goblet squats (at home) – 3 sets of 10-12 reps Side leg raises (with or without ankle weights) – 3 sets of 12 reps per side Plank with leg lift – 3 sets of 10-12 reps per leg Russian twists – 3 sets of 20 twists Bird-dog – 3 sets of 10-12 reps per sideCool down: (5 minutes of stretching)
Focus on hamstrings, glutes, and core stretches.Notes from Chat Gpt for 3 Menopause Strength Workouts
“These workouts are designed to help women in menopause maintain lean muscle, improve bone health, and boost metabolism. Encourage the women to lift heavier weights as they feel stronger while maintaining proper form. Always leave room for rest and recovery to support hormone balance.”
For menopause metabolism, a total body workout is generally better. Here's why:
Boosts overall metabolism: Total body workouts engage multiple large muscle groups, which means more calorie burn both during and after the workout. This is great for combating the slower metabolism that often accompanies menopause. Time-efficient: A total body routine lets you hit all the major muscle groups in one session, perfect for those with busy schedules. Hormonal balance: Engaging the whole body in one session can help with better regulation of hormones like cortisol and insulin, which are crucial during menopause. More frequent stimulus: With total body workouts, you're stimulating your muscles more frequently, which helps preserve muscle mass key for maintaining a healthy metabolism.Split routines can be effective too, but total body sessions may offer more metabolic bang for your buck during menopause.
Resources:
5 Day Flip: https://www.flippingfifty.com/5-day-challenge-new/ Discovery Call: https://www.flippingfifty.com/wellness-coaching-for-life/ Ultimate Assessment: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/coaching-programs/private-coaching-90-min/Other Episodes You Might Like:.
Fit or Fat? Training and Measuring Fitness in Menopause: https://www.flippingfifty.com/measuring-fitness-in-menopause/ Too Much or Not Enough Variety in Exercise in Menopause: https://www.flippingfifty.com/variety-in-exercise-in-menopause/ 5 Exercise Changes in Menopause to Overcome a Plateau: https://www.flippingfifty.com/5-exercise-changes-in-menopause-to-overcome-a-plateau/ -
How’s better sex in menopause sound? For many it sounds like a distant and foreign trip.
Sex is one of the most popular topics on the show. Many women tell me their partners are glad they’re attending. Sex is such a hot topic (see what I did there?) that low libido was a topic answered one of the first three episodes of the Flipping 50 TV show.
Did you know there are two types of desire? And did you know that sex never has to stop?
My Guest:
Dr. Kelly Casperson is a urologist, public speaker, sex educator, and top international podcaster
whose mission is empowering women to live their best lives. Dr. Kelly identified the need for
better resources and developed a sex education class for women that covers topics like sexual
health, intimacy, mind work, and the science of desire. She combines education, humor, and
candor in her podcast "You Are Not Broken" where she dismantles the myths women have
learned and normalizes healthy, enjoyable sex worth desiring, in addition to essential education
on midlife health and hormones.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What is the science of desire? [00:18:05] What are the common myths women believe about their sexuality? [00:07:25] Is there a dramatic or distinct fall off of sexual interest for women related to menopause or when does that occur? [00:13:15] What are the reasons women stop being intimate in midlife? [00:12:45] What are the two different types of desire? [00:18:05] What is the most important thing to know about desire mismatch in a couple? [00:19:25] How to find a doctor or talk to your doctor about sexual health issues and hormones [00:28:25] Does a woman recognize an “issue” with sexual health? [00:26:35]Connect with Dr. Kelly:
https://www.kellycaspersonmd.com
On Social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youarentbroken Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellycaspersonmd/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kellycaspersonmdOther Episodes You Might Like:
Sex Dysfunction in the City Just Like That: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sex-dysfunction/ Intimacy and Incontinence with The Girlfriend Doctor: https://www.flippingfifty.com/the-girlfriend-doctor/ Juicy New Menopause, Libido, & Intimacy Solutions: https://www.flippingfifty.com/juicy-new-menopause-libido-intimacy-solutions/Resources:
Stronger: https://www.flippingfifty.com/get-stronger/ 5 Day Flip: https://www.flippingfifty.com/5-day-challenge-new/ 90 Day Planner: https://www.flippingfifty.com/store/books-videos/90-day-planner-tracking-the-flip/ -
The Doctor is in the house and she’s an over 50 fitness athlete. She’s juggled all the balls you may have from a caregiver and midlife crisis like me. But she’s returned to her prior passion for fitness competitions. Or has she? I’ll ask that question - is it the competition or the training or the being on top of your game?
This over 50 fitness athlete is prepping not just for a November competition but serving patients and clients and hosting a summit. How does she fit it in?
This is a perfect episode to share with you just before the holidays. We cover quite a bit of tips and tricks for dealing with getting fit and sticking to your own goals during the holidays while still enjoying them.
My Guest:
Dr. Venus, The Fit Foodie M.D., is a board-certified Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation physician trained at Yale, Univ. of Miami, and UC-Irvine. With a thriving California medical practice, she's been a national-level fitness athlete and respected trainer serving clients from single moms to pro athletes, and even an action film star. A repeat guest on "The Doctors" TV series, Dr. Venus has also appeared on NBC's "Today" and "American Gladiators," and contributed to outlets like iHerb.com and Oxygen Magazine.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
How did you handle your mid-life crisis? [00:07:10] Have you experienced this competitive edge? [00:23:20] What's your personal secret to staying young? [00:11:50] Having been a fitness competitor for so long, what does being fit mean to you? [00:39:20] What role does stress play for you in your training now and your midlife body? [00:40:20] What part of training do you love the most? [00:41:00]Connect with Dr. Venus for Fitness Mastery Summit (Nov. 7-10, 2024)
https://www.flippingfifty.com/fitnessmastery
On Social:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/doctorvenus
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/docvenus/
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@drvenusoncall
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/doctorvenus
Other Episodes You Might Like:
7 Simple Interval Training Workouts for the Holidays https://www.flippingfifty.com/interval-training/ 10 Ways Fitness Pros Stay Motivated To Exercise, Holidays or Not https://www.flippingfifty.com/10-ways-fitness-pros-stay-motivated-to-exercise-holidays-or-not/ Avoid Falling Off the Bandwagon this Holiday (and Getting Run Over By It) https://www.flippingfifty.com/avoid-falling-off-bandwagon-holiday-getting-run/Resources:
Infrared Sauna: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna C60 Purple Power: https://www.flippingfifty.com/c60 -
In this episode with returning guest and fan fave, Cynthia Thurlow we discuss updates on intermittent fasting. If you’re craving a behind the scenes, more than science-geek relay of the power of autophagy episode you shall have it.
I’m looking forward to sharing this one with you.
My Guest:
Cynthia Thurlow is a globally recognized expert in nutrition & intermittent fasting, highly sought after speaker, and the CEO and founder of Everyday Wellness Project. She’s been a nurse practitioner for 20+ years, is a 2x TEDx speaker: her 2nd talk on intermittent fasting has been viewed over 7 million times. She has been featured on ABC, FOX5, KTLA, CW and in Medium and Entrepreneur. Cynthia was recently listed in Yahoo Finance as one of the “21 founders changing the way we do business.” She’s also the host of Everyday Wellness Podcast, which was listed as “20 podcasts that will help you grow in 2020” by Entrepreneur magazine, and in Business Insider “21 podcasts to expand your mind in 2021.”
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
What’s new we need to know about intermittent fasting? [00:06:15] How are your views on intermittent fasting evolving? [00:07:10] What impact has life events as well as your menopause stage had on your habits? [00:09:00] What supplements do you view as keys to success for women? [00:30:29] What’s motivating your physical and lifestyle habits most? [00:10:10] How has fueled exercise changed your ability to gain lean, lose fat, or gain strength? [00:08:20]Connect with Cynthia:
https://www.cynthiathurlow.com/On Social:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/CHTWellness/Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/cynthia_thurlow_/YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@CynthiaThurlowOther Episodes You Might Like:
Intermittent Fasting for Women | Health & Wellness | When Yes When No: https://www.flippingfifty.com/intermittent-fasting-for-women/ Midlife Changes with Intermittent Fasting Expert Gin Stephens: https://www.flippingfifty.com/midlife-changes/ Why your food struggles can be a blessing in disguise: https://www.flippingfifty.com/ee/Resources:
Mitopure: https://www.flippingfifty.com/mitopure **5 Day Flip: https://www.flippingfifty.com/** -
My Guest:
Emily Sadri is a Board Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, and the founder of Aurelia Health, a modern telemedicine practice for women over 35. Aurelia Health provides comprehensive hormone replacement therapy and weight loss support with long visits and un-rushed care.
Emily is passionate about making complex hormonal topics accessible and believes that great health starts with happy hormones and a balanced stress response.
Questions We Answer in This Episode:
Why do you think there still so much confusion about hormone replacement therapy and if it's "good" or "bad"[00:18:56] You suggest there are downsides to hormone testing… and I’m curious about why you’d say so? [00:22:50] I’m also shocked to find some believe testing is unnecessary with estrogen and progesterone replacement therapy, that seems like a big fat game of trial and error and any woman on HRT knows that getting your cocktail right already is a course-correcting journey as it is - say more about these people who are shooting darts in the dark.. Who does that? [00:24:29] First of all, what is balanced? How do you know when all of the major hormones are "balanced"? [00:27:52] Do you think every woman benefits from testosterone replacement therapy? [00:34:26] What additional factors do you focus on with your patients to help them be successful with HRT? [00:35:08]Few women were optimizing hormones early in perimenopause a decade ago. But the health outlook for those that do stands to be significantly better than for those women who experience drops then boost it again.
Are you doing HRT in perimenopause? Or Did you?
Connect with Emily and The Perimenopause Revolution Summit
https://www.flippingfifty.com/revolutionOn Social:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/emilysadri_np/Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/emilysadri.np.ohioOther Episodes You Might Like:
Can I Still Start Hormones 10 Years After Menopause? Doctors Respond: https://www.flippingfifty.com/start-hormones-10-years-after-menopause/ What Women Need to Know about Hormone Replacement Therapy: https://www.flippingfifty.com/what-to-know-about-hrt/ Hormone Testing Started It: What My GI Doctor Suggested I Do Next: https://www.flippingfifty.com/hormone-testing-started/Resources:
5 Day Flip: https://www.flippingfifty.com/ -
In this episode you’ll hear me respond to one of our Flipping 50 members asking a question about being sore in menopause, for no reason. If you’re sore, stiff, or even have a little niggle or “catch,” this is for you.
If you’ve passed this kind of thing off for arthritis or getting old, stick around. If not you, a girlfriend or sister needs to hear this.
Paulette asked:
“I'm looking for suggestions about what helps with muscle stiffness and soreness unrelated to injury.
I have noticed in my transition to menopause that I have much more muscle stiffness and less flexibility, despite being quite active and doing yoga several times a week. It's mostly my legs and hips...and low back...well, probably every muscle...lol.
I wake up stiff and it generally improves within a few minutes of movement, but I notice it throughout the day when I bend down, or try to get down on the floor or up from there.
I'm sure this is a common complaint among 50 plus women...what helps with this?”
Reasons for Being Sore in MenopauseSome women experience this and it can be due to a lot of things… The changes in estrogen during menopause can lead to various symptoms. Specifically, estrogen deficiency can cause a snowball of symptoms.
Some of the habits we thought were good, are actually not, or not going to match the status of our hormones and their influence on muscles, bones, connective tissues, gut health, sleep, sex and every cell in our body.
Over time, women are finally getting more savvy. As we find more women less willing to accept weight gain, belly fat, frequent injuries, stiffness, or in this podcast, soreness as normal processes of aging… and instead as clues we need a pivot from prior habits or beliefs, we’ll all start making aging better instead of dreaded!
Reduce or eliminate:
Dairy Gluten / Wheat Eggs Soy Peanuts Corn Nuts (including almonds and almond flour or almond milk)Oxalate consumption can also be a problem. The body makes oxalate acid that can contribute to muscle pain or soreness as well as gut issues. (Listen to the podcast for a food high in oxalate and the flips)
If you have any other leaky gut signs (gas bloating, constipation, diarrhea). But.. you don’t have to have these gut signs, by the way, to have a problem with the gut or these oxalates. They’re sneaky little things.
Lack of Gut Issue Doesn’t Mean You Won’t Be Sore in MenopauseHere are some suggestions for increasing your anti-inflammatory response.
Add or increase:
Salmon Omega 3 supplements Magnesium Vitamin D Antioxidant rich brightly colored veggies Matcha tea (a clean, tested for mold and heavy metals ceremonial grade is super high in antioxidants having one of the highest ORAC values)Habits:
Epsom salt baths Longer warm up and cool down Infrared Sauna Pay a little more attention to your mobility workAs a side note:
Genetics play a part in whether you tend to get sore or not. There are two specific genes identified with this. Certainly with conditioning, you’ll experience less soreness. But a unique workout, involving small muscles you don’t use often will cause more muscle soreness than something that focuses on glutes or quadriceps that are used to a lot of activity.
Other Episodes You Might Like:
6 Secrets to Less Stiffness and Muscle Soreness After 50:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/6-secrets-to-less-stiffness-and-muscle-soreness-after-50/
Current Status: Fatigued and Want to be Fit!:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/fatigued-and-want-to-be-fit/
4 Step Process to Resolve Fatigue Naturally:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/fatiguedoc/
Resources:
Lisa Barr: www.BarrCenter.com
Teri Cochrane: www.tericochrane.com
My Sauna: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna
References:
Wright, V. J., Schwartzman, J. D., Itinoche, R., & Wittstein, J. (2024). The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Climacteric, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363
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