July 14, 2025 • 42 mins
The hormonal shift of menopause fundamentally transforms a woman's body in ways that extend far beyond hot flashes and mood swings. As estrogen levels decline, women face accelerated bone density loss, diminished muscle mass, and metabolic changes that can dramatically impact quality of life—unless they understand how to counteract these effects.
Lynn, a 54-year-old biochemistry major turned fitness expert, shares her personal journey of watching her body change dramatically at age 49 despite maintaining her regular exercise routine. This transformation led her to discover that traditional fitness approaches that work wonderfully through our 30s and early 40s become dramatically less effective after menopause begins. Body pump classes, cardio sessions, and lightweight, high-repetition exercises simply don't provide the stimulus needed when estrogen no longer supports muscle maintenance.
The solution lies in proper strength training with progressive overload—systematically increasing weight over time to continue challenging muscles. Lynn explains that this approach should become as non-negotiable as brushing teeth for women in midlife, not for aesthetic reasons alone but because it serves as medicine against age-related decline. In the five years surrounding menopause, bone density loss accelerates tenfold, making strength training an essential intervention against fracture risk and functional decline.
The conversation tackles persistent myths that prevent women from embracing weights, particularly fears of "bulking up" that simply don't reflect reality for most women. It also addresses nutrition needs, especially protein requirements that increase with age, and critically examines the recent trend of GLP-1 medications for weight loss. While these drugs may create a smaller body, they don't address underlying habits and potentially accelerate muscle loss at a time when preserving muscle becomes increasingly crucial.
Most encouragingly, Lynn emphasizes that effective strength training requires far less time than many imagine—just twice weekly with a well-designed program provides tremendous benefits. For women feeling overwhelmed by fitness information, this message offers both clarity and hope: strength training serves as powerful medicine against the challenges of aging, requiring minimal time while delivering maximum impact on quality of life.
Ready to transform your approach to fitness after 40? Visit befitafter40.com to discover simple, effective strength training methods designed specifically for women navigating the changes of midlife.
Learn More at: www.Redefine-Fitness.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello and welcome to Health Fitness Refined.
I'm your host, anthony Amen,and today we've got another
great episode for all you womenout there.
I know we've done a couplereally women-specific episodes,
but it's fine, we'll get back tothem later.
If you wanted a super manly,masculine topic, go check out
Masculinity Isn't Toxic episode.
That came out about a month ago, so you feel free to check that
(00:30):
out.
Also, thanks to all of you guys, we did a recap episode Beyond
breaking points.
The redefined story how I gotstarted Reader and everything
Put.
Never before told stories onthere and then gave some hard
lessons at the end of it Cameout about a couple of weeks ago.
Go check that episode out.
I think it's almost our topthree most listened to episodes
(00:50):
ever.
So super excited.
Thank you guys.
You made this possible Withoutfurther ado.
Let's welcome to today's show,lynn.
Lynn, it's a pleasure to haveyou on today.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh, I'm so happy to be here.
Thanks for having me, and I'llhave to go listen to that show,
because I saw it on your listand I was like, hmm, yeah,
interested to hear that one.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh, it's a tough episode, but it's all right.
It's a lot.
It's something you'll neverforget for the rest of your life
, that I promise.
Okay, I did drop on thatepisode so that my wife is
pregnant again with her secondkid.
Ironically enough, we justfound out we're having a girl.
So perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Okay, all right, so now you'll learn more about what
to teach her, about what sheneeds to do when she's in
midlife, right?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, hopefully.
I remember at that point, likedementia didn't hit or anything
like that, definitely definitelyagree.
So, lynn, before we get intotoday's topic, just tell us a
little bit about yourself andhow you got into the menopause
world.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, so I am a 54-year-old post-menopausal
woman and I actually got intothis when I was about 49.
And the reason really that Igot into it was that, you know,
I've always been into fitness.
I was like in high school Iplayed varsity sports, field
(02:12):
hockey and lacrosse and soccer.
I played division one lacrosseat Dartmouth College and, yeah,
for college, and so I've alwaysbeen into physical fitness.
And after my kids, I startedgoing to the gym and going to
body pump classes and you know,I always liked to look toned and
that was used to just.
You know, when you're alwaysdoing workouts, you look fit and
(02:36):
that's just part of youridentity.
And then suddenly, at age 49,even though I was still doing
all the things, it was like mybody changed overnight and I
lost all my muscle tone, Igained fat and I was like what
you know, what am I doing wrong?
And so I'm also very much of ascience geek.
(02:59):
I was a biochem major and so Ibelieve in, you know, scientific
process and figuring out howthings work and all that.
So I started really studyinglike so so what's going on here
and what do I need to dodifferently?
And what I learned was that Iwas losing my muscles for a
reason because I wasn't doingproper strength training.
(03:19):
And I started to do that and it, you know, my body started to
change over the course of oneyear.
I mean, of course, I was liketrying to do that and it, you
know, my body started to changeover the course of one year.
I mean, of course, I was liketrying to do it on my own in the
beginning, learning at the sametime, you know, figuring it out
, you know doing the courseworkand all that.
And you know, by the end of ayear I had totally transformed
my body back to the one I wasused to, right, and I thought,
(03:43):
man, you know, no women knowthis.
And so I felt like I need tostart talking about this,
because if I'm having this issue, thinking I'm doing all the
right things, then I know otherwomen have this issue, and so I
started a podcast and thenstarted helping women to start
strength training, because thatreally is such a key in midlife.
(04:05):
So that's how I got in here.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I love it.
And something you've noticed isa lot of women more recently
have kind of shifted intostrength training.
I mean, I believe every yearit's been five and 10% more
women are like really go and hitthe weights again, less
intimidated by it, which isamazing.
So how do you specifically talkto women who are currently going
through perimenopause andmenopause so we're talking 40s,
(04:28):
50 year old women who still kindof in that mindset of not to
hit the weights.
How do you talk to them andkind of get them interested in
moving over from the class tothe weight section?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, so actually this is.
This is actually an interestingpoint, because when I started,
this was before the biggermenopause boom.
Now we have like menopausebooks.
Menopause is all over.
You know, social media Oprah'sbigger than what it was in the
beginning and what those expertsare saying is lift weights.
(05:08):
You should be strength training.
You need to lift weights.
You know, when I started, I waslike I felt like I was the only
one there going oh hello, areyou noticing some muscle loss?
You need to start liftingweights.
So now I feel like it's gettingbetter.
But one of the big challenges isthat women still think that
(05:28):
going to a class with weights,with dumbbells, doing these
small dumbbells, little longsets of something, feeling the
burn, sweating, getting theirheart rate up, body pump classes
, f45, orange Theory that thoseare going to make a difference,
and the thing is that when youhit a certain point, those are
(05:50):
really not going to make adifference.
I mean, I was doing body pumpfor years and looking great, so
I understand that you can bedoing that for a long time and
you look great, and then all ofa sudden, you don't.
You look great and then all ofa sudden you don't, and then you
need to actually do somethingabout it.
And yeah, the strength trainingis definitely the most
(06:13):
important thing.
But well, what I'll say is that, yeah, because I just did a
podcast episode myself on kindof the biggest challenges that I
see, is that women still thinklike, okay, if I'm doing some
random workouts that I find onYouTube, where it's different
(06:33):
every day, but I'm using weightsand it's called strength
training and strength training,and then they wonder why am I
not like seeing any results?
And so I think right now, theeducation is more around what is
strength training really?
And that strength training isnot the same as doing something
(06:54):
with weights.
Right, they're two differentthings.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Why do you think that is?
Why do you think women get itconfused that these body pump
classes and they correlate thatto weight training.
Is it a lack of education?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, I think it is the marketing that you know they
are fed.
I see menopause fitness coacheswho are talking about their
strength training programs andthen I go take a look at them
and they're these follow alongchange every time.
They're not tracking, they'renot making sure that they're
(07:30):
progressively overloading,they're not doing the same
exercises week after week to beable to enable that progressive
overload that'll stimulatemuscle growth and strength
growth growth.
So so it's yeah, I think it isvery hard actually for women to
(07:51):
get that message because there'sso much misinformation coming
at you.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It's unfortunate Progressive overload, which is
awesome, right, and I feel likea lot of people just don't
understand what that is and howto not even what it is, but how
to actually go through it in aworkout.
So, as an example, you'relifting weights, right, you get
to a certain point and you'retoo afraid to go to a certain
weight.
Oh, I can't do that.
I can't do that, and they'reafraid to kind of hit certain
(08:15):
exertion levels.
So how do you think you canwant to explain to people what
progressive overload is?
And then how do we get aroundthe mental barrier of you know,
I need to learn how to exertmyself better, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So the way that I like to talk about it is to
compare it to if you are goingto start running.
Okay, so if you were like, I'mgoing to take up running, I'm
going to run around my block,I'm going to do that three days
a week, and you start that andthe first days, that one time
around the block is going tofeel really hard, and then the
(08:52):
next time it'll feel a littlebit easier and over the weeks
it's going to feel easier.
Well, nobody is going tocontinue to run just around that
one block at exactly the samespeed for like months and years
on end, right, because it'sgoing to get easier and they're
going to be like okay, well, Icould run this, maybe a little
faster, or maybe I can go oneand a quarter times around the
(09:12):
block, or maybe I'll go twicearound the block.
So somehow, naturally, whenyou're doing something like
running, you start toprogressively overload.
So all it means is that whenyou get to a certain level, you
continue to push yourself, youknow, challenge yourself a
little bit more and a little bitmore, and with weights, in a
(09:33):
way, the fact that you have topick up a different weight that
has a different number on itmaybe makes that a little bit
more intimidating.
But I think the tool thatreally helps you to make that
happen is that you track, and soyou have your exercises and you
like.
Well, I, for example, have aspreadsheet that I give away for
(09:56):
free that people can track.
So maybe that's a good way forpeople to think about it right
now is that you know, I go todayand I've got my five pound
weight and I aim to do eight to12 reps of my bicep curls.
Maybe I can do eight of themtoday.
Eight, you know, three times,do three sets of them.
(10:17):
So next time I go in, I pick upthat same weight and I aim to
do nine, you know, in each of mysets, and maybe I'm able to do
that on one of my sets, maybeI'm able to do it on all three
of them.
But in any case, each time Itry to do just a little bit more
and you will be able to do alittle bit more over time,
(10:39):
because you are getting strongerover time.
Now in the beginning, you knowyou're going to notice
significant improvements, somaybe you'll go for all eight
reps in each of the sets thefirst time you go in, then the
next time maybe you're alreadyat nine, and then 10 and 11, 12.
And then when you hit the topof your rep range and you're
(11:00):
able to do that with good form,then you pick up the next weight
up, and you don't want it to bea huge leap.
Sometimes, unfortunately,weight rooms have only huge
leaps and then that poses somechallenges.
But the idea is that when youhit the top of your rep range,
then you pick up a little bitheavier weight and that way
(11:21):
you're doing the same kind ofthing as you were doing with
your jogging, in that you'reincreasing how far you go or how
fast you go, and both of thoseare challenging your body a
little bit more.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
But, lynn, I'm you know.
I noticed all these women alignthat weight lift.
They look really bulky and Ireally don't want to look like a
man.
So why am I going to go pick upweights?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah.
So I, I mean I I have to saylike most, most, um, I think
fitness coaches will say youwon't get bulky.
But I know that if I look atthose girls, you know,
especially these younger girlswho are like, really want to get
their glutes, you know to, bro,I mean, if you look at their
(12:03):
before and after pictures, onecould define that as being
bulkier, because there is a lotmore glute on their body and
their legs are much bigger andthat's probably not the
aesthetic that we Gen X womenare so much after.
You know, we grew up withPolina Porskova and and Christie
Brinkley and these kinds ofideals of the female physique
(12:27):
and I don't want that either.
But the thing is that thattakes an enormous amount of
effort, time and and, like you,you really have to have that
goal to do that.
And even I, who am liftingheavy consistently and I've been
doing so, for I'm now on yearfour, five, and I have not
(12:53):
managed to grow those kinds ofhuge glutes.
So it's not like you're goingto walk in one day, or even if
you strength train for a half ayear, that all of a sudden it's
going to be like you're going tolook like Arnold Schwarzenegger
(13:14):
or something.
It comes so gradually.
And if you are worried about it,then my best advice is to take
regular kind of progress videosof yourself.
And the reason I say video isbecause a picture is just like
one angle and the lighting andeverything can affect things so
much.
But if you take a video of youdoing like the same thing, like
you know, I set up my camera ona wall and then I back up, I
(13:39):
stand face on, I flex face on, Iturn to the side, you know.
So I actually see really,actually what my body looks like
.
And if you do that regularlyand you see your, your progress
video and you think, oh, mygoodness, I'm really starting to
look too muscular, then youjust ease up, you know, you go
more into a maintenance mode.
(14:00):
You don't progress so hard.
Maybe you train less frequently.
You know that kind of thing toto not, you know, because there
are some people who are going tobe these unicorns who develop
muscle very nicely.
But the other thing I would sayis that if you have fat on your
body, that is generally if youget rid of that, you know, then
(14:23):
that muscle underneath it looksamazing, you know.
It gives you that wonderfulshape that most women are after.
So usually the bulky thing isreally something you can get rid
of by doing a little bit ofcalorie deficit, losing a little
bit of fat from your body, andthen you'll be like wow, yeah, I
(14:43):
mean, if the aesthetic is yourmain concern there.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, but Lynn, you know I'm weightlifting.
I'm doing that in my scale.
Weight's not going down.
I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, well, yeah, scale weight is really not a
good indicator, because muscleis denser than fat.
So, for example, when I startedstrength training, I was at a
level where my weight actuallystayed exactly the same and I
had done a body scan, an in-bodyscan to figure out my body
(15:16):
composition when I started.
And then I started taking scansevery three months and my weight
stayed the same, but my fatlevels went down, my muscle went
up and my body looked different.
So the scale is like, I think,a one piece of data, which is
sometimes useful, um, but it'snot the only thing.
(15:38):
That's why I think one piece ofdata, which is sometimes useful
, but it's not the only thing.
That's why I think the progresspictures and measurements and
maybe you know, most women havelike a pair of jeans that
they've had for a long time andthen you know when you slip
those on how they fit you issome kind of indicator of like
am I a little bit feelingheavier now or, like you know,
(15:59):
thinner now than I was before?
Of course, those jeans will fityou differently.
So, because if you get moremuscle on your booty, for
example, they're they're goingto be a little bit tighter
around, you know the hip area,but anyway, yeah.
So don't use just the scale tomeasure.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I love that.
Obviously, those are commonmisconceptions and you explained
them perfectly, so I love that.
But I think the importantquestion is we understand that
strength training is important,with menopause and everything,
but why?
So what does menopause andperimenopause do to help justify
women's strength training more?
What's going on internally?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, so this, so this is a big one because, um, I
think most of us, and for sureme, I went through menopause not
really realizing what is goingon in my body.
I thought, okay, I'm just notgetting my periods anymore, I
can't have kids, you know.
So you know.
But actually the fact thatestrogen, you know, in
perimenopause, but actually thefact that estrogen, you know, in
(16:57):
perimenopause your estrogenlevels are bouncing all over the
place and then when you hitmenopause they flatline, and
estrogen is a hormone which hasbeen doing so many wonderful
caretaking things for your body.
So estrogen has been keepingyour bones stronger.
(17:20):
So estrogen has been keepingyour bones stronger.
In fact, in the five-ish yearsaround menopause, the rate of
bone density decrease increasesby tenfold.
That was an awkward way ofsaying it, but the rate at which
your bone density decreaseslike speeds up a ton.
Okay.
So, and that's because estrogendisappears.
(17:41):
Your muscles have been takencare of by your estrogen.
Your grip, your ability tocontract your muscles is weaker.
Once estrogen leaves thebuilding your joints, you may
notice more soreness, becauseyour tendons and your ligaments
have actually been kept in goodshape by estrogen.
(18:02):
So it's actually doing thingsto all kinds of areas of your
body, like actually to yourwhole body, including your brain
, the estrogen and when itleaves, it leaves this kind of
gap, and the wonderful thingabout strength training is that
it fills in for a lot of thisgap.
(18:23):
So when you strength train,obviously you're building back
your strength and your muscle,your ability to actually
contract your muscles, so likegetting the lid off the jar.
Like getting the lid off thejar, that kind of thing your,
your ligaments and your tendonsstart to get stronger again from
(18:45):
that, from the fact that youare kind of pulling on them more
, from doing the weight trainingand and so it really.
It is a way of bringing yourbody back kind of to the
condition it was before it lostthe estrogen, and so for that
reason it is.
Some people call it anti-aging,and I do agree.
(19:07):
I mean, I have felt so muchyounger in my body and I think
that's one of the things that alot of women love.
They feel more like themselveswhen they've started strength
training and built some muscle,not only because they again look
more defined and everything,but because their body functions
the way that it used to, youknow, when they were younger and
(19:30):
they were doing stuff, they'renot so achy and all that.
So, yeah, really important atthis point.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, it's a lot of changes to the female body,
right, it's the biggest reasonyou mentioned with bone density,
that women are more likely toexperience osteoporosis and
osteopenia, which is bonedensity loss to kind of an
extreme standpoint, and musclehas been shown to preserve your
bone density.
So building muscle, therefore,will help decrease the
(19:58):
probability that they end upwith osteopenia or osteoporosis.
But I think what the mostinteresting fact is is that your
hormones as women are all outof whack.
Right Levels up down day andeverything is and everything is.
(20:23):
So the point I was trying tomake is, when you're looking at
something like perimenopause,you need to look more about what
you're doing in a day-to-day,and you talked really well about
the physical activity, strengthtraining part of it.
But the flip side of that is wecan control our hormones through
the food we eat and, with thatbeing said, I feel like a lot of
middle-aged women and you cankind of express this a little
(20:44):
more are afraid to eat meat, andmeat is the biggest component
to help hormone regulation.
Why?
Because it's high in fat andit's high in protein, two things
that your body uses to helpregulate hormones, and you don't
see women reaching for thatbecause they're afraid, yet
again, to eat a lot of fats andeat a lot of proteins, for
(21:04):
whatever X, y, z reason thatthey're made to believe.
So why do you think that's thecase?
And then how do you talk tosomebody to get them to start
eating more animal basedproducts?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, yeah, so this is protein is a big topic.
Yeah, yeah, so this is proteinis a big topic.
I'm glad you brought that upand and it is something that,
yeah, I think one, yes.
So where do I want to unpackthis from?
I think, like in my own journey, it started with the focus on
looking better right.
Then I start learning aboutstrength training and I and the
(21:37):
reason I've like my why forcontinuing has been all the
health and aging benefits thatthere are.
But when you want to supportgrowing muscle and maintaining
muscle, then protein is reallyimportant to have on board every
single day and really it's aminimum of 100 grams a day that
(22:00):
you eat protein, and somebenefits of it are include that
it does make it easier for youto manage your hunger and
satiety.
So I have really noticed thatbefore you know, I could eat
something, and it still happensto me.
If I don't eat enough proteinin a meal, I'll eat and then I
(22:23):
feel like you know, like I couldeat a little bit more.
You know you just keep goingbecause you haven't fulfilled
some kind of basic need in yourbody, and when I eat enough
protein in a meal, then I don'thave that problem.
So I'm able to control myeating or control but you know,
regulate, not go haywire with myeating a little bit better.
(22:47):
And and I know a lot of womenare also trying to lose weight
they're the ones who are on theshots and dieting.
In general, then, eatingprotein is very important for
helping your body to maintainthe muscle.
So, yeah, it's, it's a toughsell in a way.
(23:08):
You know they have tounderstand the reasons, because
a lot of women are just used toeating, you know salad or you
know vegetables or whatever.
It is nuts, nuts.
But yeah, we got to get in waymore of the protein and it does
take a concerted effort andplanning a little bit ahead of
time.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Yeah, I mean we've mentioned protein, but what
about fats?
I mean fats learning that it'sone of the most important
macronutrients.
When it does come from satiety,right, it's the most orcly
dense.
On top of that, it's known tostrictly help regulate hormones.
So how do we convince ageneration and your generation
(23:52):
was the tipping point of it ofeverything being low fat?
How do you reconvince people tostart getting back to eating
fattier foods?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, I think it's really about education, and you
know well.
So I I don't coach, I'm not anutrition coach, but I do teach
women that they should be eatingmore protein, and I do also
have like a small dieting minicourse, and and the thing that
(24:27):
I'll say about that is that whatit does is it teaches like a
system of tracking your eatingso that you can really
understand what you're puttingin your body.
I think, even if you were notactually trying to lose weight,
I think it is very educationalto spend two weeks weighing
(24:49):
absolutely everything, trackingabsolutely everything, and look
at what your macros are and see,you know that you are getting
enough protein and then that youare getting fats and
carbohydrates, cause, like yousaid, your body needs both.
There are also women who arelike, oh, I can't eat carbs.
I mean, you know, I I do agreethat some people feel better
(25:11):
when they eat more of one or theother, and that you know we're
all different and and I knowthat for myself, on days when I
do cardio, I feel like I wantmore carbs.
So so there are, there areindividual differences, but you
need everything.
Like humans were made to eatall three of the macronutrients
(25:32):
and not not just two yeah or oneyeah.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Totally agree.
I mean, I get on the meatbandwagon only strictly because
it's heavily the one productthat a lot of women don't eat
right or just don't eat enoughof it Like men.
You see the problems less withmen.
You see it more with women.
On that, men have all sorts ofother issues, but just
specifically that one, justknowing working directly, I mean
(26:00):
, even when you're looking atcreatine, which is only found in
red meat, right, the benefitsof that, with menopause
especially recently coming outin studies and how it helps.
That in and of itself helpsregulate hormones.
That in and of itself helpsincrease bone density.
That in and of itself hasdecreased the chances of you
getting dementia.
But the avoidance of somethingaltogether is helping escalate a
(26:25):
whole bunch of issues inside ofit.
And I said not really you don'twant to put the nutrition side,
which is fine, but I just thinkit's so interesting to know that
you need to, like you said,focus on all three
macronutrients.
So the flip side of this is,why do you think a lot of people
, just in general especially ifwe just stick on just
middle-aged women reach forGLP-1s?
(26:45):
So why are they going forZempik, for Zepound I don't
remember all of them, but whyare you seeing such a high
increase of usage of these asopposed to strength training and
nutrition?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
I know and yeah, I mean this is actually really
interesting.
I just just had last weekend aconversation with my girlfriends
around this topic, so theGLP-1s are not so prevalent yet
here.
I mean, I've been watchingwhat's been going on in the
States, but I think speaking towomen who are considering taking
(27:27):
it, talking about their friendswho take it and whatever it
just offered a lot of insightand I think, well, what I saw in
the discussion last weekend wasA like had not even actually
tried to be systematic and lookat what she's eating and, you
know, regulate it that way.
(27:48):
It was just like, oh, I've beenoverweight for a long time, now
I'm pre-diabetic, so I shouldtake the GLP ones.
And, and the thing that's a bitscary is that if you're not on
them forever, then you're justgoing to end up in the same
problem when you get off Right,because you haven't changed,
like, your understanding of howyou should be eating and, and I
(28:10):
think that is such a criticalpiece.
The other thing that I think wasreally alarming in the
conversations was one woman whohad taken them and lost a lot of
weight and now she stoppedexercising altogether, because
she used to exercise, at leastdo cardio.
She never strength trained, butshe did cardio so that she
(28:30):
wouldn't be fat.
But now she doesn't need tobecause she's skinny, because
she takes the shot, and I wasthinking, oh my God, you know
that's so awful for her health,right, and then she's not
strength training while she's,you know, using the drugs.
It's like she is going tosuffer for that, you know, in
(28:50):
the long term.
So that was really really scary, that you know, in the long
term.
So that was really really scary.
I do think they have a place.
I know that, you know somepeople really really have a hard
time with the food, noise andthis kind of thing.
So I don't want to say thatnobody should ever take it, but
I would really hope that beforeyou make that decision, that you
(29:12):
do kind of the hard work ofspending two weeks of tracking
everything that you eat andlearning from that and seeing if
you can make some lifestylechanges, because I really think,
like, long-term, that is goingto serve you better than that
and at least if you go on them,then you can at the same time,
work on better eating habits.
(29:34):
And then, of course course,start the strength training.
Yay, because you want to holdon to your muscle.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
So I'm going to ask you a hard question Do you think
that people shouldn't take DOPones?
Do you think that's somethingthat people should grow and grab
and try and do?
Or do you think it's okay forpeople to jump onto the bag
wagon of taking them and usingthem?
(30:00):
Is the cure worse than thedisease?
So is taking them ultimatelygoing to make them worse off
than if they just haven't takenthem at all?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
So I don't know and I don't think anybody really
knows.
You know, what are thelong-term health consequences
just of taking those?
And?
And what I see on social mediaand it is kind of alarming, is
these super fit, you know 50 ish, uh, midlife women who have
(30:32):
huge audiences and they lookamazing.
Right, they've been strengthtraining, they have everything
on point, and then they're like,oh, but now I'm going to start
taking these microdosing thingsbecause I have inflammation or
whatever.
And actually they areaffiliates for these companies
selling the microdosing and andI feel like that's so much
(30:57):
preying on, you know, women whomay have an issue of feeling
like, oh, if I just lost anotherfive pounds, my life would be
amazing.
And you know the the just soexternal appearance focused
world and trying to be smaller,when we were just kind of
(31:20):
getting to the point wherepeople are talking about being
stronger instead of smaller.
So so that's where I see thisconversation going kind of in a
scary direction.
And I because, because I feellike when women strength train,
what I've noticed in my clientswhen they start strength
training, they start because Iwant to be more toned.
(31:42):
You know, that kind of thing isalways like I don't think
there's anybody.
Well, okay, there are few whocome in and they're like I have
osteoporosis, I need you knowthat's their main driver.
But everybody wants to get tonedright.
I mean who doesn't?
But when they've been doing itfor a while, they love how it
(32:03):
makes them feel that they'rethey're feeling powerful, they
can lift heavy stuff.
I mean it's likepsychologically pretty amazing
to push your body and and see itbe able to do more and more,
you know, than before, and seeit be able to do more and more
than before.
And I'd rather they feel pridein their bodies for what their
bodies can do rather than forthe fact that, oh, I could lose
(32:25):
another two pounds and my bodyfat percentage is lower.
So, yeah, I think it's such ahard situation.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yeah, like I said, it's a tough question.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
It is.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
You mentioned previously.
In the States it's veryprevalent maybe not so much in
Finland, but here it's.
Everyone knows someone, it'sacross the board.
You're like where I am it's.
I know countless people linesout the door spending thousands
of dollars to get it becauseinsurance won't cover it.
So it's scary.
I mean, one of the biggestthings you mentioned pre-show
not pre-show, but earlier in theshow was how menopause causes
(33:05):
bone density issues.
Right, and the reason it causesbone density is because you're
stripping away muscle tissue, asyour body naturally goes to
menopause, which is what youmentioned.
Take the same example forstarvation.
If I starve myself, my body'sgoing to lose weight, but I'm
going to lose the sameproportion of fat and muscle.
(33:25):
So I might weigh less on ascale, but my body fat
percentage overall is going tostay exactly the same.
But now I have less muscletissue and therefore I'm burning
at a lower metabolic rate andtherefore when I start eating
again, I'm going to gain weightback a lot quicker because I
burned through all my muscletissue and I'm starving myself.
That is exactly true forbariatric surgery.
(33:46):
All bariatric surgery patientsthat lose a hundred pounds lose
the same proportion of fat tomuscle and that's why it's so
much harder for them to keep theweight off Because, like you
said, they haven't fixed theunderlying issues of the habits,
but now they're burning atlower metabolic rates and
therefore, when they starteating again, they gain all the
weight back quicker.
That's same true.
(34:07):
If you catch where I'm goingwith this is with GLP-1s.
They strip your body of thesame proportion of fat and
muscle and then, in the samecycle, you double that with
menopause.
You're going to see womengetting diagnosed with
osteopenia and osteoporosis atan alarming high rate.
(34:28):
And that's just one of the manyissues that is going to happen
with this drug, because, one, noone fixed the underlying issue.
Two, now you're stripping awaymuscle tissue.
So what's worse, right?
Is it worse to be 50, 60 poundsheavier or is it worse to be
skin and bones with no muscleand being super frail?
(34:49):
And that's a really toughquestion because I don't think
no one really knows the answerto that.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
a really tough question because I don't think
no one really knows the answerto that.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, I guess I guess the well, if it's an extreme
amount of overweight that one isthen losing the weight is very
beneficial.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Well, if it's like, I guess like 50 to a hundred
pounds.
I mean it hard.
You know it depends on how tallyou are and what your
biological markers.
If the doctor has said that youare pre-diabetic, it might be
that it happens even sooner on adiet or on the shots always,
(35:34):
always, will eat protein andstrength train and proper
strength training.
I'm not talking about going tothe body pump classes.
You get a strength trainingprogram and you apply
progressive overload and youdon't need to start living in
the gym.
In fact, you don't even need togo to a gym.
You can do it at home and twicea week.
If you have a good programthat'll hit all the muscles in
(35:57):
your body a couple times a weekis sufficient.
So you know what I would liketo see.
You know, I feel like when I wasgrowing up you're younger than
I am, I think, but when I wasgrowing up it was all I remember
.
The toothpaste commercials werelike you should be brushing
your teeth, because when you'reolder you don't want to be
(36:17):
wearing dentures, right?
So it was very much education.
Nowadays nobody questions thatyou should be brushing your
teeth.
So all the toothbrush I meantoothpaste commercials are like
you need fresh breath.
You need whiter teeth.
You know that's kind of thing,and I feel like I want strength
training to become so much aobvious everybody absolutely has
(36:39):
to do it that it's likebrushing teeth.
You know, by the time yourdaughter and my daughter already
by the time my daughter hitsmenopause, she's 19.
So, yeah, and I think that isthe level that we need to get to
.
You don't need to love it, itdoesn't need to be anything
fancy, but you do it because youwant your body to function when
(37:04):
you are older, just like wewant to hold on to our teeth.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Yeah, that's a great way to put it, linda.
Is there anything else, andspecifically menopause, you
think is important for women tounderstand?
Speaker 2 (37:16):
before we wrap this up, I think one thing that we
haven't touched on really iskind of recovery and the fact
that there is I have noticed itmyself and I have noticed in
other women like a shift in ourbody's ability to recover, and I
(37:37):
think that's part of theequation to look at.
Also, when you you know if, ifyou're a woman listening to this
and you've been working out alot seven days a week, maybe
even twice a day on some days,and then you suddenly realize,
oh, I'm like feeling reallydragged down, that is natural.
You know, this is that part oflife and doing less is not
(38:01):
necessarily going to get youless results.
I mean, I used to train prettymuch seven days a week.
I would strength train and runand you know, or do my fitness
classes, maybe two in a row andall this kind of thing, and
nowadays I lift four days a weekand then I do cardio one or two
(38:21):
days and it might be a20-minute session and I'm like,
yeah, in just as good a shape.
So just watch how much you canrecover from and think about
modifying your exerciseaccordingly so that you work
(38:41):
with your body rather than likebeating yourself up.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Yeah, the same goes true.
When you start, people alwaystend to jump headfirst into
things.
I'm going to work out sevendays a week for three hours a
day, just like an extremeexample, and the way you said is
totally accurate.
You don't need to do that.
You don't want to shock yourbody, you don't want to not be
able to get off of the toiletbowl because you squat up for
the first time too many times.
So we've all been there, whichis why it's funny when you don't
(39:06):
understand weight training andit's just an understanding of
slow and steady wins the racebut still adding in the
progressive overload.
Just go three, four times aweek, even if it's a half an
hour, 45 minutes.
If you're really lost, get acoach.
I think that's something that'speople just don't look up to.
But you can really find peoplelike you or like I that really
understands how the body worksand just do what's right for you
(39:29):
at the end of the day, butdon't do nothing.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
I think that's the moral of this, don't do nothing
and it really does make adifference.
I mean, I just think about somany of my clients who live
twice a week and after even 10weeks of just following a
consistent program and applyingthe progressive overload, they
notice difference.
It's not like they've had thishuge transformation like you
(39:53):
would have if you went on a dietfor that amount of time,
because that's more visuallynoticeable, but they notice that
they can pick up heavy things,their posture's gotten a little
better and they may notice eventhat hey, now you know I want to
wear that tank top and notcover up my arms like I did, you
know, a couple months ago.
(40:13):
So yeah, it really like, butyou need to start right.
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Couldn't agree more, lynn, so I'm going to ask the
final two questions.
I ask everybody.
The first one is if you were tosummarize this episode in one
or two sentences, what would beyour take home message?
Speaker 2 (40:30):
So my take home message is that strength
training in midlife should be asobvious a thing to do as
brushing your teeth every day.
You don't have to strengthtrain every day, twice a week is
enough, but it should be soclear that you have to do it.
It wouldn't even come, you know, you wouldn't even think of not
doing it.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Make strength training at least twice a week,
just like brushing your teeth.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Love that.
And then the second one how canpeople find you, get a hold of
you and learn more?
Speaker 2 (40:59):
So on my website, wwwbefitafter40.com, and from
there I'm also on Instagram.
But my links are all on mywebsite and I have a Learn to
Lift program all on my website.
And I have a learn to liftprogram.
(41:19):
It's 10 weeks long and teachesyou everything you need to know
to get started.
You can do it at home or thegym and two, three or four days
a week.
So really like I try to make itlike really lower the barrier
for women to get started.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
I love it, boom.
Thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you, guys, for listeningto this week's episode of Public
Fitness Redefined.
Don't forget, hit thatsubscribe button and join us
next week as we dive deeper intothis ever-changing field.
And remember fitness ismedicine.
Thank you, outro Music.
Hello and welcome to Health Fitness Refined.
I'm your host, anthony Amen,and today we've got another
great episode for all you womenout there.
I know we've done a couplereally women-specific episodes,
but it's fine, we'll get back tothem later.
If you wanted a super manly,masculine topic, go check out
Masculinity Isn't Toxic episode.
That came out about a month ago, so you feel free to check that
(00:30):
out.
Also, thanks to all of you guys, we did a recap episode Beyond
breaking points.
The redefined story how I gotstarted Reader and everything
Put.
Never before told stories onthere and then gave some hard
lessons at the end of it Cameout about a couple of weeks ago.
Go check that episode out.
I think it's almost our topthree most listened to episodes
(00:50):
ever.
So super excited.
Thank you guys.
You made this possible Withoutfurther ado.
Let's welcome to today's show,lynn.
Lynn, it's a pleasure to haveyou on today.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh, I'm so happy to be here.
Thanks for having me, and I'llhave to go listen to that show,
because I saw it on your listand I was like, hmm, yeah,
interested to hear that one.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh, it's a tough episode, but it's all right.
It's a lot.
It's something you'll neverforget for the rest of your life
, that I promise.
Okay, I did drop on thatepisode so that my wife is
pregnant again with her secondkid.
Ironically enough, we justfound out we're having a girl.
So perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Okay, all right, so now you'll learn more about what
to teach her, about what sheneeds to do when she's in
midlife, right?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, hopefully.
I remember at that point, likedementia didn't hit or anything
like that, definitely definitelyagree.
So, lynn, before we get intotoday's topic, just tell us a
little bit about yourself andhow you got into the menopause
world.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, so I am a 54-year-old post-menopausal
woman and I actually got intothis when I was about 49.
And the reason really that Igot into it was that, you know,
I've always been into fitness.
I was like in high school Iplayed varsity sports, field
(02:12):
hockey and lacrosse and soccer.
I played division one lacrosseat Dartmouth College and, yeah,
for college, and so I've alwaysbeen into physical fitness.
And after my kids, I startedgoing to the gym and going to
body pump classes and you know,I always liked to look toned and
that was used to just.
You know, when you're alwaysdoing workouts, you look fit and
(02:36):
that's just part of youridentity.
And then suddenly, at age 49,even though I was still doing
all the things, it was like mybody changed overnight and I
lost all my muscle tone, Igained fat and I was like what
you know, what am I doing wrong?
And so I'm also very much of ascience geek.
(02:59):
I was a biochem major and so Ibelieve in, you know, scientific
process and figuring out howthings work and all that.
So I started really studyinglike so so what's going on here
and what do I need to dodifferently?
And what I learned was that Iwas losing my muscles for a
reason because I wasn't doingproper strength training.
(03:19):
And I started to do that and it, you know, my body started to
change over the course of oneyear.
I mean, of course, I was liketrying to do that and it, you
know, my body started to changeover the course of one year.
I mean, of course, I was liketrying to do it on my own in the
beginning, learning at the sametime, you know, figuring it out
, you know doing the courseworkand all that.
And you know, by the end of ayear I had totally transformed
my body back to the one I wasused to, right, and I thought,
(03:43):
man, you know, no women knowthis.
And so I felt like I need tostart talking about this,
because if I'm having this issue, thinking I'm doing all the
right things, then I know otherwomen have this issue, and so I
started a podcast and thenstarted helping women to start
strength training, because thatreally is such a key in midlife.
(04:05):
So that's how I got in here.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I love it.
And something you've noticed isa lot of women more recently
have kind of shifted intostrength training.
I mean, I believe every yearit's been five and 10% more
women are like really go and hitthe weights again, less
intimidated by it, which isamazing.
So how do you specifically talkto women who are currently going
through perimenopause andmenopause so we're talking 40s,
(04:28):
50 year old women who still kindof in that mindset of not to
hit the weights.
How do you talk to them andkind of get them interested in
moving over from the class tothe weight section?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, so actually this is.
This is actually an interestingpoint, because when I started,
this was before the biggermenopause boom.
Now we have like menopausebooks.
Menopause is all over.
You know, social media Oprah'sbigger than what it was in the
beginning and what those expertsare saying is lift weights.
(05:08):
You should be strength training.
You need to lift weights.
You know, when I started, I waslike I felt like I was the only
one there going oh hello, areyou noticing some muscle loss?
You need to start liftingweights.
So now I feel like it's gettingbetter.
But one of the big challenges isthat women still think that
(05:28):
going to a class with weights,with dumbbells, doing these
small dumbbells, little longsets of something, feeling the
burn, sweating, getting theirheart rate up, body pump classes
, f45, orange Theory that thoseare going to make a difference,
and the thing is that when youhit a certain point, those are
(05:50):
really not going to make adifference.
I mean, I was doing body pumpfor years and looking great, so
I understand that you can bedoing that for a long time and
you look great, and then all ofa sudden, you don't.
You look great and then all ofa sudden you don't, and then you
need to actually do somethingabout it.
And yeah, the strength trainingis definitely the most
(06:13):
important thing.
But well, what I'll say is that, yeah, because I just did a
podcast episode myself on kindof the biggest challenges that I
see, is that women still thinklike, okay, if I'm doing some
random workouts that I find onYouTube, where it's different
(06:33):
every day, but I'm using weightsand it's called strength
training and strength training,and then they wonder why am I
not like seeing any results?
And so I think right now, theeducation is more around what is
strength training really?
And that strength training isnot the same as doing something
(06:54):
with weights.
Right, they're two differentthings.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Why do you think that is?
Why do you think women get itconfused that these body pump
classes and they correlate thatto weight training.
Is it a lack of education?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, I think it is the marketing that you know they
are fed.
I see menopause fitness coacheswho are talking about their
strength training programs andthen I go take a look at them
and they're these follow alongchange every time.
They're not tracking, they'renot making sure that they're
(07:30):
progressively overloading,they're not doing the same
exercises week after week to beable to enable that progressive
overload that'll stimulatemuscle growth and strength
growth growth.
So so it's yeah, I think it isvery hard actually for women to
(07:51):
get that message because there'sso much misinformation coming
at you.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
It's unfortunate Progressive overload, which is
awesome, right, and I feel likea lot of people just don't
understand what that is and howto not even what it is, but how
to actually go through it in aworkout.
So, as an example, you'relifting weights, right, you get
to a certain point and you'retoo afraid to go to a certain
weight.
Oh, I can't do that.
I can't do that, and they'reafraid to kind of hit certain
(08:15):
exertion levels.
So how do you think you canwant to explain to people what
progressive overload is?
And then how do we get aroundthe mental barrier of you know,
I need to learn how to exertmyself better, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So the way that I like to talk about it is to
compare it to if you are goingto start running.
Okay, so if you were like, I'mgoing to take up running, I'm
going to run around my block,I'm going to do that three days
a week, and you start that andthe first days, that one time
around the block is going tofeel really hard, and then the
(08:52):
next time it'll feel a littlebit easier and over the weeks
it's going to feel easier.
Well, nobody is going tocontinue to run just around that
one block at exactly the samespeed for like months and years
on end, right, because it'sgoing to get easier and they're
going to be like okay, well, Icould run this, maybe a little
faster, or maybe I can go oneand a quarter times around the
(09:12):
block, or maybe I'll go twicearound the block.
So somehow, naturally, whenyou're doing something like
running, you start toprogressively overload.
So all it means is that whenyou get to a certain level, you
continue to push yourself, youknow, challenge yourself a
little bit more and a little bitmore, and with weights, in a
(09:33):
way, the fact that you have topick up a different weight that
has a different number on itmaybe makes that a little bit
more intimidating.
But I think the tool thatreally helps you to make that
happen is that you track, and soyou have your exercises and you
like.
Well, I, for example, have aspreadsheet that I give away for
(09:56):
free that people can track.
So maybe that's a good way forpeople to think about it right
now is that you know, I go todayand I've got my five pound
weight and I aim to do eight to12 reps of my bicep curls.
Maybe I can do eight of themtoday.
Eight, you know, three times,do three sets of them.
(10:17):
So next time I go in, I pick upthat same weight and I aim to
do nine, you know, in each of mysets, and maybe I'm able to do
that on one of my sets, maybeI'm able to do it on all three
of them.
But in any case, each time Itry to do just a little bit more
and you will be able to do alittle bit more over time,
(10:39):
because you are getting strongerover time.
Now in the beginning, you knowyou're going to notice
significant improvements, somaybe you'll go for all eight
reps in each of the sets thefirst time you go in, then the
next time maybe you're alreadyat nine, and then 10 and 11, 12.
And then when you hit the topof your rep range and you're
(11:00):
able to do that with good form,then you pick up the next weight
up, and you don't want it to bea huge leap.
Sometimes, unfortunately,weight rooms have only huge
leaps and then that poses somechallenges.
But the idea is that when youhit the top of your rep range,
then you pick up a little bitheavier weight and that way
(11:21):
you're doing the same kind ofthing as you were doing with
your jogging, in that you'reincreasing how far you go or how
fast you go, and both of thoseare challenging your body a
little bit more.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
But, lynn, I'm you know.
I noticed all these women alignthat weight lift.
They look really bulky and Ireally don't want to look like a
man.
So why am I going to go pick upweights?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah.
So I, I mean I I have to saylike most, most, um, I think
fitness coaches will say youwon't get bulky.
But I know that if I look atthose girls, you know,
especially these younger girlswho are like, really want to get
their glutes, you know to, bro,I mean, if you look at their
(12:03):
before and after pictures, onecould define that as being
bulkier, because there is a lotmore glute on their body and
their legs are much bigger andthat's probably not the
aesthetic that we Gen X womenare so much after.
You know, we grew up withPolina Porskova and and Christie
Brinkley and these kinds ofideals of the female physique
(12:27):
and I don't want that either.
But the thing is that thattakes an enormous amount of
effort, time and and, like you,you really have to have that
goal to do that.
And even I, who am liftingheavy consistently and I've been
doing so, for I'm now on yearfour, five, and I have not
(12:53):
managed to grow those kinds ofhuge glutes.
So it's not like you're goingto walk in one day, or even if
you strength train for a half ayear, that all of a sudden it's
going to be like you're going tolook like Arnold Schwarzenegger
(13:14):
or something.
It comes so gradually.
And if you are worried about it,then my best advice is to take
regular kind of progress videosof yourself.
And the reason I say video isbecause a picture is just like
one angle and the lighting andeverything can affect things so
much.
But if you take a video of youdoing like the same thing, like
you know, I set up my camera ona wall and then I back up, I
(13:39):
stand face on, I flex face on, Iturn to the side, you know.
So I actually see really,actually what my body looks like
.
And if you do that regularlyand you see your, your progress
video and you think, oh, mygoodness, I'm really starting to
look too muscular, then youjust ease up, you know, you go
more into a maintenance mode.
(14:00):
You don't progress so hard.
Maybe you train less frequently.
You know that kind of thing toto not, you know, because there
are some people who are going tobe these unicorns who develop
muscle very nicely.
But the other thing I would sayis that if you have fat on your
body, that is generally if youget rid of that, you know, then
(14:23):
that muscle underneath it looksamazing, you know.
It gives you that wonderfulshape that most women are after.
So usually the bulky thing isreally something you can get rid
of by doing a little bit ofcalorie deficit, losing a little
bit of fat from your body, andthen you'll be like wow, yeah, I
(14:43):
mean, if the aesthetic is yourmain concern there.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, but Lynn, you know I'm weightlifting.
I'm doing that in my scale.
Weight's not going down.
I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, well, yeah, scale weight is really not a
good indicator, because muscleis denser than fat.
So, for example, when I startedstrength training, I was at a
level where my weight actuallystayed exactly the same and I
had done a body scan, an in-bodyscan to figure out my body
(15:16):
composition when I started.
And then I started taking scansevery three months and my weight
stayed the same, but my fatlevels went down, my muscle went
up and my body looked different.
So the scale is like, I think,a one piece of data, which is
sometimes useful, um, but it'snot the only thing.
(15:38):
That's why I think one piece ofdata, which is sometimes useful
, but it's not the only thing.
That's why I think the progresspictures and measurements and
maybe you know, most women havelike a pair of jeans that
they've had for a long time andthen you know when you slip
those on how they fit you issome kind of indicator of like
am I a little bit feelingheavier now or, like you know,
(15:59):
thinner now than I was before?
Of course, those jeans will fityou differently.
So, because if you get moremuscle on your booty, for
example, they're they're goingto be a little bit tighter
around, you know the hip area,but anyway, yeah.
So don't use just the scale tomeasure.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I love that.
Obviously, those are commonmisconceptions and you explained
them perfectly, so I love that.
But I think the importantquestion is we understand that
strength training is important,with menopause and everything,
but why?
So what does menopause andperimenopause do to help justify
women's strength training more?
What's going on internally?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, so this, so this is a big one because, um, I
think most of us, and for sureme, I went through menopause not
really realizing what is goingon in my body.
I thought, okay, I'm just notgetting my periods anymore, I
can't have kids, you know.
So you know.
But actually the fact thatestrogen, you know, in
perimenopause, but actually thefact that estrogen, you know, in
(16:57):
perimenopause your estrogenlevels are bouncing all over the
place and then when you hitmenopause they flatline, and
estrogen is a hormone which hasbeen doing so many wonderful
caretaking things for your body.
So estrogen has been keepingyour bones stronger.
(17:20):
So estrogen has been keepingyour bones stronger.
In fact, in the five-ish yearsaround menopause, the rate of
bone density decrease increasesby tenfold.
That was an awkward way ofsaying it, but the rate at which
your bone density decreaseslike speeds up a ton.
Okay.
So, and that's because estrogendisappears.
(17:41):
Your muscles have been takencare of by your estrogen.
Your grip, your ability tocontract your muscles is weaker.
Once estrogen leaves thebuilding your joints, you may
notice more soreness, becauseyour tendons and your ligaments
have actually been kept in goodshape by estrogen.
(18:02):
So it's actually doing thingsto all kinds of areas of your
body, like actually to yourwhole body, including your brain
, the estrogen and when itleaves, it leaves this kind of
gap, and the wonderful thingabout strength training is that
it fills in for a lot of thisgap.
(18:23):
So when you strength train,obviously you're building back
your strength and your muscle,your ability to actually
contract your muscles, so likegetting the lid off the jar.
Like getting the lid off thejar, that kind of thing your,
your ligaments and your tendonsstart to get stronger again from
(18:45):
that, from the fact that youare kind of pulling on them more
, from doing the weight trainingand and so it really.
It is a way of bringing yourbody back kind of to the
condition it was before it lostthe estrogen, and so for that
reason it is.
Some people call it anti-aging,and I do agree.
(19:07):
I mean, I have felt so muchyounger in my body and I think
that's one of the things that alot of women love.
They feel more like themselveswhen they've started strength
training and built some muscle,not only because they again look
more defined and everything,but because their body functions
the way that it used to, youknow, when they were younger and
(19:30):
they were doing stuff, they'renot so achy and all that.
So, yeah, really important atthis point.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, it's a lot of changes to the female body,
right, it's the biggest reasonyou mentioned with bone density,
that women are more likely toexperience osteoporosis and
osteopenia, which is bonedensity loss to kind of an
extreme standpoint, and musclehas been shown to preserve your
bone density.
So building muscle, therefore,will help decrease the
(19:58):
probability that they end upwith osteopenia or osteoporosis.
But I think what the mostinteresting fact is is that your
hormones as women are all outof whack.
Right Levels up down day andeverything is and everything is.
(20:23):
So the point I was trying tomake is, when you're looking at
something like perimenopause,you need to look more about what
you're doing in a day-to-day,and you talked really well about
the physical activity, strengthtraining part of it.
But the flip side of that is wecan control our hormones through
the food we eat and, with thatbeing said, I feel like a lot of
middle-aged women and you cankind of express this a little
(20:44):
more are afraid to eat meat, andmeat is the biggest component
to help hormone regulation.
Why?
Because it's high in fat andit's high in protein, two things
that your body uses to helpregulate hormones, and you don't
see women reaching for thatbecause they're afraid, yet
again, to eat a lot of fats andeat a lot of proteins, for
(21:04):
whatever X, y, z reason thatthey're made to believe.
So why do you think that's thecase?
And then how do you talk tosomebody to get them to start
eating more animal basedproducts?
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, yeah, so this is protein is a big topic.
Yeah, yeah, so this is proteinis a big topic.
I'm glad you brought that upand and it is something that,
yeah, I think one, yes.
So where do I want to unpackthis from?
I think, like in my own journey, it started with the focus on
looking better right.
Then I start learning aboutstrength training and I and the
(21:37):
reason I've like my why forcontinuing has been all the
health and aging benefits thatthere are.
But when you want to supportgrowing muscle and maintaining
muscle, then protein is reallyimportant to have on board every
single day and really it's aminimum of 100 grams a day that
(22:00):
you eat protein, and somebenefits of it are include that
it does make it easier for youto manage your hunger and
satiety.
So I have really noticed thatbefore you know, I could eat
something, and it still happensto me.
If I don't eat enough proteinin a meal, I'll eat and then I
(22:23):
feel like you know, like I couldeat a little bit more.
You know you just keep goingbecause you haven't fulfilled
some kind of basic need in yourbody, and when I eat enough
protein in a meal, then I don'thave that problem.
So I'm able to control myeating or control but you know,
regulate, not go haywire with myeating a little bit better.
(22:47):
And and I know a lot of womenare also trying to lose weight
they're the ones who are on theshots and dieting.
In general, then, eatingprotein is very important for
helping your body to maintainthe muscle.
So, yeah, it's, it's a toughsell in a way.
(23:08):
You know they have tounderstand the reasons, because
a lot of women are just used toeating, you know salad or you
know vegetables or whatever.
It is nuts, nuts.
But yeah, we got to get in waymore of the protein and it does
take a concerted effort andplanning a little bit ahead of
time.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Yeah, I mean we've mentioned protein, but what
about fats?
I mean fats learning that it'sone of the most important
macronutrients.
When it does come from satiety,right, it's the most orcly
dense.
On top of that, it's known tostrictly help regulate hormones.
So how do we convince ageneration and your generation
(23:52):
was the tipping point of it ofeverything being low fat?
How do you reconvince people tostart getting back to eating
fattier foods?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, I think it's really about education, and you
know well.
So I I don't coach, I'm not anutrition coach, but I do teach
women that they should be eatingmore protein, and I do also
have like a small dieting minicourse, and and the thing that
(24:27):
I'll say about that is that whatit does is it teaches like a
system of tracking your eatingso that you can really
understand what you're puttingin your body.
I think, even if you were notactually trying to lose weight,
I think it is very educationalto spend two weeks weighing
(24:49):
absolutely everything, trackingabsolutely everything, and look
at what your macros are and see,you know that you are getting
enough protein and then that youare getting fats and
carbohydrates, cause, like yousaid, your body needs both.
There are also women who arelike, oh, I can't eat carbs.
I mean, you know, I I do agreethat some people feel better
(25:11):
when they eat more of one or theother, and that you know we're
all different and and I knowthat for myself, on days when I
do cardio, I feel like I wantmore carbs.
So so there are, there areindividual differences, but you
need everything.
Like humans were made to eatall three of the macronutrients
(25:32):
and not not just two yeah or oneyeah.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Totally agree.
I mean, I get on the meatbandwagon only strictly because
it's heavily the one productthat a lot of women don't eat
right or just don't eat enoughof it Like men.
You see the problems less withmen.
You see it more with women.
On that, men have all sorts ofother issues, but just
specifically that one, justknowing working directly, I mean
(26:00):
, even when you're looking atcreatine, which is only found in
red meat, right, the benefitsof that, with menopause
especially recently coming outin studies and how it helps.
That in and of itself helpsregulate hormones.
That in and of itself helpsincrease bone density.
That in and of itself hasdecreased the chances of you
getting dementia.
But the avoidance of somethingaltogether is helping escalate a
(26:25):
whole bunch of issues inside ofit.
And I said not really you don'twant to put the nutrition side,
which is fine, but I just thinkit's so interesting to know that
you need to, like you said,focus on all three
macronutrients.
So the flip side of this is,why do you think a lot of people
, just in general especially ifwe just stick on just
middle-aged women reach forGLP-1s?
(26:45):
So why are they going forZempik, for Zepound I don't
remember all of them, but whyare you seeing such a high
increase of usage of these asopposed to strength training and
nutrition?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
I know and yeah, I mean this is actually really
interesting.
I just just had last weekend aconversation with my girlfriends
around this topic, so theGLP-1s are not so prevalent yet
here.
I mean, I've been watchingwhat's been going on in the
States, but I think speaking towomen who are considering taking
(27:27):
it, talking about their friendswho take it and whatever it
just offered a lot of insightand I think, well, what I saw in
the discussion last weekend wasA like had not even actually
tried to be systematic and lookat what she's eating and, you
know, regulate it that way.
(27:48):
It was just like, oh, I've beenoverweight for a long time, now
I'm pre-diabetic, so I shouldtake the GLP ones.
And, and the thing that's a bitscary is that if you're not on
them forever, then you're justgoing to end up in the same
problem when you get off Right,because you haven't changed,
like, your understanding of howyou should be eating and, and I
(28:10):
think that is such a criticalpiece.
The other thing that I think wasreally alarming in the
conversations was one woman whohad taken them and lost a lot of
weight and now she stoppedexercising altogether, because
she used to exercise, at leastdo cardio.
She never strength trained, butshe did cardio so that she
(28:30):
wouldn't be fat.
But now she doesn't need tobecause she's skinny, because
she takes the shot, and I wasthinking, oh my God, you know
that's so awful for her health,right, and then she's not
strength training while she's,you know, using the drugs.
It's like she is going tosuffer for that, you know, in
(28:50):
the long term.
So that was really really scary, that you know, in the long
term.
So that was really really scary.
I do think they have a place.
I know that, you know somepeople really really have a hard
time with the food, noise andthis kind of thing.
So I don't want to say thatnobody should ever take it, but
I would really hope that beforeyou make that decision, that you
(29:12):
do kind of the hard work ofspending two weeks of tracking
everything that you eat andlearning from that and seeing if
you can make some lifestylechanges, because I really think,
like, long-term, that is goingto serve you better than that
and at least if you go on them,then you can at the same time,
work on better eating habits.
(29:34):
And then, of course course,start the strength training.
Yay, because you want to holdon to your muscle.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
So I'm going to ask you a hard question Do you think
that people shouldn't take DOPones?
Do you think that's somethingthat people should grow and grab
and try and do?
Or do you think it's okay forpeople to jump onto the bag
wagon of taking them and usingthem?
(30:00):
Is the cure worse than thedisease?
So is taking them ultimatelygoing to make them worse off
than if they just haven't takenthem at all?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
So I don't know and I don't think anybody really
knows.
You know, what are thelong-term health consequences
just of taking those?
And?
And what I see on social mediaand it is kind of alarming, is
these super fit, you know 50 ish, uh, midlife women who have
(30:32):
huge audiences and they lookamazing.
Right, they've been strengthtraining, they have everything
on point, and then they're like,oh, but now I'm going to start
taking these microdosing thingsbecause I have inflammation or
whatever.
And actually they areaffiliates for these companies
selling the microdosing and andI feel like that's so much
(30:57):
preying on, you know, women whomay have an issue of feeling
like, oh, if I just lost anotherfive pounds, my life would be
amazing.
And you know the the just soexternal appearance focused
world and trying to be smaller,when we were just kind of
(31:20):
getting to the point wherepeople are talking about being
stronger instead of smaller.
So so that's where I see thisconversation going kind of in a
scary direction.
And I because, because I feellike when women strength train,
what I've noticed in my clientswhen they start strength
training, they start because Iwant to be more toned.
(31:42):
You know, that kind of thing isalways like I don't think
there's anybody.
Well, okay, there are few whocome in and they're like I have
osteoporosis, I need you knowthat's their main driver.
But everybody wants to get tonedright.
I mean who doesn't?
But when they've been doing itfor a while, they love how it
(32:03):
makes them feel that they'rethey're feeling powerful, they
can lift heavy stuff.
I mean it's likepsychologically pretty amazing
to push your body and and see itbe able to do more and more,
you know, than before, and seeit be able to do more and more
than before.
And I'd rather they feel pridein their bodies for what their
bodies can do rather than forthe fact that, oh, I could lose
(32:25):
another two pounds and my bodyfat percentage is lower.
So, yeah, I think it's such ahard situation.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yeah, like I said, it's a tough question.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
It is.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
You mentioned previously.
In the States it's veryprevalent maybe not so much in
Finland, but here it's.
Everyone knows someone, it'sacross the board.
You're like where I am it's.
I know countless people linesout the door spending thousands
of dollars to get it becauseinsurance won't cover it.
So it's scary.
I mean, one of the biggestthings you mentioned pre-show
not pre-show, but earlier in theshow was how menopause causes
(33:05):
bone density issues.
Right, and the reason it causesbone density is because you're
stripping away muscle tissue, asyour body naturally goes to
menopause, which is what youmentioned.
Take the same example forstarvation.
If I starve myself, my body'sgoing to lose weight, but I'm
going to lose the sameproportion of fat and muscle.
(33:25):
So I might weigh less on ascale, but my body fat
percentage overall is going tostay exactly the same.
But now I have less muscletissue and therefore I'm burning
at a lower metabolic rate andtherefore when I start eating
again, I'm going to gain weightback a lot quicker because I
burned through all my muscletissue and I'm starving myself.
That is exactly true forbariatric surgery.
(33:46):
All bariatric surgery patientsthat lose a hundred pounds lose
the same proportion of fat tomuscle and that's why it's so
much harder for them to keep theweight off Because, like you
said, they haven't fixed theunderlying issues of the habits,
but now they're burning atlower metabolic rates and
therefore, when they starteating again, they gain all the
weight back quicker.
That's same true.
(34:07):
If you catch where I'm goingwith this is with GLP-1s.
They strip your body of thesame proportion of fat and
muscle and then, in the samecycle, you double that with
menopause.
You're going to see womengetting diagnosed with
osteopenia and osteoporosis atan alarming high rate.
(34:28):
And that's just one of the manyissues that is going to happen
with this drug, because, one, noone fixed the underlying issue.
Two, now you're stripping awaymuscle tissue.
So what's worse, right?
Is it worse to be 50, 60 poundsheavier or is it worse to be
skin and bones with no muscleand being super frail?
(34:49):
And that's a really toughquestion because I don't think
no one really knows the answerto that.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
a really tough question because I don't think
no one really knows the answerto that.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Yeah, I guess I guess the well, if it's an extreme
amount of overweight that one isthen losing the weight is very
beneficial.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Well, if it's like, I guess like 50 to a hundred
pounds.
I mean it hard.
You know it depends on how tallyou are and what your
biological markers.
If the doctor has said that youare pre-diabetic, it might be
that it happens even sooner on adiet or on the shots always,
(35:34):
always, will eat protein andstrength train and proper
strength training.
I'm not talking about going tothe body pump classes.
You get a strength trainingprogram and you apply
progressive overload and youdon't need to start living in
the gym.
In fact, you don't even need togo to a gym.
You can do it at home and twicea week.
If you have a good programthat'll hit all the muscles in
(35:57):
your body a couple times a weekis sufficient.
So you know what I would liketo see.
You know, I feel like when I wasgrowing up you're younger than
I am, I think, but when I wasgrowing up it was all I remember
.
The toothpaste commercials werelike you should be brushing
your teeth, because when you'reolder you don't want to be
(36:17):
wearing dentures, right?
So it was very much education.
Nowadays nobody questions thatyou should be brushing your
teeth.
So all the toothbrush I meantoothpaste commercials are like
you need fresh breath.
You need whiter teeth.
You know that's kind of thing,and I feel like I want strength
training to become so much aobvious everybody absolutely has
(36:39):
to do it that it's likebrushing teeth.
You know, by the time yourdaughter and my daughter already
by the time my daughter hitsmenopause, she's 19.
So, yeah, and I think that isthe level that we need to get to
.
You don't need to love it, itdoesn't need to be anything
fancy, but you do it because youwant your body to function when
(37:04):
you are older, just like wewant to hold on to our teeth.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Yeah, that's a great way to put it, linda.
Is there anything else, andspecifically menopause, you
think is important for women tounderstand?
Speaker 2 (37:16):
before we wrap this up, I think one thing that we
haven't touched on really iskind of recovery and the fact
that there is I have noticed itmyself and I have noticed in
other women like a shift in ourbody's ability to recover, and I
(37:37):
think that's part of theequation to look at.
Also, when you you know if, ifyou're a woman listening to this
and you've been working out alot seven days a week, maybe
even twice a day on some days,and then you suddenly realize,
oh, I'm like feeling reallydragged down, that is natural.
You know, this is that part oflife and doing less is not
(38:01):
necessarily going to get youless results.
I mean, I used to train prettymuch seven days a week.
I would strength train and runand you know, or do my fitness
classes, maybe two in a row andall this kind of thing, and
nowadays I lift four days a weekand then I do cardio one or two
(38:21):
days and it might be a20-minute session and I'm like,
yeah, in just as good a shape.
So just watch how much you canrecover from and think about
modifying your exerciseaccordingly so that you work
(38:41):
with your body rather than likebeating yourself up.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Yeah, the same goes true.
When you start, people alwaystend to jump headfirst into
things.
I'm going to work out sevendays a week for three hours a
day, just like an extremeexample, and the way you said is
totally accurate.
You don't need to do that.
You don't want to shock yourbody, you don't want to not be
able to get off of the toiletbowl because you squat up for
the first time too many times.
So we've all been there, whichis why it's funny when you don't
(39:06):
understand weight training andit's just an understanding of
slow and steady wins the racebut still adding in the
progressive overload.
Just go three, four times aweek, even if it's a half an
hour, 45 minutes.
If you're really lost, get acoach.
I think that's something that'speople just don't look up to.
But you can really find peoplelike you or like I that really
understands how the body worksand just do what's right for you
(39:29):
at the end of the day, butdon't do nothing.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
I think that's the moral of this, don't do nothing
and it really does make adifference.
I mean, I just think about somany of my clients who live
twice a week and after even 10weeks of just following a
consistent program and applyingthe progressive overload, they
notice difference.
It's not like they've had thishuge transformation like you
(39:53):
would have if you went on a dietfor that amount of time,
because that's more visuallynoticeable, but they notice that
they can pick up heavy things,their posture's gotten a little
better and they may notice eventhat hey, now you know I want to
wear that tank top and notcover up my arms like I did, you
know, a couple months ago.
(40:13):
So yeah, it really like, butyou need to start right.
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Couldn't agree more, lynn, so I'm going to ask the
final two questions.
I ask everybody.
The first one is if you were tosummarize this episode in one
or two sentences, what would beyour take home message?
Speaker 2 (40:30):
So my take home message is that strength
training in midlife should be asobvious a thing to do as
brushing your teeth every day.
You don't have to strengthtrain every day, twice a week is
enough, but it should be soclear that you have to do it.
It wouldn't even come, you know, you wouldn't even think of not
doing it.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Make strength training at least twice a week,
just like brushing your teeth.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Love that.
And then the second one how canpeople find you, get a hold of
you and learn more?
Speaker 2 (40:59):
So on my website, wwwbefitafter40.com, and from
there I'm also on Instagram.
But my links are all on mywebsite and I have a Learn to
Lift program all on my website.
And I have a learn to liftprogram.
(41:19):
It's 10 weeks long and teachesyou everything you need to know
to get started.
You can do it at home or thegym and two, three or four days
a week.
So really like I try to make itlike really lower the barrier
for women to get started.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
I love it, boom.
Thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you, guys, for listeningto this week's episode of Public
Fitness Redefined.
Don't forget, hit thatsubscribe button and join us
next week as we dive deeper intothis ever-changing field.
And remember fitness ismedicine.
Thank you, outro Music.
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