The many menopause do’s and don’ts

I wanted to write about this topic for quite a while. It might not resonate with you right now, but hopefully, it will be thought-provoking moving forward and even help when it comes to both critical thinking and ‘return on investment’ relating to what one person might highlight as what you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to your health. It might also help if you sometimes doubt everything you have been doing, having heard conflicting information. Articles I write within Caroline’s Corner and the context in which I am writing generally contain little to no references; however, this article will contain many references should you wish to read further, as I feel it is important due to the topic of this article. Sometimes, with social media, we might not be aware of the wider research out there! This is a longer article, but I think it is an important one. I have included references to the studies below if you want to read more. However, there are many more studies I could’ve included.

But what’s with the image of the pink dumbbells as the thumbnail? Don’t worry, I’ll provide context later in the article!

Firstly, let me say that I am so thankful that women’s health topics are discussed not only across the globe on many platforms but also on a personal level; when my mother was experiencing hormonal changes in her 40s and 50s, she never discussed this with anyone, she did suffer many symptoms, and it impacted her in many ways, not just physically but also mentally; but she did not know that the symptoms were a result of the menopause transition. Fortunately, in recent years, this discussion has exploded online, which, needless to say, could have helped my mother in many ways, particularly emotionally, knowing she wasn’t alone.

However, as the discussion has only continued to grow, we now see supplements, workouts, meal plans, and even diets all marketed toward helping women during this period, which is also one of the most popular topics on podcasts.

And this is where the confusion comes:

These are just some of the questions I have received via email and within the community. And this is no exaggeration; with some exploration, I can usually find a recent podcast somewhere that has many views that have likely instigated these questions. And it is completely understandable!

The truth is, there is a study (or multiple), a person online, a podcast or within pages of a book prescribing certain protocols that will inform me that I am doing EVERYTHING wrong…the time I eat my first meal, the time I eat my last meal, the composition of my meals, the time I go to sleep, I consume dairy, I consume coffee first thing, the training split I follow or lack of, the amount of rest I take between my sets, my tempo, my rep ranges, the fact I don’t track my calories or my training volume and even that a barbell should be used instead of dumbbells…and this is just a few examples. But often, these protocols are based on mechanistic data, or even based on logic principles, data based on averages or a demographic of people who are sedentary, for example.

It is impossible for every person to optimise every aspect of their lifestyle, and I find the constant ‘telling off’ and generic prescriptions we all should follow because we fall into a certain box, such as sex, age, etc., very frustrating. In fact, I find it sometimes very demotivating and sad as I know that ‘less sexy’ messaging isn’t as interesting…I also find some content quite derogatory to myself as a woman who recognises she doesn’t just ‘fit into a box’ and we all are so different! Ironically, there is less research on active women compared to men, yet there are very specific protocols being prescribed to all women without sufficient context or clear communication of hierarchy or who is the intended audience…not all of us women are the same!

Could you please create a workout program specifically for menopause?

This request has been made multiple times, and I have to be honest; I just don’t see how I would possibly be able to suggest that if you are peri/menopausal, you should automatically be entered into a ‘box’ and recommended specifics solely based on this. A suggestion to perform a shoulder press differently? No jumping? Or jumping? More rest? Shorter workouts? Reps all under 5? I have yet to see any evidence that women, no matter their age or circumstances, should be informed that they need to strength training specifically differently. Yes, of course, we all will likely do it differently anyway (such as the weights we use, the days we train, how often, other activities, how we recover etc.), but I think to suggest that a certain demographic of women needs to do such specific protocols, and not do others, is simply putting up more barriers to entry. For example, I cannot find any research suggesting that ALL women over 40 should reduce their workout duration when it comes to lifting.

There appears to be a recent narrative suggesting that as females, once we reach mid-life, we should adhere to specifically and only lifting ‘heavy’ loads (which is a FANTASTIC message), but anything above 6 reps is not worth our time. I tend to perform my isolations with higher reps, so does that mean I shouldn’t perform isolation exercises? What about if we have an aesthetic goal, as this is completely viable and can lead to many other benefits? What about training at home, as most of us don’t have the suitable flooring or weights to accommodate a load in which six reps suffice? What about the fact that training specifically for strength is a skill that often requires specific sessions solely for practising at a lower intensity? What about mobility limitations?

I mentioned isolation exercises above, and this is where the pink dumbbells are relevant! There can be quite a derogatory language relating to 20 reps and pink dumbbells…of which I do understand perhaps the context intended: a message that women should be lifting heavier weights, which I think everyone will agree with. However, I had pink dumbbells, which were 7kg each…this was what I used for some women when they first started performing dumbbell chest press and even the first time they applied load to lunges…so perhaps this is a reminder that context matters.There is absolutely zero incorrect about lifting a weight for 20 reps as it depend on the context. The same applies when we hear women shouldn’t do any HIIT or any lifting session that doesn’t have sufficient rest…but again, context matters! I love a circuit with minimal rest, particularly if it is alternating the back to chest, shoulders to legs or even burpees into squats…it is simply not true that women over 40 should avoid a certain programming format. Even in my 30s, bringing up 2 children and being self-employed, there were many times I simply didn’t do a lot of HIIT. But to say all women over 40 should not be doing it is simply not true. Again, do what you enjoy, recover from and based around your goals.

It was once thought that there were specific outcomes related specifically to certain rep ranges, as below:

Redrawn from: Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel). 2021 Feb 22;9(2):32. doi: 10.3390/sports9020032. PMID: 33671664; PMCID: PMC7927075 (4)

So, have I been gaining no strength?

As research has grown, it has suggested this repetition continuum appears more on a spectrum…yet there is still no definitive research to conclude either way. This doesn’t take away from the fact that specificity matters, and if we want to be ‘as strong as possible’ and be able to demonstrate this, we likely want to spend as much time as we can in the lower rep range and if wanting to improve our muscular endurance, higher reps; but it doesn’t appear quite so black and white if we are recreational lifters who want to improve their strength, endurance and muscle mass for our metabolic health, the ease in which we can move and the benefits for our overall mood and outlook. The principle of specificity is so that if my outcome was to demonstrate strength, my training would closely replicate the intended outcome, therefore heavy lifting. If I wanted to test and improve my one rep max, training with heavier loads would be a prerequisite. And this pertains to running a marathon as fast as possible, for example…I would want to train similarly to what would be measured on that day. This is important as psychological factors are likely involved in me becoming acclimatised to exert that maximal effort.

If we lift to 9 reps, do we suddenly forgo potential strength gains? If we lift 16 reps, do we suddenly have no potential muscle growth and zero strength?

A 2016 study involving men with experience in resistance training (not to be discounted to applying to women as the mechanisms are the same), performed unilateral training with high or low loads concluded:

‘Thus lifting heavier and lighter loads should not be mutually exclusive in terms of promoting RT adaptations, but as training “zones” that could easily be used in RT programs without the expectation that strength or muscle mass gains would be significantly compromised, though we acknowledge that training paradigms should be tailored to the individual's goals and preferences’ (1)

This has been replicated in other studies, including a 2014 study involving females, where the participants performed unilateral exercises (leg extension) with high and low intensities where they concluded, ‘Both training programs induced significant yet comparable increases in muscle size and strength. Conclusions: Training at lower than commonly suggested intensities may be an equally effective alternative form of RT’ (2)

A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis involving 21 studies looking at strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low and high loads concluded:

‘Given the robust increases from low-load training on measures of isotonic and isometric maximal strength, and the similar changes in muscle hypertrophy when compared with heavy loading, there is significant flexibility in the loading ranges that can be prescribed to promote muscular strength and mass. Emerging evidence indicating fiber type– specific adaptations from training with high vs. low loads suggests a potential benefit to training across a spectrum of loading zones when maximizing muscle hypertrophy is the primary goal’ (3)

Following this meta-analysis, a further reassessment of the Repetition Continuum theory (4), that suggests that heavy load training optimises increases in maximal strength, moderate load training optimises increases muscle hypertrophy, and low-load training optimises increases local muscular endurance concluded:

‘Based on the emerging evidence, we propose a new paradigm whereby muscular adaptations can be obtained, and in some cases optimized, across a wide spectrum of loading zones’

and such a new loading paradigm for exercise prescription as represented below (4):

Redrawn from: Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel). 2021 Feb 22;9(2):32. doi: 10.3390/sports9020032. PMID: 33671664; PMCID: PMC7927075 (4)

If you draw your attention to the writing under ‘strength’ as above, it indicates that strength advantages are present when movements are performed with higher loads, then subsequently tested, compared to lighter loads, and then tested with high loads. This makes complete sense; if I wanted to get better at a three-rep back squat, I would practise a 3-6 rep back squat. However, it also states that whether training is high or low on certain exercises when tested for strength on a different exercise, there is the minimal difference whether you trained high or lower loads. This also highlights how familiarising an exercise and specificity is important for strength-specific outcomes.

Notice also there is no definitive research showing that a certain load is specific for a certain fibre type being recruited…I touch more on this below.

When we consider loading to fibre type specifics, this is also not black or white, and the literature remains equivocal, as concluded in this 2018 (5) article;

‘While some evidence indicates that low-load RT (Resistance Training), when carried out to muscle failure, may induce a greater hypertrophic response in type I muscle fibers compared to high-load RT and that high-load RT may induce preferential growth of type II muscle fibers, the body of literature remains somewhat equivocal on the topic. In summary, there currently is not enough evidence to make a firm conclusion regarding changes that occur at the muscle fiber level with different loading schemes’.

In 2020, a meta-analysis of available research on the effects of low-versus high-load resistance training on muscle fibres concluded,

‘This review did not find significant differences between low-load vs. high-load resistance training on hypertrophy of type I or type II muscle fibers. Therefore, the main finding of this review is that when resistance training is performed to muscular failure, there is not enough available data to conclude that high-load or low-load outperforms the other regarding their effects on type I or type II muscle fiber hypertrophy’. (58)

Following this, a 2023 systematic review looking atfibre type-specific hypertrophy highlighted how lighter loads have been shown to promote substantial type II fibre recruitment, provided that sets are carried out near muscle failure (59)

As you can see, it isn’t black or white…one outcome solely! Hopefully, if anything, this provides a wider gauge on the research as it currently stands, as it might appear very black or white (high loads for fast-twitch fibres and low loads for slow twitch), but the research is suggesting it isn’t as clear cut. The 2020 meta-analysis referenced above suggested that similar recruitment of motor units from lower and higher loads may, over time, result in comparable growth of muscle fibres and that more research is needed. It might appear that power, strength, hypertrophy, and muscular endurance are like light switches (either on or off)…but in reality, they could be considered dimmers; we can adjust their brightness without needing to turn them off. It might be useful for us to stop thinking about the repetition continuum as definitive, where a training variable has a specific range to be adhered to. Every load has the potential to contribute to both strength and hypertrophy when sufficient intensity is applied. And I don’t think we should suddenly feel like we are doing it all wrong if we don’t lift under a certain rep number.

I have been aware of this research for many years and, therefore, do not doubt my training, particularly when I hear people suggest to women that we should adhere to how they interpret the research or their knowledge and extrapolation from mechanistic data. And just when we have been seeing more and more women lifting weights…BOOM! We have been wasting our efforts if we lift 12 reps based on mechanisms within the body specific to women. I disagree with the confidence with which this is discussed and stressed towards women as it is not definitive.

Some of us might feel completely ‘done’ or even experience aggravation to our joints after a few sets of 3-5 reps, whereas some of us might detest the higher reps, the acidosis that often comes along for the ride, metabolically may feel too much, experience higher DOMs and even aggravation to our joints with the higher reps! We all have our preferences but shouldn’t feel like we are doing it all wrong, especially when the research isn’t clear-cut.

It is important for both women and men to work to build and maintain strength, muscle, power, and endurance, but this can be achieved in many ways and to different degrees.If everyone in the world just started, we would see incredible health benefits! And momentum follows motion, so let’s spread the message! In reality, many of us lack confidence with external loads, mobility (we want to avoid adding weight to dysfunctional movement), lack passion for lifting lower reps, or even access to training facilities and equipment for all the recommendations we hear we need to follow! Some form of evidence can support every recommendation, but when it comes to reality, it isn’t always optimum for us.

To reiterate, a recent 2024 analysis of 44 individual systematic reviews has shown that any form of resistance training promotes both strength and gains in muscle mass compared to no exercise (6). So the message here is to think about what you enjoy that will encourage consistency!

I wish the health and fitness industry would encourage movement in all its forms while still encouraging everyone to try to add some form of resistance training for our strength and muscle mass. If certain protocols are better than others, it should be highlighted that they are perhaps directed more towards endurance athletes, those who want to be as strong as they possibly can be, or at least put into context with the hierarchy of importance being stressed. I feel there is mixed messaging…is this for recreational lifters or a professional athlete? When I have delved into research papers relating to outcomes and the premise of these protocols, I have noticed that they tend to be in endurance athletes. There is no disputing that we should all be trying to get stronger, but the suggestion that 10 reps is a ‘waste of time’ regarding building strength is not supported in the research. And is hearing about how to optimise your VO2 max, the need to be ‘as strong as you possibly can be’ and rigid timings & quantities of macronutrients as blanket statements for all us women to incorporate around training helping those of us who aren’t professional athletes? Or can it just make us feel we can do no right?

What is defined as an athlete?

Athlete;

Noun

A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.

Perhaps you are an athlete? I suppose I could be classed as an athlete (based on the definition, almost everyone who does some type of physical activity can be considered an athlete)…but there is a difference between myself and a woman whose primary focus is performance. Exercise certainly ADDS to my life, but it ISN’T MY LIFE. I want to perform well in daily life and as I age. It is also important to acknowledge that optimum performance requires specificity…there are many ways in which I don’t apply specificity to produce one outcome. Therefore, when protocols and recommendations are proposed for female athletes, I may take inspiration, but I don’t feel the need to follow them to a tee. My hierarchy of importance is very different to that of a female endurance runner or someone training solely for strength. I make my training fit in with my life…I don’t build my life around my training.

Hearing that women over 40 need to aim not to lift anywhere over five reps reminds me of when I started lifting and was criticised for lifting over 12 reps, as this was considered by many not to be conducive to muscle growth. However, I knew what I enjoyed and that I would be consistent with it, and the research was not as definitive as culturally discussed. It appears that, often, what is overlooked when someone who is highly educated in a certain area of research provides recommendations to millions of listeners is that they forgo the important message that, for the majority of people, the specifics are not as important and that we don’t need to be ‘optimising’ every area of our life (which we simply can’t); we can make incredible improvements to many areas of our health by simply starting and from there, we can build our own path using the fundamentals to help guide us in the right direction. But then again, that would not provide as much hype or listens. Women, men, young and older will benefit from an array of different training modalities, and please don't think that because you can't do certain modalities to a specific frequency per week for example that you are not able to get incredible benefits.

Are these recommendations coming from someone and only one person? Does this person have an incentive to say this? Is this person known in the social media world for exciting, contradictory or even ‘backed by mechanistic data’ protocols?

I was recently asked why I lift reps above 5 when I will not be as strong as possible, as it’s important as we age. And of course, this goes without saying…but there is a big difference between building strength and being ‘as strong as I possibly can be’. If my goal were to ‘be as strong as I could be,’ I would lift heavy (85% or more of my 1RPM) while prioritising specificity and time to practising the lifts, so perhaps 2 days lifting heavier with resting 2-5 minutes per set and 1 day per week spent practising the lifts with up to 50% of what I would normally lift but still not train close to failure…though I would still include phases of hypertrophy training…why? Increasing muscle mass can help contribute to strength by increasing the area of the muscle fibres, but vice versa; increasing strength helps lift more weight within a higher volume each week. But I know I wouldn’t be able to be consistent with this type of training; I tried specifically strength training years ago and didn’t enjoy it for several reasons (my personal preference). Many people are the opposite; they simply do not enjoy training in reps over 8, for example. I simply prefer more variety and less restriction to adhere to certain rep ranges. I love having the flexibility of performing a wide range of variations to compounds, different tempos, different loads, different rep ranges, different rest periods, taking a week to use only my bodyweight as resistance, exploring intensity techniques, implementing finishers and even varying exercise orders! This might differ from you…I suppose I love being a ‘jack of all trades and master of none’ when it comes to my performance. But my point here is that consistency is key for me, and what variations of training that promote consistency might look very different for you.

When looking at the body of evidence, it appears beneficial to diversify our training across different loads, rep ranges and modalities. And if you love training primarily for strength, lower reps & higher loads are more applicable for strength due to the neuromuscular stimulus. However, male or female, there are still many benefits to training in those higher reps, too, such as increasing volume without additional loading on joints plus the muscle gain that can support strength gain!

I think extra context should be given, especially when suggesting that, as women, we are inherently training wrong if lifting a certain number of reps. It isn’t a case of this versus that; rather, there is a huge spectrum that we can explore.

One thing is certain: we all want to keep jumping, squatting, running, have power and speed, build muscle and strength, challenge our cardiovascular system in different ways, and continually aim to improve our mobility for as long as possible. And this can look very different for each of us. It is so important to find a method and routine that works for you as our health can depend on it.

There is no evidence I can find to suggest that I am missing out on not training’ specifically’ for strength. Rather, the evidence points to consistency being the most important, and there are infinite ways to become stronger and build muscle mass. This includes during the menopause transition. I have referenced some studies here showing how many variations of resistance training can have significant benefits specific to this demographic (38-48). Please don’t doubt what you are doing and think twice before switching up your training or stopping an activity you love because one person on a podcast says you should. I would also suggest questioning everything, especially if we are receiving very specific protocols…and look at the research they cite, such as whether the participants are endurance athletes, is mechanistic data, and whether there is any actual data relating to our reality.

I train for the way it makes me feel. I don’t begin each session thinking about my future self and how I am helping to reduce my risk of osteoarthritis, sarcopenia, inflammation, and loss of bone density, to name just a few. Or that I am preparing my body in the best way I can for when my estrogen levels reduce. Rather, I train for the immediate feeling it provides me, the impact on the rest of my day and subsequent actions. But I KNOW that what I do each day is preparation for my future self. And it is imperative that we all do what we can to keep that momentum. Just look at the key benefits highlighted in a 2025 narrative review of women and resistance training.

Redrawn from: Kraemer, William J, Maren S Fragala and Nicholas A. Ratamess. “Evolution of resistance training in women: History and mechanisms for health and performance.” Sports Medicine and Health Science (2025): n. pag.

And we can all change the trajectory of our physical health…we just need to start, not overthink it, and improve as we go!

But don’t women need to train differently from men? Or as they age?

There currently is no meaningful mechanistic or empirical research that suggests women should train differently from men when it comes to application….and I have not been able to find any strong evidence that a woman needs to train differently at any age and different to a man. It is recognised that women’s strength and recovery may change throughout one’s menstrual cycle (although there is currently no evidence as support that we should program our volume around specific days and rather, it is very personal to the individual as even the same person can experience different strength and recovery levels month to month), it is also suggested that women can handle higher volumes, but again, this is not necessarily every woman…nor does it mean all men can’t handle higher volumes. It is apparent that between women and men, there is a wide variety of goals…even within men, they have different goals! Being a woman DOESN’T guarantee that you can recover faster than men or can handle more volume, and so even this is not absolute.

Although there is currently no evidence to show that women ‘need’ to train differently, this doesn’t mean that women can’t train differently!

‘We found that males and females adapted to resistance training with similar effect sizes for hypertrophy and lower-body strength, but females had a larger effect for relative upper-body strength’ (7)

A note on the above conclusion relating to upper body strength differences in males and females: a study conducted following this in 2016 (8) concluded: ‘Despite the physiological and hormonal differences between sexes, women demonstrated the same relative strength gains compared to men in agreement with previous studies. It appears there is presently no evidence of a need to design different RT protocols to men and women’.

What about auto-regulating? Absolutely, we should auto-regulate. However, I don’t see any literature suggesting this only applies to women. We all experience times of reduced/broken sleep and life stressors due to work, family, illness, etc., and we all should be kind to ourselves and listen to what our bodies are trying to tell us.

I could train exactly like my husband for muscle growth, and the actions to promote muscle growth are similar (49-56)…albeit he prefers more chest days!

But what about training around our menstrual cycle?

To highlight how hype differs from reality, particularly as it pertains to adapting our training around our menstrual cycle, a recent 2024 review (9) looking at hormones, hypertrophy, and the hype surrounding this concluded, ‘Moreover, there is no strong evidence to support the notion that females should adjust their RET (Resistance exercise Training) practices based on a specific phase of their menstrual cycle to promote adaptations. Encouraging females to align their exercise routines with certain menstrual cycle phases may limit their autonomy and contradict established coaching principles that prioritize individualized training’.

Another study paper, released only in December 2024,assessed the influence of the menstrual cycle phase on muscle protein synthesis and myofibrillar protein breakdown in response to 6 days of controlled resistance exercise in young females during peak oestrogen and peak progesterone, using stable isotopes, unbiased metabolomics and muscle biopsies…so a pretty thorough study. Their conclusion is in line with many other studies and only highlights how there is such haste in the marketing towards women to sell books on how to train around our cycle when the research doesn’t validate this, ‘We observed that resistance exercise stimulated MPS, but there was no effect of menstrual cycle phase on either resting or exercise-stimulated MPS or MPB. Our data show no greater anabolic effect of resistance exercise in the follicular vs. the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle’ (10).

An example of how hype can actually have a negative outcome is one lady who said she felt like she could lift heavier, but because a certain book said she was on day X of her cycle, she should lift Y amount lighter…. Of course, this was based on evidence that I haven’t been able to find! This actually had the opposite outcome intended.

For more information relating to the body of evidence relating to training around your menstrual cycle, I highly recommend reading the following article written by Dr. Mark Nolan (BSc. PhD (C). Sports Science Lecturer and PhD Researcher at Dublin City University):

Dr Nolan’s full article on training and the menstrual cycle is available to members on CGX.

If anything, this reiterates the fact that we are all so different and blanket guidelines and protocols for every woman to follow are not helping. And average outcomes from studies don’t necessarily tell us much about how we feel as we approach our training session.

Why don’t I doubt how I train when I hear I am doing so much wrong…as a woman in my forties?

Here are just a few reasons why I don’t take on board what anyone on a podcast says I should do regarding my training…now that I am’ in my forties’. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS WORKS FOR ME AND WILL NOT NECESSARILY APPLY TO YOU!

I have been lifting for over 20 years and have no joint issues. I have yet to experience any mobility limitations. I have continued to improve my mobility through full-range movement lifting, exploring variations to exercises, and finding ways to increase the possible ROM. I have been intentionally seeking out larger ROMs to improve my mobility. Lighter loads allow me to focus more on this…I have no loss in my ego by reducing the load I lift to increase ROM.

I am strong…I am not the strongest I could be, but I am strong for what I want and need to do in life. This is similar to being flexible…I am flexible, yet I am not as flexible as I could be, as I feel I have the flexibility I need for life and want to maintain. I can sprint, jump, and run long distances, but I am not as fast, can jump as high or can set a record for an ultra-endurance race as I don’t apply specificity to my training for any of these…rather, I can do a bit of everything, and this is my prerogative: to perform daily in a way that allows me to thrive. If my sole focus were to be as strong as possible, this would impact other areas… Likewise, if I wanted to become the best endurance runner I could be, it might also impact other fitness areas.

By increasing my muscle mass, I can increase my force production capacity, which in turn translates to improvements in my strength over time.

I don’t need a spotter, and at no point do I feel I am taking a risk when I lift!

I don’t need a lot of load to achieve what I intend!

I can train anywhere!

Every session differs in some way… even if it is just the finishers! This is a personal preference…and others prefer more structure!

Over time, I have reduced a large potential amount of load on my joints.

I have minimised my risk of repetitive strain injuries by changing up my movement patterns!

Some have almost vilified higher reps (20-30 reps). When we climb flights of stairs, it is often not necessarily our cardiovascular system that is limiting us but rather our muscular endurance…you feel it in your legs too!

I prefer variety, making each type of movement I do fun. If I focus on one specificity, I lose some of the variety.

I recover well because I listen to my body’s feedback. My priority is to reduce injury risk and overtraining.

I ENJOY training across a wide spectrum of rep ranges…just not very low. However, this doesn’t mean it is right for you!

There will always be studies to suggest one food is correlated with a certain outcome, an exercise study showed a negative outcome to what we want relating to a specific exercise or even training split, and there will always be mechanistic data interpreted on social media as leading to one outcome…while research delves into the details, it doesn’t mean we need to. I look at the wider evidence before even considering intentionally making a change to how I live my life based on what someone says on a podcast, in a book, or even based on one study…and honestly, my life hasn’t changed much since I started reading research; if anything, it just helps provide me with confidence in how I do live my life. I am not perfect, I don’t need to be, but I just try my best to focus on what are the ‘big rocks’.

I have been able to be consistent, and this is paramount. Consistency in exercise brings too many benefits to highlight in this article (this is true!). Consistency beats intensity and aiming for ‘optimum’ (of which I don’t know anyone, even a professional athlete, who can optimise every aspect of fitness). A strength athlete is not able to optimise their cardiovascular training, and vice versa.

More and more research is showing the benefits of resistance training for everyone, but when it relates to menopause, not only menopause-related symptoms, including vasomotor symptoms, but also our functional capacity, improving bone mineral density, improvements to body composition, improving our metabolic health, and reductions in inflammation, it is clear that when we take a broad look at the research, strength training in its many forms, brings many benefits and does not necessarily prescribe that we need to lift within a certain rep range, and anything exceeding this is not beneficial…male or female, 20 years old or 60 years old.

I often know there has been a popular podcast with protocols prescribed to women, whether it is to fast for very long periods, lifting any weight over 6 reps is endurance training, we are ‘wasting our workout’ if we don’t have X to eat before our session, or eat Y after our session within Z minutes after we are finished, or even negative connotations regarding group fitness classes…I see it in the questions asked. But I also see it in women’s responses when I provide advice when asked; an almost disappointed response as I have not told them an exact protocol, a specific food to avoid, the best time to train… When we put things into perspective, most people aren’t doing ANYTHING, and so many people would benefit greatly from just starting!

I recently listened to a podcast with Dr Andy Galpin (Professor & Scientist of Human Performance Elite Performer Coach); when asked if there are any specific differences in how he trains women, he explained that it depends on the individual. Just because someone is a female who fits within a certain age bracket does not mean automatically they need to train for shorter durations, lift within a certain rep range, and the same if they are an endurance athlete. I think this is important to highlight here, as he has worked with many females and doesn’t send the message that, as women, we must do X, Y or Z. The more research presented, the more we can all benefit greatly from incorporating the key concepts we all know. However, the methods by which we can choose how to implement them and to what degree are endless…similar to nutrition! Every woman’s experience of menopause will vary greatly, and I think suggesting we all should be doing the same, one-size-fits-all approach can impose mental, physical and practical barriers.

My concern with protocols prescribed to women is that it does not account for the fact that most women are not lifting ANY weight…you can build strength and muscle size and improve muscular endurance via a wide spectrum of rep ranges and loads, and the barrier to entry is heightened if we think we need to be so specific…if we HAVE to train under six reps, then that means most of us can’t train at home. If we NEED to train with a barbell over dumbbells, again, another barrier. If only the message were to have fun with your choice of movement…and perhaps over time, this could build a base and confidence to develop routine, intensity and consistency.

Most people would do well to just do anything at all. If you are moving through the day, applying tension to the muscles, becoming stronger, and lifting at least 2 times per week, you are miles ahead compared to if you do no movement & training. Yet, at the same time, we can be left feeling confused and doubting everything we do because of a trending podcast. Also, we are all so different…and any generalisation or generic protocols should be taken with a huge pinch of salt! Women's experience of menopause varies hugely, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to management. Don’t forget also that we often hear information relating to how much of an impact menopause can have on women, yet we often don’t hear how many women experience little to no symptoms, and it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. My mother experienced debilitating symptoms, and it is suggested this can mean it might be similar for me, but I refuse to accept this is completely inevitable and will continue to enjoy what I do each day, knowing that in the near future, hopefully, it will help with the changes that come.

Ironically, the pursuit of being constantly physically "optimal" can lead to more stress and actually remove the fun element from the equation. It could even ‘blur the lines’ between a recreational exerciser and a professional athlete. When we look at the people who live a fulfilled, active life well into their 80s and 90s, they do what makes them feel happy. And how many of them have had rigid protocols and ‘optimum’ plans to get there?

Take a step back and think, is this specific protocol being suggested by one person? Do they have anything to gain by prescribing a specific protocol? Having explored the research into changes occurring during menopause, it is very clear that exercise, particularly resistance training, has many benefits, and the message should be that there are many ways to become stronger, build muscle, improve our cardiovascular fitness, and all motion can create momentum. And this is not just during menopause!

Let’s have fun with how we move and not forget the incredible benefits we gain not just over time but even after each session:

‘Regular exercise causes chronic adaptations in anatomy/physiology that provide first-line defense for disease prevention/treatment (‘exercise is medicine’). However, transient changes in function that occur following each exercise bout (acute effect) are also important to consider. For example, in contrast to chronic adaptations, the effect of exercise on insulin sensitivity is predominantly rooted in a prolonged acute effect (PAE) that can last up to 72 h. Untrained individuals and individuals with lower insulin sensitivity benefit more from this effect and even trained individuals with high insulin sensitivity restore most of a detraining-induced loss following one session of resumed training’ (11)

…to put this into perspective, exercise positively impacts insulin sensitivity for up to 72 hours, meaning that if you exercise 3 times per week, you have an incredible impact on your metabolic health, immediately and overtime! Pretty cool, eh?

If I was working one-on-one with you, I wouldn’t simply put you into a box…’ ok so your 40-50 years old, female, or you are a 30 year old male, we will do this’. Every person has different levels of experience, time available, preferences, stress in day-to-day life, ability to recover, level of mobility, sleep quality & quantity, quality of nutritional intake, goals and also levels of commitment and consistency of routine. General recommendations on a population level to try to eat more veg or exercise with a minimum duration of exercise per week is very different than saying if you tick these boxes, you need to do this and shouldn’t do that.

A recent 2023 systematic review looking at the efficacy of strength exercises to help with reducing the symptoms of menopause concluded:

‘There is evidence that strength exercises can be beneficial for improving strength, physical activity, bone density and hormonal and metabolic levels. In terms of the appropriate type of strength training, the evidence is still unclear, given that the same benefits are achieved by various types of exercises’. (12)

But how would I train males and females differently? I wouldn’t inherently… but again, I would consider everything mentioned above, particularly their goals.

What about cortisol?

I am going to just lightly touch upon this intentionally; The things in my life that cause me stress are things I care about. And yes, training will increase my cortisol acutely…but this is a good thing! That short-term increase in cortisol through lifting and even my morning coffee over time will help my cortisol levels and my ability to cope with stress. And ironically, without that cortisol, I’d probably have more stress and inflammation as I want that ‘get up and go’ after a good night’s sleep in order to carry out the actions each day that support my body. I am aware of several endocrinologists that consider the word cortisol as having literally been hijacked by the health and fitness industry to gain views, sell supplements, or even to entice them to sign up for specific exercise programs.

I have written an in-depth article relating to everything Cortisol if you would like to learn more:

Caroline’s full article on cortisol is available to members on CGX.

Do I need to replace my dumbbells with a barbell to get the full-body effect?

I have been asked this a few times in the last few months, and my answer is that both are fantastic! Dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells and body weight are all excellent ways to overload the muscles and promote strength gains. There is no dispute here that all work depends on the context! Depending on the movement, there are advantages we can have using a barbell (we can often lift significantly heavier in many lifts and ability to increase load in small increments and many sports-specific training and many more), dumbbells (convenience, versatility, can help not only identify but reduce strength/muscle imbalances and avoid overcompensation, higher safety particularly in training solo, ability to increase ROM, increasing instability and require more balance, greater ‘freedom’ of movement within compounds and many more). Please do not feel you are necessarily missing out or have to use a barbell over dumbbells if it is working for you, and certainly not just because you are over 40!

Calories in versus out don’t apply to females once we get older.

Energy balance is EXTREMELY complicated. Hormones are EXTREMELY complicated. To reiterate this, the energy we require to even ‘maintain’ our body weight changes every single day. It is impossible for us to track the energy in and out accurately unless it is in a metabolic ward. If I were to track my energy in and energy out, it would be an approximation. How could I account for what is going on in this very complex system, which is my body? Within my cells, brain, and hormonal receptors…and what about my movement, acute and chronic stresses, reproductive cycle, and circadian rhythm? In fact, if we listen to a podcast where a guest is using big words to explain what happens in our body during eating, breathing, exercising, or even sleeping, it sounds complicated, but this is just the tip of the iceberg as to the complexities!

That being said, just because it is EXTREMELY complicated, more complicated than we even imagine, doesn’t mean that energy balance doesn’t apply to women where it applies to men.

Energy in impacts energy out and vice versa…all changing energy stores in the body. An example of how complicated this is is the amount of red blood cells we have, which impacts the energy balance equation as they direct oxygen to parts of the body, which then breaks down glucose. How can you account for that?

If we reduce our energy intake by 3500 kcal over a week, you might have heard the approximation that you will lose 1 lb of body weight. But how much of that is muscle, and how much is fat? The 3500kcal deficit is an approximation if only FAT is lost. Interestingly, we lose much body weight faster if more of it is muscle!

Again, The Energy Balance Equation may sound simple, but it is impossible for anyone in the free-living world to account for everything. But this is just a reminder that, aside from its intricacies and the fact that our body comprises of thousands of different systems and transactions at every moment, the energy balance equation applies to both men and women. While hormones are involved in our energy balance, they aren’t separate. And hormones are much more complicated than a simple ‘if you do this, this happens…’

Pause for a thought!

An interesting thought: have you ever wondered why bodybuilders and some athletes can almost ‘schedule’ bodyweight loss in order to lose body fat and maintain as much muscle by a certain date (and this applies to older athletes, too, male or female)? They are as consistent as they possibly can be. Each day, they have the same step goal, cardio heart rate target to reach, and duration of cardio, same meal timings and frequency, same/similar foods, and they trust the process. Note that they do this for short periods of time only. This is why it is often more challenging for us regular people, as we can be less consistent in what we do daily, but establishing some sort of routine is one of the most important things I would recommend everyone to establish (reflecting this is the weekends being completely different in every way compared to midweek including sleep and meal timing, or very low energy availability Monday to Thursday then a surplus come the weekend). Notice I said they ‘trust the process’…they have a consistent routine and make tiny adjustments along the way. They don’t suddenly switch to a diet with a certain name or go crazy with their cardio, nor do they change their actual training as they need that signal to hold onto the muscle!

While cutting for a bodybuilding show as an example is considered extreme and far from sustainable, there is one key piece of their intention that I would like to highlight when it comes to losing bodyweight nearing a show; it isn’t a dieting competition, but rather a ‘muscle retention’ competition…their goal, although to more extremes, is fat loss, not weight loss. If we all, male and female, focused on improvements to our body composition, rather than ‘just’ our BMI or number on the scale, the actions, and therefore the outcomes would, in many cases, lead to a healthier and stronger body…after all, muscle is one of our most metabolic tissues AND it is what gives our body shape. So, if there are three things we could learn from the extreme protocols of bodybuilders, it is to build a routine that suits you (that you can adhere to MOST of the time), aiming to maintain intensity when it comes to resistance training whether in a surplus, maintenance or deficit and have fat loss, NOT weight loss (even though this is often a byproduct outcome), at the forefront of change.

Unfortunately, the goal of solely reaching a number on the scale or even reaching a healthy BMI range in the shortest time possible is prevalent, and although that certain goal might be achievable and a person could be classified as ‘slim’ on appearance, our body weight alone or BMI doesn’t include body composition. You can have a normal BMI or a certain body weight, but you can have Normal Weight Obesity. The impact of this is that a person reaches a certain number, but due to the quick weight loss not involving habit changes, applying resistance to stimulate muscle growth/retention, and fueling the body properly, they still feel they want to lose even more weight to reduce body fat further. Not only the lack of habit and lifestyle changes not being practised, but it can also result in the desire to continue to be even ‘lighter’ on the scales and in a higher risk of poor metabolic health in the long run due to rebounding…in a worse position that they began. If the intention was to lose body fat (and not just body weight), the actions would lead to a more positive outcome regarding the ability to maintain the outcome due to positive lifestyle changes being instilled, further improved health and body composition (24-27)

I see first-hand how disempowering it is when a woman hears that the energy balance equation does not apply to them. Then there is the construed message that you aren’t losing weight because you aren’t eating enough…when often this is related to one of two scenarios:

1. The individual is engaging in such an extreme caloric deficit that they cannot adhere to this for long. This is common, particularly starting on a Monday until the weekend, when a rebound can occur that means the weekly energy balance is a positive one. If the individual embarks on a slightly less caloric deficit (essentially consuming more than the first deficit), they can adhere, and over time, they reduce body weight. This is more of a psychological factor and the individual is still in a deficit, just to a smaller degree and therefore they can adhere to longer.

2. ‘Eating enough’ can mean eating more voluminous, less calorie-dense whole foods, as opposed to calorie-dense foods that ‘fit’ within their calorie deficit intake…but are small in volume. Having more volume on your plate can help with adherence, and so more ‘volume’ food can help reduce body weight over time.

It can be easy to lose sight of what makes logical sense. In every Randomised Control Trial, where they can control for all other variables and the participants are placed on a calorie deficit, they lose body weight (differences in fat to muscle loss ratio depend on many factors including sleep, energy intake, rate of loss, resistance training or lack of, protein intake) (17-18)

Fasting, if intended for fat loss, has been shown in many studies to have similar effects as regular calorie restriction when calories are matched. It isn’t magic, nor is it something that all women over 40 need to do (in many cases, it can have a negative outcome), and it definitely isn’t required to reduce stored fat around the abdomen. Many people, of both sexes and ages, train fasted, and it works great for them, but this is very different to 3-day fasts, and it’s long-term impact on body composition. For more reading on this topic, I highly recommend checking out the following article:

Caroline’s full article on weight loss versus fat loss is available to members on CGX.

Energy balance applies to males and females, younger and older. It will always be too complicated to calculate, and the best we have is an approximation! Because of this, consistency is key.

But it can be easy to become doubtful, question what you are doing, not have patience and not trust the process. Social media can be only too quick to tell us that it is a certain hormone we need to focus on (alongside complicated wording and even sounding completely logical) or a certain supplement that is the answer. The answer is in what you do most of the time, not just some of the time. Usually, those actions that help us get there are not the sexiest, the fastest or the most extreme! I’ve said it before, but embracing some of the more boring, mundane actions and habits can often be the answer!

Women going through the menopause transition shouldn’t do any low-intensity cardio

Again, I see no evidence suggesting that all women should automatically stop the form of cardio they enjoy, so long as they are able to recover and if it does not impact their resistance training. Many women and men would benefit greatly if they moved from sedentary to some form of cardio.

And if you do a 45-minute boot camp class, go for an hour brisk walk (like I do most days), or do a long run on a Sunday, this moderate intensity zone does not mean you will automatically put on belly fat…yes, this was discussed on a podcast someone shared with me and there was little context given. No wonder we don’t know what to do!

Is the post-exercise anabolic window significantly shorter for menopausal women?

I have found currently no strong evidence to support the fact that the time gap between women is significantly shorter compared to men, relating to the anabolic window. We can consider mechanistic data, but it is the actual outcome data that is applicable to real life. However, I would welcome anyone who has found any such studies relating to this to please email me directly at info@cgxapp.com. That being said, there may be benefits to having protein and carbohydrates around your training! It may be optimal for many of us from even a psychological aspect and also represent an opportunity to further improve adaptation and recovery…but again, this isn’t absolute. In my experience, this is often specific to the individual, and many factors come into play, such as time of training, whether it is earlier in the day or evening, if early morning training was after a larger meal consumed later in the previous evening to fill up the glycogen stores? Many studies have suggested that total protein intake and distribution are more important than actual protein timing around training when related to strength and hypertrophy outcomes. The anabolic window has been suggested to be 24-48 hours long.

The randomised control study referenced here involved postmenopausal women and concluded, ‘Protein timing has no effect on lean mass, strength and functional capacity gains induced by resistance exercise in postmenopausal women’ (13)

Arecent 2024 narrative review (14) considering the impact of protein in post-menopausal women on muscle mass and strength when relating to the timings of protein states, ‘These studies potentially show that >30 g protein is required for changes in muscle protein synthesis to be seen, but the timing around training does not appear to be as important. This would suggest waiting until the next meal or snack to consume protein may not impact muscle mass or strength, especially relevant for those on a lower energy budget. It is important to consume sufficient amounts of protein regularly’.

There is no evidence in women that we need to ‘rush’ or stress over ingesting protein and carbohydrates within 30-45 minutes after a resistance training session, but this doesn’t mean there are no potential benefits…rather it just means that if it suits you, it’s great!

There is a difference between higher rates of muscle breakdown and what is the actual outcome when it comes to muscle protein synthesis. We want breakdown when we train, so try not to panic if you hear about higher rates of muscle breakdown, as it is the overall positive balance preferentially towards synthesis that matters.

I would recommend that if someone, particularly an expert in their field, provides protocols with confidence, you ask for evidence (but ideally they should cite their sources) from where they based their protocol before feeling additional stress that you have been wasting your time all along! Remembering that we aren’t all endurance athletes, we don’t necessarily substantially deplete all our glycogen during a workout compared to an interval training session on a bike at a certain % of our VO2 Max!

What about pre-workout? As a woman, do I need to have protein prior to training?

Do you feel better training with a meal beforehand? Or do you, like me, train very early but have your last meal the night prior very close to bed (literally in my bed for my case!) that contains protein and carbohydrates and feel awesome just having a coffee prior to lifting? Do you prefer to train early but have a solid meal shortly after training? Or is it that you simply don’t like to eat before your planned exercise? I have known many people who prefer a meal prior to training, others a snack, and some who prefer not to consume any food prior, especially early in the morning.

‘The optimal time period during which to ingest protein is likely a matter of individual tolerance since benefits are derived from pre- or post-workout ingestion; however, the anabolic effect of exercise is long-lasting (at least 24 h) but likely diminishes with increasing time post-exercise’ (13)

‘These results refute the commonly held belief that the timing of protein intake in and around a training session is critical to muscular adaptations and indicate that consuming adequate protein in combination with resistance exercise is the key factor for maximizing muscle protein accretion’ (15)

Something to consider is that having protein before or after training is another beneficial opportunity to elevate our overall daily protein intake! And if you do train fasted, then you might want to consider having your first meal closer to finishing your work. But again, it depends on what works for you!

Again, this is one of those messages that implies that I personally am doing it all wrong: exercising early without having food prior after wakening. Yet, context matters. Personally, I feel great, and it works with my schedule. I have most of my carbohydrates later in the day, and those carbohydrates I consume the night before my morning workout help store the glycogen in my muscles, ready for that morning session. My pre-sleep meal, which also includes protein, increases my overnight MPS ( (19-20); it doesn’t impact my sleep, and I just enjoy a meal before I sleep! When I wake, the glycogen stored in my muscles is still there! Women have even asked me if they have wasted all their training efforts because they haven’t had 15 grams of protein before their workout! There is no strong evidence to support the message that we, as women, are ‘wasting our efforts’. In fact, I find this kind of messaging harmful and can only add stress to many without the hierarchy of importance highlighted. Find what works for you…your routine and preference!

A simple way I like to approach my nutrition around training is reflected in this review paper ;

• ‘The immediacy for postexercise protein consumption will depend on the timing of the pre-workout meal. The closer the proximity of the meal to the training bout, the less the need for immediate postworkout protein intake; if training fasted, expeditious refuelling with high-quality protein is beneficial to enhance muscular adaptations.’ (16)

When we examine the wide body of evidence currently available, protein timing appears to be less of a consideration than overall energy and protein intake. And there is research in active women and also, specifically post-menopausal women that have repeated this understanding and reiterated the hierarchy of importance when it comes to meal timings around training (21-23).

Like the above regarding post-workout nutrition, mechanistic data does not necessarily correlate to outcomes. Hopefully, this knowledge can help you make informed decisions about meal timings with confidence and build a routine that works for you!

The ‘menopause diet’

A 2023 review (57) highlighting the importance of nutrition in menopause and peri-menopause provided guidelines to help reduce symptoms and preserve health. These recommendations are in line with general recommendations for supporting overall health, including;

• Focusing on body composition rather than BMI (considering fat loss as opposed to solely bodyweight loss)
• Establishing a physiological eating schedule is deemed necessary (having a routine for your meals, eating on the approx same day each day, similar sleep patterns midweek compared to weekends)
• Avoid simple, fast-acting sugars (typically, these are consumed in sweets, sugary cereals etc)
• Sugary and alcoholic beverages should be avoided
• The recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruits is five portions
• Moderate consumption of red and processed meats is recommended
• Using as little sugar and salt as possible to flavour food and drinks is important. Eighty per cent of salt intake comes from processed foods, and only 20% is consumed as added salt.
• Incorporation of foods and ingredients with a higher fibre content daily is recommended: whole grain bread, fibre-rich breakfast cereals without added sugar, and brown rice.
• The amount of saturated fat should not exceed 10% of the total energy intake.
• Maintaining/achieving a healthy nutritional status and balanced nutrition, focusing on adequate intake of vitamin D and calcium, regular exercise, and quitting smoking and stopping alcohol drinking.

I highly recommend reading this review yourself. It is comprehensive, contains more detail, and is quite easy to read.

I just wanted to highlight 2 points here;

1. This is not necessarily significantly different from what we know is part of an overall healthy lifestyle whether you are 30 or 50 years old, male or female. but hopefully, upon reading this review highlights the importance of making changes to our lifestyle if improvements could be made due to menopause being linked to increased prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, and osteoporosis. It is also empowering to know that we have so much control over reducing the risk of developing all the aforementioned diseases.

2. These recommendations are based on concepts, but we have a million ways to implement them based on who we are. It might be advisable to think twice before you consider paying money for a one-size-fits-all nutritional plan that involves specific protocols and restrictions. A menopause diet, which was trending on social media, is very similar to what we already know is advantageous for everyone! There is no secret diet or supplement!

You might see diets that have ‘rules’ designed and marketed specifically towards women during the menopause transition; however, when you take a step back and look at the actual premise, this often includes reducing/avoiding ultra-processed foods, processed meats, artificial ingredients, added sugars, refined grain & flour and processed oils…all of which are generally taken care off when you eat whole foods such as healthy single foods like healthy fats, lean protein sources, fruit, vegetables and legumes. This is often marketed as an ‘anti-inflammatory approach’, but this is mostly for marketing and it catches one’s attention. This type of diet is not reserved for pre/peri/post-menopausal women, but men too! There are sometimes even intermittent fasting protocols which can work great for people if their schedule and existing eating patterns already reflect this, but it’s not the magic bullet; it might help with structure and create a ‘rule’ to not eat during that time that could help with snacking etc but it isn’t necessarily any better than having meals spaced through the day…these diets are generic and so it might suit some and not others, but is there really anything specific to women that might not benefit a majority of men too? Often, when people follow this type of diet marketing towards women 40 plus, for example, they feel better and lose weight, but again, most people’s diet in Western society is made up largely of ultra-processed foods, and of course, this would be a step in the right direction. It might even indicate that you don’t need to count calories to get results, and this often happens when someone switches from 60% UPF to 20% UPF, for example…they naturally then have more voluminous foods, the meals require more time to prepare so perhaps appreciate when on your plate, less accessibility to this type of food on the go compared to ultra-processed fast food, more time to consume due to more chewing, less of those highly palatable foods, more fibre and protein to help with satiety and even less snacking due to the more satiating meals. It might include protocols relating to a certain ‘window’ to eat, and again, the difference of stopping eating bang on 6pm for example is not alot more than a ‘line in the sand’ and may help with structure, but why not 7pm? 9pm?

But often, this diet is dressed up and promoted to a target audience to sell a book or program and then the upsell of supplements, again, packaged and marketed towards us women. Many people are paying a lot of money for generic diet plans for menopause, but is it as simple as incorporating some routine into our timing of eating and choosing more whole foods over ultra-processed foods? And of course, I say ’simple’ but there are many factors that may make this more challenging…the main one being we live in an environment where we have to intentionally go against the grain to not only reduce body fat but even to maintain a healthy composition!

Over the next few years, if I notice I am gaining central adiposity, I will first look at my behaviours: Am I snacking a little more? Am I eating out more than usual? Am I eating at less consistent times each day? Am I consuming more UPF? Am I getting less sleep? Am I walking less? Am I training with less intensity? It is extremely easy for us to become more relaxed when it comes to our behaviours and so I will aim to be self-aware.

And if I had slowly gained 5 lbs per year, leading to 50lbs over the last 10 years and have made no changes to my behaviours, then if this pattern continues, I would expect the fat gained during the menopause transition to have a propensity to be stored around my abdomen. I still wouldn’t focus on the scales and reducing body weight; rather, I’d focus on muscle retention whilst reducing body fat. This is an important distinction, as the actions that are behind our goal really do matter. I would go so far as to say this would be a time when it may be even ‘more’ important that I focus on the actions to reduce body fat and not just the number on the scale.

I wouldn’t experiment with fad diets or suddenly think I ‘need’ to cut out all carbs, go low fat, fast for days, be vegan, or be a carnivore…. I would rather look at ‘my own’ current diet and make small amendments that could be beneficial. I personally wouldn’t consider any diet that doesn’t align with how I currently eat such as keto or even vegan Why? Because why make it harder on myself than it needs to be? And is it in line with the habits I want to develop in order to maintain my fat loss? I would train as I normally would and have my regular step goal but my focus would be the energy I consume over the energy I expend. I have seen incredible body composition changes with many women simply by prioritising lifting at least twice per week, having an achievable step goal to reach across the week, increasing protein and fibre each day and making the weekend days look a little more like the midweek days (including times of eating and times of sleeping).

I don’t consider what number I am on the scales, so much that I have probably weighed myself twice in my life (aside from a month where I measured myself every day as part of my own research regarding fluctuations). I would focus more on my body composition. If there is a time in my life when my body composition, over the scales, will be of even greater significance, it is during the menopause transition. I will not aim to reach a number on the scales…and this is where body composition (and even aesthetics to an extent here) will be significantly more important than what I weigh.

I am aware that even if I do everything I can to prepare for this period in my life and tick all of the boxes, I might still experience the severity of symptoms that my mother did. I have realistic expectations, but it feels good knowing that I am being proactive and not waiting to be reactive.

Knowing what I know about body composition, and regardless of whether I am storing more energy in my body and want to reduce it, I’ll probably never weigh myself again!

The menopause transition can be a great opportunity to change our lifestyle if the key fundamentals are absent. It may feel like menopause will automatically bring loss of muscle mass and fat gain, but this doesn’t appear to be the case and is not inevitable. Of course, depending on the type of symptoms and level to which we experience them, it can have a direct impact on sleep, mood, ability to move with ease in a way you previously did and energy, which in turn can make it more challenging to train, move through the day and make better food choices…but doing what we can WILL make a difference. Knowing that we have so much control while acknowledging we don’t need to be ‘perfect’ is something we should all keep in mind.

There is so much scaremongering regarding menopause, and it can create a self-fulfilling prophecy… ‘What’s the point in trying if weight gain and changes to body composition are inevitable?’

Whether male or female, younger or older, the same conditions are required to build and maintain muscle and obtain and sustain a healthy composition. While the distribution of fat gain changes during menopause more toward the abdominal region (central adiposity), the process of this fat gain appears to be the same as body fat anywhere else on the body. At present, the actions to lower body fat appear to be the same, too…thinking about muscle retention whilst doing so.

You have likely heard of many products, programs, and protocols directed specifically at menopause, but knowing that research has not suggested any specific recommendations for us to follow is extremely empowering! We can include many forms of exercise and training, follow a healthy dietary pattern that can look different for everyone, and prioritise different aspects of each depending on how we want to live our lives!

The discussion of menopause in recent years would have helped my mother not feel so alone. And I hope the discussion continues so that fewer of us feel alone. But we all need to be aware of the ‘money that is in menopause’. I have seen the amount of money women have paid for supplements (a greater amount solely because it said menopause on the packaging), workout plans geared towards menopause (yet it is impossible to generate a program for all women during this transition as we are all so different and will have different experiences during this time), diet plans and nutrition books specifically marketed towards women over 40 or over 50 yet the fundamental recommendations (if reputable advice) is no difference to what we would benefit from in our 20’s, 30’s or even male.

Women and men differ not only physiologically but also the activity of our brain, behaviours, and susceptibility to certain illnesses. However, while research is always ongoing and often extrapolated to prescriptive behaviours we could incorporate, we should just take a moment to think before we follow the recommendations…and perhaps even more so if a highly profitable podcast! I have a large collection of books relating to many areas of health and well-being; whilst I have learned so much, particularly regarding mechanisms within the body, I have seen some highly educated and renowned authors gain popularity by extrapolating the information within their books to prescribe protocols online, and as a result, I have learned a lot from many highly educated people through their publishings yet pay less attention to their narrative when on a podcast.

Who knows what new, sexy, revolutionary protocols directed at women will trend on social media in 2025? Remember that the most well-established research-backed recommendations will not hit the headlines or even be enough for a thumbnail…you just can’t make broccoli sexy! Well…unless the thumbnail says it will harm you, of which I have seen!

Women’s physiology differs in ways from men’s… but the actions and fundamental recommendations, when we zoom out, are the same. There are people who have a lot to gain by making it appear we need to do things differently. My husband and I don’t need to do things differently, but we do, based on ourselves as individuals, i.e., Energy intake, training splits, etc. But what about myself now compared to myself when I was in my twenties? Again, nothing specifically on a generic level, but personally, of course (having less time, more responsibilities etc)! Resistance training, daily movement, protein, minimising ultra-processed foods, etc, are not specific and only reserved during the menopause transition…but this time can be a great time to make positive changes!

Although we might associate body composition with aesthetics when we look in the mirror, it’s MUCH more than just how we look. Having a favourable muscle-to-fat ratio matters and impacts every cell in our body to some degree.

And one more final note on being a woman: let’s not forget we are nowhere as fragile as we are sometimes made out to be. My cup of coffee in the morning before a workout suddenly won’t mean my efforts in my training go to waste…I’m not that fragile! Let’s not allow people to make a lot of money by preying on us for being women…whether it is creatine marketed specifically for women or strict nutrition plans that get buy-in with ‘quick weight loss’ due to initially eliminating all carbohydrates! How can we turn our white fat to brown fat, how can we increase/reduce cortisol at certain times of the day, what a sample of my stool sent off in the post can tell me about my nutritional needs, the toxins in our fat cells, how we are metabolising our food, and if that cup of coffee should be drunk when I wake up, wait for an hour at least or not on an empty stomach are all things I genuinely wouldn’t even think about in the grand scheme of things that matter. Never stop learning, but also, never stop thinking critically. I always encourage to keep learning, but there is also the skill of learning what to place towards the top of your priorities and what to ignore due to insignificance and the minuscule impact it could have.

Fortunately, more and more research is emerging regarding sex differences in sports science. But it is still important to remember that research isn’t able to prescribe protocols that we all must follow or adhere to (this applies to many areas of research, including nutrition and exercise), but we can look to it for guidance and direction, and from there, we can have the autonomy to apply those fundamentals in a million different ways that are suitable for us as individuals. There are differences between women and men, but the principles remain the same: the well-established fundamentals can benefit us all.

I hope you found this informative and perhaps provided insight into the wider research as it pertains to women and exercise that sometimes isn’t discussed on podcasts. Also, maybe some reassurance that if you are training with intent and intensity, recovering well, fueling properly, and enjoying your training, you are smashing it! Every rep is making us stronger!

Cx

Cx

First published for CGX members, March 2025.