Why we need resistance training in Menopause

When our hormones change between 35 and 60, this creates a cascade of false signals in our body that completely change our metabolism. Our body is helpless and says to itself, hey, something is wrong here and tries to counteract with more anti-inflammatory reactions.

This leads to an increase in whole-body inflammation: We are more prone to injury and metabolic disorders. We are more prone to losing muscle mass, so we gain body fat. Our muscles lack estrogen, and with it the ability to draw glucose from the blood and store it. As a result, the muscle cell desperately produces insulin, but doesn't know what to do with it. This increases the risk of diabetes 2. The glucose that is no longer stored in the muscle cell is now stored as body fat. That's why we put on weight, especially on the stomach and this visceral belly fat - that's internal belly fat, the unhealthy fat that wraps itself around the organs and causes inflammation. Because our metabolism works differently, this also leads to cognitive changes and mood disorders. This reduces our ability to withstand stress - it reduces our stress resilience. And finally, we also have a reduction in the stimulus for our bones. So that's one of the reasons why our bones become more postural, bone mineral density decreases. It starts when we lose progesterone. That's how Dr. Stacy Sims lays it out in her course. She is a leading expert in women's health.

In conclusion, the moderate training methods, such as cardio and hypertrophy training, may not provide enough stimulus to improve our bones, muscles and body composition.

We need more. We need something that creates this external stress and supports our body to adapt not only from a skeletal muscle, but also from a metabolic and bone perspective. Just like our hormones used to support these three key parts of our body. And following Dr. Stacy Sims, this is what the combination of HIIT, or SIT with heavy resistance training and plyometrics does.

We need this heavy strength training with low repetitions and heavy weights to get a strong muscle contraction that is activated by the nerves to also stimulate our bones, thus improving bone density. It's about adapting not only the muscle, but also the metabolism and the bones.

In contrast to hypertrophy, which improves the cross-section of individual muscle fibers, strength training promotes the maximum force that the entire muscle generates with a single effort. This is done by the nerve stimulating the muscle to activate as many muscle fibers as possible to produce a large contraction, which is exactly what we need. The whole body works better together and adapts. You become stronger and more robust.

#1 **Strong bones and osteoporosis prevention**

Strength training not only trains the muscles, but also the tendons, cartilage and ligaments. They become thicker and stronger. Strong muscles support the joints and improve balance and coordination, significantly reducing the risk of falling. This provides long-term protection against joint wear (osteoarthritis) and injuries. When the joints become more sensitive during the menopause, strength training reduces pain and promotes joint health,

The tensile and compressive forces during strength training change the internal structure of the bones and thus increase bone density. This not only protects the body from injury, but also prevents bone loss (osteoporosis) in old age.

### 2 **Muscle growth, metabolism and fat loss**

Because the signal in our muscle cells to build muscle mass decreases, our body loses more and more of it (sarcopenia). This slows down the metabolism and promotes weight gain.

Heavy strength training builds muscle mass, which stimulates the metabolism and helps to maintain a healthy weight. More muscle mass increases our calorie consumption, even at rest. We can thus improve our body composition and we have a really good chance of reducing that visceral belly fat.

However, the muscles not only grow, but also work better together. The muscle improves its structure and quality. Your body also becomes more resilient and stable.

Resistance training significantly improves insulin sensitivity, which makes blood sugar management easier and reduces the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Our muscles are trained to pull more glucose. More muscle mass, more glucose storage.

### 4. **mental health, stress and vasomotor symptoms**

When we do heavy resistance training, we also increase the load on the cardiovascular system. This ensures a better oxygen supply in the vessels, increases our vascular blood flow and this improves our stress resilience and helps with hot flushes. It boosts your well-being, mood and self-confidence.

### 5. **immunological status**

And of course we increase overall endurance, which improves our immunological status as active skeletal muscles are also part of improving our overall immune status and lowers our mortality rate.“

 And now? How heavy is heavy?

However, before you can train maximum strength, it is important to build up a base and practise the technique. This takes time because muscles, nerves, tendons and ligaments have to work really well together.

To start with, you can do this with bodyweight exercises and then slowly increase the weight. It is really important to learn the right technique to avoid injuries and to train effectively.

Compound exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, pull up and military press are best suited to strength training. They require a lot of stability and target multiple muscle groups across different joints.

Start with 8-12 repetitions and slowly increase the weight. The last two repetitions of each set should be heavy enough that you can still perform them with good technique. If you can do this super easily, use a heavier weight. If you can still do 8 reps cleanly, then increase it repeatedly until you get to 6 reps with clean technique.

Strength is 0-6 reps with 80+ resistance

You should start by finding a trainer who can show you the correct technique. Also, listen to your body, take breaks and if you are not feeling well, adjust the load. Especially during the menopause, it is important to avoid overloading yourself and to take recovery seriously.

links/ref.

links: https://www.drstacysims.com/blog/harness-the-perimenopause-power-window

https://www.drstacysims.com/blog/how-to-power-your-way-through-menopause

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11556-019-0217-2

https://www.drstacysims.com/blog/Resistance%20Training%20Is%20Getting%20the%20Respect%20It%20Deserves

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109723083134#undfig1