Muscles, Metabolism and Menopause

Empowering your body to perform and thrive!

Aug 24, 2023

When I created this blog more than a year ago, my goal was to empower midlife women with the tools they need to blow the status quo out of the water! This is personal for me because I have lived my whole life defying the “status quo”. Had I not questioned what my world was telling me I was “supposed to do” as an Italian-American girl from a middle-class, blue-collar family growing up in the 1970s and 80s, I never would have broken out of the cultural cycle I found myself in.

So, what does this have to do with Muscles, Metabolism, and Menopause? One of the greatest barriers to women achieving optimal muscle health is the cultural stigmas surrounding the idea of women lifting weights. Check out Keys to Empowering Women in the Weight Room where I take a deep dive into these barriers.

I experienced these barriers myself! If you grew up in the “80s” you remember the idea that “bulky” muscles are “unattractive”. I remember being in the weight room in my early 20s rocking out some squats and a friend of mine commented that my “legs were getting big”. I was horrified. That one comment resulted in me abandoning squats - and any deliberate strength training for my legs - for decades! Yes, DECADES! Now at age 53 and menopausal, I am playing catch-up for all those years I neglected my legs because I was getting “too bulky”. Truth be told, I’m still pretty frustrated and angry about it.

What has fueled this frustration, is that as a menopause health specialist and CrossFit trainer, I’m seeing the continued damage to women’s health and well-being as a result of these cultural stigmas. It has never been more clear with what we have learned about muscle physiology, metabolism, and cardiovascular health why muscle health is essential for quality of life and longevity. But yet, those little voices in our heads continue to whisper “You’ll get hurt if you lift weights” or “You will become bulky and unattractive” or “Weight training is “masculine”.

Enter Athletic Aging. On this journey with my first blog, I strive to take a holistic approach to thriving in this stage of life. Together we have explored the basic physiology of the menopause transition, hormone therapy, the importance of mental health and well-being, nutrition, and a killer Weekly Workout series! This week I have taken a step back to look at the content I have delivered over the last year and a big part of this holistic approach to wellness and shattering the status quo, is the central role that muscle and bone health plays in our ability to live, thrive and perform at our best.

So I went back and collected the posts that are specifically related to strength training in women so that I can deliver them to you all in one place:

…. and don’t forget the Weekly Workout series where you will find workouts that target strength, balance, agility, cardiovascular fitness, and mental grit! They are issued every Monday morning, but available to you in the Athletic Aging archives.

But what I’m REALLY excited about is a new course where I joined 4 other amazing experts and the amazing people at Feisty Media to create STRONG by Feisty Media powered by Previnex. This course is for active women who want to level up their strength training. In this course, you will learn from a team of experts who will give you the confidence you need in your strength training journey so that you can challenge the status quo and live your best life on your terms!

Here's what else you get:

✅ Founding cohort pricing ($129)
✅ A 16-week strength training program that you can adapt for any level

Use this LINK to Join now - sale ends September 1st and the first course release begins September 5th!

If you are part of this epic movement to shatter the status quo, let’s grow this freight train together and share this post with a friend!