Building strength during perimenopause and menopause is hard - heck, even just maintaining the muscle mass of our 20s and 30s is challenging. So we need to be smart about our strategies.
Strength training - especially at this age - goes beyond doing the reps. HOW we do those reps is where we can find those strategies that can help us move past the plateaus and even into a new dimension of strength that involves stability, nervous system coordination, and body control.
When we perform movements that involve a concentric (muscles shorten while producing force) and an eccentric phase (muscles lengthen while producing force), the point at which the direction of the movement changes is often the weakest part of the movement.
Let’s consider the squat.
From a standing position, the eccentric phase is the descent as you “sit down” into the squat. At the bottom of this position, the direction changes, and the concentric phase of the movement involves the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteal muscles to shorten and contract to elevate you from the bottom back to a standing position. The transition from lowering to rising involves what exercise scientists call the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC).
As one descends into a squat, muscles and tendons store elastic energy. It’s like when you load a slingshot by pulling tension on the elastic band. This increasing force can be released as power output during the concentric phase, “assisting” in that change of direction as you rise up from the bottom of the squat. This tension creates elastic rebound or a “bounce” which provides momentum to assist in the change in direction from descending to rising out of the squat.
Because the muscles can depend on this elastic energy or “bounce” to generate force out of the bottom of the squat, the muscles are often weaker in their ability to generate their own force independent of that elastic recoil from this position of transition at the bottom. This relative weakness can create instability, limiting the muscular force that can be generated from this bottom position.
One of the simplest—and most effective—tools to build strength at this vulnerable point at the bottom of the squat is the Pause Squat.
What is the Pause Squat?
A pause squat is exactly what it sounds like: instead of immediately driving out of the bottom of a squat, you pause for 1–3 seconds at the bottom position before standing up. This brief pause removes momentum from the stretch-shortening cycle. As a result, the lifter must generate force primarily through active muscular contraction rather than elastic recoil. This is the central reason pause squats feel significantly harder—even when the load is lighter.
While this variation is commonly used by powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters, pause squats may actually be even more valuable for aging athletes who want to maintain strength, power, and joint health.
What’s The Benefit?
Builds concentric strength - When a controlled pause is added at the bottom of the squat, the muscles must sustain high tension in the most mechanically disadvantaged portion of the squat. This can help build lower-body power for strength sports and field-based athletics.
Training in these deep joint angles is particularly valuable for maintaining strength across the full range of motion of the hips and knees—an important factor for maintaining functional movement capacity with aging, so that you don’t need 3 grandchildren to help you out of your chair when you are in your 80s.
Enhance Neuromuscular Strength Adaptations - A controlled pause between the eccentric and concentric phases increases the neuromuscular demand of the lift.
Muscular work requires not just contracting muscle fibers, but also coordinated signalling from the nerves that “wire” these muscles to perform.
Targeting the nervous system enhances the effectiveness of the strength adaptations for gaining strength in this position.
Reinforce Technical Consistency - Pause squats also provide a unique benefit for movement quality. When athletes pause at the bottom of a squat, they must maintain:
Core bracing
Balanced foot pressure
Stable knee tracking
Proper hip positioning
Research on resistance-training assessment techniques demonstrates that imposing a pause reduces variability in squat performance and improves the reliability of strength measurements.
In other words, the pause forces athletes to reproduce the same bottom position each repetition, reinforcing consistent movement mechanics, which also helps to prevent injury.
Provide a Strong Stimulus With Slightly Lighter Loads
Another practical advantage of pause squats is that they create a demanding strength stimulus without requiring maximal loads.
Since the movement removes the stretch reflex and elastic energy contribution, athletes often train with lighter weights while still achieving high muscular demand.
For athletes focused on long-term training sustainability, this can mean:
Lower cumulative joint stress
Reduced spinal loading
Improved recovery between sessions
An Important Note about “The Bottom”
Because squatting is a movement that involves mobility at the hip, knee, and ankle joints, many are limited in how deep into the squat they can go.
Here is where it becomes important to carefully review squat mechanics and types of squats that feel good for you, and find your pain-free range of motion. For a detailed tutorial about squat mechanics and finding your pain-free range of motion, check out this Athletic Aging post from the archives": The Key to Stronger Squats.
Welcome to Leg Day!
Today’s workout dials in on the Pause Squat using “tempo” to control the descent into the bottom of the squat, then holding the pause at the bottom for 3 seconds, then rising.
Warm up
Set your timer to 5 min or the SmartWOD app to TABATA 20/10 x 5 min. Start with the jumping air squats for 20 seconds then 10 seconds rest, then 20 seconds of mountain climbers, 10 seconds of rest and then back to the jumping air squats, alternating movements until you have completed each movement for a total of 5 rounds.
TABATA 20 second work/10 seconds rest x 10 rounds (total of 5 min)
Mountain climbers: (Alternative: Bicycle Crunch)
Movement Practice
This is just as much of a core stabilizer workout as it is a leg strength and mobility workout. This workout is ideally done with a straight bar, however can also be done with dumbbells or kettlebells.
Movement Options:
Barbell: Back squat or Front squat.
Dumbbells: Use two dumbbells or kettlebells as a front squat, or you can use a single dumbbell or kettlebell as a goblet squat.
No weight: If squats are a challenge, then the air squat is a fantastic option where you will receive every bit of the same benefit as using weight.
Pick a set of moderate to heavy dumbbells (or barbell) that you can do all reps unbroken. Descend for a count of 3, hold for a count of 3 at the bottom, then rise for a count of 1.
Workout
Part 1
Every 3 minutes x 5 rounds - 4 unbroken repetitions of your choice of Tempo Squat with a 3-second pause at the bottom.
Set a clock for EMOM (every 3 minutes x 5 sets) or set a clock and on minutes 0:00, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00, and 12:00, start the 4 repetitions. Rest for the remainder of time until the next interval starts.
4-4-4-4-4
Part 2
HAMSTRING ACCESSORY
3 Rounds
10 Weighted Good Mornings
*If you do not have a resistance band, ankle weights or securing a light dumbbell between your feet will also work. If no equipment, try 20 bodyweight glute bridges.
Cool Down
Your legs received a lot of attention today so lets show them some love and jump-start their recovery with this 20-minute “Love Your Legs” yoga segment from Five Parks Yoga. #dontskiptheyoga
References
Cormie P, McGuigan MR, Newton RU.
Developing maximal neuromuscular power: Part 1—biological basis of maximal power production. Sports Medicine. 2011;41(1):17–38.
https://doi.org/10.2165/11537690-000000000-00000
Cormie P, McGuigan MR, Newton RU.
Developing maximal neuromuscular power: Part 2—training considerations for improving maximal power production. Sports Medicine. 2011;41(2):125–146.
https://doi.org/10.2165/11538500-000000000-00000
Fukutani A, Kurihara T.
Evidence for muscle cell-based mechanisms of the stretch-shortening cycle. Frontiers in Physiology. 2021;12:648708.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.648708
Martínez-Cava A, Hernández-Belmonte A, Courel-Ibáñez J, et al.
Effect of pause versus rebound techniques on neuromuscular and functional performance after prolonged velocity-based training. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2021;16(7):927–933.
https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2020-0627
McBride JM, Blow D, Kirby TJ, et al.
A comparison of kinetic and electromyographic variables during the squat and box squat. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2010;24(12):3193–3199.
https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e2e79a
Pallarés JG, Sánchez-Medina L, Pérez CE, et al.
Imposing a pause between the eccentric and concentric phases increases reliability of isoinertial strength assessments. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2014;32(12):1165–1175.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.889844
TAKING NEW CLIENTS!
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In case you missed it……
The Menopause Muscle Continuum….
Does the menopause transition directly impact muscle health and physiology?
This has been the subject of some very intense discussion recently. Join me and the awesome and amazing Selene Yeager for Hit Play Not Pause Episode 253 where we take a deep dive into the science behind this debate.
Great info. I never thought about a pause in my squat. Going to try it today.