Menopause considerations

[AndrewLewis]

Rip,

Do you have any general recommendations for coaching a trainee with menopause? The only issues we've had so far are sleep problems and feeling hot/cold. Both of these have been easily taken into consideration with the standard recovery recommendations (you need sleep, it doesn't really matter why you can't get it), but I was wondering if you've encountered any problems that should be noted/anticipated.

I saw a post you responded to from 2011, but I know you've learned things in the past 6 years.

Thank you for your time.

[Evelyn O'Donnell]

I've looked into this a bit myself, because I'm getting towards that stage in life. I had been under the impression that testosterone levels drop sharply after menopause, but it turns out that's not the case. T levels do get lower throughout a woman's adult life, so a woman in her fifties and sixties will have much less than a woman in her twenties, but that's regardless of her menopausal status. At least that what I understand from my limited research. Someone can correct me if I am mistaken.

As far as being hot or cold, I'm not sure how that would affect training. I've had a few hot flashes before, and I suppose if it happened while I was training, I might want to sit and wait for a moment until it subsided, just so I'm not distracted by being all prickly and hot while I'm trying to concentrate on my squat. Personally I find it's best not to overthink these things.

That's just me, though, and I'm no expert. I do hope that there will be MUCH more research and serious articles about older women who strength train, though. Menopause or no menopause, a lot of us want to get strong without having to wade through condescending twaddle about doing presses with soup cans.

[AndrewLewis]

Thanks for the input. My client and I haven't had to deal with much, except that the hot/cold extremes wake her up at night, so her recovery is not great.

People like Sully and Andy Baker have been a huge help in the "oh no honey, you just need to walk for 10 minutes a day" conversation. We just have to keep going and showing people that it works and they're wrong.

[Jeff Illingworth]

From my secondary observations, menopause is pretty variable. For some, it's not a huge disruption, for others, it's a lot more chaos. Depending on the hot flashes, sleep can be profoundly impacted with all of those attendant recovery issues. Training session concentration can also be negatively impacted depending on the cycles. Appetite is also sometimes impacted.

[AndrewLewis]

Thanks, Jeff. I'll keep that in mind.