UNPAUSE: Full Body Strength for Menopause, Perimenopause & Beyond

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your total body strength workout for perimenopause, menopause, and beyond. In this workout, we will work your entire body for strengthening and sculpting and keeping your heart rate up for cardio. And while this workout is great for anybody, this workout is specific to those who are experiencing perimenopause, menopause, or post menopause. I'll be giving you lots of different options to work to your fitness level. So listen to your body. Are you ready? Let's do it. Go ahead and start marching right here. You can just march, roll the shoulders, whatever you need to do. Pump the arms. We're gonna get the blood flowing, get our body's core temperature up, and then we'll get some mobility and some dynamic movement prep before we get into adding those weights. Now, the first thing that I want to say is if you are new to working out or you've been out of it for a while, you're getting to it. If you're a beginner, please take your time and listen to your body. Something I say in all of my workouts is to be where you are today. Let's take those arms across right through here. So that means where you are in your journey and also where you are today. I want you to challenge yourself, but in a way that's good for you. Now, if you have been working out for a while and you're coming across this video because you feel like you're not seeing results or your body's not responding or responding in the ways that it used to, then I want to encourage you to go heavier if you have the option. If you have some weights, go heavier. That's really what we need. Let's take those arms up right through here. When we're in those perimenopause stages and menopause and beyond, as our body is changing and we're changing with our hormone levels, like, take those arms out flat, back down, and round it up. As our hormones are changing and shifting, there's a lot going on in our body, and it makes our body respond differently to things like exercise, Right? So we have to increase the outside stimulus stimuli that we're putting on our body, and often that means we need to go heavier. So please know, if you're someone who is worried that you're going to get big, bulky muscles, promise you that will not happen. It does not happen naturally for women again, because that hormonal component. Let's roll those hips right here. So don't worry about that. But if you really want to see those results, you want to challenge your body in a new way, go heavier. Now, if you only have certain weights available to you at home, let's add a little squat to that hip roll then. Don't worry. What we're gonna do in this workout is we're gonna start with a circuit. We'll have a lower, an upper, and a core. And then we'll have a round two where we give you a way to intensify. Now, if you're a beginner or you're getting back into this, you don't have to take that intensify option, right? But if you want that challenge and you're working with lighter weights, it's going to give you an option to do so. So let's take it right here. We're going to reach up and hinge down so your hinges drive those hips to the back. You can keep it just right here. Or if it feels good for you, I want you to walk those hands out into that inchworm if that's right for you. If it's not, you just stay with the hinge, walk your hands back, and reach it up. So just getting a little bit of warm up through the back of our legs, through our spine, getting our core, our upper body, our lower, all working together. And let's take it out one more time. And if you're here, let's take one foot here. If you're standing, I want you to just put one foot forward, one foot back here. But if you can, we're gonna get it low here. Big reach up so you've got that stretch. You can hold it here or take it here. If you need to keep it up top or grab onto the wall for a little bit of balance, that works, too. And then let's switch our legs. So again, if you're down, you can switch them here. If you're up top, you just switch to here. And again you can stay up here, maybe balance, open up those hips. That's what we're going for here. Or if you're here, you can hold it here and then reach it through you. Do you be where you are today. This is your workout. And then if you're able, come back into that high plank and then walk your hands back and not just stay up top, slowly roll it up right here. All right, everybody tap it out and reach here. So here's what we got. 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. There are a couple exceptions. When we go Right side and left side, where we may go 30 seconds. But for the most part, everything is 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest. And again, your first round, we will go back to basics. So super simple movement patterns. Challenging, but keeping it simple. And then our next time through will give you a variation that could intensify what you're feeling, especially if you're working with lighter weights. But you don't have to take that. You can keep your regular first round into round two. All right, we got three quick circuits, basic movement patterns, but we're gonna work hard. All right, we're gonna start with your basic squat. So you can either have one dumbbell in the center or one dumbbell low, or keep it body weight. Or if you have two lighter dumbbells, you can keep them up here. We're gonna squat. We're gonna sit low. I'm gonna go heavy with 115 right in the center. Let's go ahead and bring it here. Core is engaged. Shoulders back. We're gonna sit low. Here we go. Now, I probably could have started a little heavier with that 15, but don't worry, we're gonna get it on that second one. So dropping those hips. And I know sometimes if you're new to exercise, you're getting back into it. That squat might feel tough on your knees. I want to encourage you to take it slow, and remember that the lower you get, the more support you have for those knees. Right? Think about it. When we're here, where's all that weight going? Right into the knees. But when we get lower, we get our hamstrings and our glutes. All right, 10 seconds, but take your time. If you need to go a little smaller, that's okay, too. Three, two, one. All right, two heavy dumbbells. And we're gonna do your classic bed over row. So these are working those big muscles down your back, through your spine. Shoulders back. Hinge it here. Nice flat back. We're bringing those weights up towards our hips and down. If you need to, you can stagger here, or you can go one at a time. I'll tell you at the halfway point. Here we go. And here. Now, things to think about. Again, you're pulling the weight towards the hips. The reason I like that cube is because then it keeps it out of our upper back and shoulders. Even though our shoulders are working, you want to make sure your back is flat. Most common mistake we see is this, right? So really take it here and pull those shoulder blades in. Imagine you're squeezing something between your shoulder Blades, posture, muscles. Core is engaged. If you need to stagger. Right there. Yes. Oh, I forgot to tell you. You're at the halfway point. Sorry, guys. You can finish it out. 3, 4, 2, 1. If you're going one on one, get a few more reps. All right, team, so last one. One heavy weight. No, Two medium weights. We're gonna do a press into a march. So one dumbbell or two press for two, march for two. If you want to take one dumbbell, you can do that too. Here we go. So straight up, press 2, March and March. Now, I want to give you some options here. If you're new to this, do exactly what I'm doing, or you can take it one dumbbell, press for two. This is your core, right? It might not look like a core exercise, but I promise it is right here. If you're more experienced, you've been doing this a while, you can go press for two. Keep them up. Yes, you can press. Now we feel our core, right? And our arms and shoulders. Yes. And relax. All right, team, catch your breath. We're gonna do all of that again. So two medium to heavy dumbbells or one heavy dumbbell. Here's what I want. We call this a B stance quad squat, sometimes a staggered squat. This foot is back here. These weights are here, or one way in the middle. We're gonna still squat, but we're bringing it up. Now, if that does not feel good on your knees, I want you just to keep a regular squat. But we got two rounds. Or you can just stagger it and not get as low, Right? But if you can, I want you to try to get low. B stamp squat one and then the other. You can go one dumbbell. You can go too low. You can go too high. Either way, I want you to challenge yourself. Here we go. B stance burn. So watch. It's still a squat squat. It looks similar. I would call this a kickstand squat, right? Because similar to our kickstand deadlift, which we've we've got coming, but we're not hinging, right? So weights can be here or again, it's better to keep them low, but you're trying to get low in the squat. Sit low, drive up through that heel. Obviously, the foot in the front is taking more of the weight right down. Hand up. Yes, you can. And breathe. Don't forget about that core. One more boom and relax. Heart rate's probably up on that one. We're gonna do the same thing. Other side. So adjust how you need to dumbbells can be low or high. Again, B stance, squat, it's still a squat. It's not a kickstand deadlift. We got that coming later. If you want to keep a regular squat, you can do that too. Core engaged. Three, two, and up. Now it is going to throw your balance a little bit, right? So again, when those hormones are changing, whether you're just experiencing some symptoms of perimenopause, you're not there yet, or you've been through menopause, or you're right in the thick of it, when the hormones are changing, we can't keep doing what we've always done, right? Our body needs something different. So maybe it's something like this. B stance squat, or going heavier with your weights, even if it's just a regular squat, something to really push every system in your body to work a little harder because something is new and different. Last one. And relax. Feel that? I know. Feel that heart rate? So that's what we're going to be doing a lot of in this series, is finding ways to push our bodies even when we don't have heavier weights. Speaking of power, row power, exactly what you did before, or we're gonna come up slow. On your way down, grab those weights. Core engage. Hinge it. 3, 2, 1. So we got some power and then slow. Power and then slow. If that's not right for you, you just keep doing exactly what you did before, which is your regular row, right here to here, here. Weights towards your hips, squeeze in the shoulder blades. But if you can power slow on the way down. Power and slow. Yes, you can. Here. Yes. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And relax. Yes, team. All right, we're going to that little press and march, but this time, one dumbbell. We're gonna go up and cross. Up and cross. If that is not right for you, two hands here. Up, cross. But if you can, up cross. So we got lots of core, but we're sneaking in some shoulders as well. We're going 30 seconds, then 30 seconds, switching sides. We'll do them back to back. Here we go. Up, Pull, press, and cross. So we got push, then pull. All of it is core, even when we're doing that shoulder press, right? Because up here, we really have to stabilize here, right? And then as we come across, we have to stabilize. We get a little rotation. So keep it going. Remember, you can always take it. Two hands press if that's better for you. Last one. Switch your sides. Here we go. Push, pull, press, and cross. All core, but also sneaking in those shoulders. Upper body, push up and here. 10 seconds, team. Hold on. Hopefully you're feeling that heart rate. Hopefully you're feeling challenge. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Catch your breath, team. Set those weights to the side. How are we feeling? I know I'm feeling it. Let's grab a sip of water. All right, team, so that is what it looks like. All right, cheers, y'. All. Water. Let's do it. All right, so we are getting it done with that series of lower upper and core. And then second round, you got some options. All right, you don't have to take them, but they're options, especially if things felt easy the first time. Try the second option. All right, y' all meet me back here. All right, we're starting with a little deadlift. Go heavy if you got it. In fact, I'm gonna grab my 20s. They don't look as pretty, but we're gonna be doing them. So we got our deadlift. And you're here. First round, shoulders are back. We're going to do that hinge, then stand up straight. So remember your deadlift. Think of it as pulling from the floor. You're painting the front of your legs with the weight, so keep them close, not out here. It's a hinge. Drive the hips to the back and stand up straight. Remember, also squeeze those armpits to activate your back. All right, team, grab some heavies right in front. In three core engage. Two, one, hinge. Stand up straight. Now, all of us are strong in this motion, right? Think about how we do this all day long. Maybe it's picking up your kids or grandkids. Maybe it is cleaning up. Maybe it's picking something up off the floor. Unloading your groceries, loading the dishwasher, whatever it is, something in your work, like maybe your work is really physical, right? We need this motion, so we want to train for it. So be careful. If you're feeling your back, I know it might be new to some of you, but challenge yourself to really get that good form. Shoulders back. Last one. And relax. All right, team, meet me on the mat. We're going down on our back. If your back is not right for you, you can do a standing press from here up. Otherwise, we're going down for a chest press. So we got a chest press, then we got a crunch, right? I'm going to give you options for both, but go ahead and join me here. I'm going to give you a few more seconds to get down. Elbows are coming at about a 45 degree angle. Core is engaged, and I want you to press up strong here to here. Again, Go heavy. These are strong muscles. So t tuck that core so everything is zipped up. In 3, 2, 1, press. Up and in, down and out. Now, what I mean by that 45 degree angle is that you're not bringing your elbows right beside the shoulders. Right? And you're not bringing them in. Going right down by your sides. Flip the difference. So that way we're getting all of your upper body push. Right. So we're getting shoulders, chest, arms, and then that core is stabilizing. Right. We really want to be thinking about working the core the entire time. I know when we're in those Perry and menopause and post stages, we are definitely one more right there. Often we're feeling it in the core. I get it. So I want you to be thinking about your core all the time. Speaking up. We're going to take it to a corner crunch. If a crunch is not right for you, I want you just to lift in the bridge and engage the core. Or just march your feet. Otherwise if you can. Hands here. We're coming everything in. Elbows to knees and everything out. You decide how big that motion is. Tuck the pelvis. Here we go. And out. What I mean by you decide if you want to make it really small, maybe it's just engaging and doing a little lift of the shoulders and bringing the knees in. Maybe you have more control and a little more of that deep core strength and mobility. You can lift the shoulders, lift the hips. Maybe you've got the mobility and the flexibility to come all the way in and out. Or maybe you want to be here. So many options. I know. Breathe. And out. 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. All right, team. So back up onto your feet. Back to those heavies. So we're going to come back down to those in just a second, but this time through kickstand deadlift. So remember we did that B stamp squat. Now it's a kickstand deadlift. So it's a hinge. Weights are here. Push up through that front heel and stand it up. If that's not right for you, you got two rounds of your regular deadlift. All right, Try to go heavy if you can. Core is engaged. Shoulders back. And again. This is just kickstand, so it's giving you balance, but you're still in that split stance. Shoulders back. Here we go. And drive it up. Stand up straight here. Hinge hips to the back and up. Take it down and up. Feel the difference, right? And again. If you're someone who maybe has been working out for a while, but that first round, that deadlift, felt a little easy. Try this. Obviously, there's another version where we lift that leg. We do a single leg, but I actually like this to get the power. Well, plenty of chances to add that single leg. I know. Last one. If you need to set those weights down, get a little hamstring stretch. We're gonna do the same thing. Other side. All right, so core engage. Making sure we're not rounding in that low back, right? Keeping that core working. Bend your knees, shoulders back, kickstand hip distance apart. In 3, 2, 1. Stand up straight. Get down. And I want you to be thinking throughout this workout, especially if you've been working out for a while or you feel like you've had some consistency in the past, but you feel like it's not working anymore, or your body is responding differently. What can you change? Is it just getting some heavier weights? I know they're not cheap, but there are lots of resale sites and places you can get them. Is it adding some more unilateral like this one leg at a time? Is it finding other ways to get progressive overload? All the things we're going to be talking about in the series. Last one. All right, team, stretch that out. Meet me on the mat again. All right, here's what we got. Power press. Think of it as the opposite of your power row. We're gonna push with power. Slow, slow, slow. On your way down, down. Core stays engaged. Go ahead and meet me down on your mat. If that's not right for you, you can, of course, just have one dumbbell between the two you do you. But let's find our positioning. Power press. Here we go. Push slow on your way down. Lots of power. And slow, slow. Of course, if you don't want to add the power, that's okay. Just find ways to make it challenging for you. Maybe it's plenty challenging with just a regular press. I don't want you to lift your shoulders. I want you to stay stable in your core. But whatever you need to do to mix it up, make it different. Push slow on your way down. Lots of power. Then slow, slow. 3, 2, 1. Relax. Set those weights down. All right, guys. So you can keep whatever version of the crunch you did before. Maybe it's the march, maybe it's here. If you want, you can add some weight to it. Watch me. Here. Over right through here. If that's not right for you, you feel like you're pulling your neck or your back, then I want you just to keep doing what you were doing before, but adding a little upper back, but more than that, making that core work harder. Here we go. Little pullover. Everything in. You can just tap it down or take it out. And again, these are ways that we want to mix it up. But if you are not ready for this, if you're getting back into exercise or you're a beginner, you're probably not ready to add weight. It's probably challenging enough without the weight. But if it feels good for you, you're listening to your body, I want you to add it so we get more of that stimulus, something different for our body to have to work against. 3, 2, 1. And relax. Yes, team. All right, let's take it up onto our feet. Quick sip of water. Watch those weights. I made a little mess with mine, so be careful. Let's grab some water, team. All right, we got one more circuit. We're gonna get through it quickly. Cheers, y'. All. But let's get it done. We got some lower, some upper, and some core. Go heavy, go hard, and then that's it. Join me. All right, team, Team. So here we are. We're gonna start with a regular lunge. Now it's up to you. You can do a reverse lunge. If that's challenging for you, if that's not right for you, you can do a little tap back. You can keep it body weight, grab onto the wall, whatever is best for you. Then when we take it, we intensify it. We're going to take it from the ground up. All right? After that, we're going to do two different things for our upper. Going to go biceps up top, triceps down below for round two. So make sure that you're going heavy on both. All right, Go ahead and find some heavy weights. You got this, team? Lunge or tap back. Core engage. Shoulders back. Let's do it. And drive it up now. Again, you can keep it body weight, you can keep it stationary. You can do a little tap back. Maybe your tap back is here. You're not getting as low, but you're still having that front leg do the work. That's the goal. It does not have to be perfect. And if you don't, if everything that I'm doing is not what your body is doing, that's okay. As long as you're safe, as long as you're moving, as long as you showed up today, that is all that matters. So don't fall into that perfection trap for that all or nothing. You're here, you're succeeding. One more and relax. Shake that out if you need a break from those weights. Sun down otherwise. Let's get set for that other side. Man. Nothing gets my heart rate up like lunges. Well, probably some things, but big muscles have to use a lot of energy. Translation, A lot of calories, a lot of things working. Here we go. Other side. That is one of the many reasons we like to work that lower body, because they also require a lot of energy just to maintain. Right? So not only do we want to work them, but just having muscle fiber, especially in our bigger muscles in our body, we have to speed up that metabolism. We have to have everything working hard. It requires a lot of energy. That is a good thing. Breathe. Every now and then, someone will say, oh, I don't really like to train my legs. Everybody should. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. All right, bend your knees to set down those weights. Like I said, our upper body, we're doing two different exercises. Our first is a bicep curl up top. Go heavy. If it's too heavy, you can always alternate. Bend your knees to grab those weights. Core engaged. Shoulders back. We're gonna curl up. We're gonna go down. Here we go right through here. Now, if it feels super easy, I want you to try to go heavier if you can. But maybe you're like me and you know your body. I know if I started with those 15s or 20s, I would only get a few in. Either way, we just want it to be challenging. And don't stress again. If you only have lighter weights or you're not feeling as challenged, you got time. This is a good workout to test your body, see where you are, and breathe. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And relax. All right, team, meet me down onto to the mat. Here's what we got. We're gonna take it to a plank. If plank on the mat is not right for you, take those elbows on the wall and walk your feet back. Or you can elevate it. Arms on the couch or a bench. But if you can, I want you to join me here. Watch me. We're gonna hold. You also have the option to be on your knees. Either way, we're holding for our core. We're just gonna hold and talk through what we need to be doing. Join me here. In three, two, one. Tuck the pelvis. What do I mean by that? Not this, but think about drawing your hips towards your ribs. Think about drawing your ribs towards your hips. What does that do? Think about zipping up the core like you're zipping up a pair of pants. Right Hands about shoulder width apart if you can. I know sometimes it feels better to be here, but just be aware of your shoulders internally rotating. Also, I want you to really squeeze in those quads and glutes, squeezing your legs and your butt, but hold it up. What does that do? Do you feel how that increases that intensity in your contraction? Make sure you're still breathing. Right, we got five, four, three, two, and one. Yes, team. All right, one more time through. Of course, we're gonna mix it up. Here is what we're doing for our lunge. I want you to watch me first. You got a couple seconds to breathe if you want to grab water is if you can. We're coming all the way down. I know that may not feel good on everybody's knees, and if it doesn't feel good on your knees, take it to the reverse lunge or step back. But if you can, we're coming up. We're dropping it all the way down. So if you want to roll up a mat or something underneath, please don't do this. If it bothers your knees, you can certainly do what we did before in a reverse lunge or a tap back. All right? But if you can and you want to try it, we're taking it from up the ground to intensify. Then we're going to do a lying tricep. You can always go overhead if you want. Oh, man. I'm going to try these. Join me in that kneeling position or step back into your lunge. Here we go. Step up out of it. Drop it back down to the floor. Step up out of it again. I'm trying to give you some tools in your toolbox, part of your toolkit, right? So let's say you only have light weights, but you want to make those lunges harder. Drop down to the ground again, only if it's good on your knees. Otherwise, you can do a regular reverse lunge or just that tap back. Right? Right through here. If you can get to the ground, go for it. You're gonna feel the difference, right? So many things working and working hard. Last one. And breathe. Shake it out. Join me down on the other side. So again, if it's better for you to do a tap back or a reverse lunge, that's okay. You can start from the ground. Start from the ground. All right. Still use this front leg to do most of the work. Drive it up. There's that heart rate in three, two, one. Challenging, right? Again. This does not have to be for you if you're a beginner or if you're new to this, just do what we did in that first round or just take it to that tap back. That works too. You do you. It's your workout, but you feel the difference right here. And up. 10 seconds to go, team. What do you got? Hang with me. And breathe. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Meet me on the mat, team. If that's right for you, we're gonna do triceps lying. If you want to go overhead, you can go one dumbbell over your head here or meet me down on your back. Here's what we got team, to show you. First, let's get it done. We got it here. We're going bend in the elbows here and up. You can even shift those shoulders back a little bit. If it's better for you to have one dumbbell, you can. Or if that doesn't feel right for you, you can do a close grip press. You'll sick at those triceps working. Join me here. We did buys. Let's get your eyes. Here we go. Bend and take them up. Now, I know those shoulders want to move, so I want you to really think you're driving it up right through here. If you need to shift your shoulders back just a tad, you're still bending from the elbows, then bringing it up, right? Oh, man. Yes, team. Here we go. Breathe. Boom. Five, four, three, two, one. And relax. Last thing, team. Let's take it to that plank now. Again, you can be on the wall or elevated. You can be on your knees. We're just going to just going to add some little knee dips. I'm going to call out some things if you want to mix it up. Otherwise, you just hold your plank. Little checklist. Join me here. Go ahead and bring it up. Here we go. So remember, we're going to tuck that pelvis, zip up the core, lock out the knees and the glutes. Nice and tight, but breathe. And then tap of the knees left and then right. See how that feels? That feels okay for you. Then let's just do a little hip dip with it so we get a little obliques. You don't have to add any of that. You can just hold it or you can be on your knees. Make it challenging for you. Don't worry about me or anybody else, but we are in the home stretch. This is it. No bonus move, I promise. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stretch it back. Press those shoulders down. Reach those hands forward. Oh, man. How do we feel, team? If you're on the mat with me, I want you to come onto all fours. Roll through your back. If you're standing, just take that from a standing position. Put your hands on a bench, on the couch, or on top of your legs and just roll through your back. How do we feel, team? Again, I want you to use this workout, especially if you're newer to fitness or getting back into it, or if you're here because you're experiencing. Bring those feet up. Get a little pedal here. Because you're experiencing the symptoms of perimenopause or going through menopause, whatever it is, I want you to pay attention to how you feel in your workouts. Do you feel challenged enough? Slowly roll it up. Maybe you feel challenged in the fact that your heart rate gets up, but maybe your muscles aren't feeling it as much. You don't have to be sore during or after a workout for it to be effective. But if you're someone who used to get sore and now you don't, might be trying to switch it up. You're feeling like you end a workout and you're like, oh, I could. I could have done more. Or you end a set. Like, we get to the end of those 40 seconds and you feel like you could do more like 10 or 20 more, not just three or four more. Might be time to mix it up. And again, that could be heavier weights or that could be taking the variations that I'm giving you. I do that in a lot of my workouts anyway. But we're going to keep doing that with these workouts for menopause and before and after. Reach it forward. Let me know in the comments. How did you feel? Roll those wrists and your elbows. Little hamstring stretch from here. Please get some more stretching and mobility on your own. I have tons of videos for that. But remember, we want to get that mobility work beyond just at the end of the workout. We want to be getting it throughout your day and your week. We all need it, and we all need more of it. Hips to the back right here. Leave me a comment. Let me know if you have questions. Of course. Don't forget to head on over and subscribe. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, and if you're not already here, check us out in the Bodyfit Athletic Club. Roll those shoulders, team. Ah, thank you so much for being here today. You showed up, you worked hard. It doesn't matter what it looks like. I'm just happy that you're here and I hope to see you back for more. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your total body strength workout. Great job, everybody.