3 Short Strength Training Session Strategies for Women in Menopause

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I'm Debra Atkinson, and you're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness in menopause and beyond before you know to ask them. The goal: to help accelerate your results with the science and the practical application of proven protocols. While living your best life. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than a midlife woman.

It's not just you, but it's the 3 generations that you influence.

My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made made for menopause and beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts behind the science of optimal hormone balancing, fitness, and longevity, and share answers to our community's questions so you can have the vitality and the energy you want, need, and deserve.

Welcome back. I'm so glad you're here. I am really excited to share this. So as I I almost write it out like a blog post before I decide to do a solo, and I'm usually diving into some of the research. In this case, I've shared much of this research before, so I'm not going to hold you accountable to a bunch of resources and references. They're here, they're, they're behind the books, they're behind the articles, the content, the previous shares, and they're definitely kind of tucked away into masterclasses. But all of this, of course, is science-based, but I want to make sure that I share one really important tip. There are those times, there's those days, there's those workouts that have to be shortened because we're out of time. And yet consistency and doing it was really important. These three short strategies for getting in a workout when otherwise you might not be able to do a workout and really getting in a quality workout. Not just choosing a part of it, but choosing the most important part and getting what you really need to muscle fatigue is so, so very important. I'm often caught between a rock and a hard place with our members. So for the last 11 years, we've been totally dedicated to women in perimenopause, postmenopause, and inevitably this comes up, as it always will for us, and that is that, you know, could you just create short workouts? Could you create like "Are there any 15 or 20-minute workouts?" You know, and there are a couple, but they're not where I would want you to stay or be or hang out for a long period of time. Because on the other hand, same people will be asking, I know who you are, "I wanna work on my bone density. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia," or, "I wanna work on my metabolism or to lose my belly fat." And right, you see the dilemma. There's a certain volume required in order to stimulate bone, in order to give you enough volume to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, especially if you're older, you're a woman post-menopause, you need greater volume. So these 3 secrets will be ways to help you either shorten your strength training session— 2 out of 3 of them are really going to help you do that. One of them is also going to help you if you are a woman who needs to go lighter. You can't go heavy, maybe because of a condition like arthritis, fibromyalgia, a pre— previously injured shoulder, for instance, might be a limiter for you. Um, maybe you've got arthritis in your hands, you can't grip, so gripping heavy weights is really problematic for you, but lighter is not such a problem. So there are all kinds of issues I've dealt with with clients over the last 4 decades, and these will help you get efficient and effective volume both within the workout. So consistency is the key to better fitness. It is a challenge for women in midlife, so some of the options that you'll find here are focused on time-saving ways to make a workout effective without a huge time investment. However, the trade-off— and you will need to consider yourself adequately warned— when you're going to get a short workout and have it be just or as effective as possible, as close as possible to a longer workout, you are going to work harder, and inevitably you're going to feel that harder work. Are we clear? Okay. So that said, a certain amount of volume is really the key for older women. Postmenopausal need that stimulus that muscle requires for the muscle protein synthesis that boosts muscle strength and mass. So I'm going to give you 3 things. Here they are. So if you, for some reason, you're on the show, you're on the show notes, you're on the podcast, and you want to zoom ahead, you know what's coming. Number 1, I'm going to talk about tempo training. Number 2, I'll talk about myoreps, or cluster sets as it's called. Number 3 is called monster sets, and often those are also called drop sets depending on the circles that you circulate in. So let's start with short strength training session number 1, tempo training. Now this is really the combined if you can't go heavy and you want to do this. But you may find— this is so ironic— tempo training will slow you down. However, it'll slow you down within a set so that the weight you're lifting will help you reach fatigue sooner than having to do multiple, multiple sets and higher and higher repetitions. So it still is time-consuming to a certain extent, but it is time-saving because you will be more effective with the workout that you spend the time that you are spending. So I hope that makes sense. It will when I describe it. Tempo training changes the traditional— what is 2 to 3 second lifting phase and the approximately 4 second lowering phase. So that is in general an average of about 6 seconds per repetition. So if you're doing math with me, that's about 10 repetitions a minute. Now Now I would challenge you, I'm challenging you now in fact, to go and do this the next time you work out, especially if you're working out on your own. Do 10 repetitions and look at your watch. If that was 30 seconds, it was 40 seconds, you're going a little faster than would be optimal for muscle mass and muscle strength. So you might want to slow that down. That's not quite tempo training. But that puts you at least at a lack of momentum. And we don't want to use momentum when we're actually lifting through the full range of motion. Using speed on a lift is something else. It's called power. And I don't want you to do that, or wouldn't want you to do that if I were working with you one-on-one until you have a good base of support consistently. You've been lifting for 3 to 6 months at a slow and controlled rate. That should happen before you add power. All right, so let's go on. So let's, instead of that 2 to 3 second lift in that 4, 3 to 4 second lower, let's talk about this. So the lift plus the pause at the end range, then the lower, then the pause at the end of the lift. But the weight is, by the way, still kept in tension. You're not actually putting it down, so you're adding 4 unique time changes, not just the lifted 2 to 3 seconds and lower in 3 to 4 seconds. You're actually going to stop at 4 different places and assign it a time. So by changing these any number of ways, really an infinite number of ways, you suddenly have just all kinds of options. You have all kinds of ways that you can change it and you can emphasize the concentric, the lifting phase. You can emphasize the eccentric, that is the lowering phase. And by the way, that is the phase that causes the most soreness, so you might want to think twice about doing that. But it also provides many of the advances that occur with strength training. So let me just give you a sample. So let's say we're going to lift and we're On the back, lying on the back, we're going to press up in a chest press. Okay? So imagine that you're doing that. You're going to push up in 4 counts. Now, normally it's probably 2. Most of us are in a hurry. You're going to do 4. So already it's like, oh my gosh, I've got to think about this, right? And then you're going to hold it at the top for 2 seconds. Now, when you're holding your straight arm out, you're not locking your arm. You're keeping it slightly flexed at the elbow so that you're protecting the elbow joint. And the muscle is actually more under tension. Then you're going to lower it back down in 4 seconds again, and at the end place back here, you're going to hold it for 2 seconds. So if that's holding 2 at each of the ends and it's 4 seconds on a lift and a lower, that would be 12 seconds total. We have doubled the time under tension, and your muscle will reach fatigue with a lighter weight than you ever thought possible, probably, if you've never tried this before. It's a real game changer. So if you find yourself at your in-law's house and they, they have some weights, they have some dumbbells, but they don't have the weights you think you need, they're lighter, you can try tempo. And this may be a way for you to reach fatigue. Likewise, you're in a hotel room and they don't have enough weights or somebody else has the ones you need, right? This is another way to go about your business and play and have another option. By changing these, you can really have an infinite way to also tune in, like not check out. You have to think about it, right? So counting, you know, 1,001, 1,002, 1,003, 1,004, holding twice. Back down in the same way. It really— I mean, it's, it's painstaking if you want to know the truth, but it really pays off. So who is this effective for? Super effective for those who are limited in the ability to go heavy, but they want to reach muscular fatigue, or within that, with, you know, 2 reps in reserve of reaching muscle fatigue. It's also a great way to slow yourself down, check whether you've just gotten in a hurry to do reps. You aren't even really optimizing muscle, but but instead you are using momentum. We don't want to do that. Short strength training session number 2 is called myoreps, so, or cluster reps as they're called, is essentially just one large set broken into micro sets. So I've shared previously that it's been several years ago, because of the pandemic it's a little hard to tell, but I do think it was the, the kind of tail end anyway of the pandemic. It was within that period of time women in particular were featured as benefiting from volume, and women were the feature in the study as the subjects. And this was published in a journal called Idea Fit. It is made for health and fitness professionals, generally those who are instructors or trainers, some health coaches also. And in the article, it suggested that, as we well know, volume gets really much more important in our 60s than it was in our 40s. So post-menopause versus perimenopause, we need more volume. And that's not more days a week, it's not necessarily a longer session, though it might be. It's, you know, 4 sets as opposed to 5. It's— I'm sorry, it's 4 sets as opposed to 3. It's 5 sets as opposed to 4. And building up your volume that way. Now, that might mean, in order to keep the session from not getting too long, that not all exercises you do with that volume. But when we're talking about major muscles of the chest, of the back, of the legs, lower body, then I would say absolutely yes, we want volume there because that is impact, positive impact for our metabolism. Where we don't maybe is what we call antilary— like we're working our biceps, our triceps they're actually coming out to play when we do chest press and rows, but we may not have to do 5 sets for them. I'll give you an idea of how I do my ancillary videos like that when I'm doing kind of time saving in the next episode that I do. So wait for this one next week and I'll share this little secret of how I do and You can fit in good bicep or tricep work without that having to take much time, but it's slightly different than what we're talking about here. So in myoreps, what it's like is, you know, in the last few days I've heard a couple of podcasts that actually make me nervous about this whole idea because they're hosted and they're guested, if that's a verb, by young, you know, 20-to-something, 30-to-something adults who haven't yet felt the change from perimenopause, who aren't dealing with postmenopausal lack of estrogen, testosterone, hormonal, adrenal issues. They're in a very different state. So as they're sharing what is great information, what is great science, one of the things that bothers me a bit about what they're sharing although they're breaking down studies, is they're not sharing as much about who were the subjects and what was the age of these subjects and the hormonal status of these subjects. But they're also not potentially sharing how similar or different this could be for someone else, because even listening to information on a study that isn't about you or somebody just like you might have some carryover, and we have to keep the door open for that. But we want to be able to say, okay, let's be transparent. Tell me who is in the study. Tell me, you know, were these college coeds that you were looking at? Because I'm not going to listen as closely if that's true. It's, it's not going to be true for me, you know. And you want to be able to make that distinction, but unfortunately we don't We didn't get that today, and I was a little disappointed. So it's very interesting when a podcast like that, you know, does something like suggesting 3 times a week strength training, or that split training even up to 4 or 5 days a week would also be okay. I think that's a whole nother discussion right there because, you know, in my experience, and we're talking 4 decades here, and this is not about being right or having an opinion, it's Based on what I've seen, many women in midlife are already in this pre-exhausted state, tired all the time. Adrenals and stress are really a problem. And if we're trying to have you exercise 3 and 4 times a week and go hard at each one of those workouts, something's going to give. And, you know, we're not moving you forward. We're actually part of the problem when we're doing that. We're not honoring it. So I always come back to the science that still says today 2 and 3 times per week show almost exactly the same. There is no significant difference or improvement between 3 times versus twice per week. So when we know that's true, I'm going to lean in to the fact that women are tired and women need recovery from that exercise as much as they need the stimulus. But if we all get in there and we go 3 times a week or 4, and it's just now muddy water, we're not really working hard when we're supposed to be, and we're not totally recovering when we're supposed to be, we are going to get muddy results. I mean, there's not going to be concrete, real improvements in what it is you're doing, whether that goal for you is fat loss or whether that's increased lean muscle or it is improved bone density. We have to really stay true to I have to have both. I have to have the stimulus and I have to have the adequate recovery. So there are two issues that I have with that.

Hey, this is Debra Atkinson.

I love creating the Flipping 50 podcast for you, and I have for over a decade. I also love helping midlife women shift not only their physical energy, but their beliefs about what effective exercise looks like and how much it can positively and powerfully impact your life. How you menopause and exercise in menopause determines how you will live, not just now, but decades from now. If you're not exercising right now, you're getting tired, not stronger, or you think you don't have time or the energy to exercise, do a 5-day flip with me. I'll send you one short video a day for 5 days. It's just 15 to 20 minutes long, so you can see exactly how I plan out a fitness plan for myself and for thousands of clients I've worked with. You can get this at flipping50.com right now.

What are you waiting for? Let's start flipping 50 together. There are two issues that I have with that And it is that lack of recovery time, and it is my fear that, you know, 15-minute workouts, you know, the short workouts every day that are also recommended a little too frequently for women— it's not enough bone stimulus, it's not enough muscle stimulus. I do think it's a valid first start, but I think in total honesty and transparency, a trainer or fitness instructor who's educated will tell you, and they should, this is not enough for you to make gains long term. This is a start. Let's build a habit on this. Let's get you moving. And you probably will see some results from that, but they will be short-lived, and we need to keep going. So I think that is a valid answer. So just want that said. So if you are new to weights, you're just starting out, starting somewhere is definitely better than nothing. But if your hope is that you're improving your longevity or your bone density by 15-minute workouts. I think it's simply wrong and misleading to let you feel or think that. Short strength training session number 2, those mild results are this: you're gonna do like one long set, but we're gonna break it up. So in this instance, you're essentially taking rest and recovery between the repetitions. So there are a couple different ways to do this. You can do a single first set where you're reaching fatigue in— sometimes people will do 12 repetitions, sometimes up to 20, but you're doing a set where you're actually activating the muscle, and that is, that is the cause of it. It's really a warm-up set, if you will. So you're warming up, you're causing the muscles to be awake, you've recruited, they're ready, probably also safer. And then you're going to pick up weights and go heavier, and you're going to do maybe 5 to 7 repetitions to fatigue. You're going to rest for about 5 breaths, 5 seconds, 5 breaths, whatever that is, and you're going to go again. And same weight, 5 to 7 times, and you're going to keep going with that just 3 to 5 second rest in between. Until you're done. Now, sometimes what I personally have done is chosen to cap it. So I have started and I've done a weight that I know that I will reach fatigue in a reasonable amount, and I go up to 35 or 36 repetitions. I don't want to do any more than that, but I will take a break at every 5 or 6. Often I don't have to do that for the first couple of sets, so I might get to 12 without needing a break, and then I'll take a quick pause and then I'll go again, 5 more. Whenever you're doing that and you can't get 3— if you can't get 3 repetitions, then you're done. So that's a pretty good rule of thumb, but realize that you're going to be going heavy. Those workouts need to be heavy in order to be effective. All right, similar but different. My favorite is short strength training session number 3. It's called the monster set, and I will do this with almost all major muscle groups. I've sometimes done this close to it with triceps and biceps, but I do a little bit more manipulation with the repetitions on those. So These are also called drop sets. So monster sets, meaning one big long but multiple sets in it, or drop sets. This is a super efficient way to do a lot of sets. You do all of them all at once. And I love this for working out in a gym where, you know, you might have in your head you're going to do a superset on one machine and the other machine and go back and forth. Well, there's a lot of other people in that gym that are not on bandwagon with you and your workout and don't care what your plan was. They care about theirs, so they're going to get on that machine and sit on it, and you need it. And so it's just frustrating because you can't actually get in and out in the time you want. So when I go to a gym, especially, you know, I, I work for myself, so I can often— I can go in at a random time if I want I need to, but sometimes I just can't, or I'm in the middle of a project or flow and I don't want to get up and, and leave. So I'm in the gym at a busy time just like anybody else. But what I will do is use, say, the leg press, or, um, I don't use a lot of other machines. The only other real example would be lat pulldown. Otherwise I'm using free weights just like I would if I were doing it at home. But I will get on the leg press and I will do— make sure first that you're good and warmed up. And this is a caveat: you're going to start with your heaviest weight, the heaviest weight that you can lift 15 times. And when you're doing that heaviest weight you can do 15 times to fatigue, then you're going to get up, you're gonna— or you're gonna change your pin, but you're going to take the plates off, reduce the weight, and go again right away. That was the only rest you're gonna get. So if it's just changing the pin, not much rest at all, right? And then you're going to go again, 15 more. So it's 15 repetitions each and every time. The first set is the most crucial, so you have to reach muscle fatigue in order for those consecutive sets to get you muscle fatigue again. So it's an important distinction that you've got to make. So with that, you know, I will do sometimes— always 4 times 15, but sometimes I will do a 5th or a 6th set, even often ending with unilateral work, meaning there's not even any plates on it. The sled, if I'm on a leg press itself, has some weight on it, but I'll do single-leg work or unilateral work, as it's called. And the reason is it really kind of gets that last set of fatigue. And if you've gone fatigue and fatigue and fatigue, the muscles have really endured a major, major set that, um, will be super beneficial. And it's an anomaly often from what you normally do, and often that is a good thing. It's like, get yourself something different and new and nuanced, and you will find most likely that you're doing far better work in your regular routine. So you, you break the rules sometimes in order to get even better results. So the way that works, again, just so you've got that, your first set is the heaviest that you'll lift. So you want to reach fatigue in 15 repetitions, and immediately you reduce the weight, you do another set of 15. You continue to do that till you have at least 4 sets. And if you really reached fatigue in 15 repetitions, By the end of 4 consecutive sets, you will feel very accomplished. So we use that word. And again, I love to kind of end with a, a real burner being, you know, a unilateral leg work right on the machine. So each of them, that also gives you a great opportunity to compare. How's my right to my left? Is it the same? Whether you're comparing how's that joint handling that, or it's the muscle and the strength itself. So there you have it. 3 3 short strength training session strategies. Number 1 was tempo training, and also very applicable for those of you who need not just short, effective, and efficient, but who might need to reach fatigue with a lighter weight because of some other limitation. Number 2 is called myoreps, and myo standing for muscle, or also referred to as cluster sets. And this is really just one long set where you're taking micro breaks within the set. The key here is it needs to be heavy, heavy enough that you can only do about 5 to 7, need a little break and a recharge, but you don't get a lot, and then you're going to go right back to it. And the last one is monster sets. So again, key for these two big sets is you've got to reach fatigue in that first set, otherwise you're kind of just putting in a bunch of volume. It's not really counting to do what you want it to do. When you do a monster set, you reach fatigue in that very first set of 15, taking off the weight will immediately feel like, oh, this is so much lighter. But if you've only taken off a little bit of weight, which is what you should do, is just peel off the next layer, you will find, oh yeah, I reached fatigue again because you didn't give yourself rest and recovery in between. It's just a big, big set. Set, a monster set. There you have it. Next week when I do the next solo episode, I will share with you some strategies that I use when I'm lining up, say, my tricep training, my bicep training, shoulder work, how I do those without having to really spend a lot of time getting a whole lot of rest in between, but yet get a lot of extension of muscle fatigue, muscle fatigue, muscle fatigue. And then I only hit those really hard, maybe once a week, because you're getting biceps and triceps when you push and you pull. They're ancillary muscles, they're still present. If you're doing any kind of pull-ups, and I certainly hope you are, or trying to get those first pull-ups, you're working your biceps a lot in that as well. All right, there you have it. I'd love to hear from you. For those of you who are health coaches or personal trainers, don't forget that this and many of our episodes are sponsored by the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. It's the first and one of the only exclusively hormone-centric for women training courses that there is to give you a specialist designation for the millions of women who are looking for trainers and health coaches just like you.

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