Too Much or Not Enough Variety in Exercise in Menopause?

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What are you waiting for? Good night. How much variety do you need in midlife or beyond? How much variety do you need and want in your menopause fitness experience? When you're talking about the exercises that you're going to do on a day-to-day basis, you're talking about moving from, from point A to B to C and actually progressing, where does variety come in? How much do you want? How much is too much? And how much is too little?

I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness in menopause and and beyond before you knew to ask them. Yeah, the goal: to help accelerate your results with 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, and it's not just about you but the 3 generations that you influence My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, and an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made-for-menopause and beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts 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 that you want, need, and deserve.

Hey, welcome back to another episode. Listen, I I'm gonna answer this question because it is a challenging one. And honestly, I have to let you know that my response to this was not at all defensive. I hope that it comes clear that that's true because it's absolutely the truth. And I think my response is public here because I want everybody to understand how very important this is to understand and link this to potentially evidence that you've had over the years that you may not be putting together. I had somebody recently comment about a sample program. So she was in a short-term 5 or 10-day program and she felt compelled when she was finished to write in and to say, I don't think this program is for me. This appears to be cookie cutter with the lunges and such. And I was expecting more progressive programming with different variety 'Exercises,' quote unquote. And again, you know, I wasn't triggered by this at all, and yet it's a perfect opportunity to share with you the simple Reader's Digest version right here. I could save you the 30 minutes, or, or slightly less, I'm sure that this will be, is that some of the very best and most effective exercises are the basics. The basics get us what we want. We only have so many joints in our body, and each of those joints only has so many joint actions. If we get really creative, we are actually probably not progressive with exercise. We are variety for variety's sake, and I want to caution you about that. So certainly we can combine balance with strength. That usually means we're doing something one-sided. We can combine that with dynamic movement, which makes it dynamic balance, and we could add power to it. We make it asymmetrical. If we're doing balance, generally you're on one leg or the other, one arm or the other. So it's got multiple things going on. However, the more creative we go with those options and the less linked they are to something that you're doing— what comes to my mind first and foremost is golfing probably has the most opportunity, because when you think about golf, although the body is somewhat static, it is also doing a lot of movement, micro movements, but the feet are planted until they're not, until we're pivoting and there's a shift of weight. And you're rotating around an axis, which is ideally, ideally it's your hip, not your lower back, that's doing the rotation for you. And your torso, your spine, shoulders are doing the rotation. And when you think about that, that sets you up for— now, if I could do some strength and power work within those parameters, having rotation, being one-sided, unilateral, and/or asymmetrical, I'm probably going to help my golf game. Or for me as a strength and conditioning coach, going to help someone have a better golf game if they're able to do that. However, most of us are not primarily interested in golf. So what I want to share is there is nothing better than the basics. And the reason is this: the bigger concerns for women over 40— and then it's actually the bigger concerns for women not just over 40 but over 50, they get higher, they're, they're greater concerns over 60 and 70 and 80, progressively greater concerns— are preserving our lean muscle, Because many of us would say our biggest thing we want is weight loss. We want fat loss because of the fat that maybe accumulated post-menopause. We see that all the time. There's about this 10-pound gain and/or shift in where it is on your body if you were the lucky one who didn't gain the weight. But those concerns become highest priority now. Number one, for vanity's sake. Fitting into our clothes and our energy levels go down. And also later for more disease risk, heart disease, cancers, blood sugar, which leads to prediabetes, diabetes. These things are, the foundation is either laid now or the foundation for better health to avoid them is laid down right now. And those pieces, if we are the equivalent of Match.com for exercise. And we could say, what are your highest priorities right now? And you would tell me weight loss or fat loss specifically. I want to gain strength. I want to lose the fatigue and gain the energy. What we know is our highest priority is preserving or gaining lean muscle mass, preserving or gaining bone density. And as a positive side effect for, for those are going to be some brain health. So better concentration, better focus, better memory. Anybody? And I think the older we get, the more we experience it. But yet, if you were hit really hard by some of those things during menopause, you know what I mean. Even in your 40s, this may be occurring for you. So these are the biggest things we want to focus on. And just doing an exercise that has a lot of variety, that seems really fun, that we might pick out as this is a great exercise, is not necessarily going to be a great exercise for you. And those two words are the biggest ones when it comes to exercise selection. Not just are we thinking, is this a great exercise, but we should be thinking This is a great exercise for me, or you are thinking— I am thinking for you, this is a great exercise for you based on where you are now, where you've been, what you want. This is the direct link. That's how we choose. So think about the basic exercises that seem cookie cutter because we only have so many joints with so many links to range of motion. Squats help you get out of a car.

And you know what that is?

That's also up and down from a toilet by yourself. Lunges help you pick things up off the floor, namely yourself. When you struggle to get off the floor, a lunge is the position that will help you get up. They help you, help you manage stairs. Deadlifts, if you're able to do them, safely and are using proper technique, they're helping you bend over and pick things up. Dogs, children, dog food, the gardening soil. We all need certain things, and those lunges that strengthen your legs, those squats that strengthen your legs, that seem so cookie cutter, are the things that do it, that gain the strength in the glutes the quadriceps, the hamstrings that make those major muscles move. So if you are creative and thinking, I'm going to create a program that's out of the box— and I'm talking to you health and fitness pros who I know also are listening— or you're thinking, I love this program because it's so different and unique, you may be just a person who probably went to Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors, and you are always thinking, what would 32 and 33 being right. You were thinking, I want a triple scoop, and it's— you chose the creative ones, not always the same, and that's great. But when it comes to your exercise, I think you really want to be looking at what is success to me at the end of this program, at the end of this 12 weeks or this year. What do I want to have accomplished? Not just How do I want to be entertained? Really important distinction. Some of those pieces of creativity, of variety, have a place, and those places are the warm-up or the cool-down, where this is a perfect time to put in flexion, extension, lateral flexion, rotation— movements that you're not just going to throw in as you're doing the other heavier weights that are going to target your lean muscle your bone density, because in some places those things would not be safe done with multiple facets at the same time. We're not looking to simply let's do it a different way just to do it a different way. We're looking at does this actually have utility in getting to the goal satisfaction that we want? Is it Changing body composition if that's your goal? Is it increasing your strength if that's your goal? So we do have to have a measure of the outcome that we want and know exactly what that is.

Hey, this is Debra Atkinson, and there is one thing you can't do in the gym at your age, and that's get all the protein that you need. You've I've got to do that in the kitchen. To make it easy for myself, not only to get the protein but the fiber, the fruits and vegetables I want daily, I started drinking a smoothie a day 30 years ago. But when I realized all the junk, the sugar, and the extras that you don't want, that I don't want, hiding in most protein powders, that's when I finally caved in after years of saying I will never ever ever sell supplements. Stop skipping, skimping, and sabotaging yourself in the morning after workouts by always being prepared. Look, yep, I agree, real food first.

But it's just not convenient to carry a turkey sandwich.

Sometimes the protein— and don't forget the fiber— they kill cravings and they boost satiety. And you have You've got to make it easy to do the right thing. You can use code PODCAST for 10% off your first order at flipping50.com today.

But the way that we get variety with these cookie cutter exercises that are really 7 types of movement, they are, they are a squat, right? They are a push. A pull, they're a lunge, they're a hinge. And these types of motions appear over and over and over in daily activities of living, in sport, as well as in exercise. But remember that exercise was created to improve our sport performance, to improve our daily activity of life performance, to improve our lean muscle, to improve the work rate and the efficiency of our heart performance. So what you want to do is focus on the exercise equivalent of Match.com. My goal is this. The exercises that directly will help me get that are this. Those are the things we want to do. But here's the difference between something that's effective versus you could go to a textbook and say, okay, I'm going to do the major muscle group compound exercises, multi-joint, that is, for the legs and for the chest and for the back. What are those? And you could do those. But the beauty in high-quality program design is in manipulation. For women in midlife and menopause beyond, it's the time of day that you do the exercise. No longer is the time that you'll do it, because you might be more inclined or think, I have more time to do it at 4:00, 4:30, or 5:00 PM when I get off work. That's not necessarily the ideal time for you to do the exercise that is going to get you the best endocrine system result. So this is a really important distinction again to make. So looking at that, what I want you to realize is that What makes an exercise progressive is the buildup of challenge that comes from manipulation of the sequence of the exercise. So although you're going to see squats and lunges and chest presses and pulls for the back in every workout that focuses on major muscles, total body workouts, you're going to see them in different order and sequence. You're going to see them with different rest periods between performing the exercises and the sets, and from one workout to the next is going to vary quite dramatically. So looking at not just the exercises but the sequence of them, the order of them, and you're going to look at that with a new lens on Was this really planned, or did I just drop this out, or I walked into the gym and this machine was available? Don't do that, right? And this is why you really have to be somebody who knows what you're doing when you go to the gym. So you walk with purpose. When you walk to a machine, you stand there with a certain body language that says, no, no, no, don't you scroll on your phone while I'm waiting for this machine. So it can be done, I promise you, if you're in the gym, but you have to be prepared and solid in knowing what's the order that I'm doing and why am I doing it. If you don't know, it's time to get a good handle on this. You really need to know with some absolute commitment, this is why I'm doing it in this order and nobody's throwing me off my game today. So super important that you think about also the timing or the rest between your workouts. Monday and Wednesday versus Monday and Thursday allows you a complete other 24 hours to get rest and recover fully before you do it again. Now, if you had a different purpose or workout in between, maybe you could do it every 48 hours, but this should be no accident. And also, I want to tell you something. So we just spent, um spent about 5 days with, uh, 10 women total in a group at the Flipping 50 retreat in Colorado this year, um, or this month. We have another coming up in September in the Grand Canyon if you're interested. But having watched and observed women— and we talk about fuel a lot, we talk about how to pre-fuel, fuel during, fuel afterward You know, and it needs to be repeated over and over. And a lot of women will say, I feel fine. And I'm like, I know, that's great. You still need to recover. So feeling fine is not enough. So often it really is very helpful for us to be wearing, you know, our trackers that will tell us what's your heart rate variability right now, because if heart rate variability is low, we're potentially not where we need to be. We actually want a high degree of heart rate variability, and that is the, the distance between beats. And you might think, well, it should be stable. Actually, no, we want a great deal of variability between it. So when you're in the high 80s and 90s, you're really— body, your body is saying, I'm ready for a workout. If it is very low, You know, you need another rest day and recovery. So sometimes having this feedback is very helpful. It's not a feels like. Women are really poor judges, and we know this because women push through. We can get things done. We can do anything if we need to, to do it for somebody else. But we often don't listen really well to what it is that we need to do for ourselves. And you may not feel it. If you're used to overcoming, overcharging. But as soon as your speed slows down, you're doing the same workout, it can't go as fast, you're doing the same workout, can't lift as much or do as many repetitions, all of that, and your heart rate is higher at the same speed you normally go, all of that is an indication. We just came back from altitude where most people who were there don't live. They were already overtraining in overreaching during that period. So it's understandable that they would actually need a little bit more recovery than they most likely think. And how you feel is not a good gauge. So it's important to realize putting more time between can be really important. But these are parts of what is truly progressive exercise. That would mean going from A to B to C in the shortest amount of time possible. And I don't mean rushing it, but getting you to progress, to be stronger, be faster, be fitter, be recovering sooner. That says your exercise is progressive. Simply being more creative is not a good gauge of is this creative or not, is this progressive or not. So consider what you're looking for when you find a program. The factor that I think that this particular commenter, with total respect, was really looking at is she has a greater need for variety potentially. And if not, she may have simply been misinformed to think that progressive exercise means something other than basic movements that the body has.. And, you know, unfortunately, you learned exercise once in your life, you know it your whole life. What you now need to know is, how do I put this in the right sequence, in the right order? How do I change it up from one workout to the other and still make sure I'm manipulating volume in the right way? Since I'm not going to put it in the same sequence, you're not comparing apples to apples by simply increasing the reps or increasing the weight. Doing the same workout again. That's not a great idea. We do want variety. We want to change the stimulation, but you have to have a keen eye to look at— was that program designed so I'm still increasing my volume over the course of weeks when even though the workouts are slightly different? That takes time to master that. So there is a reason why strength and conditioning coaches— the certification is called The agency, National Strength and Conditioning Association. You know, once you've got that, a lot of people don't pass that test the first time. A lot of people won't even take the test because it's a pretty costly one to sign up for. If you don't pass, you don't just get a second shot at it. You have to, have to actually pay again to do so. But it's expensive and it's an investment of time to really be prepared. But once people pass that, they never ever let it expire because it's a tough one to pass. Now, you know, that's, that's a little like saying you don't think you could pass it again if you, if you let it expire, which, you know, hopefully we all could. Like a doctor renewing their license, right? Could they go through grad school and pass the boards again? Hopefully so. But you want to look specifically at what it is you want and need in a program in order to stay stimulated and excited and engaged with it, as well as what's required to actually physically get you the results you want. I think both of those are important in your decision-making about what it is that you need. So I hope that shed some light completely respectfully. And I really thank the person who took the time to comment because it was such a great opportunity to share with you what's important about reaching your goals in menopause and beyond.

Thank you for listening. To listen to a decade of episodes and To get the show notes, visit flipping50.com where you'll be able to find all the previous episodes. And I made it super easy to make the most of your listening time and get exactly what you want to listen to as top priority by getting the top 10 episodes in the areas you most care about, like how much protein do you need, weight loss, and other 3 ultra-important topics we've identified as our community's top 5. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than you, midlife women. So go and listen right now.

So there you have it, what I hope is just a recap for you about what are the things that you want to evaluate when you're looking at, is this the best program for me? So number 1, are you gonna be interested, engaged, stimulated enough to stick with it and keep coming back to it? And that has a lot to do with how much variety do you need and want? How much would be overwhelming versus underwhelming for you? And how are the cues? How's the communication, the instruction coming at you? Does it feel like a fit? Does it feel like I could listen to this person, trust what this person is telling me? That's an important distinction as well. Then you also want to look at the understanding of what it is I want, the outcome I want, not just now, the next 12 weeks, or the next 6 months, but also for the future. How am I set up for 5 and 10 and 20 years down the road? What is it that I really want? And check into no more than 3 priorities, but order them. 1, 2, and 3, because it may be bone density, it may be lean muscle mass or body composition. I would like to decrease my percent body fat. So think about, think about that. And then from there, it's looking at the realization of what is the commitment. So we haven't talked a lot about that, but Is the time commitment of this program realistic for you? I know people who register for programs that they will get in there 5 days every week, and a lot of people struggle to commit to 2 or to 3, let alone to 5. So if it feels like more than you can actually commit to for the rest of your life, consider that it's probably not the very first step step that you may want to take.

Okay, so there you have it.

I would so appreciate it if you'd share this with a friend. And if you happen to be a health and fitness coach, I also hope that this resonated. In the resources for today's show, I will add for you the link to the Specialist Program. We only open a couple times of year. We're now taking cohorts through a 6 6-month program where we're actually coaching live 4 times every month for a total of 5 hours every month and helping everybody 10x their investment on the program within 6 months. So if that sounds good to you and you're a health and fitness coach, or you want to be, and you want to offer services that help midlife women, this is for you too. For everyone else, we have two options. The 12-week strength training program known as Stronger began back in 2016, and our membership, fondly called at first launch The Cafe, we now call it the Flipping 50 membership. So if you're interested in specifically science-based training based on women in midlife and beyond, this is for you. And I'd love to see you there.

Do you have a question for a podcast? A question you'd love to ask, or maybe a story you want to tell? Did you know we have a special group just for podcast question roundups and the answers? My community coaches and I provide answers daily inside of this group, but it's also where I go when I occasionally say, okay, open call for podcast questions, or tell your story, would you like to be a guest? So if you're looking for a community of women who are also interested in optimizing their health, strengthening their mindset, and looking forward to every new year, join the Flipping 50 Insiders group. That's Flipping 50 Insiders on Facebook.