20/09/2021
We learn young that exercise supports our health, that we should do it regularly, that getting our heart pumping is a good thing, and that we ought to do enough to balance out with what we eat to manage weight (because of the calories in vs calories out ideal, so why not aim to burn as many as possible in your chosen form of exercise, right?).
Like a lot of things, what we learned years ago (even if we heard it yesterday) may not be serving us today.
This also goes for exercise.
And it especially goes for the women I serve: active, driven women in our near or their 40s.
That's because we're all so unique. Our daily hormonal landscape is different from the 24-hour cycle of men. And at different phases of our life, our hormones will look different too (puberty, fertile years, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause etc.)
Our exercise needs will shift with our hormones. (That is if you want to keep them from going haywire.)
I'm 100% for exercise, just doing it smarter instead of harder, or longer, or faster or sweatier. (Plus variety!)
Side note: I actually prefer to call it a movement because movement includes so much more than just exercise.
When it comes to women's hormones, exercise can work against us just as it can work for us.
Ways of exercising that might not be supporting your hormone health:
- constant steady-state cardio (too often)
- high-intensity training (too often)
- back to back heavy or hard sessions
- training when you're physically exhausted or not adequately recovered
- when you're adding more stress to your already full bucket
- prioritising calorie burn over muscle maintenance or pleasure
๐If your aim is to keep your body in balance, here are some things to try:
- take at least one rest day a week
- work in weekly active recovery days (meaning you move but not in a strenuous way)
- alternate harder sessions with light ones
- focus on recovery & rest over calorie burn (how will you help yourself recharge from that session)
- go easy or take extra rest in the second half of your luteal phase
- scale back 1 week a month
- listen to your body
๐How about you? What's worked or hasn't worked for you?