 If you’ve reached your mid-forties or beyond and noticed that what once kept you strong and fit, or lean and trim no longer works — you’re not imagining it. Increasing your training is not the answer. And reducing calories is definitely not the answer.
That old piece of advice given to younger, sedentary women — “Eat less, do more” — simply doesn’t apply here. In fact, following it at this stage of life can actually make things worse. 👉 Note: This post is written for women who are already active and exercising regularly. If you’re more sedentary, my advice will look a little different (I’ll cover that in a future blog). So, if fat loss, lean mass gain, improved strength, stronger bones, and better metabolic health aren’t achieved by just eating less and doing more — how do we actually get there? The answer: Fuel for training and recovery, not restriction. When you train smart (I’ll explain what that means below), recover well, and fuel at the right times, positive changes in body composition follow naturally. Why? Because your body learns to use fuel more effectively instead of storing it as unwanted fat. On the other hand, creating calorie deficits through extra training and/or under-fuelling can set you up for problems linked to LEA (low energy availability). These can show up as RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport) or HA (hypothalamic amenorrhea). (See past blogs for my articles on these conditions, which affect all genders of all ages) In other words, instead of fat loss, you end up with health issues. And if you’re not fuelling properly around your workouts, you’re also missing out on the full benefit of the training itself. ⸻ A biological shift - hello perimenopause As we move into perimenopause, our hormones begin to shift. Oestrogen and progesterone don’t just control our cycles — they influence muscles, bones, brain, metabolism, and even recovery from exercise. When they fluctuate, everything changes. Perimenopause is simply your body transitioning to a new biological state. It’s nothing to fear — but it does require a shift in thinking and training to achieve your fitness and health goals. The workout routine that worked brilliantly in your 20s or 30s may stop giving the same results. ⸻ Why does this happen? Hormonal fluctuations affect:
The good news? The solution is not “do more.” It’s train smarter and tweak your nutrition. ⸻ The training shift you need In short smarter training means: less volume, more intensity, more recovery. This means a more polarised training approach: • Hard sessions (lifting heavy, HIIT) • Easy sessions (yoga, gentle walking, slow swims or rides) • Fewer/minimal moderate-intensity, long-duration cardio sessions. I know I love them too! I'm not saying don't do them I'm just explaining why they may not be benefiting you as much physically anymore. - Sufficient time off exercise to feel fresh next time you do exercise. ⸻ What your body needs now To support metabolism, lean mass, and bone health in perimenopause and beyond: • Strength training: 2–3 sessions per week lifting heavier loads, not endless reps. Focus on central nervous system stimulation (6–8 reps), rather than hypertrophy (10–12 reps). Now please note- we have to build up to be able to lift heavy firstly we need to make sure we move well with good technique and mobility, so ensure you start with this as your focus first. • HIIT & SIT: 1 high-intensity interval workout + 1 sprint interval session per week. • HIIT = intervals of 30 seconds to 3–4 minutes intense work. • SIT = very short bursts of 8–30 seconds very intense work. • Plyometrics: Unless contraindicated for you, add multidirectional jumps, hops, and bounds to build explosive power and bone density. (Bone improvements are site-specific — e.g. jump squats won’t affect wrist density, but push-up jumps will. Battle ropes are a great non-impact alternative.) • Recovery: Rest is training too. Alternate hard and easy sessions, avoid “stuck-in-the-middle moderate ” training. Power walks, jogging, 60 min spin classes are too hard to be considered an easy workout but too easy to delivery the hard intense stimulus we need for metabolic muscle and bone heath gains. Easy sessions are gentle walks slow bike rides slow swims yoga tai chi gardening. Rest days doesn’t mean no activity. It means calming and restorative activity Take a deload week every 3–4 weeks to focus on mobility, technique, and nervous system restoration rather than smashing it at your max in the hard sessions.. 💡 Note on HRT: Hormone therapy can help manage symptoms like hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, and mood swings — but it won’t prevent changes in body composition. Only the right mix of training and recovery can do that. ⸻ Nutrition matters just as much Falling oestrogen makes us: • Less insulin-sensitive • Reduces quality of gut microbiome ( therefore the ability to draw what we need from our food) • Higher in baseline cortisol This is why “eat less, train more” backfires. Instead: • Support your gut: Oestrogen helps regulate gut microbes. Without it, extra care is needed. Reduce processed food, increase variety — aim for colourful plants: vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices. • Fuel your workouts: Avoid fasted training — it drives muscle breakdown and raises cortisol. To build lean mass and protect bones, fuel pre- and post-workout with carbs and protein. Correct training (HIIT, SIT, heavy lifting) improves fat utilisation, glucose regulation, and adaptive cellular responses. • Protein: Needs increase with age as we use it less efficiently. Aim for 1g of complete protein per pound of bodyweight, spread throughout the day. Focus on whole food sources, not processed bars or shakes. • Carbohydrates: Around 3g per kg bodyweight daily, with 30g pre-workout and 30–50g post-workout. • Healthy fats: Don’t cut them! Nuts, seeds, oils, eggs, oily fish, and avocado are vital. The fats to avoid are trans and processed fats. • Supplements: Creatine, collagen, and adaptogens may help — contact me for more info on these things. ⸻ Quick glossary • Perimenopause: The 8–10 years leading up to menopause • Menopause: One day — 12 months after your last period • Post-menopause: The time after that day • Complete protein: Contains all nine essential amino acids (all animal proteins are complete; plant proteins can be paired — e.g. beans + rice, nuts + grains — to make them complete). ⸻ ✨ The bottom line: If you’re an active woman in perimenopause or menopause and feel despite doing what you’ve always done weight is slowly creeping on or/ and you just aren’t as strong then do not fall into the trap of doing more and eating less. . What works is: • Decreasing training volume, increasing intensity • Building in rest days and deload weeks • Prioritising easy, restorative sessions (yoga, walks, mobility work, gentle swims) as much as intense sessions • Eating sufficient protein and carbs, fuelling properly around training • Supporting gut health and avoiding processed foods Fuel for training and recovery. Not calorie restriction. When you train and recover smart, positive body composition changes will follow.  Tadasana: The teacher of all poses. Our fundamental pose …Mountain Pose
Tadasana is not “just standing up .” As I always say. It is the root from which all asanas grow. When practiced with awareness, it begins a cascade of subtle actions…
It is the precise alignment of Iyengar yoga that energetically balances our mind and body. Each action balances another. Each engagement creates a cascade of other more suttle actions. Over focusing on one area at the expense of another will eventually lead to problems. Now, When we think of forward bends — whether it’s Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold), Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Leg Forward Fold), Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend), or even Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog)—most of us picture hinging forward and “stretching the hamstrings.” But the intelligence of these poses comes from much deeper actions. They all share two essential principles:
Without these, forward bends can feel heavy or strained. With them, the spine lengthens, the ground soften , and the nervous system begins to settle. And where do we learn these actions? ….in Tadasana, Mountain Pose. When we fold forward, we don’t leave Tadasana behind. Instead, we take its intelligence with us:
In this way, Tadasana is not a “beginner’s pose” to get out of the way. It is the teacher of every other asana. ⸻ Why It matters All poses become more profound as we progress from beginner to advanced yogis Tadasana teaches us that yoga is never about rushing into the shape, but about finding more sensitivity more awareness more connection beyond the mundane. So the next time you come to tadasana (Mountain Pose) embrace it fully as the very essence of yoga. Stay in it, so much is going on it’s impossible to get bored. Just be in it and let it teach you about you. 
The exercise that everyone should be doing at 70 onwards, if not before...
My granda jack was always a fit man. He played cricket, loved fell walking, and spent hours in the garden. But at the age of 80, he fell—and couldn’t get back up. Now his son Robert, my dad, is 72. He’s incredibly active: cycling every day, hiking the fells, stretching regularly. But even with all that, he recently admitted “I worry that what happened to my dad will happen to me.” So, I introduced him to ONE move. He started with the easier version, worked at it daily, and eventually progressed to the full version. ( I show both on the video) Now, every single day he does at least ten or 20 if he has time. It takes a few minutes. He does it while listening to bbc sports. As we age, mobility, strength, and balance begin to fade—often without us even realising. Then one day, it’s not just a fall. It’s the moment we discover we can’t get ourselves back up. This daily move can help you or your loved ones stay strong, confident, and independent into your 80s, 90s and beyond. Watch my video: 'One of the most persistent myths in youth sports is the idea that children must begin intensive training by age 6, 8, or 10, or they’ll forever miss their chance at athletic excellence. This “critical period” thinking has driven countless parents to specialise their children early and coaches to implement adult-like training programs for young athletes. However, current research tells a very different story' Read the full article by youth strength and conditioning association here.  
Let’s talk about Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) in males
Last week, I wrote a blog post about my experience of hypothalamic amenorrhoea—a condition where the period stops due to a suppression of the HPO axis, often caused by not balancing stress, recovery, activity and fuel. This condition within a sports context is called RED-S a term introduced by the international Olympic council in 2014. The difference with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport ( RED-S ) is that it is a condition that affects all genders, all ages, at any level of competition and in those of both normal and low body weight. Men experience it too—and the consequences are just as serious. Any regular exerciser “who has increased their training load, reduced their rest periods, frequently exercises in the fasted state, or who is following an exclusionary diet will also be at increased risk of RED-S.”* While women may lose their menstrual cycle, in males, RED-S can present as: • Loss of libido • Erectile dysfunction • Low testosterone (relative to age) • propensity to stress fractures and minor illnesses. • Poor recovery and days of exhaustion and eventually declining performance And like women it doesn’t always come with weight loss it can even lead to increased visceral fat(fat gain) despite high training volume and lack of energy availability And I can’t stress this next part enough … this IS NOT just an adult issue--adolescents of all genders are at risk too, especially those involved in high-level sport, dance, aesthetic sports, or intense training routines. Calorie needs and rest are often drastically underestimated Also as I said above Be aware…. Performance is often not the first thing to decline—your body gives you other red flags first. If this sounds familiar or you want to learn more or to read my blog of my personal story read no period now what. Drop me a message and I’d be happy to point you toward research, resources, and support. Here’s one resource for starters, https://bjgp.org/content/72/719/295 
|
