Everybody is talking about them, which is bizarre as this exercise has been around since the beginning of time (well, actually since 1940 when Weider magazine introduced them to the wider fitness community).

Everybody is talking about them, which is bizarre as this exercise has been around since the beginning of time (well, actually since 1940 when Weider magazine introduced them to the wider fitness community).

I am a big fan of the front squat and over this past year have replaced any back squats with some variation of this exercise (more on that later). The holding position of the barbell can look so intimidating to the everyday gym folk and looks unachievable to most, yet I would argue that everybody can and should at least try it, especially if all you do is barbell back squats.

Why Are Front Squats so Great?

The front squat is a corrective exercise in nature and will immediately highlight any limitations you may have, so your aim is to focus on improving those weaknesses before you add more weight. You can’t really fake this exercise, you have to have good form, unlike the back squat which allows a few more imperfections to be present.

If you look at a back squat performed badly, you might see emphasized lordosis or protruding belly and that can be a sign somebody has over-developed hip flexors, the front squat as a corrective exercise can start to address those limitations.

The front squat requires you to be in a more upright position as you descend down, this places a large emphasis on the quadriceps and encourages your hips to be tucked underneath you a little more, rather than pushing back as you do in the back squat. This positioning encourages a more open hip and can really increase mobility through the hip joints, but it can also be your limiting factor. So if tight hips are your issue, working on mobility outside of this exercise will be helpful.

Inherently these days we are a nation of forward-hunchers, sitting at desks all day or bent over our phones, the inability to extend fully through our thoracic spine is more common than ever. What does that mean exactly?

Well in the case of the front squat, the inability to keep your chest lifted. It is impossible to carry a weight in front of you if you dip forward on the eccentric part of the squat, the load will just fall forward. Again, working with the front squat will improve the ability to extend through the t-spine to correct those weaknesses.

Another thing that the front squat brings to the table is improved range of motion in the knee and ankle joint, as your hips are aligned more underneath you than behind, the squat places lots of emphasis on these joints. To observe, this looks like the knees are forward of the ankle joint, Jo DeFranco calls this the Positive Shin Angle, where the foot and hip position are behind the angle of the shin, allowing for power, drive and acceleration.

Lastly, this is a great exercise for improving core strength and stability. You need to keep your elbows high when you hold the weight in front of you, doesn’t matter what your hand position is, and to keep that load safe, you need to have a very strong core to stabilize you.

Where Should You Start?

The front squat can start off is a really hard exercise and you tend to have to reduce your weight significantly to perform one with good form, but the payoff is great. You have to have good posture to make this exercise work, by simply doing this exercise your mobility in both your thoracic spine and your hips will improve and your core will get “lit” as you stabilize the barbell with your elbows lifted, plus it has all the peachy “bootie-benefits” you would expect from a squat.

Firstly it’s ok to be a little intimidated by this exercise, that way you stay safe and alert, plus they can be a little uncomfortable. So the first step is to start small, which means little to no weight on a bar or opt for one of those smaller fixed weight barbells.

If you are struggling with mobility issues in your hips, knees, ankles, t-spine or wrists, then do some simple mobility drills to prepare those areas before you start the exercise.

Adjust your body position so that you feel strong the whole way through the exercise, which might mean raising your ankles on a small block or using straps on the barbell in the beginning. Know that if you do these things, you may have less control on the bar so please use a low weight.

If you are used to doing back squats you will find a key difference is the stresses are placed in a different area of your body. Back squats put more stress on the lower back/spinal erectors where front squats place more emphasis on the frontline of the body, which makes the exercise so good for improving your posture and anterior core.

Don’t be put off by these difference, understand that the way to improve the exercise is to “grease the groove”, to keep doing the repetitions and you will reap the rewards later.

Front Squat Coaching Tips

• Practice with a light bar or dowel to work on form before you start to load the barbell.
• The barbell rests on your shoulders/upper pecs and not your hands. Your fingers are placed to help support the bar. I use two fingers to keep the bar in position.
• Keep your elbows high throughout the exercise which will mean you have to use your core to stabilize.
• Keep your chest lifted to emphasis thoracic spine extension. We tend to come into exercise rounded forward from all that sitting at a desk all day, so this is a great exercise for improving that.
• Actively use the floor to push your heels down on both the eccentric and concentric part of the movement.

Are Front Squats for You?

The answer is yes. It doesn’t matter what age, gender, fitness level or ability you are, there is always an entry point into this exercise and the benefits are worth it. In addition to this, I write specifically for the Over 40 crowd and as I am but a stone’s throw away from 50, my reasons for continuing on my strength journey are shifting.

Of course I want the aesthetic component that comes with weight training, I intend to keep this peachy butt for life, but that was never my primary reason, instead, I just loved the empowering feeling of being a strong woman and how that translated over into my everyday life. Back to my epiphany, I realized that so many people, women especially, still do not believe they can do weight training, nor do they truly appreciate the importance of it.

It’s hard to get excited about osteoporosis or osteopenia, yet it is a bold reality of half of all women, and one-quarter of men over the age of 50, who will experience a fracture during their lifetime. As you can see, women are a much higher risk and we know this is directly related to the drop in our estrogen levels during menopause. The science is pretty clear when it comes to osteoporosis and osteopenia, load bearing exercise is superior to bodyweight exercise to help support and prevent both conditions.

So all that being said, the front squat can play a huge part in your strength program, even for the older generations, and shouldn’t be dismissed as a valid exercise

How I Train my Front Squats

Over time by doing this exercise you will find that your mobility will naturally improve, but you can also prepare the body for a full barbell front squat by trying one of the following exercises. I use these in my own training and they have been key to improvements in my technique.

Ultimate Sandbag Bucket Hold Squat

To me, this is the ultimate exercise for improving hip mobility with great spine alignment. If you tip forward, you lose control of the sandbag, so it encourages that amazing alignment and deep hip squat.

Ultimate Sandbag Front Loaded Squat

The front-loaded squat allows you to hold a heavy load in front of you, so that you have to engage the core to create stability as you lower into the squat. Again helps improve hip mobility and spinal alignment.

The post You Can and You Should Front Squat appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Menopause can be a very confusing time for a woman. This might be down to a lack of awareness about what is happening, but it seems that every day brings with it a new physical or emotional challenge, then on top of this our body starts to look and feel different.

My 47 year old body has changed. My 47 year old body has gained some fat.

Menopause can be a very confusing time for a woman. This might be down to a lack of awareness about what is happening, but it seems that every day brings with it a new physical or emotional challenge, then on top of this our body starts to look and feel different.

Menopause comes along with a whole set of ideas of what we should expect and yet none of them seem to meet our expectations and we feel as though more shit is being thrown at us constantly, making the change harder to accept.

I recently sat down and chatted with my good friend, Krista Scott-Dixon, who is the Curriculum Director at Precision Nutrition. The pair of us are experiencing menopause and have chewed the fat on a few occasions about why women find it so hard to accept fat gain on their body.

Despite being conscientious about my exercise and nutrition, my body has more fat on it today than usual. I am a lean woman who has never had weight struggles, yet I have seen my body change. I follow my base habits around nutrition and movement, my good habits, but other stuff has been taking its toll, there has been a constant state of just handling my everyday stresses. Fat gain was one of the end results and this happened for a reason.

Interestingly enough for me this change in my body wasn’t as horrendous as I expected it to be. The symptomatic side of menopause has been nothing short of hell, but I have not been so disappointed with a little extra softness and curves. I had inherently always been afraid of getting bigger, or the number on my scaler getting larger, yet this weight gain which resulted bigger boobs and a softer belly have surprisingly found me quite enjoying the way it looks. Now I am only 5lbs heavier than my normal, but as individuals any change is often hard to accept. My point here is, even though I was dreading it and I feel different and that different is not that bad.

This change was the driver behind my conversation with Krista. Why is it that women are so ashamed of fat and how can we change this narrative from an evolutionary standpoint, not just a body positive point of view.

Let’s start at the very beginning. From an evolutionary process, fat is seen as a wondrous substance. Fat is adipose tissue, which is an active endocrine organ. Whereas the misconception is that fat is purely used for energy storage and thermal insulation, yet it is so much more than that.

Most women have at least 20% body fat, usually in the range of 25-35% and there is a reason that ¼ of our body is fat. Adipose tissue contains numerous other cells that are able to produce certain hormones in response to signals from the rest of the organs throughout the body. Through the actions of these hormones, adipose tissue plays an important role in the regulation of glucose, cholesterol and the metabolism of sex hormones.

Obviously, during menopause our ovarian production of hormones declines, so our adipose cells picks up some of the slack. It produces a different type of estrogen, but it does help to preserve our hormone production, so it really is quite a wonderful thing.

There is a problem that modern day sees body fat as a problem. We see fat as a way of the body rebelling and turning against us. Our social context is to despise fat and look to thin lean role models as our inspiration, yet from an evolutionary perspective, these role models would signify starvation. We are talking about 2 million years of evolution and we have reached the place where we consider fat to be a problem, instead of looking at the ways fat can aid our health.

How Can We Reframe What Is Good About Fat?

Firstly, lets just put it out there, we are looking for that sweet spot when it comes to fat. Clearly too much fat can lead to major diseases that are plighting our health. The point of this conversation is to understand that some fat is good for you and demising fat looking for the pursuit of an overly lean body, might not only be detrimental to your physical and mental sanity, it is also doing your body a disservice.

We must be better at interacting with our body. If you think that your body is working against you all of the time then you will never accept the process your body is undertaking from a natural perspective. It is not trying to mess with your head, it is trying to survive and thrive. Whereas if you change the narrative to, “we are in this together as partners” and then realise that evolution is doing it’s thing and then your fat storage will regulate itself.

End goals for not being ashamed of fat. Here are some positive things to remember about fat:

• Fat is not just some icky, unwelcome substance that we should try to rid ourselves of, its an active sensing, dynamic responding tissue. We need some fat in our body.
• Fat on your thighs and butt will tell the brain how much energy we have available.
• It makes us soft, juicy and curvaceous, it’s what helps our sex drive. Our sexual health, pleasure and desire need fat to secrete the good loving hormones.
• Bone density is impacted by fat production. Bone is active tissue and it needs a lot of help and body fat can help with that.

Menopause is hard. It’s like going through another rebirth, a new dawn. With this comes some fat gain on our body. Let’s learn to be in a new body as we age, it’s going to keep on happening the older we get and that is perfectly ok. By refusing to be frustrated and instead learning to live in the new body, when this happens then you can start to thrive again. It is then that you can start to create the life makes you the best version you can be of yourself.

Look at fat gain as part of this new body process. Keep in mind why your body needs fat. Stay healthy and educated in your pursuit of happiness and know that leanness and our societal constructs that drive our desires are not always the healthiest option for your body.

The post It’s Time to Stop Being Ashamed of Fat appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

When I started writing about menopause and its impact on women’s health this year, I wasn’t expecting to reach as many people as I have. Women who read my articles are celebrating the fact that we are talking about this very misunderstood and underserved topic. The men who read them, are reading about menopause and finally understanding the issues that the women in their life are facing. Male and female trainers, with little experience in this field, are reaching out to me to find out more about how they can serve their over 40 female clients who are likely to be experiencing some menopause symptoms. The conversations are happening!

Is it true, have we finally made menopause sexy? Wouldn’t that be fun!

For the women experiencing menopause, this is quite liberating. Women over 40 are finally being heard. I have been sent so many articles, newsreels, advertisements from women in prominence in the media who are starting the dialogue and not being embarrassed about the subject any longer. It seems that menopause and midlife are now trending! Hell yeah!!

The Importance of Raising Awareness About Menopause

As a fitness and nutrition coach, it’s my job to find out what women need and then offer them solutions. That means I often reach out to my community of followers and clients to find out what their challenges are, especially during menopause. In addition to the physical symptoms that they experience, other issues affect them that are rarely discussed and often are too embarrassing or taboo to mention. Things like anxiety, depression, lack of self-worth, incontinence, weight gain, losing forward vision and ability to thrive again amongst a few.

When dealing with these issues and then trying to write about them, I am faced with the reality that I am not reaching everybody who needs to know about this stuff, because let’s face it, Menopause is boring and unsexy, it’s not relevant to a 20 year old man or women, it’s for old ladies with wrinkly, soft skin, who are over the hill and past their prime. This is the cultural view of what menopause looks like.

The problem with this short-sighted stunted view of menopause is that it is far from the truth. I am 4 years into menopause and I think I still look hot at 47 years old. I personally feel too young to be going through menopause and so do most of the women who I speak too. My group of women at Menopausing So Hard, are posting photos of them beating their own PR’s in deadlifts, doing weighted chin-ups, doing more push-ups than their husband and kids (that’s me actually) and still looking absolutely fabulous.

Menopausal Women Are the Hot New Warriors in Fitness

It’s time to show us some bloody respect, and this is why!

Invisibility Phase

Changes in family dynamics, work-place, caring for aging parents or young children, can leave women feeling invisible and frustrated at this age. Combined with the fact that she is probably exhausted from insomnia and is likely feeling she is going doolally-flip because she has ridiculous problems with short-term memory loss.

The way to help a woman out of this rut is to know she still needs to be heard.

Menopausal women have experience, maturity, and wisdom that you should tap into.

I can totally relate to this on a personal level. I often hear myself shouting, “can anybody hear me?”.

I can’t keep up with the number of times my kids have realized that I could actually be quite cool! I’m a black-belt in karate, I own my own business, I have a blog and a podcast, I have good taste in clothes and scrub up pretty well when I slap a little bit of makeup on. I know nutrition and exercise at a level that can help improve my kids’ athletic performance.

Yeah, I know some shit, so start respecting me for this, instead of passing me by.

Misrepresented Phase

Maturing women are not represented or respected in the media. I would love to see that change take place. The typical fitness model on magazines is either ripped with a six-pack, half naked, airbrushed, usually white and always young. It is time for the HNW to be celebrated, we come in all shapes and sizes, have wrinkles and grey hair, have cellulite and muscles, and happened to be the biggest population of gym-goers in North America, so let’s see some real women in media, talking about real women issues.

Menopausal women are facing challenges that other people probably couldn’t even grasp. The symptoms that are thrown at us each day can be hellish, yet we forge through with little complaining (you are not allowed to challenge me on that!) with grace and strength that would crumble most mere mortals.

Want some tips on how to celebrate and respect menopausal women in your life?

• Tell her she is amazing because she is!?
• Remind her of her beauty.?
• Embrace her wisdom and knowledge.?
• Celebrate her grace.?
• Know that she is strong and capable.?
• Listen to her.?
• Appreciate all she does for you.?

It would be really great for this community, as well as trainers of this community if we did have more conversations about this phase of a woman’s life. It would make the transition for them a little smoother and having the acknowledgment that they have support during this time can be a game changer. I often joke with my clients that they are the real hot chicks of the fitness world, exercising with hot flashes is no joke. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make that happen!

The post Find the Warrior Inside During Menopause appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

One of the best things about attending the annual DVRT (Ultimate Sandbag Training) Masters Summit is that I get a chance to spend time with some of the world’s best trainers. We trade ideas about how to apply the Dynamic Variable Resistance Training (DVRT) system into our own training, and how to help our clients to move and train better than ever before.

I have been using the system for four years now, and it has revolutionized my approach to exercise. I know more keenly understand joint movement, muscular sling systems, and how to create functional movement that translates directly over into our daily lives, either as athletes or general fitness practitioners.

There’s More to the Core

We have known now for a number of years that ab crunches are not ideal for core training. They have an adverse impact on lower back health, and work only on primary movers of the body, the larger muscle groups that power our movements. What DVRT does a little differently, is focus on the secondary muscle groups; the ones that stabilize and support these movements, create resistance, and allow us to get our whole trunk strong and active.

It’s time to stop thinking of the core as just a six pack. It’s so much more than that!

After my workout today, I grabbed my USB Core Bag and performed three exercises that are a perfect example of using the full core.

Isometric Lateral Bag Pulls

We have to work on cross-patterning to make this exercise successful. That means working with opposites, so your left foot and right hand are working together actively, and vice versa. If I perform this exercise using my right hand to pull against the outside handles of the bag, then my left hand and right foot are doing a huge amount of work to drive actively into the floor. This will prevent my hips from tipping, and my core has to work really hard to resist rotation.

I chose to keep the bag still in an isometric pull, as I am on concrete. If you are on a softer surface, drag the bag along the floor for about five seconds each side.

Resisting rotation through the body has to happen before we can start adding power to a rotational movement.

Half Kneeling Push Out

By placing the body in a half-kneeling position, we create a level of instability. Before you start the exercise, brace your core and glutes so that the line from the knee on the floor all the way up to your shoulders is solid. Then grip the bag by the middle, and slightly pull apart as you drive the bag straight out in front of your body. Resist the urge to fall to the side, and use your lats to power the bag forward. If you can, hold that bag out in front of you for a second or two.

Stir the Pot

Not an easy exercise at all. Lie on your back with your legs straight out and a few inches off the ground. This will require you to have total control of your core, so if you aren’t quite there yet or you feel this in your lower back at all, simply bend your knees at a 90° angle.

Take hold of the bag by the outside handles and pull apart, which creates activation through the lats. Then make small, controlled circles just outside the line of the body. You’ll have to work hard to resist the body rotating too much, or tipping over to the side. It’s actually a lot of fun!

My good friend Cory Cripe, who is also a Master DVRT Trainer, uses the line, “trainers don’t let trainers do ab crunches.” It’s my job to encourage you to ditch those ab crunches and build a solid, active, and functional core.

The post 3 Core Exercises to Help You Ditch the Crunches appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Role of Hypertrophy

I believe that the word hypertrophy has been misused and, at the minimum, misunderstood.  Hypertrophy means to change the shape, function, and strength of the muscle by nourishing the cellular structure—this does not necessarily mean the muscle has to get bigger. In fact, if you are working on fat loss, building muscle will likely make you smaller because muscle is much more dense than fat.

What we as individuals determine to be bulky might also be interpreted differently by others, and there is no one true definition of what this means. For example, the majority of women do not have the hormone profile that men carry that allows for huge gains in muscle mass to happen.

The science behind hypertrophy indicates that you need to work your muscles to the point of overload–and this means you need to have some discomfort while you are working out. I have to break the news to you that all the articles you have ever read about getting long, lean muscles with 5 pound weights performing 200 reps are complete bullshit. For one, you physically cannot change the length of a muscle, it is, after all, attached to bone, so unless you want to extend the length of your bones, your muscle length will stay the same. Yes, you can change the shape, viability, and function of the muscle, but not the length.

5 Reasons Hypertrophy Works: 1. It Fights Aging

After the age of 30, our muscles start to naturally shrink. Muscle mass can decline at an approximate rate of 3-5 percent per year, so even before we really get into the meat and bones of hypertrophy training, you need to acknowledge that you are already fighting the first stages of aging. By adding strength training to your program, you can start to regain some of that required strength in your body as it naturally declines. If you are a woman going through menopause, then you will also be dealing with hormonal disturbances that can impact your ability to gain muscle easily, so the earlier you start lifting, the more prepared your body will be for aging.

5 Reasons Hypertrophy Works: 2. You Will Look Good Naked

Lean muscle boosts your metabolism, and your muscles need nutrition to thrive whereas fat is just lazy. If you have increased muscle mass, your body will use your food more efficiently (think a Ferrari here) whereas increased body fat is just like feeding a broken down old car.

I know that looking good is not everybody’s main reason for working out, but there is no denying that the by-product of a good strength session is that your body starts to change. Your body composition can be totally transformed when you develop lean muscle. A great way to see this is not necessarily by the scales, but by your clothes sizes, measuring tape, or even just visually by looking in the mirror. So, if you are interested in the aesthetics, then start lifting.

5 Reasons Hypertrophy Works: 3. You Will Feel Empowered

Something really amazing happens when you start to get strong, you start to feel empowered in other parts of your life. It’s one of those things that is under-rated by the young ‘uns, but for us ladies over 40 who often experience a sense of feeling incapable or having low self-esteem, this is huge! The rush of endorphins you get from a great workout will leave you feeling invincible, so let’s give our selves the gift of having a strong body and a strong mind. The connection is undeniably there, and it can literally change your life.

5 Reasons Hypertrophy Works: 4. It Will Help Prevent Injury

While the main purpose of our muscular system is movement another primary purpose is maintenance of posture and body position, and by this, I mean that our muscles support us. If you have a strong body you are protecting your joints, and you are building a system of muscles that can contract, react, and bounce back helping you to stay injury free and mobile.

5 Reasons Hypertrophy Works: 5. You Get Overall Health Benefits

Often overlooked in the gym is the knock-on effect of having good overall health from building muscle through hypertrophy. Having a functioning body with a good metabolism will help us fight some of the major diseases and illnesses that plight us as we age. Supporting our structure against osteoporosis is a basic essential requirement if we are to enjoy our life moving forward. Having a strategic exercise plan is one of the proven ways for women to fight epidemic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, one of the biggest causes of death in females.

How to Plan Your Workouts

Now that I have totally persuaded you to start lifting weights, you probably want to know what this type of training looks like.

Here are some basic requirements:

1. Keep reps in the 10-12 rep range.

2. Cover six essential movements of the body:

• Hip dominant: swing, deadlift
• Knee dominant: squats, lunges
• Push: both vertically and horizontally, push ups, chest press
• Pull: both vertically and horizontally, pull ups, bent over row, inverted row
• Core functioning: shoulders to hip, front, and back of your trunk
• Explosive movement: jump squat, hang clean

3. Load, speed, and duration are all elements to consider.

4. You need to reach overload with your muscles, and discomfort is okay.

5. Work for 25-30 minutes.

6. Work 3-4 times per week.

7. Alternate days of low intensity steady state exercise (LISS), walking, hiking, swimming, yoga, pilates, etc.

8. Mindfulness. I am not some raging hippie but keep your body’s stress levels regulated by finding some quiet time in your day.

9. Restoration. Get adequate rest between workouts, take days off, dial in your nutrition, and get enough sleep.

Use Muscle Overload

One of my great mentors in the fitness industry, Coach Robert Dos Remedios, describes overload as filling your work capacity bucket. You need to lift heavy enough and do enough reps of the six essential movements.

For example, if I program a workout for you that has you working in a 10-12 rep range:

• If you can do 15 reps easily, then you are not working hard enough.
• If you can barely do 4-5 reps, then you are working too hard. If you start puking, you are working way too hard. If it hurts your body in ways that don’t feel good, then you might get injured.
• If you get to 8 reps and have to push through those last 2-4 reps, then you are working just hard enough.

Think of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, find the place that is just right. And remember, only you can determine that unique place for you, the place where discomfort and overload is ideal. Find where the magic happens.

Just Go and Do It

So there you have it. I know that I have converted you. Now, we just need to tell the masses. Most of the general population could benefit from some element of hypertrophy in their life. It’s all good news. Strength training for hypertrophy is going to impact you in positive ways—you will be able to be more active, play with the kids, and manage your stresses, all with renewed energy if you push far enough to achieve this.

You might also like The Differences Between Training In Your 40’s And Your 20’s.

The post Strength Training and Hypertrophy for Women over 40 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Here is the question that gave me the topic inspiration:

“I just read your article concerning women and hormonal changes. I’m also a personal trainer and am 62. I’ve been doing a lot of research this summer trying to understand weight, not only for my clients but for myself as well. In the past few years, I’ve been struggling to keep myself looking the way I want to (and have been used to). Like you, I could eat whatever I wanted with no weight gain. Even five years ago, I was feeling pretty good. But now the weight is slowly creeping on. It’s hard to know what to do when the old way of doing things doesn’t work anymore. I feel like I’m fighting an uphill battle with the hill getting steeper with every passing year.”

Why Do We Gain Weight During Menopause?

Nine out of 10 American premenopausal and menopausal women will gain weight (as will 70 percent of all women worldwide, due to varied diets and other cultural influences), says Amos Pines, MD, former president of the International Menopause Society. Women can expect to gain 10-20 pounds, which translates into the need for clothing that’s one or two sizes larger. Many menopausal women become frustrated, discouraged, annoyed, and angry as they gain the weight.¹

As with most forms of weight gain it’s not usually a single factor that’s to blame, but it’s multi-layered. Women who never gained weight (that was me) suddenly do, and it’s a mind-fuck. So I feel your pain—the struggle is real.

During menopause our bodies produce less estrogen from the ovaries, but still need estrogen to function, so fat cells begin to produce hormones. Because of this change in prodcution, you tend to put on a few pounds to keep up with the estrogen demand. These few pounds begin to show themselves especially around the mid-section. The truth is that your body needs some fat to have normal hormone health, but not too much fat because that may lead to health issues such as obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Dr Jade Teta says, “At menopause both estrogen and progesterone are low. It’s less volatile, but this combo means increased deposition of belly fat since insulin and cortisol are wreaking havoc and brain chemical changes, which means increased hunger and cravings.  Postmenopause sees low estrogen and progesterone, but higher relative testosterone because ovaries keep producing testosterone. This accelerates belly growth.”

Therefore, one of the first steps you need to do is acknowledge that your hormonal functions and the way your body copes with them are not what they were (stating the bloody obvious), and what you do moving forward has to change, too. The old ways won’t work anymore.

Hormone Disruption and Stress

We also know that low estrogen impacts your ability to cope with stress, and if you are in a constant heightened state of stress then you produce more cortisol and likely become more insulin resistant. This state of being leads to weight gain. Studies have shown the impact of estradiol (our most active estrogen) and fat storage—we burn less fat than we did prior to peri-menopause and during menopause. We are not only likely to store more fat, but will also have an inability to part with it as easily as we did before.³

Other independent risk factors for stress during menopause include poor sleep, negative life events, lack of employment, change in family dynamics, and the acceptance of the natural aging process, which can certainly contribute to higher levels of stress, even depression. It’s important to recognize these deep biochemical level changes and the impact they have on your body.

Are You Making the Problem Worse?

We will gain weight so, as women, the knee-jerk reaction is to eat less and work out harder, that’s what we did 20 years ago, so it should work now. Right? The problem is that this approach isn’t going to work. In fact, eating less and working out harder might be making the problem worse. Are you guilty of any of the following?

• Over-exercising, so stressing out an already stressed out body.
• Not resting enough to allow your body to recover adequately before it is stressed again through exercise.
• Not doing enough self-care, finding the time for mindfulness or meditation.
• Eating like a sparrow. It is very common in women to think less food will mean they will lose fat, yet because of the metabolic disruption they are experiencing this will mean rather than eating less, they need to eat more intelligently.

The solution to weight gain during menopause needs to be considered from a lifestyle/mindset standpoint and not from nutrition alone. Here are some ways you can start to make small changes that will have lasting, impactful results:

• Exercise intelligently. Your exercise schedule should be designed so that you incorporate strength work to build lean muscle with some metabolic overload for aerobic conditioning and metabolic adaptation.
• Practice self care. This is one of the important pieces of the puzzle that is overlooked by women because they feel it is too time consuming and not important enough, yet we know that stress is a massive factor for fat gain, so taking the time to unwind, destress, restock, whatever you want to call it, is very important.
• Rest adequately. Interrupted sleep, which can occur frequently during menopause, will also affect your stress levels. Don’t be afraid to take it easy on the days when you are tired. Take a nap and change your workout to be more movement based rather than high intensity. Do less.
• Eat in moderation with your nutrition goals in mind. Proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbs in the form of fruit, vegetables, and grains (fiber) are your best friend right now. Sugary starches and junk food really are the bad girls on the playground.
• Play the long game. You simply have no choice. We know that weight loss and body composition changes during this phase will take longer, but they are still attainable. Your changes should be focused on long term goals, quick fix diets will do you more harm than good.
• Find a community. Everything’s easier when you know you are not alone. Menopause can make you feel very isolated and as though nobody truly understands what you are experiencing. Find a group of women who can support you, listen to your issues without judgement, and help you feel better about the journey. I have a community group called Menopausing So Hard that does all of this and is proving to be a great help to many women.

Enjoy the process of introducing new habits into your life that you know will eventually have you back to feeling your best. Know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You can do this!

The post Hormones and Fat Gain During Menopause appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Effectiveness of the Stability Ball

The reason I like to workout using the stability ball is that you really get some bang for your buck. You will challenge your entire body while improving core strength and functioning.

Before you start with any of the following exercises, you need to make sure you can actively hold a bodyweight plank for a least one minute. All of these movements will challenge your base of stability, so you must ensure you are ready to perform them. Each exercise is a progression on the next, so take your time to master each movement before continuing onto the next exercise.

Stability Ball Plank

Instructions:

• Create a rigid tension throughout the body from the tip of your toes to the crown of your head.
• Keep your gaze slightly in front of you on the floor, to ensure your neck stays in a neutral position.
• Actively push your hands into the floor.
• Squeeze your butt.

Stability Ball Jack Knife

Moving on from the plank, creating further instability by moving the ball.

Instructions:

• Lift your hips as you roll the ball inwards to create space to bring the knees in to a “tuck” position.
• Make sure your shoulders are stacked above your wrists.
• Maintain tension throughout the core during the movement.

Stability Ball Body Saws

Take your time with this next exercise and start with low reps. If you get tired, your form will likely fail so ensure you have quality over quantity.

Instructions:

• Start with your shins on the ball and find a solid plank position.
• Push back, maintaining the plank so that you roll to your knees.
• Pull underneath the armpits which will activate your lats to return back to the original position.
• The closer your hands are to the ball the easier the movement will be.
• Ensure that you don’t drop your hips and place stress on your lower back.

Stability Ball Pikes

This is the hardest of all the exercises because it not only requires you to have a solid, stable core, it also requires you to be fairly brave as you pike up into a half-handstand position.

Instructions:

• Start in your plank position.
• As your curl forward make sure your legs remain straight and strong.
• Your hips will lift in the air and toes will roll to the top of the ball.
• Make sure your shoulders are positioned over your wrists.
• Slowly return to start position and avoid sagging through the lower back.

Do you like these? Do you have any favorite plank exercises?

The post 4 Stability Ball Exercises to Challenge Your Core appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I started working out consistently in my teen years, so by the time I was in my 20s I had taken a shit-ton of certifications including the very popular aerobics, step, body-pump, and spinning. I worked full-time at IBM and then went to the local community center after work to teach.  I was the aerobics queen, fully kitted out in my leotard thong and leg-warmers. I came to that class high kicking my way through all the routines with gusto and joy. At this stage in my fitness career, I knew very little about strength training, and I rarely lifted a weight. But everything I did was balls to the wall, high energy output with little to no rest. That’s the beauty of our 20s, we feel like one of those Energizer bunnies with an endless battery life.

As we start to age and move through our 30s to our 40s we inevitably see changes in our body, energy level, and recovery ability. Our bodies will naturally start to slow down at this stage of life, and we need to start making more intelligent decisions when it comes to our food choices, workout protocols, and recovery methods. During this stage, many women will also experience some hormonal challenges that will be unique to each individual and might range from unwelcome fatigue to debilitating depression. These symptoms can change from day to day.

The Challenges of Middle Age

At the age of 46, I have experienced the full gamut of these challenges, so I speak from experience as both a trainer and a woman in this age group. Many of my clients are women over 40, and I see first-hand how life has thrown a curve ball their way despite their best efforts at exercising, managing stresses and being mindful about nutrition. It was while coaching these clients that I realized that very little specific helpful information was available about any changes that needed to be made in fitness and nutrition as we age. And, in fact, most articles confirm that we shouldn’t train any differently than when we were in our 20s, that we are just as capable now as we were then, and we should just continue as normal.

This is true, to a point. Yes we are capable, very capable in fact, and most of the time we should workout as normal, that is until we can’t. Entering our 40s throws so many other spanners into the mix that adopting a standardized approach to life just doesn’t work anymore.

Lay Out Your Strategies

I get daily emails from women telling me of the struggles they experience, usually followed with expressions of guilt or frustration at not being able to do the most menial of tasks, never mind taking on a crazy arsed workout that will leave them depleted for days.

We now need to have strategies in place to deal with these stumbling blocks. We need to have some wins in life and stop putting unmanageable pressure on ourselves. When it comes to a successful workout plan, do your best to include the following concepts:

1. Have a plan and be adaptable.

I personally like to plan for myself and my clients in 4-6 week chunks. Even if you want to just do a weekly schedule, make sure that it fits into your lifestyle. It would be foolish to plan an hour workout in the gym if you know you really only have 25 minutes, so plan accordingly. Make sure you have a day between your workouts if possible so that you have sufficient recovery time.

2. Take time to recover adequately.

I have noticed in my own workouts that some days after a really hard strength workout I feel completely depleted. If you can relate to this, consider using this time to listen to your body. If you need to take a nap, take a nap. If you need more sleep, then get more sleep. If you need to have a lighter day the next time you workout, then that is what you should do. Your body needs stress to adapt, but it shouldn’t leave you feeling completely spent. Try to find that sweet spot that makes you thrive and grow.

3. Something is better than nothing.

Self-compassion is the theme here. If you are having one of those days where you feel like you are in a fog, not performing optimally, or are just having a bad day, take the heat off yourself and do what feels right for your body. A great option on these days might be to go for a brisk walk, swim, practice yoga, work on mobility, or attend a pilates session. Often, the act of movement is enough to get you out of the funk. So, lose the “all-or-nothing” mentality and just do something, no matter how small.

4. Prioritize strength training.

The most productive way to workout in your 40s is by making strength workouts part of your norm. We know that as we age both our strength and our power output start to wane. There are so many benefits from incorporating load-bearing exercises into your life. Strength training increases your metabolism, releases those feel-good endorphins, and develops better body mechanics. Good body mechanics matter as we get older due to the risk of falling and injury.

The Power of Community

My group classes, which I used to host in Toronto, became more than just a place of people to workout. I realized that the core draw was the social and emotional aspect of group mentality. It became a place of trust and kindness for people to share their stories and experiences and to have compassionate ears available to listen. The power that this type of community gives is immeasurable. It’s what makes our challenges bearable, and it makes us realize we aren’t alone. There are many other people experiencing the same thing as you are.

I have a Facebook community that you are welcome to join if you feel it will help you. Head over to Menopausing So Hard to join the throng of cranky hormonal ladies just like you.

The post The Differences Between Training In Your 40’s and Your 20’s appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In fact, the push up is one of the exercises I consistently teach to my “over 40 women” who genuinely have fears and doubts over their athletic ability. This fear is something that inherently comes with aging and the complexities that are associated with it. But is also something that can be turned around. By moving through a strategic methodology, I know that I can teach anybody to do a full push up. The knock-on effect, which is something I think we should focus on especially with women, is that the client achieves a sense of empowerment and feeling strong manifests itself into their everyday life.

If you have ever struggled with your push ups, then follow along to these steps and jump in at the step best suited to your level. Soon you will be popping out reps like the bros in the gym

Related: The Best Chest Workouts for Muscle Mass, Strength, and More.

Push Up Progressions for Everyone

First, let’s determine exactly what defines a push up. I like to describe it to my clients as a moving plank. Throughout the movement of the push up you want to make sure that everything from your ankles to your shoulders remains in a straight line while maintaining tension, so my starting point for all push ups is a straight arm plank.

1. Straight Arm Plank

Coaching Cues:

• Ankles to shoulders are in a straight line.
• Avoid lifting your bum in the air.
• Squeeze those glutes like you are cracking a nut between the cheeks.
• Make sure your hands are actively pushing into the floor, almost gripping the floor with your fingers.
• Push away actively from the floor with your toes and hands to create a feeling of lift.
• Maintain tension throughout the body, yet keep your face relaxed.

Frequency:

If you are new to the plank, build up your holding time slowly. Working in 15 sec increments, gradually increase your time in the straight arm plank so that you can comfortably hold for 1 minute. When you can, then you are ready to move onto the next stage.

2. Arm Elevated Push Ups

I never teach push ups on the knees. I find that moving the plane of the body from a kneeling position to a full push up position is just too great a leap for most people to make. Instead, start on a raised angle, and learn to take the weight of the push up through your arms. This method will garner a more successful progression. I have used weight benches, barbells on the rack, park benches, chairs, kitchen surfaces, and garden walls, amongst other things. Find a height that works well for your ability.

Coaching Cues:

• Use all coaching cues for straight arm plank.
• Visually imagine taking your chest between your hands rather than taking your head between your hands.
• Arm width should be under or slightly wider than shoulder width. I don’t mind people starting with a wider width if it means achieving success, but gradually move the width in closer before moving onto the next stage.
• As you lower, bend your elbows back and slightly in towards your ribs.
• Continue to squeeze your glutes like you are cracking a nut between the cheeks.
• Do not lead the movement with your chin, and keep your neck alignment as natural as possible.

Number of Reps:

When you can perform 10-12 arm elevated push ups, start to lower the angle so that you challenge the amount of load you are pushing.

• High angle = easier push up
• Lower angle = harder push up

3. Full Push Ups

Chances are that if you were a beginner at the start of this programming, there will need to be quite a bit of practicing the previous variations before you get here. Don’t rush the process. Feel confident and strong in the arm elevated push ups before moving to the full push up.

Coaching Cues:

• Use the straight arm plank plus the arm elevated push up cues, which should be second nature to you by now.
• When lowering, keep your chest moving between your hands and gaze straight down at the floor.
• A cue that I use for my clients is “squeeze under your armpits” to initiate the movement back up. This will help you engage your lats to initiate the movement.
• If your shoulders start hunching then you will put stress on your traps, so keep space between your ears and your shoulder blades.
• Taking the feet wider for the first few reps will help to keep you stable.

Number of Reps:

• Start small. Why not try doing 1 or 2 push ups throughout the day.
• While making a cup of tea in the kitchen, do a push up.
• While putting the kids to bed, do a push up.
• Between sets, do a push up.
• After sex, do a push up. (Well maybe not, but you get the idea.)

4. Feet Elevated Push Up (Advanced)

When you can consistently perform 10-12 push-ups with good form, then you can start adding variations into the mix of which there are many. Below are photos of my favorite advanced version. Simply elevate your feet and follow the push up cues.

Put It to Practice

So now you have a strategic method for nailing your first push up:

1. Straight Arm Plank
2. Arm Elevated Push Up
3. Full Push Up
4. Advanced Variations

Hopefully now trying your first push up, or advancing your current push ups, won’t feel quite so daunting. Good luck with these steps, and please comment below if you have any questions that will help you progress in your push up program.

The post Push Up Progressions for Everyone appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

We can’t make this go away—it’s part of our right of passage into the twilight zone of no more periods and the chance to regain your life again. So in the meantime, it’s worth knowing a few hacks that will help you cope during this phase and maybe ease the burden you are feeling.

5 Simple Energy Boosters: 1. Move Daily

Did you notice I didn’t say exercise daily? Ideally, I would prescribe a minimum of three strength workouts per week, but I also know that when you’re feeling symptoms the last thing your body wants is to stress itself even more with weight training. Instead, while you have low energy, try something that is a little more low-key. You will still get a drive of endorphins and will begin to feel more energized. Consider walking, yoga, swimming, or some simple mobility work.

Video credit: DVRT

5 Simple Energy Boosters: 2. Eat Well

Try to cut out the crap food. I know it is difficult because when you don’t feel great you just want to grab starch, sweet, and salty foods. This is completely understandable, but it will leave you feeling worse than before. Keep your diet simple, and stick to whole foods whenever possible.

Include lots of fiber and protein. These will keep you feeling full longer and stabilize your blood sugars. When your blood sugar dips you may start feeling irritable, thirsty, dizzy, and yes, fatigued. We underestimate how much influence food can have on our mood and energy levels, so by avoiding processed foods and stimulants, like coffee and alcohol, you are giving your body a chance to feel better.

5 Simple Energy Boosters: 3. Glug, Glug, Glug

Are you getting all your water in? The elixir of life. Did you know that your body is made up of 60% water? Water is essential for a variety of physiological functions like transportation of nutrients, maintaining proper body temperature, and bowel function. Your overall health, performance, and body composition will suffer if you don’t adequately hydrate.

It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon and you start to feel really sleepy. You might assume you need more sleep or caffeine (and remember let’s not over do the coffee right now), however, there’s a good chance you actually are dehydrated. When you are dehydrated your cognitive performance suffers dramatically. Dehydration as little as 1% of your body weight is enough to reduce both endurance and strength performance.

5 Simple Energy Boosters: 4. Get Some Sleep

Sleep is an integral part of coping with the menopause and overall health. You aren’t wasting time during sleep; the body uses these hours to repair and rejuvenate. In fact, sleep is actually crucial to our overall health. Chronically low sleep will increase your likelihood of chronic illness, elevate your sympathetic nervous system response, decrease growth hormone (GH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and increase cortisol. Basically, it screws with your body in many ways beyond just being tired.

When thinking about your overall health and wellness during menopause, you need to make sure that your plan includes exercise and nutrition and sleep in equal parts.

5 Simple Energy Boosters: 5. Identify Your Stress

We experience stress in many forms: including mental, emotional, and physical challenges. Whether you realize it or not, good and bad stress both have a profound effect on your body. A certain pattern of stress we can think of a “good stress” helps to keep us alert, serves as a positive influence and motivates us to give our all. On the other hand, living with “bad stress” can be very detrimental to health. Producing high levels of our stress hormone cortisol can affect both our quality of sleep and increase body fat gain. For optimal well-being, balancing our allostatic load is desirable. Allostatic load is the accumulative total of physical, mental and emotional stress—basically the “wear and tear” on your body.

An easy way to identify the difference between the good and bad types of stress:

• Good stress = short lived/infrequent
• Bad stress = lasts a long time/chronic

Ideas to help you relax:

• Take a relaxing walk (especially outside)
• Spend time in nature
• Get moderate sunshine
• Listening to relaxing music
• Mindfulness practice and meditation
• Massage
• Deep breathing
• Laughing
• Snuggling a loved one or pet
• Yoga
• Gentle mobility, and/or slow stretching exercises
• Gentle swimming or water immersion (such as a hot tub)
• Relaxing in a sauna
• Having sex (seriously)

Finally, have a level of acceptance over how you are feeling. Don’t beat yourself up if today you are not feeling optimal. You know this too shall pass, and you also know that many other women are feeling your pain.

Coach Amanda Thebe is Breaking Muscle’s Expert Coach in Residence. If you are a woman who is over 40 years old and want Coach Thebe to cover a topic you are interested in or would like her to address a specific issue you may have, email helpme@breakingmuscle.com. Put Coach Thebe in the subject line, and let us know what you need in your training.

The post Energy Boosting Hacks for Fatigue During Menopause appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It was during this run, and an event a few weeks prior, that I realized my limiting factor was running. I can swing from monkey bars, carry sandbags (I am an Ultimate Sandbag Master Trainer, after all), use Atlas rocks, and nail rope climbs, but when it came to running, especially uphill, I realized that my basic muscle endurance over these longer distances was really quite poor.

What Makes Running Improve?

In the olden days, as my kids like to call them, I had run many half-marathons and 10k’s, not with any fantastic times, but usually with relative ease and comfort. Not these days. I have a generally good level of fitness and train myself in multiple heart rate zones during my workouts. Variance has translated into having a fairly good 5k race—I can trot out a 25 min run with little to no training purely because of my existing fitness, but when faced with longer runs I really don’t have any endurance.

How do I get back to building up my endurance while maintaining my strength? How do I get good at running again?

Here are some things I know to be true:

• Consistency is key. I have to be running on a regular basis to see improvements. Trotting out a 5k once a week will not help me improve. As a result, I have set myself a goal of three runs a week, with one of those being a long, slow run.
• Alternate intensities. I work mainly in the anaerobic zone when I do my HIIT workouts and other times towards 80-90% of my max heart rate, so this means I get out of breath quickly. Working in lower intensity zones is very beneficial.
• It gets better. Starting to run again can be deflating because it feels so hard, your breathing patterns are out of whack, and your body hates you. Cardiovascular conditioning improves, your breathing will regulate, and your runs will become more enjoyable. Trust me, I know. I have been there, and I intend to get back there again.

Born to Run

Typically, runners use their mouth to breathe to get the maximum amount of oxygen into their system, but I also know that if I use my mouth to breathe then I am working too hard. Today I tried running only using nose breathing. By breathing only through my nose, and keeping my breathing at a comfortable level, I was unable to run fast. As soon as I picked up the pace, I automatically started to breathe through my mouth. This indicates that something in my training needs to change.

Lately, one of my favorite books is Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. This book is a fascinating read about a hidden tribe of runners in Mexico called the Tarahumara. This group runs an average 60 miles per day even into their late 60’s, more than most mortal humans will ever run. It may seem crazy to imagine this, but we know that these exceptional runners only breathe in through their nose, although some use a technique of exhaling through a partially open mouth.

The biochemical benefits of the Tarahumara show that the runners are better able to utilize nasal nitric oxide, have lower oxygen levels (similar to the effects of altitude training), and have more CO2 in their lungs. The Tarahumara also breathe more slowly and deeply at rest than a non-runner. I am not trying to be a Tarahumara runner, but I do like the idea of experimenting with my training to see if this type of breathing will provide me with some benefits of improved endurance.

Take It Slow

For the record, my 10k was terrible today. I felt great, my pace was slow, and I ran double my usual distance, but my heart rate was averaging at 157 bpm. I know that by doing these long, slow runs, my heart rate will become more efficient and the runs will eventually become easier. That’s the plan, anyway. I would love to hear about your experiences while you attempt to improve your running efficiency and what techniques you have adopted in your training.

Coach Amanda Thebe is Breaking Muscle’s Expert Coach in Residence. If you are a woman who is over 40 years old and want Coach Thebe to cover a topic you are interested in, or would like her to address a specific issue you may have, email helpme@breakingmuscle.com. Put Coach Thebe in the subject line, and let us know what you need in your training.

The post How I Learned to Run Again appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It Wasn’t Just a Phase

Nearly all of my experience with menopause is anecdotal. I am a certified strength coach and have qualifications in sports nutrition—yet even with all this knowledge I still I couldn’t work out what was happening to myself and to my female clients clearly experiencing the same issues.

Let’s take a look at my experience. Well, my food choices had become a little less focussed, not that I was ever super strict with my diet, but I leaned towards the healthier side of the spectrum. Now I was having daily treats of cream cakes and ice cream. In the past I had always been able to have these treats with no adverse implications, but now my weight had started creeping up so that I ended up being the heaviest I had ever been. Yet somehow I accepted this with general apathy, putting it down to just another phase in my life. I was certain that I would get back on the healthy train soon enough, yet three years later I still seem to have lost my athletic edge and ability to dial it in like bygone days.

Taking a New Approach

I needed to know why this was happening and started my research into the impact that hormonal fluctuations can have and why this is experienced in how we look and feel. There is nothing wrong with caring about how you look, but more importantly to me, I cared about how I was feeling about life and everything that I have to deal with each day. The inability to cope with everyday life became a huge issue for me, and that is when I started to get worried something serious was going on. This situation has led to me speaking to many women who are all experiencing some form of symptomatic change from menopause and it actually felt pretty good to know that I wasn’t going through this alone. Understanding that menopausal issues change us and that we need to learn how to get through this time became of utmost importance.

It was then that I realized that the old way of doing things wasn’t working anymore. I needed a new way of approaching health and fitness, and I now needed to focus on doing the stuff that would make me feel like a better human. Doing that would encourage me to grab life by it’s figurative balls and dance once again with the unicorns became the goal. OK, I have gone too far, but seriously my goal is to be back where I was and get out of the mid-40 doldrums that seemed to have taken over.

Keep It Simple

My realization that keeping things simple and small was integral to my success. I started with one new habit at a time. The first was to move everyday. I put aside my issues with indulging in shitty food for the meantime, instead focusing on a way to create a schedule that allows me to consistently get sweaty for at least 30 mins each day. Feeling good about my body and its ability to let me be strong is such a privilege that I no longer take for granted. Exercising and proving to myself once more that I still can make the improvements I want is huge.

I encourage you to set aside those 30 mins every day and move, doing whatever activity drives you to thrive. These are your 30 mins and it is an investment in your health and sanity. The rest of the puzzle will fall into place later.

Coach Amanda Thebe is Breaking Muscle’s Expert Coach in Residence. If you are a woman who is over 40 years old and want Coach Thebe to cover a topic you are interested in, or would like her to address a specific issue you may have, email helpme@breakingmuscle.com. Put Coach Thebe in the subject line, and let us know what you need in your training.

The post A New Approach to Metabolic Changes in Menopausal Women appeared first on Breaking Muscle.