[Jane]

Hi,
Have you any advice, recommendations of sources with good quality information, on training going into peri menopause/menopause?
A main goal for me is to to continue to love being active and enjoy adventures in the mountains and paddling.
From the forums and your information at uphill athlete it strikes me that the information/evidence based data for female athletes is rather sparse compared with men, and I imagine that data will be even sparser for women in or nearing menopause.
Excellent forum, many thanks, Jane

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on January 4, 2020 at 5:57 pm #35447

Hi Jane,
You’re right, there isn’t much in the way of research on female athletes. Strength training becomes an increasingly important activity, and many women I’ve worked with have had to reconfigure their nutrition, as they become more sensitive to carbohydrates and what used to work well for them doesn’t as well. I’d love to say I have a list of resources for you, but sadly, the only book I know of is called Roar, by Stacy Sims, who is working to change the research environment. I’m curious to know if anyone else has good resources, so thanks for posting!

[Jane]

Jane on January 8, 2020 at 2:04 am #35692

Hi Alison
Thanks for recommending Roar – it seems like a great resource for women of any age, a copy is on its way to me. I’ve googled Stacy Sims’ work – the concept of working with female physiology, adjusting training practice with hormonal fluctuations during menstrual cycle, seems like uncommon common sense. I wish I heard her Ted talk years ago!

Stacy Sims: Women are Not Small Men: a paradigm shift in the science of nutrition | TED Talk

In a podcast about menopause Stacy Sims mentioned she is working on another book, about peri-menopause/menopause for an audience of both athletes and the general population.

I wonder if someday you would be on for writing an article on UA on this topic – potentially gathering what’s established regarding what helps or hinders
along with any more fuzzy, practice experience or anecdotal aspects. This would contribute to awareness and more dialogue on a topic that’s not so often discussed. And great if anyone else wants to add to this thread with practical experience of what’s helped them.
Thanks Jane

[lucye]

lucye on January 8, 2020 at 10:05 am #35722

Jane, Alison – This thread brings me out of lurking to madly +1! Alison, bought ROAR on your suggestion and feel like this was the book I’ve needed for the last 20 years…it is a complete game-changer and Stacy Sims is a hero. Also realizing how isolated I am around menopausal issues in my local fitness circles (w guys and/or pre-menopausal women). Hope there are chances to connect on this/learn from each other.

[saschroeder]

saschroeder on July 15, 2020 at 11:37 am #43626

Thanks for the recommendation for Roar. I will check it out. I’m recently postmenopausal. After hearing horror stories of how women decline physically after “the change,” I’m focused on strategies to keep my strength, power, and endurance to allow me to continue pursuing my passions (Nordic and telemark skiing, rock climbing and mountaineering, ultra-distance gravel racing). I have increased my focus on strength training, and added some focus on quickness and power… as I feel like these are areas where the losses may become more apparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 16, 2020 at 2:28 pm #43658

@sachroeder, that’s great. From what I’ve seen with athletes I’ve coached as well as friends, that’s the right approach. Keep it up!

[catriona]

catriona on July 30, 2020 at 12:45 am #43958

Hey, if interested dr.sims is launching a course specifically for menopausal women. It’s due to launch this week. She also runs a 7 week course for female athletes through all stages of life. I completed that course and it’s excellent. I’m hoping to complete this next course. The research is very limited on training and nutrition for menopause and the response is very individual but the principles she uses are based on mostly her interpretation of what research is available and her exercise physiology background. I would definitely recommend her course but again everyone is individual in how menopause effects them and it is still mostly one persons opinion, so that also needs to be considered. I will let you know his course goes.