Lean women with a post meno pot

SwimmyD

Question for you Stroutman:
This relates to your thread about lean people trying to get leaner. As a trainer, you've obviously had a lot of experience in helping people get towards the fitness level and body shape that they desire. I'm curious about what your experience tells you about how it all works out for the *older* crowd, especially post-menopausal women. I'm talking about really lean and fit people who've been exercising fairly regularly their whole lives.

Body fat storage changes with time and lack of hormones, and when you look around (at the gym) many of these same women have a protruding belly, even with a lean upper and lower body.

I'm one of those women, and the only reason it bugs me is because I lost all my hormones relatively early in life (42). I've lost the excess baggage of twenty pounds that I put on after this hormone shift, but the change in my shape has surprised me. I used to store all excess fat on my rear and had a very flat stomach. I still have the post meno belly, and it doesn't appear that it will budge. I'm not planning to lose any more weight - I'm 5'11" and 150 lbs at 50 years old. I'm still heavier than I was in my thirties - I was between 142-145 which was a good weight for me and I was extremely active.

It's not an obsession for me. I exercise because I love swimming, and I plan to get back into racing. I want to be fit enough to enjoy the things I like in life - gardening, hiking, canoeing, etc. But I'm curious because I see this around me, and now I have the same shape as my older (but very fit) peers.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Sabine_Stroehm

Tagging to follow. This is me as well.

stroutman81

Hi there! Firstly, your perspective is very much appreciated. It resonates with me more than I can put into words. I used to train primarily for appearance and as I age, the more removed I get from that whole angle. Nowadays my training is merely a tool to use in order to improve the things I value most - health, time with family, outdoor adventure, health, etc.

Good for you for pushing ego aside as much as possible and deriving the really meaningful stuff out of this.

So as for your question...

It's a frustrating part of life. Hell, I'm only 34 and I'm already noticing that it's harder for me to get lean, my recovery ability is diminished, and I'm dealing with aches and pains in my joints I assumed were only reserved for "old people."

It helps me to remember that the standard by which I "judge" myself should be rooted in who I am today rather than who I was 10-15 years ago. Those times were great. But these times can be great, too. Only different. I can still show up for myself, do awesome stuff, and get better in many regards. I think you understand this well! Many people, however, tend to lose site of this fact.

Frankly, I spend a lot of my time dealing with this end of things with my clients... expectation and self-talk management. It's a part of the puzzle that very few coaches acknowledge unfortunately.

From the physical side of things, it's challenging. The changing landscape of hormones pretty much alters the playing field in terms of metabolism and fat storage patterns (among other things). It's akin to taking a professional football team and slamming them into a baseball stadium and telling them to "play on!"

My favorite way to play within these new rules is heavy lifting and low intensity cardio. I find that the women who focus predominantly on the "ground and pound" endurance training tend to run into hiccups in a hurry. Which sucks for those women who enjoy that sort of thing. But I see it all the time... the peri or post menopausal women training for 5ks, marathons, and triathlons who can't make a dent in their physique.

For folks who are really struggling (and maybe even for those who don't), speaking to your doc about potential HRT might be worth a consideration.

SwimmyD

Thanks for responding! It's very funny to hear you say that you are noticing changes in your thirties. It makes me laugh, actually. I won't say *wait till you're 50* but nothing like life experience combined with an aging body that changes your perspective and how you approach exercise and fitness. To be honest, this is why I chose to post in this group, as opposed to the mainstream thread, which I'll get to in a minute.

So, HRT aside, which I'm on because it's the usual course of treatment for younger women, really doesn't compare to the real thing. It's just a fraction of the actual hormones you have when you are pre-menopausal. So I've been on them for many years and they have kept me from losing bone density along with a number of other nasty side effects from early menopause, but have not affected my body shape in the way that I wished it would. I suppose I still have some vanity, although not that much to be honest. I know that I am in the top percentile for weight and fitness in my age group, and for me it's about "what can I do/what do I want to do?" as opposed to "oh my god, my belly sticks out!" It's really not that important to me. I'd rather be faster in the pool and leave my rivals in a stream of bubbles.

Anyways, back to the reason why I didn't post in the main forum. Over and over the overwhelming battle cry to fix your shape is to "Lift heavy." That's all fine and dandy in your twenties and thirties, and if you're really lucky, maybe even into your forties. But I would have to say that most of the MFP folks who really push for this type of training tend to be on the younger side. It's worked for them, so they think everyone can do it, because they don't have the knowledge (yet) that different bodies and ages have different limitations.

But I would argue that lifting "heavy" for twenty or thirty years is not usually sustainable, even with fantastic form, unless you have won the biological lottery and been blessed with some completely amazing genes. Wear and tear on the joints like shoulders, knees and wrists is real, not to mention spinal issues such as herniated discs, and a host of other orthopaedic ailments hit us as we age. Lifting heavy is no longer a smart option, but moderate customized strength training is.

I was a member of the local YMCA for 25 years, and I always watched who was doing what in the weight room. Unfortunately I've never had much company from other woman in the weight room, but that is a separate issue. I'm working out at a community centre now, but it's the same scene. Year after year, its the young guys lifting heavy, and the guys over forty lifting relatively small, but still doing their own brand of strength training. Interestingly, most of the older guys who are super fit are doing it to augment their sport. It's a means to a goal, as opposed to a quest for the perfect body.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that the older adult (especially female) may be put off by the hype of "lift heavy" on MFP when just some smart lower weight, moderate rep strength training would do them well. I've seen this attitude with my own MFP friends (most are my age). After reading the forum, some think there is no point to lift weights if you can't lift heavy. So I find that unfortunate. However if I said this in the forum, I imagine it would create quite a ruckus.

For me, the pursuit of fitness should have a goal that goes way beyond how you look. It's got to be something fun that becomes the means to help you do something you want to do. Because anything less than that is a ticket to failure, in my opinion. Who wants to rely on a mirror as reinforcement that they are happy and succeeding? I'd rather say - damn, I just canoed for five hours and I feel okay! I will do this again!

Anyways, I do lift moderate weights. I do them for my various body ailments but I'm very limited by my crappy back, knees and wrists. I modify as much as I can, because I won't risk further injury. My goal is to make my body as strong as it can be so that I can swim as long and as hard as I want to, well into my eighties. Really, I just want to be healthy and eventually become a "super senior." I just wish more folks on MFP could focus on these reasons instead of just simply how they look.

Anyways, cheers to you!