As a former athlete, I have always enjoyed exercise. It has been a part of who I am and makes me feel happy. With that being said, over the decades I have succumbed to injuries, surgeries and thus needed to greatly reduce the way I work out. As I continued to age and my body entering a different stage in life, I found that my recovery and stamina, despite my baseline fit level, had greatly changed. I was finding that higher intensity exercise wasn't what MY BODY wanted, despite what fueled by mind cravings. 

With age I have acquired some wisdom with listening to my body and what she tells me. Understanding that although I am in control, I need to be attuned to the changes of my body and learn how to remain in optimal health with modifying my routines to support my metabolic/hormonal health, mood balance, bone strength, and stress regulation. For the perimenopausal woman this is essential in understanding our changes and ensuring we adjust to the new flow and new normal so we can protect our heart health and overall health. 

So to my ladies out there! Do not get frustrated with your body changes, you can still be amazing with your work outs and look and feel great, you just may need some modifications. 

I have had several patients with high intensity exercise feel they need to meet those high intensity requirements to maintain a healthy weight, but their recovery time is longer and thus they are missing days they are moving due to how "hard" they are hitting on their other work outs. Here are some suggestions you may feel comfortable about adding to your monthly routine. 

Remember, the goal here is to optimize in our new normal state, therefore the goals are:

• Hormone balance (especially estrogen/progesterone shifts)

• Building lean muscle to support metabolism

• Supporting bone density

• Nervous system regulation

• Avoiding overtraining & cortisol spikes (leads to Adrenal Fatigue, androgen shifts and weight gain/fatigue/brain fog/insomnia/irritability/anxiety/depression)

THINGS TO TRY TO AVOID: