What Type of Exercise is Best During Menopause?

A while ago, a listener wrote to me asking a question that was decidedly beyond my area of expertise. It was a question about menopause. Seeing as I am neither a doctor nor a woman, I decided I needed to call in an expert to tackle this one.

The question was:

"I have just started the menopause and would really like to keep trim and lean and keep my muscle tone up. Is this realistic, or is middle-aged spread inevitable,  and I should just accept that I will have a rounder, softer, body than I used to? I have noticed there are very few women my age in the gym lifting weights."

I met my podcast guest, Dr. Tamsin Lewis, when she was racing (and winning) Ironman triathlons. She has since become an expert in the field of aging and hormones, making her the perfect guest for this topic.

About Dr. Tamsin Lewis

Dr. Tamsin Lewis (or Dr. Tam) is an Ironman athlete and an MD who trained at King's College in London. She first became interested in the role of hormones in health and disease as well as in their optimization while she was competing as an athlete. In 2014, she completed her athletic career after becoming pregnant, and soon after dove into the field of endocrinology and the role of hormones. Dr. Tam began working at a clinic in London called the Center for Health and Human Performance, which worked closely with a bioidentical hormone clinic. It was there that she truly started to understand how impactful hormones were in terms of both physical and mental aspects of health and wellness. 

When I reached out to Dr. Tam and asked her if she would be willing to join me on the podcast to discuss this topic, she immediately and wholeheartedly responded saying that "... there is a dearth of information around menopause and the menopausal athlete, and the role of hormones more specifically on health and longevity, and health outcomes." 

A three-pronged strategy for the fit menopausal woman

In our conversation, we broke down the most important and actionable tips into to three buckets: 

1. Nutritional strategy: Reducing simple carbs and increasing protein intake.
2. Supplementary strategy: Discussing with a trusted physician the possibility of introducing bioidentical hormone replacement.
3. Lifestyle strategy: Increasing the amount of resistance or strength training (...

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