Weights - menopausal woman

[littlematchstickgirl]

Hi, I am late 40’s and peri. On HRT and a little overweight (about a stone). Tired and lethargic and lazy, so a vicious circle. 12-13 hour work days, shift based, and sedentary at work, generally. I do have days off to do everything else (no partner), but I definitely also sit around too much, so I need to get off my backside and moving. I want to feel better and to ensure I’m string for the future.

I used to do yoga and Pilates but gave up a while ago. I feel myself starting to creak, so starting the you tube videos again.

i read that I should be doing some weights, to aid fitness, weight loss and to protect my bones.

Can anyone please recommend a good You tube channel for weights? I have a set of small hand weights (dumbbells?) that I can use. For a general beginner really, as not sure what exercise to do.

thanks in advance for any advice!

I like jessica valant. She has a mix of pilates and weights videos on her YouTube channel. There are some beginner ones which I started with or more area focused. I know caroline Girvan is mentioned a lot as well although I haven't tried those.

Caroline Girvan on YouTube is great, all suitable for at home, some even no equipment, and workouts from 15 minutes up, I love her!

Madfit or Sydney Cummings are my go to on YouTube. Sydney has just had a baby so she's not putting any new content out, but there's hundreds, if not thousands, of videos available.

Caroline Girvan is the best, but probably a bit too hard core for a novice. Try some of her shorter workouts before tackling the EPIC programmes etc.

Growingannanas and Heather Robertson are also excellent, and less challenging.

start off with 3-4 kg dumbbells and work your way up.

You’ll also need to work on your core - this is very important! I recommend the Bowflex 3-minute plank as a good starting point. At first you may think you’ll never be able to do it…….. but you will if you persevere. After a month or so of doing this every day you will feel so much stronger.

In a similar position I just worked my way through Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series on YouTube (using MUCH lighter weights than she does!) and found myself hooked!

Another vote for Jessica Valant. Her videos are instructive and bite sized.

I know how you feel, @Bubbinsmakesthree - Mrs Girvan’s workouts can be quite addictive… 😆

The point about using much lighter weights than her is very important. Weights should be challenging without compromising form. Basically, if you are doing 8-12 reps in a set, the last one ought to be about as much as you can do.

Caroline has a very good EPIC Beginners set which explains all the moves really well.

I stumbled across Fitness with PJ on Youtube a while back and keep returning to her videos. Her routines are aimed at over 40s and she's very down to earth.

It's been such a revelation for me that I actually not just don't hate this stuff but actually get some enjoyment out of it!

I was literally using 500ml bottles of water for my lightest weights when I started but I've jumped up quite quickly (still very very much below CG but progress for me!).

Just to say the beginners programme is called Ultimate Beginners and is only on her (paid for) app - it's really good and I totally recommend it. I did it after Iron and it's helped with my form no end, and it's less challenging than Iron.

But EPIC Beginners (on YouTube) is more of an intro to EPIC and not very beginner friendly at all!

I'm subscribed to fabulous50s, which has some great videos with weights for older beginners. Also more general exercises for hips, avoiding osteoporosis, etc. Worth a look!

I highly recommend fitbymik on YouTube - loads of 10/15/20 min dumbbell workouts, all free. I save my favourites and do them in rotation. Go for it!

Thank you all for the recommendations, really appreciate it! Going to look everything up and get started! It’s good to hear how you all enjoy doing it and how beneficial it is. Thanks!

EPIC Beginners (on YouTube) is more of an intro to EPIC and not very beginner friendly at all!

it is true that Caroline did the EPIC Beginners series as an introduction to her first EPIC programme, but I think it is an excellent general introduction to working with weights.

It is important to do some basic fitness training first and use MUCH lighter weights. I would suggest Growingannanas or Popsugar Fitness but there are many others - basically do lots of cardio and flexibility exercises to get into shape. Yoga is also great for flexibility - I like Livinleggings and Yoga with Kassandra.

Use fairly light weights to start with - 2-4 kg, depending on age and current fitness. And always, always warm up:

I am now in my early 70s and started weight training with Caroline Girvan nearly 5 years ago. Now mostly using 8 and 10 kg dumbbells plus 5 kg for more fast-passed exercise.

I cannot exaggerate the difference it has made to my fitness and quality of life. Strength training has so many benefits - it is truly life-changing…… and many women have found the same:

https://www.thebodycoach.com/blog/strength-stories-women-on-how-lifting-weights-changed-their-lives/

Here is the Growingannanas Back to Basics Programme - a good place to start…

I think buy a set of weights heavier than your existing set and as suggested use 500 ml water bottles as your lightest set. You could then maybe try some beginner weights workouts on YouTube.

I am also mid to late 40s and on hrt. I used to workout, including home weights workouts, but have had a 10ish year gap, I have gone straight to Caroline Girvan and found I was mostly ok with the weights but the warm up was super hard because I am so inflexible! But 9 workouts on I am finding things easier every time I do it.

A good tip with Caroline Girvan, which I picked up on a group on this board, is that she does a 2 week free trial for the app. If you sign up for the monthly renewal for 9.99, rather than a yearly subscription, that gives you enough time (6 weeks) to complete the beginner programme for £9.99. At that point you could cancel the paid subscription, and then to move on to CG’s harder free you tube workouts.

Lift with Cee. She is in her 50's herself and does an amazing range of weight lifting videos which are beginner friendly.

@Clearingaspace ….. In what way is Caroline’s paid for beginners programme different from EPIC Beginners? I’ve been repeating most of her free programmes for years now and I’m getting a little bored, so I’m wondering whether to bite the bullet and pay up.

But I also do a lot of mix and matching. This morning I did a short HIIT Tabata session with Growingannanas, followed by 30 minutes weight training with Heather Robertson, plus Caroline’s Braced Core and Abs. The latter is one of my favorites and I do it all the time as a strong core is the key to fitness and the ability to work out effectively with weights.

@Enrichetta i don’t know I am afraid, have only done the first workout of iron at which point I swapped to ultimate beginner on the app. It is the recommendation on Facebook groups and on here for beginners. From what I understand ultimate beginner is the only workout series where CG consistently talks you through all the moves - this is during the rest breaks and also while she is completing the lifts. She also starts off by demonstrating some moves body weight only first. The workouts are less than 30 minutes and the suggestion is to do 3 per week at least so far - I have just completed week 3. I think this workout was also designed for beginners, with profession etc throughout.

Hey @littlematchstickgirl ,

If you're starting off at home, Caroline Girvan as previously recommended is wonderful.

However, if there's any possibility that you can get into a gym, which you may want to do sooner rather than later, then I would strongly recommend downloading the Hailey Happens App and working your way through her series of programmes.

Hailey partnered with Dr Stacey Sims (scientist specialising in women's health, particularly adolescents going through puberty, and women in peri and post menopause and everything in between!) to create a dedicated fitness programme to support health through peri and post menopause called Power Happens.

Hailey offers a variety of Fitness programmes, many of them come with the option to work out at home and /or in a gym.

Her free Learn to Lift programme is 12 weeks long, and I think requires gym access, however, it will help you relatively quickly learn core movement patterns and understand what weights to use for what exercise:trainwith.haileyhappensfitness.com/workout-plans/learn-to-lift-1-0/

As I say, she offers a wide variety of programmes, and as you gain strength and confidence you can work your way through them.

You can purchase an annual membership (charged at either $29p/m or a standalone $299p/y). Or you can select individual specific programmes and purchase them outright. The programmes vary in price, they're all currently on sale for the next 36 hours.

If you started off with the initial Learn to Lift programme, which is free, and doesn't require any membership or pocus purchase, it's then recommended to complete one of her Foundations Programmes, to understand and assist with resolving any muscle imbalances.

If you take a look through her site you'll see that in addition to the exercise programmes, she also offers dedicated Shred Challenges, Fat Loss Programmes and Nutrition Courses. There's lots to explore and if it's your thing, there are also dedicated thriving Facebook Communities where you can ask questions and learn more either about the workouts or your nutrition.

I'm coming to the end of the current 6 week Shred Challenge and have decided to take the plunge and purchase the monthly membership. It's been a great 5 weeks so far, and I intend to work through at least 2 possibly 3 more programmes, and next year's Spring Shred Challenge over the next 12 months.

I've got a couple of other suggestions:

https://carolinescircuits.com/2022/07/27/how-to-feel-fit-and-fab-at-50/ (this lady also has a book out)

https://herstrength.co.uk/trainer/lucinda-newman-jones/

Literally just came on to ask the same question. I do yoga intermittently and have just started again and feel I should do weights of some sort. Where do I start? What do you buy?

@NoNameMum ….. you need a mat and a pair of fairly light dumbbells, say 2-4 kg.

Here are a couple of easy workouts with dumbbells:

And read this thread and take notes - come back with questions 🤗