Toning in menopause

[AsEmptyAsParadise]

I feel I have been hibernating since November. I have barely left the house apart from work (sedentary office based) and I have spent hours on end sitting on the sofa watching crap on TV. I have lost weight because I have been on Ozempic. I look and feel so much better. I am able to wear a pair of jeans I last used over 10 years ago, but there's no perky bottom to fill them like there was before, just a wide flat mass of white nothingness.

As I am reaching my target weight, in my head I feel ready to start being more active, but my body has other ideas. I have the aches and pains of lethargy, not helped by the fact that I am 52 (on HRT). I was wondering if you could recommend me a DVD to start toning my body and feeling more energised.

I don't like aerobic exercise, but I can get on with resistance, weights, etc. My problem is that I get exceedingly bored with the pace, listening to the person, etc. Davina is too much for me, too energetic, too jumpy, too fast. I like Jillian Michaels. So that's it really. Just wondering if there's anything specific that I could try that's targeted towards the 50+ woman. Thanks!

I like Juice & Toya or Caroline Girvan on You Tube.

Id say get out for a walk each day too if you can.

Id recommend Jessica Valant pilates on YT. Its nice and relaxing and really gets you toned.

Thank you. I will take a look at those. I have bought some resistance bands. Don't know why really. No idea how to use them.

Just go on You tube and search '20 mins toning with resistance bands' and loads will come up to try.

Thank you! I just need to do it. Really. I can't understand why I'm so idle!!

Kate rowe ham on Facebook and Instagram - she's written a good book on weight lifting in menopause with a 30 day plan. Her app is free for 3 days this weekend for international women's day

Also dr Stacy sims who I saw was on the Zoe podcast yesterday- roar next level book. They're both about lifting heavy and how to get there. Sims has great advice for the other exercises that most benefit at this age.

As we age we loose lean body mass and sims is especially good at explaining how to maintain this and why it's so important, and without hrt if needed. Im not on hrt now and have found resistant training to be more effective for aches and pains than when I was in it!

These are great too and good when you're away.

Are these slow moving in the sense of not jumping about? I tried Caroline girvans but I've got a disability so need to take it slow.

Caroline Girvan, absolutely great

Oliviafitlawson on YouTube. Music rather than talking. A nice steady pace. Good mix of workouts - cardio (including low impact walking workouts) plus some light weights.

I'm doing the Caroline Girvan Beginners programme from the App and it is really slow and with plenty of breaks between exercises. It almost feels like yoga with weights in that it's quite a relaxing 20 mins

@Wenttomowameadow I havent got the book or the app but am eyeing it up.

There's a free sample class on her website, not it's not jumpy, and anything that's a bit that way you can skip.

In my lifting journey I've literally so far just been doing one arm rows (using a chair), Romanian dead lifts, dead lifts, squat lifts lunges with weights (or climbing the stairs holding weights, skipping a step, including coming down slowly) and what ever the one lying down where you push weights away from your chest is called. Some planks and side planks. 2-3 times a week. Only takes about 15 mins. Katy's book seems to be a daily 30 day plan with similar time scales and nutritional advice/ recipes.

Ive started adding much heavier weights for the squats and big lifts but only 4-5 reps, following the Roar Next Level book.

The other book often recommended on mn is "strong women stay young" which is an older American book with a really detailed plan and is just lifting. It's aimed at older post menopausal women but with a view to again, lifting well and heavy.

Sims does say it's a good idea to see a physio therapist who can tell you where you might need to think about moving correctly before you start lifting (she's really good on that Zoe podcast.)

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zoe-science-nutrition/id1611216298?i=1000648346859

Iven have done it too. I enjoyed it.

Look at the link below. Very much aimed at women your age and I can really see a change in my body shape when I do it - definitely helps the flat bottom thing.

She talks a lot about how important it is to exercise and be strong and flexible at this age but it's really not about jumping about getting sweaty. It's described as low impact (very little in the way of jumping) but high intensity (your muscles will know when you've done a class).

She does do one sweatier class a week but the rest are not. Oh, and it's online, not a DVD but you can do a free trial.

Don't be put off by the barre thing - you don't have to know anything about ballet.

https://www.meetyouatthebarre.com/

Oh wow so many replies! Thank you ladies! Right, this weekend! IT'S HAPPENING!