Transcription
If you had to bottom line what a woman should be doing in her 20s versus her 30s versus her 40s versus 50s and up, what would it be? So strength training across the board. The type of strength training you do is different.
So, when we're in our 20s and our early 30s, we can do some of the protocol stuff that that is out there for men, like you're doing your 10 to 12 reps or you're going to failure or you're going in, you're doing a full body workout, you're going to get results.
As we start to get into our mid-30s and onward, we start to have changes in our estrogen, progesterone, and it doesn't quite work for us, okay? Because now we need to find an external stress that's going to create the same responses that those hormones used to support. Okay. So now we want to look at more of a power-based type training. What does that mean? Yeah. Like 30 and up, your hormones change and now the 10 to 12 reps that we've all been socialized to do does not work. Which is why we all start bitching about the fact that our bodies are not responding to what we always used to do. This makes a lot of sense. After sims.
So when you're doing the higher reps, it's more of what we call metabolic stress. So that's more like muscle contraction using fuel. Yeah. But it's not an impetus to build lean mass or to become stronger. So this is where I say the power base. So when we're talking about the spectrum of weights and and and the reps and sets and stuff, power-based is 0 to 6 to eight reps. Oh, I love that. I can do less. Yes. But it has to be heavy. Okay. Has to be heavy. But okay. Yeah. So that means that you go and you pick up, say we pick up this 20, right? And you're like, "Oh, yeah. I can do 10 overhead. No problem. Maybe I could do two more." Great. So we call that 10 with two reps in reserve. Okay. We want you to be at a six with two reps in reserve. So that means I would have you put the 20 down and pick up those 30s. And see, can you do six really good? Wow. Not failing form. And then could you eek out two more? Great. That's the weight that we want you to use. Gotcha.
So, I'm definitely lifting way too light and I am lifting far too much of it. Like the little tiny two-lb weights with the Put those down. Put those down. Like those aren't doing anything for my chicken wing arms. No, no, not at all. Okay. Not at all. Well, that explains it cuz I'm like, why does this hurt so much and I'm getting zero result here? Yeah. But my daughters literally look like they're cut. Yeah. Wow. Cuz they respond well to metabolic stress. As our bodies get older, we need more of a central nervous system. Gotcha.
So, the general takeaway here is that when we hit that sort of late 30s to 40s mark and our estrogen is dropping and our bodies are changing and we're not getting the same results, you got to really focus on these sprint trainings and also doing weight training where the load is heavier but the reps are are shorter. Yeah. But I don't want women who are listening to go, "Oh, I heard Mel's podcast and I have to go lift these heavy weights and do sprint training." It takes time. Yeah. To learn how to do things well without getting injured because I mean, we get older, we're more susceptible to soft tissue injury, joint injuries. So, I always want women to learn how to move first. So, if you've never done any kind of strength training, don't be put off by, "Oh, I heard I have to lift heavy weights. I better not do it at all." No, any kind of resistance is good. Maybe it's just body weight at the start. Maybe you're doing a body weight circuit and then maybe you're putting a backpack with some stuff that's in there to make it a little bit heavier. Maybe you're following somebody online that's teaching you how to move properly first. And over the course of time, you can add load because your body is learning how to move and it's becoming stress resilient. So, you add load to increase that stress. And then over the course of six to eight months, you're going to be in lifting heavy weights and doing the sprints without injury. So it it's not a training block like we've all been conditioned to what do I do every day in and out, in and out so I can get X results. We want to think about what am I doing to improve my overall health, my strength, my bones, my brain, so that when I'm 80, I'm self-sufficient. When I'm 90, I'm self-sufficient. It's not a training block. It's a lifestyle that we want in. So, it takes time to build into that lifestyle.
So, I have another question from a listener named Aaron. Is it better to use machines or free weights? With machines, I want people to realize that it's hard for a woman to actually get the machines to fit well cuz they are designed for a 5'8 to 6' 160 to 190 lb. So, if you are outside of that norm, it's really hard to get the right fit, which can predispose you to injury. If you are just getting started, it can be a way because you're not going to put a lot of load on. You're not going to get as injured. Like, I'm not for me personally, I'm not a huge fan of something like Planet Fitness, but I do appreciate the fact that they've opened the doors to so many people to make lifting accessible. So a woman can go in and use their machine circuit and get some resistance and some load to start to get themsel resilient. So then they can move away from those machines and get into dumbbells. I like more of the free weights where you have a barbell or a dumbbell because you have to use more of your stabilizing muscles which is how we move anyway cuz you're not going to go pick up a bag of groceries just with your arm, right? So, if you're looking at um bicep curls or tricep dips on a machine, that's not functional, per se. Yes, you're adding load, but I like it when people are, okay, I've got to lift the groceries or I've got to lift this overhead, so I'm going to do a full squat using my abs and I'm going to go from ground to overhead. It could be with a plate, could be with a dumbbell, it could just be that motion at start because we have to think about how we move in the day.