545. Conquering the Menopause Middle: Effective Fitness Routines for Women Over 40

Summary

Episode Summary: The Thyroid Fixer #545 - "Conquering the Menopause Middle: Effective Fitness Routines for Women Over 40"

Release Date: July 25, 2025
Host/Author: Dr. Amie Hornaman

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Introduction

In Episode 545 of The Thyroid Fixer, Dr. Amie Hornaman delves into a pivotal topic for midlife women: effective fitness routines tailored for those navigating perimenopause and menopause alongside hypothyroidism. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by women over 40—such as weight gain, fatigue, and hormonal imbalances—Dr. Amie brings in fitness expert Deborah Atkinson to discuss strategies that go beyond conventional cardio-centric approaches.

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Supplements for Enhanced Focus and Stress Management

Before transitioning to fitness, Dr. Amie highlights two notable supplements:

• Blue Canten: A buccal trochee designed to boost focus without the typical crash associated with stimulants.

  "Blue Canten is like this amazing fuel for your brain. Clean, controlled, zero crash. And within 15 to 20 minutes, I am locked in."
  [00:02]

• Trocalm: Targets stress reduction by providing a grounded calmness without sedation.

  "One trochee and I feel like I can breathe again. No sedation, just grounded calm where I'm still productive but no longer buzzing with anxiety."
  [00:05]

Both supplements are formulated by physicians and aim to provide rapid relief by bypassing the gut for faster absorption.

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Seasonal Light Exposure and Energy Optimization

Addressing the impact of disrupted circadian rhythms due to inadequate sunlight, Dr. Amie introduces the Mitolux sun lamp. This device mimics natural sunlight, offering benefits such as:

• UVB Light: Enhances Vitamin D production, boosting energy levels.
• Red and Infrared Light: Supports mitochondrial function and skin health.

"It's like a reset button for your health that you just turn on and then sit in front of and enjoy."
[04:30]

The Mitolux lamp is touted as a solution for combating winter blues, improving mood, and increasing overall energy.

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Main Discussion: Effective Fitness Routines for Women Over 40

Guest Introduction: Deborah Atkinson

Dr. Amie welcomes Deborah Atkinson, a fitness expert specializing in training women in their middle age. Deborah emphasizes the importance of resistance training over traditional cardio, especially for women dealing with hormonal changes during menopause.

The Shift from Cardio to Strength Training

Both hosts lament the longstanding emphasis on cardio for weight loss, acknowledging its limitations:

Dr. Amy: "I have more muscle now at the age of 51 than I did through my 20s and my 30s combined."
[14:15]

Deborah: "Cardio is just saying, well, what have you done for me lately? You're gonna have to work out again."
[16:10]

Deborah argues that while cardio burns fat during the activity, strength training offers prolonged benefits through increased muscle mass, improved metabolism, and enhanced post-exercise calorie burn (EPOC).

Understanding Exercise Zones

The conversation delves into exercise intensity zones, clarifying misconceptions:

• Zone Two: An all-day pace where one can maintain a conversation, promoting fat loss by lowering cortisol levels.

  "If you're exercising on purpose, but you can have a good conversation... you're working hard when you're only wanting to ask questions."
  [20:00]

• Zone Three: Higher intensity where breathing becomes more strenuous, potentially elevating cortisol if maintained excessively.

  "As soon as it's all mouth breathing, you've hit zone three... cortisol tends to escalate."
  [21:05]

Implementing Strength Training Effectively

Deborah provides actionable advice for integrating strength training:

• Start Small: Even 30-minute sessions are beneficial and can be expanded as consistency builds.

  "So there is a compromise and I would say though, is 30 minutes worth it? Absolutely, yes."
  [39:48]

• Focus on Form and Progression: Emphasizes the importance of warming up, cooling down, and gradually increasing weights to prevent injuries, especially given the increased injury risk in postmenopausal women.

• Overcoming Gym Intimidation: Encourages starting workouts at home or in non-intimidating gym environments, possibly with a workout buddy for support.

  "The woman who’s 50 or 60 and feels like a fish out of water in a gym... her experience was that so she's going to have to be invited back to a non-intimidating place."
  [27:58]

Benefits of Strength Training

The hosts outline numerous advantages of resistance training for midlife women:

• Muscle Mass Preservation and Growth: Counteracts age-related muscle loss, enhancing metabolism and body composition.
• Bone Density Improvement: Reduces the risk of osteoporosis and fractures by strengthening bones.
• Insulin Sensitivity and Blood Sugar Control: Mitigates insulin resistance common in postmenopausal women.
• Mental Health: Boosts mood, reduces anxiety and depression, and increases overall well-being.

"The overarching benefit of exercise is a balance of your adrenals. It's balancing your cortisol."
[36:14]

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Program Offerings and Resources

Deborah introduces her comprehensive fitness programs designed for women over 40:

• Flipping50.com: The primary platform offering over 12 different 12-week strength training programs tailored to various needs, including bone density and time-constrained schedules.
• Membership Benefits: Personalized coaching, a roadmap to fitness goals, and a supportive community environment.

"We set you up with a coach right away so that we give you a roadmap... We'll suggest to you based on what you're telling us."
[42:27]

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Conclusion

Dr. Amie and Deborah wrap up the episode by reinforcing the message that it's never too late to start strength training. They encourage listeners to embrace their strength, prioritize resistance workouts, and utilize available resources to maintain and enhance their health during midlife.

Dr. Amy: "At 51, I'm better than I was in my 20s."
[45:26]

Deborah: "We can still put on muscle. We can still be the biggest we've ever been in our life."
[45:35]

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Final Notes

The episode concludes with a standard disclaimer emphasizing that the information provided is for educational purposes and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult healthcare providers before making any significant changes to their health or fitness routines.

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For more information on the programs discussed, visit Flipping50.com and explore the variety of strength training options available to empower your midlife fitness journey.

Transcript

[Dr. Amy]

Welcome to the Thyroid Fixer podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Amy, and we're diving deep into the world of hormones, especially for all you fierce women in perimenopause and menopause and everyone struggling with hypothyroidism. So if you are battling weight gain, you're feeling like shedding those pounds is an impossible feat. If you're dealing with plummeting energy levels, gut wrenching fatigue, or a libido that seems to have left town, then you're in the right place. And let's not even start on the hair loss. If these symptoms are sounding all too familiar. You found your tribe. My goal is to educate, empower, and shake up your world. Remember, I want you to embrace every inch of that badass woman that you truly are. So if you're ready to dive in and fix things, let's go. Have you ever wished your brain would just, like, cooperate? Yeah, same here. So that's why I've been using something that actually works. Transcriptions. Specifically blue Canten for focus and, and then Trocalm for stress, which there's been a lot of lately. And let me tell you, these are not your average supplements. They actually work. They are buccal trochees, little blue squares that you place between your cheek and your gum. And they are absolutely effective. So let's start with blue canadine. It's like this amazing fuel for your brain. Clean, controlled, zero crash. And within 15 to 20 minutes, I am locked in. No fog, no distractions, just crystal clear focus. I'm actually going to go get some right now. I use it when I need to power through a big project, record back to back podcasts or just get out of my squirrel brain add mode. It contains methylene blue, which you've heard so much about. Nicotine, caffeine and hemp crystal. All precision dosed, pharmaceutical grade and formulated by physicians. Now, I know what you're thinking. Wait a minute. I'm supposed to be avoiding nicotine and caffeine. No, no, no. Nicotine in and of itself, when combined with methylene blue and actually helps protect against cancer, lights up your brain. I've been using it throughout my cancer journey as well. And a little bit of caffeine does not hurt. There's no reason why we avoid caffeine in the correct amounts in the right form. Then there's Trocom, which is saving more times than I can count, especially before a high pressure meeting podcast. Those days when my nervous system is just on edge, I can feel my cortisol surging and one trochee and I feel like I can breathe again. No sedation, just grounded calm where I'm still productive but no longer buzzing with anxiety. And that's thanks to ingredients like B3 and GABA and calming mushrooms delivered in a way that actually hits fast, like 20 minutes because it bypasses your gut, goes straight into your bloodstream. That's the magic of troscriptions. Physician created precision dose delivered in a way that works. So no guessing, no waiting around for hours for maybe something to kick in. So if you're doing all the right things and you feel like your brain is lagging behind or your stress is through the roof, try the blue canteen and the tro calm. You will feel the difference. So you're going to go to troscriptions.com Dr. Amy. You're going to use the code Dr. Amy at checkout for 10% off your first order. Let me spell it for you. T R O S C R I P T I o n s.com d r a M I E. And use the code D R A M I E at checkout because midlife, the time we're in right now, not a time to guess, just a time to feel good. Do you ever feel like your energy is just off? Like you're not fully alive during the day and then you're restless at night? Chances are your circadian rhythm, your body's natural clock, has been disrupted by a lack of sunlight. So what's the solution? This is where I bring in the Mitolux sun lamp. It is designed to mimic the best of the sun, helping restore your body's rhythm. UVB for vitamin D that helps our energy. Red and infrared light for mitochondrial support. And let's not forget our skin and college information. It's amazing. It's like a reset button for your health that you just turn on and then sit in front of and enjoy. And during those long, gloomy winters, those long days, it's a lifesaver. No more winter blues, by the way, improves your mood. No more low energy, improves your energy. So you need to get yourself a mito luxe lamp. It's so portable, it's so easy. I sit it on my desk, I take it with me to my bathroom, I stick my face in front of it. After I wash my face, put on my serum. It is amazing for your skin, but amazing for your energy, amazing for your mood. You want to go to mitolux.com forward/doctor Amy. So that's M I T O L U x.com forward slash, D, R, A, M, I, E. You're going to use the code. Dr. Amy they are giving me the code to give to you for 10% off. You will not regret it. This is the best, best, best red light, hands down. I have many of them in my house. This is the only one that I use. It is so easy, portable, and it works. The most important thing is it works. So. Mitoluxe.com Dr. Amy don't forget to use the code. Dr. Amy working out in midlife, it gets pretty confusing. It gets challenging. And, you know, as a woman in menopause, trying to figure out exactly what works for your body can get actually overwhelming. So that's why I brought back my dear friend and colleague, Deborah Atkinson, who is a pro at everything that has to do with training and women's bodies and doing this in middle age and doing it the right way, but doing it so that we can still lose body fat and build that sexy, lean muscle that gives us confidence, that gives us strength, that protects our bones, that has a boatload of benefits that we're going to talk about today. So this information is need to know information, ladies, because I don't want you just sitting on your ass on the couch because you have an injury or because you're getting too tired after a workout or because that workout that you're doing with the trainer at the gym kicks your butt for five days and you need that long to recover. No, I want you lifting heavy. I want you taking care of your body. I want you losing that excess body fat and building the lean muscle. But I want you to do it the right way. So that's what we're talking about today. Deb, welcome to the show.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Thanks so much. Amen to all of that. Preach it, sister.

[Dr. Amy]

Right, well, I'm just, you know, I'm preaching what you preach, girl. So, you know, and I hear this every day. I hear it in my practice from the women that we work with. I hear it just, you know, in the Facebook group, from my audience, from my followers that, you know, they know that they need to work out. And we've come so far in the discussion of menopause. I mean, now it is just like you said earlier, it's a household word now. There's 5,000 books on menopause. There's 10 million podcasts on menopause. And that's great. That's fantastic. But we're talking about hormones, hormones, hot flashes and night sweats and dry vaginas, but we're not talking about what we need to do in our workouts, in our fitness routine. And I think that that's a key component to getting through this menopause stuff alive and happy.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Absolutely. And I think we're talking so much or want to talk about supplements or talk about hrt. Is that the answer when it's right here in front of us? It's economically within your budget, no matter who you are. And I think we overlook it.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, no, I agree. I'm a fan of hrt. I'm a fan of using supplements to upgrade a key component of your health. But we have to do it all encompassing. You know, you can't just throw on some hormones and leave your nutrition and exercise at the door and not pay attention to it. It's not going to work. So with this uptick in conversations on menopause, what have you seen shift in the last year in your world?

[Deborah Atkinson]

You know, I think, well, there's the GLP one number one, I think, you know, in my fear for a lot of women, we just got off a coaching call which a with a bunch of our menopause fitness specialists and this is coming up. They're getting clients coming to them, but maybe to work on yoga and Pilates and not strength training. And they're like, how can I help them hand them some weights, you know, and help them monitor their muscle mass. Because what we're finding is even docs who are diagnosing or giving them the prescription are not doing that for them. They're not suggesting we need to prioritize protein. We need to prioritize resistance training. We need to measure when you start, let's look at where your muscle mass is. Let's look at very periodically and regularly where is it? Because we don't want to find a year into this, we've lost lean muscle. We both know metabolically they're going to be worse off, not better off, even if they needed to lose the weight. And by the way, if we're taking sides just to let it be known, I think GLP can be very appropriate for people when they need it. It's helped a lot of women, but we can't lose that muscle mass and think, I'm going to deal with that later, we've got to start now working with that. So I think that's one of the things and I think that it helps women turn up the noise with food. That's the biggest asset we've seen. And I think if they can do that, they begin to feel better and they begin potentially to get a little Bit of motivation back. Like, I'm doing this one healthy thing. I'm beginning to feel a little bit better in my skin. I. I now know I need to move, and so it can snowball positively. I think that's a good thing. But I also think right now we're too much hrt. And again, I'm a fan of it, too. I'm on it. And I think the efficacy of all the healthy habits we do are better when someone's on hrt, certainly with bone density, but I would say muscle as well. And muscle pulling on bone is a big factor of bone density. So it's. It's not we can silo one or the other, it's both or all. And for a lot of women, taking the HRT helps them sleep, which is the obstacle to the motivation to the exercise. So they're compliant because they feel better on it. But I think there are a lot of women who are thinking, do I need hrt? Should I just get that? And not looking also at the lifestyle habits, I can control myself. The strength training is such a crucial piece of not just symptom reduction, but longevity.

[Dr. Amy]

It absolutely is. I love that you mentioned the GLPs, too. I've done a couple podcasts on them. I'm a fan of the micro dosing. Well, like you, I'm a fan of, yes, let's use GLPs in those populations that truly need it. They are type 2 diabetic, they are out of control, they are obese and all. All day long. A GLP will trump obesity when we look at the overall health picture, despite of its side effects, even in higher doses. But I'm a fan of using it as a microdose because at a microdose, we can see an increase in muscle protein synthesis, and it actually can help reduce the amount of thyroid medication that we use, reduce inflammation, all that. So it's all about being used the right way. Now, I have blatantly said on these podcasts that, as you know, we tend to experiment on ourselves because we're biohackers. So way back, I mean, when Manjaro first came out, before it was headline news everywhere. Before it was what I like to call the Beverly Hills soccer mom drug of choice for weight loss. Before it was that I tried it and I was using it, using it, using it. And it, it was literally a week after Peter Attia put out an article that said, hey, hey. Turns out that some of these GLP drugs can burn muscle up to like 40%, lean muscle loss. And I Read it. I'm like, no, Peter, it's not doing that. It's fine. The next week, I'm like, oh, my God, what's happening to my arm? There's just skin hanging. So I went attest to the fact the. That using a. I will say not even a high dose, just the Same really standard 5mg of Manjaro. And I lost lean muscle. And I was. I was still working out. I was still getting in my protein. But this. This just showed me that, okay, if we have a patient, even with a micro dose, I pretty much make them sign a contract that says, I will eat protein. Like, it's my job. And I will do resistance training because otherwise you're going to lose muscle.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Amen. Yeah, we just can't afford it. I mean, that is like prime real estate. And we can't look away and say, well, I'm going to deal with this. And I think for a lot of women who are over 40, but definitely 50 and 60, and that's what we did. It's like, oh, no, I'm going to do my cardio first and I'm going to lose the fat. And then, you know, later I'll tone up and I'll get that. We can't do that anymore. That is why we're in this position we're in today. That caught up with us.

[Dr. Amy]

Well, now you just said it, so we gotta jump there. Cardio.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Oh, please.

[Dr. Amy]

Like, can we. Can we just take a moment and.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Speak and grieve for it? See if we could just grieve.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, and grieve a little bit. For the women that grew up with us, 70s, 80s, even some of you in the 90s that you learned that cardio was the way to burn body fat. And listen, I was guilty. I. I was totally, totally guilty. Especially when I was competing, I was doing cardio tw a day. And I have said this multiple times. I have more muscle now at the age of 51 than I did through my 20s and my 30s combined. I used to struggle for the bicep. I used to struggle for the calf shoulder. And I was doing so much damn cardio that I was literally burning off all of my muscle and.

[Deborah Atkinson]

And burning out. You know, I look at. So I am just a little older than you. So at 61, imagine Jane Fonda was having her day, and I aspired to be her. And this is when we would all start teaching aerobics and we would, oh, if you are teaching at the gym and somebody calls in, you have to Sub X times a week. And so you're doing two to four classes a day thinking you're outwardly people are like, I wish I could look like you. And you are going through McDonald's drive through to get a cone the sugar before class because you need energy or you're destroying four diet cokes a day. Same thing. I need energy to teach these classes. You are not very fit. You are just tired.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah.

[Deborah Atkinson]

And it's like how much better could I have felt if I exercised so much differently? Yeah, I'd like them all again place. Yeah.

[Dr. Amy]

Right. I know so much. Do we have any stats on and I'm literally just pulling this question out of the, out of the blue. Do we have any stats on how much fat does an hour long cardio session burn versus let's say an hour long strength training resistance session?

[Deborah Atkinson]

I can't give you exact stats, but I can tell you this. When I wrote you still got it girls published back in 2016, I included a chart that talked about and I still revert back to this right now because everybody's talking about walking versus running. Right. And it being so great. And I think it is great too, but not for the reason everybody is saying it's so great. Like we're burning more fat for fuel. Absolutely true. We're burning probably 70% fat for fuel, but we're burning it so slowly. That is not the reason we're losing, losing fat. I think we're losing fat by walking is because we're lowering our cortisol level. We're not triggering it negatively. And so I know many of us don't care. I don't care why. I just like that I am able to get leaner, lose more fat, not be exhausted. But I think this is really important. So with something like high intensity interval training or with strength training, if we look at let's do 30 minutes of each because then we're playing, playing fair. You're not burning very much fat during that strength training workout. You're just not burning very many calories at all. It's the payback though, what we all refer to as the epoc, the excess post oxygen consumption that happens from any exercise when you strength train. That excess oxygen consumption can last for 48 or more hours if you have a tough workout. And here's how it goes. So I said this for 15 years in the classroom, every day, every semester, multiple times a day, for every 1 liter of oxygen consumed, 5 kcals are burned. So the more oxygen we're taking in over long periods of time, your energy expenditure is greater. Not so much during that 30 minutes, but for 48 hours. Which one do you want? You want 30 minutes? Because after that, cardio is just saying, well, what have you done for me lately? You're gonna have to work out again. Yep, that's it. And you're, you're tired and a little more hungry, more cravings, you know, it comes back to bite you if you do too much cardio, especially in the wrong zone. The zone everybody learned to exercise in in the 70s and 80s and. I'm sorry I told you to do that. I didn't know any better.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, yeah, true, true. Now you know what? I have been hearing a lot more about the zones and it was actually just a couple of weeks ago that I got an email from a patient and she's laying out her protocols and she's like, well, I always do xyz and I'm doing zone two workouts a lot. Can you break down the zones for us? And what does all that even mean? And what should we be doing?

[Deborah Atkinson]

And that is the question that I would always have to ask to a client or a student who says that when zone two yesterday, I said that. Is that what does zone two mean to you? Like, because I like, we all have a different definition. And as a triathlon coach, strength and conditioning coach, you know, there are pyramids of, there's four zones, there's five, there's seven zones. So to coaches, they mean something different. If we're breaking things down, zone two moves. But I think the best definition is it is still kind of an all day pace you choose. You know, you're exercising on purpose, but you can have a good conversation. You're not having to talk between breaths. You're not like that. You can have a full sentence and speak it. You're willing to answer, not just ask questions. You know, you're working hard when you're only wanting to ask questions. So they have to talk and you, you don't. You know, that's when you're. I'm way out of my zone here. So if you're running with somebody faster than you, that's what you do, right? You ask a really good question. Open ended, but we need to kind of say mouth and nose. That's really one of the biggest differences. If you're going back and forth and you can still breathe through your nose fairly comfortably, you're still in zone one to two. As soon as it's all mouth breathing, you've hit zone three. And even just going Longer. Longer than is your comfort zone for right now, based on your conditioning. We can have drift, cardiac drift, and it drifts into zone three. And mentally we don't feel it because those endorphins do kick in. If you like exercise and you'll say, no, no, no, I'm fine. But you will have kicked into that. This is where cortisol tends to escalate and not come down afterward.

[Dr. Amy]

Okay. Can zone three be. Is it just cardio or. It could also be a really hard weight workout too. Right. I'm sure I enter zone 3 after I squat or deadlift.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Yeah, well, but you don't stay there.

[Dr. Amy]

Okay.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Is the difference. So when we look at strength training, it's a little bit more for most of us when we're truly doing a strength training workout because we're doing the set but then we're resting, we're having to switch the plates or take that time in between each exercise as we move to a different station, we're almost doing interval training. So the heart rate goes up for a minute while we're in it and then it comes down. Your body is actually. I'm okay with that. I'm getting recovery in between. So it's not going to get so stressed. If you go in there and you're going to do a two hour strength training workout, you may turn that higher intensity workout into endurance. And that's where we women who are like, oh, no more, must be better. I'm going to work a little harder. I'm going to get ahead of this. We can get ourselves into trouble. Those of us who are highly motivated in type A's and overachievers, and I'm looking right at you and me both. Right.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah.

[Deborah Atkinson]

I mean, because we will tend to want to do that. And there is also. That feels like workout. We have to watch out for it. Like, it felt so good. I kept going. Don't do that.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Let it feel good tomorrow too. Right, Right.

[Dr. Amy]

Exactly. Oh, my gosh. I love everything that you're talking about. And you know, I. Sometimes I feel like I, I have an unfair advantage because I. Working out is ingrained in me. I've been doing it just like you been doing it since I probably was first allowed in the gym at the age of 16 to do my first step aerobic class.

[Deborah Atkinson]

This is such contraband, right? To let kids in the gym.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, I know, right? I know. God forbid you let them in below the age of 16, take them to the mall.

[Deborah Atkinson]

But not to the gym.

[Dr. Amy]

Not to the gym. Yeah. I don't even know if that's changed. I'm assuming it has because now we're strength training young athletes and whatnot. But I just, I remember working out from a very young age, and that was ingrained in me. But now I feel like I have to take a step back and realize that not every woman has had that same experience or that same, I guess, even advantage to being able to go to a gym and, and, and having been trained in a way that, that became a part of me and became a part of, of my lifestyle. Are you not on Hashimoto's Fixer? Why not? It's part of the no dust supplement list. Now, Hashimoto's Fixer, or Hashimoto support by the fixer to be exact, is black cumin seed oil with 3% thymoquinone. Why is this important? That's the active ingredient in Hashimoto's Fixer that lowers your Hashimoto antibodies. We have had reports of people going into four full remission when they bring in Hashimoto's Fixer, literally dropping their antibodies to zero. Now, black cumin seed also works on other autoimmune conditions. So if you have antibodies for Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, if you have psoriasis, it's going to help across the board with all autoimmune. It's going to help decrease inflammation. It helps with all of the symptoms of low thyroid function or symptoms of your thyroid being attacked by your own body, like hair loss, weight gain, fatigue. As we lower those antibodies and push them down to zero, what we end up seeing is this full body improvement because then your thyroid works better and your blood sugar balances out. Nutrients are getting where they need to get to and is actually one of the only supplemental ingredients that we can say prevents cancer. They're so. My gosh. You better have studies behind that statement if you're going to say it out loud or the FDA will slap you. Well, the FDA can't slap us because there are multiple, multiple studies on this amazing Nigella sativa plant in Hashimoto's Fixer that actually decreases your risk of cancer. Wow. Amazing. Boosting the immune system, reducing swelling, lowering that allergic reaction that we have in the spring. That is why I say black cumin should be a no dust supplement. It should be part of your life every single day. Because we all have inflammation, we all need improved blood sugar control, we all need better cholesterol levels. Well, that's what black cumin seed does. Even reduces hypertension how about that? So add in Hashimoto's support by the fixer. We'll put the link in the show notes, but you can always go to betterlifedoctor.com and peruse all of the fixer supplements and then click on Hashimoto's and we got you covered. Add this in daily as part of your no DA supplement list and you'll see the benefits working. As your inflammation goes down, antibodies go down, and you're providing that extra layer of prevention for cancer and it even has been shown to fight cancer. Why not take it daily? So let's say you have a woman and, and I know that you've seen this, that has never worked out and, but she wants to. She hears you, she hears the importance of this, she hears all the benefits of, of doing some resistance training and she just doesn't know how. She can get on the peloton. She can get on the elliptical at the gym, but when it comes to going in that middle section and, and moving some of those machines or picking up a weight, that's just intimidating. That's, that's for the bros out there, the muscle guys. That's not for me. What do you say? How do you start someone?

[Deborah Atkinson]

Yes, that is a hard one. And that's, that's right Now, I think 80 to 85% of the population, you know, mix between men and women, but we're still looking at statistics that really are in a line with where we were 40 years ago. You know, the same ones of us are probably tuning into this podcast right now. So the best thing you can do is probably share it with a friend or a sister or colleague who's not and let them be a part of this conversation and say, hey, you know, I thought you might like this. Just listen to it for me, will you? But take a woman to the gym, not to coffee is my motto. But I think it's got to be in a non intimidating way and I think that is part of it. Going with a friend, going with someone who is. You're comfortable with, you're not feeling like you have to keep up with. And I think we have to take a good look at our gyms. Gyms are doing better. They realize, you know, over 50% of the members are women. So you're seeing gyms with higher ceilings, more window light. They know that this can't be a cave, like a man cave, that down in the dungeon, the stinky, smelly, like rubber and sweat. And. I know, you know what I mean, right?

[Dr. Amy]

I totally, I Used to dream.

[Deborah Atkinson]

And it probably brings back great memories for you. But for anybody else it's just like, ah, I don't want to be here. So I think it's got to be a good environment and I think it's easier to find today. But the woman who, who's 50 or 60 and feels like a fish out of water in a gym, her experience was that so she's going to have to be invited back to a non intimidating place or it's why we see so many programs do well that start women at home. And so I would say it's part of flipping 50 successes. You can do this at home. And we, we've seen the thing that you fear the most or that instills the most fear. Fear. I think for women is they get that diagnosis from a DEXA scan and they've got osteoporosis and feel like the rug was pulled out from under them. So to, first of all, to anybody we know we can reverse bone loss now and we've seen it happen at home during the pandemic. We had to, women didn't have a choice, but we saw that occur. And so the realization that it's not too late to reverse bone density because when you first heard it in this population in the 90s, it was like we need to bubble wrap you and you shouldn't be doing anything hard or high impact at all. We've thrown that out.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, we have. But okay, so women can work out at home. You have programs that show them how to work out at home. You separate out age or is it all based on where they are, are in their, their fitness journey and their, let's say, you know, taking into account injuries and body composition and all that. So how, how do you break out your workouts and assign what style to what woman?

[Deborah Atkinson]

That is such a great question. I'm so glad you asked it because. So that is one of the questions I hate the Most. Like I'm 75, how should I exercise? I'm like, first of all, I don't care how old you are, you're probably in better shape than a 35 year old if you're even asking me that question. So it is completely ability and it, and then I have to say responsibly. Well of course it matters. Your 75 year old muscles, joints and ligaments are not as resilient as yours when they were 25. It matters a little. We know, we know that. But it's, it's like a graph of all these circles. So number one it's your hormonal status. Are you pre menopause, are you perimenopause or you're post menopause? That's kind of one, because we kind of know what's going on with your hormones. And, and by the way, if you're postmenopausal, you actually need more volume and stimulus than when you were perimenopausal or premenopausal if you want to change your body composition. So realize you're not broken and you're not fragile or weak. You look behind you at all the shit you did in your life. Life, it's been big and you're strong, so let's just own that. But then it's your experience with strength training most recently. So you may say, well, for decades, but not in the last year. What have you done consistently in the last three months? That probably matters most. If you have history behind that, you'll probably gain that back because muscle does have some memory and that'll count. But you need to know, are you a beginner, you have three to six months experience, or are you a veteran? You've been doing this consistent but not getting the results that you deserve. And that tells us a lot about how many sets, how many reps, where do we begin with you? And then it's, what are your priorities? Is it the bone density? Is it. You have arthritis and you want that pain to go away. We know we need to start you with a different set of reps and a different load in order to do that. And the other obstacles, time, energy. I see a lot of women come into our membership, and I know they're in the gym with adrenal fatigue who are trying to kind of go around it and go over it, go under it and push through workouts that they don't have any business doing and they need to not feel guilty about. Put that down for, for a minute. Let's look at your thyroid. Let's. Let's look at your nutrition, your rest, your sleep, your ability to handle stress, because we're just adding stress. And it's good, it's calculated, but it's like doing what you would normally do when you have the flu. We would never do that with nutrition or exercise if we had the stomach flu. Similarly, have to respond and I think tend to the adrenal system in our cortisol level, which, by the way, we should talk about that. That's a hot word right now. It's like triggering researchers, it's triggering everybody. And we misunderstand It.

[Dr. Amy]

Oh, girl. That's a whole other podcast. We totally understand it. Oh, my gosh. And that's the thing. Yeah. I don't want to scare people and have them go, oh, my gosh, I have adrenal fatigue, so I probably shouldn't work out. Like, no, no, no. That's not what we're saying. We're saying that if you push yourself past the point where you should. And. And I love that you mentioned thyroid patients, because I was going to jump in and say, well, that's classic. When you have hypothyroidism, you're not being treated properly or you're undiagnosed. You're gaining weight like crazy. You can't lose weight no matter what you do. So what do you do? You do two hours more of it instead. Or, you know, you do a second one. One in the. In the evening. I know, I've been there. I'm like, speaking from experience. You push, push, push. And then. Yes, to your point, what does that do? It raises our cortisol. It pushes up our blood glucose. That's going to have a negative feedback on our thyroid, so it's going to get worse, and then it's also going to pack on additional pounds.

[Deborah Atkinson]

So.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah. I love that you mentioned cortisol. I don't. It's one of those things. We can't demonize it, but we have to take it into a account in the whole. In the whole conversation.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Yeah. Well. And I think where it's going wrong is it's. I don't know that it's so misunderstood, but I think it's miscommunicated. I don't think we're finding our words well to communicate to women who are listening, and we may not be communicating well, someone who's practically giving the advice and teaching with some of the researchers. I think we're on the same side. I just think we're saying it in different ways. So exercise does increase cortisol acutely. It's supposed to. That's not the problem. And your cortisol will be up and down during the course of a day. That's supposed to happen. But if we're chronically elevated because we've been slammed by caregiving or extra things on our plate for too long a period of time, then what we have to realize is exercise is a choice. You can go up or down, and you can optimize your results from it. If you do that, not necessarily forfeit or settle for something, but you actually will get better results, maybe maintain your results. If you lower that momentarily while life is throwing you the workout in other stressors, and then you'll be able to come back to increasing it. But you can't keep it up here because it says that on the calendar you're supposed to do X, Y and Z. You have to listen a little bit better. And we've gotten really good at ignoring the messages that our body sends. And there are so many memes that suggest, yeah, do that. Don't listen. When you're tired, push through is a tough thing to learn, but you're supposed to feel good. After exercise, you should be one of the most energetic women in the room, not the most tired.

[Dr. Amy]

There you go. Well, maybe that's a marker right there that women can listen to is okay. After your workout, answer this question. How do you feel? Do you feel more energized or do you feel more tired? And right there, you know, okay, I did the right way or the wrong way. So now you had already mentioned a couple benefits. I didn't, I actually didn't even think that we had to start with the benefits of resistance training and strength training. But I think we need to touch on that because what if there is a newbie in here going like, well, why the hell would I pick up a weight? I heard cardio is the best thing. Or I'm just gonna walk. Because everybody talks about the benefits of walking.

[Deborah Atkinson]

True.

[Dr. Amy]

You already mentioned osteoporosis and bone density. I mean, right off the bat. Yeah. Now you, you mentioned cortisol. But I think we also have to add in the, the overarching benefit of exercise is a balance of, of your adrenals. It's balancing your cortisol. So even if you get that little bit of a spike from a hard workout, that's going to benefit your adrenals in the long run, right? Yeah.

[Deborah Atkinson]

More resilience, right? Yeah, yeah. And it's just the same way you're doing any other thing. There's a right way, there's an optimal way. You get a little nervous before giving a speech, but then the speech is over and you're totally recovered. You're totally fine. But your resiliency, if you have to give a speech again, you're gonna like, oh, I know how to do that. Your body adapts to every workout by getting a little stronger as well. So the benefit is there in, you know, you can handle life stressors more and functional activities of life, certainly. But I think for women in midlife, one of the biggest advantages is blood sugar control, insulin sensitivity, that Occurs after strength training. And if you're there and you're feeling puffy and fluffy or you're putting on the belly fat, often that's tied to elevation of blood sugar, insulin resistance, that happens just because you punched your ticket for midlife. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just that you need to change what you're doing. Because pre menopause and postmenopause are probably different life strategies.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, definitely. So the insulin resistance, bone density, obviously, body composition, more muscle helps protect your bones from breaks, from falls. Less body fat just protects all of your organs. So you don't have the visceral fat. Mood, sleep, I mean, just all of it.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Depression, anxiety, you know, those are postmenopause. Two thirds of women, you know, will experience that. And part of it is maybe we outlive everybody. We outlaw, outlive our friends, but definitely our spouses. We don't intend to, but it works out, you know, And I think for a lot of people, my experience with clients has been it's easier to start strength training than it is cardiovascular exercise because they feel successful right away without getting breathless, which can inspire anxiety. It's like anxiety.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah. Just there's something about just picking up any weight. It doesn't matter. I don't care if it's 4, 5 or if it's 25, like just picking up that weight, doing a push up again. I don't care if it's on your toes, your knees, elevated. There's that, that power and that strength that just comes from picking up heavy and being strong as a woman.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Yeah.

[Dr. Amy]

And, you know, I think that that goes into confidence. It goes obviously into mood, into brain function, and it makes you more successful in life, the whole thing. I mean, we could keep going. Yes. You can make more money if you exercise because you feel better.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Absolutely. I think that's actually proven. You know, most of the most successful CEOs, C suite level managers lift weights. They exercise. It's a part of why they're productive and resilient. Because you know there's going to be stress up there, right?

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So one of the last questions I have to ask you, because I know this is on everyone's mind, is how long do I have to commit? How, like, if I only have 30 minutes, is that enough? Or is that not even worth my time of going to the gym or going to my garage and picking up some weights? Give us, give us the time discussion.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Yeah. You know, I get this question a lot. In fact, you know, everybody writes their Letter to Santa Claus. It's a list and they want what bone density. I want material metabolism. I want to lose the fat on my X, Y and Z and I need it in 15 or 30 minute workouts. And I'm like, you had me until that one. And so there is a compromise and I would say though, is 30 minutes worth it? Absolutely, yes. And that's where we start. So we start getting you regularly moving and build into the realistic time that you can commit to right now. And here's I'm a dealer, get it. I want you to become co addicted to the exercise because once you begin experiencing those little successes, you'll be willing to expand that 30 minutes to 40 and to 45. And I like the sweet spot of 45 to 60 because we have to agree we need a warm up and a cool down. Women and mid level life with low estrogen are more prone to injury. And so taking care of mobility and getting the joints prepared for the exercise and helping cool it down afterward reduces the risk of those injuries. So if we say 30 minutes and we say 15 of that's warm up and cool down, we don't have too much and that's why it gets challenging to how do we get the volume we need in order to do it? The other thing I want to comment on is it doesn't matter if it's light, moderate or heavy weight. Reaching muscular fatigue is helpful. Gaining strength. So if you are a woman intimidated by it having to be heavy at first, everybody has to start light. Everybody.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Even if you want to go heavy eventually it's not wise to jump in there. So somewhere along the line we will all find and maybe there's a sweet spot and I'm at maintenance here and it makes sense for me not to go further because I feel vulnerable or I am getting achy. You'll find that point. Or you may surprise yourself and find no, you know, I, I can do much more than I thought I could and that'll be awesome too.

[Dr. Amy]

Beautiful. Oh, I love this Deb. I love it so much. So I know our listeners are going to be wondering, well now what? I kind of want to start on something. So you have a guide that we're going to put in the show notes, perfect guide to interval training. So we're going to put that link in the show notes. But you have so much, so much to offer. You have a membership, you have different programs. So can you tell people about the membership and can then can you tell people where they can find you, connect with you and go deeper maybe to get a nice plan down for themselves.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Absolutely. So you could find me flipping50.com, all words spelled out, no spaces. If you go there, if we have something going on or open on the homepage, you're going to see it right away. So it's going to bite you, promise you. So it'll be easy to get there. That's a great place to find out a little more. Our membership was open in 2016, so we've made lots of iterations of 2.0 and 3.0. And we're working on something a little more magical, even, even for this year. And There are over 12, 12 week programs, strength training programs in it because some women have the obstacle of time. There's a program for that. There's a couple of them, actually, because it's a, it's a problem. And there's. I want to work on bone density. There's, there's a couple that go heavier and help you do that safely. And some want to work out in a gym, though maybe many women start with me at home. So there are programs that do that and there's ancillary things in there, like challenges to keep you stimulated for glutes and core and all the things we like to work on specifically so you'll find all of it. We set you up with a coach right away so that we give you a gps. Like, which one do I need to start with based on my experience, my hormone profile, my priorities. So we'll suggest, suggest to you based on what you're telling us. Here's where we want you to start. And here might be the next one you're, you're going to be ready for. So we give you that roadmap, social media, flipping 50 TV. And if you really want to talk to me, you can DM me on Instagram. Nobody else is touching that. It'll be me. I'd love to know you came from Amy's podcast.

[Dr. Amy]

Yeah, yeah. Let Deb know. And oh my gosh, that membership sound sounds amazing. Like, I'm gonna join. I need some fresh workouts, you know what I mean? Because you are hitting women at every fitness level. There's something for everyone in there. Yeah.

[Deborah Atkinson]

And there's a thing in there for when life throws you a curveball and you need to pivot. We've got you. We've got you.

[Dr. Amy]

Because that never happens.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Oh, yeah.

[Dr. Amy]

Oh, this is fantastic. Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for jumping on and just unpacking this whole topic of strength training fitness in our midlife it's, it's a huge conversation right now. I'm so happy to have it with you and to bring this information to my audience. And I'm so excited for your membership too. So we're gonna put all the links in the show notes for everyone. And Deb, just keep doing what you're doing. You are helping women everywhere. I mean, just, I really believe that, especially the women kind of below us. You're in your 60s, I'm in my 50s. The 30 and 40 year olds now are armed with such great information. But even us ladies, 50s, 60s, 70s, we still got a chance. We can still put on muscle. We can still be the biggest we've ever been in our life. Because like I said, At 51, I'm better than I was in my 20s.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Absolutely. And we're to change the whole game. So it's going to be amazing and exciting for those 20 and 30 somethings even. They're gonna have it. So great.

[Dr. Amy]

Yep, absolutely.

[Deborah Atkinson]

Thank you so much.

[Dr. Amy]

So much, Deb. Yeah, we'll talk to you soon. The information shared on the Thyroid Fixer Podcast is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, treatment or before making changes to your healthc care regimen, including medications, supplements, or other therapies. Use of the information provided in this podcast does not establish a doctor, patient, or client provide a relationship between you and the host or between you and any other healthcare professionals featured on the show. Any medical opinions or statements made by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or affiliated parties. Statements regarding dietary supplements or health related products mentioned in this podcast have not been evaluated by the fda. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Some episodes of the Thyroid Fixer Podcast may include sponsorships or affiliate links. The host may receive compensation for discussing or promoting certain products or services. Any such sponsorships or affiliations will be clearly disclosed during the episode. All opinions expressed are those of the hosts or guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any sponsors. The inclusion of a product or service does not imply endorsement by any healthcare professional featured on this podcast.