Nicole Wright Personal Training - Your Fitness Effectively

This study published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine is amazing!!

- 147,000 people in the study of which 115,000 were women
- Found that just under 2 hours of heavy lifting a week decreased early mortality rates by 13% which is roughly the equivalent of 3-5 years extra!
- If those 2 hours were combined with regular cardio that risk of early mortality dropped by a staggering 58%!!!
- and what I didn't mention in the reel but which is even more important to me I think, is that participants saw a massive 27% lower risk of dying from neurological disease like dementia or Alzheimer's.

Surely that's worth it right? We can buy all the expensive anti aging products that we want but this is the stuff that really works.

In fact maybe I can try and bottle it and sell it as a fancy anti aging product. I'd probably sell a lot more 🤣...'Lifting the Elixir of Life'.

Joking aside, surely 2 hours of lifting a week + some cardio is worth it for 10 extra years right?

And if you don't know where to start, reach out to me or go and check out some of my YouTube videos linked in my bio.

Nic x

You often hear about caring less as you get older and go through perimenopause.

I'm not there yet there. Some days, like today I don't care and will happily spin around in a gold shawl (?) I had to make mine from a charity shop.

Other times I care about the smallest things and I am so emotionally charged that one small comment, one negative message can tip me over the edge and I feel so self conscious and doubt everything about myself.

I know a lot of my clients feel the same way (maybe without the gold shawl). I can't magically make that self doubt go away, but I can help guide you through this rolled coaster of this time of life. I've just created a free, short guide to help get you started and you can find that in my bio. You can always message me too. I'm always open to having a chat.

I would also absolutely love to hear from anyone who genuinely gives zero fu&is. How did you get there?

Nic x

**ks

In my living room, one kettlebell, dumbbell, in my jeans shorts (not recommended). Not the best workout, but it was this or nothing today.

If you have certain goals you want to achieve then you might need to lift heavy and it's definitely good for us to do in perimenopause. But some days it just ain't happening and this was one of them! And that's ok. It's about long term consistency, not one isolated workout.

It can be confusing what's happening to us in perimenopause and what to do during this time. I wanted to try and cut through all the noise and have created a free guide to share my knowledge so hopefully you get some clarity around what's happening to your body in perimenopause and how best to work with it.

The link is in my bio or message me below or in my DMs and I'll send it to you. I'd love for any feedback on it too.

Nic x

Just taking a moment...

I'm so happy this study by the American College of Sports Medicine has just come out. It's the gold standard in this area and their findings are a breath of fresh air to what can be an overly (and purposely) complicated subject - resistance training aka lifting weights.

In short: lifting some weights consistently every week is better for you than not doing it at all or sporadically. It doesn't have to be complicated either (no reps to failure, no complex programming...).

Ideally you'd do a minimum of 2 sessions a week working all the muscle groups but in short "the best programme is the one you'll actually stick with". And in perimenopause when all sorts is happening to us, this is great to hear.

This was is exactly how I train my clients and the advice I give so follow along if this resonates.

Google this to read more: ‘an Overview of Reviews Position Stand  for Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance: for the American College of Sports Medicine’

What is perimenopause and what does it mean for you as an active woman?

Perimenopause is the transition phase before your period stops for good. It can last from a few years to over a decade.

Most women start noticing changes from around 40. These changes vary for each of us.

No perimenopause journey is the same but one thing is true for us all; it’s the time when our hormones are (wildly) fluctuating.

We talk a lot about oestrogen declining but progesterone and testosterone also play just as important a role. These 3 hormones are involved in almost EVERY system in our body.

How our muscle and brain function, our bones & joints, our sleep, our mood, our metabolism, our recovery, our fat storage, our energy levels…and our body is trying incredibly hard to deal with all of this hormone unpredictably on top of everything else we are asking it to do (a casual 20 miler anyone?!)

So it’s no wonder we start to feel it in our daily life, our mood, our training and our performance.

It’s very common to still have regular periods and be in perimenopause; so those small differences you are feeling - those runs that feel slower, training sessions that feel harder, joints that ache when they never used to…don’t ignore them!

These are all the signs that your body is undergoing significant change and that you need to start adapting to those changes.

This isn’t about giving up or giving in. We can absolutely still be as active as we were, but we do have to make some changes if we still want to perform at our best. Our training, nutrition, lifestyle and crucially mindset all need to adapt.

Follow along as next, I look at some of the very specific ways our training and performance can start changing in perimenopause and how we can start effectively adapting it.

You can do all the 'right' things in Perimenopause but that doesn't mean there won't be days that you feel terrible. Our bodies are complex, this journey is complex. And perimenopause isn't a puzzle that can be solved simply by doing x,y,z.

That's not me trying to be negative, it's just reality. We are told on social media all the things we 'must' do or 'need' to do and it can feel like if you aren't doing them all you are doing it wrong. But also, if you are doing them all and you still feel terrible, it can also feel like you are doing it wrong.

You aren't!

If today is one of those days it's feeling hard then I'm here if you want to chat.

Nic x