World Menopause Day : Chronic Pain

I recently turned 40, and somewhere between the chaos of life, parenting, running a business, and trying to stay alive... strength training morphed from something I should do to something I cannot afford not to do.

At 35, I noticed something was different, mostly that I felt like I was going mad! My hormones were changing long before the blood tests showed it, and after a while lifting became the one thing that made me feel in control again.

World Menopause Day has just passed, and this year the focus was chronic pain. It reminded me how many women are living with symptoms that they don't even realise, minimise, or blame on stress, when actually their hormones are the buggers at play.

As an online coach who specialises in perimenopause, menopause, and hormone related training, I speak wo women about this every day. Women feeling "off", not themselves, or suddenly with so much more rage than before... and they don't understand why. I coach women daily who think they are doing something wrong, and they're not... really all their bodies are asking for a different kind of support.

Perimenopause rarely announces itself.

For many women, perimenopause begins with subtle changes, but add them all together and they were awful. You may or may not be able to relate to my experience, so hopefully sharing this helps you to know you are not alone.

Physically I had hip aches, a sudden flurry of cysts, migraines, spotting and awful period cramps that suddenly appeared and woke me up at 5am (unable to sleep because they were so bad).

Mentally I struggled with the anxiety that came and went without warning, mind fog, memory changes and rage I had never experienced before.

Despite all of this I kept being told everything was normal, until one doctor finally changed everything, “Your results might be normal, but they are not normal for your age.”

There is light at the end of the tunnel: How strength training supports women through hormone change

As a coach I teach strength training not as a fitness trend, but as a hormone supportive strategy. Working with women in their 30's all the way to their 70's and beyond, strength training helps with so many hormone related issue and it's never too late to start.

1. Reduce chronic pain

By improving joint stability, muscle strength, and overall movement quality.

2. Support bone density

Which becomes crucial as Oestrogen declines.

3. Improve metabolic health

Helping manage weight changes that often feel sudden or unexplained.

4. Boost energy

By supporting mitochondrial function and reducing fatigue.

5. Improve mood and anxiety

Through predictable, structured movement that calms the nervous system.

6. Build confidence

At a time when many women feel like their bodies are betraying them.

I train for the future, and teach women to do the same

Why? One of my biggest drivers was when my mum suffered from a fall and at 70 years old the previously fit and healthy woman I knew was unable to move without agony. She had broken a vertebrae and after months of pain she was diagnosed with Osteoporosis.

I watched what weak bones can do to a woman’s independence and mobility, which drove me to speak to the doctor about my own bone health. Being in early perimenopause and predicted to go through premature menopause I am at a higher risk of issues with my bone density, which meant I could get a DEXA scan, and this confirmed Osteopenia in one of my hips (funnily enough the one that had caused me issues for years).

I am not waiting for history to repeat itself.

Along with HRT, strength training is how I protect my bones, my joints, my metabolism, and my independence. Its also how I stop myself going mad at my family, keep myself sane and give myself something positive to focus on.

If you are 35 to 55 and your body feels different, you are not imagining it! I promise you!

Strength training is how I help other women to rebuild themselves, especially those navigating hormone fluctuations.

You do not need perfect form, you do not need heavy weights, you do not need a gym and you definitely do not need to be fit before you start. You simply need a plan that respects what your hormones are doing.

As an online coach specialising in perimenopause and menopause, I help women to:

• Understand their symptoms.

• Train in a way that supports their hormones.

• Reduce pain.

• Build strength safely.

• Feel confident again.

• Stop feeling like their body is broken.

If you want support personalised to you, your life, and phase of life, contact me on the services and offers page and I will send you details about coaching that helps you feel capable, confident, and you again.

Strength training might be the thing that changes everything for you too.