A healthy, active lifestyle can significantly impact a woman’s experience during perimenopause, a phase marked by hormonal changes and various physical transitions. How a woman exercises can have a huge impact on her health outcomes, now and in the future. A trendy training modality is High-Velocity Training (HVT), which has been tested in a variety of age groups with great results. I recently read Selene Yeager’s article promoting HVT for active women in midlife and beyond. It’s a well-thought-out piece, inspired by an article in the Scientific American, and it made me want to grab a kettlebell and add some velocity to my day!
As a fitness professional that works with midlife women every day – and lives as a midlife woman at 52 myself – I’m familiar with a common trait to “go hard or go home” among this audience. While I recognize this article is written for active, performance-minded women, I wish to underline the importance of building a robust foundation through slow, focused strength training before integrating HVT into the fitness mix.
Why? Because 1) not all active, performance-minded women have built a consistent strength training regimen, and 2) some of us that have, want to do it all, all the time, regardless of inadequate recovery. Me included, as you could probably tell from my kettlebell impulse. So, for those of us that haven’t started, and for those of us with the penchant to “go hard or go home” allllll the time, let’s talk about when and how to best incorporate HVT, after laying the foundation.
Strength Training: The Building Blocks of Fitness
Bone Health
With declining estrogen levels during perimenopause, women face a potential decrease in bone density. Slow, deliberate strength training exercises done with heavy loads can encourage the growth of new bone tissue, acting as a buffer against this decline. Emphasis here is on “heavy loads,” and they should be heavy enough that you must move deliberately and mindfully, which tends to be sacrificed when one introduces speed to the mix.
Muscle Mass Maintenance
Perimenopause is often coupled with a decrease in muscle mass. The decreased estrogen signal must be replaced by an external muscle-building stimulus, the best of which is lifting heavy weight in the short-rep range. By performing strength training exercises slowly and with focus, we can ensure optimal muscle engagement, promoting muscle development and maintenance.
Adding point 2 to point 1, it’s clear that activities that build one also build the other. And while HVT encourages bone remodeling, one would be hard-pressed to get maximum bone benefit from it before building the movement skills necessary for strength training. Which leads us to the next point…
Injury Prevention
Gradual, controlled strength training exercises help master correct form, decreasing the risk of injury when progressing to more demanding routines such as HVT. The practice element of strength training that builds excellent form and skill works with physiological elements that come from traditional strength training, which are discussed next.
Enhancing Neuromuscular Connections
Strength training is instrumental to nurture strong neuromuscular connections, improving how our nervous system and muscles interact. Much of the famous “newbie gains” phenomena is due to this. You’re not just building muscle and bone when you lift; you are also increasing blood supply and the infrastructure for blood flow, and building new neurological connections, the infrastructure for information.
This new neuromuscular infrastructure allows new exercisers to get stronger and more agile even before they increase muscle mass. This enhanced neuromuscular efficiency also significantly improves performance during high-speed workouts. Attempting HVT prior to laying the proper neuromuscular foundations can lead to injury, while laying the foundation for it with controlled strength training translates to enhanced protection against injury.
Mindful Movement
Slow strength training promotes mindfulness, improving body awareness, proprioception, muscular imbalances, and mobility. This conscious attention to movement not only contributes to safer workouts but also allows for better technique and performance.
The Value of Recovery
One integral aspect of a comprehensive fitness regimen, often overlooked, is the importance of recovery. Adequate recovery time allows your body to repair tissues damaged during workouts, making them stronger. Moreover, recovery helps in replenishing energy stores and reducing the risk of overuse injuries.
Recovery is even more crucial during the menopause transition, as the hormone changes can lead to compromised muscular remodeling (due to a depressed muscle-protein synthesis mechanism), increased fatigue, and an elevated cortisol response, thanks again to waning estrogen. Regardless of its importance, it’s one of the first things perimenopausal women neglect. But neglect it at your own peril; the best way to fast-track yourself to injury and burn out while bringing progress to a screeching halt is to neglect sufficient recovery.
I emphasize this because incorporating rest and recovery days into your training schedule is crucial, especially when dealing with high-intensity workouts like HVT. Fostering a balanced routine that includes strength training, HVT, and adequate recovery will result in a healthier, more sustainable fitness journey.
Moving to High-Velocity Training
With a solid strength foundation, the integration of HVT can significantly enhance your fitness regime. It can boost cardiovascular health, increase agility, and add a dynamic dimension to your workouts.
For those already experienced with strength training, adding HVT should be a thoughtful, measured process that prioritizes recovery. It may work better in your schedule to combine the two into one gym session; just make sure to warm up sufficiently with mobility and muscular activation drills. Then move to two or three heavy compound lifts, followed by practice for one or two HVT drills. Finally, make sure you are allowing at least 72 hours for recovery for each muscle group between workouts.
An example of a well-planned workout that combines strength and HVT follows:
- Mobility and Activation: 90/90 hip drills, bird dogs, glute bridges, banded monster walks
- Heavy Compound Lifts: trap bar deadlifts, barbell shrugs, pull ups or bodyweight inverted rows, 4 sets of 1-5 reps each
- High-Velocity Training: kettlebell single snatches, battle rope slams, 1-2 sets of 1 minute each, interrupted by 2-minute rest periods.
A well-constructed weekly schedule will include one day that emphasizes posterior chain or pulling muscles, as above, and one focused on the pushing muscles predominantly along the front of the body, spaced 2-3 days apart. Less intense workouts – such as cycling, core work, or light resistance as with bands or bodyweight – can be scheduled between these big workouts.
Balancing Strength and Speed
The key is finding the right balance between traditional strength training and HVT, with a keen eye on ensuring sufficient recovery. This approach will yield a balanced, sustainable strategy for maintaining strength and fitness during perimenopause.
Remember, every woman’s journey through perimenopause is unique, and the optimal fitness regime will vary from person to person. Regardless, a progressive approach that begins with slow, intentional strength training, gradually introduces elements of HVT, and emphasizes recovery can help navigate this transformative period with resilience and vitality.