How has perimenopause changed your workouts?
What did your workouts look like before and during peri? How have they changed? What do you prioritize?
So my story is a little different as my body broke BEFORE peri, but even after kind of recovering, I canNOT keep up.
I used to be a MAJOR runner, dancer, lifter, yogi who was very fit, agile, fast, and was confident trying any new workout class or moves, whether it was boxjumps, monkey bars, kettlebells, etc. I did get injured but could usually tough it out or recover pretty quickly had a major, life changing injury at about 40, couldver n't walk for 7 months, needed surgery, and I still have no cartilege in one knee and it's prone to minor dislocations. So I was already at that disadvantage. But I was recovering to a degree. As recently as 15 months ago, I could run at a decent pace for a fair amount of time, do a couple pull ups, and had sone agility and balance.
But about a year ago, when peri really kicked in, this all went to hell. I gained 30lbs and got too fat to do lift my own body weight, I got frozen shoulder/ bursitis and arthritis in my formerly good knee. I can barely run 30 mins, not just due to low stamina but to knee pain, and can no longer sprint. The thought of swinging kettlebells around or doing box jumps makes my joints wince and I am daunted by the amount of warming up and cooling down (mobility and stretching) I seem to need to not be in major pain at this age. Stacy Sims says HIIT and left heavy. I am trying but I am fucking exhausted. Not just tired from a good workout, but go home and lay on the couch for the rest of the evening exhausted. I see these fitness influencers with kids and rockhard abs at 48yrs old while my formerly snached waist look like Winnie the Pooh's and I don't seem to be gaining muscle no matter how heavy I lift. So what are we doing? How are we doing it? I love fitness and want to keep doing it forever. But what I am doing isn't getting results and is exhausting me, and trying to get back to where I have been before feels impossible. What is working and not working for you?