If you’ve tried dieting, bumping up your workout schedule, running more, cutting calories, cutting carbs and you still feel frustrated, I hear you! If you’ve even tried HRT and not felt like you were getting anywhere, I feel you!

The tricky thing about perimenopause is that it’s a moving target because our hormones don’t change and then stay that way long enough for us to get comfortable! They typically fluctuate at varying rates, which is why I call it a “moving target.”

The solution for that is a holistic approach, plus a little more information than we’ve ever had to have about how our bodies work, so we can adjust as we go. It’s like the operator’s manual to your body just grew a whole new chapter you were not expecting, and now you’ve got to read it!

And, in perimenopause we need a little more patience than we’ve had before when it comes to seeing results. Patience with ourselves as we learn how things work now, and kindness for ourselves as we embark on these transition years.

But don’t worry, you are smart and there is more information available now than ever before. And building strength and resilience into your body is a worthwhile pursuit, one that will set you up for success in the upcoming years in such a good place.

So don’t worry about mastering it all today, take your time, self experiment, and take note of what works best and what doesn’t.

Things can and will get better, and you can get back on track to feeling like the effort you put in shows up in that sculpted muscle and strong body.

There are specific things to dial in now, and our body’s internal settings have changed. We simply have to learn how to work with the new settings, and use specific actions to unlock our potential once again.

Some of the strategies and best practices you will hear about for perimenopause include:

• upping your protein
• focusing on whole food, fiber-rich carbohydrates
• choosing whole foods for their nutrient density, vitamin and mineral content
• optionally using HRT (hormone replacement therapy)
• developing practices that build stress resilience
• stretching more frequently for better joint health
• incorporating resistance training that’s hard (for you)
• incorporating explosive cardio
• pacing your training so you have enough recovery for your needs
• and more!

Any one of these things alone would give you some great benefits in perimenopause, but no one thing is the “fix” or solution by itself. Some may even alleviate certain symptoms, and be great at supporting certain body systems.

But everything inside our bodies is connected, and as our hormones change we need supportive actions that cascade throughout our entire system, acting like dominos that impact all the other links in the chain, not one system alone.

When you start to incorporate these things together, your body will respond more easily.

To help you do just that, start by enjoying the Perimenopause Masterclass. Then follow up by reading the FAQ’s, listening to the podcasts, following up with your doctor for support if that’s an option, and follow a well-balanced training program for perimenopause!

Protein, in balance with your carbs and fat has essential jobs that become even more important in perimenopause (and beyond) as hormone levels decline.

We need the amino acids from protein foods for a variety of important tasks that go beyond supporting our muscle repair and strength, including our brain function and mood regulation, our immune system, plus our hormone and enzyme function.

In our 40’s and beyond, we don’t absorb the amino acids from our protein foods as easily, meaning we need just a little more than in the past to keep up with the tasks the body needs amino acids for.

If you were already at a low intake, continuing to not prioritize this vital nutrient will show up more quickly in faster muscle and bone loss (which leads to faster fat storage), faster decline in cognitive function, and a weakened immune system.

On top of that, in perimenopause (and into post menopause too) our lowering hormone levels make it harder for our body to hold onto the muscle we have, deal with the impacts of stress (and cortisol) and impact our energy balance.

Simply paying attention to a more balanced protein intake in each meal alongside your carbs and fats will help you hold onto your valuable muscle tissue, maintain (and speed up) fat loss, support the health of your immune system and so much more.

Along with the information provided in the Master Class lesson 1, and your Bonus Sheet, you can also listen to this short podcast for more about how protein supports you, and why you may (or may not) want to use a supplement.

As we get into our perimenopause years, using a supplement can be a great shortcut to upping your intake of important amino acids and nutrient building blocks needed by your body in slightly higher amounts.

In this short podcast, I explain the difference between these different supplements, plus when and why they might come in handy (you don’t “need” to use them – they’re optional, you can also get everything you need from your whole foods).

Protein powder: depending on the source of the protein powder and other additives, can be a convenient way to get a concentrated dose of protein to add around your regular meals.

• I make, use and recommend my collection of organic Whole Betty protein powders for their all natural ingredients, transparent and short ingredient list, and tasty flavor.
• For a whey-based protein powder, I recommend something like this grass-fed whey protein isolate or similar.

Collagen: structural protein in the body that declines with age. It is made up of specific amino acids that support tissue repair.

• I make, use and recommend Full Body Collagen as a clean and additive free supplement.

Essential Amino Acids: contains all 9 of the amino acids the body can’t make on its own, and must get from food. This includes the BCAA’s, which are vital to muscle protein synthesis and muscle recovery.

BCAA’s: 3 essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine) that support muscle protein synthesis and muscle recovery.

• I make, use and recommend Rock and Restore, which contains all the essential aminos, plus an optimized amount of leucine, the most muscle supporting of the BCAA’s.

Creatine: found in muscle cells and synthesized from 3 amino acids, it helps to support athletic performance and power, as well as cognitive function.

• I recommend this creatine from Thorne, as it’s additive free, a good value, and from a trusted brand.

A healthy and diverse gut microbiome helps support the balance of our hormones and a robust immune system. It also impacts how efficiently we absorb the nutrients in the food we eat.

Eating foods that contain fiber from whole food carbohydrates is extremely beneficial to your energy levels, brain health, mood and gut function. There is a specialized section of the gut microbiome specifically dedicated to estrogen regulation called the estrobolome and it is impacted by the overall health of the gut.

Watch out for excess sugar, alcohol and gut disruptors, as dysbiosis in the gut can further disrupt our hormone balance and exacerbate uncomfortable perimenopause symptoms like hot flashes. Get more great tips from your Bonus Sheet in Lesson 2 of the Perimenopause Masterclass!

In this podcast, I’ll give you a tour of the ecosystem that makes up your digestive system, how you support better estrogen balance, get better results from your training and be a good steward to this diverse inner landscape that impacts us on so many levels.

There are some key things to focus on when it comes to eating well in our menopause years – starting in perimenopause, and continuing through postmenopause.

We want to be able to hold onto our valuable muscle tissue for better mobility, agility and strength over time, and we want to support a healthy gut and digestive system to ensure we’re absorbing key nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and maintaining an optimal environment for hormone processing and removal.

Following along with the Perimenopause Masterclass will cover this important information, but it can be helpful to engage with it in multiple ways and more than once, especially if it’s new to you!

So for more you can also listen to this podcast that is completely dedicated to the top nutrition strategies for women in menopause (both peri and post).

You’ll hear about both the foods to include and the foods to moderate or avoid, so you can support your body from the inside out, more easily manage weight loss, get better sleep, enjoy better energy and better digestive health, and support your bone density, muscle health and heart health and reduce inflammation.

Training in perimenopause requires some simple tweaks to drive great results in our body, and prevent weight gain. In perimenopause, it’s like all the “keys” we used to be able to use to unlock our workout results and potential have changed!

So consider this information like getting an upgraded key set – and it’s one that will unlock the results you’re after once again – but it will work the best when you combine it with the eating tips I’ve been sharing.

In the Perimenopause Masterclass, I cover how our changing hormones impact our body’s reactions to the input that exercise provides. I find it helpful to engage with this information in multiple ways, so enjoy this podcast to hear it in a different way!

In perimenopause, include:

• Resistance Training + Explosive Cardio
• A balanced training approach that provides a polarity of training volume and recovery
• Self care and stretching time
• A little more protein than you used to have
• A focus on fiber and whole food sources of carbs

The PerimenoFit program includes all of these elements, laid out with an optimized schedule for perimenopause training (and it includes another bonus training calendar schedule in case you want to use the program again, or simply prefer the alternative schedule)!

When you’re following a well-balance training plan for perimenopause, you will be getting the recovery your body needs so you have the energy to go hard in the workouts you do.

If you’ve been unintentionally overtraining, or overdoing cardio leading up to now, bringing things into balance will make a noticeable difference.

Strenuous exercise of any kind (both strength training and cardio) triggers our stress response system and causes cortisol to rise. In a normal situation, we recover and come back stronger from a workout and we can handle the elevation of our cortisol temporarily.

In perimenopause though, our estrogen and progesterone fluctuate and decline, which means we become more sensitive to the impact that cortisol has on us. So if we’re exercising while depleted – either our adrenal system is overly taxed, or we’re chronically inflamed from not resting enough – this combination with lower hormones sets us up for greater fat storage and muscle loss when we don’t follow a balanced training and recovery schedule.

We just need a little more time to recover in perimenopause than we used to. To offset that, you want to make your workouts more challenging when you do them, and the more strategic rest you take enables you to come to your workouts ready to really give your all.

Explosive cardio is a higher volume type of training, and it’s short by nature so you can give it your all, then back off. Think HIIT (high intensity interval training), Tabatas (4 minute workout blocks with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest), or other sprint type training sequences. You can do any kind of plyometric or jumping or sprinting exercise that you like with these formats.

Some of the benefits to your body from this type of explosive training include strengthening your bones and muscle tissue (especially your fast-twitch muscle fibers), improving your cardiovascular health, triggering visceral fat loss, and strengthening your joints.

Explosive Cardio Tips:

• Avoid long cardio sessions on multiple days. Instead, use short burst cardio that elevates your heart rate and loads your joints. Examples include sprinting (could be run sprints, bike sprints, swim sprints, etc), or jumping moves like burpees, box jumps, jump squats, split squat jumps, etc.
• Formats like Tabatas or other types of HIIT (high intensity interval training) can all be great ways to include short-burst explosive cardio.
• Depending on your training schedule you may want to include your cardio on the same day as your strength training, or you may want to do the two different types on different days. Either approach can be effective, it just depends on the program.
• Remember that any type of challenging workout elevates your stress response (both cardio and resistance training have this effect) which is why we want to pace ourselves and follow a well balanced plan and avoid a “nonstop workout” schedule or cardio every single day.

When to leave out the cardio:

Depending on your energy levels and where you’re at in your cycle (in perimenopause we typically still get our period) it may be appropriate to leave out the cardio altogether on some days, and just focus on low impact strength training.

Since hormones do fluctuate unexpectedly in perimenopause, this means sometimes you won’t get the best sleep, and some days you won’t have the best energy. On days like that, doing explosive cardio (or any kind of intense cardio) isn’t ideal.

You can either stick to your low impact strength training those days, or turn your day into a dedicated mobility, stretching, yoga or self care day, or simply take a bonus rest day.

If you have been overdoing cardio in the past, or just overdoing the training in general and are rebuilding your base with a more perimenopause specific training plan, you may want to focus on low impact strength training alone for the first 2-4 weeks before gradually re-incorporating it.

In the PerimenoFit program for instance the explosive cardio is filmed separately so you can leave it in or out, depending on your energy levels that day and where you’re at.

Listening to your body and energy needs day to day will help you recover better than pushing yourself to train every day, or add intense cardio on days you just don’t have that much energy.

Getting started

I recommend choosing a weight amount that puts you between 8-12 reps for the weighted moves as you’re getting started.

• If you can do more than 12 reps with the weight you’ve chosen, consider going a little heavier so that it’s hard to go past 12.
• If you can’t make it to 8 reps with the weight you’ve chosen, that might be a little heavy at this stage.

However, work with what you have. If you can do more than 12 reps and don’t have any alternatives, do more than 12. Go til your fatigue point with that muscle group.

Rep ranges help you calibrate the right amount of load to put on your body, and in a progressive program (like PerimenoFit for instance), you can track your progress to see yourself get stronger as you go. Rep ranges enable us to challenge ourselves sufficiently, so thatthe body will adapt and respond to the load.

Progressing and tracking your reps

When it comes to progressing, as you are tracking your workout reps and weight each week, you will notice that you can do more of a move than you did before with the same amount of resistance/weight.

When that happens, and you start to exceed the rep range top number (in this case, if you’re able to do more than 12), you will increase the weight until you are doing less than 12, and 8 or more.

Exploring different rep ranges

Starting out in an 8-12 rep range is an excellent place to build a strong foundation and ensure you are training on an aligned body.

Once you get comfortable there (you’re easily able to hit the lower end of the rep range), you can continue to progress by increasing the resistance to more of a 6-8 rep range. I would work in that range for some time after transitioning to it.

It will frequently be the case that transitioning to that lower rep range for moves like squats, deadlifts and the like will necessitate heavier weights than dumbbells alone. If you want to train from home, investing in a barbell and some adjustable weight plates may be a great option.

If you’re more advanced (and have heavier equipment)

If you are an experienced lifter and frequently train in a 6-8 rep range (and likely a variety of rep ranges, as we don’t have to do that same volume for every move), you may benefit from exploring a 4-6 rep range for some of your key lifts, like deadlifts, squats, curls, rows, and other moves where your body is in a fairly fixed and stable position.

While this is partially personal preference, I find my body responds better and my joints (like knees and shoulders) are happier when I stick to a slightly higher rep range with single side movements where I’m also bracing and using a lot of core to stabilize and balance – for example single side deadlifts, deficit lunges, shoulder presses and the like.

What if you’re doing less reps than you did in a previous workout with the same amount of weight?

If you have a day where you can’t do as many reps as you did the last time you did your workout, remember that your body is also responding to where you’re at in your cycle (in perimenopause, we’re still subject to the fluctuations between our follicular and luteal phase – though their lengths may be different), how much rest you got, if you’re under any kind of stress or if your immune system is compromised.

Always listen to your body if you feel more tired, as you won’t get better results pushing it past the limit that it can recover and repair from – especially in perimenopause.

You can always note that in your tracking sheet if you have one for your program, and come back to the workout the next time and pick up where you left off.

Looking for relief from symptoms in perimenopause (or postmenopause)?

I sat down with Dr. Jill Carnahan (who is my functional medicine doctor and has treated my hormones for the past 5 years), and talked to her about the specific tests she orders for women in the different menopause stages, plus we delve into the treatment options that she’s used for hormone balance, and we get into the other layers of our health that can be a part of the hormone conversation.

While you don’t need a specific test to find out you’re in perimenopause, it can be helpful to know where your levels of certain hormones are at, as well as other health markers that are impacted by our hormone changes.

Here are a variety of sources for online support with hormone balancing (in the US, the UK, AUS and CAN) many of which include telehealth options (if you have trouble finding someone near you) if this is an area you’d like to explore. The more we know, the better we can advocate for ourselves, find the support we need, and navigate our changing bodies.

• Hormone support (telehealth, hormone balancing, menopause support):
• MIDI
• Winona
• Defy medical
• Stella (options in the UK or the US)
• Clinic66 (in Australia)
• Felix for You (Canada)

As we begin to lose our collagen and elastin as we age, regularly stretching around your workouts helps keep the muscle tissue flexible and the joints healthy – which means you can expect optimal results from your strength training and the load on your joints from explosive cardio.

If you don’t have time to do both a warmup session and a cooldown stretch around your workout, use the beginning of your workout to ease into things. And prioritize a quick stretch after your training, as well as on your recovery days.

Don’t skip yoga or stretching opportunities.  They will support healthy muscle tissue, good body awareness and joint health. Working on your mobility helps ensure your range of motion stays optimal, and will help you stay better aligned in your workouts.

Adding in a breathing activity on a weekly (or daily) basis can help stimulate and support your rest and digest response, or parasympathetic nervous system and reduce the cortisol load that can impact us in perimenopause as our progesterone levels decrease.

The PerimenoFit program includes warmup and cooldown stretching videos that are optional and filmed separately from the workout (so you can control what you have time for). It has dedicated yoga and mobility classes built into the programming. And it has a weekly guided breathing session that you are welcome to use anytime.

Because our estrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate a lot and slowly decline in perimenopause, we lose some of the edge we used to get for recovery and lean mass development. This is why we’re getting strategic with our scheduling so we can increase the training stimulus when we exercise, and recover effectively afterwards.

Perimenopause is when we want to be hitting those high intensities, both with “high intensity interval training” (HIIT), and ramping up the resistance training to add more load to the body  (which is exactly what I built into the training schedule in PerimenoFit).

Both of these types of higher volume training drive adaptations that will enable us to maintain and build lean mass. You want to meet yourself where you’re at with this, and don’t force yourself to go to hard too fast (which is why I give you options for training with the style and equipment you have available in PerimenoFit).

Your strategically timed recovery days are more important than ever so your body can recover effectively and lower the natural inflammatory response that we get from a tough workout. While 3 day and 4 day split programming isn’t unique to perimenopause and can be effective at any time, it’s in perimenopause that these types of training sequences can start to really serve us. 

To get the muscle stimulus, you want to challenge yourself effectively when you train. This is why you’re not necessarily training “less” even if you train on less consecutive days than you used to. You want to make the workouts you do really challenging.

That means you need to come to your workouts rested and ready to work – and if you’re still recovering from your last session and your system is still in repair mode, you won’t be able to burn fat or build muscle.

Taking strategic recovery sets you up for greater effort and greater restoration periods between workouts to better stimulate muscle protein synthesis as hormones begin to become slightly erratic.

In the PerimenoFit program, I’ve created an optimized training schedule so you can go hard in the workouts you do, then recover effectively (and prepare for the next hard workout!).

On designated rest days, you don’t need to be a couch potato.  You just want to avoid any kind of high volume training session. That means you’re not sneaking in more cardio, or another workout.

It’s a great idea to stay active, walk, do some stretching, yoga or mobility. Check out 8 walking benefits for women to inspire you to get moving!

In the PerimenoFit program, I included lots of guided mobility and yoga for your days off of training hard, plus plenty of reminders for you to walk more. If your job requires you to be on your feet all day, this doesn’t apply to you, but if you’re in a more sedentary job, walking more is a great thing to add in.

Focus on other healthy lifestyle activities that support your results, like cooking, getting to bed earlier, working on breathing practices that help build stress resilience, and any other things you can create space for.

I recommend a 3-day split and a 4-day split for training in perimenopause. These refer to the number of days of intense training you will have in a week, and the way you use them can vary depending on the type of workouts you’re including.

While these training sequences are not unique to perimenopause (as in these are common training styles that are used for many effective strength training workout programs regardless of life stage), they serve us particularly well at this time in our lives because training volume (as in intensity) paired with enough recovery becomes essential for us in seeing results as our hormones change.

For instance, the main program track in PerimenoFit has 3 high volume workouts per week that pair explosive cardio and resistance training, and are spaced out with recovery days between them.

I love this type of training because you can get a tough workout in, then give your body ample time to recover. You then use your non-training days for things like walking, mobility, yoga, and other self care that supports your workout results (activities are built into your rest days in PerimenoFit). I use this training schedule often, and you’ll find it featured in many challenges in Rock Your Life as well.

The other training schedule is the 4 days per week one. I might write you a program with this schedule in a variety of ways, including pairing low impact complimentary body parts training, low and high impact training, or a mix of low and high impact training together.

I’ve included this training structure as a bonus for you inside the PerimenoFit program, and it’s also featured in many of my challenge programs in Rock Your Life. In this training structure, you will also have lots of opportunities to maximize the intensity of the workouts while recovering effectively.

Both of these training structures have a “just right balance” of intensity and recovery, so you do not need to add any “more workouts.” If there was ever a time in our lives to figure out that our workouts alone aren’t the most important aspect of our training, it’s in perimenopause.

The goal in perimenopause is to make the workouts we do challenging for ourselves so we get the adaptive response in our tissue. Then we recover, refuel and do self care so we are better rested and able to hit the next workout harder.

You’ll find these 3 day and 4 day programming splits already featured in many of my other Betty Rocker training programs, and for programs written with other sequences, I’ve added custom bonus tracks with 3 and 4 day split programming so women in peri or postmenopause could use an optimized sequence for themselves.

Struggling with body fat, even though you’re doing “everything right?” How is your step count? Are you sitting for long periods of time throughout the day, and then coming home and sitting too?

Getting more low impact movement in like walking is a highly underrated activity that will help with fat loss in perimenopause.

Low impact movement is a big part of our overall daily energy expenditure and walking and moving more is a supportive piece of your long-term health and self care.

Here’s a podcast about how walking supports your muscle AND long-term fat loss:

Here is how our body uses energy throughout the day, broken down:

• 70% – your resting metabolic rate (just existing)
• 15% – walking and low impact daily activity that isn’t exercise
• 10% – digesting food and absorbing nutrients
• 5% – your workout

Your workout accounts for a tiny portion of your total daily energy burn compared to all the other ways we use energy. Your basal metabolic rate and how much you burn there is also influenced by how much lean muscle you have. This is why I am always telling you that preserving (and strengthening) your muscle helps you burn more calories at rest.

Your nutrient digestion percentage is impacted by the type of food you’re eating. For instance, protein takes way more energy for your body to digest and absorb than fat or carbs, so you will burn more calories just eating more protein. Another reason to follow the guidelines of this program in perimenopause 🙂

You can have a big impact on your body’s ability to lose body fat by simply walking more throughout the day. As I said above, your low impact daily movement (that’s not exercise) accounts for 15% of your total daily burn. That’s 3 times as much as your workout. Want to influence how much you can burn? Walk more!

Here are 5 reasons to walk more:

1. Walking for as little as 5-10 minutes after a meal can reduce blood sugar and your insulin levels (keeping blood sugar stable helps reduce fat storage), and promote better digestion. 
2. Walking for 15 minutes can reduce cravings for sugar and snacks – not to mention you’re burning energy with this low impact activity that can support fat loss. 
3. Walking for 20 minutes can boost your immune function, helping you get sick less often and get less sick than you would have even when you do get a little under the weather. It may also help you recover faster too if you feel up to moving and walking at low impact, it can help circulate your lymph fluid.
4. Walking in general can elevate your mood through increasing endorphins and reducing anxiety and stress. Researchers also found that women 65 and over who walked daily had less memory loss than those who didn’t (associated with the prevention of brain tissues deterioration)
5. Walking in general is great for your joints and bone density. It helps circulate the synovial fluid that lubricates your joints allowing oxygen and nutrients to penetrate these areas. And regular walking helps support bone density as well – a study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that postmenopausal women who walked for 30 minutes a day reduced their risk of hip fractures by 40 percent.

Walking is not only beneficial to our physical health, but it’s also been proven to enhance our emotional well-being, boost our energy, improve sleep and reduce feelings of depression and stress.  

When we experience stress, cortisol levels rise. Cortisol is an important hormone with essential jobs, but when it’s elevated for too long it promotes fat storage and muscle breakdown.

Stress can come from many places – life stress, the stress in response to danger, and the stress created from a tough workout. While these all have such different causes, they all can have the similar effect of elevating our stress response.

In perimenopause, progesterone and estrogen levels are fluctuating (and gradually going down). Progesterone actually helps create a buffer to the impacts of stress in our system. So as it declines, we start to feel the impacts of stress more easily than we did in the past. This can make us feel like we’ve got a shorter fuse, increase our feelings of anxiety, and keep us in a more prolonged state of stress.

When it comes to exercise, this is one of the reasons overtraining is not our friend in perimenopause. It’s easy to be overtraining without realizing it, as lower levels of estrogen mean we need a little longer to repair and recover than we used to. So whether it’s too much cardio or too many training sessions (of any type) in general, our stress response combined with our slightly extended inflammatory response creates a greater need for balance in our training structure.

Don’t get confused by all the “cardio is bad for you in perimenopause” messaging out there. That is a stretch of what the root cause of the issue truly is. Many of us overdo cardio (and don’t balance it with enough strength training) because we equate cardio with fat loss. Too much cardio is not ideal in perimenopause, but neither is too much training in general, of any type, including strength training. And some types of cardio (like explosive cardio) have an important role to play in supporting fat loss, especially in this stage of our lives. What we need is a more balanced training schedule so we can recover appropriately and incorporate the different beneficial training types in a supportive way. 

It can be extremely supportive to our nervous system and stress response to start being proactive about self care practices. When we regularly practice bringing ourself into a calm state, the more we build our resilience to stress and its impact on our bodies.

This can dovetail nicely with the additional benefits we get from physical self care practices like stretching, yoga, and mobility work, as slowing down and tuning in is very supportive to our nervous system and keeping our tissue supple and flexible.

Here are just a few ideas for daily practices you might like to look into or try:

• Tuning into your 5 senses (guided vid included in PerimenoFit)
• Finding a breathing practice you like, like alternate nostril breathing, box breathing or other (guided examples included in PerimenoFit)
• Tapping
• Hearth Math to synchronize your heart, brain and nervous system
• The Calm meditation app
• The Balance meditation app
• Ziva Meditation
• Journaling
• Gratitude practice
• Spending time in Nature
• Yoga

Starting a practice that can support you in calming your nervous system, even when you are not feeling stressed will help you build resilience into your system to help you deal more effectively with all that life throws your way. Especially when it’s unexpected, because you’ll have those tools at the ready.

A variety of supplements may be beneficial to you at different stages of your perimenopause journey. These are tools that can support us and supplement the healthy lifestyle practices we’re doing (but are not a “fix” on their own).

Protein powder: an easy way to boost your overall protein intake.  My guide to Protein for Women (part 1) (plus using and choosing protein powders).
I make an organic, plant-based protein powder that contains all the essential aminos your body can’t make on its own. If you’re ok with dairy, a whey based protein powder is an excellent option. I still recommend getting most of your protein from your meals and food, but a quality protein powder can be a nice addition.

• Betty Rocker Protein Powders

Collagen: supports the epithelial cells that line the gut, supports joints, bone and skin health. We don’t make as much collagen as we age, which can make a supplement helpful. In this guide to Protein for Women (part 2) I go more in depth about protein, and explain the differences and uses for collagen, essential amino acids, creatine and more.

• Whole Betty Collagen

Essential Aminos: a convenient way to get all the essential amino acids your body can’t make on its own in a “free form” meaning quickly accessible to your tissue without digesting; this means all the BCAA’s (branch chain amino acids). Rock and Restore contains an optimal dose of leucine, the most anabolic (muscle supporting) amino acid – helpful as we age and aren’t absorbing our amino acids as readily. Great to use during a workout. Does not replace protein from your food, use as a bonus.

• Rock and Restore Aminos

Creatine: with good creatine stores in your muscle tissue, you have more energy from more ATP, and the quality of your training improves – which adds up to better results for you like being able to strengthen your muscle tissue more effectively. Read why I recommend creatine for active women right here.

• Thorne Creatine Monohydrate

Serenicalm: for a healthy stress response, great for buffering the impact of stress on our body (for more stress support, see adaptogenic herbs below).

• Whole Betty Serenicalm
• Gaia Herbs Stress Response
• Gaia Herbs Adrenal Support

Whole Sleep: for a better night’s rest, to help you fall asleep and stay asleep longer, my formula is great for women over 40, as it helps to calm the brain and body with a synergistic blend of herbs and neurotransmitters.

• Whole Betty’s Whole Sleep

Magnesium: support for sleep, better digestive function, hormone balance, and relaxation.

• NeuroMag (magnesium for brain health)
• Magnesium Glycinate (all around support)

Probiotic: supports intestinal diversity and nutrient absorption, can reduce bloating, and promotes  a healthy inflammatory response in the digestive system

• Mega Spore Probio (recommended by Dr. Jill)

Digestive Enzymes: aids digestion and nutrient absorption, and supports a healthy immune response.

• Thorne Advanced Digestive Enzymes

Adaptogenic Herbs (just a few – there are many others) I like the Gaia brand for adaptogenic herbs.

• Ashwaghanda: enhances the body’s resilience to stress by decreasing the baseline cortisol response – reducing anxiety and fatigue (read more plus contraindications).
• Maca: ability to balance and regulate estrogen fluctuation, supporting many of the symptoms of menopause (read more plus contraindications).
• Rhodiola Rosea: improves the stress response, supports better sleep, acts as a SERM (selective estrogen re-uptake modulator), helping to smooth out estrogen high’s and lows (read more and contraindications).
• Schisandra: supports brain energy, helps modulate fluctuating estrogen levels, supports vasodilation (read more and contraindications)
• Siberian Ginseng: reduces inflammation, supports the stress response, modulates cortisol (read more and contraindications)
• Reishi mushroom: immune support, anti-fatigue, estrogen modulator (read more and contraindications)

My supplements on Amazon

PerimenoFit was created for women in perimenopause, and includes an 8-week strength training program that can be done 3 different ways (bodyweight/no equipment, home equipment/dumbbells, or heavier equipment/barbell and weight plates).

The cardio is filmed separately, enabling you to customize your workout to your energy each day. There is a cookbook with 50 higher protein and fiber rich recipes, as well as a lot of great information that will teach you the “perimenopause template” that you can then carry forward and apply to how you eat and train moving forward.

I also offer the same kind of balanced training programming (optimal for perimenopause)in my other Betty Rocker programs – so if you have previously purchased things or are interested in my other offerings, here’s what I’ve got for you:

• Every challenge in Rock Your Life contains bonus calendars for peri and post menopause, or was already created in a format with balanced training and recovery in 3 and 4 day split variations. Many Rock Your Life challenges follow a progressive format. There is a huge variety to choose from with more advanced lifting to intermediate work with home equipment like dumbbells, and bodyweight challenge programs as well. Rock Your Life has over 400 healthy recipes to support you as well as ongoing support from me and the coaches, and new challenges and training classes added constantly. This is the highest level of support and best value that I offer, and many people choose this option after or while doing my other programs.
• The Lioness Strength Training program has both a 4 day and a 3 day training split built right into it, and is a higher volume program with heavier weights that progresses. It comes with an 8-week meal plan.
• The Home Workout Domination program (1 and 2) includes both 4 and 3 day split options, and I demonstrate with dumbbells (though you could also use a mix of a barbell and dumbbells). You can customize the rep ranges in this program as you progress. It comes with a bonus 7-day jumpstart meal plan.
• My 90 Day Challenge is a bodyweight program that contains a bonus calendar with an optimized 4 day split format. It comes with an 8-week meal plan.

My meal plans are also an excellent resource for perimenopause (and beyond).

Every meal features 20-30 grams of protein (including the vegetarian options), and each day includes the option for a smoothie so you can boost your protein up a bit further by incorporating that optionally.

I also include a bonus protein cheat sheet in every meal plan to give you ideas for upping your protein intake in your other meals should you wish to.

• The Body Fuel System is my signature eating system that provides you with 6 weeks of done for you meal plans. It has gluten free, dairy free recipes and incorporates balanced meals with protein, whole food, fiber-rich carbs, and healthy fats. There are 3 main meals daily, an optional smoothie, and an optional weekly home made snack (i.e. protein muffin).
• The 30 Day Challenge Meal Plan is a fantastic 4 week done for you meal plan. It also has gluten and dairy free recipes (unique to this plan) with balanced meals that contain protein, whole food fiber rich carbs and healthy fats. There are 3 main meals daily, an optional smoothie, and an optional weekly home made snack.

I’m so happy you’re reading the answer to this question! If you’re following the guidance from the Perimenopause Masterclass or doing PerimenoFit, you are doing everything right to set yourself up to come into menopause and the postmenopause years STRONG.

The approach you will take with training, self care, and nutrition will look pretty similar postmenopause to what you’re doing now. It will only become that much more beneficial to you to dial these tactics in.

While our hormones are still fluctuating in perimenopause, in postmenopause everything drops off significantly. While we still continue to have estrogen in our system, it is no longer the E2 estrogen that supports muscle tissue and so many other things.

We still have trace amounts of our other sex hormones, but a significant amount of our progesterone and estrogen were made in our ovaries, and once that ship has sailed, it’s not coming back.

Hormone replacement therapy is a viable option for many women, but in post menopause there are some specific considerations for using it that are best discussed with your doctor (my doctor and I discuss them in the podcast I linked to).

You can still build muscle without the same level of hormones, and you can still lose body fat. We just rely on different pathways – namely, strategically timed training that’s high volume enough to create an adaptive response, paired with enough recovery for us to repair and come to our next session stronger.

So if you’re following my 3-day or 4-day split training structure, and using resistance training and explosive cardio that are challenging for you, you’re already ahead of the game!

For a detailed training guide to the postmenopausal years, click here!