I posted on instagram a big accomplishment for me: my first pull-up. EVER. I am turning 45 this year and I have finally done it. I was able to do my first chin-up 10 years ago but the pull-up was always out of reach. Today I registered to do my StrongFirst Certification in August, something I have postponed for 10 years.
Ten years ago, I wrote this blog post on why I exercise and how I couldn’t do the certification. I wrote about how I wanted to feel at 45. I wrote about my changing body – a body I was getting to know after a decade of pregnancy, birthing, nursing, and carrying.
I have had stops and starts with exercise since then but three years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, I took it more seriously. Specifically, I took strength training seriously. I knew that perimenopause was on the horizon back then and like with everything else in my life, I wanted to be proactive and prepare my body for this next transition. After plenty of research and following experts like Dr. Stacy Sims, I discovered the importance of building and maintaining muscle. Now that I am in the full throes of perimenopause – irregular periods and all – I am happy that I am on this journey of building up skeletal muscle slowly but surely.
After all these years, I still like to call my workouts “training sessions.” I am training for something – learning a skill, accomplishing a goal, measuring progressive improvements in strength, power, muscle endurance, cardiovascular endurance, mobility, balance, and flexibility.
The long-term goal is to be able to get off the ground or off the toilet seat. But I need short-term goals along the way to keep me motivated. This isn’t the type of lifestyle that would suit those looking to get “bikini ready.” This is a long and slow build of a foundational type of strength that I will reap the benefits of when my grandchildren will need me to follow them wherever they want to climb, run, hike, or jump off of. This is the long game where I am preventing injury and joint pain.
Muscle building is not the only focus, I also focus on mobility exercises – stretching, foam rolling, moving through full range of motion in a relaxed state before and after a training session is just as important.
I will be posting more on my experiments in longevity on my new IG account: @rozannediosolopez
On this blog, I will occasionally post my thoughts and challenges on navigating through the weeds of all the information out there on perimenopause and overall health and wellness as we age.
If you have any questions, please feel free to comment here!
Do you have any thoughts on exercise and movement as we age?
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