Are your active aging female clients plateauing? | Blog by Hayley Hollander (US)
A guest blog by Hayley Hollander.
Do you work with female clients? Do you have any female clients who are giving everything they got to their program, but continue to plateau, or worse are gaining weight? They might be going through peri-menopause.
Peri-menopause, the transitional period in a woman’s life where their monthly cycle (menses) stops, has been shown to last as little as a few months to as long as 12 years! This transitional period takes place between the ages of 42 years of age and 65 years of age, and can seem short and uneventful for some, and never-ending and traumatic for others.
Throughout this time period, a female will undergo drastic hormonal changes, causing cascading effects to her biology, psychology, and physiology. Understanding these changes and how they influence each female’s physical, mental, and emotional needs is critical for all movement professionals who work with women from ages 42 to 65.
Due to the hormonal changes the myriad of symptoms that occur in some, but not all individuals include:
- Hot flashes
- Mood swings
- Inflammation and swelling
- Irritableness
- Forgetfulness
- Fatigue
- Uncontrollable hunger
- Weight gain
- Decrease in bone health
The hormonal changes create a domino effect of behaviors for every female, impacting her health and longevity. As an example, hot flashes can make it difficult to sleep and create erratic sleeping patterns, leading to fatigue, and the lack of motivation to exercise. This then might lead to weight gain, loss of muscle mass, and depression.
Having a deeper understanding of the hormonal cycle and how it changes throughout peri-menopause helps us to approach movement and mindset programming with a new lens.
Fluctuating hormones for a long period of time will change the female anatomy, specifically we see a loss of bone mineral density (BMD). This requires the movement professional to be better prepared to pick movements and that are safe and ultimately lead to increased BMD. Not to mention, how movements are programmed and loaded, are pivotal to determining the mechanical and metabolic stress that is placed on the client.
In the upcoming masterclass, Programming for the Active Aging Female Client, we will cover three important objectives.
- The Science – understanding the hormonal changes in peri-menopause
- Movement & Mechanical Loading – understanding optimal movements and acute variables used to program for the active aging female.
- Mindset – recognizing the psycho/social toll peri-menopause takes on the female and providing some strategies to develop trust, rapport, and communication.
I hope you can join me online for this educational session that is crucial to understanding your active aging female clients.
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Hayley is an international coach, educator, and consultant. She is co-founder of Pivotal – a global development company empowering people to fulfill their greatest potential and the Co-Director of Education for Gray Institute. Over her 20+ year career, Hayley has coached and educated thousands of clients, athletes, and coaches from all over the world. Hayley’s leadership, programming, and content creation has influenced the masses with her work having been integrated in health clubs all over the world, and reached thousands via online learning platforms.
Hayley is presenting the FILEX Online Masterclass: Programming for the Active Aging Female Client on Thursday 10 December. To register head to the Masterclass tab in the Members Portal or if you can’t attend the date catch up with the masterclass recording available after the event! Not a FILEX Premium Member? Learn more about the great inclusions including twice-monthly CEC approved masterclasses, access to virtual summit recordings and more at members.filex.com.au.
