Building Endurance: How Menopausal Women Can Train Smarter, Not Harder

We all know that in order to build a strong aerobic body, we need to do lots of zone2 training. And by lots, I mean more than you are doing right now. But as women age especially in peri and post menopause their ability to recover from these long bouts takes longer. However, we are also built for this. The next thought is, how? By training smarter during menopause we can build our endurance to conquer training and finish lines.

If you have been paying attention to the endurance sports world of late, you will have noticed that women have been making the news. A lot. And even a few have taken an Overall win in an Ultra endurance event. This is due to our ability to prefer fat use over carbohydrate, and our bodies ability to store more fat, and retrieve it easier than our male counterparts. 

Listen to Your Body: When Rest Is Key

With that in mind, we do need to be careful with the long endurance training as we age. As we get older, we need to be mindful to mix it up, but also listen to our bodies and give them a rest when they ask for it. And they do ask for it. When I say mix it up, I’m talking about not only the mode of which you are participating, be it, run, bike, swim, hike, or other. I’m also talking about the intensity in which you are doing it. There isn’t just one way to build that cardiovascular system. When I see this, I wonder why we see some people only train one way. Do you think of this as well?

I get it some people just don’t like anything but that one form of movement they chose. Maybe they cannot, for whatever reason, use another form of cardiovascular training. Let’s get creative then. Let’s find you at least one other form of cardiovascular movement that you can do so that you can train smarter during menopause and build that endurance. We aren’t looking to make drastic changes. The. goal is to break things up.

Balancing Training Types for Better Results

You’ve discovered another form of cardiovascular fun. Now, I’m going to ask you to ALSO do 2 more things. What??? You are probably saying. This is all part of making sure you are well rounded and a complete and durable athlete. In addition to that, you also want to avoid being held back by annoying little niggles. I’m going to challenge you to do your zone2 training, but also do at least once a week of HIIT. Beyond that, I am asking that you do strength training at least once a week, preferably twice. Don’t forget to include short bouts of mobility right before your endurance workouts. Did I say 2? OK, I meant three things but they are all for your benefit.

Why, oh Why do I forsake you like this??? Because as we age, our bodies do not like the repetitive activities. Our bodies will break down much faster than when we were younger. This will require more time between bouts to recover. Instead of taking a full day off, I know you would rather keep moving, do it in a different way. 

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Building a Well-Rounded, Resilient Athlete

Let’s say you are an Ultra Runner, and you are training to do a 50 mile run. You may be racing or have a goal of completing it. If you go out and run zone2 for 5-6 workouts a week, you will get better. During this training, your body is going to say it’s had enough. And training that way will only build your zone2 base of fitness. Remember there are many more aspects of fitness. Instead let me break down a week I’ve given to my athletes who have already been training for several years. This plan is also for them as they are heading into their offseason. Huh, sound about right for this time of year? 

Sample Weekly Plan for Smarter Training

• Monday: gentle mobility and lots of stretching and foam rolling and even a massage if needed.
• Tuesday: Morning – Strength & Plyometrics. Evening – Pre-run Mobility, then Track intervals, for top end speed and run form. 
• Wednesday: Pre-run Mobility, Recovery Run All Zone2, post run mobility.
• Thursday: Morning Strength & Plyometrics. Evening Cross Train Day: either bike or swim for 60-90 minutes of mostly zone2 with a few short Zone4 bursts. 
• Friday: Pre-run Mobility, Tempo/Fartlek Run (this is an undulation between Zone 2-4 efforts).
• Saturday: Cross Train – Long bike/hike/swim (several hours if possible) etc. Afternoon Core strength & Mobility.
• Sunday: Pre-run mobility, Long Run (several hours depending on where they are in their training) mostly Zone2 with some short efforts into Zone3/4 on hills.

Doing something more like this example week versus Zone2 for 5 to 6 days a week will produce results sooner. It will also allow your body to no always feel beat up and run down. Keep it fresh and change it up often. Don’t skip your strength and mobility, and please please please don’t just do Zone2.

Aging is going to happen. We cannot fight that. What we can do is train smarter during menopause so that our endurance ability doesn’t go away. By mixing it up, we will not only get better, we will avoid burnout as well as injury. So go ahead, mix it up and have fun while you’re doing it.

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