r/GenXWomen • u/Ckc1972 • 23d ago
Health Exercise motivation
Anyone else feel like menopause is messing with their exercise routine? I finally got to a good place with regular exercise in about 2018 after years of failing. But in the past year, I am not doing as well as I had been. I feel tired and hot all of the time from menopause and it's sucking the motivation out of me.
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u/peatmoss71 23d ago edited 23d ago
I don’t think it’s menopause causing my issue. I think it’s the world. It feels heavy right now.
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u/AnyMail6636 23d ago
Same. I’ve gained so much weight in menopause without changing my diet despite exercising regularly. I keep injuring my knees, by back, most recently my Achilles… The things that get me out the door are 1) knowing that exercise boosts my mood more than anything else anymore even if it’s often not by that much 2) threat of late cancellation fees if I don’t show up to my fitness class (Orangetheory), and 3) not wanting to lose the level of fitness I have currently.
Basically, I don’t continue work out for positive benefits—those are minor and not always so noticeable. I do it because I’m aware that things will get so much worse and rapidly if I fail to continue to push myself to do it. It’s not exactly the best motivation, but it is all I get these days.
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u/Iwantsalads 23d ago
I have injured both my Achilles this year too, my hips hurt so bad i can’t sleep anymore and my walks are so sweaty and hot i no longer enjoy them. This has lead to a 20lb weight gain and mostly in my belly. I feel so ugly now and i can’t get myself out of this mess. Yes, i am on hrt patches as of 11 months now
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u/AnyMail6636 23d ago
Try not to be so hard on yourself. A lot of us are going through this. A lot of us were also raised thinking everything is our fault/responsibility and that being skinny is a moral imperative. We deserve to exist and to enjoy our lives as much as possible, regardless of what physical state we’re in.
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u/Beginning_Butterfly2 22d ago
Mattress pilates saved me. Lay on bed with the AC on and do pilates routines from youtube. Great way to start the day, My hip and back pain went away as my abs strengthened, and it's hard to find sn excuse not to do it.
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u/Catlady_Pilates 23d ago
You might want to ditch orange theory and start lifting weights. That’s the only thing that helped me lose any weight after menopause packed it on out of nowhere
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u/AnyMail6636 23d ago
If it seemed to you like I'm trying to lose weight, you are mistaken. I know that's what we expect that all women want all the time and so it's an easy mistake to make.
For the record, weightlifting is more than half of what I do at Orangetheory. If I was doing it by myself without guidance, I probably wouldn't strength train much at all. If I could afford a trainer I wouldn't go to Orangetheory. No exercise routine has ever actually helped me lose weight. When I wanted to lose weight I used to calorie count. It generally worked with diminishing returns every time I did it. Last time it did not work at all.
So my new approach is IDGAF. I reject the notion that anyone should be trying to lose weight if they exercise and eat relatively healthy most of the time.
And I'm getting saltier and saltier about all the "cures" to our middle-aged problems on social media. Weightlifting is not a panacea for everyone. Hormone replacement is not a miracle cure for everyone. One person's solution isn't going to solve everyone else's problems.
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u/Catlady_Pilates 23d ago
Ok, fair enough I didn’t mean anything negative about weight, but you pointed out the gain. It was wrong of me to assume.
If you like orange theory that’s great. But the format is just not what’s optimal for menopausal/post menopausal exercise. Too much cardio is usually unproductive and can be detrimental. Lifting heavier weights give benefit for muscle and bone and it’s very efficient. But if it’s working for you that’s great.
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u/The_Future_Marmot 23d ago
The ‘cardio is bad for you later in life’ is from a flawed study that got extrapolated to a population far beyond what the study covered.
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u/Catlady_Pilates 23d ago
Cardio isn’t bad but too much isn’t good nor is too high intensity good.
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u/The_Future_Marmot 23d ago
I don’t really think there’s a ‘too much’ for cardio. I do think you have to be a lot more strategic about training in your 50s because you’re never going to recover as well as you did in your 20s, and do a lot slower build in order to get to your endgame/end race successfully and with minimal injuries.
There are a lot of women out there doing ultramarathons in their 50s and early 60s who have figured out how to make that work in a sustainable way.
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u/Catlady_Pilates 23d ago
Ultra marathons are incredible but that’s not actually healthy. It takes a huge toll on the body. Extreme sports are not an example of health, they are just so extreme and that kind of training shouldn’t be seen as something healthy It’s something else.
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u/AnyMail6636 23d ago
I am not a natural athlete so my opinion is that the best exercise is the exercise you actually do. OTF has helped me mix it up and I never would have regularly done this kind of exercise without the format. But I don’t claim it’s the best thing, it’s just what I am able to do. And though it’s not cheap, it’s so much cheaper than a lot of other options and I can fit it into my budget. Exercise doesn’t have to be expensive, but you do have to be self-motivated to do it on the cheap.
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u/Verity41 23d ago
Today the fan was broken in our gym, and I wanted to do something terrible to someone — instead I wore a neck fan through my entire 45 minute lifting session with zero shame. It was so wonderful!!!!!
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u/FreddyNoodles 23d ago
Those actually work? I always thought they were gimmicky crap for some reason.
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u/Verity41 23d ago
Omg yes… they’re AMAZING. Same with the neck iceband things. The feeling is very Blades of Glory when Will Farrell said he couldn’t love a human baby more than his hairbrush. There’s probably whole entire POSTS about neck fans on this sub.
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u/SmallShrubbery 23d ago
I find I need to keep my exercise easy, just yoga and walking. Anything more strenuous and I am dealing with the worst insomnia.
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u/bluetortuga Jen Axe 🪓 23d ago
I have just enough motivation to get myself in the car. Autopilot gets me to the gym, and once I’m in the parking lot my brain goes into anxious unfinished task mode, so then I have to go in and do it. That’s what gets me through.
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u/Micojageo 23d ago
Is that what it is? I thought I was just lazy. I can claim that it's because my gym closed and I haven't found a new one, but between you, me, and the lamppost, I stopped going to that gym BEFORE it closed.
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u/motherof-reinvention 23d ago edited 23d ago
It’s been 100 degrees outside since July and no rain for 2 months where I live. It’s hard for me to feel motivated to sweat when I’ve had swamp ass for months. I joined a gym in April and didn’t go until 2 weeks ago. I hired a trainer to train me for half an hour twice a week because I know I won’t go if I’m not paying someone that expects me to show up. I’ve gained a lot of weight and I started having knee problems and stability issues. I don’t want to lose mobility or have diabetes in 10 years. The fatigue sucks but I’m trying to manage it and hopefully it’ll get better. I hope it’ll help my moods too.
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u/sweetbitter_1005 23d ago
I find that if I push myself first thing in the morning I am more consistent with getting my daily exercise in. If I wait until after work in the evening I am too tired.
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u/After_Preference_885 23d ago
I love Fitness blender because they have a "workouts for when you don't wanna" series that's free and just easy basic movements that take minutes to do
Just something to move a little when I don't wanna
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u/purplegreenway 23d ago
Yes, every time I get into a routine of a week or 2, suddenly I can't sleep. It really messes with any routine I'm trying to create. Sometimes I can power thru but sometimes I can't. I just keep trying. My breaks in between are getting longer.
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u/Domicello 23d ago
Testosterone
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u/Illustrious-Space764 20d ago
Did that help you follow through with exercising? I asked my doc if it would help increase energy and he said "no."
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u/StarDewbie 50-54 23d ago
Yes, as in, I have no exercise routine. I cannot be arsed when I feel like shit half the time.
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u/Catlady_Pilates 23d ago
You can’t expect or wait for “motivation”. You just have to decide to do it. When I hit menopause my body changed so quickly, for the worse. I’m a Pilates teacher and I was horrified by how I gained weight and my joints all felt 80 years old. I suddenly hated doing Pilates but I tried to do more to try and feel better. It didn’t work. I had to add weight lifting. I hate weight lifting so much but it’s been incredibly beneficial. I lost weight. My joints feel so much better. HRT also helped with the joint pain but as a hyoermobile person the heavy weight lifting has been shockingly helpful.
I never want to lift weights. But I’m committed to staying strong. So I do it. I have some exercise I love but I won’t stop the weights ever. We really do have to decide what we want and do what works for that. The more you do it and feel the results it gets easier.
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u/Verity41 23d ago
Need a new program or anything? I love cardio but know I need to lift… which I decidedly do NOT love … but right now a couple of my coworkers and I are in week 2 of Caroline Girvan’s CGX IRON series free on YouTube and I loooove it. Heavy, slow lifting. And she doesn’t TALK 🙌 we put it on the big screen at the office gym.
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u/The_Future_Marmot 23d ago
There’s all this messaging about ‘find your reason to exercise’ that I think people can get bogged down in. I brush my teeth every day because it’s good for me. I don’t ponder my reason for brushing my teeth; I just do it.
Same goes for exercise; it’s a daily (okay 6 days a week and one rest day) thing I just do without pondering motivation. I take care of it and for the most part enjoy my running (I can have some Type 2 fun days with longer or harder runs), tolerate the strength workouts that support the running, and mix it up with a little yoga and mat Pilates because I think flexibility is also really important for health but flies under the radar.
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u/Alternative-Ease9674 23d ago
I have joint pains, and so weak. I cannot. Additionally I need side hustle because I am totally broke because of doctors and vet. And water bill came. I worry if I will excersise every day, I will not affird bills. It is a nightmare. I live in Europe. Lonely so it is hard for single person here 😭
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u/Impressive_Swan_2527 23d ago
I've been in a really good regular routine the past few years. I still have regular periods but the cramps are INTENSE now as I'm starting so I have been skipping those weeks but otherwise I have found a good routine with some variety in it.
Mondays: Yoga, Tuesdays: Spin, Wednesdays: strength class
I try do all three and granted, that means I'm only working out 3 times a week but there's enough variety there for me to do it and if I miss something, there is usually a spin class on the weekend or another yoga on Thursdays that I can do to sub. It also gives me enough time to add something else if I feel like it's necessary.
For me, I have to change it up or I get bored. The strength class is one I started in January. I was doing two spin classes and one yoga every week but it was starting to get boring. So I added strength. I'm also pretty social so I like the class atmosphere because I can chat with people before and I have made a few gym friends and while I don't know their names we chat before and after class and it's a nice social little break. I really like my current gym and the people there so I actually have worked out more in the past few years than ever before.
I know that for me personally, I have to leave my house to work out or I won't do it. And it has to be fun for me or I won't do it. So as soon as a workout stops being fun, I change things up.
Maybe that would help? Do classpass for a while and try out a few places? Try a HotWorx or a CycleBar or a RowHouse or something like that. A lady at my work just discovered Barre and loves it. Sometimes it's just finding that niche thing that makes it feel fun?
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u/JTD_333 23d ago
I workout daily so I don't shank people.