Losing weight postmenopause isn’t as easy as when a woman is younger, but there are five exercises that have no fear of menopause. I’m a certified personal trainer, and one of the biggest mistakes that postmenopausal women make is assuming that duration and continuous movement are the magic elixirs for weight loss. Big mistake, HUGE!
Chuck duration. And chuck continuous motion. Here are the five exercises that not only will cause dramatic weight loss in postmenopausal women, but there is simply NO medical reason inherent in this stage of life that precludes a woman from performing these exercises:
Squat
Deadlift
Standing shoulder press
Lat pull-down
I’ve been working out for years, belonging to chain gyms, so this means I’ve visited a lot of gyms. I’ve rarely seen postmenopausal women (and even younger) performing the first four exercises.
However, the lat pull-down exercise is common among women, though they don’t do it in a way that optimizes weight loss.
I’ve also noticed that the vast majority of women doing the lat pull-down are not that overweight, even though this exercise can be performed by obese women (the seats on most makes and models are lbig enough to accommodate a large body).
Why are these five exercises tops for postmenopausal weight loss? Because they are tops for weight loss in any population. But that’s when they are done right. In fact, the goal of a woman, even postmenopausal, should be to turn that lat pull-down into an unassisted pull-up.
The more muscles you work, the more fat that’s burned for energy. These five exercises work a lot of muscles at once; economay of exercise. However, if they are performed with light weight, don’t bet on losing much fat.
The formula for dramatic, postmenopausal weight loss is 1) Focus on these five exercises, 2) Perform 8-12 repetitions of each exercise, 3) The rule is that you must be able to do at least eight, but the resistance must be too heavy to do more than 12, and 4) The never-ending goal is to keep getting stronger over time.
Don’t be doing 70 pounds with the lat pull-down for five months. Don’t be stuck at 45 pounds for the squat for months on end.
When a postmenopausal woman makes the commitment to progress with the amount of resistance, magical things begin happening: She starts getting stronger. This means more lean, firm, shapely muscle = faster resting metabolism = permanent weight loss.
Postmenopausal women must not get swayed by the gimmicks, fancy balancing movements, funky routines done while lying on mats, buzzwords and this idea that you must “keep the body moving.”
Just trust me on this. These five exericises, when done according to the formula, will shear off body fat like never before. Is there a catch? Yes.
The squat and deadlift require tremendous focus on form. This is why you should begin these exercises with very, very light weight. Once you master form, dang, there’s no looking back!
To get started on the path to permanent weight loss, postmenopausal women should check out the following articles:
- · What is the deadlift?
- · Can obese people do the deadlift?
- ·; choose your favorite!
- · How to correctly do the lat pull-down; mistakes women make
