I am 49 and just entering menopause and have noticed that my muscle mass is depleting( and unfortunately slowly being replace by fat cells). I swim about 15000 ( 3000 5 days per week) meters a week and lift weights 2-3 days per week. My last meet was horrible and wonder if my poor performance is linked to this loss of muscle. I am not taking hormone replacement therapy because I don't have the other nasty symptoms of night sweats and hot flashes. My only other complaint is not sleeping well. (awake at 2 a.m. and have trouble returning to sleep).
My question to you women who have already come out the other side is really this- menopause is here to stay, no way around that. But does that mean I have to swim so poorly?? Obviously there are still 45-55 year old women who are still quite fast. Would horomone replacement therapy help me there? When lifting weights, should I do more weight and less repetition? Should I cut my yardage some so that I have more rest?
I know there was an article on this in Swim magazine, but it didn't address these specific questions. Thanks for any input.
Parents
Former Member
It's nice to see all the different ways of this. I'm 46 and guessing I'm in the peri phase (does anyone know if headaches are a sympton?). I suffer from sleeplessness, but I attribute that to my schedule more than anything (I work until 1 a.m. and have to get up at 7:30 to get my son to school). As far as swimming goes, I got back into actual training last summer and I found my times dropping dramatically. Prior to this I was just getting in and swimming a 1500 four to five times a week. But sometimes I am just wasted for the rest of the day. Is that a muscle fatigue thing? If I could I'd swim later at night on my days off and take advantage of that exhaustion, but there isn't daycare at the club then. I don't think I'm experiening a muscle loss, though, but maybe I am.
It's nice to see all the different ways of this. I'm 46 and guessing I'm in the peri phase (does anyone know if headaches are a sympton?). I suffer from sleeplessness, but I attribute that to my schedule more than anything (I work until 1 a.m. and have to get up at 7:30 to get my son to school). As far as swimming goes, I got back into actual training last summer and I found my times dropping dramatically. Prior to this I was just getting in and swimming a 1500 four to five times a week. But sometimes I am just wasted for the rest of the day. Is that a muscle fatigue thing? If I could I'd swim later at night on my days off and take advantage of that exhaustion, but there isn't daycare at the club then. I don't think I'm experiening a muscle loss, though, but maybe I am.
