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.
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.
I think slower times or not swimming as well as expected might well be related to sleep deprivation. We all need rest to recover after training and racing, and if you are not sleeping well, you aren't recovering well. I am 49 and finding that I have some tough times sleeping every cycle for about 4 day and if that is right before a meet, that is hard. I haven't noticed a loss of muscle mass, but I build muscle easily and do strength training as well as swimming. Hang in there and let's all keep talking about this - it's an important topic and not studied much.
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.
I think slower times or not swimming as well as expected might well be related to sleep deprivation. We all need rest to recover after training and racing, and if you are not sleeping well, you aren't recovering well. I am 49 and finding that I have some tough times sleeping every cycle for about 4 day and if that is right before a meet, that is hard. I haven't noticed a loss of muscle mass, but I build muscle easily and do strength training as well as swimming. Hang in there and let's all keep talking about this - it's an important topic and not studied much.
