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Menopause defaults to muscle loss
That makes the default losing muscle mass, so building it takes a resistance training program that sends the muscle building signal. Every one of the clients who lost 30 pounds and kept it off did this.
Plenty of women say they exercise and still send no building signal. Switching to a different workout every week, or dropping a program before it has had a few weeks, gives the body no reason to change. A progressive overload program, with the focus on getting stronger week to week, does: the weights go up, the same program continues, and the body has something to respond to.
How does estrogen decline affect muscle?
Muscle tissue carries estrogen receptors, and estrogen influences muscle protein turnover and the activity of satellite cells, which repair and build muscle fibers. Studies of the menopausal transition have found faster losses of lean mass and strength as estrogen falls. The age-related loss of muscle is called sarcopenia, a term coined by researcher Irwin Rosenberg.
How does lifting tell muscle to grow?
Mechanical tension on muscle fibers activates a signaling pathway built around a protein called mTOR, which switches on muscle protein synthesis. After a hard resistance session, protein synthesis stays elevated for roughly a day or two, according to studies from Stuart Phillips's lab at McMaster University. Muscle grows when synthesis outpaces breakdown over time.
Why does switching workouts weekly stall progress?
Early strength gains come largely from the nervous system learning a movement, and that kind of learning needs repetition. Progressive overload, in which the demand placed on muscle rises over time, is a core principle in the American College of Sports Medicine's position stand on resistance training. The principle rests on adaptation: muscle changes only when the stimulus exceeds what it has already adapted to.
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