In my last blog about stress in your 40s I mentioned that I have started a course to continue to help me work with women over 40. 

During my 13 years of personal training, I have found myself mostly working with women of the same age as me. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love working with other demographics, it is just the way things worked out.

I have worked with many pregnant women and post natal women too while in my 30s and into my 40s. I still do, and it is still a lovely job to have, and I am very honoured to help women build back their strength after giving birth. It is also quite special to be one of the first people to know that they are pregnant. 

But now I’m 46 and I am moving through perimenopause and seeing clients around the same age, and in their 50s who are experiencing varying degrees of symptoms related to this transition and beyond. I want to be more informed on the subject so I can listen to my clients and, where appropriate, offer some advice on what they can do to help support them.

I make sure I also know my limitations, and ensure that I don’t overstep into medical advice. I believe my best place is to help with lifestyle changes that can help reduce symptoms, while realising that some clients need more help than I can offer and then I can refer where necessary (which is what I do when someone has an injury for example). What I have noticed though is that some clients just want to have some space to speak about what they are feeling and have someone who understands and that can talk things through with. 

The first time I realised that perimenopause most likely started in your 40s was when I read the book “Period Manual Repair” by Lara Briden. It explained a few things I experienced. I have read a couple more books which have been really useful in navigating it myself and also that I can speak with others about their own experiences. I wondered for a while if doing a course designed for health and fitness professionals would also be useful and it took a while to decide whether to go ahead. There are now a few options available but, in the end, I decided to take a course by the same company I did my post natal exercise training. 

The course is called “3rd age women certification”. I am not sure what I think of that title. What do you think? It came with two more courses, one called “Menostrength” (whcih will probably be my favourites) and

the other “Optimal health before and after hysterectomy”. I’m sure it is going to take some time to work through it but, I aim is to share some of it as I go through. My mind has already been a bit tired from hearing about the science behind it, which has supposedly been made simple haha. In the course I will also learn more about lifestyle, movement and nutrition.

My dream is to create a product to help more women, I have to say the prospect scares me somewhat and I keep postponing making the first step. However, if you think it is something that you might be interested in, please fill in this survey  so I can ensure that I know what your priorities are. I hope that this course will also inspire and help me to come up with a useful product that can serve many women transitioning to menopause and beyond. Lets see…

If you want to read more about what I have been learning on the subject feel free to browse through my blogs from here:

If you are still not sure that you want to work with me, come and try one session for free to see what you think for yourself. You can see the class times here and get your free session here.

Author: Lorna Wilson

Like what you see? Then send me a message or e-mail. We can meet up for a chat and find out how I can help you improve your training and help reduce injury risk.
06 460 377 74 / lorna@wilsonsworkouts.nl