073 - Lifting Heavy vs. Lifting Light: What’s Best for You in MENOPAUSE?

Are you unsure whether to lift heavy or stick to lighter weights? Maybe you've been told to “tone, not bulk” and now you’re wondering what actually works—especially in menopause, when muscle and bone health become even more important.

In this episode, I break down:
✅ What happens when you lift heavy vs. light weights
✅ Why both have a place in your strength routine
✅ How to choose the right weight for you (spoiler: it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach!)
✅ The best exercises for muscle growth and bone strength
✅ How to know if you’re lifting heavy enough

If you're ready to feel stronger, more confident, and empowered in your workouts, this episode is for you!

🎧 Listen now and start lifting smarter.

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If you'd like to get in touch to ask a question about today's episode or to find out how you can get support from my coaching, reach out on the following links:

hello@carlykillencoaching.com

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Thanks for listening to The Strong Bones Coach Podcast!

If you’d like to get in touch with a question about today’s episode or find out how I can support you with coaching, here’s how to reach me:
📧 Email: hello@carlykillencoaching.com
📱 Instagram: @thestrongbonescoach

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Thank you for being here, and I look forward to supporting you on your journey to strength, health, and confidence! 💪🦴✨

Transcript

Carly: 0:37

Hello and welcome back to the Strong Bones Coach podcast with me your host Carly Killen and this week I am covering a question that comes up time and time again and now I never get tired of answering it but perhaps I can cover off more detail through a podcast episode than I can in the DMs or at the gym and that question is What is better in midlife, lifting heavy weights or keeping it light? So in this episode I'll be diving deep into the ins and outs of this question to help you support your health and strength through midlife and menopause years and beyond. So let's get started. So if you've ever walked into a gym and felt totally unsure about how much weight to lift or heard conflicting advice like stick to light weights, high reps, you don't want to get bulky or lift heavy stuff. I'm not going to swear on my podcast, I'm not a very sweary person. But you know what I mean, you hear both sides of it. Should we be lifting heavy or do we need to be keeping it light? So if this has left you feeling confused, then trust me, you are not alone. I've been there too. And when I first started strength training, I was given a gym plan full of light weights with endless reps. And the person that gave me that induction, really well meaning. said this is what you should do. Lightweights, high reps, so I don't get bulky. But they didn't ask me what my actual goals were. What did I want? Was I trying to get stronger? Was I trying to build muscle? Did I care or know about my bone health? Did they know? I don't know. But I'm not blaming them. It was just a basic gym induction. I didn't really expect a full on Personalized program like what a dedicated coach would do, but it did set me back a bit. It left me feeling a little Disheartened and confused. I didn't know what progress should feel like. I wasn't sure if I was doing it right and Honestly, I ended up getting bored because when you don't know if you're getting better if you're progressing What that might feel or look like. It can be really hard to keep focused on it. So I just stuck to cardio instead. I went to classes. I spent most of my time on the treadmill. At least I felt like I was doing something. And it was. I was moving my body. But I found it hard to make the progress I wanted, to actually feel stronger, and to feel like I was getting somewhere with my efforts. But when you fast forward to today, and I now know that strength training is one of the most important things we can do to support our muscles, our bones, and overall our health, especially when it comes to menopause and our midlife. So we still have that question though. Should we be lifting heavy or lifting light? So we're going to go ahead in this episode and By the end of it, I hope you'll be better informed of the difference between lifting heavy, lifting light weights, what could be best for you, depending on your goals, and how to know if you're really lifting the right weight for you. And I'll also answer a very common question I get all the time too. What weight should I start with? So let's get into it. So we're looking at strength training in midlife and menopause. It matters and this is why. So before we go all the way into the whole heavy versus light debate, let's take a little step back and talk about why strength training is so crucial and so helpful. When we come into our perimenopause and menopause years, so much of our muscle building is around our hormonal changes. as oestrogen and progesterone decline, and with ageing also, we can lose muscle mass a lot faster. It can make it harder to maintain our strength. We have oestrogen supporting muscle protein synthesis and bone health, which helps us to build back the muscle as part of that natural turnover. But as it declines, it can be harder to stimulate that growth of muscle and to stimulate the laying down of our bone mass. So maintaining our strength, our muscle volume, and maintaining our bone density can get tougher. We actually need more stimulation to allow that to happen. and we also have progesterone, that calming effect, that hormone that also supports our sleep, which is absolutely needed for our muscle recovery. So it's not just about what we do in the gym or what we do when we lift weights or test our strength, it's how we recover in between. This is actually how our body builds the muscle in the first place, so that's why your strength is actually built in your rest periods in between your strength sessions. So for those of you that feel like you must be training really hard every day, just know that we really do need that time for rest in between. This is where the growth happens. of course we have testosterone too. This is still a really important female hormone, not just a male hormone. And it plays a role in our strength, our repair, and again this naturally decreases with age unless we decide to support these with hormone replacement therapy or menopause hormone treatment. So how does strength training help to counteract all this? Well, the best way to preserve muscle and bone strength is through resistance training, especially progressive overload. Which means we gradually increase weight and intensity over time. And resistance training essentially means we are resisting gravity. So this can be through bodyweight exercises. But you might find as you get used to these you'll need to either increase the difficulty level, or perhaps starting to add weights to keep that level of intensity going. So let's talk about the difference between lifting heavy and lifting light weights. So when it comes to choosing how we decide to do our training, there is no one size fits all answer because lifting heavy and light both have the benefits. So we might choose lighter weights and go higher reps. That's reps meaning the number of times you do each lift. And this could be helpful for our muscular endurance and our joint stability. It can be great for those smaller muscle groups, so our shoulders, our biceps, those areas that don't do well with really heavy weights, that really we just want to be able to lift well, enough to feel a bit of a burn. It can sometimes be easier on your joints if you have injuries or limitations, but it can form part of rehabilitation as well if you do have a current injury. Of course, remembering none of this is medical advice, and of course, if you are currently injured, please seek the advice of a physiotherapist, your health care provider, or a sports injury therapist, just making sure you have the right plan in place for you. But the lightweights have their place, especially when you're starting out as well. So for those of you that have heard that lifting heavy is really good for your muscle and bone health, you are not wrong. Okay. We may choose to lift a lower number of reps or these types of weights. And this can be really helpful for maintaining your muscle mass and preventing bone loss. It helps to stimulate that bone building, so great for osteoporosis prevention. It can help to support your metabolism and overall body composition, as it can help you overcome that extra resistance to laying down muscle that can occur as we get older. And of course it's great for Compound movements, which are your squats, deadlifts, rows. It's not about either or, it's about knowing when to use each one. So for those bigger, heavier lifts that work multiple joints and muscle groups, things like your deadlifts, squats, your bench press, heavier weights can be more achievable. And for those lighter weights being reserved for smaller isolation movements, like lateral raises, bicep curls, these lighter weights with controlled reps are Often much more supportive for these smaller muscle groups. And this is because when we're lifting the weights, we want to be using the muscle, not just relying purely on the joints. Because our joints are going to move and will benefit from the movements. That's remembering our muscles are what need to be stimulated here. So this is where being able to control. The weights, being able to lift well with the proper form to get some support with this if needed is super important here. So how do you know if you're lifting heavy enough? This is a big question. How do you know if the weight you're using is right for you? Well you can start by checking your form, which is your technique. How well are you lifting the weight or performing the movement? So first you want to make sure you're doing the movement correctly. If you're new to strength training, you can start with bodyweight exercises or perhaps light weights to learn the movement, to groove that pattern. A lot of early strength training neuromuscular connection, which is how our body and our brain create those connections for knowing how to do a movement well. Have you ever heard of muscle memory? Well this is where we have that memory stored in our body that remembers how to do the movements. If you've ever heard the phrase, It's like riding a bike, this comes from the muscle memory that we gain when we are practiced and well trained in a particular movement. So when we learn to ride a bike, we learn how to balance, how to move the wheels, how to gain momentum, how to move, how to turn corners. And we get to practice this enough, if we do practice, and it does get trained into our muscle memory. So if we have quite a while. away from a bike. It can feel a bit wobbly when we get back on it, but we restore our function and our capability much, much faster than the time it took to initially learn. And it's the same with anything, any movement. It's the same with strength training too. So next we want to look at checking your effort level. So a good rule of thumb is you should feel a good challenge in the last two to three reps. So if you could easily do another five reps, perhaps that weight is too light for you. If you can't complete that set with good form, Or good technique, and perhaps it's too heavy. If you think you could maybe push out one or two more reps, but not much more, that tends to be a good weight for most people, once you've mastered the movement pattern. So getting on to our next question. What weight should you start with? This is one of the most common questions I get. What weight should I start with? And my answer is always, it depends. There is no universal starting weight because heavy for one person might be light for another. So here's a few tips on how to find your starting weight. So start with a weight that feels light to moderate and try out the movement. You can work up the weight until the last two to three reps feel challenging but doable. And remember to progress gradually. Adding small increments over time can help you continue to move well which helps prevent injuries. The key here is progressive overload, meaning that as your muscles adapt you gradually increase the challenge to keep your progress going. And something else to consider too is aligning strength training with your goals. Your style of strength training, how heavy you want to lift, how intense you want these sessions to feel, really depends on what you want to get out of it. So if your goal is overall health and longevity, you might use a mix of light and heavy lifting, focusing on good movement patterns, which spans across everything by the way. Include a mix of compound lifts and isolation exercises. Perhaps if you're training for a sport or an event, if you're a runner, a cyclist, lifting heavy weights can help with your injury prevention, you might do them a little less often if it's there to support your overall strength and muscle development. If you're training for endurance, lighter weights and controlled reps can be more useful. And if you're rebuilding strength and menopause, you might want to start light to get comfortable with your technique, especially if the movements are new to you, and progressively increasing that weight to challenge your muscles and bones. And of course, working with a coach can ensure that That you are performing these exercises, these movements, in a way that works for you. We all have differences in our bodies, our anatomy, so what looks right for one person might not be the right movement for another. And this is the best way to ensure you're training in good practices, and of course avoiding injuries and unnecessary aches and pains. So to takeaways. Both lifting heavy and light have got their benefits, It's about using them strategically for your goals. And don't be afraid to challenge yourself, you're stronger than you think. Lifting heavier, safely, is one of the best things you can do for your bones, your muscles, and your confidence. And if you're unsure where to start, get support. Having guidance can help you train safely and effectively. Being confident in what you're doing makes a really big difference to your progress. So if this episode has helped you feel more confident about your strength training, I'd love to hear from you. And if you know someone that would benefit from the support from this episode, please do share it. This podcast relies on. comments, feedback, and shares from my listeners, which I'm always truly grateful for. So please do keep sharing and keep giving your feedback to me. I always want to make sure I am providing you with as much value and as much support as you need. If you'd like to get in touch with me, you can DM me on Instagram, I'm the strong bones coach, or if you're wanting some further support or some clarity on what to do next, you can book a free 30 minute clarity call. The link is in the show notes and we can talk about how you can get started with your strength training in midlife. So until next time, take care and stay strong.