Max Workout Research

Max Workout has a new workout profile is for women who are going through the menopause transition or who are in menopause or post-menopausal.

If this is you, then you know menopause is like falling off an aging cliff. Hitting menopause makes it so much more difficult to lose belly fat and body fat in general. That's because of plummeting levels of three hormones—estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

The bad news is the way of exercising you've been taught prior to menopause may no longer work for you. In fact, it may do more harm than good. The good news is that not all is lost; there is a way to exercise that can create adaptations in your body to do the work your hormones used to do.

Before we talk about that, let's first go over what a profile is in Max Workout. A profile is basically a weekly workout recipe, scheduling exactly which workouts you should do during a week and when you should do them. You can create any workout schedule you wish, of course, but these predefined profiles, like recipes, make life easier.

Currently, Max Workout supports the following profiles:

Beginner. This profile is for people who are just starting out. It doesn't take a lot of time and balances cardio and strength training with other practices you need for optimal health.
Intermediate. This profile is for people who have been working out for a while and want to maintain a high level of performance. It requires a longer commitment and includes more cardio and strength training with other practices you need for optimal health.
Advanced. This profile is for hard-chargers who want to commit a lot of quality time cardio, strength, and other longevity practices. It's not for everyone.
Short on Time. This profile is for people who, for whatever reason, don't have a lot of time yet still want maximum results for their exercise investment. This plan means you'll do two Zone 5 and two strength training workouts a week.
Exercise Snacking. This profile is for people who primarily want to use exercise snacks for their workouts. It doesn't mean you can't do other exercises as well, but it focuses primarily on short, quick exercises spread throughout the day. It is great for parents, people who work too much, or those who just like the idea of doing less work and still getting results. This plan means you'll do four exercise snack workouts Monday through Friday.
Twenty Minutes a Day. Do you have twenty minutes a day? This profile is for you. This plan means you'll do 20 minutes of exercise five days a week. Just what you need and no more. Nearly everyone can find 20 minutes a day to exercise.
3-2-1. This profile is the ultimate workout split—according to TikTok. On this plan, you perform three strength training sessions, two Pilates classes, and one cardio session per week. The underlying philsophy is each workout rotates, giving your muscles ample recovery time. And if you don't like Pilates, swap it with something else. And if you would prefer to do two strength sessions instead of three, it's up to you. On this plan, you will build muscle, improve endurance, increase your heart rate, and develop balance, coordination, and flexibility.
Menopausal. The new one!

I'm excited to add the Menopausal profile for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is there's very little out there helping menopausal women, which is just an awful situation.

It's easy to feel helpless when all the advice out there is aimed at other people, and what advice there is can make you worse off. So when I came upon this research by Dr. Stacy Sims, I just had to add to Max Workout as soon as I could. After all, that's why I made Max Workout: to help everyone I can.

What you may not know is that according to Dr. Sims, Menopausal women need a different exercise routine than the standard recommendations given to every one of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.

Why? Menopausal women have an increase in cortisol. They are in what's known as sympathetic drive, which means you are in a flight or fight response all the time. Moderate-intensity exercise simply increases cortisol more, which pushes signals to keep belly fat, keep body fat, and reduce lean muscle mass.

Dr. Sims says women should avoid moderate-intensity exercise and move to more strength training and more high-intensity or sprint interval cardio training. It's not about volume or distance; it's about how hard you work. Intensity is key—a Max Workout theme from the very beginning.

For Post-Menopausal women, the same principles apply, but the difference is that Post-Menopausal women need to exercise more frequently. Why? There’s a dose-response relationship between exercise and results. The more frequently you do it, the better, as long you have enough recovery time in between. Don’t worry; the workouts are more frequent, but they are also short, usually less than twenty minutes long.

Wall sits led with a 10.5 point reduction in the systolic blood pressure number. Leg extension gave a 10 point reduction. Hand grip 7.1 points. Cycling 6.9 points. Running 6.9 points. HIIT 5.5 points. Resistance training 4.55 points. Walking 2.85 points. And combined resistance with cardio produced a 6.8 point reduction.

You can bike, lift weights, or do whatever you enjoy doing; the point is increased intensity during your workouts. Why? Your body can no longer rely on estrogen and progesterone to provide blood sugar control, vascular compliance, and build lean muscle mass. How can you compensate? Short bursts of high-intensity cardio and heavy weight lifting.

The idea is to use exercise stress to create adaptations in your body to do the work your hormones used to do. Stress from intense exercise signals your body that it needs to adapt. High-intensity cardio signals your body that it needs to improve blood pressure control and make fuel more available rather than depositing it as body fat.

Your body needs that extra signal. These signals help compensate for the lack of estrogen during menopause, which really helps reduce belly fat. So again, lifting weights is using exercise stress to make up for the work hormones used to do in your body. It also helps reduce dementia risk because your brain is also responding to the increased intensity.

Menopausal women often suffer from brittle bones, osteopenia, and osteoporosis. Dr. Sims recommends jump training to strengthen your bones. It could be 10 minutes of jump rope, jump squats, burpees, or something that stresses the bone. Multi-directional stress through the bone signals it to grow and regenerate. Running and walking isn't enough because it's not a multi-directional stress.

That's what the Menopausal profile provides. It creates a weekly schedule of SIT (sprint interval training) cardio, SIT strength training, and plyometric workouts. Click the Post-Menopausal option and it adds an extra round of exercise. I added several new workouts to support this profile. The good news is because these workouts are intense, they are short. You can be done in under twenty minutes a day!

I really think this profile can help make a difference in your life. Please give it a try and let me know how it goes.

How do you use the Menopausal profile in Max Workout? Tap the Schedule tab. Tap on Create Workout Plan. Select the Menopausal profile option.

Do you want to learn more?

Enjoy!