The Menopause Revolution at TCR

The Menopause Revolution…at TCR

I've spent the last 20 years working as an exercise physiologist with active women. My goal is to help all genders understand the physical and hormonal transitions women experience as they age, so everyone can support women in leading strong, healthy lives.

For the guys, you need to read this!

Yes, you read that right—this isn’t just for women. It’s actually for men. Don't scroll past or forward this to your partner just yet. Give me five minutes to read this short article. It might just change your life—and hers. It’s time for teamwork and learning how to help her enjoy the next 20-30 years of her life.

5 years ago, when I thought I had it figured out

One of the best ways to keep your business thriving is to take care of your clients. If you’re in a service industry, you don’t always need new clients—you just need to retain the ones you have. I started TCR twenty years ago, at age 33, confident in our concept. But around age 48, things changed dramatically: about 25% of my female clients stopped coming to classes, labs, training camps, and stopped buying bikes. The men in their lives kept coming, but the attendance was dropping for women. At first, I couldn’t figure out why—until it hit close to home. My own partner—also the same age as me and who shared the same interests in sport was struggling.

Understanding how to train women - from science to practice

I believed I knew how to train women because I studied female physiology extensively in graduate school and coached hundreds of women over the years. For 15 years, I designed training programs based on women’s menstrual cycles. Once I acknowledged that hormonal fluctuations affect performance, I could periodize training to optimize results.

For example:

Rest weeks during menstruation days 28–3
Power and strength focus during days 4–14
Volume training during days 15–27

If cycles were shorter or longer, I adjusted accordingly. Knowing a woman’s hormonal cycle made training easier—and more effective—than training men.

We even conducted case studies measuring VO2max, sprint power, body composition, fat burning, and lactate tolerance weekly over five weeks. Some weeks showed better results than others—no surprises there. It simply confirmed that women respond best to training plans tailored to their unique physiology

The Perimenopause phase - What's happening?

Perimenopause is the period just before menopause. It often takes women by surprise with symptoms like hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, skipped periods, and vaginal dryness. During this time, estrogen and progesterone levels become erratic—sometimes steeply fluctuating, sometimes flatlining.

This chaos can last for a couple of years or more, leaving women bewildered. Suddenly, my carefully planned training programs no longer worked. Instead, I had to shift to weekly plans based on how she felt that day:

Feeling strong? Go for a longer workout.
Hot flashes or irritable? Maybe do some heavy weights or vent frustration!
Bloating or exhausted? Rest day—no guilt.

This unpredictability was a shock. I still struggled to fully understand what was happening hormonally and how to support women during this phase. Many women drop out of training because their bodies are changing, and reliable guidance from doctors, literature, or social media is scarce.

Hormone Therapy (HT) - A closer look

After watching a women's hormones essentially drop off the planet, there wasn’t a lot of advice or books on how to train women with low levels of estrogen and progesterone. No special diet or supplement was going to fix this. For centuries, women would just accept the change and do their best without help! That made sense when life expectancy was 65 years. But women on average in Canada are living to 86 years nowadays! So, if you get menopause at 50 years, you have to live the next 36 years with no gusto and sport? Some women would defy those odds, but what about the majority?

HT Therapy

Guys, HT is not “Heart Training.” It’s Hormone Therapy. In my opinion, there is no herb or vegetable that will replace the real thing, estrogen and progesterone. Just five years ago, many people thought HT was associated with cancer. I sure did. I faintly remember reading something about this back in 2002 and it stuck in my mind as well as millions of others including physicians. The study was called the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) in 2002 which demonstrated an increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Breast Cancer in women. After further debates and investigations, those conclusions were retracted but the damage was already done, and a cloak of fear spread across the planet for decades.

However, over these last 20 years, many new studies have been done showing the exact opposite. There was minimal risk with HT and more health benefits by regaining your energy, cardiovascular fitness, strength, bone density, weight control plus the mental health benefits of feeling good.

Cooking with Gas

As the expression goes, we are cooking with gas now! The wavy menstrual cycle was not back but as I like to inform female clients who come in for testing, the "hormones are off the floor." It's time to get back into training! Reducing activity, strength training and sport as you age is not optimal for longevity.

Healthspan and VO2max

The new health term is called “Healthspan.” How do we live well in the last decades of our life? We have to move and stay fit. Addressing and finding ways to deal with menopause gives women a chance to regain their power and vitality.

Over the last 5 years, many researchers have shown that your VO2max is the single best predictor of coronary heart disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative related disease and some cancers. This means that you need to move and stay fit in order to maximize your healthspan. For many, HT helps re-open this door. Millions of women are finally regaining their energy.

Is HT the answer?

No. This is not the 100% remedy for menopause and longevity. It is just one good option that should be explored with your up to date physician. There are many factors to consider and it requires females to become educated so they can have informed conversations and ask questions on the risks and rewards.

What to do next? 1.1 billion women today are in Menopause

There is a lot of information on the internet, social media and in medical journals today. As noted in the title, there is a menopause revolution going on. Some of the information is not based on proven science and there are groups trying to capitalize and cash in on the billions of women going through this change. Be cautious and become informed. It's important to do your research, ask for second opinions, listen to podcasts, and keep up to date. This area is changing every year.

Below are some links that I have found useful in gathering information and supporting my friends and clients at TCR. Take a look and spread the word!