muscle fever at 40

Walking through the park has become a curious experience. It is not uncommon to come across women who seem prepared for a tactical mission, with voluminous vests that appear to be bulletproof. However, there is no danger; is the fever rucking. As journalist Emma Rosenblum tells it in it wall street Journalwe are facing an “explosion of interest – bordering on obsession – in well-being during perimenopause.”

Her friends, Rosenblum says, have gone from enjoying a Bolognese pasta dinner to shaming her for using five-pound weights and not “swallowing Greek yogurt by the bucket.” This scene, which is repeated in thousands of homes, reflects a paradigm shift: the generation that grew up with the ideal of extreme thinness She is trying to age differently than her mothers and grandmothers, those who ended up with a hunched back and hip fractures after a simple stumble.

To understand why our friends are lifting weights as if their lives depended on it, we have to look at hormones. According to Mayo Clinicperimenopause is that transition period — which can begin at age 30 or 40 — where estrogen and progesterone rise and fall like a roller coaster.

This drop in estrogen not only brings the famous hot flashes or irritability. As explained in Cleveland Clinicestrogen is the guardian of our bones. When it disappears, the body begins to break down the bone faster than it can make it. The data of Harvard Health they are relentless: After the age of 40, inactivity and hormonal changes can rob us of bone mass at a rate of 1% per year. In fact, in the 5 to 7 years after menopause, a woman can lose up to 20% of her bone density, according to doctor Jennifer Wagner.

The new “faith” of the gym

For decades, women’s health was limited to reproductive health. “It seemed like one night you went to bed premenopausal and the next day you woke up postmenopausal,” explains Dr. Mary Jane Minkin. in Yale Medicineand. The reality is much more complex and has been systematically ignored. In Spain, gynecologist Blanca Fernández, from the Gipuzkoa Polyclinic, warns on portal With Health that 80% of those over 40 are worried about their symptoms, but only 57% consult a doctor. It is the result of years of “unnecessary resignation” and lack of research.

However, that narrative is taking a turn. The portal The Good Trade points out that the culture of thinness has done us a disservice, creating generations of women with osteoporosis. Now, the goal is to avoid “sarcopenia” (the loss of muscle with age).

As researcher Christopher Hurst explains in The Conversationstrength training is the “gold standard” for healthy aging. It’s not about aesthetics, but about “independence and dignity.” Hurst clarifies that it is not necessary to lift the garbage truck: one or two sessions per week where muscle fatigue is reached (feeling that you cannot do one more repetition) is enough to see significant changes. Even people in their 80s and 90s can benefit, the expert emphasizes.

The phenomenon of “health soldiers”

This is where we must separate the wheat from the chaff. Do all my friends need to lift their own body weight?:

• Strength training: It is undeniable, the basis for a healthy aging. By “stressing” the bone by lifting weights or using resistance bands, bone-forming cells are activated. From harvard they add thatUnlike cardio, strength specifically protects the spine, hips and wrists, the most critical fracture points.
• The myth of the weighted vest: Guardian tested this trend and the conclusion is mixed. Although it adds difficulty to the ride, the experts on the portal threes warn about the risks: “Carrying weight without a base of strength can cause compression on the spine and stress on the joints.” In addition, the studies that support its effectiveness in creating bone are usually small and carried out in people who also did impact exercises.
• The protein trap: Yes, bone needs protein, but as Dr. Tang says in it WSJthere is no reason to live “gobbling up chicken breasts” as if there were no tomorrow if you are not at high clinical risk.
• DEXA fever: What was once a test for the elderly is today the new health “selfie.” The DEXA scan measures fat, muscle and bone. Although doctors like Dr. Miriam Bredella They say the test is underused in those over 65, longevity figures such as Dr. Peter Attia defend its early use (at 30 or 40 years old) to detect “visceral fat” and have a baseline before the hormonal collapse occurs.

Muscle as life insurance

Despite the avalanche of information, some experts call for calm. Dr. Karen Tang comment on the WSJ that, although awareness is good because “a lot of this is preventable”, too much information can become a source of unnecessary stress. “For the average person, these are simple lifestyle modifications: some weight-bearing exercise and some strength training,” he says. You don’t have to jump around the city like a kangaroo or eat a truckload of chickens a day.

Even the gynecologist Blanca Fernández, in statements collected by Communicateinsists that we must not forget other pillars: taking care of the pelvic floor (to avoid incontinence) and considering Hormone Replacement Therapy if symptoms reduce quality of life, since today it is a safe and effective option.

This massive interest in bone density is not just an Instagram fad; It is the awakening of a generation of women who refuse to be “invisible” or “fragile.” However, there is a fine line between taking care of yourself and succumbing to a new form of aesthetic pressure disguised as health.

How the experts conclude in With Healthperimenopause is a natural physiological process, but “natural is not synonymous with painful.” The ultimate goal of lifting weights or eating broccoli should not be to achieve an ideal of fitness unattainable, as pointed out The Conversation, maintain independence and dignity. Being able to climb stairs, carry shopping bags and get up from a chair without help when we are 80 years old.

Image | freepik

Xataka | There are rich people so bored with their own lives that they have begun to paint false humidity in their houses