Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple

So I think we can think about those kind of processes.

practical implications.

But in terms of just the hormones themselves and the fact that we're down-regulating the endogenous hormone production by introducing these synthetic hormones, that doesn't seem to impact performance or adaptations to exercise.

There's no reason to change your training because we still want the same adaptations.

We want to increase and maintain muscle size and strength.

We want to reduce fall risk and fracture risk, maintain bone density.

And so resistance training is going to be a really key component of an exercise program for somebody who's

pre and post menopause.

I think the idea that somehow the hormonal changes would influence muscle are really tied to that same thought process that

cycle syncing is based on.

And so it comes down to this hypothesis that there is this relationship between estrogen and muscle.

And so if estrogen is declining with menopause, then that would have some effect on muscle.

But we don't see that.

We see age-related muscle loss that is exacerbated by physical inactivity.

But you look at lean mass across the menopause transition

And that in and of itself isn't accelerating the loss of muscle.

It's important, too, because we need to maintain those connections for all movement patterns, right?

And so when we see long periods of physical inactivity, think immobilization or bed rest, the rate at which you lose muscle is shocking.

It's really, really dramatic.

And so we know that is a very extreme model of atrophy that we want to avoid.