Sharing my thoughts on cardio during perimenopause the best cardio strategies. 

Hi friends! How are you? I hope that your morning is off to a great start! How was the weekend? We went to my brother’s wedding, which was gorgeous and wonderful (I’ll share pics in Friday Faves!), and just enjoyed a low-key weekend. I caught up on some spring cleaning and enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

For today’s post, I wanted to chat a little bit about cardio. I feel like there’s SO MUCH cardio *noise* right now.

“Stop doing all cardio! Just walk.”

“Cardio messes up your hormones!”

“HIIT is the devil!”

The reality is that cardio is good… it’s healthy for your heart, ya know… but you just have to be strategic about the type of cardio you’re doing, where you are in your health journey, and how often you’re doing it. A big factor is perimenopause and things changing over time.

A quick lil refresher: perimenopause is the 8-10 years before menopause (where you have no cycle for 12 consecutive months) and hormone levels start to change. I don’t think I’m quite there yet – I turned 40 in November – but I know it’s around the corner and that many of my reader friends are in this sweet spot.

During perimenopause, it’s common to notice changes in energy levels, recovery time, and how our bodies respond to different types of exercise. Strength training remains the most important form of exercise during this phase, because it helps to preserve lean muscle mass, support bone density, and keep metabolism revved up. However, cardio still plays an essential role – it just might need to look a little different than it did in our 20s and 30s.

I think we can all remember the time when hours of high-intensity cardio were our life. I’d take multiple aerobic classes in a row, or spend hours on a Starclimber with a text book propped up. My hormones were also a mess. THANK THE LORD these days are over.

During perimenopause, I think it’s important to be strategic, focusing on movement that supports hormonal balance, stress management, and longevity while keeping inflammation in check. I wanted to chat about the best cardio strategies to incorporate into your routine during this transitional phase. *As always, talk to a doctor before making any fitness changes.*

The Best Cardio Strategies for Perimenopause

1. Walking & Hiking: Gentle But Effective

Walking is one of the most underrated forms of cardio, and during perimenopause, it’s a gamechanger. It helps manage stress, supports cardiovascular health, and keeps cortisol (our stress hormone) from spiking too high.

Aim for 8,000-10,000 steps per day as a general goal. If that goal seems impossible, see where your baseline is

Sharing some tips if you want to incorporate a weighed vest in your routine!

Hi friends! How’s the week treating ya? We’re in the 874th day of January and I’m ready to move on lol. With the fam being sick, it’s thrown off all of our routines, but thankfully they’re feeling better and back into it.

For today’s post, I wanted to share something that I’ve been using in my own routine and have seen them surge in popularity: weighted vests! They can be a great way to add an additional stressor and challenge your fitness routine when used correctly. I wanted to chat about some benefits, potential drawbacks, and everything you need to know before incorporating a weighed vest into your routine. As always, check with a doctor before making any fitness changes. Honor your body and modify as needed. Here are some things to consider while wearing a weighed vest.

What Is a Weighted Vest?

A weighed vest is exactly how it sounds: it’s a vest that you can wear with different weights and sizes available. You can use them for a variety of activities including, walking, running, strength training, bodyweight exercises — even chores.

 Benefits of Using a Weighted Vest

Here are some of the potential benefits of wearing a weighed vest.

Improve Strength and Endurance:

Adding extra weight challenges your muscles and cardiovascular system, leading to increased strength and endurance.

Bone Density Benefits:

Weighted vests can help strengthen bones through weight-bearing activities. Research published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity demonstrated that exercise training with weighted vests improved bone mineral density and muscle strength in postmenopausal women.

Enhanced Calorie Burn:

Wearing a weighted vest increases the intensity of workouts, leading to higher calorie expenditure. In this study, individuals wearing a vest that added 10% of their body weight burned significantly more calories than those not wearing any weight.

Improved Posture and Core Strength:

Carrying weight on the upper body can activate core muscles and encourage better posture.

Things to Consider While Wearing a Weighted Vest

While all of this sounds fine and dandy, there are absolutely some cases where a weighted vest isn’t warranted or may even be counterproductive.

Posture Matters

For some people, they start off with too heavy or a vest or the wrong fit, or they may already have compromised posture and alignment. So often we’re in a forward leaning position, hunched over our phones and computer screens. A vest can make it worse, especially if you have tight chest muscles and weak upper back muscles. Make sure your alignment is on point with shoulders down and back, core engaged, neck long, and spine neutral.

Start Slow and Build Gradually

I think it’s so important to

Answering the popular question about how long you should stretch for a run.

Hi friends! I hope that you’re doing well and enjoying the day!
For today’s post, I wanted to ask a common question, especially since it’s the new year and many of my friends out there are getting back to their running routines or starting new ones: how long should you stretch for a run?

Here’s the deal about stretching: science and opinions are mixed. You don’t *have* to stretch, but for many people, they find that it warms them up (it prepares the muscles for exercise and increases heart rate and tissue temperature), they may be less likely to get injured, and they may find that it mentally helps them get in the game.

How long should you stretch for a run

When it comes to stretching for a run, the recommended duration can vary depending on whether you’re doing dynamic or static stretching. Typically, dynamic stretching is best done before a run or any type of workout, while static stretching is more effective after a run.

Dynamic Stretching Duration:

Before a run, 5 to 10 minutes of dynamic stretching is usually sufficient in addition to any foam rolling. This type of stretching involves moving your muscles and joints through their full range of motion, which helps to warm up the body, increase heart rate, and enhance blood flow to the muscles. It prepares the muscles for the intense activity to come can help reduce the risk of injury.

I really like dynamic stretching because you’re working through full range of motion; it can help with altered movement patterns because you’re stretching out muscles that may be tight or underused. It feels good and energizing before any type of workout!

Static Stretching Duration:

After a run, I typically recommend 5 to 10 minutes of static stretching in addition to any foam rolling. This involves holding stretches for 20 to 30 seconds per muscle group. Static stretching helps to relax the muscles, improve flexibility, and reduce muscle stiffness post-exercise. It aids in cooling down the body, your heart rate will decrease, and it can help promote muscle recovery.

Differences Between Dynamic and Static Stretching:

Dynamic stretching is active, with movements like leg swings and walking lunges that mimic the activity of running. It’s designed to increase body temperature, improve range of motion, and get the blood flowing.

Dynamic stretching

Some of my favorite dynamic stretches before a run:

Leg Swings

Benefits: Improves range of motion, warms up the hip flexors.

Steps:

Stand on one leg with the other leg swinging forward and backward.

Keep the movement controlled and steady.

Switch sides after 10-15 swings.

Walking Lunges

Benefits: Engages multiple muscle groups, enhances blood flow.

Steps:

Step forward with your left leg, lowering your body into a lunge.

Push back up and repeat with your right

Sharing a list of my very favorite, and what I consider to be the best, single-leg exercises! I hope this post will inspire you to include more unilateral training in your routine. 

Hi hi! How are you doing today? I hope you’re having a wonderful week so far!

For today, let’s talk fitness-y things. Single-leg exercises are one of my favorite elements to include in lower-body workouts. Single exercises are – you guessed it- exercises using just one side of your lower body at a time. Leg strength is important no matter what sport you choose or fitness mode you enjoy. Strong legs support everyday movements and our ability to perform, and focusing on one leg at a time can have several benefits. In today’s post, I’m sharing a roundup of the best single leg exercises that can help you reach your legs’ fullest potential.

(Set was gifted from Vuori. I love everything on their site, and especially their leggings and joggers.)

Why train unilaterally?

It’s SO easy to use bilateral exercises to *depend* on our strongest side. Think about a barbell biceps curl vs. a dumbbell curl. With the barbell, you’ll lift the weight without the true ability to determine if the weight is split equally between sides. Your stronger side will always kick in to help you complete the rep, which can cause muscle imbalances to go unnoticed. By training one side at a time, like with a dumbbell curl, you can really focus on developing strength in the weaker side. This will not only promote muscle symmetry, but also potentially prevent altered movement patterns from depending on the stronger sides of the body.

Here are some of my favorite single-leg exercises to include on leg day! As always, check with a doctor before making any fitness changes. Honor your body and modify as needed.

Best Single Leg Exercises

Single-leg deadlift (a.k.a. Single-Leg RDL)

Holding a dumbbell or kettlebell, shift your weight to your left leg, then float your right leg off the floor behind you. Keeping your weight on your front leg, hinge at the waist and tilt forward, keeping your back straight, until the weight reaches just below the knees (or as far as you can go while maintaining a flat back). Keep your right leg straight behind you. Exhale and return to an upright position. Repeat with your other leg. Make sure to keep your hips parallel to the floor and look straight ahead throughout this leg workout.

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Sharing a roundup of some of my favorite post workout snacks and ideas for fueling around your workouts. 

Hi friends! How’s the morning going? I hope you’re having a great one so far! I’m over here editing podcast content and have client calls the rest of the day.

For today, I wanted to chat a bit about workout fueling and some pot workout snacks. While I am a certified nutrition coach, personal trainer, and Integrative Health Practitioner, these are just friendly general suggestions. As always, reach out to your personal RD or health team for personalized advice.

As we all know, I looove working out. Some days are easier than others, but I experience so many amazing benefits from taking the time to move my body each day; I’m sure many of you can relate. It gives me mental clarity, energy, strength, confidence, and I love checking the box towards long-term health. After I work out, I usually have a meal or a healthy snack. Fueling yourself post exercise can maximize performance, speed up muscle recovery, and restore energy levels.

Just a heads up that not all snacks are created equal—some can derail progress.

Today I wanted to share a roundup of healthy post workout snacks that will help refuel, rebuild muscle tissue, and help you feel satisfied after sweaty workouts.

10 Healthy Post Workout Snacks

There’s a lot of nuance to workout fueling: how hungry are you? What time of day is it? What type of workout are you doing? What did you already eat today?

My very general rule of thumb is nothing or a little carbs before a workout, protein + carbs afterwards. When you include carbohydrates and protein, this can help restore glucose levels, support muscle repair and post workout recovery.

Here are some ideas for store-bought snacks and homemade recipes that include both plant-based and traditional meat protein sources.

Is It Healthy To Eat After A Workout?

Eating after a workout is one of the keys to recovery, whether it’s a snack or a meal. It depends on the timing of your workout.

Intense workouts break down muscle tissue and deplete glycogen stores.

Some of the benefits of eating after a workout:

Muscle recovery and repair – Provides essential amino acids for protein synthesis.

Restores energy – Replenishes glycogen through carbohydrates. When you combine protein and carbs, this can potentially enhance this.

Reduces muscle soreness – Supports faster healing and reduces inflammation.

Optimizes performance – Fuels the body for future workouts. You can crush your workouts if you’re depleted!