Workout Splits for Perimenopause: How to Structure Your Week

Quick Answer: workout splits for perimenopause in 30 seconds

For most women in perimenopause, a 3-day full-body split or a 3-day upper/lower/full split with a rest day between sessions is the best balance of training stimulus and recovery. More than 4 strength sessions a week is usually counterproductive at this life stage because the cumulative cortisol cost outweighs the additional adaptation [1][2].

The right split depends on three things: how many days per week you can realistically train, your current training experience, and your recovery quality (sleep, stress, hormonal phase). A beginner with disrupted sleep and high life stress should default to 2 full-body sessions per week. A consistent intermediate with good recovery can handle 3-4 sessions on a full-body or upper/lower split. Almost no woman in perimenopause benefits from the classic 5-day “bro split” (chest day, back day, shoulder day, leg day, arm day), because it requires recovery infrastructure that midlife hormonal shifts undermine. Across the platforms reviewed at herdailyfit.com/programs, the strongest results in this age range come from 3-4 day full-body or upper/lower splits with built-in deload weeks. That’s the format used by Burn360, Evlo and Fit with CoCo. Always discuss any new exercise programme with your GP, especially if you have an existing musculoskeletal condition or are returning to exercise after a long break.

Workout splits at a glance

Here are the five most common workout splits compared on the dimensions that actually matter for women in perimenopause. Click any split to jump to the full breakdown.

What is a workout split?

A workout split is the pattern by which you divide your weekly strength training across muscle groups and sessions. A “full-body split” trains every major muscle group every session; an “upper/lower split” alternates upper-body and lower-body sessions; a “push/pull/legs split” groups exercises by movement type. The choice of split determines your training frequency per muscle group, your recovery requirements, and the kind of progression you’ll see.

The terminology comes from bodybuilding culture in the 1970s and 80s, where serious lifters spent 5-6 days a week in the gym and needed a way to organise high-volume training across multiple sessions. Most of the splits you’ll see referenced (push/pull/legs, the bro split, all of them) come from that era and were designed for young men with substantial recovery capacity and few other life demands. Whether they translate well to women in perimenopause is a separate question, and mostly the answer is “not without significant modification.”

Splits matter because they determine how often each muscle group is trained per week (frequency), how much you can do in each session before fatigue degrades performance (intra-session volume), and how recovery is distributed across the week. The 2016 Schoenfeld meta-analysis on training frequency established that, for hypertrophy, training each muscle group twice a week is marginally better than once a week, with smaller additional gains from training three times [3]. That’s the underlying reason most well-designed programmes for women over 40 land on a 2-3 day full-body or upper/lower split. Both formats train each muscle group 2-3 times per week, which is the productive zone.

For more on the underlying training variables (rep ranges, set counts, frequency in detail), see our reps and sets guide. This guide focuses specifically on how to combine those variables into a workable weekly schedule.

Why your workout split matters more in perimenopause

Programming that worked in your 30s often stops working in perimenopause, because oestrogen declines change recovery rates, cortisol response and muscle protein synthesis, and the wrong split amplifies all three problems [4][2].

The biology is several things at once. Oestrogen declines across the menopausal transition reduce muscle protein synthesis efficiency and slow connective tissue repair [4]. Cortisol response to high-volume training becomes more pronounced, which means high-frequency programmes that worked at 30 can drive central fat accumulation and sleep disruption at 45 [2]. Recovery between sessions takes 36-48 hours instead of 24, so sessions that were spaced fine on a 5-day-per-week split now bleed into each other and accumulate fatigue. Sleep disruption from hot flashes adds a third recovery variable that wasn’t there before.

The practical consequence is that the “more is more” logic of younger training years inverts in perimenopause. The optimum number of weekly sessions for most women in this age range is fewer than they assume (usually 2-4 strength sessions, not 5 or 6) and the optimum split structure prioritises full recovery between sessions targeting the same muscle groups. Programmes that crowd 5 hard sessions into a week with insufficient recovery don’t produce more results. They produce burnout, plateaued progression, and the central fat accumulation many women interpret as “menopause weight gain.”

This is why our low cortisol workouts guide and our recovery guide sit alongside the strength training material as companion topics, not separate ones. The split structure IS the cortisol management strategy when you get it right. The split structure IS the recovery framework. They’re the same conversation in different terminology.

Full body split: the best default for perimenopause

A full-body split (training every major muscle group in every session) is the best default workout split for women in perimenopause, because it trains each muscle group 2-3 times per week with built-in recovery between sessions [3]. It also handles the most realistic problem: missing one session a week doesn’t leave any muscle group untrained.

The structure is straightforward. Two or three sessions per week (Monday/Thursday for 2-day, or Monday/Wednesday/Friday for 3-day). Each session covers the five fundamental movement patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull, carry/core. Each exercise gets 3 working sets in the 6-15 rep range. Total session time is 35-50 minutes including warm-up. The full-body programme in our reps and sets guide is a complete worked example of this format.

Why it works particularly well for women over 40: the frequency per muscle group sits in the productive 2-3x/week range that the hypertrophy literature supports [3]; the recovery gap between sessions targeting the same muscle group is 48-72 hours, which matches the slower recovery rate of midlife; the per-session volume per muscle group is low enough that you don’t accumulate per-session damage that takes 4-5 days to recover from; and the schedule is forgiving when life intervenes. Missing Monday’s session and doing it Tuesday doesn’t throw off the rest of the week.

The downside: full-body sessions are mentally demanding because you’re hitting every muscle group every session. You don’t get the focused, hyper-pumped feeling of a body-part split where you crush one muscle group for 60 minutes. For some women that focus is motivating, and an upper/lower split may be more enjoyable. But for results, the full-body split has the strongest evidence base for women over 40.

The strongest beginner programmes reviewed for women over 40 all use full-body splits. Burn360 8.3 uses 3-4 day full-body sessions of 20-25 minutes each. Evlo [?] uses a 3-day full-body framework with built-in deload weeks. Fit with CoCo 8.1 mixes full-body strength with recovery sessions in a 3-2-1 weekly format. These are the formats that map most cleanly onto the Schoenfeld 2016 frequency findings and the perimenopausal recovery context.

Upper/lower split: best for intermediate lifters

An upper/lower split (alternating upper-body and lower-body sessions) is the best workout split for intermediate lifters in perimenopause who want more volume per muscle group than a full-body split allows [3]. It typically runs 4 sessions a week, training each region twice with adequate recovery between same-region sessions.

The standard structure is upper Monday, lower Tuesday, rest Wednesday, upper Thursday, lower Friday, weekend off. Each session focuses on one region, allowing 4–6 exercises per region with higher volume per muscle group than a full-body session would permit. Upper-body sessions cover push (chest, shoulders), pull (back, biceps) and shoulder accessories. Lower-body sessions cover squat patterns (quads), hinge patterns (hamstrings, glutes) and calves/core.

Why it works for intermediate women in perimenopause: the per-muscle-group frequency stays at 2x/week (the productive zone for hypertrophy), but the per-session volume can be higher because you’re only working one half of the body. Recovery between same-region sessions is 72 hours, which matches the slower midlife recovery rate. The schedule has 2 full rest days built in (Wednesday + weekend), which provides the recovery slack that perimenopausal women need.

Where upper/lower fails: if you can only realistically train 2-3 days per week, upper/lower undertrains each region (you’d be hitting each only once a week, below the productive frequency). For 2-3 day training availability, full-body is structurally better. Upper/lower also requires more equipment variety than full-body, because you need access to different movement patterns within each session, which can be limiting in a basic home setup.

Across the platforms reviewed for the site, upper/lower splits work best for women who’ve been consistent with full-body for 4–6 months and want to progress to higher per-session volume. Several Caroline Girvan 7.8 programmes (Iron Pro, Unleash) use modified upper/lower structures, and they’re explicitly intermediate-to-advanced programming. EvolveYou 6.0 uses upper/lower as one of its primary split options for hypertrophy-focused programmes.

Push/pull/legs (PPL) split: workable but conditional

A push/pull/legs split (one session for push movements, one for pull movements, one for legs) is workable in perimenopause as a 3-day rotation, but the 6-day version (push/pull/legs twice) is usually too much [2]. The 3-day version trains each region once a week, which is below the productive frequency for hypertrophy but adequate for maintenance.

The structure: push session (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull session (back, biceps), legs session (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves), repeated weekly with rest days between or alongside. The 6-day version doubles the rotation (push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/rest), training each region twice per week.

For women in perimenopause, the 3-day version is workable as a maintenance approach when life is busy. You’re training each muscle group once a week, which is the floor of useful frequency. You maintain rather than progress dramatically. That’s fine for periods when other life demands prevent more training.

The 6-day version is rarely the right call in perimenopause. Six strength sessions a week leaves no flexibility for missed sessions, no recovery slack for poor sleep weeks, and accumulates cortisol cost that the menopausal hormonal environment doesn’t recover from well [2]. The pattern with this format in midlife is usually a productive opening 3-4 weeks followed by accumulated fatigue, plateaued progression and dropout within 8 weeks.

If you’re drawn to the PPL structure for variety reasons, a 3-day PPL with a 4th “recovery day” (mobility, walking, gentle yoga) or a 4th lower-volume strength session is workable. The pure 6-day rotation is what to avoid.

Body part split (bro split): usually wrong for perimenopause

The classic 5-day body part split (chest day, back day, shoulder day, leg day, arm day) is almost never the right choice for women in perimenopause. It trains each muscle group only once a week (below the productive frequency) while requiring high recovery infrastructure that midlife rarely provides [3][2].

The structure: 5-6 sessions a week, each session focused intensely on one or two muscle groups for 60-90 minutes. This is the format that dominated bodybuilding magazines and home video programmes in the 80s and 90s, which is partly why so many women in their 40s and 50s associate it with “serious training” even though the literature has moved well past it.

The problems for women over 40: training each muscle group only once a week is below the 2x/week frequency that the hypertrophy literature supports as productive [3]. The high per-session volume creates significant muscle damage that takes 4-6 days to fully recover, by which time you’re training that muscle again at the start of the next week. That often produces accumulated under-recovery rather than fresh adaptation. The 5+ session per week schedule has no slack for missed sessions, hormonal-fluctuation weeks, or general life stress, and the cumulative cortisol load from repeatedly maxing out one muscle group then the next can drive the central fat accumulation many perimenopausal women are training to prevent [2].

The exception: if you’ve been training on a body part split for 10+ years, your body has adapted to it, and you have the recovery infrastructure to support it (excellent sleep, low life stress, consistent nutrition, no significant menopausal symptoms), it can keep working in perimenopause. But this is a small fraction of women in this age range. For everyone else, switching to a full-body or upper/lower split usually produces noticeable improvement in both progress and how training feels.

Hybrid splits: combining strength, cardio and recovery

Hybrid splits combine strength training with explicit cardio and recovery sessions in a structured weekly format. The 3-2-1 split (3 strength + 2 cardio + 1 recovery) is the most well-known example and works particularly well for women in perimenopause [1].

The 3-2-1 weekly format breaks down as: 3 strength sessions (typically full-body), 2 cardio sessions (typically Zone 2 or short HIIT), and 1 dedicated recovery session (mobility, gentle yoga, or an active recovery walk). That’s 6 active days per week with 1 full rest day. The structure addresses the four exercise pillars for perimenopause (strength, cardio, recovery, mobility) in a single weekly framework.

The advantages for perimenopausal women: each strength session is full-recovered because they’re separated by at least 48 hours; the cardio sessions provide cardiovascular health benefits without competing with strength recovery (cardio doesn’t produce the same muscular fatigue as strength); the recovery session is treated as part of the programme rather than as an absence of training; and the variety reduces both physical and mental fatigue compared to 5 hard strength sessions.

Where hybrid splits fail: if any of the cardio or recovery sessions get squeezed out by time pressure, the structure collapses. Women who can’t reliably commit to 6 active days per week should default to a simpler 3-day full-body split rather than trying to force a hybrid structure they can’t sustain.

What I’ve seen in testing: Fit with CoCo’s 3-2-1 format is the cleanest example of this approach in a paid programme, and women in perimenopause who tested it consistently reported better recovery and more sustainable progress than they got from higher-frequency strength-only programmes. The format also pairs naturally with our pillar guide’s four-pillar framework, which is essentially a hybrid split structured by training purpose.

The best workout split by training days available (2/3/4/5)

The right split depends primarily on how many days per week you can realistically train. Here’s the matrix. Pick the row that matches your honest weekly availability, not what you wish it were.

2-day split: the minimum effective dose

Two full-body sessions per week is the minimum that produces meaningful strength and muscle gains. The 2009 ACSM position stand on resistance training identifies 2 sessions per week as effective for healthy adults; the 2016 Schoenfeld frequency meta-analysis confirms that 2 sessions per week produces ~75% of the gains of higher frequencies [3][5]. The structure: Monday and Thursday (or any two days separated by at least 48 hours), each session covering all major movement patterns. This is the right starting point for absolute beginners and for women returning to training after a long break.

3-day split: the perimenopause default

Three full-body sessions per week is the most-recommended structure for women in perimenopause across research and practical experience. Monday/Wednesday/Friday is the classic schedule. Each session covers all major movement patterns; you can vary the specific exercises across the week to keep training interesting (heavier compound lifts on Monday, more accessory work on Wednesday, mixed on Friday). This format trains each muscle group 3 times per week (productive frequency for hypertrophy), provides 48 hours of recovery between sessions, and leaves 4 days for cardio, walking, or full rest.

4-day split: upper/lower for intermediate lifters

Four sessions per week is where upper/lower becomes the better structural choice. Monday upper, Tuesday lower, Thursday upper, Friday lower. Or any equivalent pattern with 2 days between same-region sessions. Each region trained twice per week with higher per-session volume than full-body would allow. Best for women who’ve been training consistently for 6+ months and want more focused work per region.

5-day split: only with strong base and good recovery

Five sessions per week is the upper limit for most women in perimenopause and only works with consistent good sleep, low life stress, and a 12+ month training base. Either upper/lower/upper/lower/full body (giving slight extra emphasis to areas that need it), or a 3-strength + 2-cardio split. Crucially, you should be feeling better and stronger week to week, not slowly more depleted. If you’re trending toward depletion, drop back to a 3-4 day split for 2-3 weeks and reassess.

How to combine strength and cardio in your weekly split

For most women in perimenopause: 2–3 strength sessions per week + 2–3 Zone 2 cardio sessions per week (walking, easy cycling, swimming) + optional 1–2 short HIIT sessions per week if you tolerate them well, never on the same day as strength [1][2].

The principles: cardio and strength compete for recovery resources, so they shouldn’t happen on the same day if you can avoid it. When they must be combined, do strength first (it requires fresh nervous system recruitment) and short, low-intensity cardio second. Keep most cardio in Zone 2 (60–70% of max heart rate, conversational pace) because this builds cardiovascular capacity without competing with strength recovery and without the cortisol cost of high-intensity work. Reserve high-intensity intervals (HIIT) for 1–2 sessions per week maximum, with 72+ hours between HIIT sessions.

The classic perimenopause-friendly weekly schedule combining strength and cardio:

This 3-strength + 2-cardio + 1-recovery + 1-rest format is essentially a 3-2-1 hybrid split and represents the well-evidenced framework for women in perimenopause across our testing and the published research. See our pillar guide for the full four-pillar exercise framework, our Zone 2 cardio guide for the cardio side, and our HIIT for perimenopause guide for how to do high-intensity work right at this life stage.

Adjusting your split to your menstrual cycle in perimenopause

If you’re still cycling regularly in perimenopause, training higher volume in the follicular phase (the two weeks after your period starts) and lighter or recovery-focused work in the luteal phase (the two weeks before your period) may improve recovery quality. Though the evidence in perimenopausal women specifically is limited [6]. If your cycles have become irregular or stopped, this approach is no longer applicable and you should use other recovery signals (sleep, resting heart rate, mood) to guide intensity instead.

The Stacy Sims approach to cycle-based training proposes that the hormonal environment of the follicular phase (rising oestrogen, lower progesterone) supports higher-volume strength and HIIT work, while the luteal phase (rising progesterone) is better suited to lower-intensity steady-state work and recovery [6]. This framework comes mostly from research in younger athletic populations and translation to perimenopause is uncertain. Cycles in perimenopause are increasingly irregular, anovulatory, or stopped entirely, which complicates the application.

The honest practical guidance: if your cycles are regular and predictable, experimenting with cycle-based training for 2–3 cycles is worth doing. If your cycles are irregular or stopped, abandon the framework and use real-time recovery signals instead. Resting heart rate (5+ bpm above baseline = back off), sleep quality (3 nights of poor sleep = recovery week), perceived effort (workouts feeling 1-2 RPE harder than normal at the same load = back off). These daily signals are more useful than any pre-planned cycle adjustment in late perimenopause.

For more on the cycle-based training framework specifically, see our cycle-based training guide. It covers the Sims framework, the evidence behind it, and practical implementation.

Sample 12-week split for women new to lifting in perimenopause

Here is a complete 12-week split for a woman in perimenopause who’s new to strength training (or returning after a long break). Three full-body sessions per week, one structured deload, and a progression to upper/lower in the final phase if recovery is good.

The structure across the 12 weeks:

The Phase 1-2 weekly schedule (weeks 1-7 and 9 onwards if staying on 3-day)

Three sessions per week, on non-consecutive days. Each session covers the five movement patterns (squat, hinge, push, pull, carry/core). Sessions are 35-45 minutes including warm-up. The cardio days are flexible. Zone 2 walking, swimming or easy cycling. Saturday is a longer easy walk; Sunday is full rest.

The Phase 3 transition (weeks 9-12 if moving to upper/lower)

If after 8 weeks of consistent training your recovery is good, sleep is solid, and you want more volume per region, transition to a 4-day upper/lower split for weeks 9-12. The per-region frequency stays at 2x/week (productive zone), but the per-session volume per region roughly doubles, which produces more focused per-region progression.

If after the deload week recovery isn’t consistently good or life stress has spiked, stay on the 3-day full-body format for weeks 9-12 instead. The 3-day format will continue to produce results. Just slightly slower than the 4-day version. The cost of switching to 4-day when you don’t have the recovery infrastructure is significantly worse than staying on 3-day for another phase.

How to switch workout splits without losing progress

Switch splits at a planned transition point (after a deload week, after completing a programme phase) rather than mid-block, and keep the exercise selection roughly similar across the change to preserve neurological adaptation [7].

The principle: switching splits doesn’t reset your gains, but switching everything at once (split + exercises + rep ranges + frequency) does effectively reset adaptation because your body has to relearn movement patterns and weight selections from scratch. Smooth transitions preserve the gains you’ve built; abrupt total changes don’t.

The smooth-transition framework:

1. Time the change to a deload week. The week after a deload is a natural reset point because you’re coming in fresh and slightly under-trained. Use this as the start of the new split.
2. Keep at least 60% of your exercises consistent. If you’re moving from full-body to upper/lower, the squat, deadlift, bench press and row patterns should appear in both splits. Replace 30-40% of exercises with new ones; keep the rest.
3. Keep your rep ranges similar across the change. If you’ve been training in 8-12 reps, stay there for the first 4 weeks of the new split. Once you’ve adapted to the new structure, you can experiment with rep range changes.
4. Reduce volume by 20-30% for the first week of the new split. Even if your old split had 4 sets per exercise, do 3 sets in the first week of the new structure. The body needs a brief acclimation period; the reduced volume prevents over-reaching.
5. Hold weight selection conservative for the first 2 weeks. Use weights you’ve previously handled comfortably; the new split structure itself is enough novel stimulus. Don’t try to PR in week 1 of a new format.
6. Run the new split for 12 weeks minimum before evaluating. Don’t change again before this; you can’t tell whether a split works in less than 8-12 weeks of consistent training.

The most common reasons to actually switch splits: you’ve been on the current one for 16+ weeks and progression has plateaued; your weekly time availability has changed; you’re returning from a break and want to ease back in with lower frequency; or you’ve been on 5-day frequency and the cumulative cost is showing up as poor sleep and mood changes.

Common workout split mistakes in perimenopause

The five most common workout split mistakes in this age range: training too many days per week, doing the bro split out of habit, not having a deload built in, training cardio the same day as strength, and changing splits too often. Each one undermines progress in a way that’s avoidable with one structural fix.

Mistake 1: training too many days per week. Five or six strength sessions per week was sustainable in your 30s; in perimenopause it usually accumulates more fatigue than adaptation. The fix: cap strength at 4 sessions per week as a hard ceiling unless you have specific evidence that more is working for you (continued progression, good sleep, no symptoms of overreaching).

Mistake 2: doing the bro split out of habit. Many women come back to training after years off having absorbed bodybuilding-magazine programming from the 80s and 90s, and default to a 5-day body part split because that’s what they remember as “serious training.” The fix: switch to a 3-day full-body or 4-day upper/lower split. The change usually produces noticeable improvement in both progress and how training feels within 4–6 weeks.

Mistake 3: not having a deload built in. Splits without a planned lighter week every 6–8 weeks accumulate fatigue that eventually forces an unplanned crash. The fix: schedule a deload week (50–60% of normal volume, same exercises and weights) every 6–8 weeks of consistent training. Programmes like Evlo have these built in; for self-directed programming, you have to add them.

Mistake 4: training cardio the same day as strength. Doing a 30-minute HIIT session after a strength workout doubles the total session stress and roughly halves the strength adaptation. The fix: separate cardio and strength into different days where possible; if they must combine, strength first and only short, low-intensity cardio second.

Mistake 5: changing splits too often. Some women change splits every 4–6 weeks looking for the perfect formula and never get long enough on any one structure to see results. The fix: pick a split, run it for 12 weeks minimum, then assess results before switching. Most splits work; the variable that determines results is consistency, not split selection.

Programmes that use perimenopause-friendly splits

The programmes below are the ones whose split structures match what works for women over 40. Each links to the full review with our scoring breakdown and what worked.

For the full programme rankings see our best strength training app for women ranking, our best workouts for perimenopause, and the comparison pages like Burn360 vs Pvolve.

How long should you stick with one workout split?

Stay with one workout split for 12 weeks minimum before changing, ideally 16–24 weeks if it’s working [7]. The body adapts to specific stimulus over months, not weeks; changing splits every 4–6 weeks resets the adaptation cycle and prevents the longer-term progression most women are training for.

The reason 12 weeks is the floor: meaningful body composition and strength changes take 8–12 weeks of consistent training to become visible, and you can’t evaluate whether a split is working until you’ve given it that long. Switching after 4–6 weeks because results aren’t obvious yet is the single most common reason women in this age range bounce between programmes for years without ever consolidating gains.

Signals that your current split IS working (and you should stay): strength is increasing measurably session to session or fortnight to fortnight; visible muscle changes are appearing in the regions you’re emphasising; recovery quality is good (sleep solid, mood stable, no persistent fatigue); you’re not dreading sessions. If 3-4 of these are true, the split is working. Stick with it for at least another 12 weeks.

Signals that your current split ISN’T working (and you should change): no measurable strength progress for 4+ weeks despite consistent training; persistent fatigue, poor sleep, or mood disruption that resolves on rest weeks; visible regression rather than progress; dread of sessions that doesn’t resolve after the first 5 minutes of warm-up. If 2+ of these are true after 8 weeks of honest effort, the split is wrong for you right now and changing is appropriate.

The change itself: switch to a structurally different split, not a minor variation. Going from a 5-day body part split to a 4-day upper/lower is a meaningful change. Going from a Monday/Wednesday/Friday full-body to a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday full-body is not. The change should address the actual problem. If you were under-recovering, the new split should reduce frequency or volume. If you were under-stimulated, it should increase per-session volume per muscle group.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where the evidence is still evolving

Most workout-split research uses younger or mixed-population samples; the perimenopause-specific evidence is still maturing. Here are the open questions to know about.

Optimal frequency for women in perimenopause specifically

The 2x/week per muscle group frequency recommendation comes from mixed-population hypertrophy research. Whether perimenopausal women need higher or lower frequency than the average is not well-established. Some emerging work (Sims and others) suggests slightly lower frequencies with higher per-session volume may suit perimenopausal recovery patterns, but the evidence is preliminary [6].

Whether cycle-based training matters in perimenopause

Cycle-phase programming (follicular vs luteal differentiation) has reasonable evidence in younger eumenorrheic women but uncertain translation to perimenopause where cycles are increasingly irregular. The honest answer is: try it for 2-3 cycles if your cycles are regular; abandon if irregular and use real-time recovery signals instead.

Optimal deload frequency and structure

The “every 6–8 weeks” deload recommendation comes from broader strength-training literature. Whether perimenopausal women specifically benefit from more frequent (every 4–6 weeks) or differently structured deloads is not well-characterised. Some practitioners use rolling deloads (one lighter session per week within the normal split) instead of dedicated deload weeks. Both approaches work, neither has strong perimenopause-specific evidence.

Long-term progression rates after the first year

The literature characterises early progression in older adults reasonably well but year 2+ progression rates and split-change frequency in postmenopausal women specifically are poorly studied. Anecdotally, gains slow significantly after the first 12 months of consistent training and changing split structure every 6–12 months helps maintain progression. But this is observed rather than evidenced.

Glossary of terms used in this guide

References

Sources cited above and used to inform this guide. External links open in a new tab.

1. [1] British Menopause Society. Tools for clinicians: exercise and the menopause. https://thebms.org.uk/publications/tools-for-clinicians/
2. [2] Hackney AC. Stress and the neuroendocrine system: the role of exercise as a stressor and modifier of stress. Expert Review of Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2006;1(6):783-792. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16645310/
3. [3] Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine, 2016;46(11):1689-1697. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27102172/
4. [4] Maltais ML, Desroches J, Dionne IJ. Changes in muscle mass and strength after menopause. Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions, 2009;9(4):186-197. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19949277/
5. [5] American College of Sports Medicine. Position Stand: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Healthy Adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2009;41(3):687-708. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19204579/
6. [6] Sims SL, Yeager S. Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond. Rodale Books, 2022. https://www.drstacysims.com/books
7. [7] Bell L, Ruddock A, Maden-Wilkinson T, Rogerson D. Overreaching and overtraining syndrome in strength sports and resistance training: A scoping review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2020;38(16):1897-1912. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32568000/
8. [8] Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Krieger J. How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2019;37(11):1286-1295. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30558493/
9. [9] Watson SL, Weeks BK, Weis LJ, Harding AT, Horan SA, Beck BR. High-Intensity Resistance and Impact Training Improves Bone Mineral Density and Physical Function in Postmenopausal Women With Osteopenia and Osteoporosis: The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28975661/
10. [10] Liu CJ, Latham NK. Progressive resistance strength training for improving physical function in older adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2009. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19588334/
11. [11] Capel-Alcaraz AM, García-López H, et al. Effects of resistance training on body composition and physical function in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35055015/
12. [12] Westcott WL. Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 2012;11(4):209-216. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22777332/
13. [13] Phillips SM, Chevalier S, Leidy HJ. Protein “requirements” beyond the RDA: implications for optimizing health. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2016;41(5):565-572. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26960445/
14. [14] Helms ER, Cronin J, Storey A, Zourdos MC. Application of the Repetitions in Reserve-Based Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale for Resistance Training. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 2016;38(4):42-49. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27531969/
15. [15] NHS. Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-guidelines/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/
16. [16] The Menopause Society. Exercise during and after menopause. https://menopause.org/patient-education/menopause-topics/exercise
17. [17] World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128

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