Unbound Training & The Menopause Transition

How to crush your big audacious gravel goals no matter what your hormones are doing.

So, you did it. You signed up for a massive gravel adventure. Now, you’re digging in and getting to work. When it comes to completing stretch goals like 50, 100, or 200 miles of challenging, chunky, Midwest gravel, consistency is queen.

You want to be consistent in your training. Consistent in your fueling. Consistent in showing up as best you can in preparation. Now, where things can get tricky for women when they’re in the menopause transition (aka perimenopause, also often referred to as “puberty in reverse”), sometimes your body isn’t cooperating to be as consistent as you want to be.

 That’s because your hormones—especially estrogen and progesterone—impact your muscles, moods, mindset, and much more. So as those hormones start to fluctuate (often wildly) and make their gradual decline, we may need to take special care to support our body and work with our changing physiology to stay on track and feel our best. Here’s what you need to know.

Work in Weight Training

Gravel cycling is inherently harder than road cycling. You’re often pushing a larger gear at slightly lower cadence to maintain traction and torque over lumpy, loose, bumpy road surfaces. Riding gravel is also a total body workout as you shift your weight, hover over the saddle, and maneuver over challenging terrain. That demands extra leg strength, core stability, and upper body stamina. That means resistance training—which is especially important for midlife women because we can lose 10% of our muscle in our arms and legs through perimenopause alone!

Strength training will help you be stronger, more powerful, and more efficient on the bike, so you use less energy to hold any given pace. It will also strengthen your supporting muscles and connective tissues to help avoid aches and pains and injuries that can crop up when the training load gets high. 

Lift two or three days a week, including heavy lifting (>6 reps), focusing on moves like the deadlift, squat, chest press, and bent over row for full-body gravel biking strength. Working with a coach or trainer can help dial in a plan that works for you. Note, you might do a bit less riding volume as you include strength work; but you’ll be stronger and more durable for those miles on the bike.

Eat Protein at Every Meal

Estrogen is anabolic—it helps us make muscle. When our levels decline (even if we take hormone therapy), it can be harder to make and maintain muscle. So, we need to give our muscle-making cells some strong stimulation. That means lifting weights (see above) and making sure we eat enough protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (i.e. the process of creating new muscle protein). Aim for about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram a day. (If you’re 145 pounds, then divide by 2.2 to get kilograms, which would be about 100 to 130 grams of protein daily.) The easiest way to hit your protein mark is just eat it at every meal: aim for 30 grams per meal and 20 at your snacks.

Fuel Your Workouts…That Means Carbs!

Body composition changes are extremely common—and completely normal—during midlife and menopause. Women often panic when they notice more fat migrating to their waistline and start restricting food, cutting back on carbs, and generally not eating enough. This is counterproductive not only to your training and performance, but also to your body composition, because it makes it harder to nail your workouts, make and maintain muscle, and manage your stress hormone cortisol, especially if you’re cutting carbs, which you need to fuel those miles you’re putting in.

 Research shows that chronically elevated cortisol (which is already harder to manage as your hormones fluctuate and decline) is linked to adverse effects on body composition. What’s more, if you don't eat enough to support your training and your body’s needs, you can fall into a state of low energy availability, which can mimic and/or exacerbate symptoms of perimenopause, and is detrimental to bone and muscle health.

 So, be sure to eat enough. You are burning a lot of energy training to be on your bike for multiple hours. Aim for between 5 to 8 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight. Because we can become a little more insulin resistant and carbohydrate sensitive around the menopause transition, the best strategy is to eat your carbs, especially the breads and pastas, around your training, when your muscles are pulling that sugar into your cells to put it to work. Aim to eat about 40 to 60 grams of carbs per hour of riding and practice it during training, so your gut has time to adapt.

 Make Mobility Non-Negotiable

Estrogen helps maintain the health of your connective tissues. During and beyond the menopause transition, you may experience more aches and pains, especially in your joints, and women are more susceptible to injury. This along with the muscle and bone loss that can happen if we don’t stay on top of it, is known as the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Make mobility a daily practice to maintain joint health, range of motion, and function. 

We like pro performance coach Erin Carson’s mobility work, and she offers free videos on YouTube to get you started. Like resistance training, a designated mobility practice will help you avoid aches, pains, and overuse injuries. Plus, because good mobility means having a full, healthy range of motion, you’ll be able to access all your muscles to put more power in your pedals.

Tend to Those Sensitive Tissues

If you haven’t already, be sure you’ve found a comfortable pair of bike shorts and a saddle (aka bike seat) that you can sit on for hours without pain. You’ll also want to give your sensitive vaginal/valvular tissues some extra care. Those tissues can become drier and more fragile during the menopause transition, as estrogen helps maintain moisture and elasticity. If you’re experiencing pain, itching, burning, or other unpleasant sensations on (or off) the saddle, vaginal estrogen (which just delivers the hormone locally to those tissues) can provide comfort and relief. There are also over the counter vaginal moisturizers that can help; look for products that contain hyaluronic acid. Also, don’t forget your chamois crème to prevent chafing.

Seek Care for Your Symptoms

The menopause transition can bring on dozens of symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog, sleep disturbances, hot flashes and night sweats, anxiety, mood swings and more. That can dampen motivation, drain the fun out of training, and impair performance. The good news is there is help. Work with a menopause informed practitioner to get the hormonal or other therapeutic help you need. You can find one in your area by using the practitioner finder at Menopause.org. There are also many online services like Midi Health that take insurance and can work with you via telehealth wherever you live.