Fitness fix

Once you hit your forties, it’s time to tweak your strength-training approach. Why? The proteins that prompt muscle contraction have a lot of oestrogen receptors, says physiologist Dr Stacy Sims: when oestrogen tanks in perimenopause, your muscles’ ability to properly engage takes quite a hit.

‘Lifting heavier weights forces strong muscle contractions, which makes up for the lack of oestrogen,’ she says. It’s all about greater loads and fewer reps: Dr Sims suggests building up to a weight with which you can do four or five sets of six reps, max. ‘Add 10% in weight to what you think is heavy for you and see how many reps you can do with good form,’ she says. ‘If you can do only one or two reps in your fourth set, you know you’re lifting heavy enough.’

New to weights? Try them: you’ve nothing to lose and much to gain.