Perimenopause, Strength and Lifting Heavy Shit, with Steph Gaudreau

Send us Fan MailSerious fan girl week here.Steph Gaudreau was a huge inspiration for me becoming a strength coach in the non diet space.  She is passionate about women and young girls fuelling their bodies well, building strength and resilience, saying NO to shrinking their bodies and finally taking up space in the fitness industry, Steph Gaudreau, CISSN, NASM-CPT (she/her/hers) is  a sports nutritionist and lifting coach. She helps athletic women over 40 fuel themselves better, build muscle, get stronger, and perform better in and out of the gym. In her best-selling book, The Core 4, she details a four pillar approach to getting stronger, embracing your body, and owning your power. Steph has a degree in biology – human physiology, is a Certified Sports Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer  and Menopause Coaching Specialist.Her podcast, Fuel Your Strength, started in 2015 and has 4+ million downloads. She’s an international speaker and has been featured in Outside, SELF, and ESPN Radio. Phew!This was a fabulous conversation and here are some of the main discussion points:We explore what it means to build strength and why we don't need to be scared at the gym. How heavy is heavy? Do we really need to go to the gym or is it enough to work out at home?What about joyful movement?  Can building strength really be joyful?  What if we don't want to lift weights?We talk about our why.  How we want to feel when we move. We talk about how women 40+ need a greater stimulus to encourage muscle adaptation, especially as our hormone levels fluctuate.We talk about the aesthetic. Why it may be a good entry point for some folks, who might then come to appreciate the other benefits of their training more.If we are trying to get off the diet train, and move away from looks based movement, can we still take pride in the changes that strength training may bring?  Is threads really worth our time;)I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.There are many ways to work with Steph and she has an exciting new program in the offing so watch this space.Steph usually hangs out on Instagram or you can contact her and find out about her current programs through her website. Support the showPlease reach out if you would like some support with your relationship to food OR movement. Ela currently has limited spaces for Intuitive Eating coaching and if you'd like to reconnect with movement, contact Christine.  If you'd like exclusive access to our supporter-only channel click here.We appreciate you