Foundations strength
30 min · 2× a week
Five compound lifts to slow bone loss and protect lean mass.
Try this week: Start with goblet squats, 3 sets of 8, a weight you could do 12 with. That's your week one.
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Train for the next 30 years.
Strength for bone, cardio that spares your joints, core work that respects your pelvic floor. At home, two dumbbells.
New here? The case for why lifting and walking matter in midlife lives on Movement. This page is the plan.
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This week, in one place.
Check in, plan, log, swap moves for the kit you own. Pick a tab.
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How did this week land in your body?
Four small questions. Your answers shape what next week's plan should look like: when to push, when to pull back, when to swap a lift for a walk. Stays on this device.
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Three things to do this week, free.
The most useful version of each program. Enough to feel a difference in ten days.
Five compound lifts to slow bone loss and protect lean mass.
Try this week: Start with goblet squats, 3 sets of 8, a weight you could do 12 with. That's your week one.
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What each move actually looks like.
Every program below names lifts as if you already know them. You might not, and nobody should have to guess. Tap a move for the diagram, three cues, the mistake most people make, and an easier version that still counts.
Standing tall → Bottom of the squat
Faint figures show start and finish. The arrow shows the direction of travel.
Strength Day A + C
Goblet squat
Loads hips, thighs and spine together, the single best bone-and-muscle move for most people.
- 1Hold the weight at your chest like a mug of tea you don't want to spill.
- 2Sit down between your heels, not backwards off a chair.
- 3Push the floor away and squeeze your glutes at the top.
- Common mistake
- Most common mistake. Knees caving in and heels lifting. Widen your stance a little and turn your toes out 15 degrees.
- How you know it's right
- You've got it when. You can hold the bottom for two seconds and still breathe out through your mouth.
- Easier version
- Easier version. Squat to a chair, tap it, stand up. No weight at all for the first week.
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Put it in your pocket and follow along.
Four short spoken guides for the parts people skip. No reading mid-set.
Warm-up before you lift
2 minJoints, ankles, spine. So your first set isn't the warm-up.
Voice guide · 1 min
Read it instead
Two dumbbells, or none, it doesn't matter yet. We're getting the joints ready so the first set isn't the warm-up. Start walking on the spot, or march, for thirty seconds. Just get warm. Now hips: hands on something steady, swing one leg forward and back, ten times, then the other. Next, ankles and calves: rise up onto your toes, slowly, ten times. Bone and tendon like being told what's coming. Now the spine. Hands on your thighs, round your back, then open your chest. Six, breathing out as you round. Last thing: two bodyweight squats, slow on the way down, and two more with your arms overhead. That's the warm-up. Your first working set should feel like something you could do four more of. Not a maximum. Not today.
Goblet squat, first set
4 minSetup, depth, breath, and what to do if your knees complain.
Voice guide · 1 min 10 sec
Read it instead
Hold one dumbbell against your chest, both hands under the top end, elbows tucked in. Feet a little wider than your hips, toes turned slightly out. Before you move: breathe in, and let your ribs stay stacked over your hips. Now sit down between your feet, knees tracking out over your toes, chest tall. Go as low as you can without your back rounding. That depth is your depth today. Breathe out on the way up and squeeze your glutes at the top. That's one. Do eight, at a weight you could manage twelve with. Slow down, quick up. If your knees ache, slow it down further rather than going lighter. If anything sharp shows up, stop the set. Three sets of eight, twice a week, is the dose that protects bone and muscle. That's the whole ask.
Brisk intervals on your walk
5 minOne minute on, two easy, three times. Inside a walk you're already taking.
Voice guide · 55 sec
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You're already walking, so let's make five minutes of it count. Pick your marker up ahead. From here, walk briskly, quick enough that talking gets clipped but singing is off the table. Arms swinging, eyes up. Hold that for one minute. Now ease back to conversational for two. Feel your breath come back. That's one round. Do three of those inside your walk and you've done the aerobic work for today. If a hill shows up, use it, that's the same thing with better scenery. Finish at an easy pace for the last five minutes so you're not walking through the door still buzzing.
After you lift
3 minHips, chest, a longer exhale. The bit everyone walks out on.
Voice guide · 1 min
Read it instead
Put the weights down. This last minute is what takes you from training to recovering, so don't skip out the door. Stand, or lie down, and breathe out for longer than you breathe in. Three of those. Now open the front of the hips: one knee down, or a standing lunge against a chair, and hold thirty seconds each side. Chest next, forearm on a doorframe, turn away, thirty seconds each side. Finish standing still, shoulders down, and notice that you did it. Muscle is built in the days after, not in the session. So eat something with protein in it, and get the sleep. That's the rest of the programme.
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Weekly plans you can print, save, or share.
Warm-up, week-by-week breakdown, and the safety notes worth taping to the fridge. Print it for the gym, or save as PDF for your physio.
Filter by what you're feeling
Strength, 4 week starter
Two sessions a week, two dumbbells. Built around the bone-loss window of perimenopause.
- Day A · Lower body + push
- Day B · Upper body + hinge
- Optional Day C · Full body finisher
Walking, 4 week ramp
Conversational pace to brisk intervals over four weeks. Joint-friendly aerobic base.
- Week 1 · Build the rhythm
- Week 2 · Add elevation
- Week 3 · Brisk intervals
- Week 4 · Long walk
Mobility, 10 min daily
Three short routines for morning, midday and evening. Hips, mid-back, ankles.
- Morning · Wake the spine
- Midday · Desk reset
- Evening · Wind down
Pelvic floor + core, 2× weekly
Breath-led core work, no crunches, no breath-holding. Designed with menopause in mind.
- Session A · Activate
- Session B · Integrate
Sources
The evidence behind this page.
Including the places where the honest answer is “the evidence is thin”. See how we grade evidence.
Why these sessions are built this way
3 sources
ShowHide
Why these sessions are built this way
3 sources
Load, impact and progression choices come out of these documents.
Weight-bearing and resistance exercise sit inside the standard framework for postmenopausal bone health — alongside calcium, vitamin D and, where fracture risk is high, medication.
Clinical guidelineThe Menopause Society — 2021 osteoporosis position statement · 2021
Also the honest source on what exercise alone cannot do once bone loss is established.
Read the sourceEstrogen influences tendon collagen synthesis and tendon mechanical properties — part of why load tolerance changes after menopause and why progressions need to be slower.
Mechanism / basic scienceHansen et al. — Journal of Applied Physiology · 2009
Read the sourceCardiovascular risk changes on the clock of the menopause transition itself — visceral fat, lipids and vascular stiffness shift independently of getting older.
Clinical guidelineEl Khoudary et al. — Circulation (American Heart Association scientific statement) · 2020
The document behind 'midlife is a cardiovascular window, not just a symptom window'.
Read the sourceA note on starting
These are starting points, not prescriptions. If you're returning from surgery, injury, prolapse, or a long break, work with a physiotherapist or qualified trainer for the first few weeks. Get medical clearance before starting resistance or interval training if you have a heart condition or uncontrolled blood pressure, and stop and get checked if you get chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness with exertion. With pelvic floor work, stop and see a pelvic-floor physiotherapist if you notice leaking, heaviness or bulging rather than pushing through. Progress load before reps. Sleep is part of training.