Strength Training Through Menopause

Treat Light Weights Like Heavy Ones - Your Future Strength Depends on It

It’s easy to treat light weights like they don’t matter. To rush through a set, skip the setup, or forget about form because, well, “It’s not heavy yet.” But here’s the truth: if you're serious about getting stronger, every rep counts—especially the light ones.

Light weights aren’t just warm-up tools. They’re opportunities to perfect your technique, engage the right muscles, and build the habits that will carry you when the bar gets heavier. If your goal is real, lasting strength—especially as we age—then every lift, no matter the load, should be treated with intention.  This is the time to create the habits that will support your progress.

Strength Is a Skill - Practice It Early and Often

Good form doesn’t magically appear when the weight gets heavier. In fact, the opposite is usually true.  It doesn’t work like that.  Strength is a skill, and like any skill, it needs to be practiced consistently and correctly from the beginning.  If you don’t practice solid technique with light loads, you’re setting yourself up for plateaus, frustration—or worse, injury—later on.

Take the deadlift, for example. I've seen people at the gym walk up to the bar, pick it up, and then lower it barely touching the ground before starting the next rep. Sure, the weight isn’t heavy… yet. But if that bar suddenly weighed 100kg or was a challenging weight, everything would change. They likely wouldn’t be able to lift it because the muscles haven’t had the chance to strengthen, or if they did, they’d risk serious injury by using poor mechanics and the wrong muscles.

Now imagine lifting that same 100kg with intention and control. You’d:

• Set your feet properly

•  Grip the bar with purpose

•  Pull your shoulders back

•  Brace your core

•  Drive through your legs with strength and stability and then lift with power using all the right muscles.

 On the way down, you’d stay just as focused—hips back, lats engaged, bar close to the body, lowering with control. Then you’d reset, and do it again.

That kind of movement doesn’t just happen. It’s practiced and reinforced from the very beginning—with light weights.

Build Your Strong Foundation Early

Far too often, people wait until the weight gets challenging to focus on their form. But by then, bad habits are already ingrained. That’s when progress stalls, and the risk of injury climbs.

Good lifting starts with mastering the basics:

• Set your feet

• Create tension and brace your core (I call it creating your strong foundation)

• Pull your shoulders back

• Move with control and purpose

 Whether it’s an empty bar or your heaviest lift of the day, treat each rep like it matters—because it does. This not only prevents injury but also strengthens your accessory muscles, like the lats in a deadlift. When those muscles are consistently activated, they grow stronger alongside your glutes, hamstrings, and core.

Full Range of Motion Matters - Always

Technique is crucial, but so is moving through the full range of motion. One of the best examples is the push-up.

Many women aim to perform push-ups on the floor—on toes, hands under shoulders, chest to the ground. But not everyone is there yet, so we scale by using a bench, step, or sturdy surface. An incline level to meet the individual where they are personally at. This still allows us to replicate a proper push up except they are on an incline and allows them to train the movement correctly while building strength.

But here’s the mistake I often see: people don’t treat this option like the real thing. They only lower their body halfway down, or rush the reps with poor form.

Here’s the thing: half push-ups create half the strength. If you’re not lowering your chest all the way to the bench or floor, your muscles aren’t being trained through their full range—and they won’t grow the way you want them to.  You’re missing out on the important part.

Whether it’s an incline push-up or a bodyweight squat, moving fully and with control is essential. You’re not just building strength—you’re teaching your muscles how to move well. And that matters at every stage.  Just as importantly, you're building habits. So start with the right ones.  Teach our body good from from the beginning and strength WILL follow.

The Push Up - the Goal to Work towards with Full Range of Motion (chest ALL the way to the ground and on toes)

Not strong enough to perform a proper push up on the ground - so we take it to a higher level

This modified version should still look like a floor push-up, but because it doesn't use the full range of motion, it won't build the strength needed to eventually perform a proper floor push-up.

Scaling Option where we replicate the floor push up on a higher surface with correct technique

Respect Every Rep

Whether it’s your first workout or your heaviest lift of the year, the principles stay the same:

• Set your feet

• Create tension

•  Engage your core

•  Lift with purpose 

• Move with control

 These are the building blocks of strong, safe, and effective training. Every rep is an opportunity to reinforce good movement patterns. And every rep is a choice—to either build toward your future strength or to reinforce bad habits that will hold you back.

So, treat your light weights with the same respect you give your heavy ones. You’re not just training for today—you’re building a strong, capable body for the future.

Your body remembers what you repeat.

So make EVERY. REP. COUNT!