S2, Ep 7 – Hormone Headlines: Exercise in Perimenopause

Your body changed. So should your workouts. This isn’t about weight. It’s about function, energy, and not wrecking yourself.

If your old workouts leave you sore, inflamed, or just annoyed—you’re not lazy. You’re in perimenopause. And the rules of movement have changed.

In this episode of Hormone Headlines, Jen breaks down why traditional fitness advice doesn’t work for women in midlife—and what does. Whether you’ve been hard-core in the gym for years or just trying to figure out where to start again, this is your permission slip to stop chasing soreness and start training smarter.

• Why your workouts stopped working (and how hormones are driving it)
• What changes in your body during perimenopause and how to work with it, not against it
• How cortisol, estrogen, and sleep impact movement, recovery, and results
• The actual goal of midlife movement: strength, stability, function—not shrinking
• What counts as movement (spoiler: walking, dancing in your kitchen, and mobility work absolutely count)
• Jen’s real talk on why she trains now—and what she had to let go of
• The theory breakdown: Progressive Overload, NEAT, Joint Stability Theory, Cortisol Regulation

• Strength training 2–3x/week: free weights, bands, bodyweight—all good
• Mobility every day (yes, even 5 minutes) to protect joints and reduce pain
• NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis): think chores, movement snacks, light activity throughout the day
• Walk—it’s cortisol-regulating, blood sugar balancing, and easy on your nervous system
• Ditch the high-intensity shred programs if they’re tanking your energy
• Choose joy, not punishment: movement should feel like support, not shame

• Estrogen and joint health
• Cortisol overload from overtraining
• Muscle loss prevention in perimenopause
• Moving from performance to preservation

Morning Reclaim is open now.

This is Jen’s ADHD-and perimenopause-friendly morning reset for smart, high-functioning women who need systems that work on real days—not just perfect ones.

💻 Live coaching + flexible tools

🧠 Supports your nervous system, hormones, and executive function

Rolling enrollment now. Join here

🔗 Links + Resources:

• Join the Balance Life Lab – low-cost, low-pressure community for women with ADHD, perimenopause, and real-life chaos
• Morning Reclaim – build a flexible morning rhythm that works
• Follow Jen on Facebook for more executive function + hormone-fueled truth bombs

Tag @jenleemorse.

Keep being unapologetically imperfect. You've got this.