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Summary
On episode 8 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with JJ Flizanes, an empowerment strategist, director of Invisible Fitness, and Amazon bestselling author of Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life.
They dig into menopause, andropause, and the adrenal fatigue that can push both on early, walking through the three major hormone groups and why a basic doctor’s panel often misses what is actually going on.
JJ also breaks down why resistance training, not cardio alone, is the fix once hormones and muscle start to decline, and clears up the common fear that women will bulk up from lifting.
Links
- https://fit2love.tv
Key Takeaways
- Menopause and andropause happen to everyone around the same age, but adrenal fatigue can push them earlier. Chronic modern stress is a major driver of that early onset.
- There are three major hormone groups to understand: sex hormones, thyroid hormones, and adrenal hormones. Sex hormones include progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone; thyroid includes TSH, T3, and T4; adrenal includes cortisol and DHEA.
- Modern life keeps the adrenals firing as if under constant threat. Email, social media, and nonstop to do lists burn through cortisol and DHEA faster than the body can replenish them with rest.
- DHEA is described as the “mother hormone.” When DHEA is depleted, it becomes harder for the body to produce thyroid and sex hormones as well.
- Standard doctor hormone panels are often too limited. A basic testosterone or TSH test can take years to show a real decline; JJ recommends a full panel covering thyroid, adrenals, sex hormones, and vitamin D.
- Maintaining muscle and hormone levels ahead of menopause or andropause is easier than rebuilding after the fact. Waiting until symptoms hit is like waiting until retirement to start saving money.
- Resistance training is the recommended fix, not cardio alone. Walking or treadmill work by itself often produces disappointing results once hormones and muscle mass have declined.
- Women will not bulk up from resistance training. Building visible size requires hormone levels and training volume most women simply do not have.
- Lifestyle and food choices can meaningfully rebalance hormones over time. Alongside proper testing and, when needed, targeted support like progesterone, daily habits matter.
“Please, women, if I had a freaking penny for every time a woman said to me, well, I don’t want to get too muscular, you’re not going to get too muscular. But you do need to build muscle.”
JJ Flizanes