Radiant Midlife

A Strength First Approach to Midlife Health, Vitality, & Hormones - Colin Jackson

• Tara Preston, Midlife Awakening & Transition Guide, Akashic Teacher, Sacred Nourishment & Holistic Feminine Prosperity Mentor, Creator of the Flower of Life Akashic Method, Serving the Global Feminine for 15 Years • Season 6 • Episode 6

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Join myself host, Tara Preston & guest Colin Jackson for this weeks episode of Radiant Midlife where we chat about creating a foundation of sustainable and holistic training habits for midlife women. 

Your body is changing, your schedule is packed, and the internet won’t stop shouting “fix your menopause belly.”

On this episode we take a moment to just breathe, turn down the noise, and build real strength that actually supports your midlife life. I’m joined by Coach Colin Jackson—a women’s fitness specialist and registered massage therapist—who has spent over a decade helping women 35+ lift heavier, sprint smarter, and feel genuinely at home in their bodies.

The conversation also names the cultural headwinds: the constant pressure for smallness and quick fixes. Instead of chasing shrinking goals, we choose power. You’ll hear how strength work can ease joint aches as the body regains stability, why plant-forward meals, fiber, sleep, and walking amplify results, and how to move from foundation to optimization using tempo, rep schemes, and rest intervals that target specific adaptations without losing the basics.

We dig into what intensity really means and why heavy compound lifts in the six to ten rep range outperform endless circuits for muscle, joint stability, and bone density.

If you’re ready to trade fatigue for focus and comparison for capability, this is your roadmap. Take a listen, & learn to celebrate your wins. Whether it's two to three weekly strength sessions, a short sprint finisher, or a consistent bedtime—and watch your capacity for strength & vitality in midlife grow.

Learn more about Coach Colin or follow him here:

Website: https://coachcolin.fit/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colin.jackson.777
Insta:https://www.instagram.com/coachcolin.fit?igsh=MTBxMTJjZTE0MHk2cQ==

If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs stronger bones and stronger boundaries, and leave a quick review to help more midlife women find their way back to strength.

Grab your FREE e-book : Sacred Nourishment for Midlife Radiance: subscribepage.io/midliferadianceguide


Reach out to tara@tarapreston.com to learn more about ways to work with her through your life reinvention.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello and welcome to the Radiant Midlife podcast. My name is Tara Preston. I'm your host. And this week I am here with Colin Jackson. I like to call him Coach Colin. And we're here speaking about strength training, fitness, health, vitality, and midlife. I've been following Colin in the online space for um probably since the beginning of 2025. And he just really caught my attention for the kind of like the depth of um framework, the depth of knowledge, the experience that he brings, and that his focus just happens to be working with Perimenopause midlife women. So I'm thrilled to have him here on the podcast and to learn about uh his framework and to start to draw on some of that experience. So welcome, Colin. Um I'm just gonna just briefly introduce you from what I have, and then of course, if you want to add into that, you can add into that. So Colin is a women's fitness specialist, and he helps busy women over 35 create a foundation of sustainable and holistic training habits so that they can gain clarity on how to design a thriving, strong, and happy life on their terms. Welcome. I don't know if there's anything else that you want to add into that, but if you want to tell us a little bit more about yourself, please feel free.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks, Tara. And uh yeah, thanks for having me on here. Um that was great. I'm almost like, who wrote that? Did I write that? Did you write that? Yeah, no, you did eloquently. Um no, I had help. I had help. Um, yeah. So I guess there's not much more to add for me to that. That was a great intro. Um, yeah, I'm just happy to be here. Um yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm happy to be here too and happy to connect. Tell us a little bit about like how long you've been in the fitness industry because I, you know, I was reading some of your posts, and I think that's one there's a lot of really cool things about um your body of work, but just that you do have a lot of experience to draw on. How long have you been in the fitness industry? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's a good place to start. So I've been at this since 2013, uh, so about 12 years now. Um, I've always been interested in like working out and training. That's you know, um, I'm not somebody who's very well coordinated in terms of like athletically, I was kind of like that typical nerdy, shy, stay inside, play video games.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh my gosh, I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, you know, and just growing up how I grew up, um, you know, I had a pretty I had a pretty great childhood for the most part. Um, but you know, um, as I think a lot of folks, maybe listeners can relate, um, just I got stuff. I got stuff in my childhood. And um I just remember feeling so small and like I didn't have agency over my body. Um and so when I found the rusty old weight room of the Churchill High School gym where I was going, uh it's like that kind of became my my sacred space, you know. I started lifting weights when I was 15 years old, started feeling strong. All of a sudden I'm you know, putting on muscle, feeling better about myself. And I'd start to I think I that's the one thing that I really valued about strength training is just how it was a way that I could actually feel present and safe in my body again. Um and I just think I've just have been lifting weights ever since. And at the root of it, I think that's why I'm still in this industry 12 plus years later. Um, I looked it up today, I was just curious. It's like, what is the average age of a average career span of a personal trainer? It's like only two years. Like most, like 80% of trainers quit after two years being in the industry, and then like like a long career, quote unquote, is like five to seven years. So for me, I think um that that experience sort of underpins everything I do when I'm working with a client, and I think that's what's kind of kept me, like that's why I haven't given up.

SPEAKER_01:

Even and and it's yeah, well, yes, I know as an entrepreneur, right? There's there's something about having staying power. It takes it takes a lot, yeah, to keep going sometimes, absolutely. And you mentioned too that you went to school for massage therapy, right? Like, so you've got that like that body foundation, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so I um I went through a bit of the dark ages, so I I'm not an academic learner. Um I'm being assessed this spring for reasons why that might be, but um so I out of high school, um a couple years after graduating, I landed myself in the trades. Um, so again, working with my body and doing things. Um and after my dad died in 2012, my mom, I remember being on the balcony of our of the house I grew up in, and she just kind of framed the question question to me. She was like, Like, what do you want to do? You know, like what do you want to do with your life? And I think in that moment, that grief was so fresh, and that's so, and with that grief comes that, you know, I guess that coming to terms with our mortality and just how unpredictable and um fragile life is. So I'm like, do I really want to be spending the next 25, 30 plus years of my life working at a job that I actually hate. I actually hate it. Like I don't want to go back, right? And so my mom was well, you can do anything. What do you want to do? Um, so at that point, I was like, yeah, I think I really want to make a go of of being in the health field in some capacity. I didn't know that I was gonna be a massage therapist, personal trainer, fashion therapist, all my coach at that point, but I just knew like I knew what I didn't want, and I knew what I was really interested in, which is like health, the human body. Um, I mean, my dad had just died of a heart attack or some kind of thing suddenly. So I was like, oh wow, health is really important, you know. Um so yeah, um, and then so that that uh fall I registered uh at university for kinesiology. I was in that program for a couple of years, and then um had transferred into massage therapy um so that I could be more like just a more skilled practitioner, um which I found really helped with my personal training uh knowledge as well. Um yeah, and that was like 20, 203rd, uh, 2014, 2015. Yeah, that I got licensed. So it's yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, sorry, I was just pulling, yeah, it was just adjusting the background. You're good, you're good.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, I um yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. I love that you pull on all these different layers and I love your journey. I think that's beautiful. And then tell us how what brought you to uh working with women in midlife. That that would be a curious, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, almost every client I've worked with is like, um, so like not to state the obvious, Colin, but you're a man and how did you end up coaching women? And I think it's totally fair and valid because yeah, it's like I think, you know, oftentimes it's like what what would a man know about perimenopause, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, granted, I'm not I I that's not a journey I'll I'll go through in this lifetime, like it's just not an experience that I'll have. Um so I don't definitely don't pretend to know what it's like, but I think what got me into this field is just a mixture of listening, paying attention, being curious, and open-minded. Um so I think the current statistic is something like 70% of all people who invest in coaching, personal training, or supplements, or just whatever fitness-y related are women over 35. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02:

And yet, so the majority of the people who are spending money on their health are also incredibly underserved by that same industry. Because it's getting better now, but I mean, certainly when I first started in the industry, um, you know, women over 35 were just treated like small men, you know, just given kind of that bro style workout plan that's maybe bodybuilding inspired. Um, or if it is evidence-based, the evidence it's based on is a college-age male athlete, so you know, with a different sort of hormonal profile uh as they are. So that's part of it. And then the other part of it is I started noticing that my clients who are women sort of in perimetopause were struggling with different things and not getting the same results as either my younger female clients or my male clients were. And then so they're like, I think it's my hormones, I think it's my hormones. I just kind of kept listening over and over again, like, yeah, something's gotta be, something's gotta be going on here, right? Like, I knew from watching my mom go through menopause, where you know, so we for your listeners, we I'm living in La Range, Saskatchewan, which is about two hours north of Terra. And it is winter here for like a long majority of the year, and it's cold. Like we just went through a cold snap, I'm sure you guys felt it too. And so I remember growing up being downstairs, and my mom having these hot flashes, and she just like cranks open the window, it's like 40 below out there. She's just like standing by the window. Oh my god, I'm so hot.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we do have that advantage.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um, and and my mom was really open about her journey as well, um, through menopause and what she was experiencing. And so I I knew, right? Like, and and I was maybe uh like teenager, not even um when she was going through that transition. And um, yeah, so I remember just listening to my clients, and like, you know what? I know my mom went through that, and it was really challenging for her. And I'm like, and then sort of my my um my clinician brain kind of kicked in and was like, oh yeah, so like you know, women's physiology, endocrine system, reproductive system, like all of your cells and tissues and organs are like more or less governed by estrogen and progesterone. And we know that like like I I knew my clients were just not as sharp in their late luteal phase, um in pre-menopause. So yeah, I think I just got curious about like, well, yeah, like let's let's figure this out. Like, what's going on, you know? Um, and at the time there weren't a whole ton of resources. Now there now there's certainly a lot more, which is awesome. Um, but at the time, you know, it was really um um Dr. Stacy Sims was out there talking about this, putting some courses together. Um I don't even remember the other the other doctor's name. Um but so I kind of leaned on a few of those resources and did the whole deep dive nerdy rabbit hole thing. Um and started putting some of those practices practices into place with my clients, and then all of a sudden they just started feeling a lot better. Like they're like, okay, wow, I can recover better, feel stronger, feel sharper. Um, yeah, I feel like my symptoms aren't as severe. Yeah, so it was really kind of cool. Um and then I just followed the yellow brick road from there, and then so I started thinking like from a marketing standpoint, um, because my work at that point was all online, and everybody, all these online business coaches always tell you to like niche down, like figure out your niche. Like, who who's your you know, ideal clarin avatar? And I remember as working with some coaches at the time, like, I don't freaking know, man. Like, this feels so weird to me, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Like, I like just help me get fit, okay? I'm gonna help you get fit.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, like are you a human being? Yes, okay, cool. Like, you're qualified. Here we go. Um, so then I just as I began to learn, I started sharing about what I was learning and how I was applying it with my clients, and this sort of evolved into a niche, you know. Like as I started talking about it more, um, more women were like, hey, that sounds just like me. Hey, I'm I I think I'm in low energy availability. Like, wow, it feels like you're speaking just to me. So it wasn't a really so much of a conscious decision on my part to like, yes, I am pollen, uh cisgendered, heterosexual, indigenous man. Um, and I am only gonna work with women over 35. Yes, that's it. It happened a lot more organically, and I just sort of found myself in in this position. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a nice way for things to unfold, though, to get that that feedback, I think. Uh there's a there's just such a nice clarity within that space, too. You're not guessing this, the the feedbacks right there. You mentioned giving um certain practices to perimenopausal women that you found were helping. Can you just share like one or two of what those even just one practice? Like what, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so I think the biggest thing is sprint interval training. And Dr. Sims talks about this a lot, and particularly the differences between sprint interval training and high-intensity interval training. Um, so sprint interval training, the way I apply it with my clients is we pick uh a piece of equipment, um, which is could be an exercise bike, like a spin bike, um, not a recumbent bike, because that won't work. Um, or like one of those, one of those air dying bikes, you know, like they're they call it assault bikes where you you pedal but you also move your arms and there's like a big fan at the front of it, or a rowing machine, or whatever, anything where you can go all out, like pedal to the metal, full speed, give it everything you got for like eight to twelve seconds, and then and then that's it. And then you rest for like could be anywhere from like 20 seconds to a minute, and you do that, um, you know, three to five rounds, we'll say, and then you take like a good long break. So you're actually like resting for a significantly longer time than you're working. Um it feels like death, and I don't think anybody's nervous that I love sprint interval training, but they love how it makes them feel after, and they feel so good. Um, so there is some, there are there are some studies. There's one study done where it shows that sprint interval training can help produce brain-derived nootrophic factor, which kind of becomes a bit of a deficit in perimetopause. So that can help to stimulate that, helps us to stimulate um satellite cell development. Um there was one study where the protocol was eight seconds of all-out intensity, 12 seconds of rest for like 15 or 20 minutes. So they compare it a group.

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, no, that's minutes, but you're those are your intervals.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you you just do that thing, and then and then that's it.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02:

And then you stretch it out, go home, rest. Oh, okay, whatever. You you could do that after doing a strength training workout, but not before. Gotcha. So, yeah. I have had clients who did it before and they didn't tell me. Um and so we just switched that up and they're like, oh, okay, cool. And I actually like now I'm stronger in my workouts, and yeah. I would suggest if possible, do them on separate days, but if you're limited to time, do it after uh do it after you're doing strength workout. Um but yeah, getting back to the study, so uh the researchers, I think that it was a group of of, if I'm not mistaken, post-menopause. So um women, you know, post-menopause. And um they they compared high-intensity interval training and sprint interval training. And what they found was both groups, so high-intensity interval training is anything up to a minute of work and like a minute of rest. Um, so that's it's a it's a totally different feeling than sprint interval training. So, what they found was both groups, they lost um body fat, but only and they gained muscle mass in their legs, but only the sprint. Interval training group lost visceral body fat. So meaning the sort of the fat that accumulates beneath your abdominal wall that surrounds your organs. And that's you know typically the stuff that they associate with, you know, cardiovascular disease or metabolic health. Um so it's really interesting that that sprint interval training seem to have seem to promote more directly um or to stimulate at loss in the viscera as opposed to just overall in the body. Yeah so that's one one thing that um almost every one of my clients does at some point and they find amazing yeah it really helps.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah yeah those are that's a solid tweak.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah yep I love that another one another one is just getting more structured and strategic with resistance training so you know really keeping things basic uh focusing on compound lifts heavy right so your heavy deadlifts what's heavy because there is a lot of talk about that in the the sphere of perimenopause menopause lift heavy but like what is what is heavy yeah yeah I've noticed in the last year or two like heavy lifting is kind of in the zeitgeist now um whereas it wasn't before so it's of course it's relative to somebody's skill and um their trainability so heavy okay such a good question and like my one of my go-to answers with these questions is like well it depends um like it would depend I suppose like on the foundation that you have right yeah yeah and I would say heavy is okay so one of the one of the principles that we talk about when I'm working with a clo with a client is intensity and intensity just for me I define that as just like like power output or force output not so much as something feels difficult or challenging like you know if you go to an F-45 class and you're doing those high intensity circuits and you're doing you know thrusters or burpees for a minute um you might say wow that was really intense right but it is it's it's challenging but it it's not it's not really the same as like a 200 pound deadlift for five reps yeah right um so in I find in midlife women's bodies respond much better with a more of an intense training stimulus so as opposed to just something that feels difficult and challenging so you might be able to do like so heavy so okay as an example if you have a pair of dumbbells and they're like 20 pounds each and you're doing Romania that's my heavy okay go ahead and let's say you're doing like your you know you have the dumbbells on your shoulders and you're doing front squats with them right and you get to about 15 to 20 reps or so and you're like okay I'm feeling a burn you know it's heavier than body weight but heavy should feel again just depending on the training stimulus you're going for but right around six to ten reps it should it should be pretty freaking hard like if you're exceeding 10 reps it's probably not heavy enough okay and it once you get done the set it should almost feel like wow I need a full minute maybe two maybe even three minutes to rest and do nothing because that set was so intense cool okay that makes sense that I asked yeah it totally makes sense yeah it does um so that's gonna be different for everybody right like my 75 year old um client is not gonna be dead lifting 200 pounds but you know maybe my 35 year old client would yeah yeah amazing I love that so I just have a couple a couple questions that I'm kind of rolling around um I'm seeing a lot of women because it's 2026 so in mice very often connected to a lot of you know midlife women and they're like 2026 I'm getting fit this is the year you know they're midlife I want to change the paradigm around midlife I'm here to to be strong you know all the things and I think that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

So it just kind of made me think you know how what's the difference between somebody who starts so a woman that starts weightlifting in let's say they're like even their you know 30 maybe their late 40s and 50s versus someone who's maybe in their 20s like is there like a right way to get started that might be different than our that younger version of us and maybe there isn't I was just curious you know in application not really um in terms of getting started yeah so if someone is in their 20s um or in their 30s a foundation plan is gonna look pretty similar in my experience when I'm like working with somebody who's brand new um because we have to we have to train the brain first we have to get into the movement patterns we have to you know build those layers and make sure that you're squatting correctly you're deadlifting correctly that you know how to brace your core so there's a lot of foundation stuff that I think is been that that looks the same. Yeah across what about training the brain because I'm thinking and I've been weightlifting for two years and in my own practice but I did kind of have to train my brain I was really determined at the time but like I had to wrap my mind around it and and let my body feel what it felt like to build build strength and yeah what does that what does that mean exactly am I kind of on the right track with that or is it something different?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah no well it's kind of like driving a car right remember when you're like brand new to driving a car and you're like how much pressure do I put on the gas or like oh that's too much or like oh how do I break it then am I going to turn this corner oh shoot I like overturned or under what underturned or whatever but after a few years of doing it you don't even think about it right you're not like okay first thing turning ignition okay was that enough to start the car okay too much like you're not you're not thinking about that stuff anymore it's just becomes automatic right so that's a brain exercise that's like that's that is all of those fine motor skills are just tuned in and they are rock solid and it's like the counterphrase goes right you you never or what is it never forget how to ride a bike because your brain just understands those motor patterns so working out is kind of and training the brain in the context of fitness is really similar because when you first start out you're like oh my god am I breathing properly how am I where's my foot turning like you're thinking about so many things and then it's like oh shit how many reps did I do? Was I counting I don't know like it's it's so yeah like there's just a lot happening but in time you're just moving and flowing and you don't really have to think about those things anymore unless you stop doing them like I did the other day and I didn't raise my core properly and fudge my back. So it does happen still. But so training the brain is just doing those movement patterns over and over again until you feel like that sense of confidence um where that skill there's some degree of mastery of the skill um and then all of those motor patterns just get stored in your nervous system and in your body so kind of like riding a bike where like you know you don't have to relearn how to do it again.

SPEAKER_01:

Just but it takes it takes it takes a while and yeah yeah I was always really resistant to weightlifting always and it did take me like a while to like find my group with it and start to enjoy it and yeah so I appreciate what you're can I ask you a question sure why do you think you were resistant to it for so long um well because I tend to lean a little bit more into the feminine and I have always felt it was like just kind of like too masculine. And I remember the couple times that I did try it I hated the like counting like one two three it felt boring to me um and I don't know what it was and then I I I was like I want to get like for me it was 45 and my muscle mass was just like not the same. I just did not feel as strong and I had some like inflammation like all my body foundations were not happy like my liver, my gut like so I had was just like it's either now I do this foundation and I commit to like a strong foundation moving into my 50s and through this perimet pausal journey or I don't but then when I started the weights and I kind of committed to it it actually was very balancing for my feminine energy. Yeah and it was very motivating and it actually gave me energy and gave me focus and it it uh I really grew to like like it a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

That's awesome. Yeah yeah so cool. It's great that you have that experience or or having that experience I should say.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah and I I'm really like now I'm 48 turning 48 in March and I'm like it's like I don't want to let it slide but it's been a few years so it feels pretty consistent. Now I'm more looking at like what can I build in which we can talk about because I really want to get it like I want to start my 50s and be like I've got the foundation I can feel like good about a healthy foundation that I can continue to to build on. But yeah so there's just a couple more questions and I feel like we kind of touched on this earlier but it's like you know you were talking about like the perimenopausal body like the perimetopausal to menopausal body like it should change and I think you know my journey even um I fight I'm and at a mindset level like I fight with that sometimes um I made a post the other day like I kind of have to I fight that like the the stro the strong over skinny yeah and I I kind of have to come back to that like I'm not like 20 I'm not a size six anymore I'm not like in does that matter I feel strong I feel like good and healthy. So I'm just like you know wondering if you can speak to some of the mindset shifts around that and just like you know how our bodies do change yeah um oh so so much of it is just underpinned by capitalism right like patriarchal that's a great capitalism just we want to go we do yeah I love it yeah because to me for me too it's important like you know I've done a lot of work around the body but also like my part of my mindset is like I want to be strong I it's okay to take up space I'm five foot nine you know so like I'm tall and I'm strong and I'm bigger than I ever have been but pushing up against exactly what you're saying sometimes I got to dismantle that a little bit with my or a lot sometimes like with my mindset. So yeah please continue.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah well it's it's challeng I can appreciate how challenging it would be um because you know for you and for other folks like you who live in bodies like yours um you know if you click on one ad uh say if it's like a oh I'm interested in probiotics or whatever and this one ad is like slim belly for get you know get your gut health and like lose the menobelly or whatever. And then now all of a sudden you're like fuck now my algorithm is all messed up and now I'm just being bombarded with these right and so the messaging for women is and always has been be small like or not even be small um because if you go back far enough in time like the sort of ideal aesthetic for women was actually a little bit larger sort of like the Victorian era right but in any way it doesn't matter because the messaging is like be how yeah you need to look how we want you to look right um so you had no say in it it's not your choice but it's just it and it's so ingrained in our culture and it's it's driven by capitalism right and again like I mentioned um how women over 35 make up 70% or more of the buyers of fitness and then at first my initial thought was like oh is that because like women are just more like invested in their health and then I was like no right um they are that's not to say they are but I think it's because women are so aggressively marketed to and like men do not I do not have this experience as a man. I am not being sold pills to tighten my abs or I should get butt implants or I am not being sold face creams or like you know what I mean? Totally yeah I get beer expression around it yeah and separation yeah totally yeah so so then I think what ends up happening uh for a lot of my clients is this sort of unconscious belief system that like oh my god my body's changing I'm gaining more weight um and especially for some of my clients who have been in a smaller body for a majority of their life it can be really almost traumatic um because on a on a deep level and this is kind of work I think I think I'm I'm guessing this is work that you've had to do of just unlearning those beliefs is like I am greater than my physical body you know I'm like so much more than that I'm so much more than how my body looks um or the size genes I'm in or or whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

So I've completely lost sight of your question but I think where it's going yeah I think and I was just speaking to like mindset shifts around that which you're you're touching in on like the dismantling of it and then coming back to that like I'm so much more than this coming back to the deeper truth of who we are as women which is yeah and if we want to kind of we want to go real deep no offense to any um believers in Christ out there but you know um colonialism underpinned by christianity has done a number of colonizing women's bodies um women's bodies in particular the women like black indigenous uh bodies and so that that you know and even just in the last century women couldn't get a credit card without a man or a mortgage or a bank loan or you know even really a job um so there's yeah like your survival was dependent on marrying uh whatever successful man and in order to do that what was the like what were the exchange how did you do that at the time right yeah and and oftentimes it's like okay well you gotta be beautiful you gotta be thin you got to make sure you please the man like all this stuff right so and and that's not that long ago you know if we think about it most of our grandmothers grew up in in those times so our I think all of our bodies are holding that um so I mean in a way when we look at it like that I think I think we ought to give ourselves long I can't say ourselves is and have a different experience being in the male body but um well that's okay though it's great true though it does impact all of us but yeah yeah and because because it worked to unlearn that like oh my god because I I notice like sometimes I'm having this conversation with the client like I don't know why I like so struggle with this like I should just be happy with how things are and feeling good and feeling strong and like you know it's almost like they get hard on themselves for having those thoughts and I think we just need to remind ourselves like man we the the cultural zeitgeist is still just be thin and small and how to how to lose the menopause belly or like like what if we're not so what if we're not supposed to lose it like what if like just physiologically it's there for a reason like you know what um yeah anyways now I'm just I did you know what I wish I would have saved that uh a piece of information that I had seen about um the menopause belly and something to do hormonally and that it's it is actually there as like a it's it is survival but it's there for like a reason. And I wish I would have saved it because you know and I don't have like tons of research to back it but I remember remember reading it and I'm like well exactly what if it is supposed to be there and there's like a biological reason for it so or a physiological reason for it. So I appreciate that. So let's talk about um optimization in midlife you know I was kind of that's kind of I think you know a little bit of where I where I'm at I feel so proud saying that because it has taken a lot of work and consistency. But um you know there are those of us who are getting started on this journey which we've touched in on but then also you know how do we um maybe look at like optimizing a strong foundation in midlife do you want to speak to that a little bit yeah um so yeah that's great and it it must feel really good to have put in that work and like yeah I've built such a solid foundation right and I think um for any of

SPEAKER_02:

Star Wars nerds out there. Um, there's something to be said about mastering the fundamentals, and there's a reason that Obi-Wan Kenobi beat Anakin Skywalker a handful of times, even though Anakin was arguably the greatest Jedi, quote unquote. It's because Obi-Wan mastered the fundamentals and the basics. And so there's something to be said about that. And I think when we get into um when we start getting into playing around with optimization, it's really important not to underestimate the fundamentals because it can quickly go down that that slippery slope of like, oh man, like maybe I missed a week of workouts or whatever, right? Um as long I think within the context of strength and longevity and overall happiness and quality of life, the fundamentals are gonna be what's gonna get you there and carry you through. But within that, you know, after you've yeah, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01:

Can I ask you what like what would the fundamentals be? Like just like the basic. I know you could probably go deep with that, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, no, I think that's pretty um like resistance training two to three times a week. Um getting regular movement in, whatever that looks like. So, like be out like outside of purposeful training, so that can be like daily walks, spending nature, whatever, um well-balanced uh nourishing meals consistently throughout the day. Um, I do notice that my clients who have an easier time with praying menopause tend to eat more of a plant-based diet. That's not to say vegan or vegetarian, but just like you know, they have meat. Yeah, getting a good amount of fiber in from plants. Um, sleeping well, you know, seven to nine hours a day, drinking water, um, managing your stress, taking time for community, for connection. Um is really important. So just those, um, really, really basic stuff, which can be really challenging if that's not where someone is. Um yeah. So, you know, your workout doesn't have to be super dialed in and super optimized, um, as long as you're getting some form of resistance training in two to three times a week. Like that's that's really good enough. But a lot of people, like that's gonna just having those basics um and those fundamentals mastered, well, like most people are gonna be pretty happy right there.

SPEAKER_01:

Totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And there's another question in there too, um, about just briefly, if you could touch in on that, we'll kind of start to kind of wrap this up, but there's so much I could ask you just in terms of like weightlifting and having the foundations. Have you noticed like a difference in the perimenopause, menopause symptoms that women experience? Like you mentioned, you know, getting more plants in. I could totally see with the fiber, um, and probably some other benefits as well. But is there any other anything else that you've noticed? I've heard this specifically with weightlifting, but yeah, just to speak to that for a moment.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that it helps.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02:

Like with yeah, yeah. Um so oh man, I can you repeat your question again? Yeah, because I think my mind is not gonna rather.

SPEAKER_01:

That's okay. Oh, that's so it was basically I just want wondered if you could touch in on well, I guess kind of like the benefits of the foundations, but maybe more specifically, even just like weightlifting in terms of how it helps with some uh prevent some of the symptoms that many women experience in perimenopause and menopause, that transition.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so I definitely so through perimenopause, um, you know, with the loss of estrogen, uh, can come sarcopenia, which is just muscle mass loss. Um so estrogen definitely helps to keep that muscle mass strong and pretty contracted um contractable, that's a word, uh, in pre-menopause, but on the onset of perimenopause, um so yeah, we we noticed changes. So resistance training definitely helps to like oh man, there's so many benefits to it and how it helps to continue with some of those benefits.

SPEAKER_01:

But just that there are benefits, like, and what are some of the benefits? Like, you does it help with like hot flashes, or is it more like brain fog? Like maybe list off just a few of those might be a good place to just kind of keep it for now.

SPEAKER_02:

For sure, yeah. And I think the the caveat here is like every woman's experience is unique for sure. But um, I've definitely noticed clients have reported um yeah, less brain fog, definitely feeling sharper, feeling feeling clearer. Um they've noticed their joints feel better. Uh that part is really interesting, um, because so estrogen will help to stimulate synovial fluid inside the joint capsules, whether it's shoulders, knees, hips, elbows, so on. Um so that can sometimes the loss of estrogen can produce some joint pain.

SPEAKER_03:

You've heard that.

SPEAKER_02:

And I've noticed that when we start regularly strength training, um, and I know it's from sort of a clinical RMT background, is like when my clients strengthen the muscles, their joints feel better because their brain is like, okay, now this joint feels stable again, it feels safe again. We don't have to create a pain signal, you know, at this position because we we feel strong. So I think in that way, starting to resistance train can be a huge help for joint pain, um, body aches. I've noticed clients feel um, I don't know if there's any like people say it boosts your metabolism, but I don't I don't know how or how well that's been studied, but they just kind of feel like they have more energy throughout the course of the day.

SPEAKER_03:

Um for sure.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um and and I think from a bone density standpoint, that's also really key is strength training. So um uh bones are kind of subject to something called wolf's law, like wolf, like a hell and wolf. And what it means is just bones will adapt to the stresses that are placed on them. So when we're resistance training, if you think about a muscle being connected to your bones via the tendon from origin to insertion, when we're contracting that muscle, you know, we're kind of pulling on those bones, which is a stress on the bones. So our bodies start to acclimate and adapt to that by layering on more and more density. Um weighted vest walking, like huge right now, like freaking Oprah is probably walking with a weighted vest.

SPEAKER_03:

And right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And it's fine. It's I get messages all the time because because you know, now bone density is sort of really becoming a hot topic for women in menopause because of osteoporosis, right? So they figure, okay, let's hop on a weighted, pop a weighted vest on, go for a walk, and that's gonna help to stimulate bone density. Um I don't know how like the relative effectiveness of weighted vest walking compared to actual structured resistance training. But I don't know. For me, as a strength train as a strength trainer, personal trainer, I'm like, well, after about a week or so, your body's gonna get like adapted to that, and that stimulus will no longer be effective.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

So do you want to just pile on more weights and more weights? But again, the other part of me is like, well, is there some like weighted vest cartel out there that is just you know, oh women will buy if we tell them that they need to do it for their calls, so like just whether you're anyways.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, but yeah, that's actually, and it is really important to question the trends, like that's a whole other conversation. So, yeah, that's a really good point. So to bring it back to optimization and then you know, just share a little bit about like your method um specifically, and yeah, just kind of anything you want to share around that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's a whole a whole other um topic. But how so how up how we end up doing optimization for clients who have built that foundation um is we get a little bit nerdy with the training plan. So we have some really key key things that we do in terms of exercise selection and how we pair certain exercises up. We dial in the rest period, there's nuance to the reps, to the tempo, um, to like how slow or how fast we're executing the movement, um, particularly like the rep range, and the way however we manipulate the training plan will elicit certain specific adaptations from the body. So maybe if we're looking to improve the nutrient exchange within the muscle cells, help promote you know, blood flow, um, you know, help to produce more sort of interstitial fluids, sarcoplasm and sarcoplasm of the muscle cell, there's a way we can manipulate the training plan to promote some of those things.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02:

And after we've done that, let's say we've built some muscle mass, we've gotten a little bit nerdy with those things, and we've dialed in the biomechanic, and the exercise execution is rock solid. Then maybe we want to stimulate the nervous system and like produce more neurological adaptations. So we might drastically decrease the rep range to like a three to five, and just like lifting really explosively, but controlling the tempo on the way down. So it's really just getting nerdy with how we end up working out.

SPEAKER_01:

Cool. And tell me a little bit about your method and then where we can find you.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, yeah, so where you where you can find me, so I'm on Instagram um at coachcolin. That's e-o-a-c-h-o-l-in- dot fit f-i-t. I'm also watched on Facebook, Colin Jackson, um, or my website, coachcolin.fit.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. We'll put and I'll put that in the show notes so that everyone can click where they need to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And how I do the method, that's a more difficult question to ask because it's almost like everyone's method is unique to them. So like we we might have like a terrapreston method that works for Terra Preston, but right, the Terra Preston method is not gonna work for the Chelsea Jackson. That's my wife's name.

SPEAKER_00:

That makes sense. So it's tailored, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

It's highly tailored, and I think the um the I guess you know, in a nutshell, the prime method is really just individualized fitness coaching for high-level women who have the basic style, then um yeah, for sure. Yeah, I hope that answers your question.

SPEAKER_01:

This would be important because women do even if with your foundations though, you do have sometimes different struggles, different genetics, different, like there's just different things to like look at, right? Yeah. So it makes sense as you're talking, and I'm like, yeah, I could like see how the fine-tuning would be like really important for that optimization. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

That's amazing. And you work mostly or all online, correct?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. So to work one-on-one with me, we do it all online. Um, we do like an intake process, so we just pop in a Zoom call for you know up to an hour. Just make sure I understand really well like person's training history, their health history, and injuries, you know, where they're at. Um and yeah, everything is delivered online so you can work. So most of my clients are kind of Western Canada.

SPEAKER_01:

Um yeah. Cool. Okay, yeah, amazing. And is there any just last kind of final you know, thoughts that you want to share to the viewers before we sign off? I've really enjoyed having you, it's been super informative. Um, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So I think going into 2026, I'll leave you with this thought, which is like let's just get strong as fuck. Just get strong, like let's not worry anymore about what our bodies look like, um, how much body fat we're holding on to, trying to change our physical appearance. And not to say there's anything wrong with that, I think it's totally okay if somebody wants to lose weight or whatever, but if if we're really want to build a healthy foundation going into 2026, it's so much more effective and scientific to focus on building strength and just getting strong.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. I love it. Thank you for that. I had like a girlfriend comment, like, you look so strong. And I was like, oh my God, thank you. I don't know. It's just like such a weird, again, mindset shift from like a younger version, which so maybe somebody's like, oh, you look so good in those jeans. No, you look so strong. So I was like, oh, I love it. That's I love that's a beautiful message, and I think a great kind of mindset shift and vision for all of us moving into 2026. Thank you so much for being here. And for those of you that are catching the podcast, of course, we've got all of Colin's information uh below, all of his links. And actually, if you download my free gift, Sacred Nourishment for Midlife Radiance, there's a section in there, uh, a contribution section from Colin. And there's actually a few um practices to get you started. It's even more than practices, though, right? Maybe you just want to speak to that for just a moment.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I I think we did a 12 week um foundational training program for that'll work for almost anybody. Yeah. So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so go ahead and check that out. You can download that in the in the show notes, and I will see you all very soon. Thanks for watching. Bye for now.