Graced Health: Perimenopause and Menopause Wellness for Christian Women
Want to feel strong and well in your body — without the diet culture pressure? The Graced Health podcast is for Christ-centered women in perimenopause and menopause who want to feel capable, grounded, and at peace in their bodies — without all the noise.
Here you'll find practical, grace-filled guidance on strength training, nutrition, body image, and wellness — all rooted in faith and free from diet culture. No shame. No comparison. Just clarity, encouragement, and a voice of reason.
I'm Amy Connell, a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach who grew up in diet culture doing step aerobics in a thong leotard.
God called me into Graced Health after showing me there's a more peaceful, less obsessive way to care for my body — so I can do what He's called me to do.
New episodes drop every week, covering everything from strength training and menopause to intuitive eating and body stewardship — all through a grace-centered lens.
Ready to get started? Download my free guide: 30+ Non-Gym Ways to Improve Your Health for Women in Perimenopause and Menopause at https://www.gracedhealth.com/health
Hey there , welcome to the Grace Health Podcast , your source for aging strong in your physical , mental and spiritual health . My name is Amy Connell . I'm a weight neutral certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who loves walks with friends , chocolate and Jesus . Whether you're looking to grow stronger as you age , nourish your body , mind and spirit , or fit all the pieces of your health together to holistically thrive , this is the place for women over 40 . I'm here to guide you in the areas I can and bring on experts in the areas I'm still learning , and , of course , we cover it all in a whole lot of grace . I'm glad you're here .
Speaker 1
One of the things about training women above age 40 and beyond is our bodies just don't work like they used to . This is probably not a surprise to you . My body does not work like it used to . I want to be very clear before I come in talking about today's subject . I still feel challenges . I still have lower back issues on my left side . Almost every day I'm working through that . I'm trying to take the knowledge I have . So I want to make sure that I'm coming in as someone who does not claim to be perfect in all of this . However , one common complaint I hear from women over 40 is my knees hurt and because of that I can't do squats or lunges . Then what happens is , because that is often the only type of exercise they're familiar with doing , they don't do any kind of movement to strengthen their lower posterior chain . So that's basically everything from your hips down and then things just get worse because our muscles weaken .
Speaker 1
There are a lot of different reasons for having what we call bad knees . That can be something like osteoarthritis , which is just kind of that most common form of arthritis . That's when that cartilage , that protective cartilage at the ends of our bones , wears down over time . That can lead to pain or swelling or stiffness of your knees . Another thing is our muscles are just getting weaker . There is a term called sarcopenia , which is basically age related weakening of our muscles . This will happen no matter what , and we can prevent the rate at which our muscles decline by strength training . But that still happens . And when we have weak muscles , particularly in our legs and I'm going to specifically talk about that here in a second then we can't support our knee adequately .
Speaker 1
Another reason for feeling like we have bad knees is just joint degeneration . No surprise , over time our joints can just degenerate , there's just wear and tear . If you've had knee injuries in the past , like I'm specifically thinking of one of my sons , he does not have any problems right now and actually he has employed a lot of the things that we're going to talk about today . But I have to admit I'm like I wonder what his knees are going to look like when he's 50 , because he has half of a meniscus of one of you have two meniscus , but he has half of one missing on one of his legs and so I don't know what that's going to look like . And maybe you've had ACL tears , mcl tears , you've just had joint issues or knee issues in the past that are still kind of with you today .
Speaker 1
And then another reason we can have knee pain is just because our flexibility is less . It's funny , probably five to six years ago I did something called yoga , basically , for the entire month of June . All I did was yoga . I didn't walk , I didn't run , I didn't do anything . And this is back when I was running a lot more and because of that I had measured my flexibility . I like data , I like measuring things as long as it's not becoming too problematic or idolizing or anything like that . So I know how much flexibility I had in just sitting down and folding over in my hamstrings . Let me tell you it is not what it was . In fact , I don't even know that it was what it was before the month started , let alone after the month .
Speaker 1
So we do lose flexibility as we go along , which can impact our joints because we're not as supple in our muscles and ligaments that are surrounding our knee joint , and so that can obviously contribute to stiffness and discomfort , so we're not moving as much . And then , when we're not moving as much , then our joints just aren't going to be as happy , and one of those . You know , an object in motion stays in motion . And just as a side note , I was at a doctor's office years ago with my husband and the doctor said something that has stuck with me ever since , and he said you know , you can have the strongest muscles in the world , but if you can't bend down and pick up your car keys when they drop , you've got a problem . It was a great reminder to focus on our flexibility and making sure that we do have that range of motion in our body . So what do we do about that ? Well , I have talked about this before , but I think it's worth coming on and talking about again .
Speaker 1
In my gym I have two posters . One of them is the muscular system , one of them is the skeletal system , and I know that's super nerdy . I actually will go in there and just and like I just love looking at it . I think I should have been a physical therapist . I love seeing how everything is connected and also when I'm having some issues I might be able to kind of pinpoint oh , this is the muscle that I probably need to work on or something like that . You can Google like skeletal system and muscular system .
Speaker 1
But I want you to visualize your hips and then your femur and then like it's again , that's called the lower posterior change . So everything from your hips down your femur is your thigh bone . Your thigh bone connects up into the outside part of your hips . You know there's kind of at the top that's the iliac crest , and then down at the bottom , which is kind of on the outside of your thighs . If you feel that and you feel that bone , that's where your femur connects in .
Speaker 1
We have several muscles that connect to the femur . Those muscles are in our hips and particularly the gluteus medius , which is a muscle on the outside of our hips . The gluteus minimus is on the backside of our butt . If we were to peel off the top layer , which is the gluteus maximus , the maximum muscle , the big one , then we would see several other smaller muscles . The gluteus minimus is one of them . The glute medius and the glute min or minimus both connect down to the femur in what's called the greater trochanter joint . That's the bottom portion of your hips , where your femur comes in . When we have weak gluteus minimus or gluteus medius muscles , then the femur is not held securely , which means the femur can be moving around at the bottom part . The bottom part is the knee . That's why , when you take a moment to strengthen your gluteus medius and gluteus minimus and the other muscles surrounding your hip region , it's called the musculoskeletal hip complex . If you want to know the form away , then that can help support your knees .
Speaker 1
So I am going to give you three just in your ears , three exercises that you can do and I'm also going to link in the show notes a what I call a mini muscle workout . Your mini muscles are all of the muscles in that hip region that support a lot of different things , including your pelvic floor , but also supporting your knees . So here are three movements that , if you know what these are , you can just do these and you know I'm all about multitasking . So do these during a warmup , when you are getting ready to strength train or if you are doing any kind of high impact movement . These are great ones to incorporate as part of your warmup . I would say start with maybe two sets of 10 or two sets of 15 , working up to about three sets of 15 . If you have the time , even just one set , though , is wonderful to do , because it activates those muscles for a warmup . So if you're wanting to strengthen those muscles , do more sets with more reps . If you're wanting to activate it , even just doing 10 to 15 reps of these movements will help . And , of course , you can find the mini muscle workout that I have on YouTube .
Speaker 1
I'm also going to share one other resource I have with you that is even more holistic and comprehensive . So one exercise is clamshells . That really specifically targets the gluteus medius , the one on the side . Basically , line yourself up like you are laying on your side on your mat , bend your knees , and I want your feet , your hips , your shoulders and then your elbow if you're propped up on your elbow all aligned with the back of the mat , so that way everything is staying in line . Stack your hips on top of each other . It's real easy to kind of lean back on the meat , the muscle of that glute , so you might need to kind of rotate that hip in and then stack it up and then you're going to open your knees up and down . A lot of people will put like a resistance loop right above your knees . Don't ever do it on your knee joint , but do it above your knee . If these are new to you , don't put the loop on yet . Just try 10 to 15 , see how that feels . Make sure you're squeezing that top glute . If you are laying on your right side and your left knee is going up , then your left glute is the one you want to be squeezing . And then , of course , do it on the other side .
Another one for your glute med is side lying leg lifts . In this position , just straighten out your feet so you're all aligned , you have straight legs and then I say kiss your toes together and raise your heel up . Your toes are touching for just a second and then your heel is lifted up . That causes what's called an internal rotation , which will activate that gluteus medius , that side muscle , then lift that top foot up . So , in the same example , if you're laying on your right side , then lift your left leg up about a foot above your other one I call that home base and then lift the leg up another foot and then back down . These do not need to be super high . This is not Jane Fonda . Okay , jane Fonda did the whole like the full range of motion , and that's not necessarily wrong to do . It depends on what your goals are . The goals for this is to have smaller motion and Target in on that gluteus medius and it actually gets the minimus as well a little bit so you can do those sideline leg lifts .
Speaker 1
The third one is glute bridges . I actually Will probably do some sort of episode on just the many benefits of glute bridges . I am right now . People who know me and people who train with me know that I get really stuck on one particular type of movement , and Glute bridges has kind of been the hot button movement that I have been Incorporating for myself and for my clients for a really long time . Like so far . It's the winner . This is what I really like doing the most because it has so many benefits with regard to our knees . It also strengthens your gluteus medius and your minimus .
Speaker 1
Lie on your back , bend your knees and Take your feet about hip width apart . You'll want your feet about 12 to 18 inches away from your butt , so don't pull your feet really really close and don't put them really far out either . Make a tripod with your feet , so press into your big toe , your little toe and your heel . Squeeze your glutes before you do anything . Then lift up just a few inches , just like with those sideline leg lifts . This is not a range of motion movement . When you lift up , keep those glutes squeezed and then release down and then release your glutes . So anytime your butt is up in the air , I want you to squeeze those glutes and then coming back down and Release them .
Speaker 1
When you do this and if you are new to this , I Want you to physically point to what you are feeling some heat on . Where are you feeling this burn ? My hope is that it is in your glutes . If you are feeling it in your hamstrings , that is often common and what that is saying is your hamstrings are doing the work and not your glutes . So put your hands on your butt . That is often just a great way for your brain To connect down to like , oh , this is the muscle we need to be working . So I have seen this with my clients . It is incredible . There was one in particular who had a hard time kind of activating particular muscles . I would touch that muscle with her permission and then you could see it turn on and you could see it work . So if you are feeling this in your hamstrings , touch the sides of your butt just as you go up , and that may help , because that's where you really want to feel that burning , not necessarily in your hamstrings .
Speaker 1
I I promised earlier another resource and I do have a free download that helps strengthen your legs without squats or lunges , and it focuses not only on the gluteus medius and minimus , but also things like your gluteus maximus , your hamstrings and several other muscles . When you get this , you will get 12 movements that focus on seven different muscles . I tell you exactly which muscles go with each movement , I provide a video demonstrating proper form and how to do them , and then I offer you three customizable , printable workouts to fit your level . The video will Demonstrate everything that you need to know , and then you can take those movements and Incorporate them in your workout , however , that works , and even if you just use a handful of them to warm your body up in the morning , that is great too . You can get that at graced healthcom .
Speaker 1
Slash strong legs and it's just G-r-a-c-e-d health all together . Dot-com . Slash strong legs . So that is my free gift to you . If you are trying to strengthen your legs because you feel like you have bad knees but you don't really want to do squats and lunges , in summary , if you have bad knees , these few exercises may help , and , of course , I am not a doctor . I am not a physical therapist . You may need more help than what I can provide in a 15-ish minute video . If so , please , please , please , find the right medical provider for you . Don't forget to get your free download graced healthcom , and if you want to get your free download , check out my website and I'll be there for you . Thank you so much . Strong legs , and that is all for today . Go out there and have a graced day .
Speaker 1
Thanks for listening today . If this episode was valuable to you , could you do one of two things that are enormously valuable to me ? That's super simple for you . Number one just share this with a friend , super simple . Number two provide a rating and review . Haven't yet subscribed to my monthly journal ? Why not ? I send it out twice a month and it is a private fun space for me to share some of my favorite foods and recipes , movements , books , sermons and more . You never know what you're gonna get , but I promise it will add value to your day . You can sign up at graced health comm slash monthly dash updates and , of course , the link is in the show notes . Thanks again for listening and I'll see you next time . You
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