We all know a woman in our life and that is why this episode is a must-listen! Whether it's you, your wife, your mum, a friend, a cousin, the peri menopause and the menopause will affect someone you know. Dr Bella Smith and Baz Moffat from the Well HQ cover all bases and it's great.

You'll hear:

06:15 Dr Bella Smith explains what the menopause and the peri menopause are

09:04 Baz talks about the impact of your lifestyle during the menopause and peri menopause. "It's a time to start again. How can I use exercise to support my mental health?" 'especially for women who love being active, the conflict comes when you have a very fixed mindset on what exercise is and what it means to you'

11:17 Baz says "Get your pelvic floor sorted."

13:00 Bella talks about the importance of good sleep. "Sleep is a priority."

14:45 Napping, especially for active women is their super power.

16.55 You can do anything you want and whatever training sessions you want to in peri menopause and menopause. You can train hard, but you cannot get away with not eating well, not warming up and not recovering well. You cannot ignore it in your 40s any more.

17:25 Bella talks about the impact that stress can have and for every high intensity session, you need to be doing something that will reduce your stress. We have to make the calming exercises as important as the run.

19:00 Baz talks about lifting weight to improve bone density and increase muscle strength. We want to get ahead of the curve and lifting these weights. If you have done cardio your whole life, you can do bodyweight, you don't have to lift heavy, you just have to put load through your body. You can do 20 minutes of lifting 2-3 times a week and you need to do big compound movements, so you can get load through your system.

26:00 We talk more about the pelvic floor - what it is and why it matters

28:00 Do you ever have the urge to pee before a big race? You must listen to this bit!

29:45 The impact of caffeine and alcohol on needing to go to the toilet

32:00 Training and HRT and being all over the place

37:40 The role of HRT and a good lifestyle and why medicine is not a failure. "It's not going to fix a bad lifestyle. If you have the worst lifestyle, HRT is not a miracle cure and it won't turn you into a superhero." Your experience of menopause is not your fault.

44:25 Trying to train whilst you are on HRT and if you can train in accordance to your cycle when you are peri-menopausal.

48:00 Bella talks about coming off HRT. "There is no age where you have to come off it."

50:30 Baz talks about the benefits of vaginal estrogen cream before we talk more about HRT and some of the fears over the links with Breast cancer.

57:22 It feels like the wildwest out there when it comes to The Menopause, but we always point people in the UK towards the British Menopause Society.

01:01:10 Any final tips? Find people that can help you and ask early and go prepared when you go to the Dr! Get yourself a good Doctor and latch on to them. If you're not happy with the one you are seeing, go and see someone else.

Find out more about this week's guests

Dr Bella Smith website and Instagram

Baz Moffat website and instagram

hq.com/">The Well HQ

The British Menopause Society

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