 As the Spring Equinox arrives, I wanted to share some thoughts on why this moment represents such a powerful opportunity for renewal and growth in our wellness journeys. I believe that nature's rhythms offer us valuable insights into our own paths toward vitality and balance. Just as the Spring Equinox represents that perfect balance between light and dark, my coaching philosophy of Reset, Recharge, and Reclaim mirrors this natural equilibrium that we can harness in our own lives. The Power of Balance in Transition The equinox, with its equal parts day and night, provides a practical metaphor for what many professional women seek: a sustainable balance between performance and recovery, career demands and self-care, accepting our current circumstances while working toward positive change. For women navigating various life and hormonal transitions, this concept of balance isn't just inspirational - it's physiological. Our bodies function optimally when we respect both activity and rest, especially during periods of hormonal fluctuation.  Three Evidence-Based Strategies to Transform Your Vitality This Spring RESET: Eliminate What No Longer Serves You Just as organisations benefit from strategic assessment, your personal wellness requires periodic evaluation:
RECHARGE: Strategic Energy Management Sustainable performance requires intentional energy cultivation:
RECLAIM: Develop Resilience and Capacity Spring represents growth and renewal - a perfect reminder to reclaim your full potential:
While we collectively experience the calendar's Spring Equinox, each woman navigates her own personal transitions - whether that's career advancement, perimenopause, or rebuilding after burnout. As a coach specialising in women's physiology and performance, I've seen how targeted, science-based approaches to energy management and strength development translate directly to professional effectiveness and personal fulfilment.  Take Action This Spring
The equinox reminds us that balance isn't static—it's a dynamic, ongoing practice. Just as organisations must adapt to changing conditions, your wellness strategy should evolve with your body's needs and life circumstances. The most successful professionals recognise that sustainable high performance requires strategic recovery and personalised approaches to energy management. Are you ready to reset, recharge, and reclaim your vitality this spring? Get in touch with me to see how evidence-based wellness strategies can enhance both your personal energy and professional performance.
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 As a female emergency service worker, your annual Job-Related Fitness Test (JRFT) might feel increasingly challenging as you navigate perimenopause and menopause. Many of you have shared your concerns with me during my talks and sessions with Thames Valley, Surrey, and Metropolitan Police Services. The good news? You don't need to dread your fitness test or feel that your changing body is working against you. This blog post will help you understand what's happening in your body during this transitional phase and give you practical, effective strategies to not just pass your JRFT, but to thrive physically throughout your career and beyond. Understanding Your Changing Body The decline in oestrogen and progesterone during perimenopause and menopause creates real physiological changes that affect your fitness and performance:
  These changes are genuinely challenging, especially when your job possibly demands physical fitness and your career depends on passing annual fitness tests. But here's what's crucial to understand: the traditional training approaches that worked in your twenties and thirties often don't serve you well now. The reality is that historically 94% of exercise research has been conducted on men. This means that most training protocols weren't designed for women's bodies, especially during perimenopause and menopause. It's time for a different approach—one that works with your changing physiology rather than against it. A Better Approach: Training Smarter, Not Harder The key to successfully preparing for your JRFT while supporting your body through this transition is training smarter, not harder or longer. Here's how: 1. Strength Training: Your Foundation for the JRFT and beyond Strength training isn't optional anymore—it's essential for maintaining a body that is fit and healthy for life, not just for the JRFT.  Why it matters:
HIIT Training: Perfect Preparation for the JRFT High-Intensity Interval Training mirrors the stop-start nature of the JRFT and is particularly effective during perimenopause and menopause.  Why it matters:
Plyometric Training: A fantastic all-round tool in your armoury! The JRFT requires rapid direction changes and quick movements. Plyometric training develops exactly these capabilities while also supporting bone health. If the word strikes fear into your heart at the thought of box jumps, it's not all about that - there are some simple. small, multi-directional options....  Why it matters:
Beyond these foundational approaches, here are specific strategies to help you prepare for the bleep test component of the JRFT: Work Backwards from the Test Look at the test requirements in reverse—train slightly above the speeds you'll need to achieve: Sample JRFT-specific interval session:
Mental preparation is just as important as physical training:
Many officers report that anxiety affects their JRFT performance more than fitness itself:
What about the Chester Test? Offered to some as the alternative fitness test, especially for those with knee issues. This test is essentially a ramp up treadmill test. All of the above protocols will help with that, but particularly STRENGTH. Keep your lean muscle mass in check and you will do yourself a huge favour because, this isn't just an annual fitness test...  The Bigger Picture: Fit for Life
While passing the JRFT is important, the strategies in this post serve a greater purpose—keeping you healthy, strong, and capable throughout your career and beyond. Remember that these physical changes aren't something to battle against but to work with. By adapting your training approach to align with your body's current needs, you're not just preparing for a fitness test—you're investing in your long-term wellbeing and career longevity. Many female officers I've worked with have found that these approaches not only improved their JRFT performance but also reduced menopausal symptoms, increased energy levels, and enhanced their overall quality of life. You bring unique skills, experience, and perspective to your emergency service role. By taking care of your changing body with these targeted strategies, you ensure you can continue making that valuable contribution for years to come. Stay strong, stay confident, and know that you have the capacity to thrive physically during this transition—both on the job and beyond. Would you like more personalised support? I offer specialised coaching to support women at whatever stage they are in their hormonal journey. Take a look at my website for more info about how I also deliver in-person and online talks to empower women to work with their hormones to reach their full potential.  As we celebrate International Women's Day this March, I've been thinking about the incredible women throughout history whose physical strength has built remarkable mental resilience. Their stories don't just inspire us – they show us a pathway to becoming stronger in every sense of the word. Quick note: I haven't included photos of these amazing women due to copyright considerations, but I encourage you to look them up – their stories and images are truly inspiring! The Women Who Showed Us The Way Throughout history, women have overcome extraordinary physical and mental barriers, often using physical training as a foundation for building unshakable determination: Kathrine Switzer didn't just run a marathon when women "weren't supposed to" – she finished the 1967 Boston Marathon despite an official physically trying to remove her from the course. The physical endurance she'd built through training gave her the mental strength to keep running even when faced with direct opposition. Her persistence helped change the rules for women in sport forever. Wilma Rudolph's story still gives me goosebumps. After being told she would never walk normally due to polio, she not only walked – she became the fastest woman in the world, winning three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics. Her physical rehabilitation built the mental toughness that saw her break both physical and racial barriers. Dame Sarah Storey shows us that adaptability in our physical approach builds mental flexibility. After a successful Paralympic swimming career, she transitioned to cycling and continued her gold medal success across multiple Paralympic Games. Her ability to transfer her strength from one discipline to another demonstrates how physical challenges build transferable mental resilience.  The Science Behind the Connection
This connection between physical and mental strength isn't just anecdotal – it's backed by fascinating science:
From Gym to Life: The Transfer Effect What I find most powerful about this connection is how it transfers from the gym to everyday life:
Building Your Own Connection You don't need to be an Olympic athlete to benefit from this connection. Here are some ways to start building both physical and mental strength:
As we celebrate International Women's Day, I'm inspired by the women who have shown us what's possible when we build our physical and mental strength together. Their legacies remind us that developing our strength isn't selfish – it's necessary if we want to create positive change in our world. I'm excited to be speaking about these connections at talks this month on "Physical Foundations for Leadership". I believe that by understanding and developing the connection between physical and mental strength, we can all build greater capacity to overcome challenges, lead effectively, and create the change we want to see. Which physically and mentally strong women inspire you? And how has your own physical training helped build your mental resilience? Fuelling for performance in the perimenopause and menopause: Sources and importance of protein6/3/2025
 Recently I posted about the importance of protein for women in peri and menopause, and particularly anyone who is training. I wasn’t entirely surprised at the reaction to my post – mostly women realising that they aren’t hitting their protein target, and recognising why they were not performing at their best, frequently not sleeping well, and often still feeling very hungry. A lot of questions that came up were about the best sources of protein, and also how other nutrients play their part. So, here, as promised is my blog post where I dive a bit deeper into some of these points. How Your Hormones Impact Your Protein Needs Protein intake is especially important for women. Our hormonal fluctuations often put us in a catabolic state, i.e you are breaking down or losing overall mass, both fat and muscle. So, depending upon our menstrual cycle and menopausal status, we may be more inclined to break down, than we are to build muscle. There are various impacts to pay attention to during the phases of a normal menstrual cycle, but I am going to focus here on the peri and post-menopausal years. At this time hormones begin to fluctuate and decline, and we lose the anabolic (muscle-making) stimulus that oestrogen helped provide. So this is when we need more protein to pick up where our hormones left off. Research also shows that with age, we also need more protein for the same training adaptations. How Much Protein Do Active Women Need? Whether you are a strength or endurance athlete, you need plenty of protein to support your training and recovery. In general terms, women should aim for 1.7 to 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Women in the menopause transition however should target the higher end of that range (2.2 to 2.4 grams per kilogram), aiming for the lower end on easier days, and the higher end on very heavy training days. Protein is also necessary to facilitate fat loss, as it keeps the muscles repairing and rebuilding, allowing carbohydrates to refuel the muscles and liver – allowing fat stores to stay empty. Some of the other great properties about protein are that it takes more work to digest than other foods, so it burns calories when we simply process it, and so it also increases satiety (the feeling of being full). What are the best protein sources? This is the BIG question that I get asked about. I recognise that there is a trend towards plant-based diets at the moment, which I understand. However, we need to be aware of the best sources of protein, and this is where those following a vegetarian or vegan diet will need to be extra mindful of making sure they are getting enough quality protein. The diagram below demonstrates some of the most common sources of protein.  Source 'Menopause for Athletes' by Dr Stacy Sims If you eat animal-based protein like chicken, beef, or fish we can see that an average 100-125g serving is giving you between 21 and 30g of protein. One cup of two percent cottage cheese is also about 30g, and low-fat Greek yogurt contains about 20g per cup serving. If you are eating a plant-based diet, it can be slightly more challenging, where you should look to meet your protein needs with soy foods like tempeh, edamame and seitan (but be aware of the gluten here if you have any intolerances), as well as nuts and seeds (and nut and seed butters) and beans and legumes. A blender is also your friend here. You can blend 90-110g of tofu with nut butter, frozen cauliflower, and hemp and chia seeds to get a completely vegan 30g protein hit. What about protein powders?  It is very common in today’s fast paced world to find ourselves squeezed for time to not only fit in our training, but also ensure we prioritise that important post exercise protein hit. So we often reach for the convenient solutions - protein bars and protein drinks. These will meet our protein requirements, right? Up to a point, but these sports foods are engineered specifically from a macronutrient, and are not as smart as nature, often missing a lot of the phytonutrients that help our body digest and adapt to stress. So whilst these products are convenient and have their place (for example trying to get that post exercise protein hit when you are travelling back from training) real food is always better.
What sort of composition should you be looking for from a protein powder? I am not a nutritionist*, but from the studies I have done via the Dr Stacy Sims 'Menopause for Athletes' course, she gives some great insights into the different types available and what we should be looking at:
Timing of protein intake Equally important as how much protein you eat is when you eat it. Our bodies respond best to an equally spread dose of protein throughout the day. Pre-menopausal women should aim for 30 grams of high-quality protein within 30 to 45 minutes after exercise and regular doses of 30 to 40 grams of protein at each meal and 15 to 20 from snacks. A little known fact is that the timing of this post-exercise protein is even more important for women than it is for men, as our bodies return to baseline a lot quicker, whereas men have a longer window to refuel. After that point, your insulin sensitivity declines, so it takes your muscles longer to absorb the glucose from your bloodstream, and as a result, your overall glycogen storage is lower. Eating immediately after hard exercise delays this decline in insulin sensitivity. That’s especially important for women in the menopausal transition, who may already be more insulin resistant because of the hormonal changes. Also, as you reach peri and post menopause, your anabolic resistance increases, so you want to aim to have that post-exercise protein closer to 40 grams. By ensuring you are taking in regular doses of protein throughout the day, you’ll maintain a good nitrogen balance (that is the equilibrium between protein intake and losses) for lean mass development. This will help improve your recovery, reduce post-exercise soreness, and lower your risk for injury as well. For those who are not following a plant based diet, some casein rich protein is especially useful before bedtime as the amino acids are absorbed as you sleep, in fact research shows that a nightly dose of protein boosts protein synthesis by 22 percent. (This is best to come from a real food source rather than a protein powder). There is a reason why Sir Chris Hoy has been quoted as saying he has some Greek yoghurt before bed - this is an excellent good source of protein, providing two to three times the amount of regular yoghurt, the majority of which is casein. Food for thought indeed - excuse the pun! But of course it is not all about protein, we should be getting a balance of carbohydrates and fats in our diets too. I will cover the importance and timing of these in future blog posts and look at why it is harmful that these nutrients have been demonised and restricted in recent years. *I would always recommend seeing a qualified nutritionist for a full assessment of your nutritional needs. I work with Ellie Holly who is a nutritional therapist and medical herbalist. I work with a range of colleagues to ensure that I can advise my coaching clients accurately to complement their training. Get in touch if you would like to hear more about my holistic approach to meeting your goals. Further readings and references: Hausswirth C. and Le Murr Y. Physiological and Nutritional Aspects of Post-Exercise Recovery: Specific recommendations for female athletes. Sports Med, 2011; 41(10): 861-882. Tarnopolsky MA. Sex differences in exercise metabolism and the role of 17-beta estradiol. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2008; 40 (4): 648-54. Roepstorff C, Steffensen CH, Madsen M, et al. Gender differences in substrate utilization during submaximal exercise in endurance-trained subjects. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002; 282 (2): E435-47. |
AuthorDenise Yeats is a coach, personal trainer, endurance athlete and avid adventurer. She is passionate about supporting women to achieve their goals, working with, not against their changing physiology. Archives
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