Ep. 541 Why Your Diet and Workouts Stopped Working – The Shocking Truth About Muscle Loss in Women with Linda Alexander | Menopause & Strength Training

Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Cynthia Thurlow

Science, Alternative Health, Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, I am honored to welcome my personal trainer, Linda Alexander, as my guest. Linda has been training middle-aged and older women almost exclusively for the last decade of the 40 years she has spent in personal training. In our conversation, we explore the challenges of training middle-aged women. Linda highlights the importance of strength training over cardiovascular exercise, and we discuss the way my elementary school physical education teacher approached physical fitness for children many years ago. Linda explains how she evaluates new clients through movement and exercise progression, shares her personal view on intermittent fasting, and clarifies how it can contradict muscle building and maintenance. We also explore the importance of mindset and keeping nutrition simple, and we dive into many listener questions, ranging from progressive overload to nutrition and workouts. This conversation with my personal trainer is truly impactful, one that many of you have been asking for. I know you will enjoy it as much as I did while recording it. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How women's nutritional needs and exercise tolerance change at different life stages How to control your carbohydrate intake without necessarily being ketogenic Linda shares her approach to strength training How our mindsets and self-expectations influence strength training experience How functional movement can help older adults maintain their independence and prevent falls Why combining a ketogenic diet with cardio can hinder achieving the results you want The benefits of eating protein before or after exercise The importance of staying well-hydrated and taking supplements to support your energy and recovery How celebrating small wins and practicing self-kindness can strengthen your mindset and improve your long-term progress Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia’s website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community (The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow) Cynthia’s Menopause Gut Book is on presale now! Cynthia’s Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause supplement line Connect with Linda Alexander On her website ⁠Instagram⁠ and⁠ Facebook⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast.
0:03.7	I'm your host, nurse practitioner, Cynthia Thurlow.
0:07.4	This podcast is designed to educate, empower, and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals.
0:13.9	My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the health and wellness industry each week and impact
0:22.1	over a million lives.
0:28.8	Today I had the honor to sit down with my personal trainer, Linda Alexander, who has been
0:35.1	training women and specifically middle-aged women and older,
0:39.2	almost exclusively the last 10 for 40 years of personal training.
0:44.1	Today we dove into the unique challenges of training middle-aged women, the importance of
0:49.0	strength training over cardiovascular exercise.
0:51.4	We talked a great deal about my physical education teacher in
0:56.0	Allenwood Elementary School years ago, Mr. Wall, and his approach to physical fitness and
1:02.6	children. Liddish specific approach to evaluating a new client in terms of movement and
1:07.6	progression of exercises, the impact and importance of mindset, keeping nutrition
1:12.4	simple, her personal feelings about intermittent fasting and how that can contradict maintaining
1:19.8	and building muscle. And then we dove into at least 20 to 30 minutes of listeners' questions,
1:25.9	which ran the gamut between progressive overload
1:28.7	all the way up to nutrition and workouts. This is one of these really important impactful
1:34.1	conversations with my personal trainer. This has been a frequent request of listeners, and I hope
1:39.9	you will enjoy it as much as I did recording it.
1:49.0	Linda, I've been telling my community for a while that we were going to record a podcast together, and I'm so glad we were able to make it happen.
1:51.6	Thank you.
	...

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