"So I Did What You'd Do... I Tried Everything"
Dr. Chen told me what I already knew: "You need to start strength training. It's medicine for menopause."
But here's what she didn't tell me:
My hands were the barrier.
I bought a gym membership. Signed up for personal training. I was ready to do the work.
But the first time I tried to grip a dumbbell, my hands gave out before my muscles did.
I tried:
❌ Lifting gloves – They made the bar thicker and harder to grip
❌ Wrist straps – They "helped" by disconnecting me from the weight entirely. I couldn't feel what I was lifting
❌ Compression sleeves – Designed for arthritis, not strength training. Useless.
❌ Lighter weights – My trainer said, "You're not challenging your muscles enough to get results"
I was trapped in a cruel cycle:
I needed to lift weights to fix my menopause symptoms...
But my menopause symptoms prevented me from lifting weights.