Modern WisdomWhat Is The Fitness Menopause? | Modern Wisdom Podcast 173
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Escaping Bro Lifting: Navigating the ‘Fitness Menopause’ And Beyond
- The episode explores “fitness menopause” – the point where long-time gym bros and lifters become bored, disenchanted, or injured from years of bodybuilding-style training and begin questioning what they actually want from fitness. Chris Williamson and guests Jonny and Yusuf trace how a generation of Millennials got swept into low-skill, aesthetics-focused lifting via sites like T Nation and bodybuilding.com, only to later crave performance, health, and enjoyment over pure looks. They argue many people confuse liking exercise with liking bodybuilding and would be happier pivoting to other sports or modalities once basic strength and muscle are built. The conversation also covers injury-driven wake‑up calls, how goals shift with age, and why objective performance metrics beat purely subjective aesthetic judgment.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasFitness menopause is the phase where long-time lifters outgrow bro-style bodybuilding.
After years of chest days, curls, and chasing aesthetics, many lifters hit their late 20s–30s, get bored, feel unfit, or accumulate injuries, and realize their current style of training is no longer fulfilling or sustainable.
Bodybuilding is popular because it’s low-skill, low-barrier, and highly rewarding socially.
You can teach a total beginner to do biceps curls quickly, get visible ‘pump’ rewards, and set your own standards for form, which makes it psychologically easier than complex sports like Olympic lifting or running-based sports.
Most people don’t love bodybuilding; they love what they think it will give them.
The hosts stress that many attach to a training style because of promised outcomes—abs, big lifts, social media validation—not because they genuinely enjoy the training itself, which explains why big goals often feel anticlimactic once achieved.
Objective performance goals age better than purely aesthetic ones.
Sports like powerlifting, CrossFit, or endurance events provide clear, external metrics (weights, times, reps) so you know you’re progressing, whereas bodybuilding relies on subjective judgment from yourself or judges, which can be psychologically draining.
A basic strength and muscle foundation is still essential before branching out.
They argue that most untrained people would massively improve health, injury risk, and quality of life by building enough muscle and strength to do bodyweight squats, push-ups, and basic barbell work before worrying about complex sports or ‘fitness menopause.’
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesDo you like bodybuilding training, or do you like exercise? Because those are not the same thing.
— Chris Williamson
Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weight.
— Yusuf (quoting Ronnie Coleman and expanding on it)
I would much sooner not be bothered about being lean because I’ve been lean, than not be bothered about being lean because I gave up.
— Chris Williamson
It’s one of the most depressing things about bodybuilding as a sport that… the way it’s ultimately judged is by a subjective panel of judges’ preference.
— Yusuf
If you’ve been training less than two, three years, you are nowhere near the fitness menopause.
— Yusuf
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