Looking for a workout to help with hormonal balance? Or do you already have Healthy Hormones Menopause Management?
As I stated in my last blog post, HHMM as we call it is not just for menopausal women. Men can even benefit from it! It was developed specifically to help women struggling with the hormonal changes of menopause, especially thyroid and adrenal issues that can be “subclinical” and not diagnosed until the ovaries start shutting down, revealing imbalances. The female hormones, the thyroid, and the adrenals work together for hormonal balance. When one is out of whack, it affects the others. For example, if the thyroid is not working optimally, the adrenals and female hormones will try to take on the portion the thyroid can’t carry. That can work for awhile, but eventually the adrenals wear down and/or the female hormones get more imbalanced (estrogen dominance, anyone?). This will really show up when we hit perimenopause, that period of 10 years or so before menopause when the ovaries start slowing down in preparation for menopause. That is why some women feel like they are “losing it” in their 40s and 50s! It’s not hysteria–it’s hormonal imbalances that were already there but masked that are showing up in full force! We can feel like we’ve lost our body, our mind and sanity!
Thankfully, there is help! As I stated earlier this week, I feel AMAZING when I do about half of HHMM at a time. Any more than that and I will usually need a nap (or two!) the next day–a very clear sign that I have pushed too far. Each of us needs to listen to her body’s cues and learn to stop before pushing too far. Sometimes that is a rear-view mirror look after the fact!
As promised, I’m going to share some ideas for splitting the Healthy Hormones workout to suit your schedule and your stamina level!
How Do I Know Where to Start?
If you have any–and I mean ANY–hormonal issues, including estrogen dominance, thyroid issues or adrenal fatigue, start small. You can always add to what you’re doing, and hopefully find your “sweet spot” before crashing. But if you go all out and crash and burn, it will take longer to crawl out of that hole. NO one wants to do that!
So let’s start “small”.
HHMM has 9 moves, and the Instructional has 10, including the stance. Start with the Instructional and go through it at least 4 times total. There’s no rush!
We’ll take it in a 3 moves per day schedule (this is the regular workout, but it’s close to the same for Instructional):
M-Spinal Curl through Plies Sequence (this includes using a towel for part of the Spinal Curl)
T- Spinal Curl, then Plie Pulls & Combo, finish with the Spinal Curl after Combo
W- Spinal Curl, T-Tapp Twist with a towel (light day)
Th- Spinal Curl, T-Tapp Twist, Hoedowns
F- Spinal Curl, Oil Wells with a towel, Oil Wells
S- Spinal Curl, Hoedowns
Sun- Off or Spinal Curl
I’ve used a Monday through Sunday “week”, with Sunday off, but if your day off is Tuesday, just put Monday’s moves on Wednesday.
You can rotate through the moves in various ways–just be sure to do them in the same sequence. In other words, you can skip moves, but don’t go back and do moves you skipped. On Thursday’s example above, you wouldn’t do Spinal Curl, T-Tapp Twist and then go back and do Plies Sequence. Also, be sure to do Spinal Stretch before you do other moves, especially twisting moves. You can skip some of the towel work of Spinal Stretch from time to time for time’s sake, but don’t omit it all the time!
If you find this routine is still too much, cut back to every other day. On the off days you could do just Spinal Stretch. You can use this same idea with the Instructional–you may even want to do just 2 moves per day on some of the moves that take longer. Listen to your body and let your stamina be your guide! I would suggest splitting the form tips up over 2 days and go through them at least once.
Feeling Really Tanked? How About in a Chair?!
If you can’t stand for even 3 moves, whether it’s adrenal/thyroid issues or joint issues, did you know you can do many of these moves in a chair? Oh yes you can!
Stand to do the Spinal Stretch, then sit down to do the towel portions. You can go down the legs as you sit in a chair–just don’t go too low if you start getting dizzy. Plies, Plies Pulls and Combo, the standing portion of Oil Wells, T-Tapp Twist and T-Tapp Twist with a towel can all be done in a chair! If you have MORE or TappCore 2, you know how to do Hoedowns in a chair–and yes–that counts!
The other standing move you might want to do is the “Mitten Chop Organs in Place” which is sprinkled throughout the workout. Healthy Hormones–even in a chair!
When Can I Do More?
Once you tolerate 3 moves daily with no worsening of symptoms and actually feeling better, you can start adding a bit more. I call this “short workout every other day”. It’s doing about half of HHMM every other day. This is approximately 4-5 moves, with off days having 2 moves. You can do just Spinal Curl or take off days completely off.
Let’s take the Instructional first:
M- Beginning through Organs in Place (this includes the Intro through curling the spine, Plies and then OIP)
T- Form Tips
W-The Stance, Curl/Scoop Spine; Lat Pulls through Oil Wells
Th- Form Tips
F- The Stance, Curl/Scoop Spine, Using a Towel; T-Tapp Twist and Oil Wells
S- Off
Sun- The Stance through Using a Towel, Hoedowns
And now the regular workout:
M-Beginning through Oil Wells
T- Spinal Curl, T-Tapp Twist with a towel (or off)
W- Spinal Curl, then T-Tapp Twist through Hoedowns
Th- Spinal Curl, Oil Wells with a towel (or off)
F- Beginning through Oil Wells
S- Spinal Curl, T-Tapp Twist with a towel (or off)
Sun- Completely off or continue alternating half at a time
Graduating to Daily Workouts
Using the halfway split in the last sequence, you can start doing workouts daily. Now, don’t just jump right in to a workout every day! Work out Monday and Tuesday, make Wednesday a light day (2 moves), then do half the workout again Thursday and Friday, make Saturday another light day, take Sunday off, and see how well you tolerate that. Eventually you can ease into doing workouts Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday is a light day, do workouts Thursday through Saturday and Sunday is an off day. Or shift the light and off days around to suit your schedule! Having a light day in the middle of your workout “week” will help guard against overtraining. Taking a day off helps as well!
Listen to What Your Body Says!
It’s important to listen to your body’s cues as you work through this process. Really, there’s nothing wrong at all with sticking with 3 moves daily or doing half of HHMM every other day. Finding your sweet spot is easier when you slowly add vs jumping in with doing all of the workout every single day. Watch for feeling less energetic or needing naps later in the day (or the next day), brain fog getting worse, muscles or joints aching more than usual post-workout aches. If you notice any of those, back off. Finding your sweet spot is crucial–that place where you feel good, even better than before and possibly are seeing some improvement in inch loss. But you’re not doing too much to where you crash and burn. Results at the expense of your health are not true results!
{Disclosure: The sentence below contains an affiliate link. If you purchase through this link I will receive a small commission which helps me keep the website updated to bring you even more information, support and encouragement!}
You can check out HHMM at the T-Tapp Webstore to read more about it.
I hope you enjoy these tips and find your “sweet spot” for HHMM–and I’d love to hear how it’s going for you! Please comment or contact me to let me know how you like it and if you find one of these schedule ideas helpful!
Thanks so much for this. I have a question – I am not menopausal yet and I don’t have any health issues that I’m aware of, but I’m starting to see how maybe at times I have done “too much” just with BWO and then I get really tired and like you said start needing naps or get foggy head. I guess I just want to see results and think light days won’t bring as good of results. But then when I fall off the wagon out of tiredness . . . well, I want to try you plan!
My question is – if I follow this schedule should/could I add in some walking? Also, I’m really trying to focus on my post babies belly so I often add in OIP/Half Frogs/Elevators move with BWO+. Should I add that into the workout somewhere? Should I do it at a different time of day? OR should I just trust that HHMM will help my middle anyway. I haven’t received my DVD yet because I have a military address over seas and it’ll take an extra 2 weeks to get here, but I’m excited! And I figured the healthy hormones part couldn’t hurt as I will probably be in the menopause part in the not too distant future.
Thanks for all the awesome help and tips you provide. I’m so happy I found your blog/Facebook group.
Melissa, you’re so right! If you end up crashing or burning out from doing too much, you don’t see results that way, either. Been there, done that! :p
Yes, you can certainly walk, and yes OIP/Half Frogs/Elevators are okay to add in, whether during your workout or another time. Usually floor moves aren’t as hard on the body because the floor is supporting your body weight (vs you on your legs!). You’ll find the “Mitten Chop” OIP standing variation that is sprinkled throughout HHMM (about 5 times, I think) is great for the middle and you can do that throughout the day (like when you visit the restroom). You could add that in 3-4 times if you want in place of the floor moves or in addition to. But still–listen to your body! And don’t stress if you don’t get it all in. Stressing over healthy habits is still stress!
Thank you for your kind words! I’m glad you are finding it helpful! ♥
~Trisch
Great, great post! I keep having health issues that throw me off my “plan” and I love the options for getting back into the swing without overdoing–something I’m very good at. 😉 Thanks, Trisch!!
It’s so tough when we can’t do as much as we want, Kara! I’m dealing with my adrenals not being quite as happy after my husband’s surgery (plus gaining some due to the stress). I understand! Slow and steady WILL get us there, though! Glad the options are helpful! 🙂
Thanks for another great post, Trisch! You are so helpful with easy to understand breakdowns of DVDs and schedules. Hope your husband is doing better and the stress is lessening.
Thank you for your kind words, Patrice! It encourages me to know you find this helpful!
And yes, hubby is doing much better–starting to get bored and antsy! 🙂 I’m feeling like things are really going to be “normal” again soon! 😉
Oh my goodness! As I read this, I realized even half of HHMM is too much for me… yet. Even as a regular T-Tapper, I was having terrible brain fog and needing naps (and I never need naps) doing this. Guess that tells me I have more adrenal issues than I realized. Will start over back with instructional doing three moves and hopefully I won’t feel that bone-crushing fatigue this go-round.
Keep me posted on how you feel, Heather. Hopefully 3 moves a day will do the trick! I want you to feel amazing, not bone weary! {{{HUGS}}}
I appreciate the hints about chair workouts. I had major foot surgery at the end of May and still can’t do weight bearing, but I really need to do something with exercise! I’d love as many hints as possible to get back to TTapp.
Jennifer, I’ve known people to lose inches and tone up even in the chair! 🙂 I’ll keep that in mind for future blog posts–you really can do a lot in a chair from many of the workouts!
Thanks so much for sharing! I found HHMM overwhelming…
I understand, Misty! Let me know how splitting it up goes for you!
Trisch,
I was on the T-tapp forums and wound up on your blog searching for help with hormones. I always love your advice! I am 49 and am hypothyroid and in perimenopause. I take NP thyroid hormone daily. I don’t have diagnosed adrenal problems, but I have tested a little high for cortisol before. I decided to wean off sex hormones at my last doctor visit with his ok. That was 8 weeks ago. I haven’t had any hot flashes, but I have gained 4 lbs and an inch on my abdomen. Yikes! My diet is pretty clean and relatively low carb. I keep in some good carbs so I can sleep. For workouts I usually do BWO + or SATI and on some days I walk outside. I do something 5-6 days per week. I am not exhausted at all. I have HHMM but I only have done it 3 times. I did feel it in my upper and lower back the next day, but not my abs, so I put it away. However, I want to do what my body needs. Do I need to really give it a better try for hormone balance before I gain 20 lbs??? If so what schedule would you recommend? To me it seems pretty easy. Maybe I am not activating completely or something. Thanks in advance.
Sheri, I apologize for not seeing this until now.
If you’re not feeling it in your abs, my guess is you are not activating the core to tuck. Getting against a wall to curl your core can help, too. You’ll need to have the feet out about 4-6 inches from the wall to be able to tuck under. Initiate the tuck with your core muscles, then tighten glutes after you get tucked under. Then lift ribs to get upper back against the wall. That should help!
I would start with the Instructional again, doing about half the workout at a time. Right before Oil Wells is a good place to stop. Be sure to do the Spinal Curl before picking up where you left off.
Doing half the workout at a time is doable for most people with health/hormonal issues, but some do need to back off to 3 moves per day. Please let me know if you need more activation tips! I do have an offering for the 60 Day Challenge that slowly walks you through the T-Tapp stance as well as fascia stretches and some arms moves. It’s called Amazing Activation Tips and it is reasonably priced if you want to check it out.