The Voice Of Fitness Reason Podcast | by Katie Bulmer-Cooke & Frank Sinclair
Jun 16, 2026 · 29 min · 11 segments
This week we've got a very special guest on The Voice of Fitness Reason — Dr. Vic, a GP from Sunderland with a specialist interest in women's health and additional qualifications in menopause. And…
Katie Bulmer-CookeHost
Frank SinclairHostI think I've probably painted quite a bleak picture, but that's how I get some people in with me.
Life is bleak when they come to see me.
And that's what I want.
You know, you're not alone if you are experiencing these symptoms.
This is real.
This is really happening to you.
It's individual to you, but there's loads of stuff that we can do together.
to make people feel better about themselves and feel better about the situation and ultimately control the symptoms.
So the big one that we must never, ever forget is lifestyle measures because that is really, really good for helping with these symptoms.
We're definitely not doomed into a state of being sweaty, fragile messes for the rest of our lives.
Regular exercise is really, really good, especially weight training.
Phew.
Yeah.
Glad you said
Top of the list.
Top of the list.
Because that will, one, we know it improves your self-esteem.
We know it improves your sleep.
But what we really want to do is what I class as putting bone in the bank for when you're older.
Well, weight training especially builds up your muscle strength because as each level drops, you get a condition called sarcopenia which is actually just muscle mass wasting um and you also get thinning of your bones so unless you're regularly weight training those things are likely to decline um as you go you know postmenopausally and maintaining a healthy weight is really good um but a lot of people take up for whatever reason cardio at this time in their lives and i generally tell people not to a couple of reasons for that um it pushes your cortisol levels up with, you know, extensive cardio and they're not quite getting into the realms of either really high intensity but low duration exercises or the standard, you know, just walking exercises.
They're doing these hybrid classes which are whether just in the middle zones of the heart rate and actually that just pushes your cortisol level up.
With the hormone shift, cortisol levels change during perimenopause anyway.
A lot of women complain about central storage of fat when they've never had it before.
You know, it used to be bums and thighs.
I think I've probably painted quite a bleak picture, but that's how I get some people in with me.
Life is bleak when they come to see me.
And that's what I want.
You know, you're not alone if you are experiencing these symptoms.
This is real.
This is really happening to you.
It's individual to you, but there's loads of stuff that we can do together.
to make people feel better about themselves and feel better about the situation and ultimately control the symptoms.
So the big one that we must never, ever forget is lifestyle measures because that is really, really good for helping with these symptoms.
We're definitely not doomed into a state of being sweaty, fragile messes for the rest of our lives.
Regular exercise is really, really good, especially weight training.
Phew.
Yeah.
Glad you said
Top of the list.
Top of the list.
Because that will, one, we know it improves your self-esteem.
We know it improves your sleep.
But what we really want to do is what I class as putting bone in the bank for when you're older.
Well, weight training especially builds up your muscle strength because as each level drops, you get a condition called sarcopenia which is actually just muscle mass wasting um and you also get thinning of your bones so unless you're regularly weight training those things are likely to decline um as you go you know postmenopausally and maintaining a healthy weight is really good um but a lot of people take up for whatever reason cardio at this time in their lives and i generally tell people not to a couple of reasons for that um it pushes your cortisol levels up with, you know, extensive cardio and they're not quite getting into the realms of either really high intensity but low duration exercises or the standard, you know, just walking exercises.
They're doing these hybrid classes which are whether just in the middle zones of the heart rate and actually that just pushes your cortisol level up.
With the hormone shift, cortisol levels change during perimenopause anyway.
A lot of women complain about central storage of fat when they've never had it before.
You know, it used to be bums and thighs.
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