YOUR MUSCLES ARE TALKING. AND YOUR WHOLE BODY IS LISTENING.

By Chrissy Sundt | The Midlife Movement Method™️

I’ve always regarded movement as medicine.

Long before I understood the science, long before words like myokines, neuroplasticity and longevity became part of our everyday wellness vocabulary, I knew instinctively that movement had an extraordinary ability to heal, restore and strengthen.

My relationship with movement began, of course, with ballet. I started professional training at just ten years old, and for much of my childhood and early adulthood, my body was my instrument, my discipline and, in many ways, my identity.

Then came an ankle injury that ended my ballet career. I can still remember arriving at a Pilates studio for rehabilitation, discovering an entirely different way of understanding and working with my body.

After years of pushing it to perform, here was a practice asking me to listen. To notice the smallest movements. To understand alignment. To rebuild strength from the inside out. To work with my body rather than constantly demanding more from it. It was a revelation.

Pilates didn’t just help me heal, it helped me rediscover what my body was capable of, and that experience shaped the direction of my professional life.

More than 25 years later, having spent much of my career teaching movement, exploring different disciplines and helping others develop healthier relationships with their bodies, that belief has only deepened.

Movement really is medicine. Not simply because it makes us stronger or more flexible, but because of how it makes us feel: more connected, more energised, more capable ad more like ourselves.

But here’s what I find particularly fascinating. It turns out there’s far more happening beneath the surface than even I appreciated and the science is beginning to explain why movement can have such profound effects on our health, particularly as we navigate perimenopause, menopause and the decades beyond.

Your muscles have a secret life

When we think about our muscles, we tend to think about what they do physically.

They help us lift things, climb stairs, maintain our posture, carry our shopping, dance, run and move through the world. We might also think about how they look: muscle tone, definition, body composition. But scientists increasingly understand that our muscles have another remarkable function: they communicate.

Skeletal muscle is now recognised as an endocrine organ, meaning it can produce and release signalling molecules that influence processes elsewhere in the body. These molecules include a group known as myokines.

When our muscles contract during exercise, they can release myokines that act as chemical messengers, communicating with other tissues and organs. Some are involved in regulating inflammation. Others play roles in metabolism, energy balance and how our bodies respond to physical activity.

Think about that for a moment. Your muscles aren’t simply carrying out instructions from your brain, they’re participating in a much bigger conversation throughout your body and every time we exercise, we’re influencing that conversation.

It’s a rather beautiful thought, isn’t it? That something as familiar as moving our bodies can set off such an extraordinary series of biological processes.

The fascinating connection between muscle and brain

One of the areas of research that particularly interests me is the relationship between physical movement and brain health because, like so many women navigating midlife, I’ve become increasingly interested in protecting not only my physical strength but also my cognitive health.

Our ability to think clearly, remember, concentrate, learn and remain mentally agile matters enormously to our quality of life and exercise appears to play an important role.

One of the most interesting pieces of this puzzle is a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. You may have heard it described as something like fertiliser for the brain. It’s a rather simplistic analogy, but it helps explain its function.

BDNF supports the health of neurons, the connections between them and the brain’s remarkable ability to adapt and learn. This adaptability is known as neuroplasticity.

Research suggests that physical exercise can influence BDNF and other biological pathways associated with brain health. Scientists are also exploring how signals originating in working muscles might contribute to some of these effects.

The precise mechanisms are complex, and we shouldn’t assume that every myokine travels directly to the brain or that all the benefits of exercise can be attributed to one particular molecule. But the broader picture is compelling.

Movement is not simply something we do with our bodies. It’s something we do for our brains and I find that incredibly empowering. Particularly when I think about the different types of movement I’ve loved throughout my life.

The concentration required to master a complex Barre sequence. The coordination involved in learning lots of choreography. The awareness and precision of Pilates and the balance, breath and focus of yoga. Each modality asks something slightly different of our bodies and brains.

We know that regular physical activity supports cognitive health, while activities involving coordination, learning and concentration offer additional opportunities to challenge our nervous system.

I love the idea that movement can be both physical training and an opportunity to keep learning. It reinforces something I’ve always believed, namely that the best movement practices don’t simply make us stronger. They keep us engaged, curious and connected to our bodies.

Why this matters during perimenopause and menopause

Now, let’s bring this conversation back to midlife because I think this is where understanding our muscles becomes particularly important.

During perimenopause and menopause, fluctuating and eventually declining oestrogen levels can influence several aspects of our physical health. Changes in body composition, fat distribution, muscle function and metabolic health can become more noticeable. Age-related muscle loss also becomes increasingly relevant.

This doesn’t mean that every woman will experience dramatic muscle loss during menopause, or that hormonal changes alone determine what happens to our bodies.

Our activity levels, nutrition, sleep, genetics and general health all play important roles.

But it does mean that maintaining and developing muscle is one of the most valuable investments we can make in our future health and not simply because we want to look toned.

Muscle is essential for our physical independence. It supports our joints and bones, helps us maintain balance and contributes to healthy glucose regulation. When muscles contract, they can take up glucose from the bloodstream, including through pathways that don’t depend on insulin. Regular exercise can also improve insulin sensitivity, helping our bodies manage blood sugar more effectively.

Meanwhile, the signalling molecules released by working muscles are part of the complex relationship between physical activity, metabolism and inflammation. In other words, muscle matters far beyond the mirror.

And here’s the part I really want women to remember; our muscles remain adaptable throughout life. We can improve strength and physical function well into older age.

We can learn new movement skills and we can become more capable.

There is no magical birthday after which our bodies stop responding to intelligent training and I think that’s a far more encouraging message than the constant reminders of everything we’re supposedly losing in menopause.

But strength doesn’t begin and end with lifting weights. If you’ve been reading my Substack for a while, you’ll know this is a subject I’ve been exploring quite a lot recently.

I’m a huge advocate of resistance training, and I’ve spent the past year deliberately expanding my own experience of weight training in the gym. Progressive overload, heavier weights, unfamiliar machines and even pull-ups have all become part of my movement education.

It’s been challenging, occasionally intimidating and wonderfully empowering but it has also reinforced something I feel very strongly about. We need to stop presenting strength training as though there’s only one way to do it.

Heavy resistance training has important and distinctive benefits, particularly for developing maximal strength, and it deserves a place in many women’s movement routines but strength can also be developed through other forms of appropriately challenging resistance exercise.

Pilates, Barre and functional movement can all contribute to muscular strength and endurance, depending on how they’re programmed and progressed.Other forms of movement bring benefits that strength training alone may not fully address.

For example, Yoga can help us explore mobility, balance, body awareness and breath. Walking supports cardiovascular and metabolic health. Dance challenges coordination, rhythm, memory and agility. Restorative movement can help us unwind, reconnect and recover.

These aren’t interchangeable activities. Nor do they all deliver the same physiological adaptations and that’s precisely the point. A healthy, capable body needs more than one kind of movement and this is something I think we’re losing sight of in the current conversation around women’s fitness.

There seems to be an endless stream of instructions about what we must do in midlife:

lift heavier, eat more protein, train harder, do more.

And while some of that advice is grounded in genuinely important research, I worry that the conversation can become so prescriptive that women lose their connection to movement itself.

The pleasure of it. The intuition. The feeling of inhabiting a body that moves beautifully and feels strong. Surely, we can embrace the science without losing those things? I certainly believe we can.

Train the woman, not the cycle

This brings me back to one of the founding principles of The Midlife Movement Method™️. Train the woman, not the cycle.

As we navigate perimenopause, our experiences can be enormously varied. Some days we feel energised, motivated and ready to challenge ourselves. Other days we might be managing disrupted sleep, fatigue, stiffness or simply the demands of a very full life.

Rather than following rigid rules based on where we supposedly are in our hormonal cycle, I believe we need to become better at understanding our individual needs.

That doesn’t mean abandoning structure or progression. Quite the opposite. A thoughtfully designed movement programme gives us a framework within which we can adapt.

Some days that might mean challenging our muscles with heavier resistance. Other days it might mean a dynamic Barre session, a restorative Pilates practice or a long walk outdoors and sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is rest.

The key is understanding that different types of movement serve different purposes.

We need enough challenge to stimulate adaptation, enough variety to support our broader health and enough recovery to allow those adaptations to happen.

This is what I mean by intelligent movement. Not simply exercising more but moving with greater understanding and intention and regarding movement as an investment in our future selves

There’s another reason this science resonates with me so deeply. As I’ve moved through my forties, I’ve become increasingly interested in the idea of longevity.

Not simply living longer, but living better. I want to feel strong, energetic and capable in my sixties, seventies and eighties. I want to travel, explore, dance, swim, hike and continue discovering what my body can do.

I want to maintain my independence and my curiosity and I want the same for the women I work with.

When we begin to understand the extraordinary relationship between muscle, movement and our wider health, exercise starts to take on a different meaning. It becomes less about chasing a particular body shape and more about protecting the things that make life wonderful.

• Our ability to move freely.

• Our confidence in our physical capabilities.

• Our metabolic and cardiovascular health.

• Our cognitive wellbeing.

• Our capacity to keep doing the things we love.

Of course, movement isn’t a cure-all. It cannot prevent every illness or replace appropriate medical care but regular physical activity is one of the most consistently supported ways to improve our chances of ageing well.

And perhaps that’s the most powerful message of all, we have more influence over our future health than we sometimes realise. Not complete control, none of us has that but meaningful influence and much of it begins with the small decisions we make today.

My movement prescription for midlife

So, knowing what we now know about muscle, metabolism and brain health, what should we actually do?

I think the answer is both simpler and more nuanced than much of the advice we’re given. We need to build a varied, sustainable movement practice that supports the whole person. One that includes progressive resistance training to develop and maintain strength.

We need to incorporate movement that challenges our cardiovascular system. Practices that support mobility, balance and coordination and opportunities to learn, concentrate and challenge our brains. And, perhaps most importantly, we need sufficient rest and recovery.

For me, this might look like a combination of STRONG, Barre, Pilates, yoga, walking and dedicated strength training. For someone else, the combination might be completely different.

What matters is that we understand what each element contributes and build a routine that works for our bodies and our lives because consistency is enormously importan and let’s face it, we’re far more likely to remain consistent with movement that feels rewarding rather than punishing.

This is one of the reasons I’ve never wanted The Midlife Movement Method to be simply another collection of workouts. I want it to help women understand why they’re moving, how different forms of movement support their health and when to challenge themselves or adapt.

I want women to feel informed and empowered, rather than overwhelmed by another set of fitness rules and above all, I want them to rediscover the pleasure of feeling strong, feminine and capable in their bodies.

A final thought

When I think back to that young dancer arriving at a Pilates studio with an injured ankle and a rather uncertain future, I realise just how much that experience changed my relationship with movement.

At the time, I understood its healing potential through what I could feel: the gradual return of strength, the improvement in mobility, the renewed confidence in my body and perhaps most importantly, the realisation that movement could be something nurturing rather than simply demanding.

Today, the science offers us an even richer understanding of why physical activity matters. Our muscles are not simply engines of movement, they’re active participants in the extraordinary communication systems that help regulate our health. The choices we make about how we move can influence far more than our physical appearance.

So yes, I still believe movement is medicine. Perhaps more passionately than ever but now I understand that the benefits extend far beyond the muscles and joints I first set out to rehabilitate all those years ago.

Movement is an investment in our strength, our minds, our independence and our future selves. And the wonderful thing? We can begin making that investment at any age.

With love,

Chrissy x

Founder, The Midlife Movement Method™️

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A little more on the science (for those that want it!)

For anyone interested in exploring the research behind this article, these are useful starting points.

Pedersen & Febbraio (2012)

Muscles, exercise and obesity: skeletal muscle as a secretory organ.

Nature Reviews Endocrinology.

A foundational review exploring how skeletal muscle functions as a signalling organ and how muscle-derived molecules influence other tissues.

Severinsen & Pedersen (2020)

Muscle–Organ Crosstalk: The Emerging Roles of Myokines.

Endocrine Reviews.

A detailed exploration of the communication between skeletal muscle and other organs, including its relevance to metabolism and inflammation.

Erickson et al. (2011)

Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

An influential human study examining aerobic exercise, hippocampal volume and memory in older adults.

World Health Organization (2020)

WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour.

Evidence-based recommendations for physical activity, strength training and healthy ageing.

Editorial note

I think this piece establishes a particularly important distinction for MMM.

We’re not simply telling women to exercise because it’s good for them. We’re helping them understand the extraordinary things their bodies are capable of, and how to support those capabilities through midlife and beyond.

It also introduces an idea I would love to develop further in your thought leadership:

Movement is medicine. Intelligent movement is the prescription.

That feels like a very natural extension of the MMM philosophy.

It brings together your personal history, 25-plus years of teaching experience, the emerging science of muscle and your belief in a more intuitive, varied approach to training.

And crucially, it positions you as someone who can interpret the science and translate it into a movement practice women can actually enjoy and sustain.