Menopause is not a muscle cliff. Pool every human study we have and lean mass is about 2.5% lower in perimenopause and 5.7% lower after it, compared with premenopausal women. Menopause spans a decade. Plain aging over a decade costs 4 to 7%. Same number. No hormone cliff required. Still not convinced? Give the estrogen back. Twelve randomized trials, 4474 women: hormone therapy moved lean mass by 0.06 kg. Nine more trials found nothing for strength. Now the part that matters. Postmenopausal women gain strength and muscle from lifting the same as premenopausal women do, and relative to where they start, the same as men do. Perimenopause is rough, and the aches are real, but the muscle's response to training isn't broken. And no, more protein won't "overcome anabolic resistance." That's a bigger nail for a rock. Anabolic resistance is mostly muscle you're not using. Train the rock. Light or heavy, it doesn't matter for growth. Two or three times a week, push the last few reps, keep ...