Helen, 54 · Export business owner · Anamnagar
20 weeks: lifting for the first time at 54, and 7 cm off her waist
Helen had done yoga for years but had never lifted. Through menopause her weight moved to her waist and her doctor raised her bone health. In 20 weeks with a woman trainer she lost 7 cm from her waist and more than tripled her goblet squat.
- Trainer: Pema Sherpa
- Personal training plan
- 20 weeks
BeforeWeek 1AfterWeek 20Before and after
Tripled her squat at 54, through menopause
Years of yoga, never a weight. Her doctor raised bone health; 20 weeks later she carries the rugs herself again.
- Started
- 18 May 2026
- Length
- 20 weeks
- Trainer
- Pema Sherpa
- Plan
- Personal training
Measured from May 2026 to October 2026, 20 weeks
- Goblet squat
- 6 kg20 kg
- 8 clean reps
- Waist
- 92 cm85 cm
- Tape at the navel, same trainer
- Grip strength
- 22 kg27 kg
- Hand dynamometer, right hand
- Sessions
- 058 of 60
- Ladies-only hour
Before
Where Helen started
Helen started a carpet export business in Kathmandu 20 years ago and still runs the buying trips herself. At 51 menopause began: poor sleep, hot flushes, and weight that settled around her waist for the first time.
She did yoga three times a week and walked every evening. At her last check-up her doctor talked about bone health and suggested strength training. She had never lifted anything heavier than a rolled-up rug.
The turning point
The free session
She came to the ladies-only hour at 6 AM. Pema asked about her sleep, her joints and what her doctor had said before she asked about goals.
Pema started her with a 6 kg goblet squat and step-ups onto a low box, and told her the weights would go up every two weeks if her joints stayed happy.
The plan
The plan Pema wrote
Heavier than she expected, added more slowly than she wanted.
- Three sessions a week with Pema in the ladies-only hour, 6 to 7 AM.
- Squats, lunges, step-ups and presses, with weight added every 2 weeks.
- Yoga kept on Saturdays; the evening walks stayed.
- A food plan from Ritu with protein at every meal, and dahi, paneer and greens for calcium.
- A plan for the wedding season: what to eat first, and one glass of wine, not three.
How it went
Week by week
Week 3
The first real weights
Lunges holding a dumbbell in each hand. She said it was the first exercise in years that made her feel strong rather than flexible.
Week 8
Sleeping through
She slept through the night four times in one week, which she put down to the early sessions. Her waist was down 3 cm.
Week 14
Heavier presses
Overhead presses and front raises at weights that had looked impossible in May, with Pema checking her shoulders every set.
Week 20
Final re-measure
A 20 kg goblet squat for eight, 7 cm off her waist and a grip 5 kg stronger. She moved to two sessions a week and kept training.
The result
What changed in 20 weeks
In 20 weeks Helen went from a 6 kg to a 20 kg goblet squat, from a 92 to an 85 cm waist, and from 22 kg to 27 kg of grip strength. She came to 58 of 60 sessions.
She sleeps better on the days she trains, and carries the rugs up to the showroom herself again.
“I’d been told to slow down. What I needed was to lift more.”
Women in menopause are often told to take it easy. Helen needed the opposite: heavier weights, added slowly, and enough protein to keep the muscle she built.
Pema Sherpa, women’s training lead
What it cost
NPR 15,000 a month, on the Personal training plan
Today’s price, as of 28 October 2026. Gym + classes, with your own trainer for 12 sessions a month.
Who a plan like this suits
A good fit if
- You are in or past menopause and have never lifted.
- Your doctor has suggested strength training.
- You want a woman trainer and the ladies-only hour.
Not a fit if
- You have a condition your doctor hasn’t cleared for exercise. See them first.
- You want a women-only gym all day. The ladies-only hour is 6:00–7:00 AM, Sunday to Friday.
