
Do you believe in faith? I do. I believe everything happens for a reason. And for some reason I came across Pippa Crowther’s profile on Instagram, on the back of another lifter posting about her achievements. I was intrigued. Who is this woman, a gold medallist in Olympic Weightlifting in both the British and English Masters Championship with menopause in her handle?
I’ve been working within the menopause sphere for the last 3 years observing what’s happening in the industry and I must say, regrettably, that we moved from the initial ‘let’s talk about menopause with a view to educate ourselves’ to ‘let’s talk about menopause to whinge and complain’.
So, when this mythological creature crossed my Instagram screen, I had to know more.
IF NOT NOW, WHEN? boldly shines at the top of Pip’s profile. Yes, it’s in capital letters.
Okay, I think to myself, that’s my girl. Let’s chat.
And so, we chatter for a good 90 minutes, and I am blown away. But let’s start from the beginning.

Pip comes from a nursing background, spending many years working initially as an ICU nurse in the Intensive Care Unit in Charing Cross Hospital and then as a Nurse Practitioner within the sexual health field.
She always had a history of ‘bad back’, which she was managing on and off for years. However, one day, not doing anything strenuous, just simply opening a filing cabinet at work, her back went again. This time for good.
She was forced to retire from her dream job, and with the standard advice, given too frequently at that time, of pills and rest, she gradually became housebound and registered disabled.
She saw a multitude of specialists but left with: ‘you’ll never walk unaided again’.
Eventually, not giving up, she saw yet another specialist and the decision was made to have a prosthetic disc put in her spine. A novelty at the time, just past its medical trials, she opted to go for it.
The pain was so bad that for her surgery she had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance on a stretcher.
Miraculously, after almost a decade of being classified as disabled, and only 10 days post-op, she was able to leave the hospital, on crutches, but walking. Walking! Her pain was gone.
‘This was the beginning of the new me.’ - she says. ‘But I had to re-learn how to live my life again. After all these years of being housebound, and thinking that this is it, this is what my life is going to be, I was given another chance.’
There was no rehab available at this time for a prosthetic disc, she had to do her own. This got Pip thinking how she could help people like her with severe back pain and/or post-surgery.
After making enquiries, she discovered that the only way was to become a PT. She wasn’t sure at first as she felt that she did not look like a stereotypical PT plus there were very few female PTs out there, and even fewer her age or build.
She became a PT anyway coaching clients to this day. The feedback she often gets is that it’s refreshing to see an older PT, someone who has lived life and understands pain and ‘looks real’! ‘People say they don’t feel threatened by me.’
So, what inspired you to start Olympic Weightlifting, I ask. She laughs here, as the first time she tried it, she absolutely hated it! Ha! I think to myself, I hear you girl, it’s a lot to take in at first!

Luckily, a year into her weightlifting journey, she is told about women’s only sessions called ‘She Lifts’ and gives it a go. The rest is history. Pip says, she loved absolutely everything about these sessions: the environment, the fact that there were so many different women there, the way how the two lifts were explained – it all just suddenly clicked, it all made sense. She was hooked.
‘You know what I loved about it so much? The support. That it didn’t matter that I was twenty-thirty years older than some of these women. It was all about inclusiveness, not your age, size or ability.
A year and a half ago she decided to give competing a go. Her first competition she chose based on ‘where nobody knows me’. Haha, I think to myself again, that sounds familiar.
So, off she goes to compete at the Lakeside Weightlifting Club. This qualified her for the British Masters Championship. ‘I wasn’t sure I wanted to participate at first but when I finally decided to go for it, I had NO idea how big a thing it was. I had to submit not only a Bio but also a walk on stage song!” The song was subsequently cut for all athletes.
She did it and won. And she had an amazing time. Again, she met a lot of inspiring women during the comp and backstage: ‘The support from the other women in my category, peers and coaches was incredible’. They kept checking on her and seeing how she was doing.
Half a year later she competed at the English Masters, again placing in gold.

As all of this was taking place, her menopause transition started to kick in. In fact, it had started about 5 years beforehand but, as most of us women do, she initially brushed the symptoms aside. Again, that sounds familiar, I’ve heard the same story so many times from other women.
There was a time she says: ‘I just felt like I was going crazy, like I was losing my mind. And I didn’t want to tell anyone because it just sounds crazy, with all these thoughts going through your mind.’
There were a lot of dark days where her mood was very low. “I am a typical Gemini” she says, ‘So I blamed my personality. I can get very high some days and very low some other times.’
One of her most debilitating symptoms was extreme fatigue.
‘When it hit, I could have just simply laid down in the middle of the M25 and fallen asleep.’
This was exacerbated by her sudden inability to sleep. Which then fuelled some even more extreme mood swings. ‘It was this sudden irrational anger. Pure rage. It was scary. And I’m not normally an angry person! It was tough. I couldn’t really talk to anybody about it, mostly because most of my friends are scattered around the country plus being a Personal Trainer, it is quite isolating [running your own business].’
She continued training throughout all this time, however there were times where she cried during the whole training session. ‘It wouldn’t be without my amazing coach. On the ‘bad days’ I’d just say that I’m not having a great day without having to elaborate and he knew to just leave it.’
Eventually Pip reached out for help to her local GP. The nurse practitioner said: ‘Sweetie, you are not going mad, you are going through menopause’.
On reflection, Pip is surprised that she didn’t put the two together, but I get it. Even if the information is out there, when you are in the midst of what seems like losing your mind, it’s not obvious at all. Plus, we women, we are so good at finding excuses to why we feel a certain way. It’s almost as if we don’t need other people to gaslight our experience, we’re happy to do it ourselves.
She started on Menopause Hormone Therapy. Patches at first, but the effect was small, if any. Next, they tried Femoston, which is a combined continuous Estradiol and Progesterone in a pill.
Within a month the mood swings levelled out. ‘I felt like me again.’ she chimes.
Even though I know that the monthly bleed is not always an indication of the approaching menopause, as women often experience symptoms (usually neurological symptoms) long before any major menstrual cycle hiccups, still, I ask if there were any clues, any changes to her monthly bleed.
No, she says. She had endometrial ablation back in the day making her monthly bleed very light, almost non-existent.
I think this is a valid point that I chose to include here on purpose. How many times we are dismissed by our doctor if there are no changes to our menstrual cycle?
But what about all these women who have a history of naturally light periods, irregular periods or have a hormonal IUD etc.? You cannot tell! Which only confirms my point, we can only judge if our symptoms are to do with menopause by the symptoms themselves, not by the monthly flow, which in a way is more tangible, unlike our mood in this complicated world!
Pip says that despite MHT her low mood comes back sometimes. It’s not as extreme as before but it certainly is there. She’s learnt how to manage it, partially by herself, partially with the help of her Mindset and Life Coach.
To throw more chaos into the mix, when menopause was starting to kick in, she was also diagnosed with MGUS which is a non-cancerous condition (yet considered pre-cancerous due to a risk of converting to Myeloma) where the body makes an abnormal protein. This condition means regular blood tests and follow up for life. This is where Pip chose to work with a life coach. She found this support extremely valuable.
‘Christie helped me in acceptance of my diagnosis. She gave me strategies to manage the fatigue then latterly visualisation work for comps.’

One sleep tip she gives me is to have naps during the day. ‘Just set your alarm clock and have a 20-minute nap.’
Another tip she gives is to work on spending less time in the Sympathetic Drive. The constant need to always be on the go is a no-no. This also means not training 6 times a week, like she used to, but only 4 times: thrice with a coach and once on her own doing some steady state cardio or some light accessory, body allowing.
She also does somatic yoga 10-20 minutes 5-6 times a week.
I ask, what are the insights you have for our readers as an athlete.
‘You don’t have to die during every workout!’ – to which we both giggle. That is an unfortunate misconception in the fitness industry. The training is not there to make you tired, it’s there to make you better.
‘Also, at this point in my life, I do it because I want to. And because I want to, I allow myself to enjoy it. I wonder if the younger athletes put a lot of more pressure on themselves.’
Another gem: ‘Lifting is great. It’s teaching you that it is okay to fail.’ then she adds: ‘Give it a go, do it where you feel safe, go and have fun and enjoy’.
Asking about her future plans, she says she’s getting ready for the European Masters Championship in Albania in May this year.
And then the World Masters in Japan for her 60th birthday.
If not now, when? I say to myself.
And I cannot stop grinning.

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