Floor (50) has been playing hockey since she was eleven. Initially with an oversized stick and shin guards that kept slipping down, later as a teenager who trained more and more intensively. Eventually, she even played in the top league for a while. Hockey wasn’t just something she did; it was part of who she was.
From the age of eleven, I was already on the hockey pitch. Hockey was my greatest passion and, in fact, it still is.
She knew her body as strong, reliable, and predictable. Even after her time in the top league, hockey remained a constant in her life. Not at the same level, but still seriously and passionately, with training sessions, matches, and a team rhythm that shaped her weeks. After a tough match, she knew exactly what to expect: stiff thighs the next day, a bit worse on the second day, and then it would subside. Until that pattern began to change around the age of forty-eight.
“Muscle soreness was just part of it. In fact, I almost recognised it as a kind of system in my body. A tough match, a few days of stiff legs, proper recovery, and then back at it.”
That predictability gave her a sense of control. She knew what normal muscle soreness felt like. She knew when she needed rest and when she could start building up again. Her body responded in a way she understood.
Around the age of forty-eight, Floor noticed that muscle soreness started to occur more frequently. Not just after an intense training session or a demanding match, but also at times when she hadn’t done anything particularly strenuous.
“Sometimes it would happen after a regular workday. Or even during a quiet week. Then I’d think: where is this coming from?”
At first, she looked for explanations that fit her old sports logic. Maybe she had moved the wrong way. Maybe she hadn’t slept well. Maybe she was just slightly out of her usual rhythm. “Those kinds of explanations matched how I knew myself. I was someone who understood her body and could adjust accordingly.”
But this was no longer so easy to explain. The muscle soreness felt less connected to exertion, less predictable, and therefore less familiar.
I’m used to understanding my body in terms of strain and recovery. That has always been my language.
When Floor thinks back to the start of this change, she particularly remembers one morning. She woke up and immediately felt that her body was different. “It wasn’t really pain. More like a deep stiffness that was already there before I had even done anything.”
When she got out of bed, she felt it immediately in her legs. They were heavier and stiffer than usual. Not like the familiar muscle soreness after sports, but something she couldn’t quite place. “At first, I thought: maybe I just slept in a bad position. That happens to everyone sometimes.” But the feeling lingered throughout the day. At work, she noticed she was more irritable than usual. A meeting that dragged on too long. People who didn’t get straight to the point. Small things affected her more than they normally would.
At the same time, her body felt noticeably present. Her shoulders were tense. Her legs felt heavy, as if she had already exerted herself without doing anything. “That was completely new to me. There was no clear cause, but I felt it all the time.”
Floor kept going as she always had. Working, training, playing hockey, and moving forward. The pitch still felt familiar, almost like a second home. “The warm-up was still okay. But I noticed that my muscles were responding differently. Less flexible. Recovering more slowly between efforts.”
After training sessions, the feeling lingered longer. Not the familiar muscle soreness she knew so well as an athlete, but a general fatigue in her muscles that didn’t really go away.
Then came a moment she couldn’t ignore. “During a movement on the pitch, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my lower leg. I hadn’t fallen, and I hadn’t made any strange move that I could point to. Just a step, a push-off, and suddenly it happened.”
Later, it turned out her Achilles tendon had ruptured. “I had never experienced anything so painful. That was truly a point of no return.”
Not because that one injury explained everything, but because she could no longer ignore the bigger pattern. Her recovery was slower than she was used to, and the muscle soreness that had been lingering in the background for months suddenly took on more significance.
It wasn’t one injury. It wasn’t one bad week. It was something that had been going on for a while.
During her rehabilitation, Floor had time to reflect on what was happening. Gradually, she began to see a pattern: muscle soreness she could no longer predict, slower recovery, and the feeling that her body sometimes felt “full” without a clear reason.
Other vague symptoms also started to emerge. Things she had initially seen as separate began to connect. And more and more, one word came up: menopause. “At first, I thought: that can’t be it, right? I still felt young. Especially too young for menopause.”
Through stories in the media, podcasts, and conversations with other women, she started reading more about it. In her mind, menopause was mostly about hot flushes and poor sleep. “Not about how your muscles recover. Or how your tendons respond to strain.”
When she discussed it with her doctor and physiotherapist, something began to shift. She learned that hormonal changes, including changes in oestrogen, can be linked to muscle recovery, connective tissue, and physical resilience. That didn’t mean everything was suddenly easy to explain. Her Achilles tendon, her sports load, the phase she was in, and her recovery all played a role. But it did provide direction.
“It was confronting, but also enlightening. Suddenly, pieces started to fall into place.”
Fortunately, Floor didn’t stop playing hockey. However, she started to approach her training differently. No longer focusing solely on strength, intensity, and pushing through, but also on recovery. “I had to take rest more seriously. I used to underestimate that, really.”
She began using strength training more consciously to support her body. She also paid more attention to sleep and nutrition. “I was always mindful of nutrition, especially because I played so much sport. But now I’ve started tracking my protein intake with an app.”
She found that quite challenging. Additionally, she started using supplements, including magnesium and omega-3. “I used to think supplements were nonsense. I never thought I’d end up using them myself. But I’ve done a complete 180. For me, they’ve really become resources.”
Not because one thing solved everything, but because the combination helped her: training differently, recovering better, paying more attention to nutrition, and listening more closely to her body’s signals.
I’m still that passionate hockey player. That’s deeply ingrained in me. Now I read my body differently.
For Floor, it was important to understand that muscle soreness, stiffness, and slower recovery don’t automatically mean you’re “just getting older” or need to train harder. At the same time, she believes it’s important to have symptoms properly evaluated. “You shouldn’t just blame everything on menopause. But you also don’t have to pretend nothing is changing.”
If you experience persistent muscle soreness, tendon issues, injuries, or noticeably slower recovery, it’s wise to discuss what’s going on with a doctor, physiotherapist, or other healthcare professional. Especially if the symptoms are affecting your sport, work, or daily life.
What Floor wants to share with other women is that you should take yourself seriously if your body suddenly starts reacting differently than you’re used to. “Especially if you’ve always been active, it’s easy to think: just push through. But sometimes your body needs a different approach. Not because you’ve become less, but because something is changing.”
Floor is still a hockey player. Still passionate. She just reads her body differently now, with more attention to recovery, strength, nutrition, and rest. “With my resources, I can still do the things in life that make me happy. That’s the most important thing for me.”
Are you wondering if your symptoms might be related to menopause? Menopause test can provide you with an initial insight.
