Exercises To Help You Through Perimenopause and Menopause

Blogs27 Aug 2024

The menopausal period can span between 7 to 14 years, meaning that women in their 40-60s must take good care of themselves to manage their symptoms and stay healthy. This period can see a lot of changes in hormonal balance, sleep pattern, and even weight, which is why women must plan and stick to a healthy lifestyle and make necessary modifications to their lives. Exercise is a key part of the menopausal journey. Physical movement becomes an essential way of maintaining muscle mass, bone mass and bone strength, and may even provide other important health benefits.

In this article, we’ll discuss the impact of menopause, how exercise can help and which exercises to try during this period. So let’s get started!

Understanding the Impact of Menopause on Your Body

Since the beginning of perimenopause, our bodies produce less oestrogen. This production of oestrogen decreases further during menopause causing a lower sex drive, vaginal dryness, sleep issues, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, and joint pain. Since oestrogen also affects cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, circulation and blood flow, collagen production in the skin and brain function, a lack of this hormone can impair these health factors as well.

Types of Exercise for Menopausal Women

Before we get into specific types of exercises, it’s important to note that physical activity or exercise as a whole can provide a host of health benefits for our body. Following a regular exercise routine can

• Lower blood pressure
• Help maintain a healthy body weight
• Reduce inflammation
• Decrease the risk of diabetes
• Improve muscle function
• Reduce stress hormones
• Slower heart rate
• Increase good cholesterol and decreases bad cholesterol levels
• Help prevent osteoporosis
• Reduce lower back pain
• Improve mood

1. Cardiovascular Exercise

Menopause can often lead to high abdominal fat, high cholesterol levels and triglycerides. This puts menopausal women at a higher risk for metabolic syndrome and heart conditions. Doing regular cardio exercises may help in increasing cardiac output and HDL levels while reducing LDL or bad cholesterol levels, and blood pressure levels.

Examples: Brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, and dancing.

2. Strength Training

As a woman in your midlife, you might feel a bit intimidated to start strength training and feel like it’s not for you, but you are wrong! Strength training involves weightlifting, working on different muscle groups using resistance bands, and weights or using your own body weight to train by doing squats, lunges, yoga etc. Strength training or resistance training has a multitude of benefits for those above 40. It can help maintain muscle mass and improve mobility. This form of exercise may also help manage chronic conditions like obesity, heart issues, diabetes etc. It may also help sharpen your mind and help you boost your thinking and learning skills.

Examples: Weightlifting, resistance bands, and bodyweight exercises.

3. Flexibility and Balance Exercises

Flexibility and balance exercises typically don’t require any external tools. Individuals must use their bodies to come into different poses that engage a variety of muscles and help improve flexibility. A study done on 29 women found that doing 8 weeks of a pilates class showed a significant decrease in menopausal symptoms, increased lumbar strength, and improved flexibility. Other exercises like yoga too could help alleviate menopausal symptoms and bring women relief.

Examples: Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, and stretching.

A mix of endurance exercise (aerobic), strength exercise, and balance exercise is perfect for menopausal women. All of these may help prevent bone and muscle loss and reduce some menopausal symptoms.

Some Important Tips Before You Begin Exercising

• Consult Your Doctor: If you want to start a new exercise program in your 40s and beyond, it’s advisable to check with your doctor first. They can assess your medical history, and your current health issues and tell you whether you can or cannot do a certain kind of exercise. Consulting your doctor beforehand can help you avoid exacerbating current health issues and preventing injuries.
• Use the right gear: If you want to start a new form of exercise, make sure you have the correct gear like shoes, resistance bands, gloves etc. Having good quality gear can also greatly improve your workouts and keep you away from aches and pains.
• Go to a fitness expert: When starting something new, always consult an expert to help guide you. This could be your trainer at the gym or your yoga teacher. Listen to their advice and follow it to the T if you want to have the best workouts without hurting your body!
• Start Slowly and Gradually Increase Intensity: Just like you can’t climb a mountain on day 1, you can’t run a marathon or do 15 laps of your pool on the first day. Start slowly and steadily building up your workouts and stamina to avoid injuring yourself and hampering your health.
• Listen to Your Body: When we are tired or falling ill, our body sends us signals. You must pay attention to your body and take adequate rest between workouts to ensure that you are healthy and unharmed.
• Make it Enjoyable: Don’t force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy. There are a ton of options when it comes to exercise be it with equipment or without. We encourage you to try a few different types to figure out what you enjoy the most so that you make being healthy a fun time!

Conclusion

In short, exercise can be a great way to manage menopause. Exercise can help reduce the risk of heart conditions, manage weight, boost muscle and bone health, and more. So, if you are someone trying to start exercising in your 40s and 50s, then first, check with your doctor if it’s safe for you to do so. Once you get the go-ahead from your physician, you can consult a fitness expert or coach for the exercise you want to do. This will ensure that you have the right form and prevent injuries. Getting the right gear, choosing activities you genuinely enjoy and listening to your body’s needs are important factors to attend to while embarking on starting an exercise routine. So, start now and get moving!

For more such informational content, follow Right Shift. We discuss the midlife from the health perspective here. We cover all things health, nutrition and ageing, but that’s not all. If you want to prioritise your health immediately, we have tools to help you. Try our health score calculator to understand where you currently stand with your health. This can help you create health goals and make changes. While you’re at it, you can also try our free meal plan creator to get a personalised meal plan based on your goals and preferences. Try these out today to make a positive change in your health!