Health
How to exercise through menopause and beyond
Is your workout regimen no longer cutting it now that you’ve reached menopause? An exercise physiologist explains why and how you should tweak your exercise routine in midlife.
By Sabrina Rogers-Anderson
Angela had always been active, walking for an hour 3 to 4 times a week and dabbling in some strength training. But when she hit menopause, she felt like she was progressively losing muscle mass and strength.
“I decided I wanted to become stronger – not weaker – as I aged,” says Angela, 58. “I now do three HIIT [high-intensity interval training] classes per week and I increase my weights weekly if I can. I try to challenge my muscles to failure to stimulate muscle growth and increase bone density.”
Angela says that since she changed the way she exercises, she’s gained lean muscle and lost a little body fat, but for her it’s not about being slim or losing weight. “It's about being strong. I'm happy to add bulk if it means I’m healthier and protected in the long term from things like falls and [bone] breaks that will make my life difficult later. I'm building muscle to avoid becoming frail,” she says.
According to Dr Mia Schaumberg, Associate Professor in Physiology at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Angela is on the right track.
“During menopause, the ovaries decline rapidly and eventually stop producing oestrogen,” explains Dr Schaumberg. “That drop in oestrogen affects a lot more than reproductive function; it affects the whole body.
“Oestrogen plays a big role in protecting the heart, blood vessels and brain, and it helps maintain healthy metabolic function, muscles and bones. So, when oestrogen levels drop, all these systems are negatively affected. Doing appropriate exercise helps minimise the negative health impacts of these changes.”
Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you have to ditch your beloved morning walk and sign up for CrossFit (unless you want to).
“You don’t need to completely revamp what you're doing if it’s working for you,” explains Dr Schaumberg. “But making some tweaks to your workout routine during perimenopause and menopause can make a big difference.”
Here are her top 3 things to tweak.
1. Embrace strength training
Building muscle is beneficial at any age, but it becomes crucial during and after menopause.
“Oestrogen loss is associated with very fast declines in muscle and bone health, which can increase the risk of falls and fractures,” says Dr Schaumberg. “Strength training can help to maintain or even improve muscle and bone health at this age.
“It also helps keep chronic disease at bay, improves metabolism and blood sugar control, and helps minimise weight gain around the midsection, which can have a range of health effects.”
A growing body of research shows that resistance training can even help preserve brain health as we age.
“Muscle and bone are highly metabolic tissues, which means that they produce lots of hormones that can protect against changes in the brain and cognitive complaints,” says Dr Schaumberg. “They can also help improve fatigue and sleep quality, which also impact cognition.”
What to do: Try to incorporate at least 2 days of strength training into your weekly exercise routine. No gym membership? No worries.
“Walk up stairs to strengthen your leg muscles and bones,” suggests Dr Schaumberg. “You can also stop at an outdoor gym during your walk and do exercises such as squats, planks and incline push-ups, or do body-weight exercises at home.”
2. Keep up the cardio intensity
There’s a common misconception that women need to pull back on the intensity of their aerobic exercise as they age, but Dr Schaumberg says there’s “absolutely no evidence” of this.
“If you're looking to increase your intensity or you have a chronic condition or injury, it's a good idea to see an exercise physiologist before making any big changes,” she notes. “But if it's something that you’ve done consistently and you enjoy it, by all means keep going.”
It’s also a myth that you should avoid jumping movements such as box jumps or jumping lunges as you get older – unless they could aggravate an existing injury or medical condition.
“Jump training can maintain and even improve bone health, so it can be a great way to mitigate bone loss associated with menopause,” says Dr Schaumberg. “Again, if you have any questions about whether it’s suitable for you, talk to a professional.”
What to do: “The official guidelines are 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise such as brisk walking or swimming, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise like jogging or a cardio fitness class, each week,” advises Dr Schaumberg.
Intense exercise can be more time-efficient if you have a busy schedule, but you can also balance this with days where you walk the dog or do yoga with friends, she says. “Try to incorporate some exercise into your everyday routine and introduce some variety to keep it interesting and fun.”
3. Prioritise warming up, cooling down and recovery
“As you get older and your oestrogen drops, it can take you longer to recover from exercise, so you should listen to your body and rest when you’re feeling sore or fatigued,” says Dr Schaumberg.
It’s also important to prioritise warming up and cooling down before and after workouts. “Making sure your muscles are warmed up before a workout can help reduce soreness and the risk of injury during exercise,” Dr Schaumberg advises.
What to do: Do 5 minutes of dynamic stretching – which involves dynamically moving muscles and joints, not just statically holding a stretch – before you start your workout. Think activities like walking lunges, leg swings and hip circles.
While it’s commonly believed that static stretching – or gently holding a stretch pose – after exercise can also decrease the risk of injury and muscle soreness, there’s no evidence to support these claims. But it can be a relaxing way to cool down and stretch out your muscles, so you might want to do some hamstring, quad and shoulder stretches after your exercise session.
As for the number of rest days you need, you’ll figure it out by trial and error. “Keep in mind that rest days don’t have to mean sitting on the couch,” says Dr Schaumberg. “You can have active recovery days where you go for a walk or do a yoga session.”
It’s all downhill (or maybe uphill!) from here
Menopause doesn’t have to be the beginning of the end of your fitness and vitality. With a few tweaks to the way you move your body, you can stay strong and keep injuries and illness at bay as you age.
The information on this page is general information and should not be used to diagnose any health concerns. Do not use the information found on this page as a substitute for professional health care advice. Any information you find on this page or on external sites which are linked to on this page should be verified with your professional health care provider.
Feature image: iStock/CentralITAlliance
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