Menopause, Exercise and Fitness
By Andrea Donsky | Fact Checked | Sources
One of the topics that can be very confusing and frustrating about perimenopause and menopause is exercise and fitness. So many women have questions, ranging from "Which exercises are best during menopause?" to "How can I rebuild my muscles during menopause?" and "How can I lose weight in menopause?" and more. All of these are great questions, and while each woman is unique and must find what works and does not work for her, here are some tips and guidelines to start your journey.
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Exercise in menopause: HIIT
First and foremost, you should consult with your physician before starting any exercise program, especially if you are not used to exercising. It’s also recommended that you consult or work with a trainer or coach who is familiar with the nuances of menopause and who can guide you on developing an exercise program that works for you for safety reasons and to reap the most benefits.
Chiropractor Dr. Shelly Burns, a life coach and fitness expert, shares her expertise on exercise in menopause, and her advice may be music to your ears! She notes that “things like HIIT [high-intensity interval training] workouts are better, shorter amounts of time.” Who doesn’t want to save time AND get great results?
If you’re unfamiliar with HIIT, it basically involves engaging in activity at 90 percent capacity for 30 to 60 seconds, followed by 30 to 60 seconds of low activity, and then repeating this cycle 5 to 10 times. For example, you might jog for 30 seconds, walk moderately fast for 60 seconds, and repeat the cycle 5 to 10 times. Always remember to warm up and cool down for 3 to 5 minutes each time you exercise.
“And if you do it right, and you work at 90% capacity for 15 minutes, you'll feel like you did a two-hour workout,” says Burns. “So that's the benefit, too. It's a shorter time, and…you get more benefits in HIIT workouts.”
HIIT allows you to exercise without stressing your body to the point where you can’t recover. Recovery is essential, especially in the menopausal years when women need more recovery, explains Burns. If you don’t allow your muscles and body to rest, your stress level will rise, affecting your mood, sleep, digestion, sex drive, blood pressure, and more. It also fuels inflammation in the body, which in turn can make menopause symptoms worse and harm your overall health.
Exercise in menopause: Strength training
Burns also strongly recommends strength training for women older than 40 because bone and muscle mass decrease over time, along with declining estrogen levels. Again, however, she emphasizes that lifting light weights and other strength-building exercises such as resistance training (e.g., using exercise bands or using your body as resistance with pushups, etc.) should be done in ways that don’t overly stress the body. Strength training can help women tone, strengthen, and rebuild muscle.
You don’t need to go to an expensive gym to do strength training: you can do it at home with a few dumbbells (5 lbs up to 20 lbs is common) and exercise bands for 15 minutes two or three times a week. Use the weights for squats, pressing overhead, or arm curls. You can also use your body weight to develop upper body strength by doing push-ups or pull-ups. Work all areas of the body in each session: biceps, back, chest, thighs, and legs.
Exercise is vital in perimenopause and menopause, and it needs to be done smart: keep stress low, work on strength, allow recovery, and do it regularly (4-5 days of the week). With this recipe, you can enjoy symptom relief, weight control, vitality, and improved mood.
Exercises ease symptoms
If the thought of exercising most days of the week doesn’t sound too appealing, this will hopefully change your mind: you can get relief from some of your perimenopause and menopause symptoms. Numerous research studies have shown that women in perimenopause and menopause who exercise regularly can enjoy these benefits.
For example, 80 women ages 40 to 65 were assigned to one of two groups: exercise three days a week for 60 minutes (including warmup, walking, strength building, and cool down) three days a week for 12 weeks, or a non-exercise group. Women in the exercise group showed significantly improved vitality and mental health compared to controls. They also showed improvement in all quality of life factors compared to controls, including pain, mental health, physical functioning, general health, vitality, and social functioning.
In another 12-week exercise study involving late-perimenopause and postmenopausal women, 106 participated in aerobic exercise three days a week while 142 did not. At the end of the study, women in the exercise group reported greater improvement in insomnia, sleep quality, and depressive symptoms.
Burns notes that many women experience pain as their estrogen levels decline, but exercise and strength training can make them feel better. It will take a few weeks before improvement is apparent, but “you’ll actually start to feel better. Your joints will feel better because when you move, you’re lubricating the joints.”
Protein and exercise
Protein is vital throughout your lifespan, especially in perimenopause and menopause. Why? There are several reasons.
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Researchers note that the body’s need for protein increases during perimenopause because of “hormonally-induced tissue protein breakdown.” Experts also suggest that women need to consume fewer calories in the form of carbs and fats and more protein to compensate for the biological changes associated with menopause. This shift in eating habits and regular exercise can result in weight loss.
The risk of osteoporosis increases in the menopause years, and getting an appropriate amount of protein may improve bone density and bone health. A study from the National Osteoporosis Foundation found that greater protein intake may help protect bone mineral density in the lumbar spine.
Since women begin losing muscle tone and strength in their thirties and beyond, eating enough protein and strengthening exercises can help maintain and regenerate muscle. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism, which in turn can help ward off weight gain.
How much protein do women in menopause need every day? Experts don’t always agree on the exact amount. Still, you can determine your needs based on your factors by using this protein calculator, which factors in age, weight, height, and activity level.
If you are on a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, strength training and protein matter even more, because losing weight quickly also costs some muscle. Here is what the research shows and how to protect it: GLP-1s and muscle loss in menopause.
Creatine for women in perimenopause and menopause
Creatine is one of the most studied supplements for muscle, and the research is strongest when it goes hand in hand with strength training. A 2017 review of 22 trials in adults whose average age was 57 to 70 found that people who took creatine while doing resistance training gained about 1.4 kg (3 pounds) more lean tissue, and more upper and lower body strength, than people who trained without it. If you want to try it, plain creatine monohydrate is the form with the most research behind it.
The bone research is mixed, so we are not going to oversell it. In a 12-month trial in postmenopausal women doing resistance training, the women taking creatine lost less bone at the hip. But a larger 2-year trial from the same research group, with 237 women, found no difference in bone density between creatine and placebo. It did find better-kept hip bone shape, a measure linked to bone strength, so the question is still open.
Creatine also helps fuel the brain’s energy supply, and researchers are looking at whether it helps with the foggy, mentally tired feeling so many of us get at this stage. That research is early. We go through all of it, plus the questions women ask most about weight, bloating and kidneys, in creatine and menopause: what the science says.
Bottom line
If you want to be fit and healthy in menopause, exercise is a key ingredient. A woman’s exercise needs change in perimenopause and menopause, so now is a great time to adjust your fitness plans and protein intake. You’ll feel so much better for it!
