Exercising during Menopause
It’s no longer about HIIT or heavy weight lifting, it’s now about aerobic exercise for CV health and it’s about low weight resistance training for bone strength. Read on to understand WHY this is important: You can work out with weights or by just using your body weight – or both with a PT to show you how (that’s me!!!) You can work out with weights or by just using your body weight – or both with a PT to show you how (that’s me!!!)
Despite being exhausted, suffering from hot flushes and night sweats, feeling a lack of self confidence and generally just not feeling well, many women still feel that if they don’t go to the gym, they won’t lose weight. They’ve heard that weight lifting is good for the menopause as it builds bone strength and therefore prevents osteoporosis and that HIIT is the best way to burn fat so, despite not knowing how to really interpret this with relation to the changes taking place in their bodies – off they go to the gym. They work out, sweat, strain, adversely put on weight, sleep badly and become trapped in a vicious circle that can lead to depression and absolute frustration at the lack of weight loss – all because they don’t really understand how our menopausal changing body now reacts to intense exercise.
1. The menopause transition is associated with a natural decline in muscle mass and therefore in strength.
2. Menopause changes our blood vessels and for some ladies, heavy resistance training can cause hypertension (high blood pressure)
3. As our oestrogen declines and our oestrogen receptors die off, our arteries are no longer as flexible as they were so it’s important to partake in aerobic exercise to keep the blood flowing freely, keep the arteries supple and to deliver those important nutrients around the body.
4. If you’re not sleeping well, exercise tolerance is lowered because blood pressure remains higher than usual.
Ladies, our bodies have changed so our behaviour needs to change.
It’s no longer about HIIT or heavy weight lifting, it’s now about aerobic exercise for CV health and it’s about low-weight resistance training for bone strength Buy some dumbbells and perform 10-12 reps of strength training exercises twice a week for your arms, shoulders and back. Buy some dumbbells and perform 10-12 reps of strength training exercises twice a week for your arms, shoulders and back.
How the menopause affects our tolerance to exercise.
Are you sleeping 7-8 hours each night?
Sleep helps with the regulation of growth hormone production, which is involved in pathways that help tissue anabolism (growth), including muscles.
Which stage of menopause are you in?
In peri-menopause, your ovaries (if you have them) are still producing oestrogen and progesterone which assists in muscle mass and strength.
If you’re in post-menopause, then you don’t have the benefit of higher levels of reproductive hormones so your muscles also start to lose their power fibres (Type 2)
How are your Vitamin D levels?
This powerful nutrient is now understood to be a hormone and it is involved in calcium absorption calcium plays a crucial role in muscle contraction and power output when you are training. Check your levels!
How are your iron and stored iron (ferritin) levels?
Optimal iron levels are a pre-requisite mineral for sleep as well as improved oxygen delivery to working muscles. If you aren’t recovering or you feel more breathless, or your hot flushes are through the roof or you have very low body fat, then get your iron and ferritin levels checked. How much protein do you eat? Having too much protein increases your risk for gut, renal and liver inflammation. Remember to vary your protein sources and not eat a lot of the saturated fat that can come with animal protein.
Do you give yourself time to recover in between workouts?
Women in menopause may take longer to recover, especially if liver and gut health isn’t ideal. Inflammatory changes during menopause in the gut and liver affect the absorption of nutrients such as B vitamins, which are involved in numerous energy regulation and production pathways.
Do you have enough healthy carbohydrates in your diet?
Menopausal women are often told to focus on proteins and fats these days, but this could be to the detriment of energy-giving carbohydrates. These not only help you to replace vital glucose into liver and muscle cells to help your recovery, thus helping you to restore your stored glucose (glycogen) levels ready for your next training bout, but certain types of carbohydrate, help your gut health by giving you resistant starch. We NEED carbs, don’t cut them out. Ever!
Are you taking the correct supplements for your ageing muscles, including your heart?
Women in menopause who suffer from poor gut health are often not getting all the nutrients they need: B vitamins, for your energy; Vitamin C, which helps to repair collagen that you are breaking down in your heavy training bouts and CoQ10 for your ageing heart – afterall, this is a muscle that bears the brunt of heavy training such as resistance training, as well.
How to train in the Menopause
Make a schedule and commit to what you plan to do for exercise that week. Make a schedule and commit to what you plan to do for exercise that week.
The recommended training schedule for women in menopause is 5 days a week of moderate exercise of 30 minutes: walking, stairs, elliptic trainer, dancing, swimming, and cycling on a flat.
3 days a week of more intense aerobic exercise of 20 minutes: running, tennis, swimming 2 days a week of resistance/strength training: Bicep curls, military press, shoulder shrugs, single arm bent over row, bent knee push-ups, squats, toe raises, tabletop crunches (for example) 8 – 12 reps each. (Obviously, if you’re already doing these, you can increase the load, this is more of a starting point)
Contact me for PT sessions that are 100% tailored to what you need in menopause because, after all, that’s what I’m trained to do!