Best Exercises for Menopause

In this blog I want to show you how to exercise your way through the menopause.

We all know that to be the healthiest, we need to be active during every stage of life, in our 40’s and beyond IT IS CRUCIAL, and what’s exciting is it brings us so many incredible benefits. But what sort of exercise should we be doing during this stage of our lives. We are all different, regarding our lifestyle, ability, and schedules. If you are a beginner, where do you start? Or if you are use to running marathons, then should you be doing something else?

Before we talk about what’s best for us individually, as we are all as unique as our fingerprints, one thing that is sure is that EXERCISE will bring us all the same basic benefits. Exercise will:

• help to strengthen our bones. This will help protect our bone health and help prevent osteoporosis.
• strengthen our heart. The stronger our heart, the more efficient it is as a pump, which will help look after our cardiovascular system and health.
• help to reverse a slowing down metabolism. This will help to control your weight and lose any middle age spread.
• help produce higher levels of the feel-good hormones, so you can help to reduce anxiety and depression.
• help revamp your energy levels (almost instantly).
• help keep your joints mobile. It will also help keep your tendons, ligaments, and muscles flexible. This in turn will give you a fuller range of motion and better posture.

The key is simply about finding the right workout for you. Therefore, I have created 3 fictional characters, all quite different, but all either perimenopausal or menopausal and hopefully you will be able to relate to one of them.

So let me introduce you to

 

Sarah – Single mum of 2 teenagers, part-time PA, never exercised in her life, and lives on a tight budget.

Pandora – Blogger and Designer. Has always dipped in and out of fitness, but not sure what to do now, and is constantly travelling around the world on business.

Mia – Full-time mum and avid runner, and running is her thing, but she’s not sure what else she should be doing.

So, let’s look at the exercises I would suggest for each of them. For Sarah who is a beginner we should start off with easy-to-follow moves that are low-impact, and that are clearly explained, this will give her the confidence to know that what she is doing is correct. These exercises will all be doable moves, so NO BURPEES OR PLANKS which quite frankly would be likely to put off any beginners about exercise in an instant.

I would also suggest she works on just doing 7-minute sessions, as this is a small amount of time that we can all find, and she will be able to squeeze this into her daily routine. This way it is not too daunting. For instance, it could be after the school drop-off, and if she is already in her leggings and t-shirt, then as soon as she is home, she can get indoors and do a free YouTube workout video.

The benefit for Sarah is these workouts are designed to suit her, as all my 7-minute workouts work the full body, and I always show an easier and a harder version. So as a beginner she should like these then as she gets fitter, she can then move up on to another level. These can fit comfortably into her lifestyle and as a busy mum she will be able to do these quick workouts without visiting a gym or investing in equipment.

For Pandora Seeing as she does so much travelling, I would recommend that she focuses on increasing her step count, as she would be sitting a lot while driving, on the train, or plane, so it would be good for her to aim to reach between 8 – 10 thousand steps a day. This is easy to monitor as now nearly every phone has a step counter.

Then she should look at doing some full body workouts. She could make the most of a gym if she is staying in hotels, but if not, any of my Total Body Workouts will work, as she will be using the weight of her own body. As these can be done in a small space, so no matter where she is, these will work. The key for Pandora, as her routine varies from day to day, is to always aim to keep as active as she can and set a goal of at least 4-5 times a week doing those body weight exercises.

The Benefit of these for Pandora is this is all achievable for her, and no matter how hectic her schedule is, she can still get these exercises in. Plus being active is a terrific way to help bring out creativity, so as a business owner she can think up lots more ideas and designs.

For Mia I would suggest some Body Weight Exercises and look at doing some Low Impact HIIT. She will already be cardiovascular fit as a runner, but as running just focuses on engaging your front and back muscles, I would encourage her to mix it up a little and add in some exercises that engage the side of her body too, as this way she will be looking after and protecting her joints. She should also look at trying some Pilates or yoga inspired moves to help increase overall flexibility.

No matter what your ability, and even if you have never exercised in your life, NOW is the time to get going, you won’t regret it, as every workout will make you feel fabulous, help reduce menopausal symptoms, and it will be investing in your future health.