How to Exercise Throughout Menopause
- Holly Kemp
- Sep 4
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 8
Part 1: Meeting Cardiovascular Guidelines with Considerations on How to Potentially Enhance Them for Peri- and Postmenopausal Women. Do you feel like you're doing all the right things/all the things you used to, but you're not getting the body composition changes you were expecting? Peri and post menopause create big physiological and psychological changes that mean what used to work for you no longer does.
While symptoms such as hot flashes, fatigue, weight gain, and joint stiffness can make staying active feel challenging, exercise is actually one of the best tools to help you thrive during this transition.
Stages of Menopause
1. Perimenopause can start from 36-46 yrs
2. Menopause is a single day – the exact day, a year after your last period. The average age for women in the UK is 51
3. Post menopause – the time after – this blog still very much applies to you!
It’s worth noting that while HRT helps alleviate symptoms (1) such as hot flushes and fatigue, it doesn’t act as a total replacement for the decrease in hormones. (2)(3) Therefore, it doesn’t halt all the physiological changes. To help combat these, we need to apply enough stress to the muscles and bones to stimulate the positive changes that used to happen easily. (4)
What are the Menopause exercise guidelines?
There are no specific exercise guidelines for Menopause yet, as more research needs to be conducted. So for now, general guidelines still apply. Below, we will consider how to apply these guidelines whilst taking into account some emerging research that might enhance our approach to working out during menopause. The best workout plan will also take into consideration your individual experience with menopause, lifestyle factors, your goals and what you enjoy doing. But if you feel like you are doing everything right and nothing's changing, I would recommend giving us a call to chat through your circumstances.
General exercise guidelines suggest: (5)
75-150 minutes of Intense cardio per week (i.e. you’re working hard enough that you can’t talk and breathe)
OR 150-300 minutes of moderate cardio per week (i.e. you can talk but you have to stop for a breath)
Plus 2-3 Strength training sessions per week
Plus Flexibility, balance and coordination training (If you do Pilates, you’ll nail these)
One of our goals at HKore is to help our members meet exercise guidelines, but we recognise that they can be overwhelming. To make them more manageable, we recommend starting with small changes, such as trying one Classic or Strength class per week. Most people find they love it so much that they soon start coming 2-3 times a week. But if you don’t, then find something you do love, because when you do, meeting these guidelines becomes much easier!
Other considerations for Menopause:
Consider the following points not as additions to the guidelines, but as tools that may enhance them. They should actually be able to save you time when incorporated smartly.
Plyometrics
Plyometrics are exercises that involve your muscles exerting maximum force very quickly. They are explosive and fast.
Example of Plyometrics: Lunges - jumping to switch legs, Skater jumps, box jumps
Reformer examples: Heavy jumpboard and Scooters, pushing the carriage away and catching, carriage pulls with squat and catch.
Benefits of Plyometrics:
Can help increase Bone mineral/mass density from multidirectional force (6)
Improves the transportation of glucose into the muscle cells (7), which is not as efficient when Oestrogen drops (8)
Increases muscle power, composition (9) and tendon stiffness (10)
There is an acute increase in cortisol (stress response). This is also true for the HIIT and SIT training below, which can be seen as a negative due to the acute stress response they create; however, it’s worth remembering that we are not fragile and our bodies adapt to stress. There’s evidence that we adapt to acute rises in cortisol and become more resilient. (11) It’s the chronically elevated levels of cortisol due to work or life circumstances that we should be more concerned with.
High Impact training
As oestrogen declines, so can bone density. (12) Exercise, especially high-impact and strength training, can help maintain strong bones. (13) High-impact exercise is often perceived as something to avoid, but it’s actually crucial for building bone density. High-impact activities include jumping and landing heavily, as well as some of the above plyometrics. It is crucial to incorporate these types of training to help you avoid osteoporosis and fractures in later life. The key is to build up slowly. If high impact really doesn’t work for you, then you can still build bone density with very heavy strength training. Part 2 of the blog is coming soon!
Help me, I hate cardio!
That’s ok, make sure you at least get some strength training in, plus some daily steps and then let’s now examine how we can help you achieve your cardio goals. This is very much my mum’s journey, and now we’ve started 1-1 cardio sessions together and she loves it!
Or perhaps you love long runs, but are no longer seeing progress and would benefit from a change. Below, I will outline the potential benefits of HIIT and SIT training. Both only take 20 minutes or less, so you can easily complete a workout within 30 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down – what’s not to love?!
HIIT: Work intervals of between 1-4 minutes with variable rest and you're working at submax effort, i.e, your rate of perceived exertion would be around a 7ish out of 10
We would create a HIIT workout based on your preferences, ability, and fitness goals. The following example is provided to give you an idea.
Example: Using a Reformer machine - 3 rounds of the following: 30 seconds flying splits, 30seconds carriage pulls to the side, 30 seconds plank tucks. Repeat on the other side. Rest for 10 seconds in between each exercise as you set up for it.
Benefits of HIIT:
Increase insulin sensitivity, aiding in better blood sugar control (14)
Increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor release post-exercise -potentially enhancing brain plasticity, cognition and memory. (15)
Reduces antioxidant stress, which is linked to various chronic diseases. (16)
HIIT has been shown to induce an acute inflammatory response; however, with regular sessions, the body adapts by enhancing its anti-inflammatory mechanisms. This adaptation may help mitigate increased inflammation associated with conditions like menopause. (17)
Improved blood vessel function (18)
SIT:
SIT stands for Sprint interval training – but don’t worry, this doesn’t mean you have to sprint everywhere! If you hate cardio, this would actually be my go-to as it’s short and sweet.
You are working at 100% intensity and work intervals are only 30 seconds or less. The rest intervals can be variable, but you want to rest enough so that you can hit the next interval with as much effort as possible.
Example: 20 seconds as hard as you can go on the bike (or running, rowing, assault bike, etc), 90 seconds recovery. Start with 4-5 rounds and work up to 10 total.
No longer than 10 rounds, as you can’t give your maximum effort, and it will no longer become SIT.
Benefits of SIT:
Increased peripheral insulin sensitivity (19)(20)(21)
SIT stimulates the activation of GLUT4, a protein that helps transport glucose into muscle cells. Research indicates that exercise, including interval training, is the most potent stimulus for increasing skeletal muscle GLUT4 expression, which may contribute to improved insulin action. (22)(23)
Increased lean mass and decreased fat mass (24)
In an ideal world, if you did no other type of cardio, you would aim for about 3 30-minute-ish HIIT/SIT sessions a week.
Why I love our Meno30 classes:
Our 30-minute Meno30 classes are designed to help busy, peri- and postmenopausal women meet cardio guidelines and counter any negative effects they may be experiencing. Many women entering perimenopause are balancing demanding careers, family responsibilities, and self-care, so this class is designed to be:
Efficient in both time and effectiveness for the limited time in our lives
Includes HIIT and/or SIT training, plus plyometrics and the option to add impact.
Includes a calm, stretchy, cool-down on the Reformer to help calm the nervous system.
Provides a community of like-minded women who will help you build self-confidence and make working out a joyful experience!
Provides women with the autonomy and self-efficacy to take control of the ageing process and embrace it!
Lastly, it is incredibly important to ensure you’re recovering well, prioritising days off, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and maintaining a healthy diet. Much easier said than done! But please let us know if you need some accountability or coaching in this area. Otherwise, meeting these guidelines will feel like pushing a boulder up a hill, and even if you meet them, you may not actually benefit from it.
We understand that meeting exercise guidelines can feel overwhelming, so if you can find a type of exercise, such as our Meno30 classes, that combines interval training, impact training, community, and plyometrics all in one, then you’re on to a winner! But if there’s one thing you take from this…it’s to find something you enjoy enough to keep at it. Maybe that’s swimming, going for long runs, playing tennis, or attending Meno30 with your friends. All movement comes with its benefits. We’re here to help if you need it.
💕 Member Only Offer - Try your first Meno30 class for free - Just drop us a message!
Our MENO30 10-Pack is available for just £120. Plus, you have 6 months to use all 10, so it's super flexible!
You can find our Meno30 classes on the timetable at:
7.45am Mondays
5.50pm Tuesdays
1pm Fridays
Part 2 of this blog series will focus on strength, and if time permits, I may also include some nutrition tips.
References
5. American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), Health & Fitness Journal pg.
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