Menopause can be an uncomfortable time in a woman's life. Menopause typically arrives in a woman's early 50s and brings with it hot flashes, insomnia and general malaise. But regular, vigorous exercise can reduce the effects of many symptoms of menopause, helping women sleep better, feel better, lose the weight gain associated with menopause and to fight off the dangers of heart disease and osteoporosis, the risk of which increases with the onset of menopause.
Definition of Menopause
Menopause occurs when a woman's ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone and she begins to experience hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, insomnia, headaches, fatigue, irritability, depression and joint pain. Menopause is technically a woman's last menstrual period, but the term typically refers to the time leading up to that last period and time following it. Menopause arrives at the average age of 51, although sometimes it occurs much earlier or much later, and the effect of it can last up to 10 years.
How Exercise Helps
Exercise doesn't "correct" the declining hormone levels women experience with menopause. But according to the American College of Sports Medicine, regular moderate or vigorous exercise addresses the difficult symptoms of menopause, helping women lose fat and gain muscle, decreasing their feelings of anxiety and depression, elevating their sense of well-being, decreasing their feeling of fatigue and muscle pain, and helping them sleep.
Activities That Help
Cardiovascular training, which is sustained aerobic exercise such as jogging, cycling or swimming that elevates your heart rate and breathing, is the foundation for a postmenopausal exercise program. But according to the American Council on Exercise, strength training, such as lifting weights and stretching are also important. Consistency is also important. In one recent study, postmenopausal women who exercised an hour a day five days a week at 65 percent of their maximum heart rate experienced dramatic improvements in their health and fitness.
Appropriate Exercise
A study at the University of California, Berkeley found that postmenopausal women in their 50s can achieve the same health benefits from regular, vigorous exercise as younger women. They can lose weight, increase their energy levels and overcome depression through exercise. Although older, postmenopausal women naturally have more body fat, less muscle and a lower capacity for exercise, the study found that postmenopausal woman can make "significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on extreme diets."
Amount of Exercise
The women in the Berkeley study rode an exercise bike for an hour a day, but researchers said women can get the same benefits if they jog or swim instead. A woman's body naturally and slowly loses its ability to consume and use oxygen as she ages, but exercise reverses that. In this study, the postmenopausal women increased their ability to consume and use oxygen by 16 percent, lowering their rest heart rates by an average of four beats per minute and giving them the cardiovascular and metabolic capabilities of women 16 years younger. ACSM recommends at least 1/2 hour of aerobic exercise a day, as well as strength training.
Good Diet Helps
A diet low in saturated and trans fat and high in fiber and calcium will improve your cholesterol levels and provide your body the minerals it needs to strengthen bones and forestall osteoporosis. Your exercise regimen will increase your ability to burn fat during exercise by up to 10 percent, so you don't want to counteract those gains with a poor diet.
