As you enter and move beyond menopause, you will notice many bodily changes, and you may find it harder to keep off excess pounds. While increasing your physical activity can help ward off extra weight, excessive exercise can pose serious risks to your health. Instead of going overboard at the gym, talk to your doctor about the amount of exercise right for you -- and develop a healthy routine to stay fit and trim.
Bodily Changes
Hormonal changes that occur in menopause often alter the way and rate at which you gain weight. You may notice excess fat accumulate more around your middle instead of your hips and thighs. Additionally, you will start losing muscle mass, which can also alter your body shape, as well as slow down your metabolism. All of these factors, combined with the lifestyle changes that may occur around this time in your life, can lead to weight gain, and this may make you fall into a routine of excessive exercise.
Healthy Goals
To ward off extra weight without going overboard, aim to get 75 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 150 minutes of vigorous activity each week. Ideally, you should exercise most days of the week, and include two or three strength-training sessions into your week as well. You might also want to perform exercises to stretch your muscles, as well as improve your stability and sense of balance, all of which will help keep you active as you age.
Dangers of Excessive Exercise
Establishing a regular routine of fitness activity can do wonders for your body and mind, but anyone who puts their body through excessive exercise can experience injuries, muscle strains and fatigue. Working out too much can also elevate your heart rate and blood pressure, diminish your appetite, weaken your immune system, increase the amount of headaches you experience and lead to disturbances in your sleep patterns and gastrointestinal functions. The more you work your body past its limits, the poorer your performance and sense of well-being will become.
Additional Considerations and Tips
Along with a moderate amount of exercise, it is important to monitor your diet to keep menopausal weight gain at bay. You may need to eat fewer calories than you did at a younger age, but don't become obsessive with dieting, since this can pose risks to your health as well. Exercise addiction is a real problem for some people. Some of the signs of this addiction include exercising while you are injured or beyond the point of exhaustion. Other signs among women in menopause include working out so frequently that you begin excluding other activities or spending less time with friends and loved ones. If you think you may have an exercise addiction, seek medical attention.
