Giving menopause the heave-ho
If you plan to get pregnant, they tell you to get fit before you do then your pregnancy will be easier for you. Same goes for menopause.
So when do you start?
Talking averages, menopause happens at 51 which means you had your last period 12 months before that at 50. If the average transition time is 2-4 years then things could start changing on you at 46. If you should be fit before they do start changing you need to give yourself a year to do it in and that pegs 45 which coincidentally is the age that doctors like to tag women as being perimenopausal. So that is the when – about 6 years before you calculate you will reach menopause.
What should you do?
If you think there is anything mysterious about getting fit for menopause or just generally getting fit you are both wrong and right. While a younger woman might set a goal of weight loss as her primary fitness goal, older women need to be look at muscular strength as their primary fitness goal. Why? Because muscular strength is going to assist with many issues. That is not to say that flexibility and cardiovascular fitness should not also be goals. It is to say they should not be the only goals.
Muscular strength comes from “weight-bearing” exercise. As well as building muscle, it helps keep bones strong by causing the muscles and tendons to pull on the bones stimulating bone cells to produce more bone. The weight can your own body weight or external weights like dumbbells or gym machines but there has to be some “weight” involved. So swimming and cycling are out and walking is your worse case choice.
Studies suggest that “high-impact” weight bearing exercise could be increase the effect on bone strength. Movements that cause a jolt to muscle and bone like when your foot hits the ground while running or jumping around in an aerobics class or when or lifting or pushing a weight in a series of repetitions. These high impact exercises also improve balance.
But before you decide that to start jogging or running, remember they exercise the lower body. You still need to do something for your upper body. And before you try and channel Jane Fonda, overdoing aerobic exercise can interfere with estrogen production (we’ve all heard about athletes whose periods become irregular or stop) which is not something you really want to do at this stage of your life. So it is not the only solution here either. Conclusion being doing some weight training as in lifting dumbbells or taking the Nautilase equipment at the gym for a spin is a very good idea.
