Menopause Exercises: Strength Training and Routines

Strength exercises carried out during the menopause help prevent degenerative diseases and fractures, and ensure a good quality of life.

Strength Training and the Menopause

Hormonal changes are unavoidable, and it’s something we need to keep in mind.

It’s well established that in this phase of a woman’s life strength training minimises many of the problems associated with decreased oestrogen production.

It directly affects the distribution of body fat as well as the increased cardiovascular risk and decreased bone density.

In this article, we’re going to go over the strength exercises and exercise combinations that we should include in our routines when we’re getting close to a menopausal age (before 50) in order to combat the related issues.

Scheduled exercise and daily physical activity will be the best measures to ensure good health.

Benefits of exercise for menopausal women

Muscle is a living organ, and in addition to improving muscle quality and mass (preventing sarcopenia), strength training can act as a hormonal and metabolic regulator.

It promotes an active metabolism and an optimal hormonal environment.

Two of the biggest problems resulting from a lack of oestrogen (a hormone that promotes the formation of tissue) is the loss of muscle mass and bone mineral density.

Prevention of Sarcopenia

Strength training acts as a tool to prevent sarcopenia and its associated effects (loss of muscle function and worsening of quality of life), as well as osteopenia and osteoporosis (loss of bone mass).

A great example of how to regain muscle mass over the age of 50.

Regular exercise throughout life is a sure-fire way to combat oestrogen no longer regulating fat in certain areas of the body and the resultant increase in abdominal fat (visceral fat is the most harmful to health), as happens when you reach the menopause.

Strength exercise routine for women

If you’ve been inactive or haven’t exercised regularly for a while, you should start a training programme with at least 2-3 strength training sessions per week.

Following a programme of technique and load progression, you could start with exercises using your own body weight that work the large muscle groups.

If you’re already active and have been exercising for a while with regular training, you can maintain and even progressively increase your usual training program with a higher percentage of strength training sessions, in addition to sessions focused on improving the cardiovascular system.

What does this mean?

Well, we’ll need more than walking and a resistance band.

Strength exercises during the menopauses

Did you know that you can still work on body composition at 50?

The importance of weight exercises for 50-year-old women isn’t a myth, it’s a must.

It’s not a question of getting in shape at 50, but of increasing the quality of life and minimising menopause symptoms as much as possible.

Bodybuilding and weights for women over the age of 50

Among the most important exercises to include in your routine, as long as there’s supervision from a professional, are:

Knee-focussed lower body exercises:

Hip-focussed lower body exercises:

Upper body ‘push’ exercises:

Lower body ‘pull’ exercises:

Let’s not forget that the ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life for women during the menopause.

Other exercise routines

To enhance emotional well-being, and for variety, activities like Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi are particularly beneficial in combating depression and improving concentration and the cognitive system.

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