From the Wellness Team: Wellness Wednesday Trainer Tip – Menopause and Exercise

Why is it important for women during menopause to exercise?

Exercises have been proving to decrease the menopausal symptoms. Issues with mental health play a big part during hormone fluctuation. Any type of resistance training will be beneficial in lowering depression and anxiety, but research has indicated that low to moderate intensity help to reduce anxiety (Strickland & Smith, 2014). Besides the mental aspect, women during menopause can suffer with sarcopenia (muscle mass and strength loss) and osteoporosis/osteopenia (bone density loss). Two of the most beneficial types of exercises for that prevention are resistance training and weight-bearing activities. Both are great for bone conservation. Resistance training will be beneficial for increasing muscle mass and strength. They also have been shown to reverse about 1% of bone loss per year in women during pre- and post-menopausal (Sanchez-Trigo et al., 2022).

–Coach Dani