What’s the best form of exercise in perimenopause?
Yes, perimenopause is a sign that we are entering a new phase of our lives. But, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom! I don’t know about you, but I want to feel as vibrant, strong and fit as possible as I get older, so use the signs that your body is giving you now as impetus to start training and looking after your body - there has never been a better time to get started.
If, like me, you’re experiencing symptoms of perimenopause, you may be wondering what this means for your training. As the pattern of our hormones begins to change, it’s absolutely crucial that we re-think how we are exercising.
Perimenopause can impact our minds and bodies in so many ways and I often hear from women who are struggling with a lack of energy, weight gain (especially around the middle) and low mood. They feel like they’re doing the same amount of exercise that they always have done, but their bodies are changing and they don’t feel as good for it. The right kind of training can help enormously with these things and many other perimenopause symptoms besides, giving you a much-needed hit of endorphins (those feel-good hormones), boosting your energy levels and facilitating more restful sleep, as well as helping with weight management, if that is important to you.
Why do we need to train differently in perimenopause?
Put very simply, in order for our bodies to become fitter and stronger, we need to put them under some physical stress. When we do this, the body gets the signal that it needs to adapt, so that it can manage this stress better next time. If we are working away in our comfort zone, at a level which is perfectly manageable, there is no signal to the body to make any adaptation, so we won’t necessarily become stronger or fitter. This is especially true in perimenopause, when the hormones oestrogen and testosterone are lower. Oestrogen and testosterone are both “growth” hormones which aid in this process, so if they are in shorter supply, we need to try and plug this gap by training more effectively and creating that trigger for the body to up her game and make those physiological adaptations to exercise.
If you’re reading this and the words “stress” and “comfort zone” are leaping off the page at you, then please don’t be put off! Yes (time for some tough love!) we might have to switch up how we’re training during perimenopause so that we work a little harder, but, critically, this is going to mean you spend less time exercising (which is a massive bonus in my book, as in my experience we are all pushed for time and don’t have hours to spend working out!). Also, we need more than ever to allow ourselves proper time to rest and recover, without feeling any guilt about this, in fact I would positively encourage it.
The key to all of this, as the brilliant Dr Stacy Sims explains, we need to “polarise” our training during perimenopause, so that the challenging work is appropriately challenging and the easy days are exactly that.
What does this mean in practice? Well, there are two different types of training session that I would suggest you incorporate into your week when you’re in the perimenopause transition - read on to find out more….
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Ok, time for a bit of tough love! In order to trigger the right training response in your body, you want to be working at a level where you can’t hold a conversation (but could possibly manage a word or two - as I say when I’m teaching HIIT, these can be swear words!). It should feel like hard work.
By its very nature, HIIT (which stands for High Intensity Interval Training) is challenging to the body. Little bursts of movement, followed by short rest periods, are just what our bodies need to trigger gains in fitness and to change our body composition, creating more lean tissue and tapping into our fat stores. If we can pick a HIIT workout which also involves us moving our bodies in lots of different directions (side to side, forwards and backwards, rotating etc) and doing some plyometric (jumping) work, then this is also fantastic for our connective tissue and bones so we get maximum bang for our buck and improve our speed and acuity in one workout. You can also get an incredibly good workout in, in less than 30 minutes (including your warm up and cool down) which is ideal when you’re pushed for time, which, quite frankly, who isn’t?!
HIIT is hard work (don’t just!) so doing a session twice per week will be plenty for most of us. It’s so worth doing though as I find I always feel awesome after a HIIT workout! Remember if you’re new to this type of exercise, then what matters is that you are working hard enough for YOU. Start at your own level, check in with how you’re feeling throughout and never be afraid to take a lower intensity option if you find that is sufficiently challenging.
I’ve tailored my online weekly HIIT classes specially to the type of training we need to do in perimenopause, so if you do this once or twice a week then you’re already ticking one of the perimenopause training boxes!
Lift weights (and make them heavy!)
It’s no big secret to the women who train with me that I LOVE lifting weights and strength training. If you’re not already doing so, perimenopause is the time to start. I promise it won’t make you bulky (unless that’s what you’re aiming for, in which case - go for it!) and your muscles, bones and connective tissue - your ligaments, tendons and fascia - will thank you for it. One of the main goals my personal training clients have when they come to me is to “tone up” and by far the most effective way to do this is to lift weights.
You may have done classes in the past which involve lifting relatively light weights but for quite a few repetitions. Whilst these sessions can be fun, they are largely based on building endurance in the muscles, which is not really what we should be prioritising as we head into perimenopause. Now’s the time to prioritise our strength - we need to be strong to improve our posture and stability, increase our metabolism, improve our bone health…. I could go on as the benefits are so many and varied but you get the gist!
As I mentioned before, we need to put our bodies under enough of a load that they think “hmmm, this is tough, I’d better make some changes behind the scenes so that we can manage this better next time”. When we’re training strength, rather than endurance, we want to be using a weight that is sufficiently heavy so that we can only manage a small number of repetitions before we need a break.
Whilst strength training is challenging, there is nothing quite like the sense of accomplishment you feel afterwards. With heavier weights, because you’re doing a smaller number of repetitions, it doesn’t take up much time either. I find about 20 minutes plus a warm up and cool down is perfect and if you can do this twice per week, you’ll be doing so much good for your body.
Make sure you start slow and light and build your strength up gradually. If you’re completely new to strength training, I’d suggest beginning without weights and doing some exercises using just your own bodyweight (squats, lunges, press ups, tricep dips etc.). I offer a weekly Online Strength Class which is perfect for every woman, whether you’re just starting out with weight training or are looking to progress - you can book your space here. You could also book a session with a personal trainer (hello!) so that they can check your technique and get the basics right before adding any load. Likewise if you want to move from lifting lighter weights to heavier weights and aren’t confident on how to do so. I offer one off personal training sessions, specifically for this purpose, find out my current availability by messaging me.
Anything else?
As you may know, I am a runner. I blimmin’ love running, but aside from doing intervals, I admit it doesn’t really fit into the types of training I’ve outlined above. You might love running too, or your “thing” might be yoga or Pilates; going for long walks; or cycling or swimming. Please don’t stop doing these activities. It’s also really, really important that we move for how good it makes us feel, as exercise is so much more than ticking a box! I think this is particularly important in the perimenopause period as we need that mood boost from doing something you really enjoy more than ever. Personally, I just make sure that my “easy” running days really are easy (polarisation of training again!) so I am fresh enough for my longer runs, strength work and HIIT.
I know you are all grown ups, but as I find myself saying regularly, not every type of exercise will be suitable for every person and it’s a good idea to speak to a health professional if you’re brand new to exercise or have any worries or health concerns. My inbox is always open for questions too, so please do drop me a message if you’ve got any questions - we’re in this together!