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Exercise and the menopause
Expert reviewers Dr Sam Wild, General Practitioner, and Karen O’Hara, physiotherapist
Next review due December 2023
Exercise can be helpful to keep your body healthy as you approach the menopause, and after your periods have stopped. This is because exercise can help you manage some of the physical changes that happen in your body at this time. There are also some specific exercises you can do to help with certain symptoms of the menopause.
Changes in your body due to the menopause
The menopause is a natural life stage when your periods stop. People who experience the menopause usually reach it between the ages of 40 and 60. You might start to experience symptoms years before it happens, as your hormone levels start to change.
The menopause causes changes to your body. Everybody experiences the menopause differently, but some symptoms you might experience include:
- hot flushes
- difficulty managing your weight
- joint aches and pains
- losing some control of your bladder and/or bowels
- experiencing less pleasure during sex
Need menopause support? Get the personalised support you need from a specially trained Bupa GP, including an individual care plan. Find out more about the Bupa Menopause Plan >
Need menopause support?Can exercise help with my menopause symptoms?
You might find that being more physically active helps with some of your menopause symptoms. Regular exercise might:
- reduce your hot flushes
- help you to manage your weight
- lift your mood
- improve your self-esteem
- help you to sleep
- reduce anxiety
After the menopause, you’re also more likely to be affected by osteoporosis, a condition that causes your bones to become weaker. This is because you have less of the hormone oestrogen in your body, which is important for bone density.
Keeping active can help keep your bones healthy and can reduce the chance of them breaking or fracturing if you fall over. Bones get stronger as you use them and give them work to do. To help keep your bones strong, you should try and do both muscle-strengthening exercises and weight-bearing exercises.
Speak to your GP if you are experiencing joint aches and pains. They might refer you to a physiotherapist, who can suggest specific exercises you can do to help.
Cardiovascular exercise
Cardiovascular exercise makes you breathe more quickly and causes your heart and other muscles to work harder. Each week we should all aim to do:
- at least 150 minutes (1 1/2 hours) of moderate activity, such as cycling or brisk walking
- or 75 minutes (1 1/4 hours) of vigorous intensity, such as running or playing sport
- or several short sessions of very vigorous activity, such as sprinting up hills
Try to include some weight-bearing exercises, as part of, or alongside, your cardiovascular exercise, as these are good for your bones. Weight-bearing exercise is any activity where you support your body weight through your feet and legs (or arms and hands). This includes things like walking, jogging, dancing, or playing tennis.
HIIT at home
Try our ten minute, follow-along workout
HIIT at home
Try our ten minute, follow-along workout
Muscle strengthening
Try to include two sessions of muscle-strengthening exercises on at least 2 days a week. Muscle-strengthening exercises are movements where you move your muscles against some resistance. This includes lifting weights, using resistance bands, or doing body weight exercises like press-ups.
Home workout using household items
Try this home workout using household items to help you work up a sweat. You’ll never look at a tin of beans the same way again!
Home workout using household items
Try this home workout using household items to help you work up a sweat. You’ll never look at a tin of beans the same way again!
Balance and flexibility
It’s also important to make sure you are working on your balance and flexibility as you age.
This can include activities such as yoga, dance and tai chi. Keeping flexible and practising your balance might help reduce the risk of falling over as you age.
Bladder, bowel and sexual problems
The menopause can also cause your pelvic floor muscles to become weaker. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that stretches across the base of your pelvis. They support the organs in your abdomen (tummy) and pelvis, such as your bladder, uterus and bowel. When you cough, laugh, sneeze or lift something heavy, your pelvic floor muscles tighten. This helps you keep control of your bladder and bowel.
Your pelvic floor muscles are also important during sex and can help increase sensation in your vagina. If they’re weak, this may affect your enjoyment of sex. You can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles by exercising them.
Pelvic floor exercises involve squeezing (or contracting) and then relaxing the muscles around your rectum (back passage), and front passage. To do them correctly, imagine that you’re trying to stop yourself from passing wind and urine at the same time. Don’t hold your breath, clench your bottom or squeeze your legs together when doing these exercises. A physiotherapist can give you advice about how best to do these exercises.
To help improve your pelvic floor, you should also avoid lifting heavy things if you can. If you need to lift something heavy, make sure you do it correctly.
If you have problems tightening your pelvic floor muscles, speak to your GP or a physiotherapist. They might suggest using biofeedback or electrical stimulation to help you.
- Biofeedback is when sensors placed on your skin or into your vagina send signals to a monitor when you squeeze your pelvic floor muscles. This can help to show you how well you’re doing the exercises.
- Electrical stimulation uses an electrical current to stimulate your pelvic floor muscles from a small probe placed in your vagina.
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Related information
Menopause
The menopause is the time when a woman stops having periods, and she’s no longer able to get pregnant.
Benefits of exercise
Not only does regular exercise help you manage your weight and reduce your risk of developing diseases, it can help prevent and treat mental health problems
Exercise for older people
Being active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for everybody, particularly for staying healthy into old age
Types of exercise
Whatever your motivation for exercise, the best way to ensure all-round fitness and health is to do a mix of different types
Menopause quiz
Our short quiz will test what you know about the causes and symptoms of the menopause.
Physical activity quiz
How much physical activity should you be doing? Take our physical activity quiz and test your knowledge about the importance of staying active.
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Other helpful websites
- The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
www.csp.org.uk
020 7306 6666 - Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
www.rcog.org.uk
- The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
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Sources
- Menopause. BMJ Best Practice. www.bestpractice.bmj.com, updated 11 August 2020
- Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management. National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) www.nice.org.uk, updated 24 June 2019
- Menopause – a life stage. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists www.rcog.org.uk, accessed 16 December 2020
- Hot flushes. Patient. www.patient.info, updated 29 January 2018
- UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines. Department of health and social care. www.gov.uk, published 07 September 2019
- Sani SHZ, Fathirezaie Z, Brand S, et al. Physical activity and self-esteem: testing direct and indirect relationships associated with psychological and physical mechanisms. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treatment (2016); 12:2617. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S116811
- Physical activity and your mental health. Mind. www.mind.org.uk, published March 2019
- Osteoporosis – prevention of fragility fractures. National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) www.nice.org.uk, updated 2016
- Causes of osteoporosis and broken bones. Royal Osteoporosis Society. www.theros.org.uk, accessed 16 December 2020
- Exercise for bones. Royal Osteoporosis Society. www.theros.org.uk, accessed 16 December 2020
- Chapter 4: Fitness and Conditioning Techniques. Principles of Athletic Training: A Guide to Evidence-Based Clinical Practice, 16e. McGraw-Hill Medical. www.accessphysiotherapy.mhmedical.com 2017
- Joint. Encyclopaedia Britannica. www.britannica.com, updated 02 November 2020
- Menopause: diagnosis and management. National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) www.nice.org.uk, updated 05 December 2019
- Freeman EW,Sammel MD, Lin H, et al. Symptoms associated with menopausal transition and reproductive hormones in midlife women. Obstet Gynecol (2007); 110(2):230–40. doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000270153.59102.40
- Okifuji A, Bradford DH. The association between chronic pain and obesity. J Pain Res (2015); 8:399. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S55598
- Tendon. Encyclopaedia Britannica. www.britannica.com, updated 27 May 2020
- Female hormones: do they influence muscle and tendon protein metabolism? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society www.cambrdige.org, published 29 August 2017
- Incontinence and bladder problems. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists www.rcog.org.uk accessed 16 December 2020
- The Pelvic Floor Muscles – a Guide for Women. Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy. www.pogp.csp.org.uk, published 2018
- Feedback or biofeedback in addition to pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women. Cochrane. www.cohrane.org.uk, published 06 July 2011
- Chapter 30: Special Populations. Dutton's Orthopaedic Examination, Evaluation, and Intervention, 5e. McGraw-Hill Medical. www.accessphysiotherapy.mhmedical.com, 2020
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Author information
Written by Abbey Stanford, Specialist Health Editor, December 2020
Reviewed by Dr Sam Wild, General Practitioner, and Karen O’Hara, physiotherapist
Next review due December 2023
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