Day 6 - Keeping active during menopause

Video transcript

Eileen: Hello, and welcome to Day Six. Now, yesterday, I was talking about how you could increase your energy, and today, we're going to look at exercise and how important it is in the menopause. But, I realised that there can be all sorts of reasons that can make this very difficult.

You can be totally fatigued, you can have joint aches or muscle pain. You might feel that your weight is pulling you down. You might find you've lost your focus or your motivation and, you know, just the thought of going to the gym can be really daunting. It can also be really embarrassing if you feel that you haven't done exercise for a while or your weight has gone up. You don't want other people to see you starting off doing the exercises, so we are going to look at ways that you can do exercises at home, in your own time, and at your own pace.

Now, today, my guest, Julie, is a personal trainer, and she is going to show you ways that you can do simple exercises at home anytime you want to, depending on your own situation. But before that, we're going to have a little chat on why exercise is so important in the menopause.

Julie's fitness journey

Hi, my name is Julie and I work as a personal trainer and fitness class instructor.  I am delighted to have worked out a programme of exercises for A.Vogel's 7 days to a better menopause. Before you get started on the exercises, I want to give you a little extra information about myself.

I know the thought of exercise can be daunting and often the last thing we feel like doing especially when our bodies feel tired and sore and we are suffering from all kinds of physical and emotional ailments.  There was a time in my life when I couldn't even have managed to get up, never mind get through an exercise warm up!

I had ME for ten years in my twenties and during that period I had a range of physical and emotional difficulties. Then, during pregnancy I had symphysis pubis dysfunction which led to crutches, a lot of pain and massive weight gain! At my heaviest, I was 16 stone and wearing a dress size 20. The problems with my pelvis and a difficult birth then led to bladder issues and months of physiotherapy and hospital appointments.

When I first started to exercise, I couldn't jump or squat or do any dynamic movement and I massively struggled with any form of core or abdominal exercise. I couldn't even feel where my core was let alone use it.  It was hard, painful and exhausting, however by persevering with exercise, change slowly occurred and my fitness began to improve. I spent years doing exercise videos at home as I had no confidence to attend a gym or classes. Eventually I discovered Zumba and finally got to a class where I discovered other women who felt as nervous and insecure as I was. 

Next, was a Muay Thai class and after a couple of years one of my instructors introduced me to weight training.  I booked in for personal training sessions and after about a year, I felt fitter and stronger than I had in my twenties. 

That's when I decided to retrain and become a personal trainer. I want to use my experience to help and encourage others who feel that their body is not their own anymore and who desperately want to feel fitter and stronger again. I want you to know that my journey has been difficult but I wouldn't change a thing! I know your story will be different and many of you will face challenges that I couldn't even begin to imagine. I also know however that by taking little steps and one day at a time you can make a positive difference.

That's enough from me! Time to get moving!

Why is exercise so important in the menopause?

Now, there's lots of different reasons, but the main ones are joint mobility. You've got to keep your joints active and moving because that's going to cause problems with even simple things like walking later on.

Circulation & heart disease

We need to look after our circulation and our heart, and being sedentary a lot of the time can cause a lot of problems with our circulation. And we know that women, post-menopausal, are possibly far more likely to have heart disease than men of the same age, so looking after our heart is really, really important.

Weight management

We've got to look at weight management, as well, because again, if we're not moving a lot, then with all the hormonal changes going on, your weight can actually start to slowly creep up until it's more difficult to actually fix it.

Healthy Bones

We need to look at things like osteoporosis, which is really important, because falling hormones can affect the strength of your bones. And we know that women in their late 60s and 70s can very often end up with fractures after just having a very, very simple fall.

Feel good

So keeping our bones strong is another really good one. And also, exercise makes us feel good. It makes us feel happy, it gives us that feel-good factor. And they know that the better you feel during the menopause, if you feel really good, if you feel up, then your symptoms will actually seem less severe, so it's good to do it just for that particular point of view. 

How often should you be exercising in the menopause?

Eileen: Now, the one thing, Julie, is, how often should we actually be exercising in the menopause?

Julie: Right, Eileen. Well, I think the first thing to mention is that it's very much down to individual situations. Some women may not have exercised at all before, so for them to begin, one to maybe two times per week is absolutely brilliant. That would be great. For other women who are maybe exercising all the time, it might be more a question of factoring in recovery days for those women. But, certainly, three to five times a week, if you're used to exercise, is absolutely great, as well.

The important thing, I think, to remember is that it should be manageable for your lifestyle, for your symptoms, and also progressive. So, sometimes, if you've never exercised before, you know, increasing daily activity slowly, that can actually then lead to more structured forms of exercise. We don't need to leap in and go all or nothing.

Eileen: Fantastic. That's really good advice. Now, how long should the sessions be? Because we have some women, I know, who contact us, and they're going to work, they're rushing down the gym, and they're spending an hour and a half at the gym, and they're just so tired at the end.

Julie: I think, again, it's really important to stress your individual requirements and what you're going through. Initially, for someone who's never exercised, 10 minutes a day is great.

Eileen: Sounds good.

Julie: You know, perhaps you're overwhelmed with symptoms, you're feeling exhausted, it's the last thing you feel like doing. If you can just move a little bit more, try and get your body going even for 10 minutes, perfect. And then, if you feel great, do another 10 minutes because the cumulative effect of those 10 minutes has been shown to be just as effective as half an hour all in one go. And, for some people, half an hour all in one go is just not manageable.

Eileen: We know that, yeah.

Julie: But, for most people, 10 minutes is a really good thing to aim for. If you're down in the gym five times a week for an hour and a half at a time, I would be saying, maybe be a bit kinder to yourself, perhaps factor in some more rest days.

It very much depends on the type of exercise you're doing, but certainly, high intensity at that level, if you're working and dealing with family commitments, and as you're starting to get into the menopause, that's an awful lot to put your body under. You know, it's a lot of stress, and that releases cortisol, and that can actually have a negative effect from the point of view that you actually gain weight.

What are the best types of exercises you can do? 

Eileen: Yeah, we find that with women, right. That's a good point to remember. So, for these ladies going through the menopause and post-menopausal, as well, what are the best types of exercises that they can actually focus on?

Strengthening exercises

Julie: Right. Well, I think you mentioned some of the things and the reasons why exercise is so important in the menopause, and these are the types of exercise. So, strengthening exercises for strengthening muscles and bones, so weight-bearing, resistance type exercise is really important. Also, you mentioned heart health being so vital, so cardiovascular exercise. And, again, that can be built up. Start slowly, and then you can start challenging yourself a little bit more each time. It's amazing how quickly you can improve cardiovascular fitness.

Joint mobility

And there's other types of fitness too. So joint mobility, that's a huge part of fitness. And, again, that's about, you know, protecting yourself from falls and injuries and things. And, you know, really making sure that you mobilise all of your joints, get that synovial fluid moving, maintain the viscosity there, and that will really, really help with achy joints and things like that. And then, in addition to that, you've got flexibility, and so stretching type exercises, really, really important, helping to release some of the tension in those muscles during menopause.

How your diet can help

Eileen: Fantastic. That's another great thing. I'm getting excited already. So, if we're actually now going to focus on exercise, we're going to be using that little bit more energy, do we actually need to look at our diet a bit more? Is there any specific foods we should be eating or things that we should be drinking?

Julie: Well, I think the drinking one, that's the really important one, Eileen. Water, number one. And I know you give all of your listeners this really good advice. Water is vital.

Eileen: Yes, absolutely.

Julie: Nothing in your body happens without the presence of water, so I would be saying, you should be drinking about one and a half to two litres of water a day, and maybe more. If you're exercising a lot, more. It's amazing how much water you lose just through breathing, sweating, digestion, hot flushes, yes, all kinds of things like that, so water's vital.

The next thing I would say is, try to avoid refined white carbohydrates. So, if you can, go for whole grain alternatives, things with a lower glycemic index that are going to keep you fuller for longer. Slow released energy, much better, so things oat-based, porridge, that kind of thing. Good quality protein, really, really important for repairing tissue and building your muscles, and that kind of thing.

And, again, it doesn't need to be one type of food. It's not all about meats. If you're a vegetarian, there's still plenty of protein for you, so legumes and pulses, and things like that. I would also say, you must remember the importance of fats in the diet. And I know people are slightly nervous about fat.

Eileen: Definitely. Ladies?

Julie: Yes. So, I would be recommending, and I know you mentioned this as well, really good quality fats. So, we're talking avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds, oily fish, these types of things. Make sure you're getting your omega-3 and omega-6, absolutely vital. What else? A rainbow, eat a rainbow. That's one of the best bits of advice I could give.

Eileen: That's fantastic.

Julie: So, you don't want a beige plate of food in front of you. The more brightly colored fruits and veg that are on your plate, the more likely you are to be getting all the micronutrients, all vitamins and minerals in that you need.

More tips & advice

Eileen: Fantastic. Great. Is there anything else? Do you have any other tips that you could give the ladies, maybe those who are just starting out or those who have actually been doing quite a lot of exercise already?

Julie: I think the one thing I would say is, try to find some balance. Some women, as we've already mentioned, are perhaps punishing their bodies. You know, they have full working lives, family commitments, they're racing off to the gym, and actually, they might not be feeling the benefit of that, and they're wondering, "I can't do anymore."

Maybe they need to do less. It's really important to factor in recovery for these women because, actually, all the adaptations to exercise happen in your rest days. So, that's something to consider if you're extremely active.

If you're overwhelmed with symptoms, and you're aching, and you just think, "I have no energy," then it's really important to think that, actually, starting to move can help with that. I know it might be the last thing you feel like doing, but starting to get your body moving might alleviate some of your symptoms.

So, in those cases, it's about trying to do more, and in other cases, about trying to do less, but always take account of your own individual symptoms and go at your own pace. Make it manageable, make it progressive, make it part of your lifestyle so this is not something you're going to stop doing. It's got an end goal in itself, which is a more effective, more vital life.

Eileen: That's fantastic. Thank you so much, Julie, for all those amazing tips. And they're so encouraging, aren't they? They make everything actually seem possible.

So, I want to say thank you for watching, and if you do decide to follow this exercise plan, which I hope you do, I would love for you to come back to me and tell me how you got on. Did it make a difference? Did you find that your symptoms actually eased off a little bit? I would love to hear your stories. And if anybody wishes to contact Julie herself, any questions about any of the exercises, then her contact details are here, as well.

Simple exercises

Julie is now going to show you some simple exercises that you can do at home. There's going to be two stages. There's going to be exercises for those of you who have maybe not exercised for ages, you may be feeling fatigued, you've got the achy joints, or you just don't even know if you can do it.

So, Julie is going to show you how to do those. And for those of you that are a bit more experienced, that are into exercising, she's going to show you the more advanced forms. So, come on then. Let's go!

Julie's exercises for beginners

The exercises in the beginners program, which has been designed by Julie, can help improve flexibility, strength and mobility during menopause. These simple exercises are perfect for beginners and can easily be done in the comfort of your own home. Go to Menopause Beginner Exercise Program.

Julie's advanced exercises