Don’t Pause, Power Up!
- Mary Brooking
- Oct 15
- 5 min read
Exercising Through Perimenopause and Menopause
Hormonal changes in perimenopause and menopause can affect everything from energy and recovery to bone and muscle health — but the right kind of exercise can make all the difference.
By focusing on strength, recovery, and appropriate intensity, you can protect your body and become stronger through perimenopause and beyond.
What’s going on?
It helps to understand some of the changes that happen in our bodies during perimenopause / menopause:
Hormone fluctuations, especially declining oestrogen, affect muscle mass, bone density, metabolism, fat distribution, energy, recovery, and inflammation.
There’s often an increase in resting (basal) inflammation, more difficulty with recovery, possible changes in sleep, mood, energy — all of which influence how well we tolerate training.
Loss of bone density becomes a greater risk, so weight-bearing, impactful, or resistance training becomes more important.
Pelvic floor function may decline
Connective tissue and tendons may become more susceptible to injury.
Key Principles
Here are some big-picture principles to guide how you exercise in this life stage:
Principle | What it means / how to apply |
Resistance training / lifting heavy | Lifting weights heavy enough to challenge strength, using lower rep ranges at times (but ensuring technique is good) helps preserve muscle, bone, metabolic health. It’s not about “getting bulky” — the hormonal environment generally doesn’t support large hypertrophy unless calories and training are very aggressive. |
High-Intensity / Interval Training (HIIT) applied judiciously | Short bursts of high exertion (when able) help metabolic health, fat loss, cardiovascular fitness. But balance with sufficient recovery. Don’t overload with too much of this if energy / recovery are compromised. |
Balanced cardio and moderate activity | Maintaining or increasing moderate aerobic work (walking, cycling, swimming) is valuable for heart health, mood, metabolic regulation. Especially in midlife. |
Mobility, flexibility, joint care | Because joints, tendons, ligaments can be more sensitive; warming up, moving through full range, including mobility, stretching, dynamic movement helps reduce injury risk. Warming up & cooling down become even more important. |
Pelvic floor health | Do pelvic floor exercises regularly; get expert assessment if there are symptoms. It should be part of exercise sessions. |
Recovery, rest, sleep, hydration | Because recovery tends to take longer: ensure good sleep, hydration, rest days. Monitor body signals, avoid overtraining. |
Cycle awareness and symptom tracking | During perimenopause especially, symptoms fluctuate; cycle tracking can help you modulate training (when you may need lighter work, rest etc). |
Specific Tips & Strategies
Check in/assess
Check how you currently feel: energy, sleep, strength, joint pain, mood.
See whether you have any pelvic floor or joint issues that need addressing.
Design your weekly exercise mix to include:
Resistance training per week (full body or split) using weights or resistance bands. Rotate between heavier loads with fewer reps and lighter loads/higher reps.
HIIT or interval sessions, if tolerable, but keep them short and with good recovery.
Aerobic work (running, biking, swimming).
Mobility / stretching / yoga / Pilates at least once per week to support flexibility, joint health.
Progressive Overload
Gradually increase the load, reps, or intensity over weeks/months. Don’t stay stagnant just because you feel “middle aged” — the body responds to stimulus. You can still build strength and offset decline when the stimulus is applied properly.
Mix rep ranges: some heavier, lower reps (for strength and neuromuscular stimulus), some lighter, higher reps (for muscular endurance, joint tolerance).
Make Warm-ups & Cool-downs non-negotiable
Especially with changing hormone levels, warming up helps improve movement quality, reduce injury.
Cool down and include stretching or foam rolling to improve recovery.
Hydration & Nutrition
Drink enough water; dehydration worsens symptoms, stiffness, recovery. Hydration is non-negotiable in midlife.
Make sure protein intake is sufficient to support muscle repair (especially after resistance workouts).
Fuel around workouts (pre, post) to ensure you have energy, support recovery.
Listen to your body & adapt
Some days you’ll have more energy; others less. Adjust intensity / volume accordingly.
If symptoms (hot flushes, sleep disruption, mood) are worse, it may be wise to scale back temporarily.
Use tracking to spot patterns—e.g., times of month or phases of hormonal shift when you feel better / worse.
Build pelvic floor into sessions
Do pelvic floor exercises each training session. Make them part of warm up or cool down.
Seek professional help if any symptoms (leakage, weakness, discomfort) appear.
Mindset & psychological support
View perimenopause as a window of opportunity to strengthen, re-align, rather than a decline.
Working with mindset around body changes, expectations, stigma can help you stay consistent and reduce stress.
Particular Dos & Don’ts
Here are things to aim for, and things to avoid or be cautious with:
Do | Don’t / Be cautious about |
Use heavier weights (with good form) rather than endless light reps if your goal is strength, bone health, metabolic support. | Don’t assume you must go easy all the time just because you’re “midlife” — staying under-stimulated can lead to atrophy, loss of bone. |
Include impact or jumping/plyometric or load-bearing movement, where joints allow, to help bone density. | Avoid excessive high impact if joints are painful, or if osteoarthritis, etc; adjust or substitute with lower-impact alternatives. |
Periodize training: have harder phases and lighter phases, allow recovery weeks. | Avoid training through fatigue or severe symptoms without rest — increased injury risk. |
Ensure technique + full ranges, especially for resistance moves. | Avoid sloppy form, overextending, doing high load without mastering movement patterns. |
Be consistent. Even small, regular workouts count. | Don’t abandon training during rough patches; even shorter or lighter effort beats nothing. |
Practical considerations & adjustments
Joint pain / injuries: Use more low impact until joints adapt. Swap impact exercises for loaded carries, swimming, cycling.
Bone density concerns: Prioritize weight bearing and resistance; even jumping / impact (if safe) helps.
Sleep disruption / fatigue: On low sleep days, reduce volume or intensity; shift training to earlier in day; ensure nutrition and rest support recovery.
Hot flushes / temperature regulation: Choose breathable clothing; train in cooler times of day; have water, cooling towel; consider training outdoors when possible.
Time & schedule constraints: If you only have 30 mins, prioritize resistance or HIIT; even short sessions are effective. Shorter well-structured sessions can deliver a lot.
Examples / Guidance by Source
Here are some insights specific to what these experts say:
Dr Stacy Sims • Emphasises lifting heavy, doing resistance training + HIIT to prevent unwanted metabolic changes in the perimenopausal period. • HIIT / intensity should be used, but smartly; you don’t need to kill yourself every session. Recovery is important.
The Well HQ • Recommends including pelvic floor work in every session. • Stresses the non-negotiables: warm up & cool down; hydration; movement that supports heart health; strength work. • Key exercises/movement areas: strength, cardio/aerobic, pelvic health, mobility, joint care.
Maisie Hill • Encourages “cycle tracking / symptom tracking” so you can plan better around fluctuating symptoms. • Lifting weights is something she recommends; don’t wait until you “feel old” or “after menopause” to build strength. Start now. • Perimenopause as a “window of opportunity” to make changes: in movement, mindset, lifestyle, so that later menopause is more comfortable.
Hilly Fields Run Sessions interval based run sessions (Tuesdays 6:15am and Fridays 9:30am) are ideal for building intensity into your exercise and our Strength for Runners sessions (Saturdays 9:45am) are a great way to include resistance training into your regular routine.
For personalised advice or more information, please get in touch by calling Mary on 07909 551191, emailing on mary@marybrooking.co.uk or clicking on the link below.
Comments