Active Menopause

Menopause and physical activity

With symptoms ranging from hot flushes to anxiety – it can be hard to feel your best. But evidence shows that physical activity can help women manage and cope better with their symptoms.

Menopause is a significant opportunity to re-engage with physical activity. We’ve pulled together a list of top tips to get started below

Physical activity tips and tricks:

• Wear layers so that you can regulate your temperature.
• If you get hot flushes, avoid exercising in the heat of the day in the warmer months.
• Menopausal joint pain can be worse in the morning – try gentle stretching or yoga to combat this or do your physical activity in the afternoon instead.
• If you suffer from urinary leakage, make sure you empty your bladder before exercising and avoid caffeine until after you have finished.
• If you are struggling to sleep due to menopausal symptoms, exercising 2-3 hours before bed is best to give you enough time to wind down.

The table below summarises the types of physical activity which have been shown to help specific menopausal symptoms, plus how strong the evidence is for this recommendation.

Use this to help you decide what activity is best for you, but remember, every movement counts, and you should always do something you enjoy.

What physical activity should I be doing?

The Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) guidelines for physical activity in adults is at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity per week.

You can view Active Together’ s Physical Activity Guidelines for women during menopause and perimenopause by the document here.

Sign up for one of our programmes today

To get more active, why not try one of our local physical activity programmes? You will need to complete an online registration form before joining a class so that we know a bit about you. Please complete the form through the button below.

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