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If Strength builds the foundation of Menopause health, who builds the house? Essential Elements for Women's vitality in Menopause, Beyond Fitness and Strength.
- Christine Chapman
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Strength is now fast forming the foundation of a woman's health journey. But what else is needed to build a complete, well made house of well-being? Fitness and strength are crucial, but they are just the beginning. Essential elements for health involve a combination of physical, mental, and metabolic elements that bind together to support a vibrant life. This post explores the essential elements that go beyond fitness and strength that will help build a strong foundation and support women's future menopausal health.
Improving strength through resistance training gives women not only healthier body composition, bone health and cardiovascular function, but also improved self-esteem, and body image. Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women make relatively quick gains in muscle mass with effective and regular weight bearing activity. Many women strength train:
in commercial gyms,
at home,
in CrossFit or functional fitness,
or as part of sports,
Yet people are asking: questions such as: Why am I still tired even though I am exercising? Should I train differently during my cycle? I am so confused about eating before/after my training? How many rest days should I have? I am three years post Menopause, how should I be training? SO in effect they are asking: "What supports the wellness house beyond strength training?
Pillar 1: Nourishment: Fueling the Body with Purpose throughout the Menopause transition
Exercise alone cannot sustain health without adequate, appropriate nourishment. During perimenopause and Menopause, women’s bodies have changing nutritional needs. A 30 year old woman might prioritize iron-rich foods like spinach and lentils to prevent anemia, while a woman in her 50's should focus on foods that support bone health, have anti inflammatory properties, and high protein content. Declining hormone levels in perimenopause mean our gut and digestive system have less oestrogen to support good function. We might find we can no longer tolerate foods we once enjoyed. Most likely there is a decreased tolerance to alcohol, or an increased sensitivity to caffeine. These factors can lead to feelings of low energy and fatigue. Reaching for a convenience hit only seeks to fuel a low energy fatigued cycle. For consistent, nourishing support, it could be better to:
Start the day with Protein
Fuel your workout
Fuel your post workout
Hydrate
Actively police sugar, processed foods, alcohol and
Discover and add in phytoestrogen-rich foods like soy and flaxseeds.
Pillar 2: Mobility and Activity.
After Menopause, general movement patterns can start to become reduced or inhibited, often because of joint pain. We lose elasticity, flexibility and our movement 'bubble' becomes smaller. The hormone Oestrogen protects the tendons and fascia around the joints, so we have to work harder at a) supporting the muscles around the joint and b) keeping our mobility bubble big! This pillar is all about range of movement. Walking is great, but limited in that it is in one direction. We also need to keep the body functioning in:
Rotation, twisting and turning,
lateral sideways bends and stretches
extension, looking up and backward, opening out the chest
Including Pilates or yoga or a flow mobility class in a weekly routine will support the health house during this transitional decade.
Post menopause, mobilisation activities become a crucial pillar for women who want to remain independent and functional. Including Pilates or yoga or a flow mobility class in a weekly routine will help support the health house.
Pillar 3: Kick up your Cardio
Step counts can be useful but they don't differentiate between meaningful movement and low intensity activity; for example, a 5k run and walking the dog stopping and chatting to neighbours and friends on the way are both activities that count steps. Wearables can help you break a cycle of sitting too long but they don't indicate the intensity of the steps. High intensity activity that intentionally raises the heartrate to about 85% of its capacity delivers benefits that include:
improved body composition
increase in lean muscle mass
reduction in fat mass
improved insulin sensitivity
improved overall metabolic health through creating adaptations.
Its also a great stress buster! What can this look like?
Sprinting intervals on a stationary bike. Push as hard as you can for 20 secs then easy for 10 secs (6-8 times) 3 x per week. These are known as Tabatas
Sprint as above but for 40/20
walking uphill hard. 20-30 secs and then easy pace back down.
Take a KB and swing it in the same format as 40/20 or 30/30 sec intervals.
Pillar 4: Rest and Recovery
Fitness builds strength, but rest builds resilience. Recovery allows the body to repair muscles, regulate hormones, and restore energy, fighting fatigue. In Peri Menopause and Menopause, women often juggle multiple roles, making rest a critical but overlooked part of health. Rest includes sleep but is NOT sleep. It refers to those periods of time where you are doing nothing; no planning, no tidying, no preparing, just being - and those spaces are different for everyone.
Tips for effective rest include:
Prioritizing a period of downtime before bed for example No screens after 9pm
Accepting that sleep as a fundamental pillar of sustainable Menopausal health
Avoid over training. Including rest days in the training schedule
Actively having a white space
Following the natural daily circadian rhythm
Reading a book
Listening to the body’s signals and adjusting activity levels accordingly.
Pillar 5: Stress monitoring: The Body’s Communication Network
Levels or the stress hormone cortisol rise during perimenopause. Progesterone, our keep calm hormone, declines early and rapidly in the menopause transition, leading to lower tolerance levels, feelings of increased stress and overwhelm. Coupled with increased insulin, the menopause body signals alarm; inflammation, pain, mid section weight gain and a woman feeling out of control. To build this pillar of our menopause health house there are numerous things to consider:
Regular physical intentional exercise
Menopause appropriate nutrition. That provides building blocks for hormone synthesis, and
Knowing your individual stress triggers and personalising your response to prevent chronic cortisol elevation.
Avoiding endocrine disruptors found in some plastics, personal care products and convenience foods.
Pillar 6: Consistency
Motivation is one thing. Building habits that strengthen the foundations of a Menopausal woman's wellness house requires consistency. There will be times when we want to quit. Not all women can steadily train. They need support and help. Creating environments that help women stay in sport, when mood swings, body composition changes, body image issues and menopause symptoms take over has to be our mission. The house isn't build in a day and neither can it run forever without maintenance. If maintaining all the floors in the house renovated and clean at all times isn't feasible, then consistently maintaining these pillars ensures the house remains stable during challenges, illness, or disruptions. Women in peri and post-menopause require a dependable daily routine for support.
If you are in peri menopause and are wondering how to implement further structure into your routine, then why not find a time to book a call, so you can chat freely about what comes next.
The Wellbeing Advantage: Dr Janine van Someren
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