Menopause: Can exercise relieve symptoms—or even prevent them? This is what an expert says.

How exercise can influence menopause – and why it's never too late to start.

Not all women get through menopause without problems. According to the latest figures, only one-third of women manage to do so. The remaining two-thirds suffer from mild to severe physical and psychological symptoms. However, the symptomatic thread can be severed. Studies show that exercise can help women alleviate their menopausal symptoms. This is also confirmed by gynecologist and psychotherapist Dr. Birthe Furthmann. According to her, this also works if you only start exercising during menopause. The type of training is much more important than starting as early as possible: "The latest studies show that a combination of cardio and strength training has proven particularly effective in combating symptoms during menopause," she explains, adding: "We now know that cardio and strength training combined can reduce the risks that arise during and after menopause due to the loss of female hormones , such as the increased risk of osteoporosis, heart attack, or high blood pressure."

Exercise can strengthen the body despite the drop in hormones and partially offset the resulting changes. Those who don't feel comfortable with either strength or endurance training can choose a different sport. "It's good to exercise regularly in general – yoga also has a positive effect on the body during menopause. However, women benefit most later on from a good balance of strength and cardio."

Strength training: The best training during menopause?

It's hardly surprising that strengthening weight training, of all things, has proven effective against the symptoms of menopause: "Strength is important because we know that the loss of estrogen also accelerates bone loss," explains Furthmann. According to the doctor, there are studies and measurements that show that women lose a certain percentage of bone mass after menopause – every year. "With exercise, especially strength training, you can at least try to counteract the consequences of bone loss in old age, such as a hunchback or a femoral neck fracture."

According to the doctor, this works so well because strength training strengthens the connective tissue and muscle surrounding the bone. Bones contain cells that are constantly remodeling. These remodeling processes can be kept going through exercise. And that—you guessed it—strengthens bone health. Because women in menopause are obviously far from reaching the age for bone loss, this is more of a preventative measure.

Those who begin to counteract deteriorating bone health after menopause will benefit from their decision to exercise in old age. "It's not about becoming a top athlete at 90, but simply about remaining mobile in everyday life, being able to take care of themselves, and even pick up the flour from the shelf while shopping (or hold the grandchildren)," the doctor summarizes. In addition, exercise promotes blood circulation in the joints. This is so important because many women complain of joint pain during menopause. "This is due to the estrogen receptors, which maintain joint flexibility and decrease during menopause." However, this flexibility can be maintained through exercise. Strength training during menopause is primarily about "maintaining the muscle mass you have (or had)."

Why does exercise affect menopausal symptoms?

The doctor emphasizes: "You can never increase or maintain the concentration of female sex hormones through exercise. These can only be supplied through hormone replacement therapy." There are other reasons why it is still possible to combat the symptoms caused by the drop in hormones: "Exercise stimulates muscle metabolism and thus the formation of new muscle fibers. We also know about the positive effects of the happiness hormones serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline through physical activity." These tend to work synergistically with estrogen, the doctor explains: "This is where the well-known runner's high or the endorphin kick after exercise occurs." Thus, exercise has a positive influence on mood , even though it doesn't replace the missing estrogen. Instead, other hormones are stimulated, "which have similar effects at the same receptors," says Furthmann. This also indirectly alleviates symptoms such as hot flashes, poor sleep, and odd moods. "Pain also improves." All in all, exercise is simply beneficial for menopause: "You counteract bone loss and maintain mobility, while at the same time having a lower risk of insulin resistance (a precursor to type 2 diabetes mellitus), high blood pressure, and weight gain, which together are considered metabolic syndrome—a widespread disease." According to the expert, this positive side effect of exercise is due to the resulting improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism.