Workouts to help with menopausal symptoms.

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favaunt22

Member
I know Cathe is working on her new STS2 series which I am excited about and will purchase without hesitation when it becomes available. Being of that age where things are changing and my body is sliding into menopause, I have found myself dealing with relentless hot flashes day and night only a couple hours apart. This prompted me to research what can be done to ease these symptoms as they are extremely exhausting due to disrupted sleep and the emotional stress it puts on me. I am looking for alternatives to HT (hormone therapy) or supplements. Based on an article I came across, I ended up buying an embr waves 2 wrist device from Embrlabs.com and am awaiting its arrival. Also noted in this article was the fitness aspect which I’ve copied and pasted:

“Once you hit your 40s and 50s, it’s time to tweak your strength-training approach. Why? The proteins that prompt muscle contraction have a lot of estrogen receptors, says physiologist Stacy Sims, PhD—which means when estrogen tanks during peri, your muscles’ ability to engage properly takes a hit. “Lifting heavier weights forces those strong muscle contractions, which makes up for the lack of estrogen.”

This life stage is all about greater loads and fewer reps. Sims suggests building up to a weight with which you can do four or five sets of 6 reps, max. “Add 10 percent more weight to what you currently consider heavy for you and see how many reps you can do with proper form,” says Sims. “If you can eke out only 1 or 2 reps during your fourth set, you know you’re lifting heavy enough.””

I searched for workouts for menopausal women and there are some things on you tube but there really isn’t anything good. So, I immediately thought of Cathe’s workouts and thought this would make for a great new series! Not sure her STS2 workout fits the bill, but I hope so…and if not, I hope it’s something she’ll consider for a future series. Maybe Cathe can even share any insight she might have as to what has helped herself or women she knows to ease the symptoms of menopause. Maybe there is a thread already out there addressing this issue….
 
Good for you in wanting to make sure you exercise no matter what stage of life you're in!

Everything I have read stresses the importance of varying your workouts..like this article in Cathe's blog

https://cathe.com/is-the-response-to-exercise-greater-after-menopause/

Honestly, that is what has worked the best for me. I can't say enough about how good overall it is for me to vary the intensity and types of workouts. Intentionally doing lower intensity workouts, full rest days AND workouts that challenge me.
 
I'm sliding into peri-menopause myself. First thing's first, when I finally realized what was going on, I purchased and read a couple different books about peri/menopause to educate myself on what to expect and on the conversations I should be having with my doctor. I was a bit anti-HT myself, but after reading two different books about it, I've decided I'm going to ask about it. I learned the earlier you start, the better.

That said, regarding exercise, I'm actually now more concerned about strength than ever before because I don't want to risk osteoporosis (a huge risk for women in their later years). Of course, as we all know, strength training improves your bone density.

If your sources suggest heavy weights to help with your symptoms, then probably aiming for some of Cathe's heavier-emphasis strength workouts might be helpful. I just purchased her XTrain series and there's a definite emphasis on lifting heavy. From reading her description of it, XTrain was an alternative approach to achieving the same results as STS. Where STS was a linear approach, XTrain is undulating and therefore a bit more forgiving, too, if you find you need to miss a workout here and there.

Good luck to you. These peri-menopause symptoms are no joke. I'm extremely grateful to not be having hot flushes but I feel like I've got the rest of it all going on... fatigue, insomnia, foggy-headed, night sweats, changing period symptoms, mood swings, crying spells.... weeeeeee! It's FUN being a woman! lol On the bright side, now that I know WHAT it is, it's easier to accept the symptoms, knowing their cause and that it's not something permanently wrong with me!
 
I've just entered the menopause phase too and honestly I thought I was going crazy with the mood swings, major over-reactions to small setbacks, foggy head etc., until I figured out what it was. I had a hysterectomy about 5 years ago so I've gone into menopause a couple of years earlier than I expected. I can't take hormone replacement therapy as I have had liver tumours caused by hormone pills, which is what eventually led to the hysterectomy so I could stop taking the pills.

As far as workouts go I try to do a variety of workouts but do at least 2 heavy lifting workouts per week. Usually this is a split between lower body and upper body on different days. Then I try to do 1-2 moderate weight, metabolic workouts and 1-2 cardio workouts and another 2 days of recovery which sometimes includes a yoga or other type of stretching workout. If I am feeling particularly fatigued I will substitute a cardio or metabolic workout for an additional recovery day.
 
Thank you for your responses! I have been doing weight training since I was a teenager (I started my journey with The Firm). When I found Cathe I became a loyal follower as her workouts are enjoyable, her approach is not obnoxious (music could be better), but she is all about functional fitness and is constantly reminding that form is of utmost importance to avoid injury and get the results from the exercise. I found her when I was around 38 years old and I have continued with her ever since…this year I turn 54 and I’m still going strong with her workouts and still enjoying them and the same things she does or says in the videos still make me smile/laugh. She’s been a wonderful addition to my life and I hope she never stops. I work out 3 to 5 times a week…my motivation used to be to help with my cramps due to PMS and now I’m hoping it helps to alleviate these hot flashes (which nothing seems to be helping). I not only do Cathe’s workouts but I also walk my dogs every day and keep busy where I rarely sit until the end of the day. The wrist device I noted in my earlier post doesn’t help at all…I feel foolish for even trying it, but I am desperate to ease these hot flashes. I eat clean too. I cook every meal and am gluten free (not by choice). I have looked into supplements that claim to help with hot flashes but they have side effects that I’m sure I would experience knowing how sensitive I am to just about everything. So, I am seriously considering HT now. It would be a huge decision for me as I have never taken birth control and decided against in vitro fertilization as well due to having to take birth control to go through it along with everything else that goes into it…just overwhelming to me and not for me personally. I‘ve been dealing with these hot flashes for a month now…I’m thinking of giving it another two months and if at the end of three months total things aren’t getting better I will be having a discussion with my gynecologist about it. She did recommend Black Cohosh and Melatonin, but they have their side effects too. I’m really hoping my body works it out for itself and I am hoping that it will do that sooner than later. In the interim, I will continue exercising with Cathe (thank you Cathe for your incredible workouts!) and doing my best to help my body take care of itself. If I find anything that helps me, I will definitely post again and let you know, as I know that it’s not easy and I also know that I’m not alone in feeling uncomfortable in my body right now. I hope anyone who has advice or tips of what has helped in their menopausal journey will post. And to those that have already posted, I thank you again…as your input has definitely brought me some comfort. Sending hugs and comfort right back to you. Wishing you well in your body’s journey through “the change”!
 
I started menopause when I was 27. The doctors said I couldn't take hormone therapy, because of my medication allergies. I was miserable (hot flashes followed by chills, night sweats, etc.) In my late 30s, I did a 10-day detox in order to support my husband's weight loss. I didn't need to lose weight, but I ended up not having hot flashes and my belly bloat disappeared. Yes, skinny people can have a "pouch" too. :) I also ended up with a lot more energy. I knew my symptoms would come back, because how long can the benefits of a 10 day detox last? So, I did research and discovered there is a lot more to healthy eating than those FDA food group charts explain. When my husband's untreatable (according to his doctors) fatty liver disease (caused by a medication he'd been on) disappeared, I started focusing on clean eating. It was a huge success. My husband dropped weight without even trying and his doctors took him off of his heart meds. The rest of my menopause symptoms disappeared. My doctor couldn't believe it, but ran another blood test, which verified it! So, I was going to suggest clean eating, but according to your last entry, you are a quicker learner than I was. You're already doing that. I found that I was losing energy over the course of a year, and I'd start having night sweats if I didn't do the detox once a year. So, I did. Then, at 48, I started having menopause symptoms again, for real this time. I'm convinced that I'd somehow sent my body into early menopause (the first time) by not eating the way that my body required. So, now I detox twice a year. It helps a bit with brain fog and energy. It helps a lot with hot flashes - I don't have them. For night sweats, it keeps them tolerable - 1 night a month most of the time. I know when it's time for another detox, because the night flashes will work their way up to 2 or 3 nights per month.

My exercise program (most of the time) is total body strength twice a week - one day, I challenge myself and drag out the weights and all of the equipment. The other, I call my "alternate strength" day, because it might be more bands, yoga, fusion workout, or just whatever I'm in the mood for. I do 3 cardio workouts a week with one of them containing intervals, "blasts", HIIT, etc. The other two are just whatever, but I do usually make one of them kickboxing. Then, I have my version of "rest" days. The first day is a light warm up (Jessica Smith walking video or something like that), an ab workout (third one of the week - my other 2 are done on my strength days), and an extended stretch. The next day is what I call my "healing" day. I use this day to care for my body - whatever it's needing at the time: Lee Holden Qi Gong for back pain and relaxing, Essentrics for mobility and range of motion, Cathe's mobiliy/range of motion workout on Perfect 30, etc.

I generally rely on Cathy's DVDs Monday through Friday. If I'm sick or just not feeling up to a hard workout, I tend to rely on Jessica Smith. I get a nice steady-state and/or strength workout in less time and with less effort. It's enough to keep me on track while I recover, so that I can get back into the groove.

I take a multi-vitamin as well as vitamin D. I changed all of my bedding out to cotton, so that when I suffer from the occasional night sweat, I don't have to dump my husband out of bed to change the bedding. The cotton seems to breath better as well as dries well. I don't know how to describe it, but the bedding materials I had tried before seemed clammy if I sweat. I swear they made me sweat and I'd feel like I was lying in a pool. If I have to be uncomfortable, I'd rather be as comfortable in my uncomfortableness as possible, which is what cotton did for me.

I feel healthy and good during this part of my life. I am sometimes embarrassed by my "brain farts", but otherwise, I'm satisfied with where I'm at so far. I feel like I've got things balanced to the point where I have eliminated a few symptoms and greatly reduced others. I don't know that anything I'm doing will help anybody, but I hope it does.

Now, if anybody has found a way to fix menopause brain... That's the one that I feel is a little better than it was, but not enough. I struggle with severe insomnia. I always have (I've tried just about everything over the years to try to sleep), but it's really affecting me at this point in my life. So, between menopause and lack of rest, I feel like I'm living with half a brain and that half is surrounded by fog, has a few loose connections and a short in it, and is rusting!

P.S. I've always suffered from the winter blues, but that too became more pronounced during menopause. My son is blind and has bi-polar. Meds, clean eating, etc. helped his bi-polar most of the year, but he suffered from depression during the winters that nothing helped. Some people use light therapy to solve this type of thing, but with him being blind, it wasn't an option. His doctor suggested tanning sessions. I questioned her about the cancer risks. She said that with him having a light complexion that 5 minutes a week should do it. It worked! So, I tried it for myself. We've found that we can keep our moods up and stable with 5 minutes of tanning about every 9 to 10 days during the winter. We're still both as pale as can be, but the 5 minutes is enough to lift my "blues" and "blahs" and my son's depression.

Favaunt22, thanks for starting this conversation. I wish I could be more helpful. I'm hoping that once enough people post, we'll all find the bits, pieces, and tips that we need to get through this time in our lives more comfortably.
 
Thank you Braille for your input. You have quite a lot on your plate I’d say and that’s saying the least. I hope you can figure out something to help with your insomnia as I think that will go a long way in your overall health both physically and emotionally. My hot flashes have me up every two hours so I’m not sleeping well at all either. Maybe someone has some advice or thoughts on what has helped them sleep. One thing that I have come across in my research is that acupuncture can help with menopause and all sorts of issues…I’ve never tried it though, but maybe it can help with insomnia too? In regards to menopause symptoms, I will tell you that the one piece of information that I have read which gives me hope is that once we are through menopause a lot of the symptoms go away. Although, my mother who is 80 still experiences hot flashes to this day…but on the plus side, they aren’t as often or as severe. So, I guess we’ll see. I think I’m doing everything I can without supplements or HT so I’m just thinking that it’s only a matter of time that my hot flashes will stop or that I will spontaneously combust into a pile of ash…let’s hope for the hot flashes stopping. And thanks again for your thoughts on the subject Braille…just knowing we aren’t alone in this is helpful to some degree.
 
I can relate to the lack of sleep Braille. I also suffer from chronic insomnia and have for years but the menopause is making it worse. Most nights I get between 4.5-5.5 hours sleep which isn't enough and then occasionally I get around 3-4 hours sleep. Very rarely I get 6-7 hours which is actually what I need. So I am always feeling a bit sleep deprived. Since menopause the frequency of the 3-4 hours sleep has increased and I've even had a couple of nights where I only got 2.5 hours sleep. Also, I now sometimes have 2 nights in a row where I get less than 4 hours sleep. It makes keeping on top of work and other things really difficult which makes feelings of anxiety worse. I've tried all kinds of sleep remedies over the years, including hypnosis, but nothing I have found seems to work long-term. Some of them improve my sleep for a short while where I get closer to 6-6.5 hours, but after a few weeks they stop working.
 
Thanks for the recommendation favaunt22. However, I live in New Zealand and this hasn't been approved for use here yet. I also prefer natural remedies as I have experienced bad side effects from prescribed medications in the past.
 
I’m with you (Hazlady) on natural alternatives to medicine. I do not like to take anything as everything has a list of side effects that could be worse than the well intention of the medication.

Products that I have been told about regarding peri/menopause:
My sister sent me a link to a patch/pill/cream product customized to your needs by the name of Evernow that claims to address a lot of the symptoms. It’s doctor prescribed so it’s something you’d need to consult your doctor about. Then both my sister and my husband told me about chilling mattress pads (one called Chillisleep and one called Eightsleep). They are interesting, but expensive (somewhere between $1400 and $2000), and they do offer a trial period. For myself, I think I’m just going to wait it out a bit and see if the hot flashes subside on their own though before I make a purchase like that. I’m giving it until May 1st since every supplement people take seems to start working in 3 months (based on reading reviews) which makes me wonder if it’s the supplement or if it’s just the body taking care of things in that time.

On a personal note, my husband and I usually have a glass or two of wine with dinner every night which we both thoroughly enjoy. Last night, I did not have any wine and while I did have hot flashes, they were not as often or as severe. So, I’m thinking that I just might have to give up wine (it’s the only alcohol I drink) because as much as I enjoy it, what I enjoy more is sleeping without finding my skin feeling like it’s on fire and my clothes drenched in sweat (so gross). Then maybe once I’m through menopause I can reintroduce it and see how it goes.

I guess it’s all about trial and error and figuring out what works for each of us individually. I hope each and everyone of you figures out what works for you and that we can all be at peace within our bodies again someday soon. Wishing you all well in your life’s journey.
 
Thanks for the info favaunt22. I agree, it is all about trial and error. Interesting what you say about wine. I usually sip a small glass of whisky or rum (1-1.5 ounces) with my evening meal and that is the only alcohol I drink. But 4 times a year I do a dry week and I am scheduled to do another one soon. It will be interesting to see if this makes a difference.
 
I am now 12 year post-menopausal but menopause was wicked for me. The years between the ages of 43 and 51 were SUPER TOUGH. :(:(

I too tried many different things to deal with the sleep challenges and other symptoms. Getting enough sleep and more consecutive hours of sleep was my main concern during that time. I found, and still find, that alcohol just doesn't work well for me any more. So I limit it to about one to two drinks per week and try to have those earlier in the evening.

I find drinking about 2-4 oz of tart cherry juice about 30 minutes prior to bed is helpful. I got this idea from a blog post Cathe wrote. I researched it further and found it to be noted as a safe, easy and often helpful strategy.

But the most helpful thing for me was having accupuncture. It was extremely helpful, right from the first session. :D My GP was the one who suggested it and she gave me a prescription for the treatment (so the cost was covered for me here in Canada). The treatment is not painful, and in fact was the most relaxing 30 minutes of my week - I often fell asleep during the treatment! Accupuncture was truly a game changer for me.

The silver lining with menopause was that it prompted me to up the intensity and consistency with my workouts. I now use heavier weights and ensure I fit in a couple of interval training sessions each week . Regular intense workouts I found to be a foundational strategy when trying to get needed sleep and regulation in the body. Prior to menopause I could get by with working out 3-5 days per week. This is no longer the case. Consistency is now KEY. Even now at age 62 I have to work out a minimum of 5 days per week or everything falls apart (mood changes, sleep issues, even some lingering night sweats).

I just pre-ordered Dr. Stacy Sims' new book "Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond. Can't wait to read it. She is an exercise scientist who studies how to adapt your training based on the latest science of female physiology. Hopefully that will give some other strategies as well.
 
Thanks Jane! In a previous post I had noted that I heard acupuncture can help with menopausal symptoms and wondered if it would help with insomnia. Thank you for sharing your experience with it…so helpful and very appreciated. I’m going to look into Dr. Stacy Sims’ book too! Thanks again.
 
I'm 45 and have been in perimenopause since 2017. I never had heavy periods when I was menstruating normally and now I pretty much have no periods or very, very light spotting. So far I've had no hot flashes, sleep issues, etc. I've always worked out a high level, 6 days a week and have asked several doctors if I could've exercised my periods away, but they didn't think so. I'm not overweight and certainly not underweight so its not like low body fat would be to blame. Since April 2021, I have been using natural progesterone cream as recommended in the book by Dr. John Lee What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause. For some reason, I thought when I started using the cream it would magically bring my periods back online, but I guess I'm well into perimenopause and that ain't gonna happen. So, I'm hoping to be doing the right things by lifting heavier weights, etc. I completely quit drinking alcohol in June 2020 - it was without a doubt the damn hardest thing I've ever done because I was drinking too much to cope with stress in my life and marriage. Cathe's hardest workout, which I think is the HIIT 40/20 workout on her Shock Cardio HIIT dvd is a walk in the park compared to how hard it was to give up alcohol because I live with a man who drinks, always has, always will. The pandemic and its shut downs were a god send for me because it finally gave me time to focus on myself and quitting drinking despite my husband still drinking. Seeing him fix a afternoon cocktail was a trigger for me, as was when we'd get in fights or be around people I found annoying AF. Here I am 21 months without a drink and now I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
 
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