Quick Answer
Pelvic floor strength training is one of the most useful things you can do during menopause, not something to be cautious about. Declining oestrogen weakens both the pelvic floor and the muscles and bones around it, and targeted pelvic floor work alongside general strength training is one of the most effective ways to protect against that decline. Twice-weekly sessions, building up gradually, is a reasonable starting point for most people. If you have an existing health condition, osteoporosis, or pelvic floor symptoms like prolapse, it’s worth checking with your GP or a pelvic health physiotherapist before starting a new programme.
Menopause is a major transition in a woman’s life, part of the wider peri-menopause and menopause journey. While it means no more periods, it also introduces real challenges, from hot flashes and mood swings to changes in body composition and pelvic floor function.
But, when you’re already dealing with fatigue and muscle aches, the thought of working out can seem overwhelming. The good news is, certain types of exercise, especially strength training and pelvic floor exercises, are particularly beneficial for women going through menopause.
How Can Exercise Relieve the Menopause Symptoms?
Menopause often leads to several physical changes that can affect your health. Here are how exercises can combat these changes and relieve symptoms:
a. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Women can gain weight with the decline of oestrogen level. In fact, menopause belly and bloating, or the increased fat and puffiness around the abdomen area, is quite common for many women.
Regular exercise helps to keep your metabolism active, preventing excess weight from building up.
b. Support Heart Health
Menopause increases the risk of heart disease due to changes in cholesterol levels and a decrease in oestrogen. Cardiovascular exercises, such as brisk walking, cycling, or swimming, can improve heart health. You can also maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels with strength training.
c. Promote Better Sleep
Hot flashes, night sweats, and hormonal shifts can disrupt your sleep. Thankfully, yoga and gentle stretching exercises can help you relax and improve the quality of your sleep.
d. Lift Your Mood
Hormonal fluctuations during menopause can affect your mental health. But exercise boosts the production of feel-good chemicals (endorphins) in the brain, which reduces stress and elevates mood.
e. Enhance Bone Health
Loss of oestrogen during menopause increases the risk of osteoporosis, which makes your bones fragile. The NHS recommends weight-bearing and resistance exercise during and after menopause specifically to help protect bone strength. As your muscles work against resistance, whether from weights, resistance bands or your own bodyweight, they pull on your bones, and the Royal Osteoporosis Society explains this is what helps maintain or improve bone strength over time.
Lifting weights is also advisable to help maintain or build bone density if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, though it’s worth checking with your GP or a physiotherapist about what’s appropriate for your specific bone health first.
f. Improve Pelvic Floor Health
A weakened pelvic floor is common during menopause, leading to urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and decreased sexual function. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles through specific exercises can improve bladder control and sexual health.
Which Exercises Are the Most Useful During Menopause?
Two types of exercises stand out as particularly beneficial for women during menopause: weight training and pelvic floor exercises.
Let’s take a closer look at both.
1. Weight Training
As we age, our muscle mass declines naturally. By the time you reach menopause, you may start noticing a loss in strength and muscle tone. Weight training is one of the best ways to combat this process.
Lifting weights helps preserve muscle mass, along with strengthening bones, joints, and connective tissues.
How to Start: There is no need to go to the gym to get started with strength training. You can use free weights, resistance bands, or even do free-hand exercises. Start with a simple routine twice a week, focusing on these following exercises:
- Squats and lunges (to strengthen legs and improve balance)
- Push-ups (to target the upper body)
- Rows and lat pulldowns (to strengthen your back and shoulders)
- Bicep curls and shoulder presses (for arm strength)
You have to increase the number of repetitions over time. A gradual buildup will help your body adapt without causing injury.
2. Pelvic Floor Exercises
If you’re dealing with prolapse symptoms or pelvic floor issues, weight training might not be the best starting point. However, you can still work on building strength and improving your pelvic health with exercises like hypopressives. These exercises can make the pelvic floor muscles stronger, while also improving flexibility and blood flow.
Hypopressives focus on proper breathing techniques and postures to engage and tone the muscles that support the bladder, uterus, and rectum. This is essential before you start any weight training routine.
Once your pelvic floor health is sorted, you can begin incorporating strength training exercises. You should start with lighter weights and work your way up. This ensures that your pelvic floor muscles aren’t overloaded and that you’re strengthening your body in a way that supports long-term health.
Weight-bearing exercises like lunges and squats, which are often included in Low Pressure Fitness (LPF) routines or hypopressives, are beneficial in this case. They improve bone density and muscle strength, both of which are vital during menopause. As you progress, adding squats and lunges can improve leg strength, balance, and overall posture while also supporting your pelvic floor.
Incorporating yoga into your routine is another great way to support pelvic health. Yoga helps with flexibility, joint mobility, and strengthening the core. I have also written an article on how to get rid of Menopause belly, going through what works, and what doesn’t.
Getting Started With Hypopressives
For the Hypopressives classes it is important that you learn the Breathing/Apnea technique properly so that you can get the most out of the classes and the time you invest in yourself. Each week I run Fundamentals sessions on Zoom where I explain the technique and guide you through all the steps.
I’ll also give you feedback to make sure that you’re doing it correctly. For some, the technique may come more quickly than others – some of my clients, who are tighter in the ribs and thoracic spine, do tend to take a little longer. And here’s the golden rule: for impactful change, I recommend at least three 15 to 20-minute workouts per week. Consistency is your best friend on this journey towards wellness.
Checking In Before You Start
This page offers general guidance and can’t account for your individual health history. If you have osteoporosis, an existing heart or joint condition, or you’re dealing with pelvic organ prolapse or other pelvic floor symptoms, it’s worth checking with your GP or a pelvic health physiotherapist before starting a new resistance training programme, so it can be tailored appropriately to you.
