It’s National Workouts and Wellbeing Week, right up our street to end the Puberty Part 2 series. We’ve talked HRT, Magnets and Diet & Nutrition, that leaves physical exercise and the benefits.
The budget for a personal trainer long term isn’t always a luxury, and with or without a trainer you need to motivate yourself first, so take control of your own exercise regime. The choices between Home DVDs and Trainers on YouTube are endless, or you can keep it simple and take an early morning walk. Here’s a few ways to start taking control during #NationalWorkoutsAndWellbeingWeek.
Life moves at hyper speed the older you get. As much as we’d like to turn back the hands of time, it’s just not possible. But… you CAN turn back the years on your body. It’s been shown that exercise can, in fact, slow down the physiological effects of aging. Meaning that YES… working out can keep you young.
While you’re going through Puberty Part II – oh the hot flashes and mood swings – you might not WANT to get up and move. We need to change that because regular physical activity can actually make menopause symptoms more bearable.
We may feel like we’re not in control of ANY of our symptoms exercise is a great way to help regain some of that feeling of control.
Strength Training
You need weight-bearing exercise like walking or weight lifting to help ward off osteoporosis. For postmenopausal women, brisk walking may be enough.
Strength training exercises will help to build bone and muscle strength, burn body fat, and speed up your metabolism.
At home, opt for dumbbells and resistance tubing.
The good news is that following a well-planned resistance training program increases muscle fiber size in older women (Fleck and Kraemer 1997). Increasing the size of muscle fibers helps combat the age-related sarcopenia that normally occurs in women. Therefore, your resistance training program helps slow this process.
Every decade as you lose muscle tissue, your metabolism also decreases by about 5 percent (Westcott and Baechle 1998). This slower metabolic rate contributes to middle-aged weight gain when you eat the same amount of calories but don’t burn all the calories consumed. Strength training can slow the metabolic decreases, muscle loss, and weight gain that normally occur in middle-aged women.
Human Kinetics
Yoga
Yoga can serve as a useful tool to help regulate hormones. The hormonal changes experienced in Puberty Part II are the same hormones that affect us during our periods. So, in essence, menopause is one long stretch of PMS. Yikes.
It doesn’t even have to be formal classes for you to experience the benefits of yoga.In addition to relieving stress, practicing targeted postures in your home can help relieve many symptoms of menopause, including anxiety, irritability, insomnia, hot flashes.
Looking young, fit, and sexy is not about how many years you’ve lived, but about how well you’ve taken care of your body.
What exercises do YOU do that help with menopause? Do you work out at home? Is it easy to get into the routine? Let’s talk about it on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
