Perimenopause
Strength training for perimenopause
Perimenopause is the stretch before your last period when hormones start to swing. It usually begins in the mid- to late forties and lasts about four years on average, though anywhere from two to eight is normal. It’s also when a lot of women notice that what used to work for their body suddenly doesn’t.
What changes in your body during perimenopause?
Estrogen doesn’t drop in a straight line during perimenopause; it rises and falls unpredictably, then trends down. Estrogen was quietly helping you hold on to muscle and bone and handle carbohydrates well, so as it fades:
Noticing it most around your waist? Menopause belly: why it happens, and what works.
- Muscle gets harder to keep. The body already loses about 3–5% of its muscle mass per decade from around age 30, and perimenopause removes one of the signals that slowed that loss.
- Bone loss speeds up. A woman can lose up to 20% of her bone density in the five to seven years after menopause. Perimenopause is when to get ahead of it.
- Sleep, mood and recovery get noisier. Night waking and hot flashes are common, and poor sleep makes everything else harder.
This is why “eat less, do more cardio” tends to backfire now. It strips muscle at exactly the moment your body is already losing it.
Why is strength training the best exercise for perimenopause?
Lifting replaces, in part, the signal estrogen used to send. Loaded movement tells muscle to stay and bone to rebuild. And there’s evidence it helps with the symptoms themselves: in a randomised controlled trial in Maturitas, 65 postmenopausal women with moderate-to-severe hot flushes did a whole-body resistance training program three times a week for 15 weeks. Their moderate-to-severe hot flushes fell by about 44%, compared with about 2% in the women who didn’t train.
That trial was in women after menopause, but the training was the kind described below, and there’s no reason to wait until your periods have stopped to start.
How should you train during perimenopause?
- Lift two to three times a week. The NSCA’s guidance for older adults is two to three sessions a week, two to three sets of the big multi-joint moves at a weight that makes the last two reps hard.
- Build around squat, hinge, push, pull and carry. Five moves, full body, every session. The five moves guide shows each one.
- Go heavier, not longer. Short, hard sessions of 30–40 minutes beat long, light ones. Long cardio sessions on top of a bad night’s sleep are a recipe for feeling worse.
- Plan recovery on purpose. A rest day between lifting days, and permission to swap a session for a walk when sleep was terrible.
How should you eat during perimenopause?
Protein does more work now, not less. Stanford Lifestyle Medicine suggests about 30 grams per meal for adults over 50, and the International Society of Sports Nutrition notes that when exercise is combined with eating less, higher protein helps you lose more fat and improves body composition. If fat loss is part of the goal, keep the calorie deficit small and aim for about 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal weight. The protein calculator gives you the number.
Does hormone therapy change how you should train?
Whether hormone therapy is right for you is a conversation with your doctor, and it doesn’t change the training advice. Women on hormone therapy and women who aren’t both benefit from lifting and from enough protein. If you do start it, tell your coach, because sleep and recovery often change.
The mindset that gets you through
Perimenopause is not a reason to go easy on yourself. It’s a reason to train with intention: heavier, less often, with better food and better sleep. The women who come out the other side stronger are the ones who started lifting in the middle of it.
Symptoms like very heavy bleeding, bleeding after sex, or periods that stop and restart after a year belong with your doctor. This guide is about training and nutrition, not medical treatment.
