The Food Medic - E2 Ask Dr Hazel: Best forms of exercise after the menopause

Episode Date: July 11, 2022

Hey team, and welcome back to Ask Dr Hazel our mini episodes that drop each week. This week we cover the best forms of exercise for women who are going through, or who have gone through the menopausal transition. Thank you to everyone who has sent in questions already and if you would like to submit a question to the podcast - on any topic related to health, fitness, nutrition, or mindset - please send your voice recorded question to [e-mail]. The Female Factor book is available NOW on amazon and in all good book stores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Grocer $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Hey everyone, welcome back to another mini episode of Ask Dr. Hazel in these short five minute episodes I answer questions submitted by you. Hi Hazel, my mum's going through the

menopause at the moment and I really want to support her to stay active. What are the best forms of exercise for her at this stage in life? She loves swimming, but that's about all she does. Thank you. Thank you so much for your question. Unfortunately, there is little guidance for women when it comes to staying active during the perimenopause, the menopause and beyond. However, staying active during this time of your life or your mom's life is so important, not only for the usual benefits that exercise provides, but also for the additional menopause related reasons. So it can improve symptoms and it can

also help to improve bone health and heart health, just to name a few. And that's particularly important during this time. So first of all, it's never too late to start. And any amount of exercise is better than no exercise at all. Your mom is already swimming, which is great as this is a form of aerobic exercise or cardio, which is really important to help strengthen the heart muscle and maintain the health of blood vessels it can also improve blood cholesterol levels blood glucose and blood pressure so that's amazing that she's doing that already but that said while swimming water aerobic cycling all of these forms of exercise are amazing for your heart for all women i encourage that some form of weight bearing activities that also provide impact are included.

Now the reason for this is because of bone health and just like muscle bone is a living tissue and so when we train it we make it stronger. And when I use the word weight bearing I essentially mean any activity where you're standing on one or both feet. So that includes walking, jogging, hiking, jumping, dancing, and most types of team or racket sports. In addition to that, I would love to see you including some muscle strengthening exercises because they're also bone strengthening exercises. And the UK guidance is that we should all aim to do muscle strengthening exercises on at least two days of the week. Now this doesn't mean you have to go to the gym. It can involve weights, but it can also include resistance bands,

bodyweight exercises such as lunges, squats, push-ups and other activities like heavy gardening or yoga or Pilates. They all count. And finally, don't forget the pelvic floor. We chatted about this on a previous Ask Dr. Hazel episode. So make sure to go back and listen to that if you missed it. We talk you through exactly how to train your pelvic floor. So I guess to summarize, while there are no ideal exercises or there's no one exercise program for after the menopause, for women who are peri and postmenopausal here is your checklist. I want

you to do aerobic exercise for your heart and overall fitness with some form of weight-bearing exercise with impact which is also important for your bone health. I want you to also include muscle strengthening exercises twice a week and that's really good for your balance, your bone health and your muscle health and also don't forget to be doing your daily pelvic floor training to prevent any issues when it comes to incontinence or prolapse and also help to support your independence in older age to find out more you can also check out my new book the female factor which goes into much greater detail for women at all stages of life. Thank you again for submitting your question. And if anyone listening would like to submit a question of their own,

you know what to do. Drop us an email, lindsay at thefoodmedic.co.uk for your chance to be featured.