MENOPAUSE AND EXERCISE

Did you know that exercise can actually help with at least 90% of the symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, anxiety, sleep, brain fog, and painful muscles and joints.
During menopause we need to pay more attention to our joints, heart, bones and muscles, posture, core strength, balance and mental health even more than we did in our earlier years. Here are some exercises I have all my clients do to keep healthy and fit as they go through this life transition.
*Joint health - Ankle circles, knee bends, shoulder rolls, spine twists, hand circles and fist clenching on a daily basis will help keep your joints lubricated
*Heart health - 20 to 30 minutes of a physical cardio activity 3 to 4 times per week is suggested
*Bone and Muscle health - Resistance training – using your own body weight, resistance bands, fixed resistance weights in the gym, free weights or even just lifting bottles of water will do it!
I love bodyweight exercises like:
  • squats
  • pushups
  • tricep dips
  • plank
  • lunges
  • stretching
*Posture and Core Strength and Balance - reminding yourself to stand up straight, keep your shoulders back and down. Engaging your core can be as easy as just saying "SSSSHHH" and holding that contraction in your core for 5 seconds. Balance exercises like standing on 1 leg for 5 seconds each is a great way to maintain stability.
*Mental health - meditation is key to quiet the mind. When we hit menopause our ovaries stop producing estrogen and our adrenal glands step in to help out, which means these glands can become overworked. These overworked glands will contribute to us feeling stressed, tired and overwhelmed, so need to do our best to avoid this.
*Stretching - brief stretch breaks every day is a great idea (especially if you work behind a computer). Muscles and tendons in your legs and back tend to stiffen up, and staying flexible requires attention as we get older.
 And it's important to keep in mind a little goes a long way!!!
For more on Julie check out her website …. And follow her on instagram @juliediamondfitness

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