Fitter from Forty

Midlife seems a bit crap doesn’t it?  We are at peak ‘stress’ with kids and parents to care for, demanding careers, we’re moving less, knackered from poor sleep, (either children or night-sweats, or both), and feeling unmotivated.  It’s exhausting and leaves many women feeling drained of their joie de vivre. 

We have to take control of the controllables, and look at what we can change in order to live better.   Hell, peri-menopause can last for a decade, and statistically we will live a third of our lives as post-menopausal beings.  I want to live well, and I want you to live well.

One of your controllables is exercise. I am going to argue (no surprises here) that exercise is magnificent and every woman should be exercising in her forties and beyond.  And this includes all you beauties who have shunned exercise since school. 

Traditionally women have regarded exercise as a means to lose weight. This will certainly factor in midlife.  The decrease of oestrogen, coupled with key enzymatic changes means a change in where excess fat is stored.  The redistribution of weight around the middle makes women worldwide miserable.  But read this paragraph again, and realise that when you argue with reality you will lose every single time.  This weight redistribution is inevitable, so a change of motivation is helpful.

At this stage in life “outside-in” work is missing the point.  There’s a lot going on in the inside of our bodies that we need to be mindful of.  We lose 3-5% of our muscle mass per decade after thirty-five.  Read that and weep.  Never has the truism “use it or lose it” been more apt.  The density of our bones changes by the age of 40, and there is an increase in the risk of osteoporosis.   Strength training, (using body weight or equipment) helps to increase bone density.  Plus it’s good for our heart health.  Exercise alters the blood flow and improves cognitive performance. 

Mindset is crucial for women over forty.  Stress is playing a bigger role in my life these days, and I don’t imagine for a second I’m alone in this.  Exercise and the release of endorphins helps to manage stress, but crucially you need to find exercise that you like and want to do.  You want to be releasing serotonin and dopamine, not cortisol and adrenaline.  If you are still doing HIIT workouts but find yourself exhausted afterwards this may be the key.  Self-care is crucial, and exercise should be a part of this, not a punishment.  There’s a reason why yoga is a worldwide phenomenon that has spanned centuries. 

Exercise will also boost your self-confidence.  We all know if we feel good we look better, and whilst our focus is hopefully moving away from being dissatisfied with our bodies, it can’t do any harm to know what the more muscle you build the more your metabolism increases.  If you’re exercising you are likely to make better choices across the board, and your sleep should improve.    

All the evidence points to levels of anxiety, stress and depression being lowest amongst physically active post-menopausal women.  Ultimately, the goal is to make peace with who we are.  Eat, speak, move and act like you love yourself and, fingers crossed, we will get there.  Movement is medicine and we should be taking it daily.