Pilates for Perimenopause and Post-Menopause

As you make the transition toward menopause in your late forties and early fifties, exercise is more important than before, not less.

Pilates can help perimenopausal and post-menopausal women keep their energy and spirits up.  

And Pilates offers enough resistance to help maintain bone density.

Pilates can improve strength and stamina without overdoing it. As we get older, we might have to slow down a bit, but we can keep moving with Pilates!

Hormones that protected us in our younger days are not as prominent after menopause, so we become more vulnerable to certain types of cancer, heart disease and dementia to name a few of the looming age-related conditions we now have to worry about.

In our younger years, heart disease isn’t as prevalent in women as it is in men. But as our female hormones decline, we must do everything in our power to keep our immune systems, lungs, and heart active and healthy.

Modifying your exercise routine as you age

As I went into my 50s, I found I couldn’t run as many miles as I used to without injuries. I wanted to keep my bone density up with impact and weight bearing but I just couldn’t pound the pavement for 5 to 8 miles a day any longer without ankle and knee problems.

Enter Pilates with the jump board for safer cardio

Not only did Pilates help keep me strong and flexible with light resistance combined with full range of motion; I discovered the Jump board which made it possible to do cardio safely without too much impact on my joints. In Pilates many exercises including the jump board are done lying down.

How is the Pilates Jump board used?

The jump board is used lying on your back and jumping and landing softly enough to keep joints safe. You can control how heavy it is and how deeply you flex the knee joints upon landing.

You can also do seated and kneeling pushes with the arms to build bone density in the upper body. Most jumpboard classes combine regular pilates range of motion, abdominal, postural and arm strength as well so you still get a well rounded full body workout when you take a jump board class. But you have added some cardio too.

My personal story with Pilates after menopause

Personally, I have found Pilates to be extremely helpful in keeping me fit. Now that I am in my sixties, I’m still able to go to hip-hop dance class, salsa dance and do yoga almost as well as I could back in the day.

I started Pilates in my early 40s when I started training to become an instructor. I had a background in dance and was a professional sports massage therapist at the time. I was excited to find something related to massage that wasn’t as taxing on my joints as massage, that I could do professionally.

A year into teaching Pilates I had to have large fibroids the size of grapefruits growing off of my uterus removed surgically which meant an incision across my lower abdominal facia, the connective tissue covering the abdominal wall. The surgeons had to pull aside the muscles of the abodomin with giant clamps to access the uterus.

The doctors had argued that they should just go in vaginally and take out my uterus which would have sent me into immediate full on menopause

The important thing though is to find something you like to do even if it is just walking and keep moving four to seven times a week.

I personally don’t do Pilates every day, but I do it a few times a week and take walks, dance class and do yoga. Pilates is great for cross training.

Finding variety in movement helps you avoid injuries as you age

Overuse injuries start to become more of a problem as we age. We might have been able to run or bike every day in the past but now that we are older it’s better to change it up.

If you can find a studio that offers a range of Pilates classes including cardio, interval training, and other things like TRX, you’ll be off to a good start as you enter the post-menopausal years. Many Pilates studios offer a variety of classes.

I have worked in a couple of Pilates studios in Southern California that offered spin classes and Pilates which was a nice combination. Club Pilates, where I teach in Mountain View California, is one studio of this type.

If you don’t have time or inclination to exercise in groups you can always set up a home studio depending upon how much space you have. Schedule a free half hour zoom or in person consult if you live in Silicon Valley

Recomended resouces for menopause and perimenopause

• Do Not Age is a UK company that is reputable, with pure ingredients and third party testing. Read their highly informative reserach articles about cutting edge products and ingredients they are introducing. I use six of thier suppliments so far and notice a big difference in how I feel.
• Root Oganic by Isa Herrera has suppliments and programs for transitioning to menopause and dealing with the discomforts that can ensue. I take her Beautiful Brain suppliment.
• Meno-rescue organic herbal formula helps lower cortisol leves, balances hormones and heal symptoms.Solid scientific research. helps with hot flashes, sleep, memory, mood, energy. Just ordered myself 6 months worth to give it a long enough time to make a difference. They have a nice discount program when you buy in bulk!

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