Want to Lose Weight in Menopause? These Workouts Will Get You There.

Exercise is powerful. It can make you stronger, faster, healthier, and improve your mood. It can even reverse the aging process to some degree and ease some common concerns like joint pain, arthritis, high blood pressure, and cognitive decline.

Wherever you are on your menopause journey, exercise is one of the most important things that you can do for your mental and physical health in the short and long term.

Many people in midlife look to exercise for help with weight management. However, not all exercise is created equal when it comes to its role in weight loss.

These three types of exercise are the cornerstones of a weight loss program.

1. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT is quick, intense, and gets the job done. HIIT is based around short bursts of high intensity work followed by rest periods of less intensity.

For example, you could alternate all-out sprints for 30 seconds followed by one minute of a steady jog or walk.

Pros

• HIIT is time-efficient. Because it’s so high-intensity, you’ll be done within 20-30 minutes. If you’re doing high-intensity exercise, you only need to reach a total of 75 minutes per week to hit the recommended level for all adults.
• You’ll burn a ton of calories. A 2015 study found that a 30-minute HIIT session can burn 25-30% more calories than traditional cardio.
• You can do HIIT intervals in all forms of cardio exercise, from running and rowing to jump rope. YouTube is full of HIIT workout choices.
• You don’t have to be in shape to get started. Because you’re working at your highest intensity, it can meet you wherever you are. As you start a HIIT routine, pace yourself so you can work up to longer durations over time.

Cons

• While HIIT is considered safe, it is still very strenuous and may not be suitable for everyone.

2. Steady-State Cardio

Steady-state cardio is the type of exercise that most people are familiar with. It refers to anything that gets your heart rate up and keeps it elevated for an extended period of time.

Cycling, swimming, and jogging are all common examples of steady-state cardio where your heart rate stays elevated at around the same level for the duration of your session.

Pros

• Steady-state cardio checks an important box for your weekly exercise needs and helps with cardiovascular health, metabolic health and weight management. All adults should aim to get a total of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio per week.
• Steady-state cardio can take many forms, including biking, swimming, rowing, and even some kinds of dancing. You can choose activities that you enjoy.

Cons

• It takes a while to burn a significant number of calories. For example, a 30-minute run will burn between 280 and 520 calories depending on your weight and speed.

3. Strength Training

Most people don’t equate strength training with weight loss, but it’s actually an extremely important part of the weight management equation.

Maintaining a healthy weight for your body is much more than burning calories with cardio. Your metabolism (the number of calories that your body requires every day) is largely determined by your body composition (the percentage of body fat to muscle). More muscle mass relative to body fat leads to a speedier metabolism than when body fat percentage is high.

One of the major reasons why weight gain starts to occur around midlife is that the body starts to lose muscle mass after around age 35. However, this shift isn’t inevitable—you can stop and reverse this process with consistent strength training.

Pros

• Strength training has been shown to improve cardiovascular and metabolic health at least as much as cardio exercise. Not only are you building muscle, you’re reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes.
• Strength training maintains and even increases bone density, lowering your risk of osteoporosis and even helping manage it once someone has already been diagnosed.

Cons

• Strength training can feel intimidating if you’re new to it. Use classes, videos or a couple of personal training sessions to feel more comfortable before striking out on your own.
• Strength training requires challenging your body to the point of fatigue. If you don’t have access to weights or machines, this can be more challenging and time-consuming. Bodyweight movements like push-ups, planks, pull-ups and squats are a great place to start even if you don’t have equipment, but you’ll probably want to progress to weights relatively soon.
• A strength workout does not burn a lot of calories. A 125-pound person will only burn about 90 calories in a 30-minute session. But remember – the benefits of strength training are about much more than calories burned.

Make Your Workouts Work For You

Exercise is important for all aspects of your health, including its ability to help keep your weight and body composition in a range that’s healthy for you. It’s never too late to start an exercise habit.