The Importance of Weight-Bearing Exercise for Post-Menopausal Women

With all that is said about hormone replacement therapy during perimenopause into menopause, most women do not realize or understand how important it is to care for their health post-menopause.

Post-menopause, by definition, is the time beyond actual menopause. In other words, once you reach actual menopause - 12 consecutive months without a menstrual cycle - the subsequent time after that is called post (or after) menopause.

One of the hallmarks of perimenopause, the time of transition leading up to actual menopause, is fluctuating levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. By the time a woman reaches actual menopause, her body is no longer producing enough estrogen to support regular monthly menstrual cycles.

While this is good news to most women - because, let's face it, not having to cope with monthly periods and all of the discomfort that often accompanies them is always good news - low estrogen levels put us at risk for other health problems.

Osteoporosis and Post Menopause

One of the more serious health issues facing post-menopausal women is osteoporosis, the thinning and loss of bone tissue and bone mineral density.

Prior to menopause, our body is constantly building and rebuilding bone through a process called deposition and resorption. Up until the age of 30, this process is hearty and our body makes considerably more bone than it breaks down.

Once we reach post-menopause, however, the body actually begins to break down more bone than it is building. In fact, some post-menopausal women actually lose as much as 20 percent of their bone mass - certainly not good news for any of us.

In order to maintain good bone health and avoid osteoporosis, women must not only eat a diet rich in bone health minerals such as calcium, but they must also engage in types of exercise that encourage bone growth and strength.

Weight-Bearing Exercise Increases Bone Density

Like your muscles, bones become stronger with use. To use our bones we need to engage in activities that place weight on them. The most obvious and easiest activity to put weight on our bones is walking.

In fact, according to the American Osteopathic Association, walking is the best form of exercise for post-menopausal women. However, other activities such as dancing, low-impact aerobics, stair climbing, and even gardening can work directly on the bones in our legs, spine, and hips to help slow mineral loss and build bone density.

Strength Training Also Builds Bone Density

In addition to weight-bearing, aerobic activity, strength training with free weights, machines, or resistance bands also builds bone density and slows down mineral loss. But, if you do not have access to weights or machines, good old fashioned push-ups are an excellent way to combine strength training and weight bearing exercise.

If you are not strong enough to do full body push-ups, you can do them with your legs bent at the knees or by leaning into a wall and pushing yourself out. Both methods are effective until you build strength for a full body push-up.

Before You Start

Because bone density is such a serious health concern for post-menopausal women, it is extremely important that you have regular bone density measurements. It is a painless test that can be performed in your doctor's office in less than 15 minutes.

It is also recommended that women age 65 years of age and older be screened regularly. However, if you smoke, drink alcohol, or take certain medications, you could be at a higher risk for osteoporosis regardless of your age, and should take extra precautions.

Before you begin any exercise program to increase bone density and mass, see your physician for a fitness assessment and bone density measurement.

Sources:

"Osteoporosis" November 8, 2010. In PubMed Health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001400/

"Estrogen" July 18, 2011. Health Women.org. Retrieved from http://www.healthywomen.org/condition/estrogen