By Carolyne Anthony

As Pilates instructors, we are seeing many more middle-aged women in our classes, and they are an energetic, dynamic group to say the least. Women today are much more active, informed and focused on their health and fitness than they were several decades ago. Many have been exercising for years and are not about to stop now that they are reaching their menopausal years.

The onset of menopause does, however, bring several changes to women’s lives, and from what I’ve found, they appreciate all the help they can get with navigating through it. It is interesting to look at some of the symptoms of menopause and how exercise can help alleviate some of them. It is even more interesting to look at the ways in which Pilates can help many of these symptoms.

So just what is menopause? A three-ring circus at best.

Perimenopause describes the time when a woman’s menstrual cycles begin to stop; menopause is reached when there has not been a cycle for 12 consecutive months. It’s a time of upheaval in the body. Hormones are running rampant, your body is changing, and life seems strange. Sounds like adolescence, doesn’t it? If you are already teaching this group, you know that they are some of the liveliest and funniest people around. A sense of humor is a requirement during this time.

Pilates is a mind-body experience just like menopause is, and we can use the philosophy of Pilates to help women through it. Menopause can be a truly amazing time if they are given the tools necessary to cope with its trials and tribulations. Pilates is a wonderful aid in accomplishing these goals. Keeping a positive attitude and sense of humor is important too. Feeling good about yourself and your body is essential.

Menopause and The Mind
Women tend to experience mood swings, depression, irritability and sleep disturbances, among several other symptoms, during menopause. Moderate-intensity exercise is known to help manage these symptoms, and simple exercises like breathing and stretching are also great stress blasters. Deep abdominal breathing not only calms and focuses the mind, it helps tone and strengthen abdominal muscles. Sometimes fatigue can be a problem for this group; if so, a session of breathing and stretching along with some simple exercises may help calm and relax them enough to help promote better sleep. This sort of exercise may be done a few hours before bedtime as it will not boost the metabolism or stimulate the central nervous system as more intense exercise will.

Menopause and The Body
Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue and is also responsible for skin strength and elasticity. As we age, the ability to rebuild collagen decreases, which leads to wrinkles and sagging skin, as well as decreased muscle tone. Exercise has been proven to have the ability to stimulate collagen regeneration in the muscles and bones- a double benefit for menopausal women with the beginnings of osteoporosis.

Along with muscle and skin tonicity loss there comes weight gain, which usually appears around the middle with a simultaneous loss of fat around the hips and thighs. This is caused by hormonal fluctuations and the slowing down of the metabolism. There are plenty of ways to treat these hormonal changes and slowing of the metabolism. Exercise, again, is one of them.

We need to look closely at the type of exercise these women need. If weight gain is a problem, there has to be a concerted effort to reduce the number of calories consumed and increase cardiovascular activity. There is no way around this formula. No amount of abdominal work is going to actually shift the weight in this area without the help of cardio activity and a decrease in caloric input.

While most of us are into creating a stress-free environment with gentle exercises and stretching, the truth is that these women need to be worked out hard. Getting the heart rate up and sustaining it for at least 20 minutes will release endorphins—the feel good hormones—into the bloodstream. It will also rev up the metabolism and keep it turned up for a while after the end of exercising. We need to get them off their backs and moving more, using more resistance and having a whole lot more FUN.

Menopause and The Spirit
Menopause can feel like a time of loss for many women. They are dealing with the loss of youth, vitality, the ability to bear children and the empty-nest syndrome. They have to deal with a changing body, a befuddled mind and mood swings. This is a lot to handle. Exercise will serve to make these women feel better, and in doing so they are better able to cope with the madness of menopause. This is also a time of self-reflection, a reemergence of the self. Most of these women report an opening of the mind and an insatiable desire to learn new things. These women are strong and confident and are willing to do what it takes to achieve balance in their lives. Pilates seems to fit the bill for this very special population.

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