With perimenopause comes an influx of not-so-fun symptoms, such as irregular periods, hot flashes, lethargy and brain fog. And if you’ve noticed those symptoms taking a toll on how you’re performing in your workouts, you might be wondering whether your fitness routine needs an upgrade.
Quick primer: Perimenopause is the transitional phase leading up to menopause, when hormone levels, particularly estrogen and progesterone, begin to fluctuate and gradually decline as ovarian function slows, says Dr Rachelle Reed, an exercise physiologist in Athens, Georgia. Oestrogen helps regulate fat distribution, muscle maintenance and insulin sensitivity, while progesterone supports sleep and has a calming effect on the nervous system. As these hormones shift, they might cause you to experience changes in your metabolism, energy levels, mood and sleep, while also making it harder to build and maintain muscle, which may cause you to store weight in certain areas, like around your belly, she explains.
Meet the experts: Dr Rachelle Reed ACSM-EP, is an American College of Sports Medicine-certified exercise physiologist in Athens, Georgia. Brooke Taylor is a certified personal trainer, creator of the Brooke Taylor Fit App and owner of Taylored Fitness NY LTD.
While those changes can feel frustrating, tweaking your workout routine may make a difference. “Your body is changing during perimenopause, so your workouts should evolve with it,” says Brooke Taylor.
Ahead, read more about the biggest menopause workout myths, and how to change your workouts to suit this new era of your life, per experts.
The Biggest (Peri)menopause Workout Myths To Ignore
Myth #1: Weight gain is inevitable
The Truth: Many adults experience gradual weight gain across midlife, regardless of menopause. This is often due to subtle changes in energy, decreased physical activity and age-related loss of muscle mass, Reed says. On top of that, hormonal shifts during the menopausal transition – particularly declining oestrogen – can cause the body to store more fat around the abdomen, become less responsive to insulin and continue to lose muscle mass. Over time, that can cause your body to burn calories more slowly, Reed explains.
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Research backs this up: During perimenopause and menopause, women often experience an increase in fat mass, which tends to accumulate around the waist, alongside a gradual decline in muscle, particularly in the lower limbs, according to a 2021 study on body composition changes during menopause in Gynecological Endocrinology. Losing lean body mass can then decrease how many calories you burn at rest, according to an older review of articles on menopause-associated lipid metabolic disorders in Nutrients, making weight management more challenging.
However, calling menopause weight gain “inevitable” is a stretch, because lifestyle factors still play a powerful role in preventing and causing it, Reed says. Moving less, skipping strength training, inconsistent eating and poor sleep can make weight gain happen more easily.
But on the flip side, a healthy diet and exercise can help you grow muscle and lose fat even around menopause. A 2023 study in BMC Women’s Health had 41 healthy women with an average age of 52 resistance train twice a week for 10 weeks. They were divided into pre-menopausal and post-menopausal groups, and the pre-menopausal women experienced an increase in muscle mass and a decrease in fat mass, while post-menopausal women saw an increase in strength.
Myth #2: More cardio is better
The Truth: Cardio can absolutely support weight loss – it increases total daily energy expenditure, which helps create the calorie deficit needed for weight loss (consuming fewer calories than your body requires to stay at its current weight). But it’s not a magic fix. And strength training may provide a bigger impact because it preserves and builds muscle, which can have an effect on metabolism, increasing calorie burn even at rest, Taylor says.
READ MORE: Why Am I Gaining Weight During Perimenopause?
Additionally, too much cardio can interfere with recovery. When you’re constantly pushing into high-intensity zones, the high-impact nature can add extra stress to the body, making it harder to recover between workouts, reduce the quality of your strength training and raise your risk of injury, Taylor explains. Over time, these risk factors can lead to less consistent movement, ultimately working against your goals. “The problem isn’t cardio itself – it’s doing too much of it,” Taylor says.
Myth #3: Doing lots of ab workouts will slim your midsection
The Truth: Core exercises are great for building strength, stability and muscle definition, but they do not directly burn fat in your midsection. “Doing more core work will strengthen your abdominal muscles, but changes in body composition come from a combination of [muscle-building tactics] and fueling your body with proper nutrition,” Taylor explains. In other words, core workouts are just one piece of the puzzle… not a shortcut to spot-reducing belly fat.
Like any muscle, abs are built through training, but their visibility depends on overall body fat. “Fat loss doesn’t happen in one targeted area; it occurs throughout the body as a result of consistent strength training, supportive nutrition and lifestyle habits,” Taylor says.
Do You Actually Need to Change Your Workouts in Perimenopause?
Short answer: It depends. If you’re a lifelong endurance and HIIT junkie who’s never picked up a weight, you may need to pivot your workouts to add in more strength training. Hormonal shifts, along with factors like sleep quality, daily stress and recovery capacity, can make a lot of high-intensity training feel less sustainable, Reed says. “It’s less about avoiding HIIT or running altogether, and more about paying attention to overall program balance, making sure intensity, volume and recovery are aligned,” she says. (More on that in a sec!)
That doesn’t mean you need to train less in perimenopause; it means training with more intention and balance. “Perimenopause is the time when you need to train smarter, not harder,” Taylor says.
How to Make the Most of Your Workouts During Perimenopause
Prioritise resistance training
Again, studies prove that regular resistance training builds and preserves muscle, boosting strength and promoting a healthy body composition. Growing muscle can also protect against sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) and osteoporosis (loss of bone density), Taylor says. Additionally, there’s evidence that strength exercises can be beneficial for improving hormonal and metabolic levels, heart rate, blood pressure and hot flashes in menopausal women, per a 2023 review in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
If you’re new to exercise or getting back into it after some time off, Reed suggests starting with two full-body strength-training sessions per week. That could look like two 30-minute sessions centred on three to four full-body, compound movements (exercises that target multiple muscle groups at once) with about three sets of 10 to 12 reps each. As you build strength, you can gradually increase your training frequency by working all major muscle groups three to four times per week, Taylor says.
“To make the most of your time and effort, it’s best to aim for structured progression, like gradually increasing reps, sets, tempo, or load over time and update your programming every four to six weeks so the body continues to adapt without plateauing,” says Taylor.
But don’t totally neglect cardio
Cardio still matters, but the focus should shift toward the right type and intensity. The American Heart Association recommends aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio per week (brisk walking, biking slower than 16km per hour, water aerobics, or doubles tennis) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio per week (running, hiking uphill, swimming laps, biking over 16km per hour, or singles tennis).
“My recommendation is to incorporate aerobic work across a variety of intensities, prioritise resistance training and align training with recovery in a way that’s sustainable for your body,” Reed says. If you enjoy running or HIIT training, stick to one to three sessions per week and allow at least 48 hours between workouts to maximise recovery.
READ MORE: 10 Reasons Why You’re Lifting Weights But Not Losing Weight, According To Experts
Dial in on your nutrition and sleep
Exercise is only part of the picture. Eating about 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal can help maintain muscle, stabilise energy levels and support recovery, while seven to nine hours of consistent, high-quality sleep is essential in regulating appetite, mood and overall metabolic health, Reed says. And of course, intentional rest days are essential for allowing your body to repair and adapt to the work being done. “Without recovery, even the best program becomes counterproductive,” Taylor says.
Together, these habits can offset many of the physical changes that occur during menopause to support a more balanced body composition over time.
When it comes to working out in perimenopause, Taylor says the focus should be training in a way that supports hormones, metabolism and longevity. “Ultimately, the goal isn’t to push harder – it’s to train smarter, recover better and build a body that feels strong, energised and sustainable for the long term.”
This article was written by Andi Breitowich and was first published on Women’s Health US.
