Helping women stay active and navigate the changes that come with perimenopause and menopause is an important part of supporting long-term health and wellbeing.
Women who stay active through this life stage build strength, protect their bones, support their mood, and maintain the energy and independence that carry them forward. This is also a time when many women quietly step back from movement. Not because they don’t want to stay active, but because their body is changing in ways that aren’t always talked about, and the advice they’re hearing doesn’t always feel like it’s for them.
A time of change
Perimenopause can start in a woman’s early forties, sometimes earlier, and the transition through menopause can span several years. During this time, shifting hormone levels affect the whole body. Energy levels fluctuate, sleep can become disrupted, mood can shift, and the way the body feels during movement can change too.
These changes can occur, and they don’t mean a woman has to slow down or stop. They mean her approach to movement might need to adapt.
Building strength and protecting bones
One of the most important things movement does during this life stage is protect bones and preserve muscle. Both can decline during the menopausal transition and with ageing, and staying active is one of the most effective ways to slow that process.
The good news is that many forms of movement count. Resistance training, which includes anything from lifting weights to using resistance bands to bodyweight exercises at home, builds strength, supports long-term health, and helps the body stay resilient through this life stage. Walking, swimming, dancing, yoga, and Pilates all contribute too.
There is no single right way to do this. The most effective exercise is the one a woman can access, enjoy, and keep doing. If that’s a gym class twice a week, great. If it’s a daily walk and some exercises at home, that works too.
Keeping joints comfortable
Joint pain and stiffness can occur during perimenopause and menopause. Many women experience aching in their knees, hips, or hands, often without any clear injury or structural cause. This seems to be associated with the changing hormone levels during the menopausal transition, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be ignored.
Staying active is still the right call, but the type of movement matters. Lower-impact options like swimming, cycling, walking, or resistance band work can keep the body strong and mobile without placing additional strain on joints that are already under pressure.
If a particular type of exercise is causing pain, that’s useful information. Adjusting the activity, reducing the load, or trying something different is worth doing, and a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist can help figure out what that looks like in practice.
Pelvic health and staying active
Many women notice changes to their pelvic health during perimenopause and menopause. This might show up as leaking urine during exercise, a feeling of heaviness or pressure in the pelvis, or finding that certain movements are uncomfortable. It does happen, and it is connected to the same hormonal changes driving other changes during this life stage. It is not something women simply have to put up with.
It also does not have to mean stopping exercise. For most women there is a version of movement that works, even if it looks different from what they were doing before. Lower-impact options, adjustments to load or intensity, or working with a women’s health physiotherapist to build pelvic floor strength alongside staying active can make a real difference. The goal is to keep moving in a way that feels good, with the right support to get there.
Movement and how you feel
The physical changes of perimenopause get a lot of attention, but the effect on mood, sleep, and mental wellbeing is just as real and just as significant. Many women find that anxiety, low mood, disrupted sleep, and a general sense of not quite feeling themselves show up during this life stage. Movement is one of the most effective tools available for all of it.
Multiple large reviews of research in perimenopausal and menopausal women have found that regular physical activity significantly reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, improves sleep quality, and supports overall quality of life. This holds across many different types of movement, from walking and swimming to yoga, Pilates, and tai chi. Low to moderate intensity activity is enough to make a meaningful difference.
The relationship between movement and mood works both ways. Women who stay active tend to feel better, and women who are feeling low are more likely to step back from movement. Knowing that even small amounts of activity count can help break that cycle.
Anything is better than nothing
One of the most unhelpful messages women receive during this life stage is that there is only one right way to exercise. There is not.
Any movement is better than no movement. A short walk counts. Gardening counts. A gentle stretch in the morning counts. The goal is to keep the body moving in ways that feel manageable, sustainable, and enjoyable, and to build from there.
Women who stay active through perimenopause and menopause, in whatever form works for them, are doing something genuinely important for their health. When women feel supported to find their own version of active, they are far more likely to keep going.
Staying active through midlife
Perimenopause and menopause bring real change, but they are not a reason to stop moving. With the right information and a flexible approach, this life stage can be the beginning of a long, active, healthy chapter.
This article was developed by WHEN (Women’s Health Education Network).