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Never Too Late: Reaping the Benefits of Exercise in Early Postmenopause

  • February 28, 2017

Sometimes as we age we tend to think this is a time when we can just slow down and gradually ease into the sunset of our lives. However, exercise needs to be a regular part of our lives, no matter our age. As reported by Science Daily, this applies to postmenopausal women, who can benefit greatly from physical activity.

Fortunately, it’s not impossible to attain good strength and fitness no matter what your age. Whether you’ve never exercised before or have simply fallen off track, it’s never too late to renew your commitment to physical activity, even if you’re well into your senior years.

Just start slowly and gradually increase your intensity while listening to your body. Be sure to give your body ample time for recovery, as well as the proper nourishment to help build your muscles. My mother began strength training at the age of 74 and three years later, she'd gained significant improvements in strength, range of motion, balance, bone density and mental clarity.

If you’re short on time, the good news is short, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts can yield greater fitness benefits in less time compared to longer, low- or moderate-intensity workouts. How many times you should repeat the seven-minute workout depends on a variety of factors, including intensity.

The good thing about HIIT is that you can tweak it to your needs and still get benefits from working out at a slightly lower intensity; you simply increase the time you work out to make up for it. I typically recommend an HIIT session of 20 minutes.