Even light exercise makes us break a sweat, our temperature rises, and breathing quickens. Exerting ourselves can feel uncomfortable at the time, but ladies, the payoff is completely worth it! Immediately afterwards, as the body releases endorphins, you feel fantastic. Long-term, you start to notice a whole other host of benefits, not just weight loss! For some women though, that exertion during exercise is all too familiar with the start of a hot flush. Many women, therefore, avoid exercise because they fear it will trigger more hot flushes.
We can completely understand the connection you might have made. Surely doing something that makes you hot and sweaty will trigger more hot sweats? Well, we’re pleased to tell you that this is completely FALSE. In fact, if you engage in regular exercise every week this can actually contribute to reducing them.
Studies have shown that even if you’ve led a relatively sedentary life up until the point of exercising, it can still have a hugely positive impact on menopausal women.
The Best Type of Exercise for Hot Flushes
Vigorous exercise such as endurance workouts; long-distance running or cycling are best. Regular intense exercise means your body eventually starts to sweat at a lower body temperature. Your body starts to carry more blood to the surface of the skin in order to release any unwanted heat. This happens even when you’re not exercising, provided you are maintaining regular endurance workouts each week.
A study was carried out to assess this. 21 menopausal women took part in the research, all of whom did not currently exercise, but all experienced regular hot flushes. At the start of the experiment, scientists measured the women’s general fitness levels, as well as their ability to respond to heat stress. 14 women began an exercise programme based on jogging and cycling between 30-45 minutes 3-5 times a week. The workouts grew in intensity during the course of the programme. Seven women did not take part and acted as controls.
The women were told to keep diaries of their hot flushes and after 16 weeks, returned for the original tests once more. Fitness levels in the 14 women who exercised were significantly better (as expected). Interestingly, these 14 women had a better ability to now regulate their body heat. As a result, their hot flushes were no longer as intense as those of the seven women who had not exercised each week.
Of course, it’s not just hot flushes and weight gain that exercise helps to reduce. Following menopause, women are at an increased risk of developing a heart attack or stroke. However, keeping active can reduce the risk and enhance your overall quality of life.
Don’t Forget LaBalance
If you’ve landed on our blog for the first time, you’ll be pleased to know we’re specialists in all things menopause. We’ve created a unique device that is designed to reduce or eliminate up to 24 different symptoms of menopause, in up to 71% of women (proven in a study we carried out). Hot flushes are the number one concern for the majority of women and LaBalance is having a huge impact on their quality of life. In some cases, women have reported a reduction from 40 hot flashes a day, down to just one or two. Learn more about LaBalance.