During menopause, it’s important to maintain an active lifestyle to help prevent osteoporosis and muscle loss and support your bones. Try these 5 moves to boost your flexibility and strength.

Menopause is a time of great, but confusing, change: hormonal fluctuations, a loss of bone density, and — everyone’s favorite — weight gain (sometimes). These are just a few of the fun outcomes you may experience.

A healthy and active lifestyle may help you feel better during this transitional time. Pilates is a fantastic physical activity to start (or continue doing) during menopause.

If you have any known pelvic floor issues or limited mobility from menopause or another cause, you’ll want to discuss it with a specialist or your doctor before doing Pilates.

They may have exercise recommendations or tweak certain motions so they strain your body less.

A yoga mat or other padded exercise mat is recommended for all the moves below.

The Hundred is a wonderful core exercise, and it’s also a fundamental Pilates move.

It’ll help you strengthen your core (called the “powerhouse” in Pilates) and improve the stability of your lumbar spine and pelvis.

How to do The Hundred

Muscles worked: abs and respiration muscles

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
  2. As you exhale a deep breath, flatten your lower back, curl your head and shoulders, and float your arms so they’re still by your sides but a few inches off the ground.
  3. As you inhale, draw your abs into the spine and pump your arms up and down, keeping your shoulders stable to a count of 5.
  4. Continue engaging your abs and pumping your arms as you exhale to a count of 5.
  5. Count to 100, switching your breathing in and then out at intervals of 5.

For an added challenge: Start with your legs in the air bent at a 90-degree angle at your hips and knees (like in the demonstration below). Your shins should be parallel to the floor. Performing The Hundred in this position works your lower abs more. Make sure you’re engaging your abs without hurting or straining your lower back.

This is also a core exercise (you may be noticing a theme.) Roll Up is great for spinal mobility and core control.

How to do Roll Up

Muscles worked: abs

  1. Lie flat on your back with your legs extended straight. Engage your abs and lift your arms overhead, palms up, letting them hover a few inches off the ground.
  2. As you inhale, flex your feet and engage your lats (latissimus dorsi) to move your arms so they’re 90 degrees from the floor.
  3. As your arms hit that angle, exhale, curl your head and shoulders, and continue to draw your abs into your spine as you sit yourself up, peeling one vertebra off the ground at a time. Press your lower back into the mat to protect it as you sit up.
  4. As you sit all the way forward, reaching toward your toes, your spine will continue to curl until you look almost as if you’re resting, with your torso over your legs. Keep your abs engaged by pulling them toward your spine and your back muscles actively stretching.
  5. When you need to inhale again, begin curling back to lying down, releasing your feet from the flex and reversing the motion. Slowly release vertebra by vertebra to the mat until your arms are again at 90 degrees when you exhale.
  6. Repeat at least 5 times.

This move is a stability exercise. It’s a wonderful exercise for strengthening the muscles of your hip joint and building core strength.

How to do Side Kick

Muscles worked: glutes (butt), abs, hip flexors, and spine extensors

  1. Lie on your left side, stacking your shoulders, hips, and ankles vertically on top of one another. Move your legs slightly forward at a slight angle so you can see your toes. Support your head on your left arm. Press your right palm onto the floor to help you to maintain your position.
  2. As you inhale, lift your right leg to hip level and pulse it forward twice, flexing your foot. You can pulse it at a 75-degree angle or more, depending on your flexibility. Maintain a neutral spine throughout this movement.
  3. Keeping your leg lifted, exhale as you gently point your toes and sweep your leg backward. You want to stop the backward motion just before it compromises your neutral spine stability. The goal is to maintain the same spinal position using your core as you strengthen the hip.
  4. Repeat at least 8 times on your right leg, and then switch to the other side.

Surprise, surprise! This exercise also involves your core.

The Saw exercise increases spinal rotation and strengthens your back extensors, which helps your upper body flexibility and range of motion and strengthens your abs and obliques.

How to do Saw

Muscles worked: spinal extensors, abs, and obliques

  1. Sit tall with your legs extended in front of you, slightly wider than hip distance. (Imagine having a beach ball or exercise ball between your feet.) Keep your feet flexed.
  2. As you inhale, sit up tall and stretch your arms to create a “T” with them at shoulder height. Exhale and root into your sit bones.
  3. As you inhale again, rotate your upper body to the right, and lean your torso toward your right leg. As you exhale, reach your left hand for the outside of your right foot. Reach for your pinky toe as if you’re “sawing” it off with the pinky finger of your left hand. Your spine should round forward with control, keeping your abs pulled in toward
    your spine and stretching your lower back.
  4. Inhaling, straighten your spine, but stay rotated until you exhale, when you’ll gently unwind.
  5. Repeat on the opposite side, completing at least 5 times on each side.

This is a nice stretch to end this short series of Pilates moves with. It helps stretch your lower back and improve spinal mobility. Additionally, it works your abs (who would’ve thought!).

How to do Forward Bend

Muscles worked: abs and spinal extensors

  1. Sit tall with your legs extended in front of you, this time at hip-distance apart, feet flexed. As you inhale, stretch your arms above you, palms inward, at shoulder-width distance.
  2. Exhale as you lengthen your spine upward, then roll forward, articulating your spine one vertebra at a time as you reach toward your feet. You want to keep your arms parallel to the floor, palms inward, as you stretch. Remember to pull your abs in as you stretch.
  3. Inhale as you restack your spine, rolling back up to your starting position.
  4. Repeat these steps 5 times.

Strength training supports bone health and may help prevent osteoporosis, a huge benefit during menopause.

Your body’s production of estrogen slows throughout this transition. 2018 research suggests estrogen supports your bones and prevents them from becoming weak and brittle. Exercise may help them maintain their strength.

Pilates can be a perfect exercise for those in post- or premenopause. It’s:

  • low impact
  • helps increase flexibility and balance
  • improves muscle strength and tone
  • boosts endurance

Exercise is important at any age, but especially during menopause. During this transition, your body produces less estrogen, and you need estrogen to support your bones.

To keep your bones healthy and help prevent osteoporosis and muscle loss as you get older, try keeping an active lifestyle and incorporate bone- and muscle-strengthening exercises.

These 5 Pilates moves are a great place to start. But speak with your doctor before starting for their expert advice.

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