This girl can, and this woman does

This woman, and this woman, and this woman

12.01.2015
Day 273
Monday rest day. Well slept and yoga mat morning. Then I sat at my desk and wrote a blog piece about menopause and exercise, here it is.

Running through change

Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign, launched this week, is a worthy attempt to encourage more women into sport. It’s born out of research revealing that two million fewer women than men aged 14 to 40 play sport regularly.

Many women cite embarrassment about they way they look – the old ‘sweaty isn’t feminine’ chestnut – as a reason for avoiding exercise. While Sport England’s campaign concentrates on addressing this attitude among the youngsters, there’s a pressing need to sell sport to the over 40s, too.

As we enter our fifth decade and beyond, getting red-faced and sweaty might not be a question of lifestyle choice, but hormonal turbulence. Menopause, and its warm up act, perimenopause, are often characterised by hot flushes, which can be anything from mildly disconcerting to totally gruelling. These power surges are just one of about 50 non-specific ‘symptoms’ that are generally attributed to menopause. Who knew that periods petering out, and finally disappearing for good, could cause such misery?

 Practically every study published on the subject asserts that exercise can help women feel better in menopause. Books on the subject may have tasteful images of well-preserved women strolling on beaches or lying serenely on yoga mats. 

There’s no doubt that a brisk 30 minute daily walk and regular yoga sessions are hugely beneficial to women’s health. Yet, as passionate club runner, 

I can’t help feeling a bit depressed that the exercise recommended is so very gentle. It’s inconceivable to me, having turned 52, to consider that during vigorous and vital years leading up to the cessation of menstrual periods, women should be any less sporty than when we were regular Tampax users.

The word menopause, is of course, freighted with negative connotations. Menopausal women are all too often the butt of jokes, or seen as pitiful creatures that need medical and psychiatric help to get the through this cruel disintegration of our sexual attractiveness and general usefulness.

In reality, we need to cut through all the chatter about mood swings, inevitable weight gain and ‘brain fuzz’ and refocus on the fact that our bodies are as strong and capable as they ever were and that we’ re not going to let ourselves be beaten by feeling a little hot sometimes while our ovaries re adjust themselves.

Numerous studies, including one undertaken by the Royal College of Obstetric and Gynaecology, have found that regular, sustained aerobic exercise can help relieve menopausal symptoms.

Ellie Brown agrees. A running coach and teacher trainer for Body Control Pilates students, she incorporates yoga and strength training into her own fitness regime and has designed an exercise programme for women in the menopause stage of their lives.

‘We need, as perimenopausal/menopausal women a mix of strength, flexibility and aerobic exercise. It is not enough to pop to a yoga class once a week; we need to run, swim, cycle, jump about and move…’

Quite often, though, the first steps to jumping about and moving seem like giant leaps. Women, bogged down by domestics and career demands, may regard exercise as a luxury they cannot afford, involving gym memberships and unforgiving Lycra. Some may have gained a bit of weight while sitting at desks, eating children’s leftovers, or being driven to drink for whatever reason.

The weight, we’re told, is a natural by- product of midlife, but we feel too self conscious to jiggle about in our PE kit. The spare tyre becomes a fact of life and we feel defeated before we’ve even started.

So we need help to overcome the psychological barriers to exercise, by discovering useful information and positive messages about menopause – most importantly that it’s not an illness, but a perfectly natural life stage.

Ellie Brown has decided to provide that help, by organising Thrive Alive, a day-long series of workshops, talks and exercise classes designed to help women in their 40s and beyond to ‘power through the menopause’.

She, along with nutritionist Lorraine Nicolle and mindfulness instructor Kelly Robson, will host the event, which centres on 20 tried and tested tactics, using diet, exercise and mindfulness, to improve mid-life hormonal balance, health and happiness.

Part of the package is Ellie’s exercise programme for menopause, which incorporates the weight training, cardio-vascular and flexibility sessions we all need to stay well and remain vigorous.

Keeping your body moving in myriad ways is not about looks, or size 8 jeans or looking 10 years younger. It’s about enjoying the age you are, Ellie says, firmly.

‘This event is as much about the camaraderie and connecting with like-minded women who want to make these middle years the best of their lives.’  

She’s right about the camaraderie. When I joined a running club at the age of 44 to ward off incipient midlife low spirits I was delighted to puff around the same running track as women of my age, who ran at speeds I could only dream of. They were great role models, and they became loyal friends. The same women, now over 50, are still winning trophies. I’ll never be as fast as them, but I follow in their trainer tracks.

Proud to be part of a team of six to win a major county cross country championship a couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to see that three of us had celebrated our 50th birthdays.

‘Now that’s a headline I’d like to see’, chuckled Ellie when I told her this

‘ “Three perimenopausal women win Kent County Championship.” ‘

Thrive Alive takes place Saturday 24 January at

Devonport House Hotel King William Walk, Greenwich
London SE10 9JW. More information: www.greenwichpilates.co.uk