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Early Postmenopausal Women Should Hit the Gym
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Posted on: 12/24/2002
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A major German study is underway to determine how exercise affects several women's health issues--heart disease, diabetes, menopausal symptoms, quality of life, general physical fitness, back pain, and osteoporosis. This part of the study followed 59 women who were recently past menopause.
All had osteopenia, a diagnosis that describes decreased bone density. The women went through physical exams, questionnaires, and strength and flexibility tests. After 14 months of exercise, their results were compared to results for 41 women who did not exercise. None of the women were getting hormone replacement therapy. All of them took calcium and vitamin D.
This article outlines the complex training program the women followed. The program involved two supervised training sessions each week. The women also did two training sessions at home. Each session was more than an hour long. The sessions had four parts: endurance training, jumping exercises, strength training, and stretching. The specific exercises changed frequently. The sessions were designed to increase in difficulty over time.
The end results were overwhelmingly positive in the exercise group. As expected, the women who exercised were significantly stronger and had better endurance. They also reported an improved quality of life and fewer menopausal symptoms, such as insomnia and mood swings. And it is particularly noteworthy that the exercise group actually saw an improvement in bone mass in the spine.
This study is rare because it focuses on women who are just past menopause, rather than elderly women. With elderly patients, doctors often don't recommend intense exercise because of the possibility of falls and broken bones. So research has often focused on finding the gentlest forms of exercise to help increase bone mass index. The results of this study suggest that intense exercise might be just the ticket for younger postmenopausal women. They can increase their bone mass while simultaneously improving their health in other ways.
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References:
Wolfgang Kemmler, et al. Exercise Effects on Fitness and Bone Mineral Density in Early Postmenopausal Women: One-Year EFOPS Results. In Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. December 2002. Vol. 34. No. 12. Pp. 2115-2123.
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