Gaining weight during menopause is an issue for many women. However, menopausal women also need to concentrate on building muscle in addition to keeping their weight down.
Instructions
Saving Your Muscles During Menopause
1. Understand that hormonal changes that occur during menopause exacerbate muscle loss, according to Michelle Warren, M.D., of the Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders and Women's Health at New York City's Columbia-Presbyterian Eastside Hospital. Muscle is harder to sustain than fat. Muscle retention requires more energy than fat tissue does, so it is going to take some work to keep the muscles that you have and to build more.
2. Consider that a woman can lose as much as 1/3 pound of muscle every year after her mid-30s, according to Lynn Grieger, RD, CDE, IVillage and Caringonline.com.The could result in a 6-pound loss of muscle over a 20-year period. When a woman loses muscle, she gains fat. Your weight will go up along with your body fat.
3. Prevent muscle loss from occurring by working out, and building and rebuilding your muscles. You have to keep exercising during menopause, because you are at risk for developing osteoporosis, or porous bone disease. You are at a higher risk of acquiring this condition if you are sedentary, have a poor diet, lack calcium and have failed to routinely exercise. Exercise keeps your weight down, your muscles toned, your bones strong and your joints flexible.
4. Join a yoga class. This will help build muscles while also increasing your flexibility, your strength, and improving your balance, as well as aiding you in coping with stress.
5. Lift hand weights. Buy a 3-pound or 5-pound set and lift them while walking or watching television. Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D., associate chief of the Human Physiology Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, and professor at the School of Nutrition Science and Policy, conducted a study on post-menopausal women. It revealed that women who did not lift weights lost muscle mass and bone mass; whereas those who lifted had results that made them physically 15 to 20 years more youthful than their non-lifting counterparts.
6. Realize that lumbar bone is the most porous bone in the body and quickly loses mass, according to Enotalone.com and a study done by Dr. L.A. Pruit that appeared in the "Journal of Bone and Mineral Research." The study showed that when women took part in weight training, their lumbar bone density increased significantly. It once was thought that it was impossible to rebuild the lumbar bone; however, this is not the case.
Tags: during menopause, lumbar bone, muscle loss, porous bone, weight down
