Researchers in Sweden designed a study to determine the effect of regular physical exercise on the frequency of hot flashes. In the study, the frequency of moderate and severe hot flashes was investigated in seventy-nine postmenopausal women who took part in physical exercise on a regular basis and was compared to that in a control group of 866 postmenopausal women between fifty-two and fifty-four years old.

The study clearly demonstrated that regular physical exercise decreased the frequency and severity of hot flashes. The women in the exercising group passed through a natural menopause without the use of hormone replacement therapy. The physically active women who had no hot flashes whatsoever spent an average of 3.5 hours per week exercising, while women who exercised less than this amount were more likely to have hot flashes. Similar results, including mood elevation in pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal exercising versus sedentary women, have been reported in other studies. The benefits of exercise were experienced in women both on and off HRT.

Regular Exercise Can Help You Cope With Effects of Menopause

Regular exercise benefits the heart and bones, helps regulate weight, and contributes to a sense of overall well-being and improvement in mood. Sedentary people are far more prone to coronary heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Sedentary women may also suffer more from chronic back pain, stiffness, insomnia, and irregularity. They often have poor circulation, weak muscles, shortness of breath, and loss of bone mass. Depression can also be a problem. Women who regularly walk, jog, swim, bike, dance, or perform some other aerobic activity can more easily circumvent these problems and also achieve higher HDL cholesterol levels. Studies show that women performing aerobic activity or muscle-strength training reduced mortality from cardio vascular disease and cancer.

Lack of Exercise Makes You Susceptible to Osteoporosis

Lack of exercise affects bone health too. Bones diminish in size and strength with disuse. Weight-bearing exercise (walking, running) will help increase bone mass. Exercise stimulates the cells responsible for generating new bone to work overtime. Research studies have shown that bone tissue lost from lack of use can be rebuilt with weight-bearing activity. Studies of athletes show they have greater bone mass compared to non-athletes at the sites related to their sport. In postmenopausal women, moderate exercise preserves bone mass in the spine helping reduce the risk of fractures.

Exercise As A Mental Tonic

Regular exercise may also have a significant effect on our mental agility by increasing the amount of oxygen supplied to the brain. In a comparison of sedentary older women and older women who got regular exercise, after four months the exercising group processed information faster in tests. This effect of exercise is particularly marked in older people.

Apart from increasing the oxygen supply to the brain, exercise may also slow down the loss of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps to prevent the shaking and stiffness that can come with old age. A severe shortage of dopamine results in the exaggerated tremors of Parkinson's disease. Dopamine decreases in the brain by about one percent a year from our mid-20s, and if we lived to be a 100 years old, we would all appear to have Parkinson's disease. Since exercise can slow down dopamine loss, it is particularly beneficial as we grow older. Exercise can also prevent our reaction times from slowing down.

Experts think exercise helps because it raises blood levels of endorphins. They are involved in the body's positive response to stress. The mood-heightening effect can last for several hours, according to some endocrinologists.

These 'feel-good' biochemicals drop off when estrogen is low. Endorphins also play a role in the body's ability to regulate temperature. Regular physical exercise may increase endorphin activity and so diminish the frequency of hot flashes. In one Swedish study, severe hot flashes and night sweats were only half as common among women past the age of menopause who were physically active.

You may prefer a game such as tennis, badminton, or squash, all of which offer the added attraction of meeting and socializing with people. Likewise, joining any exercise class can provide a social aspect that may encourage you to exercise regularly. Less rigorous and more traditional forms of exercise, such as walking and swimming, offer viable alternatives and will keep the body fit and supple.

Recently, there has been a move away from aerobic training toward strength training and weight bearing exercise. Research suggests that any exercise involving weights can delay loss of bone and muscle tissue, which is a natural consequence of aging. Weight-bearing exercise also helps to normalize the flow of sugar from the blood into muscle tissue, where it can be properly metabolized. This may lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Before starting your program of exercises, consult a physician. An exercise program should start slowly and build up to more strenuous activities. Women who already have osteoporosis of the spine should be careful about exercise that jolts or puts weight on the back, as it could cause a fracture.

Excessive Exercise

Although most of us don't get enough exercise, a small percentage of women become psychologically addicted to exercise. They feel the need to train every day and feel guilty if they miss a single session. Excessive exercise is as bad as no exercise at all. It can affect every facet of your life. When you train too much, you can experience mood swings and problems with sleep and appetite. You're also more susceptible to colds and injuries, as intense physical exercise can lower the integrity of the immune system.

If you think you are a compulsive exerciser or that you are training excessively, it may help to know in physiological terms how fit you are. Compare your physical fitness level with the published data on the desirable level and your target level. If you feel your need to exercise is compulsive, or that it is accompanied by anxiety and depression, you should seek medical help. An exercise addiction is as serious as any other compulsive form of behavior.

If you have incontinence caused by weakened pelvic floor muscles, strengthening those muscles through exercise can improve bladder control. For women with stress incontinence, tensing the muscles located around the vaginal opening and anus a set number of times each day (ten times in a row at least six times a day) can bring positive results within eight weeks. This exercise works even for older women.

Exercises for incontinence are often referred to as the Kegel exercises, named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, the surgeon who developed this therapy.

Kegel Exercises

These exercises strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor. Also improve sexual functioning and decrease urinary incontinence.

They involve tensing and relaxing the pubococcygeal muscles around the area of the urethra, vagina and anus.

Kegel exercises can be done at any time of the day since they are invisible to the observer. Women can integrate Kegel exercise into any part of their daily routine-like when you are on the elevator, or driving or talking on the phone, or while taking a shower. Repetition is very important and many women have found that these exercises have had a positive impact on their sex fife.