men menopause

There are benefits from exercise for practically any condition or state you can name - including menopause. In fact, exercise is the ultimate 'state' changer to move you away from any negative state to feeling more positive and energized.

Depressed? Anxious? Get out of the house and go for a walk. Bored? Irritable? Hungry? Exercise is a great distraction. Regular, daily exercise actually prevents hot flashes and seems to clear out the cobwebs of brain fog, prevent insomnia, and contribute towards maintaining a healthy weight by increasing your metabolism!

Exercise increases your energy level and helps you look and feel younger. It helps reduce stress and reduces your risk of developing chronic diseases.

Exercise gets your entire body gets into action. Your lungs bring in fresh oxygen to energize all your cells. Your heart and blood flow speed up and all organs are bathed in newly oxygenated blood. Your lymph system clears out waste. You feel invigorated and alive.

Our bones continually break down and are rebuilt. With age this system of bone repairing slows down. By working out with weights, no matter what our age you can stimulate bone growth and reduce your risk of osteoporosis.

Making exercise a priority is another area where women tend to put themselves last. 'I'll exercise if I have time," many of us rationalize. But it's like anything else in our busy lives, unless you commit to it and schedule it for a specific time in your daily calendar, it's unlikely to happen.

I'm a latecomer to developing the habit of regular exercise. In fact, I consider myself to be a recovering "exercise-phobe". Well, I'm not afraid of exercise, I just never made a strong commitment to doing it regularly. This last time I approached it differently. I wrote in my journal about why I want to exercise: I wrote about my positive and negative experiences with exercise when I was younger to see what type of exercise I would enjoy most, and I wrote about what was in my way now.

One of my biggest concerns was the amount of time exercise takes. I finally concluded that my health and wellness is worth the effort to fit it in. I had periodic menopause challenges that included brain fog and mood swings and I knew that they would be improved or prevented with regular exercise. Also, I knew that being accountable is a motivator for me, so I decided to view regular exercise for myself as part of 'walking the talk' and being in integrity for my business as a holistic health practitioner and healthy lifestyle coach.

The keys to sticking with an exercise routine are to choose something you enjoy, and commit to doing it at a specific time and frequency. That's what I did and it feels great to have finally made a serious commitment to regular exercise. Now, I do water aerobics with weight training exercises three times a week and yoga on Saturdays. I use my rebounder and go for walks with my husband too.

Studies show that regular exercise:

improves your chances of living longerimproves quality of lifereduces the risk of heart diseasehelps lower high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterolhelps protect you from developing cancer - especially of the colon or breasthelps prevent or control type 2 diabetesreduces the risk of arthritis and alleviates associated symptomshelps prevent osteoporosis (gradual loss of bone mass/strength)helps increase the formation of lean muscle, which we lose naturally as we ageimproves mobility and strength in later lifealleviates symptoms of depression, anxiety and menopause!benefits weight reduction and weight management - especially when combined with nutritional cleansing to remove toxinshelps keep you happy by generating mood-enhancing endorphins

Different types of exercise offer different benefits and the latest research findings on fat loss recommend that you incorporate both into your exercise routine. Aerobic or cardio workouts primarily improve the cardiovascular system (heart, lungs), while weight-training or strength-training improves muscular strength and flexibility. Stretching exercises improve overall mobility and coordination.

The benefits of exercise can be accomplished with a brisk walk that includes interval sprints, or a leisurely stroll that ends in a session with some weights. You can use a rebounder, like I do for better circulation, immune system stimulation and a multitude of other benefits.

The recommended amount of daily exercise is 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity (a brisk walk) on most days of the week. You can do all 30 minutes at once or break it up into 10- or 15-minute periods. Studies have shown significant health benefits from brisk walking for just 15 minutes a day!

If you want to lose weight, you'll need to increase your brisk walk to 45 to 60 minutes a day, adjust your calorie intake and do a nutritional cleanse to help your body release toxins and extra body fat that protects your organs from toxic damage.

Regular exercise is another healthy lifestyle choice to help you thrive during menopause and beyond.

Wendy Vineyard is a holistic health practitioner, lifestyle coach and wellness journalist. She specializes in inspiring and empowering women to thrive during menopause naturally - without drugs or added hormones. Are natural remedies the best way to handle your menopause transition? You decide. http://www.naturalmenopausenow.com/ - http://www.facebook.com/NaturalMenopauseNow

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