Swimming for Bloating During Perimenopause: What Actually Helps

Why Bloating Gets Worse in Perimenopause

If your jeans fit fine in the morning but feel uncomfortably tight by evening, you are not imagining things. Bloating is one of the most common complaints during perimenopause, and it tends to catch people off guard because it does not always get talked about alongside hot flashes or sleep problems.

The main driver is changing estrogen levels. When estrogen fluctuates, it affects how your gut moves food through your digestive tract. Slowed digestion means more gas builds up, and water retention increases around the midsection. Progesterone changes also relax the smooth muscle in your gut, which slows things down further. The result is that uncomfortable fullness and pressure that can last for hours.

Cortisol, the stress hormone, also plays a role. Higher cortisol levels encourage the body to hold onto water, especially around the belly. And for many women, stress goes up during perimenopause because of poor sleep, mood shifts, and the general uncertainty of this life stage.

How Swimming Helps Relieve Bloating

Swimming is one of the most effective exercises for bloating because it combines gentle abdominal compression with full-body movement, and it does all of this in a low-stress environment.

When you swim, the horizontal position of your body and the pressure of water around your torso provide a gentle massage-like effect on your digestive organs. This can encourage gas to move through the intestinal tract more easily. Many swimmers notice they feel noticeably less bloated after just a 20-minute session.

Swimming also reduces cortisol. Getting into cool or comfortable water activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest-and-digest side of your nervous system. When cortisol drops, your body is more willing to release retained water rather than hold onto it.

Beyond the gut effects, the rhythmic breathing required in swimming encourages full diaphragm engagement. Deep diaphragmatic breathing massages the abdominal organs from the inside and stimulates the vagus nerve, which helps regulate digestion. Even if you are not doing freestyle with your head down, practicing slow, deliberate breathing while in the water produces real benefits.

Specific Swimming Techniques Worth Trying

You do not need to be a competitive swimmer to get relief from bloating. A gentle, steady approach works well for most people.

Backstroke is especially helpful because your body is face-up, your spine is long, and your core muscles are gently engaged throughout. This position opens up the abdominal area and encourages movement in the digestive tract without any compression or straining.

Breaststroke involves a repeated pulling-in and extending motion of the torso that some people find helpful for encouraging gut motility. The frog kick also gently activates hip flexors and lower abdominal muscles.

Water walking is a great option if you prefer to stay upright or are new to pool exercise. Walking through waist-deep or chest-deep water provides resistance against your whole body, including your core, without any jarring impact. The water pressure itself is beneficial for circulation and reducing the feeling of puffiness.

Aqua jogging, using a flotation belt to run in deep water, is another option. It elevates your heart rate, engages your core, and keeps your digestive system moving, all while being easy on your joints.

What the Research Says

Research on exercise and bloating specifically is still growing, but the underlying mechanisms are well supported.

Studies consistently show that aerobic exercise speeds up gastrointestinal transit time, meaning food and gas move through your system more quickly. One review published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology found that regular moderate exercise significantly reduced symptoms of bloating and constipation in adults with functional gut issues.

Water immersion itself has been studied in the context of fluid redistribution. When you are submerged to chest level, hydrostatic pressure encourages blood and fluid to move from the extremities back toward the core and then to the kidneys for excretion. This is one reason swimmers often notice they need to urinate shortly after getting out of the pool. For perimenopausal women dealing with water retention, this flushing effect can translate to a real reduction in that puffy, heavy feeling.

Cortisol reduction through aquatic exercise has also been documented. A 2021 study in women with high stress levels found that water-based exercise was more effective than land-based exercise at reducing cortisol, likely because of the combined effects of physical activity, water immersion, and sensory calming.

Getting Started: Practical Tips

Starting a swimming routine does not require any special fitness level. Here is a simple approach to ease in.

Begin with 20-minute sessions two to three times per week. You do not need to swim laps the whole time. Try 10 minutes of easy swimming alternated with 10 minutes of water walking or gentle floating. Focus on how your body feels rather than how fast you go.

Pay attention to timing. Some women find that swimming before meals feels better because exercising on a full stomach can worsen bloating. Others prefer a 90-minute gap after eating. Experiment to see what works for your body.

Stay well hydrated before and after. It may seem counterintuitive to drink more water when you are already feeling bloated, but dehydration actually worsens water retention. Your body holds onto water more tightly when it senses you are not drinking enough.

If you are new to pools, many community recreation centers and YMCAs offer open swim times without the intimidation of lanes. Water aerobics classes are also a welcoming entry point and social in a way that makes the habit easier to maintain.

Consider the water temperature. Cooler water tends to feel more activating and is associated with stronger cortisol reduction. Warmer water is more relaxing and can be soothing if bloating is accompanied by cramping or pelvic discomfort.

How Tracking Your Symptoms Can Help

Bloating during perimenopause rarely follows a perfectly predictable pattern, but over time patterns do emerge. Some women notice bloating is worst in the luteal phase of their cycle, when progesterone peaks. Others find it correlates with certain foods, poor sleep nights, or high-stress weeks.

Logging your symptoms alongside your workouts gives you real data rather than a vague sense that things are sometimes better or worse. When you can see that three swimming sessions in a week consistently lines up with lower bloating scores, that is genuinely motivating. It also helps you communicate more clearly with a doctor or dietitian if you are seeking support.

PeriPlan lets you log symptoms like bloating and track your workouts in one place, so you can start to see those connections over time. Even logging for a few weeks gives you something concrete to work with. You might discover that the relationship between exercise and bloating is clearer than you expected, or you might find other patterns worth exploring.