I Found a Sustainable Exercise Routine That Works for Perimenopause

I was doing intense workouts. HIIT. CrossFit. Spinning. Running long distances. I was pushing myself hard. But my body was not recovering well. I was constantly tired. I was constantly sore. I was constantly getting injured. Then I realized something. My body had changed during perimenopause and it could not handle the same intensity that it used to handle. So I stopped fighting my body and I adapted my exercise routine to match where my body was now. I switched to strength training, walking, pilates, and yoga. And something miraculous happened. I felt better. I had more energy. I was stronger. My body was finally recovering. The lower-intensity, more sustainable exercise routine was so much better for my perimenopause than the intense workouts I had been doing.

How I got here

I had always been someone who exercised hard. I thought harder was better. I thought pushing myself to my limit was the way to get results. That worked for me in my twenties and thirties. But perimenopause was different. My recovery was slower. My body could not handle the same intensity. But I kept trying to exercise like I always had. I was burning out. I was exhausted. I was getting hurt. My doctor finally said to me, 'Your body is telling you something. Listen to it.' So I did.

What I actually did

I reevaluated my exercise routine. I looked at what I had been doing and why. I had been exercising intensely because I thought that was what I needed to do to be healthy. But what I actually needed to do was listen to my body. I switched to strength training twice a week, walking five times a week, pilates once a week, and yoga twice a week. This was much less intense than what I had been doing. But it was sustainable. I could do this every week without burning out. I could recover between sessions. My body was not constantly sore. I was not constantly injured. And I was actually getting stronger and fitter because I could be consistent with my routine.

What actually changed

My relationship with exercise changed. I went from seeing exercise as a way to punish my body or push it to its limits to seeing exercise as a way to take care of my body. I went from seeing exercise as something I had to do because I should to seeing exercise as something I wanted to do because it made me feel good. I also realized that what I actually needed during perimenopause was consistency more than intensity. Doing a moderate workout that I could sustain every week was better than doing intense workouts that left me exhausted and injured.

What my routine looks like now

I exercise regularly but sustainably. Strength training twice a week. Walking five times a week. Pilates once a week. Yoga twice a week. These are moderate, sustainable workouts that my body can handle. I track my workouts and how I feel using PeriPlan and I can see that I am much more consistent now than I was when I was doing intense workouts. I am also stronger and have more endurance and better energy. The sustainable routine is working so much better for my perimenopause than the intense routine ever did.

If you are exhausted and injured from intense exercise during perimenopause, it might be time to reevaluate. Your body might need something different. Try a more moderate, sustainable routine and see if it works better for you. Listen to your body. It is telling you what it needs.