Fitting exercise into our daily lives can seem impossible. Between commuting to work and just trying to get a healthy meal on the table; getting to the gym may become our last thought as well as priority. But as we have come to learn and know Exercise is key to staying as healthy as possible. Quite frankly it is often used as a way to deal with or stave off and control many illnesses, such as diabetes, strokes and depression. In that vein a recent study published in the Journal of Physiology reports that women who are recently postmenopause have similar or improved outcomes from physical activity as their premenopause counterpart.
Meaning that if women are to see if effects of Working Out during menopause that will be achieved earlier in the cycle of changes instead of later.
Survey says
The study which was performed by Professor Hellsten and her colleagues at the University of Copenhagen suggests that it would be inaccurate to conclude that exercise affects all women the same at different points during menopause. She suggests that early intervention can have positive outcomes. This new finding contradicts previous reports that have stated that for postmenopausal women the effects of working out are either non-existent or less than prior to menopause. This is probably due in part to the belief that postmenopausal women have lower levels of estrogen, a hormone that effects muscle and blood vessel functions.
Previous research had shown that the beneficial impact of physical activity is reduced or absent in postmenopausal women. As estrogen declines in women so does muscle strength and quality.
How were these new findings gleaned
Researchers examined middle-aged pre and postmenopausal women who were only a few years apart in age. They study which lasted 12-weeks included a training regimen of high intensity cycling.
Professor Hellsten and her team then took tissue samples from the participants thigh muscles in order to measure changes at the molecular level. Still in order to confirm these types of findings there needs to be a larger population group that is observed and examined. Still no matter what your age may be, engaging in physical activity can be important to your health.
Michael Nyberg another of the study's author remarks that this study indicates that there is higher degree of sensitivity to exercise in postmenopausal women than previously thought but more studies need to be performed to explore this finding.
