Managing Running Through the Menopause

In Dr Christine Northrup excellent book The Wisdom of Menopause she explains that during the menopause women’s oestrogen levels naturally reduce but this can cause symptoms of joint stiffness, low blood sugar levels and soft bones. So how do you continue to run through this? Running actually stimulates the body to increase bone density so it is wise to keep your running going but allow yourself to have low days when you need to walk and run or go for shorter runs more frequently. If you can, running earlier in the day can reduce joint injury as your joints are at their most buoyancy in the morning. Ensure you do more warm up routines, even if this is walking for a while before you run, or run for a short while and then walk, stretching out your legs. The Alexander Technique can also help improve your posture, reducing the chance of injury and helping you re-learn new postural habits when you run. Yoga can also help re-balance your body to adjust to the new lower levels of oestrogen and also improve your posture. And finally a few food tips….Keep yourself well hydrated so your hormones can be transported round your body easily. Reducing carbohydrates and sugars helps reserve your precious oestrogen instead of being used to keep your blood sugar levels stable. Reducing carbohydrates in the morning and eating them after 2.30pm can help towards this too. The key is go gentle and you don’t need to give it up!