Weaving more movement—and the right kind—into the fabric of your daily life is the key to effective exercise in perimenopause and beyond, says functional medicine practitioner Dr Mariza Snyder. Here are her seven secrets to staying fit and feeling fabulous after 40—no gym required
If there was ever a time in your life to make exercise a priority, it’s in perimenopause and postmenopause. The way you move and exercise right now can help you be proactive about preserving muscle mass, improving metabolic health and preventing diseases that become more common after menopause.
The body undergoes immense change during perimenopause—the transitional period before menopause that typically begins between ages 39 and 44 and lasts anywhere from four to 10 years. Less muscle means lower energy expenditure (how fast we burn calories). Many women notice weight gain in perimenopause, corresponding to this muscle loss and increased body fat.1
Yet even if the scale weight has stayed the same, we may not be metabolically healthy. Because muscle weight tends to go down while fat increases during this stage of life, weight can stay steady (or even decrease) while body composition shifts in an unhealthy direction, toward excess visceral fat and low muscle mass.
Exercise can prevent these adverse changes in a profound way. Don’t buy into the narrative that it’s time to slow down and take it easy. Being physically active is what will give you the power to take the reins in perimenopause and beyond.
Exercise once centered on cardio, with the goal of burning calories and being thin. If that’s the model you’re used to, it’s time for a mindset shift. A thin body is not the goal in midlife. The new goal is being metabolically healthy and improving your strength, power, aliveness and resilience.
Moving your body can help reduce a myriad of perimenopausal symptoms. One study found 12 weeks of moderate exercise improved sleep quality and reduced insomnia and depression in sedentary women.2 Another study suggested regular, moderate exercise (both cardiovascular and resistance exercise) can reduce hot flashes.3
Maintaining a consistent exercise and movement routine has life-changing benefits for emotional and mental well-being and physical health, both now and into later life.
Women who are active through perimenopause tend to have:
Compare being active to sitting for long periods of time, which is proven to have plenty of negative health effects—from obesity and high blood pressure to abnormal cholesterol levels and even a risk of heart disease and cancer.
A 2017 study found a direct connection between how sedentary a person’s lifestyle is and their risk of early death.8 And a 2015 study found that prolonged sedentary time had negative health outcomes regardless of one’s physical activity—so, basically, hitting the gym for an hour doesn’t negate the damage done by sitting at a desk for more than five hours each day.9
If we want exercise to improve our metabolism and longevity, it will need to look different from a solo 50-minute fitness class. The solution is to find ways to move more throughout the day and build it into the fabric of our daily lives.
Our muscles are glucose-processing machines, and movement allows muscle tissue to absorb glucose without needing insulin to stimulate the entry of glucose into the cells. Reducing insulin secretion in response to glucose rises after meals is a game-changing superpower because we want to keep insulin levels as stable as possible throughout the day.
By moving the body all day long, especially after meals, we are signaling our muscles to clear glucose from the bloodstream without requiring insulin, in turn increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin.
In fact, exercise can boost glucose uptake by up to 50 times the rate when we are sedentary. Simply put, when you exercise, muscle membranes become more efficient at absorbing glucose, the heart pumps more glucose-containing blood to your muscles, and changes in chemical enzymes further aid glucose transport. With all these mechanisms occurring simultaneously, our muscle cells enjoy the glucose they need to power a workout, and our blood glucose levels drop.
When life is already busy, movement can feel like just one more thing to try to work into your day. But these quick, easy and simple recommendations will set you up for success without it feeling overwhelming.
1. Boost your NEAT
While exercise is an important form of physical activity that burns hundreds of calories at a time, other forms of physical activity— called nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)—can play a significant role in maximizing the total amount of calories burned in a single day.
NEAT is the area I believe you should focus on first because it includes the activities of daily living that require you to move, such as cleaning your house, taking the stairs to an appointment, playing with kids, using a standing desk, gardening, grocery shopping and puttering around the house.
Individuals with high levels of NEAT can burn several hundred more calories per day. This difference can lead to considerable weight loss over time without the need for rigorous exercise routines.10 By understanding and leveraging this concept, you can manage your weight by burning more calories, improving glucose and insulin metabolism, and preventing weight regain.
Increasing your NEAT doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your lifestyle. By making conscious choices to incorporate more movement into your daily activities, you can enhance your overall health, boost your calorie burn, and support your weight-loss and -maintenance goals. Simple, consistent changes—even something as seemingly tiny as fidgeting—can lead to significant improvements in your well-being.
See below for some practical ways to increase NEAT throughout your day.
2. Use exercise snacks
NEAT is a great starting point to get more movement into your day with minimal effort. The next level is what I love to call “exercise snacks.” I’m not talking about protein bars before or after a workout. Exercise snacks are the workout!
These are slightly more involved than NEAT activities but without being a full-blown workout. Exercise snacks are short bouts of movement—anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes—that don’t require going to the gym or doing any prep work. You can customize them to fit your preferences, and they’re great at combating afternoon energy slumps.
Exercise snacks are ideal for busy people, and there is no one busier than a perimenopausal woman. In our fast-paced life, it is challenging to find time to go to a gym and get in an hour-long workout. That’s almost two hours out of your day when you include the commute.
Who’s got time for that? Exercise snacks offer an alternative way for people like us to get our heart rates up and experience health benefits without changing into workout clothes or even breaking a sweat.
Do exercise snacks really work?
Several studies on exercise snacks show significant benefits, including improved muscle strength, decreased total cholesterol and blood sugar levels, increased endurance, less back pain and improved overall cardiovascular function.11 And a variety of studies have shown that exercise snacks performed throughout the day may be more beneficial than a one-hour stint at the gym after sitting all day.
How much should you exercise snack?
If you have two minutes in your workday to grab a snack from the refrigerator, you also have two minutes to do a quick exercise snack. You’ll want the one-to-five-minute workout to elevate your heart rate to a point where it becomes hard to speak in complete sentences.
Did a work meeting end early? Great. Use that extra time to get a burst of exercise in—think climbing stairs or doing jumping jacks for two minutes.
If you’re new to exercise snacks, start with 60 seconds once per day, and add 30 seconds each week as you work your way up to two minutes or more per day. Aim for three or more exercise snacks each day for the greatest benefit.
See below for some examples of exercise snacks.
3. Move after meals
Whenever possible, move your body after eating. Movement after a meal can include going up and down your stairs five times, knocking out two sets of 20 squats or doing jump squats if you really want to get your heart pumping.
Take a walk. My favorite post-dinner movement is walking. Walking after eating blunts a blood sugar response, reduces insulin resistance, improves intestinal movement, promotes better sleep and boosts your mood while lowering stress levels.
It doesn’t take as much as you might think to notice a difference. Walking for as little as two to five minutes after a meal can do the trick, according to a 2022 study.12 Other studies suggest a 10-to-20-minute walk after each meal could be enough to significantly improve your metabolic health.
When you regularly move after eating instead of sitting at your desk or on the couch, you build a powerful habit that supports your metabolic health—both right now and for many years to come.
Add weight. If you want to build more metabolic resilience and protect your bones at the same time, consider adding a weighted vest to your walks. Walking in a weighted vest is a low-impact way to raise your heart rate more than if you walk without it, and it’s easy enough to make it a consistent habit that doesn’t require an additional time commitment.
One study found that exercising with a weighted vest prevented hip bone density loss and maintained bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.13
I recommend starting with a 5–8 lb weighted vest and increasing the weight over time for greater cardiovascular benefit. To begin, try wearing the weighted vest around the house as a form of exercise snacking; get a sense of how it feels to wear the vest so you’ll be better prepared to go longer distances.
After you get used to wearing a weighted vest, try taking short walks with it, gradually working your way up to 20-to-30-minute walks.
4. Lift weights
The research is clear that the perimenopausal transition is the ideal time to adapt your workouts to prevent unwanted metabolic and body composition changes. Lifting heavy weights is the gift that keeps on giving because it will help you protect and build lean muscle mass, strength and endurance—the trifecta of freedom in postmenopause.
A recent study found that lifting weights for an hour three times a week can even roll back your biological age by eight years.14
And unless you’re lifting as much weight as a professional bodybuilder or following a specific plan for muscle growth and gains, no, lifting heavy weights won’t make you bulky or “bigger.” It does come with several benefits besides just strength and slower aging, though (see below).
How often should you lift?
To avoid overtraining, start with one or two heavy lifting sessions a week, with two rest days between sessions to properly recover. After four to six weeks, it’s safe to add an additional day if you want, now that your body has had time to acclimate.
Heavy resistance training focuses on bigger compound lifts: deadlifts, squats, lunges and overhead presses spread the force out among multiple muscles, connective tissues and joints so that everything gets worked just the right amount. Aim for three to five sets of six or fewer reps (that is, four sets of six reps) with a weight that challenges you to complete the last rep.
This will help you build strength and lean muscle mass (hypertrophy). After each set, fully rest for two to five minutes.
Lift with care
Remember, form is everything. You should be able to complete every rep with good form. When you can’t, you’re done. Pushing it to get more reps while sacrificing form may do serious damage.
If you’re new to resistance training, it’s important to work your way up to big lifts to avoid injury. Start by focusing on mobility and stability. When you can perform the exercises with full range of motion without weight, you’re ready to start slowly adding weight.
Working with a coach or personal trainer for a month is a great way to learn the moves and get started.
5. HIIT and SIT
HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is a time-efficient workout option for busy women in midlife. With shorter bursts of intense exercise followed by brief recovery periods, HIIT allows a full-body workout in a shorter time than traditional cardio. It also reduces body fat, improves muscle tone and gets metabolic biomarkers into optimal ranges.
The high-intensity nature of these workouts increases the body’s calorie burn both during and after the exercise session. This is the “afterburn effect,” or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, in which the body continues to burn calories at an elevated rate even after the workout is over.
Furthermore, HIIT can help to build lean muscle mass because the combination of intense exercise and short recovery periods stimulates the release of growth hormone, which promotes muscle growth and development. This can lead to improved strength and increased metabolism.
The best type of high-intensity interval training for perimenopausal women is super-short, sprint-style intervals lasting about 30 seconds or less. Sprint interval training (SIT), as it’s known, involves alternating short bursts of intense exercise with brief recovery periods.
A typical session includes three to five sets of 10-to-30-second full-effort sprints and two-minute rest intervals between sets. The goal is to push your heart rate above 85 percent of its maximum to challenge the cardiovascular system and muscles.
Despite their intensity, SIT sessions are short, usually lasting around 10 minutes, which makes the workouts less time-consuming than traditional endurance training. With sprint intervals, you get all the benefits in a short block of time—improved insulin sensitivity, stronger mitochondria, improved fat burning (especially of deep visceral fat) and a boost of growth hormone.
Finishing your workout with SIT is a simple way to add intensity to any exercise. After a warmup, push as hard as possible for 20–30 seconds. Recover for a minimum of two minutes, enough so that the next interval can be just as effective as the first. Work your way up to a maximum of five 30-second sprints.
6. Don’t pass on plyometrics
I’m a huge fan of plyometric exercises, which involve quick, explosive movements such as jump squats, kettlebell swings, mountain climbers, ball slams and box jumps. They aim to generate power in a short period of time.
I love incorporating these into my daily exercise snacks because explosive exercises engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, building lean muscle mass and supporting joints while helping to improve power, balance, coordination and endurance.
If you’re reading this and thinking “hard pass” on the idea of incorporating jump squats into your workout routine, hear me out. I believe we should train for life, and plyometric exercises help ensure that we are prepared for emergency situations when we will need power, strength and agility.
As a mom to a four-year-old, I want to have fast reflexes and the ability to keep him safe. I train for him as much as I train for myself. But women of all ages can benefit from including plyometrics in their training.
A 2019 systematic research review on plyometrics for adults aged 58–79 reported these exercises often improved muscular strength, bone health, body composition, posture and physical performance. The researchers concluded, “Plyometric training is a feasible and safe training option with potential for improving various performance, functional, and health-related outcomes in older persons.”15
7. Take time to stretch and relax
Last, but certainly not least, add yoga and stretching to your weekly routine. These activities don’t raise your heart rate like cardiovascular exercise, but they strengthen and relax your muscles, keep your muscles and tendons flexible, and help with mental focus. They’re just enough movement to stimulate blood flow, reduce stress hormones and make you feel relaxed.
Sign up for a yoga class or check out the many free YouTube yoga sessions that are fantastic starting points. You can do your yoga routines in two longer sessions per week (a 30-minute class, for example) or break them up into smaller sessions. A 10-minute yoga routine every morning or evening is a great option that can relieve stress.
Here are some simple ways to increase your nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)—the calories you burn from everyday physical activity that’s not planned exercise.
Increase your NEAT at home
Increase your NEAT at work
Increase your NEAT during travel
Boost NEAT through monitoring and tracking
Monitoring and tracking your NEAT with a Fitbit or smartwatch can help you stay accountable and set realistic goals to increase your daily activity levels. All it takes is small, consistent efforts to move more throughout the day to reap the benefits.
Here are a few examples of exercise snacks:
Here are some of the main benefits of lifting weights.
Stimulate muscle-building stem cells. Estrogen directly impacts the health of our muscles, helping us regenerate muscle stem cells (also known as satellite cells), which help us maintain our muscles. When researchers take estrogen from animals, their ability to regenerate satellite cells drops by up to 60 percent.1
Muscle biopsies in perimenopausal women echo these findings, showing that estrogen levels are linked to the number of satellite cells. Resistance training is the best way to generate those muscle stem cells, and lifting heavy provides the strength-building stimulus women need as estrogen declines.
Ramp up your metabolic rate. Muscle cells fuel your metabolic engine and give you energy to run, lift and jump. Even at rest, muscle requires more energy than other types of cells. Having more muscle may also help postmenopausal women burn more fat when they exercise.2
Prevent injury and build bone mass. Lifting heavy weights (aka resistance training) leads to significant increases in bone mineral density,3 and the denser your bones, the less prone you are to fractures or skeletal injuries.4 Heavy resistance training builds stronger bones.
That’s important because the perimenopause transition is a risky time for bone density. Up to 20 percent of a woman’s bone loss happens during this time of life.
Improve heart health and general health. Serious resistance training can reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke. It can also reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol, both major indicators of heart health.
One study found lifting weights for less than an hour a week may lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke by up to 70 percent.5 Resistance training also improves insulin sensitivity, reduces visceral fat (around the organs) and improves immunity.
Adapted from The Perimenopause Revolution: Reclaim Your Hormones, Metabolism & Energy by Dr Mariza Snyder, £23.99 (Hay House, 2025)
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