Everyday Activities For Preventing Cardiovascular Disease

It can be saddening to know that we women are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease once menopause hits. According to the American Heart Association, low estrogen levels again have to do with this, since estrogen is in charge of making sure the artery walls are flexible and healthy. (Other things, like a high-cholesterol diet, can also raise the risk.) To prevent heart disease, they recommend 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week. This sounds like a lot, but divided over five days, that's just half an hour daily.

STAYING ACTIVE DURING MENOPAUSE

Fortunately, those 30 minutes don't have to be spent sweating it out in the gym. This article has some great ideas for ways to keep active (as well as food tips). That's right, it doesn't have to be a mile-long jog – even the little everyday things count as exercise, as long as they get your heart pumping.
I've been finding things in my routine that contribute to those 150 minutes. Hopefully some of these tips help you too, but you also have look at your lifestyle and see where you can fit in some physical activity. It's worth it to stop heart disease, a top killer of women!

GARDENING

I admit, sometimes I'm guilty of letting my garden get overrun with weeds. When I got back out there recently, I realized that gardening is a great, heart-pumping workout! Moving the wheelbarrow, watering the plants, and digging in the dirt all burn calories. Plus, this exercise has a great reward: the beauty of the garden.

HOUSEWORK

Cleaning is a necessary evil, but it does have a bright side – being an aerobic workout. If you really put some elbow grease into it and focus, it can double as an exercise. This is another activity where you can immediately see the fruits of your labor: a nice, clean house.

TAKING THE STAIRS

This is great because you don't have to deviate from your daily schedule at all. When you have the chance to take the elevator up or down a few floors, opt for the stairs instead. Not only is this a great mini-workout, but you can also avoid crowds, germs, and electricity use!

There's also much more you can do – you just have to be creative and put some oomph into what you do. Good luck!

How to Warm Up Safely?

Everything seemed to be sailing rather smoothly as far as my new fitness goals go, but then one of my friends – one that I was hoping would be a steady jogging buddy – started getting these awful cramps in her calves, and has temporarily withdrawn from the ring. I spoke to her this morning, it seems she overstretched the muscle. Nothing big or clinical, and she’ll be fine in no time, but it’s worth noticing why it happened: a lousy warm up routine.

It’s true that knowing how to warm up is no complicated science and it only takes a few minutes, but at the same time, if you’re new at this fitness business, it’s likely you’ll be confused by all the info out there – a quick Google search will mostly show stuff that’s clearly for 20-something serious athletes, and that just doesn’t look like it applies for people like me. So I took the time to look for a gentler, more knowledgeable answer on how to warm up once you’ve hit your 50s.

First things first
According to experts, a good warm up should only take around 6 minutes, but you should never skip it. Also, unlike popular belief usually dictates, a pre-workout warm up is NOT about stretching, or at least not about “static stretches” (where you hold the pose). Doing this on a cold muscle is a really bad idea and can cause a serious injury. Stretching is meant to be after the workout!

1. MARCH FOR 3 MINUTES

You don’t have to go anywhere, it’s fine if you do it on the spot. It is important, however, to make a very obvious marching act, arms up and down with your steps and all. Also, try marching backwards for at least a minute.

2. 60 HEEL DIGS

The idea here is to place one heel to the front, with the toes pointing up, while the other leg stays only slightly bent. Just punch out each heel for a second or two, alternating quickly.

3. 20 KNEE LIFTS

This move often gets overlooked, but it’s awesome to get the blood flowing to your thighs. Simply stand tall, and bring up one knee so you can tough it with the opposite hand, then immediately alternate. If you feel kind of dizzy, try to do this near a wall.

4. ROLL THE SHOULDERS

Straightforward enough, but very important if you work a desk job. Roll your shoulders 5 times forward, then the same backwards. I actually do this all the time at work, since it prevents shoulder and neck aches.

5. 10 KNEE BENDS

These are essentially incomplete squats: place your feet shoulder-width apart, stretch out your hands, and lower yourself just 3 or 4 inches by bending your knees. Make sure you don’t slouch, though, so you can use this to gather momentum and start running.

That’s it! It’s all very quick, but it can save you a lot of pain in the future. I’m trying to lose the inhibitions now, and looking to do my warm ups to the rhythm of music – dancing will be next month’s thing, as it’s got so many benefits!

Tackling Knee Joint Pain With Low-Impact Exercises

As I've been exercising more recently, I've started to feel jolts of pain in my knees followed by achiness. It turns out this site asked (and answered!) exactly what I was wondering: joint pain during menopause – is this normal?! While pain in the joints is an unfortunate part of us getting older, women like us can also get joint pain because of hormone changes during menopause.
I don't want knee pain to get in the way of my exercise routine, so I'm now incorporating some gentle, low-impact stretches, which don't put pressure or force on my joints. The best part is that they are done sitting or lying down!

Now, Moving onto the Exercises…

This site has a lot of good stretches with photos on how to do them. Since right now my pain is only nagging and not severe, I'm focusing on the exercises that strengthen the leg muscles and joints, which will hopefully prevent knee pain when I do my aerobic exercises.

CALF STRETCH

Start by holding onto the back of chair. Bend one leg and step back with the other, aiming to press your heel on the floor for 10 seconds. You should feel the stretch in your calf muscle. Don't forget to switch legs!

LEG RAISES

Lie down on your exercise mat and keep yourself supported on your elbows. Bend one knee and then lift up the other leg, pointing your toes toward the ceiling. Hold it for 3 seconds and then lower your leg to the mat slowly.

HAMMY STRETCH

You need a towel or sheet for this exercise. Lie down on your mat and hold an end of the sheet in each hand. Loop in around your foot and use it to pull your leg up at a 45 degree angle. Hold it up for about 20 seconds and then bring it down slowly.

PILLOW SQUISH

This one is my personal favorite because it's fun and promotes knee support. You can do this lying on your back or sitting in a chair. Put a pillow between your knees and then squeeze your knees together for 5 seconds.  I usually do 15 or 20 reps. My cat loves sleeping on the pillow after it's gotten all squished up! (or maybe I've just been using her favorite one for this exercise…)

This is just a handful of the exercises you can do to manage and prevent knee pain. I just go with whatever set of stretches tickles my fancy that day. Good luck!

At-Home Anxiety Relief: Abdominal Breathing

Anxiety during menopause is like an uglier, nastier cousin to mood swings, and from what I’ve read it’s also caused mostly by the same processes. As usual, the main culprit is hormonal imbalance, but the constant fear of weight gain, abrupt incontinence, and the return to middle school acne do little to help. I’ve never been classified as a particularly frail person, but menopause has already cost me many a night of proper sleep and too many mornings of worry.

How to Halt Anxiety – Before It Becomes Panic

I’ve been practicing something known as deep breathing or abdominal breathing whenever I feel my worries getting out of hand. The logic is simple: worrying makes you breathe all wrong, quick and shallow, which then increases your heart rate and just makes you even more anxious. It’s an awful, vicious cycle that can even bring on a panic attack, so it’s important to apply these steps as soon as you find things are getting scary for no reason:

1. Find somewhere quiet, where you won’t be disturbed. It can be your car, an empty room, even a bathroom stall – bonus points for bringing some soothing tunes.

2. Sit down and put one of your hands in your chest, so you can focus on how it rises and goes back down while you breathe. It’s important to breathe slowly and through the nose – mouth breathing may cause some awkward gas later.

3. After 3 or 4 minutes of just focusing on how you breathe, try breathing slower and very deeply, and then holding it for 5 to 10 seconds. (If it’s the first time, don’t overdo this. The ability to hold it in gets better with practice.)

4. As you breathe out, imagine the tension and worries are slipping out along with the air.

Usually, this whole ordeal takes between 10 – 15 minutes until I feel collected again, but it’s best if you take an extra two minutes afterwards before going back to face the world. Also, I’ve found that doing this right before bedtime (accompanied by some singing whales) lets me sleep better, night sweat and nightmare free.

Worth a try!