Maybe your running pace has slowed, your joints feel a little stiffer, or the energy that used to carry you through your daily jaunt just isn’t there anymore. If running has been a consistent part of your life, experiencing these shifts may be frustrating or disorienting. They may also be more common than most women realize.
As your body moves through the menopause transition, it’s not unusual for familiar workouts to start feeling a bit unfamiliar. With a few thoughtful adjustments, though, running can still serve as an effective and sustainable part of your workout routine. Even though your body may feel slightly different when you’re running during menopause, you can learn to incorporate recovery strategies that can help to increase your strength, mental clarity, and sense of control to keep you moving freely.
Running and Menopause: What Changes and What Doesn’t
As the body transitions through menopause, one of the most significant hormonal changes is the decline in progesterone and estrogen, specifically estradiol.1 Estrogen plays a key role in maintaining joint and connective tissue health, supporting muscle mass, and aiding in post-exercise recovery.
The Effects of Estrogen in the Body
It’s been found that the loss in estradiol is the most significant contributor to the menopause-associated loss of muscle mass.1 When estradiol levels drop, you might notice that your joints feel less cushioned or that you’re more prone to soreness after a run. This is because estradiol helps to regulate collagen production in the body, which works to support flexibility and fluid movement in tendons and ligaments.2 As these tissues become stiffer with age, the risk of injury may increase, especially when you lack adequate stretching or strength support.
As estradiol declines, estrone takes over as the primary form of estrogen in the body, but it doesn’t have the same effects.3 Estrone is a weaker form of estrogen, produced mainly in body fat and the adrenal glands rather than the ovaries.4 Since estrone is stored in and produced by fat tissue, the body may become more inclined to hold onto fat—particularly around the mid-section—as a way to maintain some level of estrogen production.5
This shift may subtly impact metabolism and make weight loss during menopause more challenging, even if your tried and true habits haven’t changed.
Consider Building Lean Muscle for Weight Management
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) in short, manageable sessions has been shown to boost fat loss and support cardiovascular and hormonal health in postmenopausal women.6 Adequate recovery sessions are important to add in after HIIT workouts to ensure your body is rested appropriately to avoid increasing inflammation or deregulating hormone function.7 HIIT workouts may be effective for women in menopause, but there are also other exercises to consider.
To build on HIIT benefits, experts also recommend pairing aerobic workouts—like running—with strength-based training two to three times per week. They recommend aiming for resistance using dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands, targeting all major muscle groups. Adding plyometric movements—like jumping or other explosive movements—may help support bone density, which naturally declines in postmenopause.8
Diet & Exercise May Improve Protein Metabolism
From an exercise perspective, the body’s capability to synthesize muscle protein begins to slow, meaning it becomes harder for us to build and maintain lean muscle from exercise alone, particularly as we age.9 This may impact both your endurance and your running power, especially if strength training isn’t part of your weekly routine.
Metabolism also tends to slow during menopause—this is, in part, due to natural changes in muscle mass and hormonal balance. Taking strides to ensure your blood sugar is stable may help reduce fat storage and support more consistent energy levels in the body.10 You can support stable blood sugar by prioritizing protein at every meal, eating more fiber-rich vegetables and whole grains, and avoiding long periods of fasting or extreme calorie restriction, which may backfire in menopause by increasing cortisol and muscle loss.11
How to Adapt Your Workout for Better Results During Menopause
Many women report that their body responds to exercise differently during menopause. As mentioned earlier, lower estrogen levels experienced during menopause may increase the body's sensitivity to physical stress, making high-impact or high-volume workouts more taxing than they once were.12 Research shows that intense exercise without adequate rest may also raise cortisol—the body's primary stress hormone—which may interfere with recovery, lower sleep quality, and potentially contribute to increased fat storage, particularly around the abdomen.13
In addition, estrogen plays a role in thermoregulation—the body’s capability to manage internal temperature. With less estrogen available in your body, you may become less efficient at cooling down during exertion.14 This makes overheating more likely, especially during runs in hot weather or long endurance sessions.
You don’t need to stop exercising completely if this happens, but it does mean your approach may benefit from a few small adjustments. Interval training—such as alternating running and walking—has been shown to support cardiovascular health while placing less strain on the joints and nervous system.15
Focusing on an exercise approach that emphasizes recovery, joint support, and steady energy may help you to work more with your body, not against it.
Running and Hormonal Health: How Movement May Support Your Body in Postmenopause
Aerobic activities—like running—may help regulate mood by boosting feel-good brain chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin and endorphins. This may also help ease mood swings and improve mental clarity during menopause and beyond.16 Regular cardiovascular activity also plays a role in supporting insulin sensitivity, helping the body manage blood sugar more efficiently.17 This may support both weight stability and more consistent energy levels during a time when both may feel harder to control.
Running and other forms of consistent movement may also support better sleep quality and help reduce menopause-related symptoms like night sweats and hot flashes.18 While it’s not a quick fix, running is a reliable, accessible way to feel more calm and physically resilient when your body is changing.
Exercises that use rapid stretching and contracting of muscles to build power and explosiveness in movement are beneficial because they create quick but powerful stress impact on the bones, which stimulates bone remodeling. When you land from a jump, for example, your bones experience a mechanical load.19,20 This load signals your body to reinforce bone strength through a process called bone remodeling, where the body builds new bone tissue to adapt to these demands.21 Over time, this should help preserve or even improve bone density, especially when combined with strength training and good nutrition, which are both critically important during menopause and beyond.
Ways to Build Strength for Women Over 50
Personalized strength training and intentional recovery can help you maintain athletic performance and full-body resilience. As estradiol declines, sarcopenia (the gradual loss of muscle mass that occurs with age) may increase.22 Women may lose a significant amount of muscle mass between the ages of 40 and 60 if they lack targeted strength training. This muscle loss may influence balance, metabolism, and even how resilient your body is during everyday movement.23
Since bone density naturally decreases, weight-bearing activities—including resistance training and even light plyometrics—are especially important. These movements help stimulate the bone-building process and reduce the long-term risk of osteoporosis.24
Recovery should also become a more active part of the equation. Shifts in connective tissue, hormone levels, and the body’s inflammation response may mean soreness lasts longer or injuries take more time to heal.25 Building in rest days is essential for staying strong, mobile, and injury free.
You Don’t Have to Give Up Running
Menopause may shift how your body responds to movement, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up running, especially if it makes you feel good. Many women continue to run well into their 50s and 60s—and they often feel more grounded and mentally balanced as a result.
By practicing strength training a couple of times a week, including some low-impact workouts, incorporating some additional nutrients into your diet, and giving yourself more time to recover, your body should stay strong and capable during menopause and beyond. Running may look and feel different than it once did, but that doesn’t make it wrong or less important. If anything, the way you approach running will become more proactive and personalized.
You also don’t need to change your entire routine or try to keep up with anyone else’s pace. A small shift in the expectations you put on yourself may make a big difference in how vital and motivated you feel in your body during menopause.
If you find yourself trying to modify your routine and need extra support, consider speaking with a healthcare professional who can help better support how you feel, move, and recover.
Title Tag: Running Menopause | Menopause Exercise | Menopause Workout | Bonafide
Resources:
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- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7956097/
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22398-estrone
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22398-estrone
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22398-estrone
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32613697/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32613697/
- https://www.webmd.com/menopause/news/20241113/how-i-trained-for-a-marathon-and-killed-it-despite-menopause
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7956097/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7956097/
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(22)00485-6/fulltext
- https://www.pharmacyscijournal.com/articles/apps-aid1050.php
- https://www.pharmacyscijournal.com/articles/apps-aid1050.php
- Https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/162/8/bqab087/6262699
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556524003103?via%3Dihub
- https://www.apa.org/topics/exercise-fitness/stress
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK549946/
- https://www.maturitas.org/article/S0378-5122(12)00184-3/abstract
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254620300764?via%3Dihub
- https://efsupit.ro/images/stories/mai2021/Art%20166.pdf
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- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S8756328219301206?via%3Dihub
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S8756328219301206?via%3Dihub
- https://e-enm.org/journal/view.php?doi=10.3803/EnM.2018.33.4.435
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092544392030168X?via%3Dihub
