Honouring Menopause this
International Women’s Day 2026
Empowering Women Through the Menopause Transition
As women age, we enter a new stage in life – one that comes with uncomfortable symptoms affecting quality of life, as well as increasing our risk for chronic disease. It's a transition that 50% of the population goes through, yet many don’t talk about it, let alone have access to the resources needed to empower them through this journey to advocate for themselves.
YMCA BC is working to give women the knowledge and skills they need to empower themselves to take charge of their menopause transition. Whether it’s adapting their lifestyle to promote long-term health into the future, or finding the knowledge and resources they need to advocate for themselves to a healthcare provider, YMCA BC offers both in person programming – Moving Through Menopause – and online resources through Y@HOME+. By having both in-person programming and online resources, YMCA BC hopes to ensure that women have the knowledge they need to empower themselves through this new transition in life, no matter what barriers to access they may face.
What is menopause?
Menopause is the transition in life in which women stop having a monthly menstrual cycle. It occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, and the average age to reach menopause is 52 (defined as being 1 year period free).
The transition period is called peri-menopause, and it can last many years with a variety of unpleasant symptoms caused by the drop in hormones. These include hot flashes and night sweats, irritability and mood changes, difficulty concentrating, joint pain, vaginal dryness and urogenital disorders, as well as sleep disturbances. Alongside these common symptoms, decreased estrogen and progesterone also increases our risk for certain chronic diseases, including osteoporosis and heart disease.
Along with hormone replacement therapy, simple lifestyle changes can make a difference for your symptoms, including regular strength training and Pilates, as well as proper nutrition.
Join Waad, Fitness Team Lead at the Bettie Allard YMCA and Moving Through Menopause trainer, in this beginner strength workout. She’ll take you through five basic movements, focusing on your form so that you can feel confident working out while staying injury free. Once you know the five basic movements - squat, hip hinge or deadlift, chest press, rows and deadbugs - you can build on them. Start with your bodyweight or light weights until you feel confident with your form, and then progress to a heavier weight.
To start, you’ll be doing each movement for 12 reps, and 2 sets, alongside your warm up and cool down. Make your workout more challenging by increasing the weight, reps or sets!
Strength training for Long Term Health
Strength training has numerous benefits for women of all ages, but there’s a few reasons why it’s particularly beneficial for women in peri-menopause. This includes increasing our bone density, as well as our muscle mass, both of which decrease rapidly as we age. Regular exercise has also been shown to improve our mental health, lowering cortisol and increasing endorphins, leading to less anxiety, better sleep, and more energy.
How much and how often – getting the most out of strength training
Ideally, you should incorporate a 30-minute strength or resistance training session 2-3 days a week, alongside your regular fitness routine.
Do I need to “lift heavy”?
Choose a weight that is heavy enough to make the exercise difficult but still manageable with good form. If the weight is too light, you won’t stimulate your muscles enough to grow or get stronger. If it is too heavy, you might risk injury.
Our biggest tip: progressive overload
Progressive overload means gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts to keep challenging your muscles. Weight training can be intimidating, and progressive overload can make it easier to start.
You can do this in several ways: increasing the weight, increasing the number of reps or sets, or by changing the speed of your lifts (lifting slower will provide more of a challenge).
How to Engage Your Pelvic Floor
To find your pelvic floor muscles, you can gently squeeze the muscles you use to stop passing gas, or squeeze the muscles you use to stop urination midstream, being careful not to clench. You can also imagine holding and lifting a blueberry inside of you in a scooping motion. You should notice a slight pulling or lifting feeling in your rectum and vagina.
Contracting your pelvic floor muscles during any Pilates workout will strengthen your pelvic floor and provide benefits!
Restoring Pelvic Floor Strength Pilates Flow
We recommend starting with Alicja’s featured pelvic floor flow – she'll improve your body awareness and explain how to move your pelvis, as well as provide tips for engaging your pelvic floor during each movement.
Alicia will guide you through gentle pelvic floor movements to restore your pelvic strength. Supporting postnatal recovery, menopause, and overall spinal health, these exercises help you reconnect with your pelvic muscles and feel stronger from the inside out.
Pilates for Pelvic Floor Health
Pelvic floor health is a concern of many women, no matter their age, and for good reason.
The pelvic floor is the “hammock” of muscles, ligaments, and tissues that extend from the pubic bone to the tailbone and support your uterus, bladder and bowels. A strong pelvic floor is a critical component of your health, playing a crucial role in core stability, as well as incontinence, back pain, and the health of our sexual organs.
Pilates provides practical movements that you can do every day to strengthen your pelvic floor and core, helping these symptoms. Whether you’re doing a core-focused flow or a pelvic floor flow, as long as you’re engaging and contracting your pelvic floor during your workout, it will help to strengthen these muscles and provide symptom relief.
Nutrition For Peri-menopause and Post Menopause
About the Savour Your Shift Menopause Meal Plan
Scott Andrews, certified nutritional practitioner, personal trainer and manual osteopathic therapist, created this meal plan for peri-menopause to post-menopausal women. It emphasizes whole foods that are high in protein, low in refined sugars and contain nutrient rich sources that can optimize fat loss, bone building and have a lasting change on metabolism and energy.
High protein and other nutrients to consider
As we enter menopause, it’s recommended that we increase our protein intake. While 0.8 grams a day per kilogram is recommended pre-menopause, it’s generally recommended to increase that to 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight, in order to help prevent muscle loss. If you’re strength training regularly and looking to gain muscle, you’ll want to aim for the higher end of 1.2 grams/kg.
Other key preventive nutrients include, vitamin D, calcium, and B vitamins. Vitamin D and calcium help contribute to healthy bones, while B vitamins (particularly B6 and B12) promote better cognitive function and protect the nervous system. Vitamin B6 has even been shown to help improve our mood, being integral to the production of serotonin and dopamine. Both of these neurotransmitters help to regulate our moods and stabilize our emotions.
You’ll want to limit alcohol and highly processed foods, both of which increase your risk for chronic disease. Alcohol and caffeine can also interfere with sleep, and may worsen hot flashes.
