This is huge, around 4 in 10 women have mood symptoms during perimenopause that are similar to PMS, or premenstrual syndrome; having low energy, feeling irritable, tearful and moody, or having a hard time concentrating, per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new findings don\u2019t mean exercise can fix everything \u2013 or that you should push harder if you\u2019re still struggling. \u2018It\u2019s important that women don\u2019t feel they simply need to exercise more if they\u2019re still struggling,\u2019 says Doctor Simone Saidel,<\/a> a clinical psychologist and lead author of the review, which she conducted while a researcher at University College London.<\/p>\n However, working out could be a useful tool for many women. Here\u2019s what Dr Saidel\u2019s team found, why movement might help and how to put the findings to use.<\/p>\n What the researchers did<\/p>\n The researchers set out to answer a practical question: can physical activity help with some of the psychological difficulties women experience during menopause? To do this, Dr Saidel and her colleagues pulled together 12 studies involving 1,003 women ages 40 to 65 across seven countries, all of whom were either going through perimenopause or were within the first five years of menopause.<\/p>\n In each study, women were randomly assigned to different groups. Usually, one group started an exercise programme while the other continued with their usual care; some studies compared different activities. The team searched for research published through to April 2025, then combined results where possible to get a clearer picture of what helped.<\/p>\n What the study found<\/p>\n Overall, exercise helped women feel better and led to improvements in depressive symptoms, mood, and quality of life\u2014both during perimenopause and in the first few years after menopause.<\/p>\n \u2018We couldn\u2019t establish that one type of exercise was definitively better than another as there were relatively few trials examining each individual exercise, so we grouped interventions into two broader categories: aerobic-based exercises, such as walking, Zumba and dancing, and mind-body activities, such as yoga, Pilates and tai chi,\u2019 Dr Saidel explains.<\/p>\n When the researchers looked more closely at the activities, they found that the aerobic activities (walking, dancing, Zumba) helped more with depressive symptoms and overall quality of life while the mind-body activities (yoga, Pilates, tai chi) helped more with emotional wellbeing and ability to cope.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s worth noting that the findings come with a few caveats: ten of the 12 studies were rated as having a high risk of bias. The participants knew whether they were exercising, often reported their own symptoms, and some studies had missing data \u2013 all things that can affect the results. The workouts and the women taking part also differed quite a bit from study to study.<\/p>\n Why exercise might help<\/p>\n During perimenopause, changing hormone levels play a direct role in what\u2019s happening in your brain. For instance, oestrogen interacts with serotonin and dopamine (both of which help regulate mood), while progesterone affects brain signalling.<\/p>\n As hormones fluctuate, some women are more sensitive to those shifts than others, explains Dr Katya Rubinow<\/a>, a board-certified endocrinologist at UW Medicine in Seattle. However, exercise may help in a few ways. \u2018Certain activities prompt your brain to release chemicals involved in mood and reward, including endorphins and dopamine,\u2019 says Dr Rubinow.<\/p>\n With activities such as yoga and tai chi, breathing and paying attention to how your body feels may help you manage your emotions, Dr Saidel adds. And if you\u2019re taking a group fitness class, spending time with other people could be part of what makes you feel better, too. This research study couldn\u2019t pinpoint how much each of these factors contributed.<\/p>\n \u2018Over time, regular exercise can also make your body less reactive to stress and help you sleep better, which can make a difference in how you feel during the day, whether you\u2019re going through menopause or not,\u2019 Dr Rubinow points out.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that you can exercise regularly and still experience menopause symptoms that need treatment. \u2018Exercise does not impact the underlying changes in ovarian hormones that occur during the menopause transition,\u2019 Dr Rubinow says. \u2018As a result, exercise alone will not be sufficient for symptom management for many women, particularly those with moderate to severe symptoms.\u2019<\/p>\n What type of exercise works the best?<\/p>\n Before you sign up for a new workout class, know that the researchers couldn\u2019t say which routine would help most \u2013 or how quickly you might feel a difference. The programmes they looked at ranged from six weeks to six months, with anywhere from two to seven sessions a week. For now, their advice is to find something you really enjoy and can realistically keep doing.<\/p>\n Check in with yourself after every workout. Do you feel better or are you wiped out? How do you feel the next day? Dr Rubinow recommends using the answers to those questions to help figure out what works for you, especially as your symptoms change. \u2018I doubt we will ever find a single exercise regimen that is best for everyone,\u2019 she adds.<\/p>\n
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