The Best Thing You Can Do for Your Body Through Menopause.

11 May

If you’ve been told that slowing down in your 40s and 50s is just part of life… you need to read this blog.

The hormonal changes that happen before, during and after menopause make consistent training more important than at any other stage of life. At Better Gym in Glynde, we train women navigating every stage of this transition, every single day.

Here’s the three stages of menopause as well as what they mean for your body and how we help:

Women strength training during menopause at Better Gym Glynde Adelaide — Pre-Menopause
*Typically, early to mid 40s*

**What’s happening during this phase?**
Oestrogen starts to fluctuate. You might notice changes in sleep, mood, energy, and body composition. Your bones and muscles are beginning to change, even if you can’t feel it yet.
**How Better Gym helps?**
This is the most important time to build the habit. The training you do now sets up your bone density, muscle mass, and cardiovascular health for the next two decades. Our Group Coaching workouts and Reformer Pilates classes are built around exactly this kind of foundational strength work.

Menopause
After 12 month without a period

What’s happening during this phase?
Oestrogen drops significantly and stays low. Hot flushes, disrupted sleep, joint aches, brain fog, and fatigue are all common. Bone density can decline more rapidly during this timeframe than almost any other point in life.

How Better Gym helps?
This is where training becomes a genuine health intervention. Strength work directly protects your bones. Reformer Pilates addresses joint pain and stiffness. And the community at Better Gym gives you somewhere to show up that understands what you’re going through.

Post-Menopause
The years after menopause

What’s happening during this phase?
Acute symptoms often ease, but the longer-term considerations — bone density, cardiovascular health, muscle mass and metabolic function — become more important. The good news: your body is still highly responsive to exercise.

How Better Gym helps?
It’s never too late to start. Our members who begin training in their post-menopausal years consistently tell us they feel stronger, more capable, and more energetic than they expected. The body rewards the effort at every age.

Reformer Pilates class for women over 40 in Glynde Adelaide - Better Gym — 5 reasons training at Better Gym is exactly what your body needs right now.

**1. Your bones need it**
Oestrogen plays a key role in maintaining bone density. As it declines, bone loss accelerates. Strength training — the kind we do every session in Group Coaching — is one of the most effective ways to maintain and rebuild bone density. Every squat, deadlift, and press is doing more than building muscle. It’s protecting your bones for the decades ahead.
**2. Your muscles need it**
From around 35, muscle mass naturally begins to decline — and that decline speeds up after menopause. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, reduced strength, and less protection for your joints. Our Group Coaching sessions are specifically designed to progressively build and preserve muscle mass. Your coaches will ensure you’re loading the right movements at the right intensity for your body right now.
**3. Your joints need it**
Joint pain and stiffness are among the most common — and least talked about — symptoms of menopause. This is where Reformer Pilates is genuinely transformative. The low-impact, controlled movements improve mobility, strengthen the muscles supporting your joints, and reduce chronic tension. Many of our members combine Group Coaching and Pilates for exactly this reason.
**4. Your mood and sleep need it**
Hormonal fluctuations affect mood, anxiety and sleep in ways that are real and significant. Exercise is one of the most evidence-backed tools for managing all three. Most of our members tell us that the hour they spend at Better Gym is the hour in their week they feel most like themselves. That’s not a coincidence.
**5. Your metabolism needs it**
Weight — particularly around the abdomen — can increase through menopause even without changes to diet or activity. This is hormonal, not a failure of willpower. Strength training builds metabolically active muscle tissue that burns more energy at rest, making it the most effective long-term strategy for managing body composition through this transition.

What training at Better Gym actually looks like for you

We know that showing up for the first time — especially if your body has been changing in ways that feel unfamiliar — takes courage. So here’s exactly what to expect.

Group Coaching

40-minute coached strength sessions
Progressive loading to protect and build bone density
Every movement explained and scaled to your level
Coaches who know your name and your history
A community of people in the same phase of life

Reformer Pilates

Low-impact, instructor-led classes
Targets joint pain, posture, and mobility
Beginner-friendly — no experience needed
Calm, focused environment
Works perfectly alongside Group Coaching

Every new member at Better Gym starts with a personal Goal Setting Plan — a one-on-one session with one of our coaches where we learn about your goals, your history, and what your body needs right now. No assumptions. No generic programmes. Just a real conversation.