Exercising for Better Sex – Menopause Musings

In January I will be 45 years old and while I am blessed to be holding my age well  ( from a distance on a cantering horse as they say!) I am diving deeper into some of the issues of being a woman making her way to middle age and menopause.

While some women make this trek gracefully .. one day they have a period and then then next day they don’t- magic! Some of us take the more difficult route that takes us through excessive bleeding, hot flashes that look like we are morphing into a comic book super heroes, skipping cycles, then triple cycling in one month ( oh joy!) as well as other various pains, freaky weight gain and all the emotional stability of a serial killer. In short it is not for the faint of heart ( or their long suffering husbands!)

The time between fully cycling and the full stop of menstruation can be as little as a couple of months up to 10 years! This can be a lot of time to deal with some of the petty annoyances and  as well as the full blown difficulties that come along with this time in life. The effects on your body, your feeling of wellness, your self esteem and you sex life can be quite profound.

From WebMD -

You may recognize perimenopause when you begin experiencing some or all of the following symptoms:

• Hot Flashes  ( why no I did not have a personal sprinkler installed.. it’s just a hot flash!)
• Breast tenderness ( If you bump my boobs again I am going to take out a hit on you)
• Worsening of premenstrual syndrome ( Unspeakable.. really)
• Decreased sex drive ( Been lucky on this one but a big issue for a lot of women)
• Fatigue ( my nap needs a nap!)
• Irregular periods ( Like a dice roll in Vegas.. every day you might be a period winner!)
• Vaginal dryness; discomfort during sex ( coconut oil – love it!)
• Urine Leakage when coughing or sneezing ( this part might suck the most but Kegals make it much better)
• Urinary Urgency ( know all possible emergency exits and potty locations, the rule of the grown up Girl Scout!)
• Mood Swings ( WHAT????… )
• Difficulty Sleeping ( the basis of late-night infomercial success is menopausal women – on this I bet!)

I am developing an arsenal of tips and tricks as well as conventional and alternative medicine to make the most of this time and will be talking about these in the coming weeks.  I have returned to exercise as a way of helping with the weight gain, fatigue and mood swings.  It has been a L-O-N-G time since I was an active exercise person and this first week.. well let’s just say I have found muscles I had forgotten that I owned.

The upside is that exercise can make for better sex and while  lower libido can be an issue during peri-menopause there is no doubt that feeling firmer and more in shape never hurts when under the sheets!  A 2008 study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that intense short-duration exercise (20 minutes with a target heart rate of 70 percent) significantly enhances the physiological sexual arousal of women (i.e. genital arousal). Citation   Got to like that!  Not to mention that some of us are luck enough to experience exercise induced orgasms!  and that is something to be happy for each time you go to the gym!