loader from loading.io

8 Ways to Make Walking in Menopause MORE Beneficial

The Flipping 50 Show

Release Date: 03/14/2025

Essential Oils for Menopause Hormones | Essential How-to for Essential Oils show art Essential Oils for Menopause Hormones | Essential How-to for Essential Oils

The Flipping 50 Show

In this episode of essential oils for menopause hormones, I asked all the questions you ask. The purpose? To find beyond exercise and food, what can you do with essential oils to support your symptoms or simply elevate your health.  I ask about essential oils for menopause hormones – adrenal fatigue, sleep, libido, cravings and more.  Don’t miss this one!    My Guest: Jodi Sternoff Cohen is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist, functional practitioner and founder of Vibrant Blue Oils, where she has combined her training in nutritional therapy and aromatherapy...

info_outline
What Stem Cell Therapy Taught Me About Recovery, Mindset, and Reinventing Downtime show art What Stem Cell Therapy Taught Me About Recovery, Mindset, and Reinventing Downtime

The Flipping 50 Show

In today’s episode, I share my personal experience with stem cell therapy—and the unexpected lessons that came from being forced to slow down. Whether you’re choosing a procedure like stem cell therapy or suddenly dealing with an injury or illness, time off from your normal routine isn’t just inconvenient — it’s a major mental and physical shift. But it doesn’t have to be a setback.  In this episode, I unpack the power of reframing your downtime with three key focus areas: Mindset,  Movement, and  Meaningful redirection.   Why I opted for Stem Cell Therapy...

info_outline
Bladder Issues in Menopause - The Hidden Bacteria You Need to Know show art Bladder Issues in Menopause - The Hidden Bacteria You Need to Know

The Flipping 50 Show

If bladder issues in menopause are keeping you from jumping for bone density or for jumping for joy. Or if laughing and sneezing or a need to consider hydration needs against access to a bathroom are real life and every day concerns you… we’ve got you today.  Bladder issues in menopause don’t need to keep you from activities, and they may come with signs and symptoms that aren’t the obvious urgency, burning or leakage. The information here about testing beyond traditional options just might make you want to re-listen and share this one.    My Guest: Dr Kelly McCann is a...

info_outline
Solving Sleep Issues with CBD and Other Perimenopause Symptom Solutions show art Solving Sleep Issues with CBD and Other Perimenopause Symptom Solutions

The Flipping 50 Show

Solving sleep issues may have just gotten easier with today’s guest sharing her personal experience with CBD to help with Perimenopause Symptoms.  My guest today is a Flipping 50 community member who listened to a podcast and decided herself to try CBD when nothing she had been doing was working.    My Guest: Laura Scott is a former banker and corporate trainer who left the business world and dedicated her time raising her children. Over the past four years she cared for her parents as they rapidly declined at the same time perimenopause came knocking at her door. As her...

info_outline
Women's Wellness Adventure Travel After 50 show art Women's Wellness Adventure Travel After 50

The Flipping 50 Show

What do you get when you combine wellness with adventure travel?  In Stacy Funt’s case, you get a new business. My guest today began her new business combining a love for travel and adventure with the need to fill a gap between empty nesting and grief and her new business was born. In this episode, we unpack what her business looks like, what her brand of wellness adventure travel is, and how taking risk coming from a safe, secure paycheck looks and feels like.  No matter which part of this first attracts you, you may feel inspired after this episode.    My Guest: Stacey...

info_outline
What’s Best Total Body or Split Routine in Menopause show art What’s Best Total Body or Split Routine in Menopause

The Flipping 50 Show

Which is the best workout routine for you right now – total body or split routine in menopause? This episode unpacks a recent study by comparing results from total body or split routine in menopause.  The study did not actually address menopause. But if we know we are capable of making the same relative strength gains as males, then I’m considering this study as still relevant for us to consider in menopause.    How the study was done: Untrained males, no resistance training in the previous 6 months. Exercise consists of 16 sets per muscle group per week per both...

info_outline
Autoimmune Disease in Menopause and Changing Treatment Status Quo show art Autoimmune Disease in Menopause and Changing Treatment Status Quo

The Flipping 50 Show

Why is autoimmune disease in menopause becoming more prevalent? And why are college-age patients a growing autoimmune demographic?  In your 60s, when the world is thinking of retirement, would you ever consider being a founder of a new business instead of spending days on the golf course or traveling?  Answers to the increase in autoimmune disease in menopause and more in this special episode I think you may find both alarming and fascinating; both a shot of reality and hope.    My Guest: Dr. Bonnie Feldman, 69, Co-founder and Chief Patient Officer of Rheumission, is an...

info_outline
Why I Take These Supplements in Menopause show art Why I Take These Supplements in Menopause

The Flipping 50 Show

If you’ve wondered what supplements I take and why I take these supplements in menopause, this episode if you backstage pass inside my pantry! I'm talking through everything I'm using for energy, muscle, metabolism, and aging optimally — and why.  This isn’t about hormone therapy; this is about all the “extras” that make a powerful difference in daily vitality, sleep, and workouts. Know the WHY I take these supplements in menopause.   Magnesium  ~300 enzyme actions in body many of them related to metabolism  Stress depletes magnesium Responsible for all the...

info_outline
Stress Isn’t All Bad? Use Stress to Thrive show art Stress Isn’t All Bad? Use Stress to Thrive

The Flipping 50 Show

No, stress isn’t all bad.  “Stress” is generally seen as negative and harmful.  How can you use stress to thrive and live longer? In this episode, learn how to create good stress for bursts of happiness and live longer. Our guest will tell us more on The Stress Paradox and share the 5 key good stressors to use stress to thrive. Understand it here, stress isn’t all bad.   My Guest: Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist, MD, is an award-winning physician, healthcare leader, and visionary researcher renowned for a science-based approach to applying lifestyle as medicine. She has...

info_outline
Save Your Knees and Shoulders Without Surgery show art Save Your Knees and Shoulders Without Surgery

The Flipping 50 Show

Save your knees and shoulders from the little discomfort doing usual activities or some swelling and inflammation. If you aren’t sure whether you need physical therapy, you should get a referral, just need a massage or to lay off for a few days, this is your episode.  I’m no stranger to physical therapy, but I am a foreigner in seeking support for any issues I’ve got. Mine have all come from some acute trauma or injury. I knew it and the answer was obvious, maybe for you too — to save your knees and shoulders without surgery!   My Guest: Dr. David Middaugh is a specialist...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Walking in menopause isn’t just exercise — it’s your secret sauce for boosting body and mind! With a few fun tweaks, make every step turn into a memory-boosting, fat-burning powerhouse.

Slip on those sneakers. Tune in while taking a walk! This episode is all about making walking in menopause more beneficial!

Walking 40 minutes three times a week increases Hippocampus(memory central).

A 2011 study on older adults at the University of Colorado, published in the Journal Neuroimage, proved this! The hidden gem – you can walk at any pace you like. There’s no minimum exertion level for this to happen.

Walk short vs long

So much research I’ve shared previously showed that intermittent breaks really matter more.  Breaking up sedentary time with 2-5 minute movement breaks reduced post-meal blood sugar spikes by 17%.

Walk after meals

10 minute walks after meals had a more positive impact than a single long walk. Especially when it comes to blood sugar, belly fat and insulin resistance, more studies show! And yes, after is better than before. But if you’re debating between before or not at all, yes go! You will make walking in menopause more beneficial this way by directly supporting blood sugar balance and combating insulin resistance.

Go a different route or backwards

Dr Ellen Langer, the Mother of Mindfulness, was the first female professor at Harvard and she’s done some notable research in aging, mindset, and placebo. She shared the idea of creating habits – have us all operating automatically. Instead, she said the secret is noticing. Truly being mindful.

More Fun Ways to Make Walking in Menopause a Total Game-Changer

Walk and talk (therapists now walk)

Need a little therapy? If not with an actual therapist but a friend. There’s science to show the combination of walking outdoors (possibly even at a track) and talking is beneficial. Throw into the mix sunshine and you have three powerful serotonin producers, for a feel good session to rival antidepressant and anxiety meds.

I’ve been known to take my phone and call a friend and talk through a 45 minute walk when life gets crazy.

Amplify the learning opportunity

Students who learn best, do. Learning any material while moving can boost your retention of it. The trick is to find activity and content you can focus on.

Walking makes it easy and listening to a podcast that's educating you - whether on the benefits of walking (this is truly meta if you’re walking right now) or you’re learning about how to organize your closet or why essential amino acids are important. Students who move retain up to 76% compared to 37% while sitting.

Weighted vest

Using a weighted vest can increase the metabolic costs, relative exercise intensity, and loading of the skeletal system during walking.

A study of trail runners concluded that between 5 and 10% the physiological and mechanical changes were significant. Meaning that at 10% additional load, there could be a considerable amount more stress on your system and your mechanics may also be altered. If you weigh 140 lbs and are using a weighted vest, you might be best starting for short periods of time with between 7 and 14 lbs, being careful not to do much time with 14 lbs until well adapted.

And Finally—The 8th Way To Make Walking In Menopause More Beneficial

Add intervals

Do this last one with conscious planning. It’s not always “more is better.”

Many midlife and older women were born into the “harder or more is better” thinking. It can be hard to lose this. But if you never go easy, you’re fooling yourself to think your “hard” effort is actually your capacity.

To make walking more beneficial in menopause you’ll want it all: short and moderate and longer walks. You’ll want brisk and leisurely paced walks. But at the core of the majority of benefits from walking is just do it, daily, for a cumulative effect of movement that occurs several times a day.

Are you interested in a virtual training that accumulates in a virtual “event”?

Maybe a Flipping 50 walk on the same day, in different parts of the world.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on Flipping 50 Facebook Group.

Resources:

Flipping50 Membership:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/cafe

Glucose Monitor:

https://www.flippingfifty.com/myglucose

Other Podcasts You Might Like:

The Effects of Walking on Health:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking

Best Walking Tips to Help You Ditch Stress and Lose Weight:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking-tips

21 Walking Tips:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking-tips-2

Power of Walking:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/power-of-walking

5 Walking Workouts You’ll Run to for Better Results:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking-workouts

7 Walking Mistakes that Prevent Weight Loss After 50:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking-mistakes

Should You Hold Weights While You Walk?: 
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking-with-weights

Take a Walk with Kathy Eklund:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/take-a-walk

Walking off Weight in Menopause:
https://www.flippingfifty.com/walking-off-weight

References:

Mendez Colmenares A, Voss MW, Fanning J, Salerno EA, Gothe NP, Thomas ML, McAuley E, Kramer AF, Burzynska AZ. White matter plasticity in healthy older adults: The effects of aerobic exercise. Neuroimage. 2021 Oct 1;239:118305. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118305. Epub 2021 Jun 24. PMID: 34174392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118305

Ferrer, M. E., & Laughlin, D. D. (2017). Increasing College Students’ Engagement and Physical Activity with Classroom Brain Breaks: Editor: Ferman Konukman. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 88(3), 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2017.1260945

Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J. After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Sports Med. 2023 Apr;53(4):849-869. doi: 10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7. Epub 2023 Jan 30. PMID: 36715875; PMCID: PMC10036272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7