Moving your body during perimenopause and menopause when life gets in the way
Not every woman can get to a gym, or wants to. Not every woman can afford a personal trainer or an exercise physiologist. Not every woman has an hour to spare, or the energy after a full day of work and caring for others, or a body that cooperates the way it used to. For many women, structured exercise has never been a big part of life.
What counts
Movement does not have to look like exercise to count. Walking to the shops, climbing stairs, gardening, dancing in your kitchen, carrying children or grandchildren, these all ask something of your body and your body responds.
Staying active in any form during perimenopause and menopause supports your bones, your muscles, your joints and your mood. The research is clear that resistance training, exercises that work your muscles against some form of load, is particularly important during this life stage for bone and muscle health. The best resistance training is the one that works for your life. That might be a gym, a resistance band at home, or simply carrying heavy shopping. All of it counts.
What gets in the way
If you are finding it hard to exercise during perimenopause and menopause, you are not alone.
This life stage often coincides with the busiest and most demanding period of life. Caring for children or aging parents, managing work, running a household, and dealing with symptoms that affect your sleep, your energy and your body, all at the same time. Finding space for yourself in the middle of that is genuinely difficult, not a failure of willpower or motivation.
Cost and access matter too. Not everyone can afford a gym or a personal trainer, and not everyone lives near one. On the days when joint pain, fatigue or low mood are high, the idea of exercise can feel like one more thing you cannot manage. Those days are hard.
Starting where you are
The most useful question is not what the ideal exercise program looks like. It is what movement is possible in your life right now.
If ten minutes of walking is what you can manage today, that is ten minutes more than nothing and your body will respond to it. If resistance bands at home fit better than a gym, they work. If dancing in your kitchen is what feels good, it counts.
Small amounts of regular movement build over time. You do not have to start with a full program. You just have to start somewhere.
Finding support if you want it
If you want guidance on where to start, ask your GP about a chronic disease management plan. This is a Medicare funded plan that can give you access to subsidised sessions with an allied health professional like an exercise physiologist. It is linked to chronic health conditions rather than perimenopause itself, but if you are managing joint pain, osteoporosis, diabetes or heart health alongside this life stage, it may be available to you. It is worth asking your GP.
If cost is a significant barrier, many councils and community health centres offer low cost or free exercise programs for women in this life stage. It is worth checking what is available in your area.
Online resources and free exercise videos are also widely available and can be a useful starting point if you prefer to begin at home.
We see you
WHEN knows that adding exercise to an already full life is not a simple ask. This is not about adding another obligation to your plate. It is about finding ways to move that work for you, because the evidence is clear that staying active during perimenopause and menopause makes a real difference to how you feel and how you age. Not just getting older, but ageing well on your own terms.
References
Australian Sports Commission. (2024). AusPlay: national sport and physical activity participation report. Australian Government.
WHEN Position Statement: Resistance Training Across the Menopausal Transition (April 2026). Women’s Health Education Network. www.when.org.au
Developed by the WHEN Clinical Team
Clinically reviewed by the WHEN Clinical Governance Committee
Last reviewed: July 2026
