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The Effects of Exercise and Menopause on your Health

"Background: Menopause is associated with decreases in lean [body] mass and increases in fat mass. [Blood] hormone levels and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may modify the effects of exercise training on body composition in post-menopausal women.

Methods: We assessed the changes in total body and ...lean soft tissue and fat mass...in 94 sedentary post-menopausal women, aged 40-65 years, after 12 months of resistance and weight-bearing aerobic exercise training...

Conclusions: Exercise training resulted in significant beneficial changes in lean soft tissue and fat mass in early post-menopausal women. These changes in body composition were neither influenced by prolonged HRT use nor accompanied by changes in total levels of hormones..." Emphasis added.

In:The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, vol. 58, 2003. Figueron, Going, Milliken, Lohmann, et al., Dept. of Exercise Science, Syracuse U., N.Y., Dept. of Physiology, U. of Arizona, Tucson, and Dept. of Human Performance and Fitness, U. of Mass., Boston.