During my time coaching post-menopausal women, the conversation around nourishing our bodies and how to do it well is a common topic. I see nourishment as much more than the food choices we make and the nutrients we put (or don’t put) into our bodies. It’s also about the way we treat our bodies, daily. How much we respect them, with activity and movement, and the importance we place on looking after our muscles, bones, and joints, as well as our gut, heart, blood, and brain health.

Stretching is one of the most important ways we can nourish our bodies, and if mobility and freedom of movement are missing through lack of flexibility, our futures perhaps will not look how we currently envisage them.

As we age and as our oestrogen levels deplete, it impacts on our joint health, meaning that our joints, bones, and muscles become tighter, and stiffness and niggles become more common.

Stretching physically works the muscles and soft tissues, lengthening and loosening tight muscles, reducing annoying aches and pains. Not only that, tight muscles caused by stress and tension can also be loosened by stretching.

Stretching doesn’t just help to ease muscle tension and stiffness. There are three essential components of an exercise programme for women over 50.

• Strength training to build muscle mass and strength.
• Cardio for heart health and weight management
• Stretching for flexibility and continual freedom of movement.

All three are important, and valuable, but performing regular strength and cardio work without flexibility training isn’t effective. Adding flexibility training allows you to become more effective at strength and cardio training.

With extra flexibility, comes better and fuller range of movement, which has the added benefit of reducing your risk of injury through exercise, meaning that each workout is more beneficial.

Also, if you are new to exercise, you are struggling to maintain a routine or you are returning to exercise after a period of inactivity, stretching is a fantastic way to introduce regular movement into your daily life. Who knows where it can take you!

With a better outcome from exercise, comes better weight management. If we use stretching as a way of optimising our health, we’ll be able to stay more active as we find exercise more enjoyable and become less prone to injury, we’ll sleep better and our stress levels will be reduced – all things that increase our chances of meeting and even exceeding our weight loss goals.

We will also find ourselves in a virtuous cycle where we feel good, so we’re more likely to make healthy diet and lifestyle choices that make us feel even better!

Stretching is super beneficial for our physical health, but it’s also great for supporting better emotional health by promoting better, more restful sleep.

Insomnia or finding it easy to fall asleep yet finding it difficult to stay asleep are common symptoms of the menopause and we can continue to struggle with poor sleep during our post-menopausal years. Being unable to achieve restorative sleep means tiredness as well as feeling brain-fogged, forgetful, and even blue.

The benefits of decent, superior quality sleep have far reaching consequences in many aspects of our lives. We feel more rested, happier, and less stressed, and we are less inclined to reach for our emotional “crutches” such as caffeine, alcohol, and ultra-processed food. Stretching reduces tension, relaxes the body, and shifts our mind and focus into being mindful and rested, helping us achieve the deep sleep we require.