5 Special Ways Exercise Helps Women

Message to Venus: start exercising. They say women are from Venus, and I understand it is too hot to exercise there. But now they are on earth, and it is time to get moving.

Women live longer than men do, and can extend their lives further. In addition, they can make those extra years more independent, comfortable and productive.

Both men and women benefit from exercise. However, women have health issues which affect them in different ways, and exercise offers women unique benefits.

1. Women, Exercise and Heart Disease

Estrogens protect women before menopause. As such, women tend to have their first heart attack at an older age than men. However, then they start to catch up.

Historically, women have been more worried about breast cancer than heart disease for multiple reasons. However, one in four American women die of heart disease, compared with one in thirty who die of breast cancer.

Heart disease is the number one killer of American women.

More than 6.5 million American women have heart disease of some kind. Only half of all women know that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, as per an interview conducted by the American Heart Association.

The online British Journal of Sports Medicine reported on an Australian study on May 8, 2014. University of Queensland researchers analyzed data on more 32,000 Australian women of different ages. They found that at every age, from the 30s to the 80s, physically inactive women were at a higher risk of heart disease compared with women with any other risk factor. Inactivity conferred a greater risk of heart disease to these women of all ages than obesity, smoking, or high blood pressure.

Middle-aged inactive women had an increase of 33% in their risk of heart disease, while older women noticed a jump of 24%, just from physical inactivity.

There is no reason to believe that American women would be affected differently, according to experts.

So ladies, let us start moving!

2. Women, Exercise and Breast Cancer

Obviously, women are worried about breast cancer. It not only affects their health, but also threatens their self-image and sexuality.

Numerous risk factors which affect a woman’s risk of this deadly cancer have been evaluated. Some of them, such as genetics, cannot be modified. But some can, particularly exercise, or lack thereof.

French researchers presented data about the link between exercise and breast cancer in women at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glasgow in March 2014.

Data published in 2011 had suggested a reduction of 25% in breast cancer risk among physically active women. This effect appeared to be stronger in post-menopausal women, and women who performed moderate to vigorous intensity exercise regularly.

The French conclusions are different, and probably more accurate because of sheer numbers. Researchers looked at data from more than 4 million women from all around the world. There was a 12% reduction in breast cancer risk among the women who did the most exercise: more than 1 hour of vigorous, daily exercise.

What was more interesting, though, was the fact that it was not all or nothing. All physically active women had a lower breast cancer risk. The benefits were higher with increasing activity levels, but even a little bit of exercise was helpful. Even activities of daily living were protective. So you don’t have to jump on a treadmill and start racing away.

The benefits occurred irrespective of age or menopausal status. Thin women were helped, as were the ones who were overweight.

3. Women, Thin Bones and Fractures

Estrogens keep women’s bones strong. As estrogen levels drop after menopause, female bones become thinner. But the problem starts earlier. The bone density of women is lower than that of men to begin with, and keeps declining with age faster than that of men. The peak bone density of women is at age 18 years.

After the age of 50, half of all women will sustain a fracture at some point, secondary to their thinning bones. In men, that rate is 25%.

Hip fractures are a problem

• 75% of all hip fractures occur in women, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
• Osteoporosis, or bone thinning, raises the risk of a hip fracture.
• 258,000 people over 65 were hospitalized in 2010 with hip fractures.
• Most hip fractures are due to falls.
• One patient out of five dies within a year of a hip fracture.
• After a hip fracture, 1 out of 3 patients living independently before have to spend a year or more in a nursing home.

Exercise to prevent fractures

Regular exercise can prevent falls by increasing bone strength and improving balance, thus reducing the risk of a fall. Weight-bearing exercises are better at improving bone density. Running and jumping, which cause intermittent impact with the earth, are particularly useful. Dancing and squats are also of benefit, as are “odd impacts,” such as walking sideways or backwards, which is to say, in any direction except straight ahead. And the earlier the age when ladies start exercising, the better off will their bones be.

But one does not have to get fancy. The Nurses’ Health Study followed thousands of post-menopausal women. Those who walked for 4 hours a week were 40% less likely to fracture a hip compared to their less active counterparts.

4. Women, Exercise and Diabetes

A recent study in the journal PLOS Medicine reported data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Nurses’ Health Study II about the link between exercise and diabetes risk in women.

• One hour of strength training weekly reduced diabetes risk in women by 14%.
• Two and a half hours of such training weekly cut diabetes risk by 40%.
• One hour of strength training and 150 minutes of aerobic exercise (cardio) weekly reduced diabetes risk by two-thirds.

5. Women, Exercise and Stroke Risk

The California Teachers Study of 133, 479 women who were followed from 1996 to 2010 analyzed data from women who engaged in moderate to strenuous physical activity for 3 years before entering this study. The researchers found a 20% lower stroke risk in these women compared to less active women.

CONCLUSION

Exercise is good for both men and women. However, women, because of their unique anatomy, biology and physiology, can obtain special benefits from exercise and lower their risks of heart disease, breast cancer, bone fractures, diabetes, and strokes.

So ladies, start your engines!