Does your waistband feel tighter, even though the number on the scale hasn’t changed? Does it feel like your belly fat doesn’t budge, even if you’re consistently eating healthy?

During and after the menopause transition, many women notice changes in weight and body shape, especially around their stomach. This type of weight gain is common during menopause, but it can be frustrating and may affect your overall health. Fortunately, certain types of exercise have been shown to help.

Keep reading to learn more about why women notice more belly fat during menopause and which types of exercise may help.

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What Is Menopause Belly?

Women are more likely to store fat around their belly during menopause. This type of fat storage is sometimes called “menopause belly.” While the term can carry stigma, this kind of fat redistribution is mostly natural.

Before menopause, estrogen, a sex hormone that helps regulate multiple body functions, tends to promote fat storage in the hips and thighs. As estrogen levels decrease during the menopause transition, fat is more likely to accumulate around the stomach instead.

Lower estrogen appears to be a main driver of belly fat storage, but other lifestyle and aging factors can contribute. Research suggests that a combination of less muscle, lower physical activity, and slower metabolism (how you use energy from food) can increase weight gain during menopause.

Because menopause-related weight changes involve several factors, including hormonal changes, aging, activity levels, and loss of muscle, diet alone may not address every factor involved.

More research is needed to understand which weight management strategies are most effective during menopause. Research suggests exercise can play an important role in weight management and overall health during and after menopause.

4 Exercises for Menopause Belly

No single exercise can specifically target stomach fat. Most research says spot reduction, or losing weight in just one area, isn’t possible. Instead, focus on regular whole-body exercise and gradually challenge yourself over time to see progress.

With that in mind, here are four types of exercise that can help build muscle, reduce overall body fat, and support everyday strength and confidence.

1. Strength Training

Strength training can help build muscle, and some studies suggest it can also reduce belly fat, including visceral fat stored around organs.

One study followed 65 postmenopausal women who were given a 15-week resistance training plan to see whether it affected their bodies. The women who completed the plan could handle more vigorous exercise, showed improvements in strength, and carried less visceral fat.

Specific types of resistance training may be more valuable for overall health during and after menopause. Another study found that resistance training can improve body fat, inflammation, and health risk factors. But high-volume training, such as doing more sets, may offer more benefits.

Keep your exercises challenging by choosing compound movements. These movements work multiple muscle groups at once and closely mimic moves we do every day. They include:

• Deadlifts and squats — These exercises can make it easier to bend and lift with your legs while protecting your back.
• Rows — This movement can build strength for tasks like picking up groceries or pulling open heavy doors.
• Lunges and step-ups — Both can make it easier to get up from the floor and climb stairs.

2. High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves short bursts of high-intensity aerobic (heart-pumping) exercise followed by a period of lower-intensity aerobic exercise or rest. An HIIT session may look like:

• Twenty-five seconds of high knees, as fast as possible
• Five seconds of rest
• Repeat for five minutes

Research suggests HIIT can reduce body fat, but the evidence is less clear for women after menopause. One study found that six weeks of HIIT improved fitness and reduced body measurements in women during and after menopause.

Another study found that HIIT’s effects on body fat were less clear after menopause than before menopause. However, HIIT may still have benefits for heart health.

HIIT may help with fat loss, although the evidence is not as clear after menopause. Make sure to allow enough recovery time between intense workouts to help limit long-term stress on the body.

3. Moderate-Intensity Endurance Exercise

Moderate-intensity exercise, sometimes called zone 2 cardio, can also help reduce belly fat and lower the risk of related health issues. Two studies found that a 12-week program (walking or jogging) offered significant benefits.

Moderate-intensity workouts get your heart pumping, but not at maximum levels. You should be able to keep going for a while and even hold a light conversation. For example, a 30-minute moderate-intensity exercise for you may look like:

• Brisk walking on the treadmill
• Jogging around the park
• Using a stair climber
• Playing pickleball
• Swimming laps at the pool
• Gardening or doing yard work

One ThisIsMenopause member reported that walking was her preferred daily exercise. “I walk fast for 25 to 30 minutes every morning,” she wrote. “It’s helped me manage my weight and stress.”

4. Combined Training

Combined training mixes aerobic and strength training in one session to give you the benefits of both, including muscle growth, fat loss, and reduced risk of heart disease.

Some research suggests HIIT may reduce abdominal fat more than moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Combining aerobic exercise with strength training may also help reduce fat while building muscle after menopause.

Combined training may seem difficult, and some women may want to work up to it. But it can be simple to plan. For example, the study that found benefits in combined HIIT and strength training split the session by exercise type:

• HIIT — The workout involved cycling fast for eight seconds, then pedaling slowly for 12 seconds to recover, repeated for 20 minutes.
• Strength training — The workout included one circuit of 10 exercises targeting different body areas, with eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise for one set.

Ask for Expert Help

If you’re new to exercise or if you’re not confident doing exercises on your own, consider seeing a personal trainer. They can teach you how to move correctly, lowering your risk of injury. They can also help you build a weight management plan based on your current fitness level.

Some women are limited by menopause-related symptoms, like aches and pains. In many cases, a physical therapist can teach you how to strengthen your body while finding relief.

In other cases, your doctor may suggest medications that can help. They may mention glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications that can help with weight loss or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help manage menopause symptoms that may make regular exercise more difficult.