Aerobics Key To Staying Sharp After Menopause

Key TakeawaysAerobic exercise can help women stay sharp after menopauseWomen who did aerobics four days a week had better executive function than others who stretched and tonedThey were better able to plan, juggle tasks and stay focused.FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Heart-pumping aerobic exercise can boost key thinking skills among women after menopause, a new study says.Postmenopausal women who practiced aerobic exercise four days a week for half a year performed better on cognitive tests than those who focused on stretching and toning, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.Women who did aerobics specifically improved in their executive function — the brain skills that help people plan, juggle tasks, stay focused and maintain independence, results showed.“All participants began the study with below-average cardiorespiratory fitness levels and were not regularly exercising — making the results directly relevant to typical midlife and older women, not only those who are already active,” lead researcher Sharon Sanz Simon said in a news release. She is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School.For the new study, researchers recruited 93 healthy women ages 20 to 67 and assigned half to aerobics and half to flexibility and core exercises. Aerobics could be performed on a treadmill, elliptical machine or stationary bike.The study lasted six months, during which the women underwent regular cognitive testing. About 8 in 10 completed at least three months, and 7 in 10 the full six months, researchers said.“Post-menopausal women who completed aerobic exercise showed greater improvements in executive function — measured through standardized assessments of task-switching speed and error management — compared to women in the stretching group and more than pre-menopausal women doing the same aerobic program,” Sanz Simon said.“We observed measurable cognitive gains at three months into the program, and those benefits continued to strengthen through the six-month trial period,” she added.Interestingly, other thinking skills like memory or processing speed didn’t show the same gains from aerobic exercise, researchers said.“Many women report easier time switching between tasks, better ability to plan and organize, improved focus and mental flexibility, and feeling sharper in daily activities,” Sanz Simon said.Based on these results, researchers outlined a practical aerobic exercise program that could contribute to brain health.The program calls for three to four sessions per week, involving 10 to 15 minutes of warm-up and gentle stretching followed by 45 minutes of continuous aerobic activity like brisk walking, light jogging, cycling, elliptical training, swimming, water aerobics or dance-based cardio, researchers said.More informationThe Rutgers Brain Health Institute has more on staying sharp after menopause.SOURCE: Rutgers University-New Brunswick, news release, Aug. 31, 2026 .What This Means For YouWomen who get regular aerobic exercise might stay sharper following menopause..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Aerobics Key To Staying Sharp After Menopause

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