Cortisol and Exercise in Menopause

I’m going to review the cortisol and exercise connection or confusion… and offer some solutions.

Feeling exhausted, frustrated and fat? Got stubborn belly fat you want to lose?
You’re exercising but tired all the time? Sleep or don’t, and you’re still never rested? 
Sound familiar or been there?

This episode is PACKED with solutions on cortisol and exercise in menopause. Don’t miss it.

 

What is Cortisol?

• Your body's primary stress hormone, but it’s also your energy hormone.
• Regulates metabolism, immune response, and stress.
• Mental and emotional response to stress.

For women in midlife, perimenopause or postmenopause, how cortisol behaves is everything.

 

Cortisol Follows Your Circadian Rhythm

• Morning: Cortisol spikes – helps you get up, feel alert, burn fat, and stabilize blood sugar.
• Evening: Cortisol drops – when melatonin (your sleep hormone) takes over.
• Disruptions to Circadian Rhythm – chronic stress, fatigue, overexercising, late-night screen time keep cortisol elevated when it should be dropping.

 

HPA Axis Dysfunction (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal)

• Your body's stress thermostat — when it’s overworked, it breaks.
• Constant demand leads to adrenal insufficiency. 
• HPA Axis dial things down to protect you and that’s when you hit a wall:
  • You’re tired but wired.
  • You can’t sleep or sleep all day.
  • Your blood sugar is out of whack — hello cravings and midsection weight gain.
  • Workouts leave you exhausted instead of energized.

 

Work Out Doesn’t Work Anymore?

• Cortisol Chaos
  • When your old workouts become stressors instead of solutions.
  • Workouts add fuel to the fire.
• Solution: Cortisol-Conscious Movement
  • The right exercise, at the right time, for the right reason.

 

The Cortisol–Thyroid–Adrenal Triangle

• Cortisol: Regulates blood sugar and inflammation.
• Thyroid: Controls metabolism — but sensitive to cortisol imbalances.
• Adrenals: Produces cortisol — but burns out if they’re overstimulated.

If cortisol stays high, the thyroid slows metabolism. That’s when fat loss becomes frustrating, no matter how you eat or train.

 

The Influence of Cortisol and Exercise in Menopause 

 

Cortisol During Perimenopause and Postmenopause

• Hormonal Fluctuations
  • Decline in estrogen and pr