Hemodynamics After Resistance Training

Overview

Women's blood vessel health gets worse after menopause, or "the change of life". Some women exercise less during menopause. Exercise can improve blood vessel health. The investigators want to know if resistance exercise, like lifting weights, can improve blood vessel health in women who are just starting menopause. The investigators also want to know if lifting weights can improve mood, sleep, and quality of life in women going through menopause. The investigators will have two groups of women for this study. One group will lift weights (do resistance exercise) twice per week, and the other group will get emails with information about menopause. The investigators will measure blood vessel health, sleep, mood, and menopause symptoms at the start and the end of this study and compare women who did and did not exercise.

Perimenopause is an important time when heart disease risk increases. Perimenopause is also related to worse health-related quality of life, sleep disruptions, and mood. Poor sleep and mood are both related to cardiovascular disease risk. Resistance exercise is effective at reducing cardiovascular disease risk in premenopausal women, and also improves mood, menopausal symptoms, and sleep quality in post-menopausal women. Resistance exercise does not consistently improve vascular function, such as arterial stiffness and blood vessel reactivity, in post-menopausal women. This study aims to investigate the effect of resistance training intervention on vascular function in perimenopausal women. This study will also determine if resistance training improves other novel cardiovascular disease risk factors that tend to worsen in perimenopause, such as sleep quality, mood, and menopause-specific quality of life. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial in perimenopausal females. Participants will complete baseline vascular function and exercise testing at baseline. Blood and urine will be collected. Participants will also complete surveys about their sleep, mood, and menopause-specific quality of life. Participants will be randomized to resistance training or control group. Those randomized to resistance training will complete two sessions per week for 16 weeks. The control group will receive a weekly health education email. Following the 16-week intervention or control, participants will complete post-intervention vascular function and exercise testing, and the same surveys as at baseline. Comparisons will be made between the exercise and control groups.