Leg vascular and skeletal muscle mitochondrial adaptations to aerobic high-intensity exercise training are enhanced in the early postmenopausal phase.

Key Points: Exercise training effectively improves vascular and skeletal muscle function; however, these effects of training may be blunted in postmenopausal women as a result of the loss of oestrogens. Accordingly, the capacity to deliver oxygen to the active muscles may also be impaired in postmenopausal women. In both premenopausal and recent postmenopausal women, exercise training was shown to improve leg vascular and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function.

Effects of high-intensity training on cardiovascular risk factors in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Background: Menopause is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and the causal factors have been proposed to be the loss of estrogen and the subsequent alterations of the hormonal milieu. However, which factors contribute to the deterioration of cardiometabolic health in postmenopausal women is debated as the menopausal transition is also associated with increased age and fat mass. Furthermore, indications of reduced cardiometabolic adaptations to exercise in postmenopausal women add to the adverse health profile.