Strength Training for Depression: A Perimenopause Guide

A heaviness that is different from ordinary sadness

You feel flat. Things that used to interest you feel distant. Getting through the day takes more effort than it should. You might not call it depression, but something has changed, and you cannot quite explain it to the people around you.

Low mood and depression during perimenopause are more common than most people realize. Estrogen plays a direct role in regulating serotonin, dopamine, and other mood-related neurotransmitters. As estrogen fluctuates and eventually declines, those systems are affected. This is a physiological reality, not a personality flaw or a sign that something is wrong with how you are coping.

Why strength training may help with depression

Exercise is one of the most consistently supported non-pharmacological approaches for depression, and strength training in particular has earned strong evidence in recent years. A 2018 meta-analysis found that resistance exercise training significantly reduced depressive symptoms across a range of populations.

The mechanisms are multiple. Strength training increases levels of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein that supports the growth and maintenance of neurons involved in mood regulation. It also raises serotonin and dopamine availability, lowers cortisol over time, and generates a sense of accomplishment that counters the anhedonia (loss of pleasure) that is central to depression.

For perimenopausal women specifically, strength training has the added benefit of building muscle mass that is otherwise lost during this transition, which itself contributes to improved energy, metabolic health, and physical confidence.

Starting when motivation is low

Depression and motivation are at direct odds. When you are low, the idea of starting a new exercise practice can feel enormous. The key is to make the entry point as small as possible.

Two sessions of 20 minutes per week is enough to begin. You do not need a gym. Bodyweight exercises at home, a pair of light dumbbells, or resistance bands are sufficient to start building strength. Your goal in the first two weeks is simply to establish the habit, not to reach any performance threshold.

If you can get yourself through the door, or onto the mat, the session usually becomes possible. The hardest part is consistently the beginning.

How to structure your sessions

Begin with a five-minute warm-up of gentle movement: arm swings, hip circles, and a slow walk in place. This signals to your nervous system that something is about to happen and prepares your body for effort.

Focus on compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups: squats, deadlifts with light weights, push-ups or modified push-ups, and rows using a band or dumbbell. These movements generate the greatest hormonal and neurochemical response per unit of effort. Do two to three sets of eight to twelve repetitions of each exercise.

End with two to three minutes of slow breathing or gentle stretching. This closure helps consolidate the mood benefit of the session and creates a clear signal that the session is complete. Many women find the post-session period is when they notice the clearest lift in mood.

Modifications for low days

Depression makes some days harder than others. On those days, your session should be shorter and less demanding, but it should still happen if you can manage it. Even ten minutes of movement has measurable effects on mood.

Choose the exercises that feel most familiar and least effortful. Remove the performance pressure entirely. You are not training for a goal on that day. You are maintaining a connection to your body and to the neurochemistry that movement produces. That is enough.

If you cannot do a structured session, a ten-minute walk counts. Moving your body in any deliberate way is meaningful. Give yourself full credit for doing what was possible on a hard day.

What to realistically expect over time

Many people notice a mood benefit in the hours directly after a strength training session, even in the early weeks. This is the acute effect of endorphin and dopamine release. It does not last all day at first, but it gives you a window of feeling more like yourself.

The cumulative effect, the baseline shift in mood, tends to become more evident after four to eight weeks of consistent training. The flat feeling may begin to lift slightly. Energy may improve. Sleep often improves alongside mood, which itself has a significant effect on how you feel.

Strength training is not a replacement for professional mental health support when depression is significant. But it is one of the most accessible and evidence-supported tools you can add to a broader plan.

Track your workouts and mood to see the connection

When you are depressed, it is genuinely hard to notice improvement. The nature of low mood is that it flattens your perception of change. Logging your sessions and your mood over time creates an external record that can show you progress you might not feel yet.

PeriPlan lets you log workouts and track how you feel over time. Seeing several weeks of data together can reveal whether your training days correspond with slightly better days, which is motivating and also useful information for a healthcare provider or therapist.

That data can also help you advocate for yourself if you need additional support, because it shows what you are already doing and how it is or is not helping.

When to talk to your doctor

Your body has tools for this. You are learning to use them.

Perimenopause depression is real, and it is not a permanent state. It is a response to significant hormonal change, and it can shift as you build new habits, seek appropriate support, and give your body what it needs.

Strength training is one of the most powerful mood tools that does not come in a bottle. It is hard to start when you are low, but it gets easier, and the benefits compound over time. Show up for your sessions, even the small ones. Your brain will respond.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.