Is Resistance Bands Training Good for Brain Fog During Perimenopause?
Brain fog during perimenopause affects focus, memory, and clarity. Discover how resistance band training can support cognitive function and mental sharpness.
Brain Fog and Perimenopause: Why Thinking Feels Harder
Forgetting words mid-sentence, losing your train of thought, struggling to concentrate on tasks that used to feel easy. Brain fog is a common and genuinely frustrating symptom of perimenopause. Estrogen plays an important role in supporting the brain's energy metabolism and the production of neurotransmitters. As levels fluctuate, cognitive clarity can take a hit. While this is temporary for most women, it can affect confidence and daily functioning. The encouraging news is that regular physical exercise, including resistance training with bands, has a meaningful and well-researched positive effect on brain health.
How Resistance Training Supports the Brain
Strength training stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, often described as fertiliser for brain cells. This protein promotes the growth of new neurons and the strengthening of connections between them, particularly in the hippocampus, the region most involved in memory and learning. Studies have found that women who do regular resistance training show measurable improvements in working memory, processing speed, and executive function. These are exactly the cognitive capacities most affected by perimenopause-related brain fog.
Why Bands Are Ideal for Cognitive Benefits
Resistance band exercises require coordination, balance, and conscious engagement with movement patterns. Unlike running on autopilot on a treadmill, banded exercises demand that you think: about your form, your tempo, your breathing. This mental engagement is part of what makes them particularly useful for brain health. The combination of physical effort and cognitive demand appears to have a stronger effect on neural plasticity than passive or purely repetitive exercise. You are training your body and, in a real sense, your brain at the same time.
A Cognitively Engaging Band Workout
To maximise brain benefits, include exercises that require balance or bilateral coordination. Single-leg banded deadlifts, alternating banded rows, and standing banded rotations all challenge your nervous system in ways that simple bilateral movements do not. Learn new movement patterns regularly, as novelty appears to amplify the brain-boosting effects of exercise. Keep sessions to 30 to 40 minutes, three to four times a week. Adequate rest between sessions is also important, as sleep is when the brain consolidates what it has learned.
Supporting Brain Clarity Beyond the Gym
Exercise is a powerful tool but works best alongside other brain-health habits. Prioritising sleep is perhaps the single most important thing you can do for cognitive function during perimenopause. Reducing alcohol, staying hydrated, and eating enough protein also support mental clarity. If brain fog is severe or accompanied by significant memory problems, see your GP to rule out other causes such as thyroid issues or sleep apnoea, which are also common during this life stage.
Logging Workouts to Spot Cognitive Patterns
It can be hard to notice gradual improvements in cognitive function without some form of record. Using PeriPlan to log your workouts alongside symptoms like brain fog allows you to track whether consistent training is making a difference over weeks and months. Many women find that even after two to three weeks of regular band training, their mental clarity on workout days is noticeably better. That kind of evidence, drawn from your own life, can be a powerful motivation to keep showing up.
Related reading
Get your personalized daily plan
Track symptoms, match workouts to your day type, and build a routine that adapts with you through every phase of perimenopause.