Feeling stiffer as you head into menopause?
- EK Wills
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
By the MotherMind Doctor
When we talk about staying healthy as we age — particularly through and after menopause — the conversation almost always circles back to the same two things: muscle strength and bone density.
Protein intake, resistance training, calcium, vitamin D.
But there is a critical piece of connective tissue that rarely gets mentioned, even though it is quite literally what holds you together: your tendons and ligaments.
As someone who has recently developed what appears to be ‘trigger finger’ — an annoying clicking and catching sensation in the top joint of my right index finger — I came across this very interesting information. What I discovered has genuine implications for how I approach my training.
Why Tendons and Ligaments Get Left Out
Your tendons connect muscle to bone, and your ligaments connect bone to bone.
They are involved in every single movement you make. Exercise science has traditionally focused on optimising muscles and cardiovascular fitness — rarely asking whether the same training approach is good for the connective tissue too.As it turns out, the answer is often no.
How Ageing Changes Things — Especially After Menopause
As we get older, collagen synthesis slows down. You see it in skin, hair, and everywhere else collagen plays a structural role.
In tendons, this means the fibres become less neatly organised and the tissue loses some of its elasticity over time.For women, the decline in oestrogen during menopause adds another layer.
Oestrogen plays a real role in maintaining tendon strength and repair capacity, so as levels drop, tendons become more vulnerable to injury and slower to recover.Many women notice, when they start strength training, that tendons can feel tighter as they get stronger.
This is actually a normal adaptation — resistance training causes collagen fibres to pack more tightly, which improves force transfer from muscle to bone.
But if training load increases faster than the tendon can adapt, or if there are already weaker areas within the tissue, problems can develop.
To Rest or Move?
When tendons become chronically overloaded, they develop areas where the collagen is no longer well-aligned — a mix of stronger and weaker regions within the same structure.
The stronger parts take the load; the weaker parts are bypassed entirely.This is why simply resting rarely resolves a chronic tendon problem.
Rest reduces load across the whole tendon, meaning the weaker areas never receive the stimulus they need to remodel and repair. You need something more targeted.
Have you heard about Isometric Training?
Isometric exercise — holding a position without movement — turns out to be a remarkably effective tool for tendon health.
The key is what happens when you hold long enough: the strongest parts of the muscle-tendon complex fatigue, (and the muscle begins to shake) then the weaker areas are finally forced to engage and bear the load. Only then does the repair stimulus reach the tissue that actually needs it.The load does not need to be heavy — it needs to be held.
Research suggests aiming for around 10-second holds with heavier loads, or 30-second holds with lighter resistance, roughly three times per week.
Pain levels should stay very low throughout — if something hurts, ease back on the load.
Possible Isometric Exercises as ‘Stress Relaxation’
The Medscape article referenced, mentions these exercises as a form of stress relaxation:
Lower body:- Isometric lunge
Lower into a lunge and hold at the bottom position, then rise- Isometric squat
Squat until thighs are parallel to the floor and hold, then riseUpper body:- Modified push-up hold
Using a wall, chair, or floor, lower into a push-up position and hold at the bottom, then push back up
- Finger hangs (particularly useful for grip and forearm tendons)
Using a bar or ledge, hang with bent or straight arms for timed holds; vary between lighter loads with longer holds and heavier loads with shorter holds
Are you Feeding your Tendons?
Most people focus on protein for muscle repair — but tendon collagen is built from different amino acids than muscle protein. Whey protein, for example, is great for muscles but relatively light on the building blocks tendons need.
Good dietary sources for tendon health include chicken and turkey skin, seafood, and legumes. Vitamin C, copper, and zinc also play a supporting role.
Evidence, as stated in the Medscape article, does not yet support collagen supplements for connective tissue but also outlines there is minimal risk to taking them ie. they are generally safe and well-tolerated, but supplements are loosely regulated so quality can vary.
Moving Forward
Staying active is the most important thing you can do for your connective tissue. But for women navigating perimenopause and beyond, declining oestrogen creates a real biological shift in how tendons behave and recover — one that deserves the same attention we give to muscle and bone.
I'll be adding a few minutes of targeted isometric holds, three times a week, as something I can do to support ageing tendons.
The tissue that holds everything together is worth looking after.
This post is for general informational purposes. For personalised assessment and management — including trigger finger and tendinopathy — please consult your treating healthcare provider.
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