Evidence library · Quality of life

Does stretching affect quality of life in menopause? What 10 studies found

Studies of stretching in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured quality of life. 10 reported an improvement and 0 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A network meta-analysis of 31 RCTs in peri and postmenopausal women found combined exercise and flexibility exercise were most effective for improving sleep quality, with mind-body and aerobic exercise also helpful.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2025Midlife womenCited 1 timesPubMed

  2. Postmenopausal women with insomnia practiced yoga for 4 months and reported lower insomnia severity and climacteric symptoms and higher quality of life than control or stretching groups.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 44 women · 16 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 124 timesPubMed

  3. Postmenopausal women with low bone mass did weight-bearing exercise, aerobic dancing and flexibility work three times weekly for 12 months, and spinal bone density stabilized versus decline in controls, with improved fitness and wellbeing.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 124 women · 52 weeks · 1996PostmenopausalCited 104 timesPubMed

  4. Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors did 16 weeks of supervised exercise with two different dosing schedules and showed modest improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness compared to a stretching control group.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 174 women · 16 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 53 timesPubMed

  5. A systematic review of 13 RCTs with 1,470 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women found aerobic exercise, yoga, Pilates, resistance training, stretching and relaxation improved sleep quality and psychological wellbeing.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 1,470 participants pooled · 2025Midlife womenCited 2 timesPubMed

  6. Postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures who did a 6-month home exercise program of stretching, strength training and walking reported better quality of life and balance than controls, with no change in bone density.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 26 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 113 timesPubMed

  7. A 12-month supervised program of cardiorespiratory, stretching and strengthening exercise in menopausal women aged 55 to 72 improved quality of life and menopausal symptoms versus a control group that worsened.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 48 women · 52 weeks · 2006Midlife womenCited 32 timesPubMed

  8. Menopausal women aged 45 to 59 practiced Rusie Dutton traditional Thai exercise for 13 weeks and showed significant improvements in fitness, flexibility, blood pressure and quality of life versus controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 50 women · 13 weeks · 2014Midlife womenCited 20 timesPubMed

  9. Postmenopausal women did resistance training with stretching twice weekly for 8 weeks and showed reduced body fat, increased fat-free mass, and improved physical and mental quality of life versus non-exercisers.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 38 women · 8 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 11 timesPubMed

  10. A 6-month adapted exercise program in 44 postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures improved quality of life, fear of falling, balance, gait, and functional exercise capacity compared with controls.

    Reported an improvementControlled trial · 44 women · 26 weeks · 2019PostmenopausalCited 18 timesPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and quality of life