I’m writing this from a beach in the Netherlands, where I found an outdoor gym in the dunes and couldn’t resist a few pull-ups in my dress. My family rolled their eyes. But it got me thinking about a question I’m asked every single summer: what should I do about training on holiday in menopause? Because staying strong on holiday in menopause doesn’t have to mean packing your gym in your suitcase, or feeling guilty for leaving it behind.
And underneath that question there’s usually a worry, that a week or two off will undo everything, or the opposite, that a “proper” holiday means earning it with punishing workouts. Neither is true. So let me offer a gentler, more useful idea: you’re not trying to train on holiday. You’re trying to keep the thread.
Why a week off won’t undo you
First, the reassurance, because I think a lot of midlife women carry more guilt about this than they need to. A week or two away from structured training does not erase your progress. Muscle you’ve built doesn’t vanish in seven days on a sunlounger. Strength is remarkably durable over short breaks, and rest is not the enemy of progress, it’s part of it. Your body actually adapts and repairs during downtime, not just during the work.
So if your holiday is genuinely a rest, sleep, sun, long meals, no gym that is completely fine. You’ll come back and pick up close to where you left off. Enjoy it without a shred of guilt.
But there’s a reason to keep a thread anyway
Here’s the thing, though. For most of us, the risk isn’t the physical detraining. It’s the psychological gap. Two weeks of nothing can quietly turn into three, then a month, and suddenly starting again feels like a mountain. The habit goes cold, and cold habits are hard to relight.
That’s why I talk about keeping the thread rather than maintaining your training. The thread is thin on purpose. It’s not about results, it’s about staying connected to the identity of someone who moves, so that when you’re home, there’s no dramatic “restart.” You just carry on.
And there’s a lovely bonus in midlife: a little movement genuinely makes the holiday better. It helps you sleep in an unfamiliar bed, steadies blood sugar around all those relaxed meals, and settles the nervous system. Not as punishment, as something that helps you enjoy the good bits more.
What keeping the thread actually looks like
The whole point is that it’s small enough to never feel like a chore. A few ideas, and you genuinely only need one or two:
A daily walk. The most underrated thing you can do, and holidays are full of natural ones, the beach, exploring a town, the walk to dinner. That counts. That’s real.
A five-minute “movement snack.” A handful of sit-to-stands from your chair, some press-ups against the balcony rail, a few squats before your shower. Ninety seconds is enough to keep the thread. I did mine on a beach gym; you can do yours in a hotel room.
Play. Swim in the sea. Cycle to get bread. Carry the youngest on your shoulders. It doesn’t have to look like exercise to count as movement.
One “real” session, if you want it. If a proper workout makes you feel good, and for many of us it does, do one. But make it a want, not a should. That distinction matters more than the workout itself.
Protein at breakfast. Not training, I know, but the single easiest thread to keep. Eggs, yoghurt, whatever’s on the breakfast buffet, anchor your morning with it and you’ve done something meaningful for your muscle and your blood sugar before the day even starts.
The one rule: no all-or-nothing
If there’s a single thing I’d love you to take from this, it’s to catch the all-or-nothing voice, the one that says if you can’t do it properly, there’s no point doing it at all. That voice is what turns a relaxing week into a lost month. On a bad week, or a holiday week, the goal is never zero and never perfection. It’s the thin thread: a walk, a little protein, a few squats. Keep even one strand intact and you never have to “start again”, because you never fully stopped.
Come home softer, not sorry
So take the rest. Have the ice cream, the late nights, the lazy mornings. Rest is part of being strong, not a break from it. Just keep one small thread running through it, a daily walk, protein at breakfast, a cheeky set of squats where nobody’s watching (or, in my case, where everybody’s watching and mildly embarrassed).
You’ll come home relaxed and still connected to your routine. And that, in midlife, is the whole game: not perfect, not punishing, just sustainable, wherever you happen to be.
You’ll come home relaxed and still connected to your routine. And that, in midlife, is the whole game: not perfect, not punishing, just sustainable, wherever you happen to be. If you’d like that same “fits your real life” approach for the long run, it’s exactly what my 6weeks-online-menopause course is built around.
General information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition or any concerns, check with a qualified professional before starting new exercise.