Halle Berry, 58, shares a no-sweat workout to ease menopause symptoms
'I won't tell the story again—some of you may have heard it,' actress Halle Berry, 58, says with a smile. She's referring to her start of perimenopause, when she was misdiagnosed with herpes (in actuality, she had vaginal atrophy, a.k.a. drying of the vagina).
It's a story she's spoken about at length (including to Women's Health US), in part, because it sparked her desire to rethink "everything" she thought she knew about menopause. In October, she sat down with former WH US Editor-in-Chief Liz Plosser at the HLTH conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, to chat about the relaunch of her wellness platform Respin Health, which will now focus on menopause.
'I thought, "What deserves a respin more than menopause?"' she tells WH.
And what does that respin look like? For starters, the company will offer four features: community, content, commerce, and care, she explains. Women will have the opportunity to support each other through the transition, learn what's happening with their bodies, purchase menopause-related products (including collaborations with intimate care company Joylux and probiotic brand Pendulum), and work with a health coach to determine their treatment plans.
The coaches, who are all midlife women themselves, hold various degrees and credentials—including NBC-HWC, RD, RN, and PhD—depending on their specialties, and 'bring years of experience, advanced education, and credentials in fields like nursing, nutrition, exercise science, functional medicine, and psychology,' per Respin Health.
Health plans will be created 'based on each woman’s health history, symptoms, current habits, and preferences,' according to Respin Health. Those can include everything from recommendations for exercise (such as interval training or walking for 30-60 minutes three times per week, for example), nutrition (which could be anything from following a Mediterranean diet or aiming for 30 grams of protein at every meal), and lifestyle changes (like supplementing with creatine or adding in breathing practices).
Pricing depends on the length of the plan: a 3-month subscription costs $150 (£120) per month, a 6-month subscription is $125 (£100) per month, and a 12-month subscription is $100 (£80) per month.
Although all four segments are critical, Halle is particularly excited about the community aspect. Talking with other women going through 'the change' was helpful during her own experiences dealing with brain fog, a commonly-reported menopause symptom.
'I've flooded my laundry room three times because I have brain fog, and I turn the water on and heat up my dog's food—I leave and I get distracted. I come back when I hear the alarm going off that my laundry room is flooded, and I thought, "I'll never do that again,"' she says. 'Three weeks later, I did it again. A month later, I did it again. Just getting to share my story with another woman and her saying the same thing happened to me—right away, that community made me feel better about myself.'
And that isn't the only time that Halle turned to other women for support. Last summer, she and a group of other 250 women tested out three out of four Respin pillars—community, content, and care—in an eight-week pilot program. Ninety percent of those who participated saw symptom improvement, she shares.
Halle and her smaller group of 12 women even remain in touch, with Halle sending them hula hoops (which they used for exercise) to commemorate their time together.
'We talked about learning how to play again, knowing how to talk to each other, to our spouses. We came each week with honesty and support for each other,' she says. 'It was such a place of camaraderie. We cried together, we laughed together.'
Halle hasn't just focused on Respin, either. She's also advocated for menopause research through Congress: In May, she joined a bipartisan group of senators to push for legislation that would put $275 million (£230 million) toward research and education around menopause, according to the Associated Press. The bill would 'spend more on clinical trials' related to menopause and hormone therapy, the once-maligned treatment.
'This is a human rights issue—this is not a political issue at all,' she says. 'We do need more money spent on half the population of not only our country, but of the world.'
Overall, Halle hopes that menopause awareness and treatments improve so that no one else has to suffer in silence like she did.
'As women, we've been told that it's just what happens when you get older—you just have to white-knuckle it, grin and bear it,' she says. 'Well, no, that's just not good enough.'
Try a Women's Health exclusive workout from Respin Health:
Respin Health encourages 'movement snacks,' a.k.a. exercises that don't require you to change your daily habits—or even your clothes. (Physical activity, regardless of intensity, is associated with lower burden of menopausal symptoms, per a 2021 study.) Check out their suggestions below:
10 squats before you sit: Every time you sit down (whether it’s at your desk, on the couch, or at the table), do 10 squats.
Door frame push-ups: Before leaving a room, knock out a quick set of push-ups against the door frame.
Laundry lunges: Folding clothes? Throw in a few lunges as you move between loads.
Teeth brushing balancing act: Practice standing on one foot while brushing your teeth—switch feet halfway through for balance training. Need an additional challenge? Add hip rotations into the mix.
Kitchen counter calf raises: While waiting for your coffee to brew or water to boil, rise up onto your toes for a set of calf raises.
Chair dips: Sitting on a sturdy chair? Scoot to the edge and do a few tricep dips before getting up.
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