The female menstrual cycle is, without a doubt, a roller coaster ride. For some women, it’s only slightly uncomfortable and extremely uncomfortable for others. This is due to the fact everyone’s biochemistry and hormonal profile is different. I am focusing in particular on the menstrual phase, pre-menstrual phase, and luteal phase, and how that impacts exercise and day-to-day life for the female body.
It’s an important topic for women; having the most understanding and structure to help navigate each menstrual cycle phase is vital. And speaking for myself as a male coach, I want to be able to support my clients with the best exercise and nutrition advice for them to select the right option during their cycle.
There is no scientific reason you should skip workouts during your period, and there is evidence to suggest keeping up exercise is beneficial.
Mostly, what you take from this information is how to schedule your workouts and select the correct exercises and workout intensity depending on how your body is feeling. Also, how to nourish your body as your hormones fluctuate throughout the cycle.
It’s also important to point out again that everyone’s biochemistry is different so the timing of each phase can vary as well as the discomfort of the symptoms.
Let’s tackle the facts quickly.
During the luteal phase, which is the phase just prior to the PMS phase in the Luteal phase, Oestrogen levels are low, progesterone levels are high. What does this mean for you?
Oestrogen levels are low as a result energy is low, the effect of that is feeling unmotivated, serotonin our happy hormone is affected due to this.
Progesterone being high, causes unstable blood sugar levels and leads to cravings due to your body’s craving glucose for which your brain signals for high-energy carbohydrates and sugary sweets to help stabilise blood sugar.
High progesterone also slows everything down digestion and even the rate you convert fuel making you feel sluggish and lacking the stamina to complete the intense exercise.
Pre-Menstrual & Menstrual phase
As this phase lasts anywhere from 2-7 days and falls on the back of the luteal phase. The really important thing to be aware of is that your oestrogen and progesterone are both starting to fall until they get their lowest somewhere within 2-7 days.
Just like the luteal phase, the oestrogen is low, and serotonin is low which leaves you feeling anxious & uncomfortable and overall lacking the stamina to execute the intense exercise.
From a food perspective, we all have emotional connections to food which is where the cravings for comfort foods like chocolate or salty foods come in, which triggers our brains’ pleasure centre for a quick hit of dopamine and to momentarily feel better.
I don’t need to explain the downside of eating those foods regularly. So, I will suggest putting some measures in place such as prepping some low-cal sweet treats in prep for this or at least not buying a block of chocolate each day. If you are following some of the recipe ideas from our cycle syncing recipe pack you should find the cravings are much lower.
The Follicular Phase & Ovulation Phase
During the follicular phase, oestrogen is at its highest so engaging in HIIT exercise and switching to a higher intensity style of strength training as your body is in the best position possible to complete and optimise the results from that hard work.
The Ovulation phase falls right on the end of the follicular phase, lasting 3-5 days, and as oestrogen is still high but it will be dipping slightly, but there is no reason not to continue with
high-intensity exercise provided your body is feeling up to it.
Framework for tackling the menstrual cycle
Luteal phase & PMS/Period phase should be a time you can get the fundamentals done.
Nourish your body with whole foods to help aid the inflammation your body experiences.
Avoid cold foods & spice it up with turmeric & ginger which have amazing healing power.
Eat protein with each meal (helps to stabilise blood sugar levels).
Lots of fibre from vegetables, pumpkin, quinoa, beans (legumes) & sweet potato are great anti-inflammation, high in magnesium and vitamin B6 foods as well as cruciferous vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage’s & kale as they contain phytonutrients compounds to help lower inflammation. Healthy fats once a day is also key, flaxseeds being the best source.
Soups are good options as they can easily contain all the ingredients your body is craving.
Exercise selection and scheduling
Moving your body for at least 30 mins in some form of structured exercise is still important to help manage sleep and balance out hormonal function, even a 30 minute walk is great.
Selecting lower intensity strength training using cable loaded machines, light dumbbells, and bodyweight exercises is appropriate. Pilates and yoga are also perfect.
Switching to a 3-day workout schedule is also a great idea:
-Use this time to complete workouts such as cable, dumbbell or bodyweight workouts.
-Focusing on the elements of controlled tempo range of movement, these are fundamentals for resistance training and still a form of progressive overload.
This way you can shift your mindset and still complete your exercise.
You’re not “de-loading”; you’re simply aligning your exercise to your body’s current state. It’s about being in tune with your body as much as anything.
(I also do this regularly based on how I’m feeling.)
Follicular phase/Ovulation phase exercise selection
The follicular phase and ovulation phase overlap, with ovulation taking place at the end of the follicular phase.
For the female hormonal profile, this is when you should feel your best, as oestrogen is at its peak, and your energy has been restored.
From an exercise point of view, this is where you can go for gold, re-introduce higher-intensity workouts, and put the focus on resistance training. We have constructed a cycle syncing online training program that will help take out the guess work for your exercise and workout selection. This program can be done with minimal equipment at home or with gym equipment, coached through our app, you also recieve the cycle syncing recipe pack with this program. You can check it out here or below.
Thanks for reading I hope this gives you some direction and guidance on how to navigate and stay motivated through these times.
Nathan.
- 1/418 Dean Street Albury
- Nathan 0407474737
- Rhys 0402650211
- albury@peakshape.com.au