Your menstrual cycle can definitely affect how you feel. From the lows of PMS to the energy boost of ovulation, it’s often easy to match your mood to your cycle phase. But how does this affect your fitness, and should your workouts align with your cycle?
From exercising during your period to follicular phase workouts, find out everything you need to know in this guide.
How Does Your Menstrual Cycle Affect Exercise?
Your menstrual cycle causes hormonal changes in your body. Each fluctuation can have a significant effect on not only how well your workouts go, but also how your body responds to them.
To break it down, let’s look at each hormone individually.
Oestrogen
Oestrogen levels increase twice during your menstrual cycle. The first is around your mid-follicular phase, and it continues building up until you reach ovulation. There’ll then be a drop, before the second rise during the luteal phase.
For a lot of women, rising oestrogen levels are accompanied by a significant boost in energy. They can make you feel more motivated, confident, and happier. The drop does the opposite, leading to PMS symptoms like brain fog, irritability, and sadness.
How Oestrogen Affects Your Workouts
Rising oestrogen levels can make finding motivation to exercise a whole lot easier. You feel energised and ready to go, and might even find your workouts last longer during these cycle phases.
This happy hormone is also responsible for muscle glycogen storage, otherwise known as the sugar stored in your body. As oestrogen rises, your body’s able to store more glycogen, which is good news for stamina.
When oestrogen drops, though, it can have you feeling more lethargic, and workouts become tougher.
Progesterone
Progesterone sees its peak in the second half of your menstrual cycle, after ovulation. It then steadily drops in the days before your period, and remains relatively low until you reach ovulation again.
Rising progesterone levels can help to level your mood, making you feel focused and stable. When levels drop (which occurs alongside a decline in oestrogen), you experience PMS.
How Progesterone Affects Your Workouts
While that rise in progesterone can make you feel good, high levels aren’t great for workouts. This is because progesterone:
- Breaks down muscle tissue, making it harder to recover after exercise.
- Increases your body temperature, causing greater fatigue during workouts.
- Makes it harder for your body to effectively burn fat.
- Limits the availability of glycogen, leading to fatigue.
You might also sleep worse during this part of your cycle, which isn’t good news for either workout performance or muscle recovery.
Testosterone
Testosterone is another hormone that rises and falls during the menstrual cycle, though typically not as dramatically as other hormones. You’ll find it’s lowest during the early follicular phase, increases during ovulation, and falls in the luteal phase.
Higher levels of testosterone are correlated with confidence and energy. The crash, as with the other hormones we’ve highlighted, is linked to irritability, low mood, and fatigue.
How Testosterone Affects Your Workouts
While it’s not a huge increase, that mid-ovulation boost in testosterone definitely affects workouts. It has an overall positive effect on physical performance, especially as it:
- Improves muscle function so that you can move and exercise at your very best.
- Activates nerve cells, which helps your muscles contract during workouts.
- Boosts your motor system function so that you adapt better to exercise.
Testosterone is also renowned for speeding up muscle recovery, allowing you to exercise harder and more frequently.
How Do Periods Affect Exercise?
During your period, oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are all at their lowest levels. As a result, you may feel more tired and less motivated, making it harder to maintain your usual workout intensity.
It’s also normal for cramps and bleeding to make exercise feel a little uncomfortable, so it’s perfectly alright to take things a little slower.
That being said, periods shouldn’t stop you from working out. If yours is so heavy or painful that it’s preventing you from exercising at all, it’s worth seeing a gynaecologist. They can assess whether an underlying condition, such as endometriosis, fibroids, or PCOS, may be contributing to your symptoms.
How to Adapt Exercise to Menstrual Cycles
Whether you’re developing your own workout plan or training someone else, syncing exercise to the menstrual cycle is a smart move. Here’s a general look at what you want to focus on:
- The follicular phase is an excellent time for exercise, where oestrogen levels are increasing, and progesterone remains low.
- Levels of testosterone and oestrogen are highest just before and during ovulation, making it a peak time for workouts.
- The luteal phase sees progesterone rise while oestrogen and testosterone tend to drop off, making this the trickiest time for exercising.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at a suitable exercise plan:
Exercising During the Follicular Phase
It’s post-period, and energy levels start to rise. Take advantage by opting for high-intensity activities that push your stamina, like cardio and HIIT. While you might not be ready for endurance activities just yet, you can certainly push your body to get the most from your high energy.
Exercising During Ovulation
As the sweet spot for workouts, mid-ovulation is the time to hit the ground running. You can follow the same cardio and HIIT as you would during the follicular phase, but take it up a notch with longer distances and workout lengths. Higher levels of testosterone will make recovery easier, so keep going!
This is a brilliant time for strength training, too. You might find that you can lift heavier weights and perform better, with endurance at its peak.
Exercising During the Luteal Phase
As PMS comes into effect, luteal phase exercises should be a little slower and gentler. Focus on low-intensity workouts that are kind to your muscles, like Pilates, yoga, and swimming. Switch up strength training for low-impact activities, and don’t force your body to endure more than it wants to.
Exercising On Your Period
While it’s fine to exercise on your period, listen to your body and go slow when it wants to. Don’t expect peak performance, and don’t push yourself beyond your limits.
Stick to a similar routine as recommended for the luteal phase, focusing on Pilates, yoga, and light cardio.
Rather than going all in for your workouts, take this time to fuel your body. Eat plenty of healthy carbs (like wholemeal pasta and brown rice) and increase your protein and iron intake. Once your period stops and your follicular phase starts, you’ll be ready to get back to it at full strength.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re focusing on gentle fitness or training for a marathon, syncing workouts with menstrual cycles is definitely good practice. Not only can it help you (or your clients) get the most out of each session, but it’s also a great way to prevent injuries and support muscle recovery.
The final takeaway? Keep tabs on your cycle and your workouts will thank you for it.
For more fitness advice, check out the latest on The Fitness Drum blog.