Training for the Female Cycle

If you’ve been keeping up with my other episodes, it’s not a secret that I’ve been working out consistently for a year. So, when I stumbled upon a podcast on Whoop on female cycles and training for it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was the first time hearing about this topic, and I was curious to see if the quality and results derived from workouts were indeed affected by the menstrual cycle. I always try my best at every workout, so it was interesting to me that my “best” could be cyclical.

As I dove deeper into the topic, these benefits stood out to me:?

1. Positive impact on health

Taking advantage of the hormonal shifts in your body in various aspects like food, exercise and skin care can help to optimise your health in the long run . Studies show that shifts in hormones can impact moods , fatigue levels and caloric expenditure . Therefore, understanding their impact on you and tweaking your lifestyle accordingly can help you improve how you look, feel and perform long-term.

2. Balances hormones naturally

Hormone imbalances that affect the menstrual cycle are common in this day and age. They usually stem from the modern day demands of stress, nutrient deficiency, not getting enough vitamin D, lack of exercise and lack of sleep . Conversely, optimising those aspects of your life, which includes incorporating and tailoring exercise according to the menstrual cycle, can improve sleep quality, regulate the menstrual cycle, improve skin health, regulate weight gain and boost mental health .?

3. Reduces injuries

Hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle alter values such as laxity, strength, body temperature, and neuromuscular control. As such, this causes women to constantly adapt to hormonal variations, and exposes them to higher risk of injury especially during ovulation . Thus, it is important to scale your workouts according to your menstrual cycle in order to reduce injuries.

Personally, I have experienced the impact of fluctuations in my workouts across the menstrual phase. Take a look at my squat weights across the different menstrual phases:

Follicular Phase:?

• Average squat weight about 61.22kg, with a standard deviation of 4.83kg.
• The Follicular Phase I tended to have higher median weights and slightly more variability.

Luteal Phase:?

• Average squat weight about 59.59kg, with a standard deviation of 4.93kg.
• During the Luteal Phase it showed me doing a broad range of squat weights, indicating considerable variability.

Menstrual Phase:?

• Average squat weight about 58.10kg, with a standard deviation of 6.09kg.
• The Menstrual Phase has weights generally centered around a lower median compared to the follicular phase.

Ovulatory Phase:?

• Average squat weight about 56.55kg, with a standard deviation of 5.97kg.
• Ovulatory Phase shows lower median weights and less variability.

Late Luteal Phase:?

• One data point at 57.50kg
• Late Luteal Phase has only one data point, making it difficult to compare statistically.

Another example would be my average run effort across menstrual phases:

Follicular Phase:

• 17 runs?
• Average Max Speed: 14.32km/hr
• Average Incline: 1.65%
• Shows a higher average effort compared to the Luteal phase. This suggests that I might be able to run faster and handle steeper inclines more effectively during the Follicular phase.

Luteal Phase:

• 10 runs?
• Average Max Speed: 14.32km/hr
• Average Incline: 1.65%
• Exhibits a lower average effort, which could be linked to the physiological and hormonal changes during this phase that might affect my energy levels and overall performance.

These data support the notion that menstrual phases can affect the effort exerted across different types of workouts, wherein the Follicular and Luteal Phases show higher energy levels and the Menstruation and Ovulation Phases require more effort.

Here are some workout recommendations that I’ve gathered at each phase of the menstrual cycle that can help to optimize your training:

1. Menstruation phase (days 1-5)

What is happening here:?

Hormones may impact motivation but exercise can alleviate pain/symptoms

Recommendation:?

Stick to low intensity exercises like walking, biking, yoga

2. Follicular phase (days 6-14)

What is happening here:?

Higher hormones, higher energy

Recommendation:?

Try higher intensity workouts like HIIT, cardio

3. Ovulation phase (day 14)

What is happening here:?

Energy levels remain high, but can feel different from person to person

Recommendation: Keep intensity up with cardio and strength training

4. Luteal phase (day 15-28)

What is happening here:?

Higher progesterone levels; body less effective at providing energy; workouts may feel harder

Recommendation:?

Incorporate more rest days

As with all types of training, nutrition works hand in hand in deriving optimal results. Check out this article written by TurtleTree on Sports Nutrition Needs for Female Athletes .

In conclusion, it’s always better to train smart rather than solely training hard. Knowing your body and what it requires can not only improve your performance, but optimizes other aspects of your life in the long run – from reducing injuries, to regulating your hormone levels. This wraps up season one of #CrushingtheCadence, where I hope you took away valuable insights on various aspects of health and longevity based on my personal experiences and research.?

If you haven’t read them all, here is a list of all the topics I’ve covered:

1. Introduction
2. Weight Training & Bone Density
3. Lean Mass & Supplementation
4. VO? Max
5. Sugar
6. Iron
7. Over Supplementation?

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