“Exercise and your menstrual cycle”
Did you know that your workouts can feel better or worse depending on where you are at in your cycle?
This is because as women our hormones are constantly fluctuating. Here’s a look at the different phases of your cycle and what to think about when it comes to your choice of exercise.
1. Your period – Your period marks day 1 of your cycle which on average should be around 28 days. During your period you may lack energy and feel a bit flat. We always say be kind to yourself during this time when it comes to your exercise. Our choice of workout is yoga, walking and stretching especially on the first few days then low impact training as your head out of your period if you feel up to it. Give yourself permission to pause the hard workouts during this time.
2. The Follicular phase – During this phase hormones estrogen and testosterone rise bringing an increase in energy – yay! Your muscles will also recover faster, pain tolerance will be higher and motivation higher too. During this time hit the harder workouts and push it.
3. Ovulation – The main event in your cycle where we are at our most fertile! This is when estrogen and testosterone peak as will our sex drive 😉 during ovulation keep up with those harder workouts and use it to your advantage!
4. The Luteal phase – Hormones estrogen and testosterone decrease and progesterone increase. It’s during this phase of your cycle that workouts may feel harder, motivation may lack and you’ll also be more likely to injury yourself – make sure those warm ups and cool down are on point!
This is why we have ALWAYS been big on restorative exercise – sometimes we gotta lay off the HIIT. We also need to recognise that we women are not small men and our training needs to look different to men. We have a LOT going on. Men do not change, they do not have a cycle to think about and incorporate into their training.
Start paying a little attention to your cycle and use each phase to your advantage. Notice when you feel at your best when you can push that extra rep or add a little extra weight equally notice when you’re not feeling as so great, be kind to yourself and your body with your movement choices!
Ren & Jen x
