Alright, ladies, if you're like me, your energy levels and motivation for exercise fluctuate constantly. Have you ever wondered why? Or noticed it coincides with each phase of your menstrual cycle? First, know there is nothing wrong with you if you experience a lack of motivation during certain times of the month. In fact, growing evidence supports the idea that adjusting how you move your body based on which phase you're in can be mentally and physically advantageous.
Unfortunately, there are numerous toxic mentalities toward fitness and eating behaviors. The idea that there are "no rest days" or "never miss a Monday" is unrealistic and could be detrimental to your health. On top of over-exercising, there is a common theme of under-eating or cutting out certain foods to meet societal expectations on physical appearance. Again, this mentality is likely causing your body more harm than good. What we eat, our movement, and how we treat our bodies affect our physical appearance and our internal well-being. Instead of pushing our bodies to the limit and ignoring those internal cues to slow down, let's engage in more self-awareness, external, internal, and complete body care.
We can't talk about full-body care without bringing up hormones. Our hormones play a significant role in how we feel during a workout, so why not adjust our movements to support these hormones? Estrogen has been shown to increase the anabolic response to exercise (build-up of muscle or "tone"). So, highlighting our exercise intensity when our estrogen is rising or peaking makes sense for optimal results. Likewise, allowing our bodies to recoup when estrogen is low will set us up for success as the hormone increases again, and we have more energy for those all-out efforts.
We get it now; estrogen benefits our workout intensity and anabolic metabolism. Estrogen naturally increases and decreases throughout the month. However, it can stay low if we are not nourishing our bodies properly. Undereating has been shown to reduce estrogen and, in turn, cause low energy, poor insulin sensitivity, and weight gain. If you want to promote a healthy body- constant undereating is doing far more harm than good.
Before my recommendations, let's be realistic; these are not hard-set rules; if you feel energized and ready to lift all the weights, do it! Listening to your body and staying in tune with what you need is priority one. If you could benefit from a quick guide to cycle-syncing, here are my recommendations:
Menstrual, Days 1-5: This is when you're on your period (bummer, I know). During this phase, both estrogen and progesterone are low.
Follicular, Days 6-14: Estrogen and progesterone are rising, and testosterone remains low. Energy may start to increase during this phase; let's tap into it!
Ovulation, Days 15-17: The peak of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are rising. Energy may be optimal!
Luteal, Days 18-28: Hormone levels are high until we approach the end of this phase (leading into our Menstrual phase). Energy levels might dip as we near the last several days. Listen to your body and what energy you have at the beginning vs. the end of this phase and adjust accordingly.
It is important to remember that regular exercise can have positive outcomes for your body, mind, and menstrual cycle. Being consistent doesn't mean going all-out for every workout. Using your energy levels as an internal sign of what your body needs may benefit your physical and mental results over time. As long as you're moving your body, you are incorporating mindful wellness and promoting your overall best self. Finding movements that you enjoy and can be consistent with will significantly impact your hormones and overall mood. Remember to adjust exercise based on how you feel and what your body needs at that moment- you've got this!
References:
Krupp, Allison. (February 2020). Healthline. Cycle Syncing: Matching Your Health Style to Your Menstrual Cycle. https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/female-hormones-exercise
Ward, Saralyn. (May 2021). Healthline. How (and Why) to Cycle Your Exercise with Your Menstrual Cycle. https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/guide-to-cycle-syncing-how-to-start
Brighton, Jolene. (February 2021). How to exercise with your cycle. Retrieved February 2023 from https://drbrighten.com/how-to-exercise-with-your-cycle/
Ogbolu, N. Baar, K. (January 2019). Frontiers. Effect of Estrogen on Musculoskeletal Performance and Injury Risk. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.01834/full#:~:text=All%20together%2C%20the%20existing%20data,reported%20in%20long%20term%20studies.
Walsh, Karla. (May 2022). Runner's World. How an Eating Disorder Can Affect Hormones—and How to Get Them Back on Track. https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a40051470/eating-disorders-and-your-hormones/
