As a woman in sports and fitness, ever feel like you’re a slave to your hormones? Crying one minute, ecstatic the next, well we have our menstrual cycle to point fingers to.
While we should recognise that every woman is different when it comes to her period, we can use science to better guide our training choices. Let’s take a closer look at how we can work with our bodies instead of against them in the gym.
For starters, let’s understand some period cycle basics. A woman’s menstrual cycle has four different phases, which are menstrual, follicular, luteal, and premenstrual phase.
1. Menstrual Phase
From the first day of your period, consider it as day one of your cycle.
At this phase, your body adapts well, so it’s a good time to build muscle and strength. You may choose to gradually increase the intensity and repetition. However, during this phase, there is some evidence that your neuromuscular control may be lower, so include muscle activation exercises in your warm up.
Worried about cramps? Well, exercise reduces symptoms, as well as releasing feel-good endorphins.
Image via : Verywell Fit
2. Follicular Phase
The follicular phase begins after your period ends. Oestrogen levels start to increase in preparation for releasing an egg, also known as ovulation.
You can continue to focus on intense sessions and strengthening training. At this phase, you will find your energy increase, so take full advantage to max out your efforts, but be sure to get enough sleep to help you adapt to the heavier training load.
3. Luteal Phase
The luteal phase is called the ‘high hormone phase’, as there is lots of progesterone and oestrogen circulation around your body.
You will be able to see your endurance peaking at this phase, so try to focus on moderate-intensity endurance training. For instance, long runs, sprint training or HIIT workout.
Image via : Inside Tracker Blog
4. Premenstrual phase
This phase happens just before your period starts all over again.
At this phase, you may experience symptoms of premenstrual tension(PMT), all types of training are actually beneficial not only for your health and fitness, but also to reduce symptoms.
You can try activities such as yoga, pilates, or any vigorous exercise which can help ease the stress and pain from PMT symptoms.
For our ladies out there, to fully optimise training with your cycle, start by tracking your cycle. By doing so can help you understand when your body enters each phase, record any resulting symptoms and how to adjust accordingly.
Bottom line, as female athletes, by taking a closer look at how our bodies change throughout our cycle can be helpful. When we understand what’s going on inside our body we can set ourselves up for success in reaching our health and fitness goals.
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