Exercising in Rhythm with Your Menstrual Cycle
It’s completely normal to see ups and downs in motivation and exercise performance across the cycle!
We can use our hormonal changes to our advantage!
Many women aren’t aware that hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle can actually affect physical capabilities. It’s completely normal to see ups and downs in motivation and exercise performance across the cycle!
As women we don’t have to get down on ourselves for these natural fluctuations in our exercise.
It’s not all bad, we can actually use our hormonal changes to our advantage. This means training smart and reaping better rewards by working with our cycles!
So how does the menstrual cycle affect our performance?
The Four Phases
Week 1: The Menstrual Phase
The menstrual phase is the week or so during your actual period, day one is the first day of your period. In this phase insulin sensitivity increases meaning that you can handle carbohydrates well and blood sugars are stable. For this reason energy starts to increase and your body is becoming primed for some high intensity exercise, the type that burns carbohydrates for fuel. Estrogen starts to rise which contributes to improved energy but you might not feel full of beans until a few days into your period. Check in with yourself and your energy levels. You may not quite be ready for long training sessions yet so short, sharp and effective will be the winner in this phase.
We recommend these DediKate workouts during this phase:
Ignite, Power Sessions, BOXlift, BOXhiit, Pilates and Yoga .
Week 2: The Late Follicular Phase
Hormones such as estrogen and testosterone continue to increase and peak by the end of the follicular phase, this means recovery may be enhanced and more rapid (1). Side note, this hormonal change may cause you to be feeling a bit sexy, so it’s a great time to don your fave leggings and get into it! In addition you are still successfully burning those carbohydrates for fuel so pushing the intensity up should feel good right about now. This phase is where you feel the most strong, energetic and robust. Longer more intense sessions and muscle building exercises (2,3) are more effective here. This is your time to shine!
We recommend these DediKate workouts during this phase:
Ignite, Boot Camp Blast, Sculpt, fast runs, long runs.
Want to learn more about your nutrition and exercise for your cycle?
Join DediKate Sync to Your Cycle! This is a 4 week (or thereabouts) plan to help you to adapt your training to your hormones and your menstrual cycle. Our female friendly training schedule teaches you to understand these fluctuations and harness your hormones in a postive way to get the most out of your training! When you work with your body you get even greater results!
Read on to find out about the final 2 phases of your cycle!
Week 3: The Early Luteal Phase
Ovulation (a release of an egg) occurs at the end of the late follicular phase and we then move swiftly into the early luteal phase. There is a rapid drop in estrogen in this phase and progesterone begins to rise therefore energy may begin to taper. Insulin resistance increases, meaning that blood sugar is less stable and your body reverts to burning more fat for fuel. This typically means slowing things down, as fat burn is slower than carbohydrate burn and cannot sustain high intensity exercise. Energy requirements also increase slightly (4), meaning if you don’t fuel correctly your exercise sessions could feel that much harder. It’s probably not the week to hit any personal bests but you may be able to comfortably maintain your regular exercise regime. Listening to your body and move with your personal energy levels is best here.
We recommend these DediKate workouts during this phase:
Power Sessions, Sculpt, BOXlift, Resist-Ded, Core Connect and Pilates.
Week 4: The Late Luteal Phase
This is the week before your period which for a lot of women just is not their fave! Hormonal shifts and that unstable blood sugar really comes into its own here and can increase cravings and hugely disrupt mood. If you have low energy and a low mood it’s important to know that exercise can still be beneficial to your wellbeing right now but you certainly do not have to push it! This is a great time for a rest and relaxation week, think of it as conserving energy for when your body is more primed to push it again. Gentle or long and slow exercise can help with mood and physical discomfort at this time.
We recommend these DediKate workouts during this phase:
Pilates, Yoga, Core Connect, Meditation, walks, jogs.
Join DediKate today!
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