The idea of “go hard or go home” in the gym is dead and gone.
If you are spending the entire month busting it in the gym, feeling out of sync with your energy, and not losing the weight you want, then tune in. These are soul-destroying actions that will truly impact your overall health.
Doing the same routines week in & week out doesn’t work for women! Depending on your cycle phase, your needs will change. So if you are pushing your body to the max throughout your entire “28-day” cycle, you could be damaging your hormones, impacting your mood, and more!
In 2017, the British Journal of Sports Medicine published a review of more than 1400 sports & exercise-related studies from 2011-2013, confirming that women were underrepresented in the research. Only 39% of the more than 6 million participants involved in those studies were women. Those women who participated were mainly in the follicular phase, when hormone levels favour fat loss.
If you want to get in sync with your menstrual cycle and live a phase life, let’s break this down into the first half and second half of your cycle.
First Half (Follicular and Ovulatory)
In the first half of your cycle, you burn fat more efficiently & gain lean muscle. You often see better endurance during this phase as well. A bonus of the follicular phase is that higher testosterone levels help you build muscle more efficiently. This is your invitation to crank up the intensity, increase the weights to build strength, dance like no one’s watching, and run & do your cardio. Your hormones & energy levels are way up!
Second Half (Luteal and Menstrual)
During the second half of your cycle, your metabolism speeds up, and you naturally burn more calories. However, it’s time to skip intense cardio and focus on resistance training, flexibility, and recovery. Intense workouts go against our metabolism by releasing cortisol, the stress hormone. This will lead to fat storage and muscle wasting.
Your energy gets zapped because oestrogen, testosterone & your blood sugar dip, causing you to sweat more. It can make you feel more challenged than the week before, and your body stores fat because it thinks it’s under attack.
Consider adding seed cycling to your cycle as well. This simple practice helps balance hormones, reduce PMS symptoms, boost fertility, and stimulate menstruation. During your Follicular and Ovulatory phases, incorporate flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds into your diet. Once you enter your Luteal phase, continue taking flaxseeds and add sesame and sunflower seeds. At the end of your cycle during the Menstrual phase, go back to flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds.
It’s important to remember that less really can be more. Since adopting this approach five years ago, I haven’t had the excess weight I used to.
Gone are the days of using your period as an excuse not to move your body. Your body truly needs to move every day, but it doesn’t need or want the same intensity or impact.
Check out what foods support you throughout each phase of your menstrual cycle.