Not just a phase

Is your workout working against your hormones? Debra Atkinson explains why and how to exercise with your hormonal cycle for the best results

Exercise is a pillar of good health. We all know that. But for women, there’s a lack of information about how hormones can mess with your desire and ability to exercise—and what you can do about it.

A recent study found that 86 percent of exercising women experience tiredness, fatigue and/or other menstrual symptoms that boost their chances of skipping exercise or a sporting event.

Only 39 percent of all exercise science and sports medicine research features girls and women. However, we typically go through an average of seven phases of hormone changes. One of them occurs monthly in a 28-day (on average) cycle, and others, like pregnancy and pre-and postnatal changes, may never occur or may happen multiple times.

Without considering the effects of hormones on exercise, there’s no way to support optimal performance or reduce the risk of injury. Hormones can mean you use more fat for fuel at certain times, are more prone to injury at others and are primed for strength gains during certain windows.

Working with your cycle 

During a normal menstrual cycle, estrogen and progesterone take turns driving the process of maturing and releasing an egg and preparing the uterus for possible pregnancy. Estrogen rises in the first half of the cycle, peaks at ovulation, then falls in the second half as progesterone rises. Progesterone is released by the rupturing of the egg follicle during ovulation.

Testosterone, too, is secreted in “surges” around the time of ovulation, perhaps as Mother Nature’s way to increase our interest in sex, and again before menses. If there is no pregnancy, you have a period and the whole cycle begins again.