Essentially you are working to support your cycle. Your cycle meaning the 28 day or so period we are supposed to rotate through. (here’s your biology talk) It is made up of four phases; Follicular, Ovulatory, Luteal and Menstrual. Each phase consists of a few days where our sex hormones should fall and rise (hormones meaning estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone mainly among others). The first half is composed of the follicular and ovulatory cycles which are aimed more at increasing estrogen and testosterone to help prepare for ovulation when they are at their peak and to make us ladies fertile. The second half consists of the luteal and menstrual phases where progesterone starts to rise and the other two start to drop before menstruation where the lining sheds if no egg is fertilized. With our hormones fluctuating our bodies are going to need different nutrients and things to support them at different times. We should also have highs and lows of energy at different times depending on this. For example it is better to rest during the last part of your cycle (Menstrual) vs. the beginning when you have more energy (Follicular phase).
But what if you are irregular, have been diagnosed with any sort of disease like PCOS, amenorrhea or endometriosis to name a few. That is even more of a reason to try this method. By supporting your cycle when these hormones should rise and fall with foods, the right workouts and movement and self care we can optimize getting these things regulated. We want to get regular, we want to reduce PMS symptoms, by doing so we will increase our ability to optimize our metabolism function among other things.
When our hormones are regulated and working efficiently we are able to absorb the right nutrients, burn more fat, and feel better with less stress on our bodies. We know that less stress leads to less inflammation like I have talked about many times before. If we can get our workouts to aide us in this by timing them correctly within our cycle (or when we should be at x part of our cycle) then we should be able to recover better and get more out of them when timing is right. Here is the low down on that- each phase should rotate between different focuses/energy output for the most part to help alleviate excess stress on us at the wrong times or when we are lacking certain nutrients to recover. Follicular Phase : During this beginning part of your cycle estrogen and testosterone should be on the rise so should you have more energy, meaning you can do more HIIT and intense heavy lifting. This is a time to work harder and push yourself more because you will be able to recover better. Ovulatory Phase : This is when everything is at its peak so you can really work harder here. Luteal Phase: The first half of this cycle (it is longer almost 10 days) can be harder workouts but when hormones start to drop towards the end that is when you want to start doing more yoga, active recovery like long walks, stretching, non intense cardio to preserve your energy. Menstrual Phase – There is a reason sometimes you are fatigued during this part of your cycle.. You have lower levels of everything as your lining may shed (bleed) and if you push yourself too hard then in turn you will feel even worse during this time. Really try to use this time to lay lower doing low intensity stuff and really resting your body. When you preserve your body during this time it will allow you to have even more energy next phase (follicular) where you can go harder again. Try things like stretching, infrared sauna, gentle yoga, easy walks, massage etc. So how can you start implementing this? Easy if you are regular, just pay attention to where you are in it and start adding in these types of workouts accordingly. But what if you don’t know?? If you are like me and are irregular or have been or on birth control and have recently stopped and have no cycle then go with the moon…. yup I said moon… no this is not crazy stuff there is research behind it oddly enough. You can sync with the moon phases (follicular – first quarter , ovulation – full moon, luteal- third quarter , menstrual – new moon) and do week to week and follow those guidelines. I am working with this as a guide, and I am going to be sharing my experiences so stay tuned! Next up will be how foods affect your cycle and what can help 🙂 So if you are going to try this lets aim to have patience, start slow and work on adding in things versus restricting. Keep stress low!
Throughout our 28 days our hormones (we have many more but in regards to this I am referring to estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) go up and down and if you are like me and have taken synthetic birth control for years, or taken different medications, been exposed to hormone disrupting toxins (like plastics and some things in the air for example), you may be all over the place. You may have also been diagnosed with PCOS, irregular periods, or estrogen dominance. Any of those things can potentially also lead to issues with metabolism, thyroid, gut, and other autoimmune conditions.
Estrogen dominance: is something that is more apparent for ever in our culture, there are multiple reasons why but one big one is our liver not metabolizing estrogen properly. When we are not eliminating the right amounts of estrogen (the liver metabolizes it in three different ways (one good, and two bad) it can lead to dominance which can turn to insulin resistance, higher inflammation and gut issues among other things. This right there can prove to mess with metabolism.
We also have a major connection with estrogen and our gut. A major regulator of estrogen is within the gut and by a certain type of bacteria. If we have any sort of dysfunction (like leaky gut) that has developed this can cause that bacteria to not regulate estrogen as it should which in turn can lead to dominance…. Again this can lead to numerous factors stemming from obesity, infertility, and pcos among other things.
With hormones unbalanced, it just leads us down a bigger spiral of imbalances causing the wrong things to be released or not released at the right times. This means more stress on the body, which we all know leads to more inflammation.
If we can add things to help support our optimal hormone production and treat our bodies in a way at the right times of the month when these hormones should be at certain levels we can feel better, do more and help reduce some symptoms and possible reverse some diseases.
It starts by paying attention to your cycle. If you do not know when or where you are, or if you are on birth control it is a good idea to get a feel for your hormone levels by getting tested. Over the next few weeks I will be diving into how these things can be helped via workout scheduling, foods, supplements and self care. Different parts of the month if you will need different things to help you feel your best and start to regulate hormones to correct metabolism and other imbalances and health issues.
I am doing this myself as I personally have been affected with irregular cycles for YEARS and want it regulated. So far so good. And have no fear I will do a full recap of all of my success and fails after month 1!
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