Part 1. Harnessing the Power of Your Menstrual Cycle

There is a huge shake up happening in health and fitness research at the moment. Female data is actually being included in sports science research. For a long time when it came to sports science women were an anomaly and as such researchers excluded women from their data. Essentially, women for years have been trained like small men because the menstrual cycle is complicated and when it comes to sports and nutrition, it's unresearched. The tide is turning on this and some amazing research is coming out.

Knowledge is power and knowing how we can harness our menstrual cycle to enhance our training is one very good way to unleash some POWER!!!!! Tell your daughter, tell your friends, tell every female you meet that women are not small men and that we can work with our physiology to perform better, feel better, get better results.

The different phases of your cycle and how to use exercise and nutrition to support them

It is important to note that if you are taking an oral contraceptive it masks your cycle. Your natural hormones are flatlined so you will not experience your cycle as it is laid out below.

The average cycle is 28 days long (it can range from 21-35) and is broken down into two 14 day phases. Day 1-14 the Follicular Phase and Day 15-28 the Luteal Phase.

In this email series we are going to demystify the phases beginning with the Follicular Phase in this blog. This is a low hormone phase.

Menstruation

Days 1-5

Fatigue, bloating and some cramping are very common in this part of the follicular phase. Our oestrogen and progesterone are at their lowest to stimulate the shedding of our uterine lining. Some GI issues are common in this phase too (thanks to prostaglandins which cause uterine contractions) along with some reduced immunity due to lower white blood cells. So ensure you do ‘listen to your body’, get some proper sleep and fuel your body to stay well and healthy. Nutrition wise we need to have a heightened ability to use carbs as fuel and HIIT style training is beneficial. Our intake of protein is important to aid recovery.

Follicular Phase

Days 6-13

Our hormones are still low but our oestrogen is rising until it reaches its peak at ovulation on day 14.

Oestrogen makes us feel good. Our training and recovery is improved so we can push our session intensity and volume much more in these days. Our spatial cognition is strongest during this phase (good time to practice more technical lifts or gymnastics movements) and our mood will be really good too so enjoy all the good vibes.

Our bodies still love carbs and protein in this phase. I would recommend trying to get a 25g serving of protein in around your training session. Ensure your protein source contains a broad spectrum of amino acids, especially leucine. Whey protein supplement is a brilliant and simple way to get a sufficient dose of leucine and all the amino acids . This is vital for females that are pre-menopausal or menopausal in particular.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and start to implement some of these findings when planning your own training routine.

Emma x