Find that you workout all the time but yet you see no changes?
If you are not changing your workout styles throughout your cycle, you are not working with your body.
Let’s break it down:
𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗼𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟮):
- Follicular phase 1 AKA your period, hormones are their lowest. For those that don’t get painful periods or any issues around their periods, you can actually go full out with your weightlifting. This is not what we normally hear, but this is the time that our physiology is the closes to men, so if you feel fine, it's actually the time you may see some of your best results. If the first few days you feel a bit bleh, then you can focus on more restorative workouts then from day 3 ramp it up.
- Follicular phase 2 (the phase after your period and before your ovulation). Your hormones start to rise again, cortisol slowly decreases, this is the time to ramp up your workouts & include HIIT, sprinting if you like, increasing your weights, testing out your personal bests.
𝗢𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
- Your estrogen and testosterone have peaked (your muscle building hormones) so you may feel like you have ample energy as well as an increase in lean muscle building, so go all out on your workouts!
𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗼𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗟𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲):
- The first part of this phase you’re still “high” off ovulation so train similarly to your follicular phase 2, but consider dropping the weight and increasing your reps. Because your body temperature is higher in this phase, HIIT may feel a bit overwhelming, so you consider other forms of cardio like running intervals if it makes you feel more motivated. Toward the second half (5 days before roughly) when hormones start declining, cortisol starts to rise so not doing HIIT and focusing more on strength yoga/Pilates, resistance bands, body weight strength circuits, recovery work etc would be more beneficial. Think of maintenance and repair during these days.
𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐𝘝𝘍/𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴/𝘗𝘊𝘖𝘚 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴/𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.