“What workouts are best for hormones?”

It’s a question I get often.

As it turns out, WHAT workouts matter less than WHEN you do said workouts. In other words, SYNCing your style of workout to your cycle is key. 

For example, most women are stuck in a pattern. Whether it’s Orange Theory classes, running, the elliptical, or their favorite home program, their body isn’t doing any sort of differentiation with their fitness in a given month. And yet, they wonder why they aren’t seeing results!

The key is to first and foremost track your cycle. You need to know if and when you’re ovulating (it’s a key indicator of your overall health!), as well as when you’re bleeding. These two things will help you navigate the 4 phases of your hormone cycle and therefore know what workouts are best for those phases. 

Once you start tracking, you can start to dive into different styles of workouts throughout your cycle and also keep track of how they make you feel. If you’re SYNCing properly, you’ll be feeling great!

As a reminder:
Follicular Phase — Strength train! Pick up dumbbells and resistance bands and work on those muscle gains as your estrogen starts to rise.

Ovulatory Phase — When your SYNC scope shows ovulation is impending, it’s time to back off a bit and let your reproductive system do its job. Active recovery workouts such as yoga, pilates, or a long walk are perfect for this 48-72 hour window.

Luteal Phase — Perfect time for some HIIT training and high intensity cardio to get that metabolism burning fat. Keep incorporating strength training throughout luteal phase, but focus on the HIIT.

Menstrual Phase — When bleeding, take the first 1-2 days off from workouts entirely. Most women feel a natural tendency to retreat and introvert during these first couple of days of their cycle, and it’s important to follow that feeling. For others, who have no PMS symptoms during their heavier bleed, strength training is OK to do.

As you can see, WHEN you do what workout matters more than the workout you’re doing. If you’re a woman stuck in a pattern of cycling or running or the same fitness class, it’s time to spice it up and SYNC with your cycle. You’ll be blown away by the improvement you see in your workouts and the results you see in your body. It’s time we start living in alignment with our physiology and not working against it.

xoxo,

Jenny