How to sync exercise with your cycle

Recently, we  spoke about the need for every woman to know and understand about her hormones and her internal body rhythm. In addition, every woman should also learn how to sync her exercise routine with her cycle. Without regular exercise, our body won’t produce and release the optimal amount of endorphins; the feel-good chemicals in the brain that make you feel positive and alert.

Women’s bodies are different from men but also very unique as they are also different throughout different points of the month.When it comes to exercise especially, it is important to change your routine according to where you’re at in your cycle.

Here are a few tips on adjusting your exercise routine to match your body’s internal rhythms.

While menstruating:

Women can fall into two types: those who need to curl up in a foetus position on the first day of their periods and those who feel an energy surge. Either way, it’s a good idea to give your body a rest during this time and just doing gentle exercises or anything at all. Light exercises could include things like; stretching in bed, light yoga and walking.

Follicular Phase (week after bleeding):

Here you can get into your exercise routine. You’ll feel lighter during this period so go ahead and try new and demanding exercises; jogging, bike ridding and boxing.

Ovulation:

Continue with your normal exercise routine and if you’re thinking of getting pregnant great time to focus on bedroom exercises.

Premenstrual Phase (also called Luteal Phase):

Ladies this is a good time to work out your aggression with exercise. As you become more sensitive, your levels of frustration and anger increase. Lifting weight, power Pilates might be a good choice; especially if you suffer from sore breasts and bloating no bouncing exercises are best.

Listening to your body’s internal rhythm is important to achieve your goals and keep healthy. There are some women who experience loss of menstruation due to overexercising or prolonged workouts that can interfere with your adrenal gland forcing it into high stress mode. Stress hormones affect our reproductive hormones, which will impact your cycle. If you wish for your cycle to return experiment with easing into lighter form of exercises and less prolonged.