Cycle syncing your exercise routine can help you work with changes in your energy levels and fitness performance due to hormonal fluctuations. Here’s how to best sync your exercise routine during your luteal phase.
Exercise offers a range of health benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, improved sleep, enhanced mood, and alleviated PMS symptoms.
However, exercise might not always feel the same throughout your menstrual cycle. As your hormones shift, their fluctuations can affect how energized you are, your perceived effort, and even how quickly you recover from a workout. Adjusting your exercise routine to your cycle can help you boost your energy, combat PMS symptoms, and even increase your fitness performance.
So, what are the best luteal phase exercises? Your energy levels and exercise performance varies from the beginning to the end of this phase, so exercise recommendations are different depending whether you’re early or late in your luteal phase. Here’s everything you need to know about your hormones, symptoms, and energy in the luteal phase, and the best luteal phase exercises throughout this part of your cycle.
What is cycle syncing? To understand why you might want to tailor your exercise routine to your cycle, it’s crucial to learn the foundations of cycle syncing .
Cycle syncing involves adjusting your daily routines and lifestyle—from diet to work tasks and social activities—to align with the different phases in your cycle. The goal of cycle syncing is to better understand how your hormones affect your body and improve your overall well-being.
Hormones have a large role to play in how we feel and function, from our energy and mood to our metabolism. The traditional view of exercise is that hard work and consistency will lead to results, but this approach doesn’t take into account how hormonal changes can affect how we feel when we’re exercising and our physical performance. Historically, fitness recommendations have been tailored primarily for men, often neglecting the sex-specific hormonal differences and responses.
Hormones play an essential role in muscle development and energy utilization. As your menstrual cycle progresses through its phases, fluctuating levels of hormones like estrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH can significantly impact your exercise experience.
Can you still practice cycle syncing on hormonal birth control? If you’re on birth control, you can still practice cycle syncing. Women on hormonal birth control can still experience hormonal fluctuations that affect how they feel during exercise, including differences in energy levels, mood, and overall performance. Cycle syncing, even on birth control, can help you figure out how to best adjust your exercise routine to feel better and optimize your performance.
What is the luteal phase? The luteal phase is the stage of the menstrual cycle where the body prepares the uterus for the potential implantation of a fertilized egg. During this phase, which generally happens from days 18-28 depending on your cycle length, the endometrial lining thickens as your body invests significant energy into supporting this process.
Progesterone is the dominant hormone during this phase, rising steadily until the end of the luteal phase. If implantation does not occur, progesterone and estrogen levels will increase, leading to the onset of menstruation and the beginning of a new cycle.
How does the luteal phase affect exercise performance? As progesterone levels rise during the luteal phase, they can initially enhance speed and resistance. However, after about day 24, the high levels of progesterone may start to impact energy, mood and physical comfort leading to fatigue, bloating, increased heat rate, and various PMS symptoms.
During this time, it is beneficial to focus on lower intensity workouts and allow for additional recovery. Elevated hormone levels can alter how your body uses stored carbohydrates of energy, making it essential to consume slightly more calories and carbohydrates to support your workout. Many women also experience increased hunger during this phase.
Luteal phase exercises In the early part of the luteal phase, rising progesterone levels can enhance speed and resistance training, allowing you to capitalize on these benefits before energy levels begin to drop. As you progress further into the luteal phase, it becomes more advantageous to shift your focus towards recovery and low-intensity workouts.
Here are some exercises to do during this phase, organized from best early luteal phase exercises to late luteal phase exercises.
Short sprint intervals Short sprint intervals are high-intensity bursts that can help burn energy and boost mood. When your progesterone levels first rise in the beginning of the luteal phase, you may get a speed boost.
Jumping rope Jumping rope is a fun and effective cardio workout that can help maintain high energy levels you may feel at the beginning of this phase.
TRX Total resistance exercises (TRX) provide a challenging workout that engages multiple muscle groups without high impact. While you may need a gym or home workout equipment to do these exercises, the resistance equipment helps build strength and stability without putting excessive stress on your joints.
Resistance band weight training Resistance band weight training is another form of strength training, but with less equipment—just resistance bands. As progesterone levels continue to rise, some women may experience increased bloating and discomfort. Resistance band workouts offer a low-impact way to build strength and tone muscles without putting excessive strain on your body.
Swimming Swimming provides cardiovascular benefits while still being a gentle exercise that can help alleviate joint discomfort and reduce swelling, common symptoms during the mid-luteal phase.
Elliptical Using an elliptical is a low-impact cardio option that can help manage bloating and discomfort that may arise as progesterone continues to increase.
Cycling Cycling is another cardio option with less impact than running. Steady-state cycling can improve circulation and mood, helping to combat potential fatigue and irritability associated with hormonal fluctuations.
Light weightlifting Light weightlifting can help you focus on muscle endurance at a time when you might experience decreased energy and increased joint stiffness. Using lighter weights and doing higher repetitions can help maintain muscle tone without overexerting the body.
Walking When your energy levels are low and you’re starting to feel PMS symptoms, walking is a gentle, low-impact exercise option. It can help improve circulation, reduce stress, and alleviate some of the physical discomfort associated with the late luteal phase.
Yoga Incorporating yoga into your routine can help manage stress, improve flexibility, and promote relaxation, all of which can be beneficial as the body prepares for potential PMS symptoms.
Research indicates that athletes often perceive a decline in performance during the luteal phase. Higher progesterone level can raise body temperature, which may impact exercise in several ways, including increased cardiovascular strain and quicker onset of exhaustion . It is important to be kind to yourself and recognize that these changes could be related to your menstrual cycle affecting how you experience your workouts during this time.
How to create your own menstrual cycle workout plan Learning how and when your hormones fluctuate can help you understand how hormonal changes might affect your energy levels, mood, exercise performance, and overall well-being. Armed with this knowledge, you can adjust your exercise routine to do exercises that help combat symptoms, work with your energy fluctuations, and optimize your performance.
The best way to track your cycle effectively is by tracking your hormone levels—not comparing them to a standard, but understanding exactly what your levels are and when they’re changing. Oova’s at-home hormone test provides you with your specific hormone information and patterns in minutes, enabling you to adjust your lifestyle and monitor your symptoms with accuracy.
Luteal phase exercises: the bottom line The luteal phase starts with rising progesterone levels, which initially can benefit exercise performance through increased energy and resistance. You can optimize your performance by doing high-intensity, quicker workouts like short speed intervals and jumping rope.
Later in the luteal phase, high levels of progesterone can have the opposite effect, negatively impacting energy and mood and even leading to physical discomfort. In the later luteal phase, low-impact workouts like yoga and walking are better options that can combat discomfort and allow for extra recovery.
Adjusting your exercise routine to account for hormonal fluctuations can help reduce PMS symptoms, boost your energy and mood, and promote overall well-being. To most accurately and effectively track your cycle—from the comfort of your own home!—Oova’s test kits can help.
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