A topic that isn’t spoken about enough to help out female athletes or females in general. We are told we are not as strong, fast or fit as me but they forget we have to go through a bloody period every month (no pun intended).
Training/goals around the female cycle
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We have a drop and spike in hormone levels, our body produces an egg for fertility and then when the egg isn’t use the body builds up the uterus lining ready to have it shredded to bits like a small tiger with sharp claws is inside wanting to get out!
Now I am no feminist, I believe men are better at certain things and woman are better at others but that doesn’t mean we can’t compete we just have never been taught how to use our cycle to our best advantage.
So let’s keep it simple and stick to a basic 28 day cycle. The first 2 week is called the follicular phase which is days 1 - 14 starting at our first day of bleeding. The next 2 weeks so week 3 & 4 is the luteal phase which is where our hormones spike and we slowly get ready to discard the unused egg from the 3rd phase which falls in the middle of these two and lasts around 24hr but can last up to 48hrs for some is the Ovulation phase, this is the phase the egg is release and the prime time for a lady to fall pregnant.
Time to break down some simple things to know during each phase and how you can change or improve your training based around your cycle.
Follicular phase (days 1-14) - We have low hormone levels so we are the most like a male during this time, we can be stronger and can possibly make greater strength gains, we feel less pain and also recover faster.
Ovulation (days 12-15ish) - Last around 24-48hrs, our estrogen starts to spike just before which can impact our tendon/ligament laxity this basically means they are more stretchy but this can increase our change of a serious injures as we see so many females doing their ACLs (myself included as I have done both knees). I would really focus on good warm up techniques, lighter loads and focus more of technique.
Luteal phase (days 15-28) - Our hormones are high, mainly protestorne. Our core temp increases which is why you may feel more flushed.We can burn more calories during this time as well which is why females have those cravings! We can actually burn 100-300 more calls per day so it is okay to ‘snack’ but let’s go for the healthier options and a personal preference is more carbs and some sugar to help with energy levels so I opt for a sandwich and some fruit!
We can still train and hit performance targets but sometimes our reaction time and coordination are slower. We feel bloated because we retain more water during this time.
So a key tip is to focus on technique and add in adequate rest periods as well as recovery days!
If you have any more questions on this topic please feel free to email or msg via social media