How to Align Your Training with Your Menstrual Cycle

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. When you move into the ovulation phase, this is where you're like, yo, I rock.

00:31I feel great. I feel hella confident. Ladies, ovulation is when like our eggs are the most prime in our body. And this is like where we're meant to be social and talk to people. And it's actually really cool when you break down like the science behind this. Yo, yo, yo. What's going on, guys? Hey, everybody. Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikki Stott, co-founder of Warrior Babe.

01:03And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikki Stott. And welcome to today's episode, episode number 204. And today, honestly, guys, like up until five minutes ago, I was fully committed to not recording. I just got done.

01:34I've actually – this is the longest I've pushed back a podcast recording in my week. It is Friday. And this is going live on Monday. Shout out to my team. Y'all rock. We're getting this done in time. But I just got done filming content. It's been a – whenever I film content those days, it takes all my energy. And like I knew I had to record this episode today. And I was like, why did I do that to myself? Why did I push it back this far? And then I even like went into the algorithm, like a deep hole of understanding the podcast algorithm because I was like, if I don't record and I don't show up next week for you guys, is it going to mess everything up?

02:13And then that's basically what got me because it was like if you're not transparent with the audience and that can hurt trust. And I was like, well, I don't want to hurt trust in my people. So that's what fully made me decide to sit down and just record this episode for you guys. And honestly, like I had the topic planned out. I just hadn't thought through about how I wanted to talk about it. So – and what made me excited anyway, not only to just keep my trust for you guys. It was like if you ever want to not – if you ever want to take a week off, you should let your audience know, all that kind of stuff.

02:47I told you I went down like a black hole. But before I had – like me having this podcast episode, like the topic was there. I was excited to talk about it. So bear with me as we do go through it because I'm kind of just going to wing it. But today in this episode, I want to talk to you guys about like aligning your training with your menstrual cycle. And specifically like strength training.

03:17Like I don't want – I talked – I think maybe like four years ago, I got asked how I align my strength training with my menstrual cycle. And I was like, I really don't. But throughout the years, I've kind of focused on this a little bit more. And I noticed it more internally with my body how my energy levels are throughout the month in relation to the phases of our menstrual cycle.

03:48And so in the last couple of months, I've kind of thought about this a little bit more because I knew that I wanted to bring this topic to the podcast. But to be quite honest, like it's like 10 days out of our cycle would be – and I'm going to dive into this with you guys. 10 days out of the cycle would be the only time that I would probably like pull back a little bit. And I'll tell you like what part of the cycle and what to do. But regardless of all the other days that are a part of our cycle, whether it be the 20 some other days, you know, you're still pushing it hard.

04:24You're still showing up. And there's really aspects to – of within those 20 days where you can really challenge yourself and really hit some PRs and really like, you know, see what you're capable of. So that's what we're going to kind of talk about today. I'm going to dive and pretty much like elaborate a little bit more on what I just talked about there. But what gathered me – what intrigued me the most is recognizing like over the last couple of months, knowing that I want to bring this episode to the podcast,

04:56was recognizing like why my energy moods would dip, why my mood would dip, why my strength would vary so much throughout the month. And if you're wondering those same things, like you're totally not alone. It's not just in your head. It's totally in like our wonderful female body and the blessings we've given from – gotten from God in terms of our hormones. So the good news is like if you guys can understand the things I'm going to talk about today and like then recognize it within yourself,

05:27you'll be able to be more aware when it comes to your training and the phases of your menstrual cycle. And then you can kind of work with your body instead of like fighting an uphill battle and working against it. Because there's sometimes like along the month maybe you would attribute it to the fact that like you can't lift the heavy weights. You would attribute it to you or you would attribute it to your energy levels. But like there's actually something deeper that's going on, which is your hormones are fluctuating.

05:57And this is where the women listening to this podcast still get their menstrual cycle. So again, whether you're dealing with like the fluctuating energy, you're dealing with motivation dips, you're dealing with anything along the lines of like the mood or recovery too is huge. So this is what we're going to talk about in this episode is for you. So first, I want to just kind of talk about the different phases of which we all go through with women that have our menstrual cycles still.

06:31One is the menstrual phase. So that's in the days of our menstrual period. That's the day I believe day one starts when we get our period. So like the whole clock starts all over again. Then there's the follicular phase. Then there's ovulation phase. And then there's a luteal phase. And each of these phases, guys, like they affect your hormones. They affect your energy levels.

07:02And they even affect like how your body is responding to the exercises that you are doing, to the workouts that you are doing. So if you can think about it with me for a second, because this is kind of what I've done over the last couple of months, is maybe recognize within yourself, if you can, if you can go back to like last month, think about when you felt incredibly strong. Think about when you felt incredibly energized. Think about when you were able to like really, really push yourselves. And then maybe during other aspects of the months, you felt more fatigued.

07:36You felt less motivated. You felt like you weren't like, even like I've noticed this with myself over the last couple of months, that I've been like paying more attention to this. But I even feel like less confident, like at some points of the month of my menstrual period. It's like, I'm sure you guys can totally resonate with that. Like even just like walking to the gym feels a little bit daunting. And that's because our hormones like estrogen and progesterone, they fluctuate throughout the month. And that's impacting not just our moods, but also our physical capabilities, our physical capacities,

08:11our recovery rates, or even like our own self-confidence and like our motivation to go work out. So again, with me on that, just like think about those aspects that maybe you've encountered for yourself last month. And then what I want to do right now is like tie it all together so that it makes sense. I'm going to talk through each of the different phases. So the menstrual phase, again, it's like what I just said is where it all starts. It's like this kicks off.

08:42It restarts the clock, right? It's like day one to majority or like on average, our periods last five days or six days. Maybe some of you guys are a little bit longer, a little bit shorter, but it's typically around five days on average. And again, that totally varies for everybody. But during this, our estrogen and our progesterone are at their lowest levels. And this can mean that you're going to have lower energy levels.

09:15You're even going to have some discomfort or you're going to feel fatigued or maybe even like a little bit of, I don't have that much confidence within myself. Like your body is working so hard internally. So to feel this way is totally normal if you don't feel like you have the most energy to go work out or doing the most intense exercises. Or, you know, maybe even your recovery time is taking a little bit longer here.

09:46And so you may feel like during this time you have less stamina and that's like totally okay. I think the most important thing that you can do is like be aware that this is happening for you. And that this is day one, day two, day three, day four of your menstrual period. And it has nothing to do with like you as a human and your performance inside the gym and your ability to pick up the same weight that you did a week ago or even a week and a half ago.

10:18So like I want you to just accept that this is your body's way of telling you to like slow down a little bit and be a little bit more gentle with yourself. So typically what I recommend during this phase is I will still go to the gym because this is the way I look at it. It's like I've got the discipline to show it for myself and I keep the promises that I've made for myself. And working out is something that like I have just embodied in my identity.

10:50It's just a part of who I am. And but it doesn't mean in this period of the month that I am going for PRs and I'm going for, you know, increasing my weight and all the things. Like I recognize that this time my body and I'm aware is working hard internally. So I feel X, Y, and Z because of this. And so I'm not going to put my body under too much strain. I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to show up. I'm going to keep the promise to myself.

11:21But I'm probably going to lower my weight here and focus on higher repetitions. So lower weight, higher repetitions. But most importantly is A, going there, keeping the promise to yourself and showing up and like challenging yourself as much as you can throughout that workout. Knowing that it may not be the same type of intensity that was a week ago or a week and a half ago. Like becoming aware of like what I'm talking about in this podcast.

11:52This is why. And so at least I'm showing up, putting some work in, feeling good and feeling challenged and I can leave feeling awesome. But I'm here at this part of the month that I'm dealing with. And so I'm not going to put so much strain on my body. I'm going to keep it light. But I'm not going to go like intense at hand. You know what I mean? So like just keep it light. Do some higher repetitions. Move your body. Like I think that's really important during this time. And personally, I think that this is a phase of going in and doing what I just said.

12:28But also at the same time, focusing on some type of recovery and self-care and light stretching. I think that's really important. So for the rest of the phases, kind of how I'm going to break it down. Like what's going on during, what is the phase? What's going on during this phase? How you're going to feel and knowing that and recognizing so you become aware of it. If you guys, and I'll talk about how I track my period at the end. And then just giving you guys some workout tips so that you can show up as your best self during this time, wherever you are in the month of your period.

13:01Quick break. If you're finding this episode helpful so far, it would mean a lot if you could hit pause for just a second, leave a quick rating or a review or share it with someone who could benefit from it. Your support helps more women discover these tools to build muscle, lose fat, and feel confident. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. The second phase is the follicular phase. Got that out one. Got that out right. So after you're done your period, you enter this phase and this one lasts until ovulation.

13:36And this is when things start to feel a little bit better. They start to feel like you start to feel a little bit more energized. And this is because your estrogen level starts to rise again. And this helps with the increase in your energy levels and the increase in your motivation. And basically what also is happening here, which is pretty cool, is like your body is preparing for ovulation. And so with higher estrogen levels comes better recovery. It becomes the increase in energy that I just said.

14:09But also it comes in to give you more pain tolerance, which is super interesting. So you're going to feel more energized. You're going to feel mentally sharp. You're going to feel like ready to take on more challenging workouts. So at this point, and this is, I would say like, okay, if we were saying day one to day five for your period, this is like day six to day 14. Because usually two weeks after your period, you start your ovulation. Don't hold me to that because everybody is completely different.

14:42But anyway, so that's how you're going to feel because of what's going on with the estrogen levels rising in your body. You're going to feel like way more energized, mentally sharp. You're probably even sleeping a little bit better and just ready to take on some heavy weights. So this is what I would recommend for your workout is your opportunity to ramp up your workouts. Just to take on, like go back to where you were if you're tracking your weights like a week and a half prior or even where you were last month.

15:19If you're tracking your weights around this time, maybe try to go five pounds heavier than where you were the last time. This is where just basically like taking advantage of lifting heavier. Maybe if you're implementing new exercises or just challenging yourself in tougher sessions during this time. Then when you move into the ovulation phase, this is where you're like, yo, I rock. I feel great. I feel hella confident. Ladies, ovulation is when like our eggs are the most prime in our body.

15:54And this is like where we're meant to be social and talk to people. And it's actually really cool when you break down like the science behind this. But during this time, like when it comes to the workout side of things is that, and again, this is like the midpoint of your cycle. And this is a, it's a very short phase, but it is such a powerful one. Like I just said, your estrogen reaches its peak, but there's also a slight increase in your testosterone. So this means higher strength, power, you're feeling hella confident. You're feeling hella motivated.

16:25You're, you're honestly, you're feeling amazing. Like you can talk to anybody. You'll walk up to anybody. You'll say hi to everyone. And this is where I would challenge you guys. Like if you're ever going to hit a PR or challenge yourself to, to lifting heavy weights, this is your time to do it. Or if you like, you're going for your max out in, uh, pushups or your max out and pull ups, or that's like a goal you're working towards. This is your time to do it. So take advantage of this hormonal peak that's going on inside of your body and push yourself with challenging workouts.

16:59Push yourself to lift heavy weight. Push yourself to go for those PRs. Um, and yeah, yeah. Push yourself to do that. But also during this time, what my brain just said, I was like, do I want to talk about that? I don't want to talk about it. Be mindful of your form because when you're going all out and you're pushing yourself and you're challenges, challenging yourself, you'll be like, yeah, I can lift heavier weight. It's also so important to be mindful that you're keeping your form right so that you over, you avoid injuring yourself, um, or straining yourself.

17:35So keep that in mind. And so again, like menstrual, just got my period. First couple of days with day one through five, like I'm doing light, high repetitions, lighter weight, getting to the gym, keep the promise to myself, showing up, challenging myself to the best that I can. And then after your period's done, usually like six, day six to 14, this is where you're going to feel better. You're going to feel a bit stronger. You're going to be able to, you know, push like weight that you were, you were doing at this time last month or the week before your period.

18:06And then like day when you're ovulating and this is only a short period of time, it's a powerful time. Like I said, like it's day, it could be day 15 to 17, but it varies for everybody. Um, this is where I would challenge you guys to just be like, yo, I'm going all out. Like I feel good. Like I went to PR. Like that's what I would recommend your time to be. And also where you could like, if you are somebody that writes your own workouts, um, or you are somebody that maybe earlier on when I was talking about this, you're aware of these things.

18:37Like now you're going to be able to kind of work your workout schedule. Like if you want to, you don't have to, but I just want you to know, like there's some people that feel this going on and they'll beat themselves up. Um, and, and I don't, and I don't want you to beat yourself up because there's something deeper going on inside of your body that you may not know is going on. You may not be aware of it. And so that's why I wanted to just say this now and share this information with you. If you so choose to decide to plan your workouts around your group, you don't have to like, I just want to be like, just say that.

19:10Like, it's not like you need to go blow up your workout schedule and change your workouts all around. And you need to do this. This is an episode for you to just be aware of this concept. Um, okay. Where was I? The, I did menstrual, follicular, uh, ovulation, luteal. So luteal phase, this is after ovulation. This is the longest phase of your cycle. And it lasts, it depends again for everybody, but it can last upwards from like 18 days, 10 to 18 days.

19:42Like it goes from days, think about 18 to 28. If I'm talking like a normal, like just like a blanket, um, calendar of someone's menstrual period. So in this cycle, in the luteal phase, um, the, your progesterone becomes the dominant hormone and estrogen starts to decline. If you've ever noticed during this phase, you may feel like a calming effect within your body, but you also may notice that you're like, I, this is what I personally noticed.

20:15And this is what the, the aura ring also tracks to as well is I notice an increase in my body temperature, a slower recovery rate and a higher heart rate too. When I sleep, and this is because of, of progesterone going on and, and, and how it becomes a dominant hormone in this part of the cycle. So as you get closer to your period, as you enter into this phase, you're going to start to feel, um, that you're feeling a little bit more fatigued.

20:47You know, start noticing the PMS symptoms showing up. You start noticing the bloating or the irritability, like, and this is the longest phase. So like I always say when I'm training clients is let me know when you're coming up on your period, because you're going to see bloat in your progress photos. And it's not weight, it's bloat, um, because of what your body is about to, uh, undergo internally by releasing the egg. So, um, but something with the luteal phase is at the beginning of the luteal phase, right?

21:22You come off of that high, you come off of like, bam, like I'm crushing it. Like I'm awesome. Like I'm doing some PRs. I'm pushing some weight. I'm feeling really strong inside the gym. You're going to still feel that a little bit. Like you're going to still feel relatively strong at the first part of the luteal phase. But as you get closer to your period, it's super common for you to start to feel that dip, start to feel the lower energy, start to feel a bit more emotional, start to feel the feelings and the feels of your period coming on.

21:52So some recommendations that I would say for, um, workout tips is in the beginning and the earlier, uh, part of this phase, you're still able to maintain your strength and like your intensity. And the same as which you were just doing in the, in the ovulation phase of pushing it and showing up and, um, challenging yourself with heavier weights. Maybe even you're going to continue to have some PRs here. Uh, but as you approach your period, this is where I would say, like I said, the beginning of the podcast, like 10 days, almost worthy of.

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22:58Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. This is probably where you're going to like 10 days worth of your entire cycle, maybe a little bit more, maybe 12 depends on the person.

23:34But you're going to start to scale it back here. And that's going to bring you like more into once you get your period and like the lighter weights. And what I sometimes do, have done in the past or have recommended is if you do this, again, you don't have to. But if you are somebody that wants to try this out, you would essentially almost put like a deload week around this time where you do less volume, less intensity. And then you, you know, do all of you start to do you go in out of the deload, you go back into maybe a new a new phase and you start to welcome new cycles.

24:11And that goes in alignment with the follicular phase. And then you maybe push it, I don't know, like another week. And then you do that. And then the third week, which is right around your ovulation slash the end of the beginning of your luteal, that's where you're like testing out and doing like PRs and like really pushing the weight there. That's why I've recommended before. But like you don't have to do that. Again, this is more so awareness over this concept.

24:43So again, the luteal phase, the back end of it, you're going to start to just scale back and like listen to your body. If you're feeling fatigued, if you're feeling tired, like it would be low impact strength training. It would be high reps, low weight and just showing up. And, you know, the same as which I talked about with the menstrual cycle, the menstrual phase. Because, again, your body is like starting to work hard. It's starting to release the egg and starting you're going to start to shed it.

25:13And that's a lot going on internally for your body. So just keeping all this in mind. So these are the different phases of different recommendations. That's what's happening. That's how you may feel when you are experiencing. The wonderfulness of what we get to experience on a monthly basis, my friends. What God has given us, the ability to birth. And this is just something that we have to go through for a period of time in our lifespan, which is actually super freaking cool.

25:43And men don't get to do this. And also, just to like, I don't want to spiral too hard. But there's, I'm trying not to spiral and make sure I can say this in like two minutes or less. All of the things that are out there, like intermittent fasting or some fads like diets, like don't. They've all been tested on majority. I shouldn't say they all. The majority have been only tested on men. They haven't taken women's biological makeup and our hormones and what we go through.

26:21Like they and a lot of like some strength training, even workouts. Like they don't take into account our makeup, our hormonal profile. And so that's why I like just take that with a grain of salt. Okay, because like little plug, but I also don't want to spiral. Just think about that. Anyway, one thing that I wanted to say before I close down this episode of the podcast is the way that I track my period.

26:53And I highly recommend it if you do not track your period. And honestly, I've been doing this for the last four years. Whenever Flow came out, that's the app that I use, Flow. And I'm not endorsed by them. I'm not, this is me just letting you guys know exactly what app that I use. It's bomb. It's pretty much like right in sync with when I am supposed to get my period. It comes. And it also tells you the days of which you are ovulating or could be ovulating.

27:24And you'll just know like what part. It tells you what day of the cycle you're in. It's super cool. Then there's some other also like awesome other. There's also some awesome tongue twisters over here. Research articles and just things that you can read to more understand like women's health, which is super cool. So again, that's Flow, F-L-O. And you can go to the app store and you can download it. And if you guys use it, I mean, you're probably like, yeah, that thing is awesome.

27:55I use it all the time. I've literally used it consistently month on month over month. Another thing that tracks your cycle is the Aura ring. And honestly, like as I just said that, I'm starting to recognize that the Aura might be, but give me a couple more months. It might be a little bit more accurate than Flow. So, but don't hold me to that. Aura has been doing a lot of updates and changing their interface and really upgrading their product. But so we'll see.

28:27We'll see. But so like what I'm seeing right now from the phase I'm in is Flow and Aura are giving me different dates. And this also happened last month. So again, more months to see how true that data is. But the Aura ring also tracks your menstrual period. And what's really cool about it is what I said earlier is it picks up your body temperature increase. And it also picks up your heart rate increase.

28:58So you guys, I mean, if you're watching on video, you'll be able to see this. But if you're watching or listening on just Spotify or Apple, you're not going to be able to see them. But I'm going to try to explain it as best as I can. So see that? This is my like luteal phase, right? My body temperature has been increased this whole time. And then other times it hasn't. Like it's been low as it's supposed to.

29:28And you can see like here it was increased. That's right around when I got my period. And the day that I got my period, it always drops right back down. And then like there's the last couple of months where you can see like the increase, decrease, all of that. It's super cool. And it also tracks your heart rate too as well. So you can see like it's like, oh, you may not have recovered as well. Yes. Or I haven't because I'm coming up on my period. And my heart rate will stay up a little bit more elevated than normal. Anyway, those are some things that I used to track. But all in all, for this podcast, you guys, I hope you really enjoyed it. And thanks for bearing with me. I feel like I gained a little bit more momentum and speed as I just started to talk and share this information with y'all.

30:04But if you are interested in cycle syncing and if you want to align your training, again, you don't have to. But I just wanted to share this episode with you to empower you and give you more awareness on this concept. And potentially, if you're interested, just like tweak your programming to work in a way that is aligned with your body's natural rhythms rather than maybe trying to fight an uphill battle. But again, if you're fighting an uphill battle, you can just change your awareness of it and recognize that like you can keep your normal workout schedule as is and just recognize that this is the week of my period.

30:42So I'm just going to take it easy. I'm going to show up. I'm still going to go work out. I'm just going to take it easy. But anyway, that's all. That's all I wanted to share with you guys today. Thanks for bearing with me. Thanks for hanging out with me. I love y'all. It was because of y'all that I didn't want to break the trust and be like, no, I'm not going to show up for them next week. We're not going to post any episodes. I showed up. I'm here. And I'm happy I got this out. I'm happy that I shared this information with y'all. So if you like this episode, please just share it with somebody.

31:13Share the show with somebody. Really, truly, like as I said in previous episodes, it means the world to me when you guys do because I'm one person to you guys, but you guys are one to many. And you could spread the word, spread the show, and encourage other listeners to chime in and be able to receive all of this awesome information that I give you guys on a daily basis or two times a week. Both some of y'all listen every day. Anyway, love you guys. I'll see you in the next episode. Peace out. Hey, really quick before you go.

31:43I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all of the difference, helping more women discover the tools they need to transform the fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.

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