Change Training around for your Menstrual Cycle? Optimization or a Waste of Time?

Current evidence shows most women’s strength isn’t influenced by menstrual cycle

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In this episode of the Lifting Lindsay podcast, Lindsay talks about the impact of the menstrual cycle on women's strength and whether there should be adjustments in training methods according to the different phases of the cycle. Referencing a recent meta-analysis of 22 studies published in January 2024, the conversation challenges blanket statements seen on social media that dismiss any menstrual cycle effects on strength. Delving deeper, Lindsay emphasizes the variability in how individuals experience their cycles and the implications for strength training. The importance of understanding hormonal fluctuations, particularly estrogen and progesterone, and their impact during the follicular and luteal phases of the cycle is highlighted. A flexible and informed approach to fitness that respects bodily changes and promotes health and strength without succumbing to rigid and uninformed training paradigms.

Topics:
00:27 About the meta-analysis
05:12 What are we actually seeing?
08:46 Starting with the stages of the menstrual cycle
23:03 Is it practical to change your training for two weeks?
27:11 Being flexible is a strength
30:32 Learning to listen to yourself and your body

Creators & Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Lindsay: Welcome, welcome to
the Lifting Lindsay podcast.

Today we are gonna be talking about,, does
your menstrual cycle affect your strength?

Should women be changing their
training type, , and basing it around

different phases in their cycle.

And I've watched this idea kind of
come and go over the past few years.

And a recent study, it was a
meta-analysis of 22 studies.

It, this was published in, in
this year, January of 2024.

And man, these studies bring heat.

Now I think the presentation of
these, of this meta-analysis was,

hasn't always been done well.

Meno, uh, is a.

A pretty popular guy on Instagram.

He's a researcher.

He posted, uh, the menstrual cycle
still doesn't affect strength.

New meta study confirms, I think
it was a, a blanket statement.

It, that statement in and of
itself, I could see getting a

rise out of some, uh, females.

Because it, it failed to actually cover
what the study said and bring in the

nuance of what the study said, and, uh,
which the study did recognize that there

were some women who, who experienced
it, but on average we're not seeing any

effects on, well, not any on average.

We're not seeing.

Majority of women's
strength being affected.

And this really brought out, um,
a i, I wanted it to be a healthy

discussion, but it just brought
out a bunch of angry people.

What was fascinating about it, as I
looked through the, um, the comments

and stuff is the amount of, individuals
that didn't actually understand the

science behind the, the, the idea and the
theories of it affecting women's strength.

Um, there was a lack of education
of even what part of the

cycle, strength was affected.

And I was thinking, man, if we
were all educated a little bit more

on our own cycles and on the fact
that we are all individuals, this

wouldn't be threatening for us.

This could actually have just
been a really good discussion, but

instead it turned into just kind of.

Um, just a, a messy little thing.

So that's, that's my way of
saying a messy little thing.

In fact, a one woman, um, was making
some, uh, large blanket statements that

weren't accurate, and I just simply
said, well, it depends on the woman.

I, I felt like that wasn't controversial.

I felt like that was a, a, a
pretty levelheaded, you know.

It does actually, it
does depend on the woman.

Sorry guys.

My voice is still shot from this
cold that I had last week, so

bear with me during this episode.

Anyways, this woman was pretty upset
that I dared bring up the fact that all

women experienced things differently,
which I thought was too bad because

I feel like we, we, we need a few
things to have this discussion.

One, we need a general
understanding of hormones.

Why, um, some women are affected as
far as strength, why others aren't.

Who this, who, what population
does this impact more than others?

Um, and then also just a
general recognition that every

single individual is different.

The way that that each woman responds
to hormonal changes in their body

is actually quite different too.

Now, if you're a coach who has worked with
hundreds of women, this isn't a shocker.

This is just, well, yeah,
everyone's an individual.

Studies view things in generalities.

It's looking at and making
generalized statements.

It's not about the N of one,
it's not about the individual.

It's looking at at, at just
generalizing the masses.

What are we seeing in general?

So that's really good to understand
about studies because then we can

understand how to properly apply them.

But look, I'm really excited
because where this conversation.

In that post when awry, in my opinion,
truly was, there were one women

who were feeling very invalidated.

These were women who were saying, no.

But I do experience dips in my strength.

And now you're just telling me it's all
in my head, even though it happens around

the same time of my menstrual cycle.

But now you're just
telling me it's in my head.

I think women in general are sick of
being told things are in their head

and having their, their feelings, just,

being completely invalidated.

But I do think that there is
nuance in this conversation.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna
take a step back and I'm actually

going to do some, some light education
on the menstrual cycle and we're

gonna go over hormones and how
they're influenced during this cycle.

We're also gonna be talking about specific
populations we're gonna be talking about.

Okay.

Well, there's What about, uh,
women who are in their fertile

years who are not on hormonal
birth control, who are experiencing

healthy normal menstrual cycles?

Okay, because that's one population,
then you have another population.

What about those women who
are entering perimenopause?

They haven't completely
stopped their cycle.

They are still experiencing some.

So does this apply to them?

How does it apply to them?

And then you also have the, the population
where they are on hormonal birth control.

This may or may not apply to them at all.

Totally, just depending on the individual.

Like I said, I, I feel like in
these discussions that we often

have in health and fitness, the
individual is oftentimes ignored.

So my job today is to educate you on
some basics of the menstrual cycle,

how hormones are influenced, and why.

Some women feel dips and when they
usually feel it, a lot of times when

we have these conversations, women just
jump to, oh, well, yeah, during when

I'm bleeding, during menstruation, I
can't lift because it's uncomfortable.

That's not what we're talking about here.

Okay.

They kind of jump to this idea
of, well, their strength will

be impacted by menstruation.

That's actually not what we're
seeing when it is impacted.

So there's just these false
ideas being thrown around

about, about this whole thing.

So let's start from the very beginning.

Okay.

Let's just look at stages
of the menstrual cycle.

So we have these different stages
and we have two main phases.

The different stages and I'm gonna be
ter speaking in terms of generalities

and then I'm gonna talk about how
to apply it to the individual.

But when I refer to stages of menstrual
cycle, we're just gonna go by 28 days

'cause that's like a, an about ish.

Obviously some women are a little
less, some women are a little bit

more, but I'm just gonna go through
it quickly with, with 28 day cycle.

So day one through five, we
usually have menstruation.

I.

And then we, once that ends, we
end into the follicular phase,

somewhere between six to 14 days.

Now, the follicular phase, you
can remember that because that

phase is all about prepping.

Preparing the follicles to.

Be stimulated to grow and for that moment,
that third stage, which is ovulation,

that moment where the egg is released,
and then, um, you have ovulation and

then you move into the luteal phase.

Okay?

This can be longer, shorter,
just depending on the individual.

The luteal phase can be about eight days.

It's actually in the luteal phase that
is reported that women feel weaker.

So why is that?

Well, let's go through what
happens to your hormones.

I'm just gonna be looking at this and
separating this really into two phases.

A lot of times.

When we, when we're looking at the
hormonal changes, it's just easier

to say, we have the follicular
phase and we have the luteal phase.

So in the follicular phase, remember
what I said, we are seeing some rises

in FSH, LH and estrogen, and that rise
is all about preparing that follicle.

to mature and grow this egg, and
then it peaks, you get a peak of

estrogen, lh, FSH, you get that
peak and it produces ovulation.

Okay?

And then after that,
once ovulation happens.

That actually is what stimulates
a then rise in progesterone.

You see during the follicular phase,
you have estrogen, specifically

estradiol, which is important
to note because estradiol is it.

It really is like.

It's the primary form of estrogen in
your body during your reproductive years.

It's the most potent form and it's
kind of like women's testosterone.

We have links to muscle and strength,
um, that is linked more to estradiol.

Okay, so that's actually why.

During the follicular phase as
estrogen really begins to rise,

well, what, what did I say estrogen
was in charge of for women.

We're looking at muscle and
strength, actually an increase

in contractile strength.

So during the follicular phase,
you'll hear people say that's

when you really perform for
strength around ovulation, right?

Before you may be hitting prs
because estradiol, that form of

estrogen is hitting its peak.

That really has direct correlations to
increases in muscle protein synthesis,

uh, contractile and contractile strength.

Well, after ovulation, estrogen
begins to go down and dip.

Not flat line, but it's going
down and what's coming up?

Progesterone.

So like I said, um, ovulation
is going to stimulate.

A rise in progesterone.

Progesterone is interesting because
it has some anti estrogenic effects.

Does that make sense?

Estrogen and progesterone kind of
balance each other out, and this

is what people are referring to.

A lot of times when they
talk about hormone balance.

Sometimes I hear people on Instagram
say that hormone balancing is a joke.

It's not true.

I'm like, are you kidding me?

Well, that, that's tell me you don't know
anything about hormones without telling

me you don't know anything about hormones.

That's a joke.

This is, this is just one example in
the body of we need this appropriate

balance back and forth because they, they
actually have, have almost opposing roles.

Keeps the body healthy and balanced.

So estrogen, like I said, increase
in muscle protein synthesis and

increasing contractile strength,
and then progesterone rises.

Well, what does progesterone do?

Like I said, it has those anti
estrogenic effects where it can

start to slow down the rate of muscle
protein synthesis and women can feel

a decrease in contractile strength.

So it's at the peak of
progesterone, which can happen.

I mean, here's the thing.

It happens at different
points for different women.

On average, you can say maybe it happens
five to eight days before menstruation.

Um, maybe that's when you'll notice
kind of an increase in hunger cues.

Right.

Calories are the same, nothing's changed,
but all of a sudden, you know, the week

before your period starts, you start
noticing, um, oh, I'm, I'm hungrier now.

I wanna be a little bit more snacker.

Why is that?

It's the rise in progesterone.

So, progesterone, estrogen, once
again, they, they have those

opposing effects, estrogen.

You can actually see a decrease in hunger
because the actual, um, hormones that

are in charge of hunger, you see a slight
reduction because of higher estrogen.

It, it makes you feel fuller, longer.

Progesterone has those opposing
effects where now you're feeling

a little bit more snacker, right?

So.

Like I said, if you pause here
and look at, okay, so estrogen

is in charge of muscle strength.

Okay?

So when that's peaked, a woman may be all
of a sudden hitting all these, these prs,

may is a really important word, a woman,
she, some feel this more than others.

Well, then as estrogen goes down a
little bit and progesterone really comes

up post ovulation, then you have the,
the opposite where peak progesterone

can decrease that contractile strength.

So this is where in the luteal
phase, not menstruation, but the

luteal face, you may feel weaker.

This is the why behind it all.

This is why they say, well, maybe
during this phase, the luteal

phase, you change up your training.

Maybe for two weeks you
change up your training.

Let's just kind of break this down now.

Okay.

There's a few more things to consider.

I've already said one, that some women
feel this more than others, some don't.

And you can chalk that up to those
that are on hormonal birth control,

may not feel it as much as others.

You can say, even that will some feel
it more during actual menstruation

instead of the luteal face.

That typically has more to do
when they're menstruating with

them, just feeling uncomfortable.

Maybe some women's are really, really
heavy and so, um, they just, they

do have overall lower energy levels.

But when it comes down to this
theory, the idea is the luteal phase.

As soon as progesterone peaks, that's
when you're gonna feel your weakest.

So.

Another interesting thing,
I'm just gonna throw.

So, so take all of that information,
just kind of put it up on the shelf

now and, and let me kind of go into
in a little bit different direction.

So when they look at healthy,
fertility years, uh, women, and

they've tracked them, they notice that.

20% of the time, and this is for
healthy women with healthy periods

20% of the time, even though they're
menstruating and everything looks

great, these are an ovulatory cycles,
meaning that they are not ovulating,

meaning that they are not going to
be getting that peak progesterone.

And these are during healthy years.

So 20% of the time, even for those
that feel a reduction in strength,

20% of the time they wouldn't because
20% of the time they're not ovulating.

So it, and then also you look at, well,
what about women who are in perimenopause,

especially early, um, earlier on.

These are women who they haven't fully
stopped menstruating and they haven't

even fully stopped, uh, ovulation.

Usually when you very first enter
in to perimenopause, you start

ovulating less and less, which
is, it makes sense now, right?

Why a lot of people, a lot of women
in perimenopause are experiencing

estrogen dominance, especially at first.

Because they're not getting that
progesterone from the ovulation.

It, the body is amazing.

It really is.

So the, the early, uh, stages of
perimenopause and even throughout

perimenopause, as they get more
and more and more cycles that don't

include ovulation, they produce less.

Less and less progesterone, but
sometimes more, more estrogen

as the body's really trying to
force, um, the, the, the follicle.

They're really trying to force ovulation
and prepare the body for ovulation.

So that's why these women will
experience estrogen dominance

and then estrogen comes down.

But I mean, it's all over the board
really in perimenopause, you know, one.

A few months you could be
estrogen dominant, and then

the next few months you're not.

Maybe it's higher
progesterone, lower estrogen.

There's, there's all, it's
all over the place, right?

So as you enter perimenopause, the idea
of constantly changing your training.

Well, that doesn't even make sense
for that population because you

don't even know at what point
what's going on in your body.

You just don't.

So early perimenopause kind of
pointless and, and that can start

happening anywhere between 40 and 45
as as you start entering into that.

So.

Really, we're just kind of looking
at this idea applying to women

who are in their fertile years.

But once again, not all women
feel it during their luteal phase.

Another thing to consider is that,
uh, 20% of the time you're not

getting that peak progesterone, so you
shouldn't feel a decrease in strength.

Those are, that are on
hormonal birth control.

Um, they can have, uh, a suppression
of progesterone, to a degree, so

they wouldn't feel this as much.

Um, and it really just comes
down to the individual.

Do I think in practice, do I
think it's practical to change

your training for two weeks?

Um, to try to mitigate any, uh,
possibilities of strength decline?

No, I actually don't, but, but it
doesn't have to be done on paper.

What I do believe a woman should be
doing is listening to her body so she

doesn't have to rewrite her entire
program based off of this two weeks.

So if somebody has goals to build muscle,
they're only lifting for, you know, two

weeks out of the, you know, four I that.

Doesn't make sense for somebody who
is striving for body recomp wants a

little bit of muscle fat loss, that that
doesn't make sense to change the whole

programming based off of 70% of the time.

You may, if you fall under that
category, you may feel this decline.

What makes more sense is
when you do feel the decline.

You listen to your body.

So instead of going and shooting
for prs that day, you go in and

you just listen to your body.

You know, in, in, you lower
the weight a little bit.

You bring down the intensity a little bit.

You still show up for yourself.

Maybe that day you just wanna stay in bed.

If you're feeling really tired,
maybe you decide, you know what?

Today was just gonna be
a, I'm gonna go and walk.

Or no, I'm gonna do yoga instead.

It, it can be as simple as just
listen to your body for a few days.

Well, not a few days.

You know what I'm saying?

'cause this isn't, this shouldn't
be impacting two weeks of strength.

It really shouldn't.

Here's another thing
that's really hard too, is.

And, and I handle it the same
way as I would with this.

Sometimes it's can be as little
as I, I'm not sleeping as well.

I'm under a lot of stress.

I don't have as much
energy as I usually do.

Well then let's listen to your body.

Let's respect it and
what do you want to do?

What would keep you
moving towards your goal?

In a respectful way, so you don't
have to go in and shoot for prs.

Maybe this week you're, you're not
actually seeing large progressions

from your training or any progressions.

That's okay.

Uh, maybe you're doing a few
less reps, maybe you've lowered

the weight a little bit more.

That's fine.

Listen to your body.

But the idea of changing an entire program
and telling somebody, oh, only lift

during follicular phase, and then during
luteal phase change your entire routine.

Some people go as far to be like,
only do yoga, only walk only this or

that, and I'm like, you know what?

I don't think it needs
to be this complicated.

I really don't.

Um, and I'm somebody who
studies the nuance and

complications of program design.

And even in my own studies I've seen where
people dive too deep, get a little weird

in it, it's, we've gotta pull out of that.

We've, we've got to start teaching
people to trust their body.

To respond in healthy
ways, to be flexible.

Being flexible really is a strength.

I've talked about this a lot on this
podcast, so if you wake up one morning,

I don't care if it's peak progesterone or
not, and you are just feeling like you are

dragging and you don't have the strength,
maybe that day is a, you know, I'm just

gonna go out, gonna get a walk-in, or.

I really love that, that yoga class, that
recovery yoga class, I'm gonna go in there

and just, just healthily move my body.

That's, or, um, I love the
gym, I love lifting weights.

I'm gonna go in, but I'm, I'm going to
go in and just enjoy the movement today.

Now, I did see my friend
posted a video on this.

And, um, he was talking about how some
women will experience this, this reduction

in strength and I think he was showing his
girlfriend and she usually uses like a 50

pound dumbbell and he hands her a a five
pounds as here do it with this instead.

I really laughed at that
'cause I really liked the guy.

He's awesome.

But I laughed at that and I was like,
okay, well we're not feeling it that much.

I mean, come on, we don't
go from 50 pounds to five.

Like that's not what we're doing here,
but maybe it's 50 pounds to 40 or 35.

And I really think that
that's all it needs to be.

Do you want today?

Today could be peak estrogen, but I didn't
get enough sleep last night and I'm not

feeling like I can push and progress
more than I did last week or the week

before, but I'm still going to keep my
habit alive of showing up for myself.

And so I'm gonna choose a way to show
up for myself that honors how I feel.

Recognizes that, and I'm still
taking care of my mind and my body.

That's it.

That's it.

Now I know there are some women
that are not gonna like this.

Nuance and, uh, flexibility
and saying that all women, you

know, handle things differently.

Some people don't like that.

Some people are.

even under the illusion that if a
woman lifts weights during, the luteal

phase, that they'll gain weight.

Like, no, they, I don't, well, I don't
know where you're getting that one from.

That was somebody's argument
on that meow post, like,

that's just a little bit weird.

But nobody's gaining weight
from continuing to lift in the

gym during their luteal phase.

If they're gaining weight due to
peak progesterone, it's because

they're feeling an increase in
hunger and they're eating more.

That's what it's coming down to.

So in conclusion, some women
feel a decline in their strength.

They've gotta listen to
their body during that time.

It's usually not for half of the month.

So don't worry about rewriting an
entire program for, you know, 20 days,

10 days, 15, something like that.

Um, some women don't feel a
reduction in strength at all.

Doesn't really matter.

Doesn't matter which camp you fall in.

'cause the truth is all of us at
one period of time, whether it

has to do with our cycle or not.

We're gonna have low recovery,
low sleep, low micronutrients.

Um, maybe we pushed a little bit too
hard and, and now the body's just

struggling, recovering from your last
training, and you wake up like you've

been hit by a train period or not.

You know, luteal phase
or not, doesn't matter.

We've gotta learn to be flexible,
listen to our body, find ways to

show up for yourself that day.

But in a way that is respecting
your body and your body's needs.

Thank you so much for joining me
today on the Lifting Lindsay podcast.

I really hope that this was beneficial.

I really hope that you actually
understand a little bit more about

what's going on in your body.

Um, I, I wish that I had
been taught, um, more about.

The menstrual cycle and hormones
and all of those things from a

younger age, and I'm excited to
continue to teach women about it.

Um, on Be Strong, my training
app and the community.

I actually have a mini course on
menopause and we are three videos in

and every month I am posting one or two.

It's just going to be a course to
help you learn more about your body,

learn more about the changes that are
coming, or maybe the changes that you're

experiencing right now so you have a
better understanding of what's normal,

what's not, what's the length of this,
what's abnormal, what can I do to enter

this in a healthier way, and how can I,
uh, mitigate a lot of these, uh, symptoms?

Those are the types of things that
I wanna help educate women on.

Anyways, I hope you guys have a wonderful
week and I will talk to you next time.