Train with your Menstrual Cycle
Our hormones have a big impact on our ability to strength train our whole body (including our pelvic floor).
If you’re someone who uses exercise to help lift your mood, then you might have turned to tempo runs or HITT strength workouts to force an endorphin rush to try to feel better.
Pre-kids you may have got away with this strategy, but in motherhood life’s challenges demand more of us and our nervous system becomes more sensitive to our hormones.
So, when our periods return after giving birth, let’s be intelligent about training WITH (not regardless of) our hormones to maximise our efforts and strength gains in the precious time we have to exercise and minimise the possibility of injury or flaring up any pelvic floor problems.
Here’s a run down of the videos in our postnatal programme we recommend our TMP mums pick during their cycle and why:
Menstruation: Well-being & breathing to support us when our hormones are all low.
Stage 1/mid-follicular: Masterclass for weight-lifting and drills for key exercises. Building skills as our hormones rise.
Stage2/ovulatory: HITT, cardio or strength. Challenge yourself as oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone peak just before you ovulate.
Stage 3/mid-luteal: Strength, pilates or cardio. Double up with x2 15-minute videos in this maintenance phase increasing time and reps.
Stage 4/late-luteal: Mobility and gentle strength workouts. Go steady on any 15-minute video and off-load as hormones fall.
Especially useful (time permitting) to write a diary to get an understanding of your monthly patterns as they are now and help you identify any changes especially as you move through peri-menopause from circa age 37…. Because knowledge is power!
It goes without saying we’re all different, so use this as a guide and tweak it as needed to your unique self.