• Female Health

  Training and your cycle

  Posted by b_safapour on September 18, 2023 at 12:54 pm

  Hi Bernadett & Daniel,

  Being in my mid 40ies, and having started again strength training beginning of this year, boy have things changed. I clearly do not have the stamina and endurance I used to have 10 years ago. I also have noticed that during 2nd half of my cycle my energy is even lower. Tho I have tried during this period to work out later in the morning after having a good breakfast or even in the afternoon, but it is tough. Usually I lift weights 3 to 4 times a week, and my cardio consists on fast walking or incline walks. I know I should listen to my body, specially since I am fortunate enough to “hear” my body talk to me very well.

  So, my question to B is: do you train according to your cycle?

  And to both of you: are there any hacks to still lift weights with energy throughout your cycle? I know, I am being stubborn here ☺️

  Daniel replied 1 year, 4 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

• 

  Daniel

  Member

  September 18, 2023 at 8:37 pm

  Hey ,

  Although I don’t have a cycle, I do have off days with training. I usually train accordingly and remind me that going for a workout is already a great win!

  You might already be aware that in the 10 years before menopause enters, female sex hormones are already changing. The amount of progesterone slowly goes down. Estrogen may drop precipitously or spike higher than normal. Optimize your lifestyle accordingly can help you bring some balance in your female hormones: 
  • avoid stress, 
  • reduce coffee and alcohol as much as possible, 
  • optimize sleep,
  •  eat enough cruciferous vegetables that help with detoxification,
  • optimize insulin, reduce fast digestible carbs like sugar
  • reduce exposure to xenoestrogens by choosing plastic free products and hormone friendly personal care products
  • Make sure you poop once per day (since estrogen disposed through the gut can be reabsorbed after 24 hours by exposure to enzymes)
  • Make sure you’ve got enough magnesium to help phase 2 detoxifcation

  Although you can impact hormone health (a lot!) by making targeted choices, the changes in hormones are also a natural part of life. 

  If you like to investigate your female hormone health, the Dutch test could be something you could consider. The Dutch complete helps you to discover how your hormones are metabolized. If you have been noticing that your cycle has become irregular the Dutch cycle mapping might be more appropriate. This test provides insight into how estrogen, progesterone and some important metabolites change over the month.

  Balancing female hormones effectively with supplements can be done, but it’s best done when you know what to target. For example the supplement DIM helps the phase 1 detoxification of estrogen. But if your estrogen was low to begin with it can make complaints worse.

  We do have a handout right here about estrogen dominance. I would recommend you to read it. It might provide you some insights in female hormone balance that could help you as well. (You can download it by scrolling down!)

  I would also recommend you to give your workout routine some time. Stamina and endurance are built workout after workout. From my personal experience: although I can’t push myself like I could in my 20s, I know for sure my stamina and endurance have been really good if not the best of my life. But it takes time, patience and consistency to develop.

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