How To Plan Your Workouts Based On Your Cycle Phase

Now, I’m about to (possibly) blow your mind with this blog post, so stay tuned till the end! If you have those days when you want to workout and feel that you “need” to but end up laying down instead and in return feel like a failure? Your not. What about those days when you plan a rest day but the energy running through you makes it impossible to sit still? Or those days when you had told yourself you wanted to go for a run but feel like doing more strength and or yoga? We all want to be in charge of what we do each day, maybe you even have a planner with the workouts for the week days or weeks in advance – but the truth is that if you want to get the maximum benefit and efforts from yourself, you have to check in with your hormonal health and how you feel on a daily or weekly basis. This goes for nutrition, workouts, events, and more!

For this post however, we’re only going to be talking about how to enhance your fitness life by tracking your hormonal cycle and living accordingly. Before you get worried if you’re cycle is irregular, no worries! We will walk you through how to begin tracking as best as you can first.

How To Track Your Hormonal Health and Full Cycle:

1. Get A Trusted App or Notebook

There are many apps out there that allow you to answer a series of questions about your body and emotions everyday and predicts when you are entering each of the four cycles by analyzing your answers and finding a pattern. This is the most recommended because you can set a reminder to track daily and start to see patterns quicker with help rather than on your own at first. If you prefer to track with pencil and paper though, absolutely go for it! It’s still super effective and can be a relaxing and transformative part of your day. Here is what you will need to track:

• Your Temperature When You Wake Up
• Your Cervical Mucus
• Your Mental Wellness
• Your Physical Wellness
• Your Sleep
• Your Alcohol Consumption/Smoking/Medications Taken
• Your Menstrual Flow If Applicable
• Your Sex Life
• Your Exercise

2. Notice The Patterns and Changes

Over a few months of tracking, you should begin to know your body better than ever. We are cyclical beings as we’ve talked about before in this Hormonal Health topic season, and we deserve to care for ourselves better by giving our body what it needs at the right time – and not pushing it to do what it really doesn’t want to do. When we neglect our cycles, we neglect our health. This can cause unwanted stress on the body and actually lead to hormonal imbalances and other chronic issues. By tracking long-term, you can also help regulate, ease symptoms, and catch anything out of the ordinary quickly.

3. Study Your Cycle (All 4 Seasons of Them)

We have four different cycle phases: Menstrual, Follicular, Ovulatory, and Luteal. These all take place in one single month and usually last about a week each. If your cycle days are longer, then you may be in a particular phase longer than others. The first day of our period is the first day of our cycle (Menstrual, Days 1-5). At this time, hormone levels drop and we begin to start our bleeding week. Hormone levels begin to rise in anticipation for ovulation during the Follicular Phase (Days 1-14), which comes in the middle of a cycle. This is usually a ‘feel-good’ time of the cycle. Ovulation (Around Day 14), estrogen levels reach a peak, leading to a rise in luteinising hormone (LH) which results in the release of a mature egg. Then the Luteal Phase (14-28) comes after you release an egg and before your period starts.

 

Once you begin to learn your body’s language and start to notice which phases you’re in, you’ll start to create a better, more fit, balanced lifestyle! Our hormones do so much for us and are wanting to work in our favor if we listen closely. Now, lets talk about FITNESS and hormones and how we can optimize our workout planning with this knowledge of self:

 

1. Menstrual Fitness:

At the time of your period, it is most beneficial to slow down and rest. The first couple of days, your body will be calling for calm. As your energy begins to rise, focus on gentle movement. After the first day or two of menstruation, gentle exercises such as stretching, light yoga (yin yoga is great), and walking will keep the body moving while allowing for repair and rest.

Lifestyle: This is our time of deepest intuition. Tap into your heightened intuitive abilities and listen to any nudges, wisdom, or guidance that might be coming through. Practice self-care by making time for sleep, journaling, hot baths, and doing activities that bring you pleasure.

Work / Productivity: Take time to re-evaluate all areas of your life (relationships, career, etc) and reflect on what feels good, what doesn’t, what’s working, and what isn’t.

Exercise: Focus on restorative, gentle movement like walking, gentle yoga, and deep stretching. If you’re tired, consider allowing yourself complete days of rest.

Social life: Now is a beautiful opportunity to go in-ward and spend time with yourself.

Supplements: Zen In A Bottle CBD (For any pain, insomnia, nausea, soreness, breakouts -topical use, etc), Super Root Turmeric (to ease any depression, inflammation, pain, skin issues), All The Zens (to cover all the nutritional bases), 300 Zens Magnesium (to help with cravings, pains, sleep, anxiety).

 

2. Follicular Fitness:

This phase, which begins on the first day of menstruation and continues for a week or so after menstruation, is when energy and motivation increase as estrogen and progesterone begin to increase. After the first days of your menstruation (see above), this is a great time to ease into moderately-intense exercise such as hiking, light jogging, and flow yoga.

Lifestyle: Our follicular phase is a time of beginnings. Open yourself up to NEW ideas, experiences, people, places, and things.

Work / Productivity: The theme of the follicular phase is creativity! We do our best brainstorming, creating, and initiating during this phase. It’s the perfect time to set fresh intentions, start a new project, and tap into your imagination.

Exercise: After our monthly bleed, the body is restored with a sense of renewal and fresh energy. This is the perfect time to try a new workout class or active adventure. Energy begins to rise, and exciting workouts are encouraged.

Social Life: Plan adventures with friends, explore new places, and try fresh activities together!

Supplements: Zen Focus (To enable focus and clarity within your creativity and work), Energy Zen (to support the rise of increasing energy in this phase), All The Zens (to cover all the nutritional bases and balance the body)

 

3. Ovulation Fitness:

This is a short phase lasting only 1-3 days in the middle of the cycle. This is the time in your cycle when the body has the most energy and stamina, as estrogen peaks and testosterone + progesterone rise. The body can generally take on strenuous exercise at this time as it has more energy and stamina than at any other cycle phase (due to high levels of testosterone). Exercise such as strength training, interval training, kickboxing, barre, spin classes, and dance classes are perfect during this phase.

Lifestyle: Our ovulatory phase is a time of confidence. We are most in social, communicative, fluent, and in our power during this phase.

Work / Productivity: The theme of the luteal phase is communication – think public speaking, giving presentations, teaching, educating, participating in podcasts, pitching proposals, asking for a raise, and having deeper or more challenging conversations. This is the best time to put ourselves out there, work with others, and collaborate.

Exercise: Energy levels are at their peak, so focus on more intense and sweaty workouts if you desire. Now is the safest time in your cycle to incorporate high intensity training without worsening hormone or blood sugar imbalances.

Social Life: During this period, spend extra time with friends, go on first dates, attend events, and participate in social outings.

Supplements: Power To The Plant Protein Powder (To fuel and recover from the workouts you’re craving), Snoozeville Gummies (If you have trouble getting a restful nights sleep), All The Zens (to cover all nutrient bases and balance the body).

 

4. Luteal Fitness:

This is the phase leading up to menstruation. During the first half of the phase, you’ll likely have more energy for movement. Listen to your body and tone down your workouts later in the phase as your energy may start to decline. Rest when needed. During the first half of this phase, you can stick with more intense exercise (like the ones mentioned above for the ovulation phase), if it feels good to you. The second half of this phase is a good time to scale back on the intensity with workouts such as walking, hiking, flow yoga, swimming, and pilates.

Lifestyle: The luteal phase is the season of completion. Its the perfect time to complete projects, tie up loose ties, and clear our plate in preparation for the menstrual phase.

Work / Productivity: Focus on administrative tasks. Listen to those urges to organize the kitchen cupboards, clean that messy bedroom closet, tidy up your inbox, and check things off the to-do list.

Exercise: Reduce exercise intensity, and honour your body’s declining energy. Focus on strength training, pilates, and yoga,

Social Life: Declining hormone levels in the second half of the luteal phase contribute to feeling more introverted and content being alone. Don’t feel guilty for saying no to plans and scheduling extra time for yourself.

Supplements: Energy Zen B12 Drops (to increase energy levels when needed as they begin to fall), 300 Zens Magnesium(to help with anxiety, depression, sleep, and a better period phase to come), Zen Greens or Zen Reds (to add an extra boost of nutrients during the day to increase nutrients), All The Zens (also to cover your nutritional bases and balance) Plant Power Protein (if you want to keep increasing your workouts and recovery if workouts still feel good to you).

 

Your hormonal health is so important as we have stressed over and over again and you deserve healing! Becoming more connected to your body in full is essential to being happy, healthy, confident, and making all of your wildest dreams come true.