Cycle-based training – more than just a trend?

More and more women want to adapt their training to their cycle. Many of them notice that there are days when they feel less capable. So it makes sense to adjust training accordingly, right? At the same time, there are more and more Instagram pages and other channels drawing attention to the concept of cycle-based training. The desire for change is there, but there is often a lack of sufficient information and a thorough understanding of the topic in order to really adapt training to the menstrual cycle. In this blog article, I would like to explain the fundamentals of cycle-based training. You will learn what really matters, which statements you can trust, and which trends you should rather keep your distance from.

Reducing cycle disruptions with cycle-based training

As a running coach and female performance coach, I have been supporting women for several years who notice that the way they have trained up to now no longer works for them. Over time, some have developed cycle disorders such as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) or amenorrhea (absence of menstrual bleeding for at least three months). Many of the women suffer from PMS or heavy, painful bleeding. What these women have in common is the hope that cycle-based training can help them. It often appears to them as a shortcut—an easy solution to their problems.

The truth, however, is that behind this supposed shortcut lies a complex concept that needs to be understood and explored. It is based on a deep understanding of your own physiology, which helps us finally treat the female body differently from the male body. If this is not the case, cycle disorders are often the result.

How scientific is this concept?

Cycle-based training is a new concept and therefore still requires a lot of research. The evidence base is extremely thin and in some cases of insufficient quality. As a result, different studies repeatedly come to different conclusions about performance in menstruating people. What is important to know is that, in theory, you can perform in any phase—even if your subjectively perceived performance changes. In my work, as in this blog article, it is important to me to take scientific findings into account without ignoring personal experience. No matter the field: research always takes longer to confirm or refute phenomena. That is why it is important to connect your own experience with scientific statements.

How do I put cycle-based training into practice?

In the first step, I take the women I work with through the basics of female physiology. Besides the menstrual cycle, female and male physiology differ in several important ways. Especially when it comes to metabolic training, not everything that has been tested on men and found to be effective works for women. For example, the female body does not respond as well to high-intensity sessions, but women can benefit much more from efficient running form.

The women I coach are then asked to track their cycle at least via temperature—for example with the help of OvulaRing. In this way, they document whether ovulation is taking place and learn in which phases they feel stronger or weaker. Cycle-based training only makes sense if there is a healthy cycle that is largely symptom-free. If it turns out that bleeding or ovulation is absent or only irregularly present, training is adjusted accordingly first. For mild to moderate PMS as well as painful bleeding, I have found that these symptoms usually improve significantly when training is adapted to the cycle.

What exactly do I adapt my training to?

It is the hormonal dynamics during the cycle that make a difference in how training stimuli are implemented. The hormones most important for understanding this are estrogen, progesterone and cortisol. Estrogen is the hormone of the first cycle phase, which begins when menstrual bleeding starts. At the beginning, estrogen is at a low level and continues to rise after your period until ovulation occurs. Estrogen is an anabolic hormone, which means it has a building effect on your organism. Training stimuli can therefore be implemented very well here, which is why it is recommended to focus more on higher-intensity sessions (interval training) than on volume (e.g., weekly mileage) in this phase.

Ovulation defines the start of the second cycle phase. This phase does not end until menstruation starts again. It is also called the high-hormone phase, because estrogen remains elevated and progesterone is added. Progesterone is the dominant hormone and is enormously important for the stability of this phase. It is a catabolic hormone, meaning it has a breaking-down effect on your body. I find that many women rate the second phase much more negatively. But that is not entirely true. While intense training stimuli are no longer implemented as well, fat metabolism is improved. This means that it makes sense to reduce training intensity a little in this phase and increase volume accordingly. That does not mean you should not run intervals at all during this phase. Rather, it means you include fewer of them and can instead run more weekly mileage.

How you can adapt your running training to your cycle

Since it is generally sensible to increase either intensity or volume to keep the risk of injury low, you apply a sound training concept in this way, known as “block training.” With block training, you do not look at a single training week in isolation, but several weeks as a package. You start with low volume and high intensity (first cycle phase) and then reduce intensity week by week (-5%/week) while increasing volume (+10%/week). The important thing here is not to neglect recovery. You can also align your recovery phase with your cycle: plan your recovery week in the phase in which you generally want more rest. This is usually the case in the last and/or first days of the cycle.

The role of cortisol

The stress hormone cortisol should also be mentioned. It only plays a role in the menstrual cycle when there is too much of it. In that case, it can disrupt the dynamics of estrogen and progesterone and lead to cycle disorders. If you pay attention to sufficient sleep, recovery and food intake, you support your cycle significantly. Of course, cycle-based training can also help reduce stress on your body. Since intense training in particular is stressful for the body, it makes sense to place it primarily in the first phase.

Recognizing and tapping into the potential of the female cycle

Training with the menstrual cycle is, above all, highly individual. Including the cycle as a vital sign of your body can improve your training enormously, because your cycle shows you every month whether everything in your body is functioning as it should. As coaches, we need to understand that the female body has a potential that has not even begun to be fully realized. That is why it is important for both athletes and coaches to start taking the cycle into account—bringing it into the focus of both science and practice.

If you want to start with cycle-based training, it can be helpful to get individual advice. With my 1:1 mentoring, I help many women each month to find out where the core issue in their training lies, and I support them with coaching sessions and training plan design. I would be happy to support you too.

Learn more: https://www.laufganzheitlich.com/

References

Ashley CD et al. 2000. Estrogen and substrate metabolism: a review  of contradictory research. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 29(4), 221–227.  https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200029040-00001

Carmichael MA et al. 2021. The Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Athletes’ Performance: A Narrative Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb  9;18(4):1667. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041667. PMID: 33572406; PMCID: PMC7916245.

Constantini NW et al. 2005. The menstrual cycle and sport performance. Clinics in sports medicine, 24(2), e51-82, xiii-xiv.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csm.2005.01.003

Elliott-Sale K, Pitchers G. 2019. Considerations for coaches: Training female athletes. Professional Strength & Conditioning(55), 19–30.

Freemas JA et al. 2021. Exercise Performance Is Impaired during  the Midluteal Phase of the Menstrual Cycle. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 53(2),  442–452.https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002464

McNulty KL et al. 2020. The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Exercise Performance in Eumenorrheic Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 50(10),  1813–1827. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01319-3

Mendonca G et al. 2020. Running economy in recreational male and female runners with similar levels of cardiovascular fitness. J. Appl. Physiol., 29, 508–515.