Should you sync your workouts to your period?
By Zara Salaria, BBC News
A woman demonstrates a colour-coded grid dividing the menstrual cycle into four phases, each paired with specific exercises. "When you’re bleeding, you want to be doing steady-pace jogging, Pilates, barre, walking, resting," she explains.
This is one of thousands of videos on TikTok and Instagram promoting ‘cycle-syncing’ workouts, a trend that has seen Google searches for the term surge by 740% since 2022.
The Cycle-Syncing Trend
Most of these plans are shared by fitness and wellness influencers rather than medical professionals. They suggest:
- Milder exercises during menstruation.
- Gradually increasing intensity in the follicular phase leading up to ovulation.
- Intense strength or HIIT training around ovulation.
- Reducing intensity during the luteal phase (between ovulation and the start of the period).
Scientific Perspective
Kelly McNulty, a researcher at Leeds Beckett University, highlights that while some women may experience changes in energy and strength across their cycle, there is no scientific evidence to support phase-based workout prescriptions. She notes that menstrual cycles vary greatly between individuals and even change from cycle to cycle in the same person.
McNulty suggests, "It’s not so much about doing certain exercises in certain phases, it’s about working with your own individual body and its needs."
Personalized Approach
Cesci Burgoyne, a nurse, personal trainer, and nutritionist from Sydney, Australia, takes a personalized approach. She adjusts her training based on her feelings, not a strict plan. "In my luteal phase, I’ll ease off in training," she says. "In my follicular phase, I feel so energised, I can lift heavier."
Burgoyne welcomes the focus on women’s health, noting that exercise and nutrition research has traditionally centered on male bodies.
