Cycle-controlled: nutrition and training
“A regular cycle with only moderate symptoms is an important indicator of good general health.” (Welsh Athletics)
“The complexity of the menstrual cycle is seen as a major obstacle to the inclusion of women in clinical trials.” (translated by Bruinvels G et al.)
“Female athletes train and compete under the potential influence of hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle”. (translated by Ekenros L et al.)
The female cycle may be associated with discomfort for many women. Even though regularity with only minor discomfort is synonymous with good health, not every woman is pleased when she is in the bleeding phase. But with the right diet and exercise, we can help ourselves to alleviate, even improve and prevent certain conditions.
For a long time, women took a back seat when it came to conducting scientific studies. And there is still too little emphasis on thinking gender-specifically and taking a closer look at the female body. One of the reasons for this is that women seem to be too complex to be included in studies.
Today, however, we want to look at a topic that is attracting more and more attention in the media, in the field of sport and nutrition and also in science. Because the female cycle can influence our performance, our body and our mind.
Adapting your diet and training to your female cycle may seem challenging at first, but it can bring great benefits for body and mind. More specifically, cycle-oriented means that we adapt our diet and training to the hormonal conditions that change over the course of the cycle.
Physical and mental complaints such as periodic water retention, skin blemishes, exhaustion, mood and weight fluctuations as well as stomach and intestinal complaints can change over the course of the cycle. With the help of apps, we can record these symptoms as well as our menstruation in order to get to know and understand our body better. Anneke uses the Garmin app for this, which also connects to her watch during sporting activities. In her opinion, Clue or Flo are also good apps for recording your cycle and all the associated factors.
What is the most important thing we should know in advance?
Every woman is unique. Our cycle, hormone levels and the associated physical and mental conditions can vary greatly from woman to woman. It is therefore essential that you first observe your cycle and write down in detail (as mentioned above) when your menstruation and ovulation occur, how long the individual phases last and how you feel during them. The more precisely you write it down, the more targeted you can make your diet and training plan afterwards. If you are using hormonal contraception, you have no natural hormone levels, no natural menstrual bleeding (or even no bleeding at all) and usually no ovulation, so there is no point in adjusting under these circumstances.
What does nutrition and training look like in the first phase of the cycle?
The first phase begins on day 1 of bleeding. It is important that we do not count the brown discharge (so-called spotting), which can occur a few days before, as day 1. During the bleeding period, many women are often less able to perform physically due to their symptoms. A lack of iron due to blood loss reduces the supply of oxygen to the muscle, as iron is an important component of haemoglobin in red blood cells and should help with this. Light endurance training, walking, yoga and mobility are recommended. The diet should be rich in iron, vitamin A, magnesium and omega-3. Other women, on the other hand, feel more powerful and may of course adjust their training accordingly.
Follicular phase- Phase 2
As soon as you feel better and your bleeding decreases, your energy level increases. You can set new training stimuli and perform maximum strength training at high intensities. Use the increased oestrogen levels to improve your performance. Make sure you eat enough protein, good fats, fermented and sprouted products. If you want to keep your weight stable, you can reduce your carbohydrate intake.
Ovulation
Some women have similar symptoms to those at the time of menstruation. Slight or even strong pulling in the abdomen, cramps, skin blemishes, etc. You can reduce the intensity of your training and focus more on coordination and stability . This is because we seem to be more susceptible to injury during this phase. Your meals should be rich in calcium, antioxidants, vitamin D and fiber.
Luteal phase- Phase 3
During the luteal phase, progesterone increases while the other hormones decrease. Many women suffer from pre-menstrual syndrome, i.e. water retention, mood swings, fatigue and other symptoms already mentioned above at the end of this phase. A reduced training intensity with a focus on regeneration, gentle strength and endurance units can help. The diet may contain carbohydrates, dehydrating foods, vitamin B6 as well as alpha-linolenic acid (triple unsaturated fatty acids) and ligans (plant substances with an estrogen-like effect).
To summarize, it is worth trying out, but not every woman will benefit from it in the end. Start by keeping a cycle diary and create your training and nutrition plan based on the conditions you have. If you need help with this, you are very welcome to book an appointment with Anneke and/or browse the resources below. Anneke can highly recommend the information from Swiss Olympic! Also consider talking to your coach, colleagues and others about this – they can support you in optimizing your well-being and performance.
If you want to know what your hormone levels are, you can have them determined by taking a blood test. However, you should bear in mind that the values differ depending on your cycle phase.
Finally, we would like to point out that it is always best to check your training and diet with a doctor and, if necessary, with a nutritional therapist who is familiar with the subject. We can share our contacts!
Author:
Anneke Penny
References:
1 Tanja Oosthuyse; Andrew N. Bosch (2010): The Effect of the Menstrual Cycle on Exercise Metabolism. In: Sports Med 40 (3), pp. 207-227. DOI: 10.2165/11317090-000000000-00000.
2 Giuseppe Fischetto; Anik Sax (2013): The Menstrual Cycle and Sport Performance. In: New Studies in Athletics 28 (3/4), pp. 57-69. Hakimi, Osnat; Cameron, Luiz-Claudio (2017): Effect of Exercise on Ovulation: A Systematic Review. In: Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) 47 (8), pp. 1555-1567. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-016-0669-8. J. Martin: Adaptative processes. Endocrinum.
3 Oleka CT. Use of the Menstrual Cycle to Enhance Female Sports Performance and Decrease Sports-Related Injury. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2020 Apr;33(2):110-111. doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2019.10.002. Epub 2019 Oct 31. PMID: 31678355.
4 Bruinvels G, Burden RJ, McGregor AJ, Ackerman KE, Dooley M, Richards T, Pedlar C. Sport, exercise and the menstrual cycle: where is the research? Br J Sports Med. 2017 Mar;51(6):487-488. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096279. Epub 2016 Jun 6. PMID: 27267895.
5 Ekenros L, von Rosen P, Solli GS, Sandbakk Ø, Holmberg HC, Hirschberg AL, Fridén C. Perceived impact of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptives on physical exercise and performance in 1,086 athletes from 57 sports. Front Physiol. 2022 Aug 30;13:954760. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.954760. PMID: 36111164; PMCID: PMC9468598.
6 Sung E, Han A, Hinrichs T, Vorgerd M, Manchado C, Platen P. Effects of follicular versus luteal phase-based strength training in young women. Springerplus. 2014 Nov 11;3:668. doi: 10.1186/2193-1801-3-668. PMID: 25485203; PMCID: PMC4236309.
7 Carmichael MA, Thomson RL, Moran LJ, Wycherley TP. 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.
8. Statham G. Understanding the effects of the menstrual cycle on training and performance in elite athletes: A preliminary study. Prog Brain Res. 2020;253:25-58. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2020.05.028. Epub 2020 Jul 22. PMID: 32771127.
9. menstrual cycle: diet, exercise & psyche by phase (css.ch)
11th PowerPoint presentation (swiss-athletics.ch)
12th cycle and competitive sports – SEMS-journal
13 The Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Athletes’ Performance: A Narrative Review (nih.gov)
14. cycle-oriented training makes a difference – ÖKK (oekk.ch)
15. cycle nutrition: food for every phase – foodspring
16. training and the female cycle: what you should bear in mind (foodspring.de)
17. nutrition during your cycle – how to support your body – rundumpflanzlich
