Women’s strength training differs from men’s training in several aspects such as recovery, endurance capacity or energy consumption of fats or carbohydrates. However, there are some more marked differences such as the menstrual cycle that women go through repeatedly and that can affect their sports performance. Depending on the moment of said menstrual cycle, it will be more appropriate to perform one type of strength training or another.
This article speaks at all times of the physiological behavior of the menstrual cycle without oral contraceptive use. Said intake modifies the hormonal levels and affects everything else, being necessary to approach it in a particular way according to each oral contraceptive method used.
phases of the menstrual cycle
In the first place, we must clearly know what are the phases through which each menstrual cycle passes. The average menstrual cycle length is 28 days in which different concentrations of the three main hormones that interest us for strength and muscle mass are produced: testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
Those 28 days are divided into two major phases, in the middle of which we find ovulation, which can be considered another phase or a few days of transition. The two main phases are the follicular phase and the luteal phase, which in turn can be divided into subphases. to spin even finer when planning strength training.
Follicular phase (from bleeding day 1 to day 13)
The follicular phase begins with menstruation and lasts until ovulation in the middle of the menstrual cycle. We can divide it into three subphases due to their differences in sensations and the possibility of adding more or less intensity to strength training. This phase is considered as “good” for training due to a high estrogen predominance.
The primary follicular phase (day one to day five) lasts two to six days, depending on the person. It is the hemorrhagic phase or bleeding phase. The first days can be more annoying, although as this phase progresses these possible discomforts disappear.
The middle follicular phase (day 6 to day 9) occurs after menstruation ends and it lasts a few days, more or less depending on the days of bleeding. It is followed by the late follicular phase (day 10 to day 14) that appears days before ovulation and ends once ovulation occurs (on day 13 or 14 in the middle of the menstrual cycle).
Ovulation (day 14 and day 15)
Ovulation is the moment when the mature egg leaves the follicle and heads towards the uterine tubes. It is the most fertile time of the cycle, and to plan strength training it will serve as a a barrier that separates the follicular phase already mentioned in the previous section from the luteal phase which we will see next.
Luteal phase (from day 15 to day 28 or day before bleeding)
The luteal phase starts after ovulation (on the 15th day of the menstrual cycle) and lasts until bleeding appears again, starting another cycle. We can divide it into three subphases due to their differences in sensations and the possibility of adding more or less intensity to strength training. This phase is considered as “bad” for training due to a high progesterone predominance.
The early luteal phase and mid luteal phase can cause a decrease in maximal performance caused by hormonal modification. The late luteal phase is the worst phase of the menstrual cycle, depending on each woman, since it is where premenstrual syndrome occurs, which has a long list of effects that will not let us take our performance to the maximum.
Strength training according to the phase of the menstrual cycle in which we are
Follicular phase (the best phase for strength training)
This phase is where the peaks of greatest strength performance occur, especially between days five from the start of bleeding until day 15 in full ovulation. The strength gains are greater than in the luteal phase It goes after ovulation, so the most intense and demanding workouts should be done here.
These days, leaving aside the first days of bleeding that can limit performance somewhat, we will take the opportunity to work with more load and lower repetitions. Speed and explosiveness exercises are best left for the luteal phase and focus more on maximal strength here.
These days we will also recover better so we can train more, thus taking advantage of the increased growth hormone responses. There is less muscle damage than in the luteal phase, which partly explains the better recovery and possibility of more training volume.
Luteal phase (worst phase for strength training)
As the days after ovulation progress (day 15) fatigue is greater for the same training and the recovery capacity is less. There is also a greater inflammatory response at the muscle level.
At this stage it can be interesting train speed and explosiveness, since explosive movements such as jumping may have worse performance in the follicular phase due to worse musculotendinous elasticity. Therefore, we will leave the maximum loads and low repetitions for the follicular phase, and the low loads and explosive movements for the luteal phase.
The Late luteal phase (between days 25 and the end of the menstrual cycle) is the worst phase for strength training. These days, premenstrual syndrome occurs that leads to a sensitive state with variability of emotional symptoms, as well as some physical ones such as tiredness, fatigue, pain, etc.
Strength training planning according to the menstrual cycle
Does it make sense to train according to the menstrual cycle? No, if it is going to be more of a headache for you to fit the loads and the planning than to train in a linear way. Those high-performance women who must tread very finely and know their body perfectly they will see a qualitative leap when scheduling the sessions according to the menstrual cycle.
On the contrary, women who have a low level of resistance training or who do not appreciate differences in each phase of the menstrual cycle can train without taking into account the menstrual cycle. Like any aspect of training, we must adjust the training to our lifestyle and needs and not adjust ourselves to the training.
Early follicular phase (bleeding on average from day one to day five)
The recommended strength training intensity is between 67% – 75% of 1RM with a medium – high volume and repetitions between 10 and 12. This week can be used as a download week or a week to improve technique, but without stopping training.
Middle follicular phase (day six to day nine)
In this phase, muscle growth is optimal and strength gains also have their high performance peak. An intensity of 75% of 1RM with a medium volume and repetitions between eight and 10 it can be the generic recommendation on which to plan these days. The general recommendation is to use this phase for muscle hypertrophy.
Late follicular phase (day 10 to day 14)
Best days to go max loads and low reps. The intensity of these days can be very high, using a 80 – 85% of 1RM with a medium – low volume and a range of about six repetitions. The main recommendation is to go very heavy these days and focus on maximal strength.
Early luteal phase (day 16 to day 20)
The recommendations in this phase follow the same guidelines as the late follicular phase, we can even go with a little more load and less repetitions. An intensity of 85% – 90% and a range of one to five reps can be interesting these days. The volume will be low since the intensity is very high.
Mid luteal phase (day 21 to day 25)
These days there is beginning to be a decrease in the peaks of maximum force, so we will return to the mid-follicular phase recommendations. A typical muscle hypertrophy workout will be the most interesting these days.
Late luteal phase (day 26 at the end of the cycle)
The worst days to train. These last days of the cycle are joined with the first days of the following cycle, so this week can be planned together from the last days of the cycle until day three of the following cycle since the bleeding appears. The Recommendations will be the same as for the early follicular phase.
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