Moody Month x Helen Phelan: Learning How to Tailor Your Workout to Your Cycle
This article originally appeared on Moody Month on June 14th, 2019
My story
I spent a long time fighting with my body. I had been dancing since the age of three and, as a professional, rehearsed seven hours a day, six days a week. My father was a Marine officer and the mindset of “no excuses” permeated my upbringing even before I was serious about my dance training, but that further solidified the concept. In dance culture, pain is a good thing; teachers used to say: “If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it correctly.”
As a result, when I injured myself, I danced through it until I couldn’t physically walk. I found out that I’d stress-fractured my foot in three places and it took eight months to heal, instead of the usual six weeks. My body had been sending me so many signs that I was working too hard, too fast, too much – I suffered from depression, anxiety, weight fluctuation and absolute exhaustion, as well as painful periods – but I learned to tune those messages out.
After my injury, I had no choice but to start listening to my body. I started foam rolling, stretching, eating enough nutrients; it was the first step towards me developing an awareness and kindness towards my physical self, and eventually helping heal my emotional wounds, too. I discovered Pilates, which helped me understand my anatomy and physiology from the inside out, and after a few years I discovered intuitive eating. This was a huge shift for me as I had previously battled an eating disorder.
Being highly disciplined and determined is not intrinsically harmful. But when you approach your exercise routine like a battle and go to war with your body, as I did, it’s going to fight back. The most obvious warning sign is your period stopping – but there are often smaller signals first. You might feel increased or chronic fatigue and fogginess such as finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning, autoimmune issues such as getting sick more often, or simply the inability to shake a long-term cold. As I found, it can affect your mood, too.
Tailoring Movement to Your Cycle
It can be hard to do, but it helps to develop a ‘somatic intuition’ when it comes to your fitness routine, which means listening to your body’s signals. It can help to match the phase of your cycle with your movement. For example: when you’re in the Bleed phase – when your progesterone and oestrogen levels are at their lowest and you might be experiencing lower energy levels, along with some discomfort – milder movement like barre is great. In your Rise phase – when your cortisol levels are more stable than at other points in your cycle and your oestrogen is slowly rising, and so, often increasing your energy levels – try some steady pace cardio like cycling or running. When ovulating, make use of your boosted energy and testosterone levels with a challenging HIIT class. During the luteal or premenstrual phase, when your hormones are dipping again, Pilates and yoga are perfect because spinal rotation and mobility work can be magic for bloating symptoms and moving is generally great for mood. All of this involves trial and error and listening to your body.
But you can make it even simpler by just adjusting the intensity of your favourite workout so that it’s appropriate for each phase. If you love running, take it down to a moderate jog when you’re bleeding, train longer distances when you’re in your Rise phase, sprint and incorporate body weight exercises when you’re ovulating (Shift phase), and bring it back down to a jog and add in a lengthy warm up and cool down with lots of stretching when you’re premenstrual in the Reflect phase.
Conclusion
Working out in partnership with your body’s cyclical nature is mood and happiness boosting, delivers quicker results than trying to force your body into a masculine prescribed routine and, most importantly, promotes body acceptance.