The Menstrual Cycle, Fat Loss and Strength Training
Introduction
The menstrual cycle.
This article will reveal how the menstrual cycle can impact your fitness journey.
Because the potential differences are too significant to ignore, and we are going to specifically cover the following:
How the menstrual cycle impacts weight training.
How it affects fat loss goals.
Because being unaware of these could lead you to blame a lack of results on "willpower," resulting in you beating yourself up for natural bodily functions - which isn't fair.
So, whether you, your partner or even your best mate has a menstrual cycle, keep reading.
Because this article could be the game changer you've been looking for.
What is the Menstrual Cycle?
Many people, primarily those who don't experience a menstrual cycle, think it just consists of "one bad week" - and that's it. Although that couldn't be more inaccurate.
According to R, Laurie (2022), "The menstrual cycle is not just a period. It's a chain of activities in the brain, ovaries, and uterus linked to hormones. The cycle is divided into two smaller cycles: the uterine and ovarian cycles."
This entire process typically lasts for 28 days. Starting on the first day of the period and ending on the last day before the next period begins.
Image from helloclue.com
What Are the Different Phases of the Menstrual Cycle?
Let's zoom in on each section.
The different phases are:
The follicular phase is roughly the first two weeks.
Ovulation lasts a few days between the follicular phase and the luteal phase. This is the most fertile phase.
The luteal phase is more or less the last two weeks.
Now let's go into more depth.
Follicular Phase Week 1:
The follicular phase is generally the best time to take advantage of how your body and hormones work regarding fat loss and resistance training.
This is because the follicular phase is the ideal time to be in a calorie deficit. Because, unlike the luteal phase, cravings generally aren't as high (more on this later).
The body can also typically tolerate more volume when it comes to strength training, as well as "normal" levels of body coordination and a lower injury rate. This makes the follicular phase the ideal starting point - as long as you're not the "I'll start on Monday" type of person.
Follicular Phase Week 2:
The second phase of the cycle is similar to the first, with the same benefits, e.g., appetite is lower when compared to the luteal phase, the ability to handle more volume, etc.
It's also worth mentioning that an exciting study by Sung, 2014:
With a total of 20 females.
At an average age of 26.
All participants had no prior experience with resistance training.
Had regular 28-day menstrual cycles, give or take two days.
Participants trained four times weekly for three menstrual cycles, doing single-leg leg presses and single-leg squats. Each participant trained one leg 8 eight times in the follicular phase and twice in the luteal phase. Then trained the other leg eight times in the luteal phase and twice in the follicular phase.
After three months of consistently training four times a week, the outcome showed that the leg trained eight times within the follicular phase gained more strength and increased muscle cross-sectional area.
All of this with total volume matched on both legs.
This could be a coincidence - although you'll find that other studies on the menstrual cycle and resistance training generally point in a similar direction.
Such as another study by Wikstrom-Frisen, 2017, had two equal groups of 19 women perform high-frequency leg resistance training for two weeks of each menstrual cycle for four months. In the remaining part of the cycle, they completed leg training once a week.
Overall results show that although everyone completed 48 workouts, the group who performed most of their training volume in the follicular phase gained the most lean body mass.
Interesting, right? Let's go into more depth about the luteal phase.
Luteal Phase Week 1:
To continue on the subject of resistance training, studies show that a slight drop in coordination may occur. As handling free weights requires more coordination, switching to resistance machines could be ideal, e.g., a leg press, lat pulldown, or machine row.
When it comes explicitly to nutrition and fat loss, the hormone progesterone increases during this phase, too, meaning that cravings and appetite tend to be higher.
For example, an exciting study by Pliner in 1983, measuring food preference and caloric intake in 34 females, showed that significantly more calories were eaten on average within the luteal phase (2013 kcal daily) compared to the follicular phase (1790 kcal daily).
A study by Barr in 1995 also echoes a similar theme, where 42 women showed an average consumption increase of 305 calories more within the luteal phase.
This means fat loss-related goals can be tougher to stick to during the final two phases of the menstrual cycle.
Frustrating? Perhaps, but only if you let it be because there are ways to work around this, which will be covered later.
Luteal Phase Week 2:
For the final week of the luteal phase, the same average increase in calorie consumption is also witnessed. So I'm not repeating the nutrition findings - let's go into more depth about the resistance training side of things for the luteal phase.
To expand on the studies by Sung, 2014 and Wikstrom-Frisen, 2017, the noticeable difference between the follicular phase and the luteal phase in terms of strength and improvements means that the final week of the luteal phase could be the ideal time to drop weight and volume and aim for more of a "deload" week.
This is because it's likely a relatively "weaker" time on average*, with more focus on resistance machines perhaps being a good idea.
Pro tip: what's a deload?
Put simply, a deload week is when you reduce the volume at the gym by doing fewer sets and reducing the weight by about 50% across all exercises. This helps you recover for the next few weeks of training.
Pro tip: averages* from studies:
Remember, because studies may report that this is the likely scenario when looking at averages, you are an individual, not an average.
Practical Examples of How You'd Potentially Work Alongside the Menstrual Cycle for Both Fat Loss and Strength Training
At a glance, it's easy to think "follicular phase = good" and the "luteal phase = bad."
Here's the thing:
Although studies show it may be a more challenging time regarding strength training and fat loss, the menstrual cycle serves many other vital purposes outside this article's discussion.
You can still make progress. You're about to learn ways to work alongside your menstrual cycle to keep progressing.
These are what studies report as the average across sample sizes. Again, you as an individual are not an average.
So, How Would You Specifically Work Alongside Your Menstrual Cycle for Fat Loss?
If we take into account the findings from Pliner, 1982, and Barr, 1995, and work alongside the average 300-calorie increase in appetite, then it could be a good idea to spend the follicular phase in a calorie deficit, and then once the luteal phase begins, shift to maintenance.
"But I don't want to spend two weeks in maintenance. I want fat loss progress now!"
Here's what you need to remember: A diet you can stick to for two weeks every month trumps a diet you can never stick to.
Because with the calorie increase, chances are, your consistency levels will also increase, and you'll have a much easier time making long-term progress. 300 calories could come in the form of 3 pieces of fruit.
Another game changer for how you monitor fat loss could be how you track your data, e.g., scale weight, measurements, etc.
For example, it's likely that right now you're comparing your weight on Monday and then expecting it to go down on Tuesday, which is a terrible idea because fat loss doesn't happen that quickly, and perhaps more sensibly, however, still not ideal, you're comparing your measurements on back to back weeks too - which is also fast.
So, what if you compared your scale weight in averages and compared it month to month? For example, compare your average scale weight for the first week of your luteal phase in month one to your average scale weight for the first week of your luteal phase in month two.
This means you're comparing scale weight and monitoring progress within the same time between each cycle rather than at random times. For example, the poor idea of comparing week 2 of your luteal phase to week 2 of your follicular phase is less reliable.
Pro tip:
So, How Would You Specifically Work Alongside Your Menstrual Cycle for Resistance Training?
Firstly, as mentioned before, switching to more machine-based exercise or starting a deload during the luteal phase could be a brilliant idea.
Another great option yet to be mentioned is that focusing on consistency goals for these two weeks is also brilliant.
Such as putting your focus and energy towards your daily and weekly behaviours, such as:
Hitting your calorie and protein targets.
Getting in 3 workouts weekly.
Eating X amount of fruit and veg a day.
To name a few.
Why? Because the outcome of whatever fitness goal you set for yourself will likely be dictated by how ruthlessly consistent you are with the above, or at least similar.
More specific examples include:
Being consistent with a 7,500 daily step goal.
Accurately track calories by 100 calories, give or take.
Work out 3 to 5 times weekly.
Be 85-95% consistent with these three things by the end of each month.
Although more important than this, one last point should be mentioned.
The Potential Issue
Before finishing, there's a potential issue that needs to be addressed.
Firstly, it's not hard to imagine that it could be straightforward to let the stages of your cycle dictate everything you do regarding fat loss and training. Although, as mentioned before, you're not an average, you're an individual - meaning there will be individual variances in how you respond.
It could also be easy for people deemed to have authority within the fitness industry to sell menstrual cycle-based training plans telling you, "During your luteal phase, you should be training X way, then during your follicular phase, you should train in Y manner."
Which would be an effortless money-making scheme for unethical people.
Here's the thing; what if you're in week 1 of your follicular phase, a.k.a, when you're supposedly at your strongest, and a workout plan is telling you to max out your lifts?
But then, you also had a poor sleep last night? Or you've had a super stressful day at work?
With the plan now causing you to ignore the other signs your body is giving you purely because you think you have to train in a specific manner at a particular time of the month just because a plan is telling you to.
So instead of getting super caught up with specifics, ask yourself this question; How do you feel right now? Do you feel good? Do you have energy?
Because studies and reports can and should be used as guidelines, but they shouldn't go beyond just guidelines. These guidelines could, for example, work very well 80% of the time, but if, on the other 20%, you've been sleeping terribly, lost your job, or not eating too well - then you certainly shouldn't be trying to max out lifts.
Because nothing is as important as how you feel right now and you personally react within your cycle. That overrides anything and everything else.
To Summarise
The trends are evident across the many different studies, which you'd do well to take into account when it comes to your own training, nutrition, and fat loss goals, e.g., you're likely going to be stronger and make more gains within your luteal phase, as well as generally being hungrier within your follicular phase.
As said before, use these as valuable guidelines because, yes, your hormones go through cycles, but the complexity and the context of your life change daily.
Ultimately, your best bet is to become your own scientist and see what specifically works for you regarding the combination of fat loss and resistance training during the menstrual cycle.
Potentially even use a menstrual cycle tracking app such as Clue or Flo to see how you feel at different points in your cycle.
It may take some trial and error at first, but that's okay - with time, you'll start to notice trends and patterns, and eventually, you will have a good idea of what works for you.
Conclusion
I'm not a "menstrual cycle expert"; I'm an online personal trainer keen to learn more about how I can help my Kairos Online members and potentially even you.
To inquire about online coaching with me at Kairos Online, click here to get started and fill out the form.
I’m excited to hear from you.
Speak soon,
Leo
P.S. Share this on your social media with family and friends; I'd deeply appreciate it!