Should you train around your cycle?

Cycle syncing is everywhere right now. Lift heavy this week, only walk that week, don’t you dare do a squat during your luteal phase. I understand why it’s appealing. It feels like finally, someone is taking our bodies seriously.

I want that too. So let’s look at what the research actually says.

What the evidence shows

A 2023 umbrella review looked at five systematic reviews on cycle phase and strength. The findings were all over the place, and a lot of the underlying studies didn’t even properly confirm which phase women were in. The authors’ conclusion: it’s premature to say that the short-term hormone changes across your cycle meaningfully affect your strength or your long-term gains. [1]

That doesn’t mean your cycle doesn’t affect you. It means there isn’t good evidence for a one-size-fits-all rulebook that tells every woman to train a certain way in a certain phase.

What we do instead

In WITHIN, you adjust to how you actually feel that day, not to what an app says you should feel:

• Feeling good? Follow the plan as written.
• Tired, crampy, or stretched thin? Do fewer sets, or stay at the bottom of the rep range.
• Sick or wiped out? Walk, stretch, or rest. Pick back up next session.

Your cycle is one input. So is your sleep, your stress, your kids being up at 3 a.m., and that week where everything is due at once. All of it counts.

If your symptoms are severe or getting in the way of your life, that’s worth bringing to your healthcare provider. You deserve real answers, not just a workout tweak.

Sources

1. Colenso-Semple LM, D’Souza AC, Elliott-Sale KJ, Phillips SM. Current evidence shows no influence of women’s menstrual cycle phase on acute strength performance or adaptations to resistance exercise training. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. 2023;5:1054542. doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1054542