How To Start Working Out With Your Menstrual Cycle
A quick-start guide to cycle-informed exercise that mirrors your hormones.
Your workout program should fit YOU, not the other way around.
One of the reasons you may not find many cyclical group fitness programs out there is that women will show up to each day in different cycle phases.
There is no one workout that will work for all women all the time. Which is why prescribed daily workouts can be a recipe for misalignment when they tempt you to hit the override button just so you can participate in a workout program.
I want to change that. I want you to experience complete fitness FREEDOM where you don’t feel pressured to adhere to extreme food and exercise strategies. Instead you get to BE YOU…whole, complete, and perfect exactly as you are. Every day of the month.
The bottom line is, your workout program should fit YOU, not the other way around.
This blog will cover all the different entry points for a cyclical fitness practice no matter which reproductive stage of life you are in. If I’ve missed you below, please reach out and let me know!
Start Working With Your Body
In this blog, you’ll find references to the lunae roadmap of exercise. You can checkout a huge selection of FREE workouts on the YouTube channel or jump into specific workout programs by joining the $5/month membership!
Premenstrual & Menstrual Phase
This covers the first and last few days of each cycle. If you’re in this transition period when starting a cyclical fitness practice, jump into the menstrual phase roadmap for a few days to get into the rhythm of daily movement and go with your FLOW.
See all menstrual phase workouts →
Follicular Phase
If your heaviest days of flow have passed and your energy is returning (on or around cycle day 3) get ready to GROW. This is the ideal time to start and you can jump into the follicular phase workouts now.
See all follicular phase workouts →
Ovulatory Phase
If you’re in the midst of your ovulatory transition, you have a few options to explore…
☀️ If ovulation is hitting you with high energy levels and bulletproof vibes, then you can jump into the ovulatory phase roadmap in GLOW mode. This comes with one caveat though: most of the ovulatory strength workouts represent a progression from the follicular phase workouts so starting in the ovulatory phase is sort of like jumping ahead. Please consider working through a few follicular phase workouts first or using only the low-impact alternatives for explosive exercises offered in the ovulatory roadmap.
See all ovulatory phase workouts →
🌙 If you’re feeling a little on the low energy side during your ovulatory phase, I recommend starting in the luteal phase roadmap from the beginning. This is a great entry point for becoming familiar with the different movement patterns and will help you stay well-resourced for your next cycle.
Luteal Phase
If you're in high-hormone territory, this is the absolute best time to get really comfortable in the SLOW training mode. Start the workouts in the luteal phase roadmap and be ready to switch to the menstrual phase toward the end of your cycle.
Irregular Cycle Length
For long (>35 days) or short cycles (<21 days), you can use the approach described above for REGULARLY MENSTRUATING and adjust the average length of each phase as needed. Try to get at least 3x strength days in each phase and you may repeat some of the workouts as appropriate.
Anovulatory Cycles & Missed Periods
If you are not ovulating regularly or you experience missed periods without pregnancy, you can approach the lunae roadmap in two ways:
💕 TWO-PHASE APPROACH: When energy levels are rising, jump into the follicular phase roadmap and use a two-phase workout cycle. Work hard for two weeks in performance mode (as you would in follicular and ovulatory phases) before shifting to lower intensity/recovery for two weeks in preservation mode (like luteal and menstrual).
🌙 MOVE BY THE MOON: Work with the moon cycle as a map where you build effort and intensity during the waxing phase from new moon to full moon. Then shift to lower-intensity workouts during the waning phase with rest or recovery practices around the new moon.
Please follow the guidance for REGULARLY MENSTRUATING or IRREGULAR CYCLES above. Now is a perfect time to implement positive body composition change and more importantly, to do it with less stress. It becomes even more critical that you’re sending the signal to your body that, “Hey, girl. We got this. All is safe and secure. Let’s procreate!” As body composition improves, that signal gets louder because your body stays well-resourced and strong.
Less stress is at the root of the cyclical strategy offered in the lunae roadmap of exercise AND many of the workouts are very challenging. Please be on the lookout for signs of excess stress (below) because this is your body telling you to slow down and can impact your chances of conception.
physical resistance or heaviness during workouts
lack of motivation to even show up in the first place
a decline in performance and stamina
hitting the wall or flatlining during workouts
chronic muscle soreness and fatigue
irregular body temperature changes
painful periods and PMS
slow healing from cuts or illness
difficulty concentrating or brain fog
irritability or unpredictable moods
If these start to creep up, know that you can hang out in the luteal phase all month, drop a set, or work with lighter weights to keep the intensity under control.
A note to anyone out there still waiting to be called, “mama,” I understand the heartache and I am here for YOU. Pregnancy does not always come easily and I want to be your pillar of support should you need one. 💌 Messages welcome.
First, take a moment to celebrate yourself for being here. Taking care of your body and building strength is one of the most solid parenting decisions you can make. If you haven’t already, please be sure to download the prenatal guide. In that guide, you’ll learn why pelvic floor and core integration are so important and you’ll get a series of daily practices that will help you with both.
If you’re using the workouts in the prenatal series, you can pick and choose depending on how you’re feeling on each day. You aren’t necessarily cycling, but your energy levels will ebb and flow and you can create your own movement rhythm accordingly.
Remember that your body is changing in wild and wonderful ways, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or post to the community to get input from other mamas. As always, it’s best to err on the side of being cautious.
As long as your doc has given the green light for exercise and you’re 6-12 weeks postpartum, you are good to go! In addition to checking out the phasic workouts in the roadmap, I recommend checking out the three daily practices below to support core and pelvic floor integration and alleviate new-mama muscle tension
In addition to those above, you’ll also find a few extra workouts designed specifically for new moms here.
Remember that pregnancy, labor & delivery represent some of the most intense physical work that a woman can do. Please resist the temptation to jump right back in where you may have left off before pregnancy. I suggest approaching any workout routine postpartum with a beginner mindset (see below) because exercise might feel very different after giving birth…take it slow and be ready to make any modifications your body needs.
Perimenopause is a prime time for muscle-building interventions that will support healthy body composition as you get closer to menopause. As you may already know, building muscle becomes increasingly more difficult when estrogen levels decline so you can set yourself up for greater longevity by starting with a healthy baseline of lean muscle mass while you’re still cycling. This is where the lunae workouts come in because they give you a solid strategy for developing muscle. Perimenopause can generally be categorized in two stages:
STAGE I is when your period is regular, but it’s changing i.e. getting shorter or longer. You still experience predictable phase shifts with your menstrual cycle, but you may need to adjust the length of each phase to mirror your new personal rhythm. You can follow the guidance provided in the REGULARLY MENSTRUATING section above with added discretion around energy levels. For example, if you’re feeling sluggish in your follicular phase, there’s no shame in jumping into the luteal roadmap for a few days!
STAGE II is when your period becomes irregular or unpredictable as a result of high, fluctuating estrogen and decreasing progesterone. You’ll experience more anovulatory cycles and less reliable phase shifts. If you fall into this category, please use the guidance in the IRREGULAR CYCLES section above.
You can also find a collection of workouts designed specifically for perimenopause here!
I am over the moon that you are here because as you may already know, building muscle in support of body comp change gets exponentially harder when estrogen is out of the picture. You have to train harder to signal what your hormones used to for insulin sensitivity and anabolic (building) processes. In other words, you need to provide a serious stimulus to promote muscle development. The good news is, you’re in the right place because these workouts do just that.
Please follow the guidance for working out with IRREGULAR CYCLES above to get started—either jumping into the follicular phase roadmap or aligning with the appropriate moon phase.
One of the most common mistakes in any new practice is implementing changes that are too drastic—we’ve all been there! You’re excited to get started. You have a solid plan in place. But when you take on too much, too soon, your efforts get derailed before you have a chance to build momentum.
If you’re new to strength training or you’ve been out of practice for a while, start with something that is challenging, but attainable. You want a workout that demands a solid effort, but won’t leave you too sore or too overwhelmed to continue. The lunae workouts have a lot to give even with little to no weight.
If you are currently on hormonal birth control, you will not experience the same four phases that occur in a natural menstrual cycle.
To get started, note where you are in your pill pack and jump into the workout calendar as follows:
Day 1-4 of active pills: follicular & ovulatory workouts *only if this follows an inactive week of pills! Also, it’s okay if you don’t get through all workouts in the first month.
Day 5-21 of active pills: luteal phase workouts *it’s okay to repeat some of these workouts!
Day 21-28 inactive pills: menstrual phase workouts
For a deep dive explanation, keep reading below!
You will likely have a very steady level of hormones during your active pill days containing a combination of synthetic estrogen and progestin. Either way, you’re in a comparatively high-hormone state for the 3 weeks of your active pill followed by a high- to low-hormone transition in the inactive week.
During the first few days of active pills (as long as they follow a week off), you will have slightly lower hormones and this is similar to the early follicular phase. This is a time when you can enjoy heavy, high-intensity sessions with better stamina and recovery.
After the first few days though, hormone levels increase quickly and you’ll spend the remainder of those 3 weeks of active pills in a high-hormone state that resembles the mid-luteal phase.
In the last week of sugar pills, your hormone levels will decline quickly and initiate the withdrawal bleed (not a period). This speedy transition from a high- to low-hormone state can mimic the premenstrual and menstrual phases when your body benefits from a similar downshift in body comp strategy and training.
What’s missing with birth control is ovulation and you won’t experience an estrogen surge without progesterone. In other words, you don’t really experience a state that resembles the ovulatory phase.
Instead, you can approach your training as having a mini-low-hormone (follicular) phase in the first few days of active pills, a high-hormone (luteal) phase for most of the time, and then a menstrual-like transition phase in the week of inactive pills.
Remember, ovulation drives a lot of the metabolic shifts that happen in a natural cycle and without it, your workout strategy won’t necessarily follow the lunae roadmap phase by phase because you aren’t cycling through a full performance arc each month. Additionally, the persistent high-hormone state can cause a somewhat blunted response to training and it may take a little longer to see results.
With a little creativity and the modifications listed above, you can still get so much out of the lunae roadmap!
I typically treat coming off HBC like having an irregular period at first. If you are not ovulating regularly or you experience missed periods without pregnancy, you can approach the lunae roadmap of exercise as described in the IRREGULAR CYCLES section above.
I’ll caveat that with the suggestion that you start looking for signs of ovulation to see if your body is attempting to 'cycle' again.
Start paying attention to energy levels and biomarkers as indicators of cyclical hormone fluctuation.
Be on the lookout for arousal in mind and body, egg white and plentiful cervical mucus, etc. to indicate that your body is trying to ovulate.
You might track your basal body temperature or better yet, test regularly to identify an LH surge. (You can get inexpensive test strips on Amazon!)
Even when ovulation (egg release) doesn’t happen, you can take advantage of this rising energetic time and jump into the follicular and ovulatory workouts.
Want to learn how to adjust your workouts to match your energy levels throughout the month?
Check out my 14-day cycle-syncing workshop for women who are burned out by exercise & want more from working out.
