How to Exercise On Your Period—Rest First, Then Work
A routine trip to the doctor’s office won’t give you much more than the most basic 101 on your menstrual cycle. Not to mention that the guidance for working out on your period is often overly simplified to: limit physical activity when symptoms are present or while bleeding. This can leave many of us confused on how to best support our bodies during what can be a very powerful time in the cycle.
This is the first post in a series where you’ll gain foundational knowledge about your period physiology and the changes you actually need to make when planning for menstrual phase workouts.
Ultimately, this blog series will help you adapt your fitness routine, food choices, and lifestyle to support pain-free periods without compromising your fitness goals. It might even help you get there faster.
Ready to get right into the workouts?
Skip ahead to a sample workout plan for the week of your period!
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The guidance included in this post is intended for active women participating in some form of regular resistance training and exercise.
Information in this post and on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. The information is a result of practice experience and research by the author. This information is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. Do not use the information on this web site for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always speak with your physician or another healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or using any treatment for a health problem. Description text goes here
When Your Period Hits—A Rough Start
For most of my adult life when my period arrived, it meant one of two things for working out. Either I skip my workout entirely or chase two Advil with a cup of coffee and push through. While the former is a perfectly reasonable way to meet your monthly flow—say hell yes to rest—the latter is problematic and often leads to worsening symptoms, disrupted sleep, and inadequate recovery. All of which start the cycle at a deficit.
Why is this transition period so challenging? The answer points to a sudden change in hormone levels.
A Drop In Hormones
In the absence of pregnancy, the key hormones that influence your menstrual rhythm—progesterone and estrogen—plummet to their lowest levels during the last few days of your cycle. It is this drop that signals the release of the uterine lining and the production of prostaglandins to assist in both contracting and relaxing the uterus to make a period happen. This drop is not only responsible for PMS, but is often the precursor to your period symptoms.
The shift from painful to happy periods doesn’t happen overnight. It may take several cycles of intentional food, movement, and lifestyle choices before you start to see improvements. Here’s how to navigate working out on your period to promote healthy flow, sooth symptoms, and continue on the path toward your fitness goals.
Go With The Flow
During the first few days of your period, the most supportive approach is to literally go with the flow. Feeling energized? Work out. Feeling fatigued? Enjoy a rest day. It’s that simple. If you’re someone who tends to feel better when you move your body, but you’re not in the mood for an all-out sweat session, lean into gentle practices like yoga or active rest to clear stagnation and keep energy flowing. Stay close to the ground and favor exercises that allow the pelvic floor to stay relaxed and grounded. The goal is to promote healthy flow and let gravity do its thing.
Promoting Relaxation Response
Cramps can promote healthy flow by helping to release the uterine lining as the uterus contracts. These cramps are not however, designed to be painful. In fact, when in balance the body produces two hormone-like chemicals that promote uterine relaxation and only one that causes contraction. This innate ratio tells us that relaxation is a vital component of healthy flow and perhaps more effective. For this reason it’s best to steer clear of the heavy lifting and high-intensity that demands pelvic floor contraction and stability during your heaviest flow days. Instead, facilitate the relaxation response with supported, restorative postures that allow your body to completely let go.
Alleviating Anxiety
Does the volume of your inner critic seem to get louder in the days leading up to your period? In premenstrual territory, everything can feel like a trigger and your confidence may find an all-time low. When we transition from the luteal phase to the menstrual phase, hormones plummet to their lowest levels and the sharp decline in estrogen causes a drop in serotonin, the feel-good hormone.
Less feel-good hormones = less feel-good feelings
This is when you can employ movement as self-care. It’s more than just exercise. Focus on calming practices that activate the parasympathetic response and promote a sense of ease. This is an opportune time for meditation and breathwork with time for journaling. As your energy levels return around day 3 or 4, you might find that leveling up the intensity can supply a steady flow of endorphins to combat mood disturbances.
Rest First, Then Work
When it comes to working out on your period, the best approach is to rest first so you can work hard later. Take it easy when energy dips and treat yourself to nourishing movement that soothes period discomfort. For many, this mindset shift can be challenging because a missed workout might come with some guilt or feelings of failure. The bottom line is, your rest days are of equal value to your work days. It’s where the change happens.
After enjoying a few recovery days during your heaviest flow, you can gradually add in mood-boosting strength work and low-impact cardio to improve circulation and help you tap the well of endorphins.
Takeaway ➞ During the first few days of your period, lean into the mantra "go with the flow." Listen to your body and enjoy grounding practices that promote relaxation, soothe anxiety, and elevate your mood.
The Low-Hormone Performance Window
While often associated with cramping and fatigue, the cyclical hormone dip that occurs during your period also opens a unique window of opportunity. If you ever needed another reason to work toward pain-free periods, the potential for building muscle and stamina during the menstrual phase is one of them.
The first 14-ish days of the cycle are what Dr. Stacy T. Sims refers to as the “low-hormone” phase in her complete guide to cycle-aligned training ROAR1. As hormones bottom out, our physiology more closely resembles that of our circadian male counterparts. This means we are primed for hard work. See why below.
More Efficient Carbohydrate Metabolism
During the menstrual and early follicular phases, carbohydrates are readily available to fuel muscles during exercise because the release of glycogen is not inhibited by estrogen and progesterone. When these hormones are elevated in the luteal phase, the body spares glycogen2 to store the life-giving nutrition necessary to support pregnancy.
Takeaway ➞ You might find it easier to hit the high-intensity mark during the low-hormone phase when your body isn’t being stingy with fuel stores.
Higher Blood Plasma Volume
With a higher plasma volume—more fluid in the blood—during the low-hormone phase3, the heart doesn’t have to work quite as hard to deliver thinner oxygenated blood to muscles during exercise. With plasma volume expansion, the body also experiences an improved thermoregulatory response to exercise. Sweating happens sooner and cooling is more efficient.
Takeaway ➞ The expansion in plasma volume can lead to better endurance and stamina.
Faster Recovery
In a 2019 study4 that evaluated the 24- and 72-hour recovery response in regularly menstruating women after exercise, researchers found that recovery improved in the low-hormone phase. With quicker recovery and higher resilience to physical stress, your period is a surprisingly perfect time for high intensity when matched with adequate energy levels. Anecdotally, this bump in energy happens around day three of the cycle for me after my heaviest flow day(s).
Takeaway ➞ Menstruating athletes can get away with pushing a little harder and taking advantage of faster recovery during the low-hormone phase.
Note: If you read the above and take exception to calling yourself an athlete, consider exercise physiologist Dr. Stacy T. Sims’ definition:
If you move your body on purpose, you’re an athlete.
Leverage Low-Hormone Physiology
Now that you understand the physiology of your menstrual phase, what does it look like to maximize your time in low-hormone territory? Once your heaviest flow days have passed—usually around day 3 or 4—it’s time to get to work. This doesn’t mean going from 0 to 60 right away, but it does mean turning up the intensity in the first week of your cycle. With a few good rest days in the bank, you should be ready to take on more challenging workouts without compromising your inner chemistry.
Move Heavy Things
With more efficient carbohydrate utilization and improved recovery, the menstrual phase is a great opportunity to challenge yourself with heavier weight to stimulate muscle growth. Focus on form and quality in split sessions to work upper and lower body muscle groups toward failure.
Add Power & Speed
With ready access to an easy fuel source, the low-hormone phase is also a good time for high intensity. Add power lifts and speed drills to your workouts to improve stamina and conditioning. This is a good time to incorporate short bursts of all-out effort into your strength sessions and shorten rest times between sets.
Takeaway ➞ After your heaviest flow days, take advantage of your low-hormone physiology in challenging workouts that move the needle toward your fitness and body composition goals.
Timing And Duration
With hormones dropping off and energy levels that may be slow to rise, stick to under an hour for menstrual phase workouts. Depending on the intensity of your session, fuel stores can generally support 30-45 minutes of sustained effort without dipping into resource depletion and excess stress. If you can swing a late-afternoon workout with a few nutrient-dense meals on board, this is ideal as it will promote quicker recovery and support higher intensity efforts. However, if mornings are your jam, be sure to grab a pre-workout snack and stick to 30 minutes or less. Your body is in a catabolic state upon waking and fasted training or overexertion can deepen the deficit when you push too hard.
Make Friends With Your Period
Ultimately, your relationship to exercise during your period is unique and one that will likely evolve over time. With an empowered mindset that holds the body in absolute reverence, you can approach workouts as self-care to preserve energy and navigate symptoms as they arise.
Ready to give this flow-friendly approach a try? Check out this 7-day workout plan for your menstrual phase! Or continue with the rest of this blog series below.
Are you ready to take the guesswork out of how and when to exercise with cycle-friendly workouts that help your hormones work for you?
Sims, Stacy T. Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life. Rodale.
Devries, M. C., Hamadeh, M. J., Phillips, S. M., & Tarnopolsky, M. A. (2006). Menstrual cycle phase and sex influence muscle glycogen utilization and glucose turnover during moderate-intensity endurance exercise. American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology, 291(4), R1120–R1128. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00700.2005
Hackney, A. C., Kallman, A. L., & Ağgön, E. (2019). Female sex hormones and the recovery from exercise: Menstrual cycle phase affects responses. Biomedical human kinetics, 11(1), 87–89. https://doi.org/10.2478/bhk-2019-0011
Aguree, S., Bethancourt, H. J., Taylor, L. A., Rosinger, A. Y., & Gernand, A. D. (2020). Plasma volume variation across the menstrual cycle among healthy women of reproductive age: A prospective cohort study. Physiological reports, 8(8), e14418. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14418
