Categories: Entertainment

Cycle-Based Training: Why Strength Training Before Ovulation is Most Effective

class=”sc-29f61514-0 dXbCZE”>

Michelle Gisin (29) during the slalom race in El Tarter (Andorra) in March 2023. The athlete trains in accordance with his own cycle.
Jana GigerEditor Service

Because he coordinated his training with his cycle, he was able to get more out of his individual training sessions. So writes ski racer Michelle Gisin (29) in her Swiss Olympics blog post. Three years ago, at the age of 26, many Olympic champions began to study the effect of the female cycle on their performance in sports. It’s too late, she thinks.

This statement is not surprising, says Sibylle Matter Brügger (50), sports physician and senior doctor at the Sports Medicine Center Medbase in Bern. For a long time, scientists mainly analyzed athletes and transferred their research results to female athletes. It is not taken into account that adjustments are meaningful in training for women. “Female-specific topics, such as the menstrual cycle, still receive little attention in sports science.”

According to experts, women have a lot of energy before ovulation, which positively affects endurance training.

While the male hormone balance remains constant, the hormone concentration in the body changes during the menstrual cycle in women. Matter Brügger says this has a strong impact on the performance of many women. Recreational athletes can also take advantage of different cycle phases and train according to their natural energy levels.

A prerequisite for cycle-based education is that women use nonhormonal birth control and document their cycles; that is, note when their periods are and approximately when ovulation occurs. This can be easily recorded using various applications.

In principle, a distinction is made between three phases in cycle-based training:

1. During your period (day 1 to day 7): Abdominal or back pain may occur during menstruation. “If this is the case, you should either skip training altogether or opt for calmer sports,” says Matter Brügger. Yoga and gentle stretching can have a relaxing effect. According to the expert, if you feel comfortable in this cycle phase, there is no need to adjust your training.

Advert
The chart shows the natural hormonal fluctuations during a woman’s menstrual cycle.

2. Before ovulation – follicular phase (around day 7 to 14): This phase is ideal for strength exercises because estrogen dominates progesterone. “Estrogen causes muscles to adapt better to the training stimulus and recover faster,” says Matter Brügger. Athletes usually have a lot of energy and can train intensely and with high weights during this phase. According to experts, women who do endurance training during this phase often feel more productive, although this has not yet been scientifically proven.

3. After ovulation – luteal phase (day 15 to day 28): “At this stage, the muscles regenerate a little less,” says Matter Brügger. Therefore, it makes sense to slightly reduce the training intensity and focus on maintaining strength rather than training with maximum weight. Some women struggle with various problems during their next menstrual period. “They are less mentally resilient and get angry more easily,” says Matter Brügger. Others have fluid retention, chest pain, or digestive problems.

More about sports and the female cycle
5 errors during regeneration
Can I exercise despite muscle pain?
With herbs and exercise
This is how you naturally regulate your hormone balance

external content
Would you like to see this additional content (Tweet, Instagram, etc.)? If you agree to the setting of cookies and the transmission of data to external providers, you can allow all cookies and view external content directly.

Source : Blick

Share
Published by
Malan

Recent Posts

Terror suspect Chechen ‘hanged himself’ in Russian custody Egyptian President al-Sisi has been sworn in for a third term

On the same day of the terrorist attack on the Krokus City Hall in Moscow,…

1 year ago

Locals demand tourist tax for Tenerife: “Like a cancer consuming the island”

class="sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc">1/4Residents of Tenerife have had enough of noisy and dirty tourists.It's too loud, the…

1 year ago

Agreement reached: this is how much Tuchel will receive for his departure from Bayern

class="sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc">1/7Packing his things in Munich in the summer: Thomas Tuchel.After just over a year,…

1 year ago

Worst earthquake in 25 years in Taiwan +++ Number of deaths increased Is Russia running out of tanks? Now ‘Chinese coffins’ are used

At least seven people have been killed and 57 injured in severe earthquakes in the…

1 year ago

Now the moon should also have its own time (and its own clocks). These 11 photos and videos show just how intense the Taiwan earthquake was

The American space agency NASA would establish a uniform lunar time on behalf of the…

1 year ago

This is how the Swiss experienced the earthquake in Taiwan: “I saw a crack in the wall”

class="sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc">1/8Bode Obwegeser was surprised by the earthquake while he was sleeping. “It was a…

1 year ago