Implications of the menstrual cycle on performance

With a growing participation of women in exercise working on the quest to become jacked, the need to understand the implications of the menstrual cycle on performance has become more important than ever.

Unfortunately however, at this point in time we have more questions than answers, because most of the research is poor in quality–and as always– more rigorous work is needed. Additionally, inter-variability of the cycle and individual perceptual responses differ, making it difficult to draw conclusions and suggest specific cycle-related approaches for training.

Interestingly, evidence does exist that suggests potential performance variations during different phases of the menstrual cycle, however, the methods utilized in many studies to determine the phases of the menstrual cycle have been found to be unreliable. Moreover, not all research indicates significant performance changes across the menstrual cycle’s span.

Based on cumulative (available) evidence, it seems that the menstrual cycle’s effects on performance are trivial and likely not more important than monitoring other variables such as nutrition, recovery, sleep and better programming.

For this reason, current recommendations suggest to make changes on exercise only if noticeable differences in performance are consistently observed during specific phases (that can positively or negatively affect performance). In that cases, personalized changes in the program are advised.

On the other hand, if an individual doesn’t perceive significant variances throughout the cycle, adhering to a standard progressive training regimen will suffice.