#8: Cycle Syncing Decoded: The Not-So-Secret Schedule of the Female Body

My personal journey with going off the pill and learning to go with the flow again (pun-intended). Plus my two cents slash mini rant on The Cycle Syncing Method.

TLDR on Why I Stopped Taking Birth Control

Before I jump into the ins and outs of cycle syncing, you might be asking why I decided to go off my birth control pill. After listening to Dr. Stacy Sims’ podcast episode on female-specific exercise and nutrition recommendations on The Huberman Lab podcast channel, which mentioned the effects of oral contraceptives on athletic performance, I started doing some digging. Lo and behold, these pills that I have been popping for over eight years might not be so good for my gains. Dammit.

Some of you may have heard me rave about Lo Loestrin FE before. It was the third form of birth control I tried but the first to really work for me. Side effects? Nada. And look, I want to be clear that I still very much support the use of contraceptives (I mean, hello, I was on it for almost a decade). I loved the control it gave me over my body and my cycle, and all women should be entitled to that if they so wish.

But I also love fitness and performing at my best. I do fitness as a very very serious hobby, and I am probably in the top 1% of most competitive people you will ever meet. I care a lot about what I put into my body and the habits that affect my performance and recovery. So when I learned about the effects that oral contraceptives could have on athletic performance, it was kind of a no-brainer to stop taking it after finishing the current pack I was on. Which all brings me to my journey of tuning into my body’s natural hormonal cycle.

Cycle Syncing 101

Okay, let’s get into Cycle Syncing 101. Cycle syncing is basically a lifestyle approach that aligns your daily activities, diet, and self-care routines with the four phases of your menstrual cycle.

Cycle syncing is rooted in the concept of the infradian rhythm, a lesser-known but crucial biological timekeeper in the female body. While the circadian rhythm operates on a 24-hour cycle, the infradian rhythm follows a longer pattern, typically aligning with the menstrual cycle. Female bodies have this additional bodily rhythm that influences multiple bodily systems, including the brain, metabolism, immune system, microbiome, stress response, and reproductive system. Cycle syncing takes advantage of this natural rhythm, encouraging women to align their activities, diet, and self-care practices with the different phases of their menstrual cycle. By understanding and working with these natural rhythms, cycle syncing aims to optimize your wellness and productivity.

Cycle syncing was popularized in the early 2010s by Alisa Vitti, a women's hormone expert and functional nutritionist. Vitti introduced the idea in her 2013 book "WomanCode: Perfect Your Cycle, Amplify Your Fertility, Supercharge Your Sex Drive, and Become a Power Source." The book also introduces her proprietary cycle syncing protocol, the Cycle Syncing Method. Although Vitti brought cycle syncing into the mainstream, the idea of aligning life with menstrual cycles has been present in various forms throughout history. Many cultures have long honored menstrual cycles and incorporated cycle-awareness into their practices.

The Four Phases

Let’s start with the basics: the four phases of your menstrual cycle and their defining characteristics. If you do not currently track your cycle, there are many free (and paid) apps for it. I personally use Clue because 1) it is free to use and 2) I am happy with the simple period tracking features it offers and do not feel a need to pay a premium for Flo or other apps (especially since I use and pay for other apps to track other health and fitness-related biometrics).

• Menstrual Phase: Days 1-5 (approximately)

  • Hormones are at their lowest

  • This is when you get your period!

• Follicular Phase: Days 6-14

  • Estrogen begins to rise

  • Energy increases

• Ovulatory Phase: Days 15-17

  • Estrogen peaks, testosterone rises

  • These are the days where you are most likely to get pregnant

  • High energy

• Luteal Phase: Days 18-28

  • Progesterone rises, then both estrogen and progesterone fall

  • Longest phase of your cycle

  • Energy decreases

  • High likelihood of PMS symptoms and bloating

Cycle Syncing Considerations for Exercise and Nutrition

What does this all mean for exercise and nutrition? Alisa Vitti argues that because women’s hormone levels are changing throughout the month, so diet and exercise routines shouldn’t be the same every single day. The Cycle Syncing Method calls for the following:

• Follicular and Ovulation Days

  • Your cortisol levels are lower

  • Your metabolism is slower and your body needs fewer calories

  • Do HIIT and cardio workouts for fat-burning and lean muscle building

• Luteal and Menstrual Days

  • Cortisol levels are higher

  • Your metabolism is faster and your body needs more calories

  • Doing higher-intensity workouts can increase inflammation and lead to fat gain, so limit workouts to 30 minutes or less of low-intensity strength, pilates, or yoga

My Two Cents

Okay, so the concept of cycle syncing to your infradian rhythm logically makes sense — it isn’t too different from aligning our sleep schedules to our daily circadian rhythms. The recommendations for exercise are where I beg to disagree.

First of all, there is so much evidence supporting the benefits of consistent strength, true high-intensity and Zone 2 training for women, so why are women being encouraged to workout less for half of their cycle? I also do not appreciate the fixation on fat and doing certain workouts to “burn fat” or “avoid fat gain”. Spoiler alert, your fat cells do not get “burned” — they grow or shrink depending on caloric intake relative to your metabolism. You body also does not exclusively use fat for energy and contains different types of fat cells, including brown fat which is actually good for your health and metabolism. It is 2024, can we collectively agree to shift our fitness goals to gaining muscle mass and increasing VO2 max?

Secondly, as with most clinical research on women’s health, I have not seen sufficient or conclusive evidence on The Cycle Syncing Method’s recommendations for exercise. Every body is different, and not every woman’s body is on a 28-day cycle. Also, isn’t it kind of impossible to know the exact levels of each hormone in your unique body on a given day? How can you pinpoint exactly when your exercise and eating habits should shift?

Lastly, I do not like (that is too soft, the truth is I despise) how this contributes to the misogynist ideas that women should workout less than men because of our hormones and that women should be governed by their hormones. I would pay money to see Alisa Vitti tell Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky that, for half of the month every month, they should limit workouts to 30 minutes or less of low-intensity strength or pilates to avoid triggering fat storage.

However, as much as I dislike the Cycle Syncing Method’s fixation on fat metabolism (FYI, the scientifically correct term), I have taken a few things away from the concept of cycle syncing that I have incorporated into my routine:

1. The first is noticing differences in energy levels during my cycle and giving myself some grace during the luteal and menstrual phases. If I am doing my best and still not hitting my target paces or putting out quality reps, I might take a set or two off my threshold runs, erg work, or strength sessions. This also means during my follicular and ovulation phases I really crank out those workouts, do the extra credit work, give it my 100%.

2. The second is eating more protein and complex carbs during my luteal and mentraul phase. As an intuitive eater, this happens somewhat naturally because I eat based on my hunger levels. But it’s helpful to know that my body really does need that extra fuel during these days.

3. The third and final takeaway is avoiding the scale during my luteal and menstrual phase. As someone who has had an eating disorder in the past, I know how fixated I can get on any weight gain, even when I know weight is just a number and any significant jumps are likely just water. I would like to stay blissfully ignorant of whatever 2 to 5 pounds of bloating I gain during this time, thank you very much.

So here is my final takeaway. Listen to your body, and do what works and feels right for you. Until there is more conclusive research on the benefits of cycle syncing, I won’t be limiting my workouts during my luteal and menstrual phase to 30 minutes of hot yoga.

Get strong, stay humble. ✨

Carina