The Healthy Post Natal Body Podcast
The Healthy Post Natal Body Podcast
FTV The Truth About Cycle Syncing And Smarter Training
From the Vault this week a timely episode on cycle syncing.
You're going to see a lot of ads for fitness programs over the next month or so, that's what January always brings, and I thought this episode where I go over some of the claims made by people selling you programs might be useful.
Is cycle syncing the next big breakthrough in fitness, or just another marketing gimmick?
Should you really only do weight training or HIIT for 2 weeks per month and does that really increase strength by 15% more than consistently doing it?
What about adjusting your diet to "balance your hormones"?
I have been on a quest to get my hands on the studies your favourite cycle-sync app/websites claim they have done and discuss what I have found.
At least one website regularly makes claims about studies that directly contradicts what the study actually said so..it does not bode well.
But tune in now to see if there's anything behind the hype, and find out what you should be doing.
Here is the blog post I referred to and here is the link to the actual study they butchered.
As always; HPNB only has 5 billing cycles.
So this means that you not only get 3 months FREE access, no obligation!
BUT, if you decide you want to do the rest of the program, after only 5 months of paying $10/£8 a month you now get FREE LIFE TIME ACCESS! That's $50 max spend, in case you were wondering.
Though I'm not terribly active on Instagram and Facebook you can follow us there. I am however active on Threads so find me there!
And, of course, you can always find us on our YouTube channel if you like your podcast in video form :)
Visit healthypostnatalbody.com and get 3 months completely FREE access. No sales, no commitment, no BS.
Email peter@healthypostnatalbody.com if you have any questions, comments or want to suggest a guest/topic
Playing us out; "Survive" by Gee Smiff
Welcome to the Plus Native Podcast of the Plus Manitax as always with me. This is the podcast for the 7th of December 2025. I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet, so I'm a little bit of a episode from the vault about cycle thinking. Sorry if I hiss there. But I did not get any evidence from many of the companies that said they were gonna send any of the studies they have that showed that cycle syncing works. So I think it's important because you know the the in the run-up to the new year, you're going to see more fitness programs coming out. And if you're considering buying a cycle syncing related program, you need to know this stuff before you spend your hard-earned money. Peter at healthyplusnentalbody.com, by the way, right? If you have any questions or comments, or you want to send me the magic study that I have not seen yet that says that it works. I have seen many to the tool I didn't read, I've seen many that says it don't. Uh it doesn't. Um yeah, where can I go through all the ins and outs? So here we go. This is a podcast for the 11th of August 2024, the final day of the Olympics, and I am a busy, busy bee. Not because I'm at the Olympics, you know, it's not related, I'm just a busy bee. Um for the last few weeks, as some of you who follow me on Fred's, well know I have been trying to get an episode out about cycle syncing. Um basically adjusting your workouts to the cycle stages of your of your menstrual cycle. Um so it was it was quite difficult to get this episode out. Apologies for the waffling. Um, it was quite difficult to get this episode out because I was sending out a lot of emails to people who say they've done studies to uh websites, websites who sell cycle syncing programs and cycle syncing apps and all that uh type of stuff, who made various claims. So I sent out loads of emails. And I heard back from one or two of them saying, yeah, we can't uh we can't give you this study yet, but we can give it to you at a later stage. And you know, we're now much, much in the later stages, and uh and they still can't provide it. So I'll just I'll just have to say, okay, I'll I'll have to work with the evidence I've got. Um I really did try. And basically every website that said that, if every company that said they'd done a study into stuff, uh I said, hey, could you send me a copy of that study, please? Because you know, you're making one or two claims on your website, and I I'm I'm I'm really desperate to to find out whether this works or not. Um, of course, I have an idea whether it does or not. But if you have evidence that says to the contrary, that that's that says that what you are selling is working, then I would really, really like to see it. Because, you know, that's the way that's the way we do it. I want to give you guys the the best information possible, right? So uh, like I said, I've I don't have as much information as I would like to have had. Um I haven't seen all the studies. If if someone sends sends me the studies in the next couple of weeks, I can always come back to it uh at a later stage. But I'm just presenting this as we currently know it. And that is, you know, there are quite a few studies out there that that that say one or two things about this, but whether it backs up the claims of these companies is a different matter. So that's what that's what I'm talking about today. Should you do yoga during the Luzial phase? And should you just have rest days during a period? And should you only do weightlifting during your follicular phase and that type of stuff? That's what we're talking about. So basically, does it work? Is it nonsense? What's the evidence that you should do different types of workouts during different times of the month? And should you change your diet to accommodate that? Or, you know, air quotes, stabilize your hormones. Um, those are genuinely things that I've come across, and I'll give some examples. So basically, I'm not going to teach you to talk eggs too much. I assume when you're listening to this, you know, you know what a period is, and you know what your menstrual cycle are, but is um you probably have a good idea about now. So the cycle stages are the benzes, your period, uh, the follicular stage, the ovulation stage, and the luteol stage. Right. Now I'm not going to go too much into what each phase is because it's not that impurp that important for the purpose of what we're discussing. And you know, you have Google. Um, but just know that the concentration of uh when we're talking hormones, that's what cycle thinking is based on, right? So the concentration of estrogen and progesterone changes during each phase. So technically, what people are saying is well, if your hormones change, then that means you'll get more of a benefit from certain types of exercises during different stages. That is that is kind of what where the cycle sinking thing comes from. You know, so technically, for instance, there's an argument for saying that during the follicular phase, so the period after your um after after your period, after your period, when when your estrogen and progesterone is higher, you get more of a benefit from strength training. Technically. Most people also have more energy during that phase, so you're capable of doing more intense exercise. So again, technically, you could say, oh, that's when you should do high intensity interval training and you should do heavy lifting. Right? Um, that is kind of what what it's what it's based on. Uh what the whole theory of cycle syncing is is kind of based on. We'll come across some issues, right? The first one, of course, with the first issue with cycle syncing is, and there are several, is it assumes everything is a 28-day period, right? You have to do this or the the weekly workout thing doesn't work, right? So you have to tell people uh for the the seven-day period during your uh during the follicular phase after your period, when your period is finished, you go into the follicular phase. Those seven days, that's when you do HIT, that's when you do heavy lifting and all that sort of stuff. Then you move into the ovulation phase, and that seven weeks you do X, Y, Z, and during the luteo phase, blah blah blah. And during your voices, during the the week of your period, so to speak, so during the Menceses phase, the Mences phase, you should do things like yoga and stretching and and and and all that type of stuff. Now, as you might be aware from the tone of my voice, I don't have a period. I don't have a menstrual cycle. However, I have been married to someone who at least used to have them, because we're a bit older now, right? And as most, if not all women will know, menstrual cycles don't have a strict 28-day uh straight uh 28-day cycle. Right? So that's a bit of a pickle. You can't really break it down easily into weeks. Um for instance, it is not at all uncommon for uh the the menstrual demstruation phase to last between you know three to seven days, and then the follicular phase could be 13 to 14 days. So you you already see what what the issue there is. There isn't a it's not an easy week by week period. That makes it a little bit tricky. Also, everyone's like I said, everyone's cycle is is different. The average length of a menstrual cycle is 28 days, but teenagers, for instance, have much longer cycles. Uh, people in the 20s and 30s that have a cycle that could be anywhere between 28 to 30 odd days, right? So the the trackers already, by their very definition, don't really work. Um you know, so unless you're wearing like a physical tracker that measures your hormone levels and all that sort of stuff, you can't just assume that you know uh a following a weekly routine based on on the periods, uh on when your last period was, because that's usually how you how you then then measure it, or when your last period started, uh, will actually work, right? That's a bit of a pickle uh for all these all these apps that are out there. Now, just because the body responds more to strength training during a certain phase, in this case, um during the follicular phase, right, that doesn't mean it doesn't respond during the other phases. Right? And quite often what you see with these things is they say, and I'll come across these, uh I'll I'll maybe link to one or two of the companies that are making these claims uh a little bit to give you the example. And it's not to throw them under the bus. But let's just say uh they're making these claims that say, you know, your strength training is better during the follicular phase or the period just straight after your um straight after your period. Um and therefore that's why you should do strength training because your body responds better. But that doesn't mean it doesn't respond during the other phases, right? It doesn't it makes zero sense to say that strength training is useless for three weeks of the month because we know that isn't true, and of course, it doesn't also make no sense to only strength train for a week out of each month. Any personal trainer will tell you this it makes no sense to only do strength training one week or two weeks out of the month and then take two whole weeks off from strength training, because uh then you would hardly notice any gains and any any improvement because the following month and the month after, because you're constantly taking two to three weeks off from strength training. And and the best way to get any results is to keep showing up, right? So the idea that you should only do certain types of training during certain phases in itself is is kind of nonsensical. Right now, obviously, the good apps would say no, you you do it differently. Any good personal trainer who works with women knows this, by the way. Right? What you do is is you don't adjust the type of exercise based on on the phase you're in, you uh adjust the type of exercise and the intensity of the exercise based on the energy levels of your client. Right? So if for instance I work with a client and I know that she always has a heavy period and is always completely drained, yeah, then I'm not gonna have her do huge squats. Well, we'll take it a little bit easier, we'll we'll take it back a little bit. So, because her body's already working really hard to get through uh to get through that that period. So she's already drained. I'm not going to add to that, but it doesn't mean she can't do any lifting. It just means we do different things, right? So instead of heavy squats, we'll do a little bit more arm work and all that sort of stuff. And we do it a bit lighter and all that sort of thing. So the recovery isn't as intense. Now, um where was I? So of course there's an overlap of energy, right, during the follicular phase and the ovulation phase, and uh, and you're likely to have more energy for like a two-week period. I'm just uh highlighting that it doesn't make sense to change your type of training for a prolonged period every month. That's kind of that's kind of what I'm saying. What you want to change really is your training intensity, but you should do that anyways, right? I know a lot of a lot of my clients, at least, but a lot of you have issues sleeping and all that sort of stuff. Then I always recommend to not train as hard when you haven't had a decent night's sleep or you're just tired and and all that sort of stuff. That should be the norm. That should not be dependent on air quotes, which phase you're in. It makes it doesn't make any sense to take that approach saying, oh, I haven't slept well today, I'm rather tired, but I'm in my follicular phase, I need to really hit it hard. Right? Because my cycle sync tracker says so, or the cycle sync website says so. Now we have the question, of course, what a lot of uh what a lot of these apps and websites say is yeah, but also depending on the phase you're in, you need to balance your hormones by changing your diet. And and can you actually do that? Is is is a is a question that I was asked once. And again, I've had a look for this, but there's very little evidence that it helps. And again, it doesn't really make any sense to do so. But I I always feel that you know the first step of the the grift, I call it, with between echoes, with home uh between air quotes with with hormone balance coaches is by asking you to do something and change something quite often and make that free and natural air quotes again thing as difficult as possible. So they they can then say, you know, ah, if it doesn't work for you, it's too hard, you know, you can buy my supplement, or at least it's your fault if it fails. Asking people to eat different foods to based on the time of the month that they're in, is you know, you're basically saying to women, uh, during the follicular phase, you really want to eat kale. So, you know, that week you're eating more kale and green leafy vegetables, and during the ovulation phase, you have a bit more root vegetables, or whatever you do. Uh that makes again, it just doesn't make any sense. It doesn't balance anything for one. Right? Your cycle is your cycle. Um if you were to completely balance your estrogen and your progesterone and uh and all that sort of stuff for an entire month, you will you wouldn't have a cycle. Right? The concentration of this, I said this at the beginning, the concentration of your estrogen and progesterone changes in each phase. So if you're balancing that out and you level that out for a month, you end up like a CrossFit person who never has a period anymore. And that is not saying CrossFit people don't have their periods anymore, but you but you know what I'm saying. And that is fine if if you're like, you know, there was uh was it Rachel, Rachel Pujetnik, uh who said something on Fred. I'm fairly sure it was her, um about elite-level athletes and missing their periods and and and all that sort of stuff. Um she's a wonderful um PhD that you should definitely follow on Fred, by the way. But she does a lot about uh menstrual cycles and and and all that type of stuff. Um but she was saying that that you know a lot of elite-level athletes, um, because of the level of the training intensity constantly and all that sort of stuff, they don't have their periods anymore, they're training that hard. Um, but that is because elite-level athletes have a fit-for-purpose sort of thing. All they care about is winning. Right? Um they care about optimal performance. That is all they care about. It's it's it's literally what their job is. So they're sacrificing part of their health. Um that doesn't mean you should be aiming to do the same.
unknown:Right?
SPEAKER_03:If a professional out-level athlete says, This is what I do, this is what you also should be doing, and you are not a professional athlete, but a normal human being, then they're kind of missing the point. Um, and if you then start doing that, you're kind of missing the point because you're not living that lifestyle. You're not trained, have don't have the training intensity, you don't have the rest period in the way that they have. Their entire life centers around their athletic performance and when to perform at their best and all that sort of stuff. So for track and field athletes, for instance, it all centers around the world champs, the Olympics, and all that type of stuff. And if your life doesn't, then you really don't want to be trading in exactly the same way and eating in the same way because you have a job to go to and you have kids to take the school and you have stuff to do, and just you know, the things that they don't have, you have. Right? So it is not necessarily a good uh idea. Um, I will link to an article about the from from CNN uh as well, by the way. So um, but you can you can read it um in a little bit more uh more in in depth, right? So we have like I said, so the the balancing your hormone thing is through through diet is just it can't happen in that way. Also, every month, and again, most women will know this, your period is slightly different every month, right? How often have you had exactly the same period? Month in, month out, for say a six-month stretch. Always is equally heavy, it's equally painful, is equally light, uh, is equally intense, all that type of stuff. If it's different every month, then how are you supposed to do the same thing every month just because just because the app or the website or the person that sells you stuff tells you to? It just doesn't make any sense. You know, hacking a cycle is is hacking your cycle, air quotes, is a phrase I've come across a lot. And it's a phrase I really, really dislike, to be fair. Right? Hacking is is not a phrase I'm I'm uh I'm a huge fan of. There isn't a shortcut. Remember, that's what hack used to mean and you know still implies, right? If I tell you to hack your cycle, it sounds like something you can do easily. Now, sure, there are things you can do to manage your symptoms, which includes breath work and hydration and all that type of stuff, but those are not hacks, and they don't balance your hormones in the way people tell you they do. Right? I I was I was um the article, is it the CNN article? And again, I'm talking to myself a little bit. Uh it was from the conversation. Uh no, it was a different one. It was from it was from the Janice website. So if you remember, and I'll I'll mention uh I'll mention Janet. Um if you mention if you remember uh Jessica Ennis Hill started off this uh website, uh fitness app called Janice uh a while ago, and it started off as a standard fitness thing, and then moved into a little bit postpartum uh recovery and all that sort of stuff, and and we don't do that anymore. She's now onto the cycle mapping and pairing menopause and all that sort of stuff. She's moved away, thank goodness, from the pre-postpartum stuff. Um so the Genes website makes several claims, and these are one of that's one of the companies I I was in touch with about a study that they said uh one of the disclaimers of a blog I will link to this said that note in sports science just four percent of studies exclusively feature female participants. But that actually just means that the science just isn't there yet to make a lot of those hormone balancing claims, they mean. Yes, there should be significantly more money in in female-only studies. I mean, we should get loads more studies, and they are coming through now. But what that means is is not that your study that again they didn't send to me because they couldn't uh or wouldn't, whatever, however you want to put that. That that doesn't mean that the small study you did backs up your claim. Right? There's a lack of research means there's a lack of of certainty. A lack of research doesn't mean you can just claim whatever you want to claim because you know the research isn't there yet. Right? So if you if I will link to one one of the blogs on the on on the Genus uh on the Genus website, it's called Is it how to exercise to make the most of your menstrual cycle. Um that really is one of those. Okay, so they talk a little bit about how to exercise and some of the exercises they show here. See, studies have shown that stacking your, and this is a prime example of of what I spoke about, how to exercise during your follicular phase. And like I said, I will link to this so you can see. I'm not making this up. Studies have shown that stacking your resistance and strength training in this phase, so during the follicular phase that I spoke about, then easing off in the next phase produces better strength gain than when it's spread evenly. To make the most of this, you should focus on more intense sessions, such as audio hit runs, strength sessions, or super hits, and plot in regular rest days to achieve your muscles to build back stronger. By training this way, you can achieve up to 15% more strength gains. So this is the time to really push it. Now they're linked to a study, and I've obviously read the study. What the study actually says is one way ANOVA did not reveal statistically significant differences between the three phases of menstrual cycle in mean peak philosophy. At 20% of Romb uh MV maximum velocity was possibly lower in uh in MLP. Uh, one way or another did not reveal statistically significant differences between the three phases of menstrual cycle in mean peak muscle power, right? And that's what they're talking about. That 20% of one red max MP was possibly greater, so maximum power was possibly greater in um in MLP. So you have to then wonder where that claims come from that claim comes from. Saying by training in this way you can achieve up to 15% more strength gains. No, that's that's on a base level, that makes no sense. They're saying they're saying you should do strength training during for eight to ten days, and then you take the rest off, you get 15% better results. No, that that's that's that doesn't make sense. That that does not compute. And the like I said, the study actually doesn't show this at all. It's a nice claim if you're selling something, right? The conclusion from the study, by the way, I'll just continue that. The same study. The aim of this study was to investigate muscle force velocity and power output variations across three different phases of the menstrual cycle. In resistance exercise performed with loads equivalent to 20, 40, 60 and 80% of one reb max. Overall, the results of this investigation indicate that there were no systematic variations in muscle performance during the menstrual cycle, as measured in a wide range of load, from 20 to 80% of one-rep max. The lack of an effect of the menstrual cycle on muscle performance was evident for mean and peak values of force philosophy and power output, which therefore suggests that muscle strength and power performance of uh immunographic women are not affected by different phases of the menstrual cycle. So the study specifically states that claims like that cannot be made. Right? However, the studies, the results obtained in the present study do not support this notion as force production was comparable in all menstrual cycles. So the study Janice is listing there is not what they claim it shows. And like I said, then that makes sense because what they're claiming simply doesn't make any sense. Training sporadically gets more gains than training consistently is an insane message to put out. That is just it is absolutely utter absolutely baffling. And you know, that they they keep they keep saying that when you look at their cycle, uh, what is it, what is it called? Cycle thinking 101, the ultimate guide to living in line with your cycle, is another one of those desperate, desperate, uh desperate blogs that makes a lot of claims about how to eat, right? The period phase, how to eat, exercise, work, sleep, and understand your sex, drive, and blah blah blah. So they're covering a lot of ground there, right? Um how to what to eat in your period phase, right? It stands to reason that you can reduce the severity of period symptoms, and this is where the things, if you reduce the prostaglandins, um it stands to reason that you can reduce the severity of period symptoms. Uh and this is where the things you can eat help. Research has shown that magnesium and zinc in particular can help alleviate the effects of prostaglandin, so it's worth eating a diet rich in these minerals, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Food rich in magnesium includes dark chocolate and blah, blah, blah, uh, lentils, beans, chick pills, and all that sort of stuff. One of the all-time best ways to combat period crop and pain is omega-free pack foods such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines. Uh, they talk a little about sex in the period phase and all that sort of stuff. The if you eat healthy during all phases, and you know, for a lot of people that means supplementing with uh omegas and all that type of stuff, you're already doing what you need to do. You don't need to need to flip your diet every single week or every every 10 days. And that is that is just not it's just not beneficial, and you're making it so much more difficult for yourself than you actually actually need to make it, right? There is again, there is of course there's evidence that says magnesium will help with this, and therefore, but that doesn't mean that foods high in magnesium that they have the results that say that food higher foods high in magnesium will help you prevent period cramps and all that sort of stuff, and therefore that you need to change your diet every single week, right? Just because something technically helps, that doesn't mean that it definitely helps. And that is with the the claim we go back to the exercise, uh the exercise claim, right? Just because during the follicular phase technically your muscles respond better, that does not mean that during the other phases you should not be doing those things. But they say tell you that because otherwise there's nothing worth tracking, right? Listen, it it is it is very simple. Cycle thinking is is is remarkably straightforward. You wake up every morning. You try to have as healthy a diet as possible. You try to get your rest when you need it, and you base the intensity of your exercise on the energy level of that. You don't need to do anything else. And if your goal is to be better at yoga, then you do yoga-related exercises. And if your goal is to run 400 meters faster, you do exercises related to that. And if your goal is to just be a little bit healthier and fitter, then you just do whatever on our whatever the hell you want. Right? It is to say that you need to pay somebody to come out with this type of nonsense or to sign up to a subscription thing for this type of thing where they say, I'll do a bit of yoga during a mensal phase. Yeah, if you want to do yoga, you do yoga. If you want to lift stuff, you go lift stuff. If you don't do a kettlebell workout, you do a kettlebell workout. Just match the intensity to your energy levels. That is all cycle thinking should be. Don't let them sell you anything else. The evidence, as far as I have seen it, and like I said, I've requested the studies by people that claim to have studied, and I've not seen a single not one backstop that there is any meaningful benefit to cycle syncing in the way that they're currently trying to sell you cycle sync. I hope there is. It'd be phenomenal if it was. For one week of the month, and you get 15% stronger than someone who lifts weights for four weeks of the month. Oh man, I can't wait for that study. That would be amazing. Makes my life so much easier. Because I can just sell all my clients and it's in there. I do know how many more clients I can take on board. If if they only have to train for one week of the month, and I hope I can spread all my clients with the periods out and the several several days of of of the month, and that means I can sign on an extra 50 clients. Because I only need to see them for one week of the month. It makes no sense. So please. For the love of God. Ignore these people for now. But like I said, if anybody listening to this is like, hey Pete, I actually am with all of these companies, and like I said, I've I've asked, I've had good correspondence with people. Uh and here's the study. And please send it over. I'm I'm I'm just saying this based on the available information that I have on my desk right now, and that includes half the PubNet stuff, it includes Sci-Hub stuff, but none of the studies that the corporations that are currently selling cycle syncing stuff, they say they've done studies, but they haven't sent me these things yet. Uh for whatever reason, right? Draw your own conclusions. Conclusions on that one. Um but if someone has done a study and they are linking to other studies on the website, and the other studies on their website that they are linking to don't support the claims or actively go against the claims that these people are making. Yeah, we have got a bit of an issue. We've got a bit of an issue there, don't we? Anyways, that's half an hour in. Don't let them fool you. You just keep showing up every day, you do your best you can on any given day. That's how you get results, and how we all get results. Right? That's me, Don, for another week. You have a tremendous week. Take care of yourself. Here's a new beat of music. Peter at healthypostnatable buddy.com by the way. If you have any questions, comments, want to call me a jackass, all that type of stuff. It's all good. Right? Take care of yourself, and I'll be back next week. Bye now.
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