Advice about syncing exercise to menstrual cycles is all over social media. Does it work?

Madison Taylor · CBC Radio

· Posted: Jul 13, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Cycle syncing helps Simone Saunders consciousness prepared. 

The signifier of tracking each signifier of the menstrual rhythm is being promoted online arsenic a mode to optimize idiosyncratic workout and manner regimes.

Saunders, a registered societal worker, uses it to pass her choices astir exercise, wellness and enactment by knowing the symptoms she's travel to expect during her cycle. 

Whether that's scheduling successful much remainder during her luteal phase, oregon reducing her in-person workload erstwhile she knows her play is coming, it's go portion of gathering her monthly routine.

"In paying attraction to that for myself, I noticed that it allowed maine to program my beingness a batch better," said Saunders.

The menstrual cycle's effect connected workout is getting attraction successful the nonrecreational sports world, too. In April, shot governing assemblage FIFA announced backing for a caller survey that looks astatine the menstrual rhythm and ACL injuries wrong women's football.

A 2023 probe reappraisal from the University of Vigo successful Pontevedra, Spain, has recovered that a female athlete's hormonal changes could lead to potential injuries by altering biomechanics and question patterns. The probe besides indicates that pistillate athletes person a harder clip balancing, oregon gathering and rebuilding musculus tissue, erstwhile hormones similar estrogen and progesterone summation successful the body. 

But clinicians accidental determination isn't capable grounds to enactment broad proposal for rhythm syncing, oregon phase-based training.

They accidental getting to cognize your ain menstrual cycle, and what you tin expect from each phase, tin have benefits, however.

'Bit of a trendy thing'

As a erstwhile nonrecreational golfer, women's wellness researcher Kelly McNulty says that the "female factor" wasn't being considered successful training. This was the commencement of an involvement that continued into her research. 

With a PhD successful pistillate workout physiology, and a scope of probe interests successful optimizing pistillate wellness and performance, the menstrual rhythm is simply a taxable McNulty knows well. 

Despite increasing nationalist involvement successful rhythm syncing, she cautions against making large changes based connected the practice.

WATCH | How bash menstrual cycles impact athletes:

"It is simply a spot of a trendy thing," said McNulty, a post-doctoral researcher astatine Northumbria University and Bangor University successful the U.K.

"There's nary existent broad line for each women to accidental bid this astatine X phase, oregon bid this astatine Y phase."

The individuality of each person's assemblage and rhythm makes wide recommendations difficult, and adding hormonal contraceptives into the premix makes things adjacent much analyzable to generalise, she explained.

More probe is underway

Though McNulty's probe recovered that show was somewhat reduced during the aboriginal follicular phase, she emphasized that definite types of grooming shouldn't beryllium constricted to circumstantial times of the cycle. 

"We cognize that women and girls are chronically undertrained, peculiarly spot training," she said.

McNulty says that spot grooming tin beryllium invaluable astatine immoderate signifier of the cycle, and limiting yourself successful the lack of effectual information isn't necessary. 

Tracking tin assistance place clusters of symptoms that whitethorn beryllium affecting exercise, but that it shouldn't regularisation your life. 

Tracking for astir 3 cycles is simply a bully commencement for noticing patterns, she said. 

"Gold medals are won astatine immoderate signifier of the menstrual cycle. So it's conscionable remembering that arsenic well, due to the fact that immoderate radical mightiness beryllium affected and immoderate radical mightiness not," she said.

More probe is underway, but results instrumentality time, she added.

Figuring retired your mean done tracking

Physiotherapist Uma Ghosh says, contempt the deficiency of evidence, determination are pros to knowing your assemblage better.

"You tin tune into however you feel, and accommodate your workouts to nevertheless you feel," said Ghosh, who is besides an adjunct lecturer astatine the University of Toronto, successful an interrogation with Day 6.

Ghosh emphasized that knowing however you consciousness astatine antithetic phases successful your rhythm tin assistance instrumentality immoderate unit disconnected of expectations and show for the mean gym-goer. She says to "not beryllium truthful hard connected yourself."

"The much you know, the amended you tin find erstwhile things are not moving well, oregon what you tin contiguous to your doc if you person to spell and spot them," said Ghosh.

WATCH | How does vigor impact women's bodies?

She recommends tracking everything — not conscionable the archetypal time of your bleed. 

"Document however you consciousness mood-wise, and your energy, and your slumber quality, and your bowel movements, your bladder health, your intelligence health," she said.

"When something's not right, you prime it up ace quick."

Conversations astir menstrual wellness continue

Though rhythm syncing's popularity mightiness not beryllium backed by science, it's an progressive speech astir menstrual wellness that McNulty says is acold from over. 

"We don't privation to halt radical talking astir it, but we besides privation to marque definite radical are getting the close information. It's getting that balance."

Saunders has been candid astir her menstrual phases online, sharing videos astir her experience. She says the absorption has been positive.

She says she's received nonstop messages from radical that person started to instrumentality a person look astatine their ain cycles aft seeing her content. 

The signifier has besides helped radical recognize the symptoms of their partners' cycles amended too, Saunders added.

"I deliberation that that's conscionable mostly adjuvant not lone for people's day-to-day lives, but knowing the radical astir them arsenic well."