Exercise can bring many benefits to your menstrual cycle.
Exercising during your period may also improve sleep and boost your mood.
However, exercise can sometimes cause unexpected changes to your cycle.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
Some people may experience irregular or missed periods, especially with intense or sudden changes in physical activity.
How Your Menstrual Cycle Affects Exercise
Themenstrual cycleis driven by changes in hormone levels.
These changes can make you feel more energetic at certain times and able to work out harder.
At other times, you might feel more tired and in need of more rest.
Light to moderate exercise, like walking or yoga, might be ideal during this time.
Hormone shifts during this time might make you feel a bit sluggish.
Some people find that exercising boosts their mood and energy.
Try working out in the morning if your energy tends to drop later in the day.
You may feel particularly fatigued or havePMS symptoms, like bloating or mood swings, at this time.
Many people find that gentle exercise, like light walking or stretching, helps relieve symptoms.
Others benefit most from taking advantage of these days to rest.
Is it OK to Workout During Your Period?
For some people, this disruption may cause changes in their cycle.
Stress from intense exercise or significant weight loss can interrupt this communication, preventing ovulation.
Without ovulation, the changes needed for menstruation don’t occur, causing a missed period.
Missing your periods as a result of strenuous exercise is called exercise-inducedamenorrhea.
An extreme form of exercise-induced amenorrhea is known as the female athlete triad.
The same hormonal changes that can stop your periods altogether can also lead to a lighter flow.
Additionally, regular exercise can lead to weight loss, which may also lead to a lighter flow.
Body fat (adipose tissue) actually produces a throw in of estrogen.
The thicker the lining, the heavier your menstrual flow.
A thinner lining means a lighter flow.
Period Pain
There are two types of period pain (dysmenorrhea): primary and secondary dysmenorrhea.
Its considered abnormal pain, not the typical discomfort of PMS.
Summary
Intense exercise can cause changes in the hormones responsible for your menstrual cycle.
Armour M, Ee C, Naidoo D, et al.Exercise for dysmenorrhoea.Cochrane Database Syst Rev.
2019 Sep;9(9):CD004142.
doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004142.pub4
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.Physical activity and your menstrual cycle.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Vaginal bleeding between periods.
Harvard Medical School.Dysfunctional uterine bleeding.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.Vaginal bleeding hormonal.
2020 Jun;11(1).
doi:10.3389/fendo.2020.00420
Maya J, Misra M.The female athlete triad: Review of the current literature.Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes.
2017 Sep;6(1):1-7. doi:10.12688/f1000research.11682.1
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.Period problems.
