My friend introduced me very gently to the concept of cycle syncing. She isn’t in the combat sports world but listening to her talk about choosing to do certain things in certain phases of her cycle peaked my curiosity.
I started paying closer attention to the way I felt throughout each month. I kept a journal and would make a note on how I was feeling emotionally, physically, socially etc. It wasn’t hard to notice some consistent patterns, especially when using an app to track.
This lead me onto doing some research around the biology and the actual known effects the hormonal changes have on our body through each different phase. It was only then that I realised there were a few phases. I thought there was being on your period…And not! I discovered a few female athletes and women’s sports teams were adjusting their training, nutrition and recovery around their cycle.
So I thought I’d experiment with adjusting my training around my hormones instead of just accepting that the best coaching I was going to get was to be treated like I was just a small man.
I am also aware that every cycle is different and every woman experiences different symptoms and intensity. So the key is to really learn about your OWN body and cycle and make the adjustments that YOU need, not what is working for other people.
This has been a common misconception I’ve seen. That we should copy what is working for others, especially since some of the bigger influencers have started talking about planning their workouts around their cycle. But, as a competitive athlete myself, finding what works for my more intense training schedule is critical over only following insta influencers that may distort the truth of their training habits.
However, feeling guilty for slowing down or resting when you are bleeding heavily (basically shedding an internal organ) is crazy. It just goes to show how deep the conditioning lies for us to feel the need to be productive 24/7. Women in many other cultures honour their cyclical nature. You can see this shift timed with the Industrial Revolution which is very interesting.
I also want to note that we can’t dictate what phase competitions and fights fall into and so it's about learning how to support our body best to aid performance- and to show ourselves some kindness and love when needed! Nor can we dictate our coaches curriculum or schedule. So it’s about adjusting what we are in control of and remembering that we don’t need to ask permission to do so.
For me, this looks like turning the intensity up and getting to some extra sparring when I’m ovulating. I love to learn new techniques and sequences when I’m in my follicular phase as I’m usually feeling very curious around problem solving. I prepare myself for the sudden hormone shift in my luteal phase by being very intentional with supporting my blood sugar level, reducing caffeine and sugar intake. I will prioritise recovery practises too since we can often feel more fatigued in this phase.
I also like to write myself some affirmations on my mirrors- the self doubt and negative thought loops can get intense! And when I'm on my period I like to rest for the first day or two and eat to support my iron levels. For the rest of my period, I feel pulled to train as usual but prefer to focus on drilling the basics and to slow things down. But if there’s a woman’s open mat or a comp I want to do, you’ll catch me there.
It can be argued that there isn’t too much hard scientific evidence to support cycle syncing for athletes but it also hasn’t been studied all that much (obviously). And it is a hard thing to measure since every woman’s cycle is very individual.
I’ve also found that some of the older generation of female fighters can feel very resistant to the notion of adjusting around your cycle. They can very much push the narrative of ‘women just have to work twice as hard as men and that’s how we had to do it’. That generation really broke through the glass ceiling of access for women in combat sports.
But their glass ceiling fortunately became our floor and I want to help change the terrain of the sport so not only is it physically accessible to women but it is also supportive of women. Because we want the opportunity to train and compete but that doesn’t mean we have to do it the exactly the same way as the men do. Our biology is different. I believe cycle syncing is just ‘bio-hacking’ for women. Which is why I wrote a guide and now run 1-1 sessions with women, to help them reconnect with their own biology.
I no longer feel like my cycle is a weakness nor do I dread my period. My cycle is my inner compass, guiding me on when to push, when to rest and listening has broken the loop of over training and burning out I was stuck in for years. Since listening to my body and understanding the hormonal changes and how they affect my body and mind, my period is also a lot less symptomatic or heavy. Gone are the days of me announcing that I don’t get a period and wearing it like a badge of toughness.
I am a woman with a cycle and that is my superpower, not my weakness!
*Information given above is not medical advise. Please consult a doctor or medical advisor for more information*