🏋As a strong, athletic and confident woman you love to lift heavy things
and get the job done.🏋
More and more women are ditching the treadmill and using weight training to build athletic, strong and downright sexy figures. The days of legwarmers, aerobics and little pink weights are well and truly behind us.
At this stage of your lifting life, you might have two main questions when it comes to weight training… How much weight should females lift, and how does strength training affect female hormones.
Natural female hormones such as oestrogen, testosterone and progesterone go hand in hand with strength training. Adapting the way you train based on menstrual cycle hormone fluctuations can take your muscle-toning, fat-burning results to the next level. The world of weightlifting has developed so much that now women are ruling the weightlifting game. We’re not afraid to mix it up with the guys and through learning, research and some fantastic female pioneers we’ve all learned that weight training provides a huge number of benefits, such as:
1.Protects your muscle and bone mass
2.Improves posture and reduces injuries
3.Tones, shape and lift specific muscles
4.Increase daily energy expenditure and fat burning
5.Lifts your energy levels and mood as well as reducing stress, anxiety, and depression
6.Teaches you new skills that improve functional and sports performance
What Happens During Your MEnstrual Cycle?
The benefits of strength training for women are all determined by changes to your body. The mechanical load of weightlifting forces your body to adapt by growing new muscle cells, remodeling bone tissue, using stored fat as fuel and strengthening nervous system communication networks. Do women hold the secret to the fountain of youth!!??
Several things control the way that your body adapts to exercise. And one of those is your hormonal system. Men and women share a number of the same hormones. Insulin, thyroid, glucagon, cortisol etc. But the one thing that differentiates you from the guys is your menstrual cycle (this better be good, that cycle needs to be good for something right).
There are three main hormones that are involved during your cycle:
1.Oestrogen – the primary female hormone that promotes health,
regulates sex characteristics and triggers ovulation.
2.Progesterone – responsible for thickening the lining of your uterus.
3.Testosterone – a natural anabolic hormone found in small amounts in females.
When it comes to weight training and female hormones, these are the ones
you need to know about.
Your menstrual cycle is split into three phases
Every woman is different, and menstrual cycles are a perfect example of why each female is special in her own right. Most women have a cycle that lasts somewhere between 21-35 days. The average is 28 days. Some women have irregular periods, and some don’t have one at all. If you have a ‘normal’ cycle, this is what you can expect to see…
1.Follicular phase – days 1-14: This is where your uterine lining is
shed and menstrual bleeding occurs for the first 3-5 days.
2.Ovulation – days 14-15: During this short phase, an egg is
released from your ovaries.
3.Luteal phase – 15-28: In this last phase, the egg implants itself
ready for fertilization. If this doesn’t happen, your uterine lining
begins to degrade and your body prepares to shed it
Here’s how weight training and female hormones work together to help you
build a better body… Oestrogen helps you recover fast and reduces muscle damage.
As the dominant female hormone, oestrogen plays the role of protector. It reduces fatigue and muscle damage, meaning you can tolerate higher levels of volume during weight training, without negative effects. Oestrogen also helps to blunt pain 👀
During the follicular phase of your cycle, in particular, you’ll develop machine-like tolerance and stamina when weight lifting. This means your time-to-exhaustion and general stamina in the weights room will be optimal during the follicular and ovulatory phases. Key Points on oestrogen:
1.Heavy weight training sessions with lots of volume are best during
the follicular phase when oestrogen is high.
2.You’ll experience lower levels of muscle damage and fatigue when
estrogen is elevated, so you’ll be able to train hard and recover
much faster.
3.Your exercise performance is optimal during mid-to-late follicular
phase and through to ovulation when oestrogen is at its highest.
4.Testosterone builds fitness and lean mass
One common myth is that strength training can increase the levels of testosterone in the body. While testosterone is often thought of as the “male hormone”, everyone has it. In women, testosterone typically combines with oestrogen to help maintain everything from bone health to fertility. Women who have optimal levels of testosterone also have:
1.More energy and endurance
2.Better strength and lean mass
3.Lower levels of body fat
4.More confidence
5.Fewer mood swings during their period
Normal levels of testosterone for women are nearly 15 times lower than a man, and one of the reasons why women can’t build muscle mass like men can. With 90% of women over 45 suffering from low testosterone levels, it’s a hormone that needs boosting.
The biggest drop in natural anabolic hormone levels occurs between 20 and 40 years of age. Weight training has been shown in numerous research studies to elevate testosterone levels, especially during late follicular and ovulatory phases when the hormone is elevated already.
In fact, many women chasing PRs on big lifts such as the squat should attempt a new PB between days 10-15 of their cycle to try and use the natural spike in testosterone to their advantage. When it comes to weight training and female hormones, testosterone is hugely important.
Key Points On Testosterone:
Testosterone promotes increases in lean mass, while at the same time helping reduce excess body fat.The best time to go for a PB or hard strength workout is from the follicular phase through to ovulation. The combination of elevated oestrogen and testosterone is key to optimal athletic performance.
Progesterone elevates body temperature
Your body temperature is higher during the phase when progesterone is elevated, meaning tough weight training workouts can leave you feeling hot, tired and uncomfortable. It’s common for women to reduce the intensity of their weight training workouts during the luteal phase when body temperature is around 1 degree Celsius higher than normal.
Progesterone has a catabolic effect that increases muscle damage and can lead to an increase in fatigue and reduction in athletic performance. On the plus side though, your body burns more fat during the luteal phase, so a bit more cardio and circuit training, with less heavy weight lifting works well here. Key Points on progesterone:
1.Progesterone can elevate muscle damage and make recovery
from weight training hard, especially at high intensity.
2.Due to catabolic effects of progesterone, heavy weight training
during the luteal phase can be tough.
In short – the weightlifting world is no longer being dominated by the male sex. Step aside boys, the women are coming armed with knowledge and the PB’s are about to fly.