Strength Training During the Menstrual Cycle: Science, Myths, and Tips

Key Takeaways:

Scientific evidence does not support adjusting strength training during your menstrual cycle for better performance or gains.
Hormonal fluctuations during your cycle do not significantly impact muscle strength or growth.
Focus on consistent training, listen to your body’s symptoms, and prioritize nutrition and recovery over cycle syncing.

One of the hottest fitness trends on social media is “cycle syncing,” which means you adjust your strength training workouts to your menstrual cycle for better performance in the gym and strength and muscle gains.

At least, that’s the theory.

However, current scientific evidence does not support any particular benefits from syncing your lifting to the different phases of the menstrual cycle.

Your hormones might fluctuate, but that doesn’t mean your gains do.

In this article, you’ll learn what research actually says about strength training during the menstrual cycle and if and how it affects your workouts, with practical recommendations for your training.

This article is for informational purposes and is not a substitute for professional care.

Table of Contents

First, the Basics: The Menstrual Cycle 101

The menstrual cycle usually lasts between 24 and 35 days. It is divided into two primary phases: the follicular phase, which begins on the first day of your period and lasts until ovulation, and the luteal phase, which starts post-ovulation and lasts until the next menstrual period.

Menstrual Phase (Days 1–5): Your period starts. Hormones are at their lowest.
Follicular Phase (Days 1–13): Estrogen levels rise, prepping your body for the ovulatory phase.
Ovulation (Around Day 14): Estrogen peaks and luteinizing hormone surges.
Luteal Phase (Days 15–28): Progesterone dominates, and estrogen drops again before your period.

That hormonal roller coaster sparked the theory that women’s strength and muscle-building potential vary by phase.

The Theory Behind Strength Training and the Menstrual Cycle

Some relatively recent studies from 2014 and 2017 suggested that weight training during the follicular phase, when estrogen is high, could lead to better athletic performance and strength and muscle gains.¹ ²

That’s because:

Estrogen has anabolic (muscle-building) effects, and it is quite plausible that it could help you build muscle mass, perform better, and recover faster during its peak levels.
Higher progesterone levels, on the other hand, might counteract the anabolic benefits and reduce performance in the luteal phase.

These early findings sparked the “cycle-syncing” trend: adapt your training intensity to your hormonal changes and the highs and lows of estrogen and progesterone.

Over the next decade, several reviews and meta-analyses looked at the increasing number of studies.³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶

While some studies suggested you might perform better when estrogen is high, others found no significant differences between menstrual phases. That inconsistency likely stems from many of the included studies having poor quality or inconsistent methodologies.

Does the Menstrual Cycle Impact Strength Training Results: What the Research Says

Despite these intriguing theories and early research, current scientific research does not support cycle-specific strength training recommendations.

2023 Review

A 2023 systematic umbrella review (a review of scientific reviews, which has much more oomph when it comes to providing evidence than any single study) concluded that the menstrual cycle phase does not significantly affect muscle strength performance, training adaptations, or hypertrophy (muscle growth).⁷

Some studies did find trivial differences, like a tiny dip in performance during early menstruation, but they were inconsistent and mostly came from studies with shaky methods.

Another important conclusion is that the luteinizing hormone surge might average around day 14 but varies so much from woman to woman that you can’t base generalized training programs around it:

A graph showing that luteinizing hormone surges vary too much to make generalized suggestions for strength training during the menstrual cycle.

2024 Review

A 2024 review supports the earlier findings and adds that the ups and downs of “anabolic hormones” do not play a major role in muscle protein synthesis or actual gains in muscle and strength.⁸

It also concludes that males and females gain the same amount of strength and muscle when they lift weights. Males gain more in absolute terms because they start with more muscle, but females gain as much or more muscle in relative terms.

That means that even with wildly different hormone levels (including testosterone, the male sex hormone that is way more anabolic than its female counterparts), the ultimate long-term muscle gains are similar between men and women.

2025 Review

Lastly, a comprehensive 2025 review builds on previous research and reaffirms that acute hormonal spikes after a training session do not affect muscle growth or strength gains.⁹

It also reiterates that males and females show similar relative gains in muscle mass from strength training, that hormones do not seem to play as significant a role as previously thought, and that individual symptoms rather than hormonal fluctuations should guide how you train.

***

Taken together, the evidence strongly indicates that your strength doesn’t fluctuate as wildly as your hormone charts might suggest, and science does not currently support the idea of periodizing your training based on your menstrual cycle to “take advantage” of hormone levels for greater adaptations (performance, strength, muscle gains).

Focus on How You Feel, Not Cycle Phases

Even though there is little scientific support for the theory that the menstrual cycle regulates your potential gains, you’re not imagining things if you can perform better or worse in the gym during different phases.

While the cycle itself may not significantly affect physical performance, symptoms can.

Fatigue, cramps, bloating, and mood swings, all common symptoms in the luteal and menstrual phases, can absolutely influence how you feel during your workouts.

But that’s about individual symptom management, not biological limitations. And those personal symptoms, rather than hormonal phases themselves, should guide which adjustments, if any, you want to make in your training.

Practical Recommendations

Here’s my evidence-based, no-nonsense guide to training through your cycle:

Don’t stress about matching your workouts to your cycle phases. Aim for regularity in your training sessions. Consistency beats syncing.
If you don’t experience significant symptoms, there’s little point in varying your training practices to fit specific cycle phases. Train just as you would any other time.
If you are sluggish, have low energy levels, or feel crampy during your period, dial down your intense workouts. Conversely, if you feel strong and energetic mid-cycle, it’s the perfect time to go heavier.
Some women train best during their period, others don’t. Keep a log and find your pattern: track symptoms, not just phases.
The good old mainstays consistency, progressive overload, nutrition, and recovery time remain the big four to focus on. Hormonal fluctuations? Marginal at best by comparison.
Current evidence suggests that there is no need for an overly complicated “cycle-based” workout routine, and phase-based programs that claim to give you better results are hype and misguiding.

Is This Set In Stone for All Future?

These are my speculations, not from the studies I talk about above.

It’s not set in stone—future research may reveal more.

With more precise and standardized research methods, we might uncover small effects currently masked by methodological “noise.” For example, what if a study precisely controls for different progesterone-to-estrogen ratios and finds specific effects that aren’t visible when we just look at “follicular” vs. “luteal” as broad categories?
Research on specific categories of women (for example, elite athletes in specific sports, women with hormonal conditions like PCOS or endometriosis) could possibly reveal interactions that don’t show in the average woman.
Some women could be “responders” to specific hormonal changes and windows, while others aren’t, and we might just not have enough data to identify these subgroups yet.

The current understanding is based on the best available evidence right now.

However, that understanding is strong enough to confidently say that there is no evidence for cycle-based periodization for building muscle and strength.

But science is an ongoing process of refining knowledge. As research methods improve and our understanding of the complex female physiology deepens, we might discover more subtle interactions.

Any such effects will likely not be huge, but they might not be nothing, either.

Frequently Asked Questions About Strength Training During the Menstrual Cycle

Should I change my workouts during my period?

Consider adjusting intensity or volume based on how you feel, but science shows no strong reason to cycle your workouts based on the hormone changes themselves.

Can I still build muscle throughout my cycle?

Yes, you can build muscle effectively across all phases of your menstrual cycle, though how you feel may influence your strength and recovery.

Are there specific exercises I should avoid during menstruation?

There are no specific exercises you need to avoid during menstruation unless you experience discomfort.

How do hormones like estrogen affect my strength and recovery?

Estrogen is associated with increased strength and faster recovery, but short-term fluctuations, like during menstruation, do not seem to have a significant impact.

What are some practical tips for strength training during my period?

Listen to your body, prioritize a healthy diet and getting quality sleep, and adjust your training intensity or duration if you experience fatigue or discomfort.

Build Muscle With Our Best Training Programs for Women

Looking for a training program for women that builds muscle regardless of the time of the month?

A training program not for how women should train (there are no “best exercises” for women; male and female muscles work the same) but for how women want to train, according to 275,000 users of our workout log app, StrengthLog.

It’s called Thicc and specializes in lower-body hypertrophy without guess-work.

Start Thicc free in StrengthLog.

Check it out and download our free workout tracker to follow it directly in the app:

Strength Training During the Menstrual Cycle: Final Rep

The menstrual cycle is complex and very much an individual thing, but the best approach for muscle and strength gains isn’t tied to your hormone fluctuations.

It’s tied to your consistency, your symptoms, and your fitness goals.

Listen to your body. Respect your symptoms. But don’t let hormone charts dictate your deadlift schedule.