As you know, I have had to battle with
Hormones and being super sensitive to them, as well as water retention. I
decided to some research about it maybe having to do with “Being a Woman”, and
how that maybe affects the way we need to work out. I found this great site
that seemed to explain things in a way that makes sense.
It divides the month into two sections Day 1-
Day 14 and Day 15- Day 28. With each section (they are called Follicular and
Luteal, in that order) there need to be different eating habits and work out
routines. Day 1 is the start of the
Follicular Phase, or “Time of the month” and thus your body does better with
muscle building and fat burning. The Second Section, which is Day 15- 28th
and the Luteal stage, Start when you “ovulate” until, well, Day 1 and is more
of a “sugar burning” stage due to Progesterone being more present. Read the Two articles HERE and HERE, but I did
take the snap shot of the “main” bullet points for you underneath this. The first
part is a diet and training schedule and the second is a more informed Training
schedule. I added a picture of what my September Calendar looks like so far ;)
So the training and diet
schedule may look something like this:
Follicular phase:
·
3 Times weekly full
body weight training.
·
3 Times weekly
long-duration moderate intensity training.
·
Normal calorie and
carbohydrate intake at most meals with most timed after exercise to enhance
training adaptations and muscle growth.
Luteal Phase:
·
3-5 times weekly short
duration high intensity metabolic conditioning, HIIT, and sprint training.
·
Normal calorie intake
with carbohydrate kept low, using exercise to create the correct hormonal
environment and caloric deficit to burn fat and minimize any muscle loss.
·
Plenty of relaxing
restorative exercise like leisure walking, sauna, tai chi, etc.
Protocol Overview
So the female phase
training protocol looks like this:
·
Follicular phase (Days
1-14): 30:40:30 macronutrient intake (carbs:protein:fat). 3 times weekly full
body traditional weight training (squat, bench press, back row, shoulder
press), 4 sets of 10 using a 8-12 rep max. 5 days per week steady state
moderate intensity cardio (40-60 minutes).
·
Luteal phase (Days
14-28): 20:40:40 or 10:45:45 macronutrient intake (carbs:protein:fat). 4-5 days
per week metabolic conditioning (mixed weight & cardio interval training).
Daily leisure walking (as much as able)
·
Repeat next month
- The
follicular phase is shown to be a more anabolic time overall allowing
women to engage in more cardio based exercise with less chance of losing
muscle as well as derive enhanced lean tissue gains from weight training.
- The
luteal phase is more of a catabolic time for muscle tissue making
long-duration cardio less beneficial and higher protein diets more
prudent. There is some evidence the luteal phase has a greater EPOC and
afterburn effect associated with it.
I am going to try it for a month and see if it
makes a difference, and if it helps with my weight loss. I mean the concept
makes sense, so why not? I have to work out anyway lol!
OH!
On a side-note!!! I have a metabolic problem that we have been trying to figure
out, and I was NEVER able to get my average heart rate up above 130, even when
running! WELL yesterday was able to!!!
OMG my average was 141!!! I felt so good, so that means my thyroid meds must be
doing the trick!
