The Best Workouts to Do During Your Period

A typical menstrual cycle has ovulation around day 14, but this is not the case for everyone. When your body ovulates after day 21, it is considered late ovulation. This article explores the common causes for this delay, its impact on fertility, and how you can accurately track your cycle to optimize your chances of conceiving.

If you feel like working out on your period is tough, rest assured that you’re not alone in feeling less peppy than usual. When this happens, the key is adapting your workout to what your body is capable of from cycle phase to phase.

So, if you’re wondering, “what workout should I do on my period?”, we’ll share how your period influences exercise, what workouts you should do on your period, and what workouts to avoid on your period.

Exercise during your period: How your period influences your workouts

If you’ve ever felt less than your best while working out on your period, it’s likely because of hormonal fluctuations that happen during your cycle. Your menstrual cycle starts on the first day of your period, in the cycle phase known as the follicular phase. 

The reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest in this phase. These low levels influence everything from how you feel emotionally, to physical symptoms, to what types of exercise feels good on your body.

How does your period impact physical performance? Research is ongoing, but studies have found that physical performance and exercise capacity may be slightly lower during your period (that is, during the early follicular phase) compared to other phases of your cycle.

Other people may experience a more pronounced dip in physical performance in the days leading up to their period (that is, in the late luteal phase before the cycle restarts). This could be related to declining hormone levels and the impact of premenstrual symptoms.

>>MORE: Learn what exercises are best for you during your follicular phase and your luteal phase.

What workouts should I do on my period?

Each person is unique, and you may find that you don’t experience discomfort or changes in energy during your period. If that’s the case, feel free to keep doing your usual workouts—as long as you feel good!

If you do experience physical and emotional changes, though, exercise during your period may be the last thing on your mind. Adapting your movement to where you are in your cycle and prioritizing gentler activity may help.

For the times when you’re not feeling up to exercising as usual, here are some workouts that may feel a little better while you’re on your period.

Low-intensity cardio

For cardiovascular exercise while on your period, low-intensity workouts are your friend. 

Low-intensity cardio, and regular exercise in general, may significantly ease period pain. For the most effective pain relief, try exercising three times a week for 45 to 60 minutes per session.

Low-intensity cardio also helps improve sleep quality, boost energy levels, reduce premenstrual mood symptoms, and trigger the release of endorphins, our bodies’ natural, feel-good chemicals – all of which can help soothe period discomfort.

Try any of these low-intensity cardio exercises:

• Brisk walking
• Light jogging
• Moderate cycling
• Moderate lap swimming
• Tai chi or qigong
• Moderate aerobic dance

Whatever your low-intensity workout of choice, try adapting your pace to a rhythm that feels comfortable to you. That pace may be more relaxed than what you go for during other phases in your cycle, and that’s OK!

Gentle yoga

Gentler forms of yoga, like restorative yoga or yin yoga, focus on holding poses for longer stretches of time.

During your period, these forms of yoga may help reduce premenstrual symptoms, period cramps, and body aches. Poses that gently stretch the neck, back, abdominal muscles, hips, and pelvic area may be most effective for soothing cramps and aches.

Try yoga poses like:

• Cat-cow pose
• Child’s pose
• Plank pose
• Cobra pose

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Low-impact Pilates

Low-impact Pilates training may help relieve period pain and premenstrual symptoms, improve sleep, reduce stress, and increase strength and flexibility to ease body aches.

Try forms of Pilates that focus on gentle movement, like stretch and release Pilates or mat Pilates.

Low-volume strength training

Just as you adapt movement exercise while on your period, consider adapting strength training, too. 

During your period, muscle tissue may not support weight as well, soreness may be increased, and recovery may take longer. Practically, that means you may have a harder time lifting your usual weights. You may also feel more sore and tired, and feel the effects longer post-session.

To combat this, consider prioritizing low-volume strength training while on your period. Try using lighter weights and doing fewer reps, while saving heavier lifting and longer workouts for later in your cycle. (The late follicular phase, around ovulation, may be a better time for more intense strength training.)

Relaxation and meditation techniques

Incorporating meditation techniques during your period can help reduce stress and anxiety, relieve tension, ease aches and pains, and increase feelings of calm and relaxation.

Try:

• Deep breathing exercises
• Mindfulness meditation 
• Guided imagery

Adding in stretching techniques and yoga poses may help boost the benefits of mindfulness and relaxation.

What workouts should I avoid on my period?

Researchers are quick to note that it’s difficult to draw general conclusions about how your menstrual cycle influences the physical activity you’re capable of phase to phase. That means it’s also difficult to create general guidelines for what workouts you should or shouldn’t do during your period. 

Instead, it’s important to listen to your own body and pay attention to how you respond to exercise while on your period. 

You may find that there aren’t any workouts you necessarily need to avoid, and feel completely up for following your routine as normal. Yet if your body is telling you to slow down and rest, then that’s what you need! Pushing yourself too hard when you’re not up for it can leave you feeling worse than when you started, and may even result in injury.

Instead, take a few days off to allow yourself to recover. Grab a hot water bottle, make a cup of tea, sit back, and relax.

How to tell what workouts I should do on my period

As you figure out what workouts are best for you during your period, consider keeping an exercise journal. In your exercise journal, write down:

• The workouts you do
• When in your cycle you do them
• How you feel before, during, and after each workout

Over time, you’ll get a better sense of which workouts feel good during your period, and which workouts to avoid until other moments in your cycle.

At-home hormone tests like the Oova kit can help you track your cycle phases and your period symptoms, so you can be more prepared to plan your workouts accordingly.

What workouts should I do on my period: the bottom line

It likely comes as no surprise that exercising on your period can sometimes feel more taxing and strenuous than usual. Fluctuations in hormones throughout your cycle may contribute to different symptoms, including changes in energy levels and muscle strength and recovery, that can make it feel harder to stick with your usual routine.

It’s certainly okay to take a few days off, but if you do want to continue working out, consider adapting your movement to your cycle so that you feel your best post-workout. 

When exercising on your period seems extra hard, try skipping high-intensity and prolonged cardio or aerobic workouts. Instead, prioritize shorter periods of lower-intensity exercise, while saving the high-intensity work for later in your cycle.