Phase 2B – High Hormonal (Luteal)

Part 2B - is still considered your High Hormonal Phase, but there are distinctions in how you will feel and how you should train. 5 days before you bleed your progesterone levels will be at their highest which ultimately changes your physiology. This means we need to change the way we fuel our body, recover after training and the training sessions we do. This is a great time for: skill development, functional movement and technique-style training. The high hormonal phase can get a bad rap, particularly because it can be associated with bad PMS. You can feel emotionally and physically overwhelmed and many women feel it's better to rest in bed as opposed to moving our bodies. Here is the game changer - the more you understand and therefore WORK WITH your female physiology and women's intuition, reduction in your PMS symptoms will follow. This then allows you to give your body what it needs most during this time, and often a component of movement is well within your reach. Whilst it is critical throughout your entire cycle to fuel and recovery properly, it is a non-negotiable here if you want to feel good (& don't we all want that!) Things to support you during this phase: The recovery window is a lot tighter for women, as we return to basal metabolic rates within a few hours. For harder efforts or training of long duration, that 30-60 minute window to consume post-workout protein and carbohydrate is a lot more critical for women. If you are in a high hormone phase, you might find you need to take in extra carbohydrates to get a similar higher intensity performance as you would without supplemental carbohydrates in a low hormone phase. Research shows that this is around 250-300 extra calories per day, depending on body size. Be conscious that your body temperature increases during this period. This can result in the need of increased fluid intake (e.g. electrolytes not just water). The higher your temperature the quicker you can fatigue, so exploring ways to cool your core body temperature down will help you sustain your efforts.