Use Strategic Cycle Syncing to Start a Daily Exercise Habit in the Follicular Phase
Did you know that a menstruating woman can experience up to a 25% variance in brain chemistry over the course of a single cycle? [1] This means that if you are naturally cycling, you are literally not the same person from one phase to the next.
Your brain moves through a cycle too and when paired with your phasic physiology, sticking to a habit may feel exponentially harder at certain times of the month than others. You may have experienced this cyclical shift, starting strong with daily exercise one week, only to fall off the next.
It’s not lack of motivation or drive—it’s your inner chemistry. Each of your cycle phases offers a unique opportunity to create and reinforce your movement goals.
This blog series provides an overview of how your brain chemistry and physiology change in each cycle phase and how you can use these shifts to your advantage.
When you work with your brain chemistry and changing physiology, you can get creative with how you support your daily practice—everything from planting environmental cues to eliminating obstacles and getting crystal clear on what drives you.
Follicular Phase
During your follicular phase, hormones start off at low levels with a trend toward elevated estrogen around mid-cycle.
Strategic Starts
When hormones are low, we experience better spatial awareness and coordination [2] which makes learning new patterns and skills feel easier. This is a prime opportunity to create new habits when your brain is naturally open to it.
With rising estrogen, you may notice your brain feels more sharp and creative. [1]
Pair this improved physical ability with wanting to be more social, and you might find that working with a coach or partner, or exercising in a group setting builds momentum and creates more accountability in the first few weeks of your cycle.
If you want an exercise habit to stick, consider making a strategic start in your follicular phase!
Primal Motivation
Estrogen hormones intensify the brain’s reward system and in the late follicular phase, you may experience greater motivation toward particularly desirable outcomes. [3]
Pro Tip: Awaken your intrinsic motivation by paying attention to the reward you get from exercise. Really sit with how it makes you feel—elevated emotions, a sense of accomplishment, physical strength, mental clarity. Even if the results are not immediate, visualizing how you want to feel and the positive changes that are available, will make your habit easier to show up for.
A word of caution: If you’re someone who has a tendency to skip workouts or overindulge, the late follicular and mid-luteal phases—when estrogen levels are at their highest—can be especially tempting.
Your brain is primed for reward-seeking behaviors and may have you gravitating toward familiar impulses. Make it a practice to understand your own tendencies so you can stay mindful in the presence of temptations and aligned with your exercise goals. For example, if you know you typically enjoy one too many drinks when you’re with a particular group of friends—which can lead to day-after malaise and missed workouts—offer to be the designated driver to help keep you in the driver’s seat.
Give Yourself an Easy Win
Now that you’ve identified the follicular phase as the optimal phase for implementing a new habit, how can you improve your odds of sticking with it?
The best approach is to start small.
One of the most common mistakes, in any new practice, is making too drastic a change—we’ve all been there! You’re excited to get started. You have a solid plan in place. But when you take on too much, too soon, your efforts get derailed before you have a chance to build momentum.
Start with something that is challenging, but attainable. You want a workout that demands a solid effort, but won’t leave you too sore or too overwhelmed to continue.
I suggest starting with bodyweight strength work and walking to ease you into a sustainable rhythm.
Next, choose a time of day and a workout length you can reliably commit to. This may mean getting up 30 minutes earlier or going for a 15-minute walk after dinner. In the beginning, consistency is critical to build your confidence and promote the neural pathways that convert conscious actions into a habit.
Set yourself up for success by starting with something hard enough to be challenging, yet simple enough to be sustainable. You’ll build on these easy wins over time.
Here’s my favorite collection of quick sweat sessions to help you start small in the follicular phase.
As the midway point of your cycle approaches, continue building momentum and reinforcing your exercise habit in the ovulatory phase.
Vitti, A. (2020). In the Flo: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life. HarperCollins Publishers.
Hausmann, M., Slabbekoorn, D., Van Goozen, S. H., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., & Güntürkün, O. (2000). Sex hormones affect spatial abilities during the menstrual cycle. Behavioral neuroscience, 114(6), 1245–1250. https://doi.org/10.1037//0735-7044.114.6.1245
J.C. Dreher, P.J. Schmidt, P. Kohn, D. Furman, D. Rubinow, K.F. Berman Menstrual cycle phase modulates reward-related neural function in women PNAS, 104 (2007), pp. 2465-2470, 10.1073/pnas.0605569104
Dema Hussain, Sarah Hanafi, Kyoko Konishi, Wayne G. Brake, Véronique D. Bohbot. Modulation of spatial and response strategies by phase of the menstrual cycle in women tested in a virtual navigation task. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2016; 70: 108 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.05.008
