Navigating Variability: Understanding Menstrual Cycle Training

Fresh off of their successful doctoral defenses, Lauren and Kim join Iron Culture to discuss all things menstrual-cycle related for lifters! Dr. Helms had the pleasure of mentoring Kim, who recently completed her PhD at AUT, in which she surveyed and monitored the menstrual cycle symptoms of resistance-training women, and also led an intervention of mindfulness-based yoga to see the impact on menstrual cycle symptom severity. These findings are complemented by Lauren’s PhD research, recently completed at Stu Phillips lab at McMaster University, where she looked at muscle protein fractional responses to resistance training in women during different menstrual cycle phases. Covering both the applied and mechanistic side of the equation, this Roundtable discussion led by the Erics gives you the cutting-edge low down on whether or not menstrual cycle phased based training is all that it’s hyped up to be.