Medicine Redefined

181. The Truth About Menstrual Cycle Training & Hormonal Impacts on Performance | Shawn Arent, PhD, CSCS

21 snips
Aug 18, 2025
Guest
Shawn Arent
Dr. Shawn Arent, a leading expert in human performance, discusses fascinating insights on female physiology, debunking myths about the menstrual cycle’s impact on athletic performance. He reveals the critical roles of thyroid hormones and their connection to metabolism. The conversation also touches on the influence of catecholamines in stress and energy during training. Arent speculates on the future of performance enhancement through GLP-1 agonists and myostatin inhibitors, providing a fresh perspective on optimizing health and performance for athletes.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Catecholamines Are Contextual Tools

  • Catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine) mobilize fuel acutely and mirror relative intensity; chronic elevation harms cardiovascular and inflammatory profiles.
  • Training raises peak catecholamine responses but clears them faster with fitness.
ADVICE

Use Trends Not Daily HRV

  • Use trend-based HRV and resting heart rate monitoring instead of day-to-day fluctuations to inform training decisions.
  • Pay attention to patterns and lifestyle drivers (sleep, alcohol, stress) that explain those trends.
ADVICE

Mix Modalities For Balance

  • Mix resistance, low-moderate aerobic, and high-intensity training instead of choosing one modality.
  • Avoid daily high-intensity sessions to reduce sympathetic overload and overtraining risk.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app