Recent peer-reviewed literature on the relationship between menstrual cycles and exercise
Cycle syncing your workouts may not be as necessary as you think it is!
Below are just a sample of recent studies exploring the relationship between your period and exercise performance.
Citations:
Carmichael, M. A., Thomson, R. L., Moran, L. J., & Wycherley, T. P. (2021). The Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Athletes’ Performance: A Narrative Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1667. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041667
Elliott-Sale, K.J., Altini, M., Doyle-Baker, P. et al. Why We Must Stop Assuming and Estimating Menstrual Cycle Phases in Laboratory and Field-Based Sport Related Research. Sports Med (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02189-3
Galletti BAR, Chesbro GA, Larson RD. No Differences in Lactate Threshold Across the Menstrual Cycle in Untrained Females. Int J Exerc Sci. 2025 Jan 1;18(8):193-205. doi: 10.70252/JKXM8836. PMID: 39917428; PMCID: PMC11798560. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11798560/
Ryman Augustsson S, Findhé-Malenica A. Power in the flow: how menstrual experiences shape women's strength training performance. Front Sports Act Living. 2025 Feb 26;7:1519825. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1519825. PMID: 40078444; PMCID: PMC11897035. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11897035/
Delp M, Chesbro GA, Pribble BA, Miller RM, Pereira HM, Black CD and Larson RD (2024), Higher rating of perceived exertion and lower perceived recovery following a graded exercise test during menses compared to non-bleeding days in untrained females. Front. Physiol. 14:1297242. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1297242 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1297242/full
Richard J Burden, Marco Altini, Eva Ferrer, Tessa R Flood, Gary Lewin, Sophia Nimphius, Stuart M Phillips, Kirsty J Elliott-Sale - Measure do not guess: a call to action to end assumed and estimated menstrual cycle phases in research: BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2024;10:e002095. https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/10/2/e002095
Carmichael, Mikaeli A., Rebecca L. Thomson, Lisa J. Moran, Joel R. Dunstan, Maximillian J. Nelson, Michael L. Mathai, and Thomas P. Wycherley. 2021. "A Pilot Study on the Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Elite Australian Football Athletes" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 18: 9591. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189591