Harnessing Every Phase of the Female Cycle

Peak performance depends not only on effort, but also on alignment with the body’s natural rhythms.

This episode explores current research on how hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle influence training, recovery, and injury risk in female athletes. Drawing from emerging evidence—including the FIFA-funded study on female soccer players and ACL injuries—the discussion highlights what science has uncovered, what remains under investigation, and how athletes, coaches, and parents can apply these insights to training and recovery practices.

The conversation examines ways to adapt workload, fueling, and recovery to support performance throughout all phases of the cycle. The goal is to empower athletes and sport professionals to view physiology as a performance advantage rather than a limitation.

Designed for athletes, coaches, and parents seeking to understand the science behind performance and resilience, this episode offers practical tools for smarter training, improved well-being, and long-term growth.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:01

I'm Dr. Nassim Ebrahimi, and welcome to Becoming My Stronger Me, a podcast designed to help you become stronger in mind, body, and heart. In season two, the mental performance series, we'll explore the intricate relationship between mental performance, sports excellence, leadership, and personal growth to help you become your stronger you. Today we're exploring a topic that has finally started to get the attention it deserves. How female athletes can train, recover, and perform in sync with their bodies, not in spite of them. For decades, the sports world has largely followed male-centered models of training and recovery. But with new research, including a groundbreaking FIFA funded study in Europe, we're learning more about how hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle impact strength, endurance, and even injury risk. This isn't just science for science's sake, it's performance intelligence. Understanding the female body allows athletes, coaches, and parents to train smarter, reduce injuries, and support long-term growth and consistency. So let's try to understand the research and why it matters. The research in this space is still really young, but the conversation is growing fast. The study I mentioned, led by researchers at Kingston University and supported by FIFA, is tracking professional female soccer players to explore how hormonal levels relate to injury risk, especially ACL tears, which are notoriously more common in female athletes. The theory is that during certain phases, particularly when estrogen peaks or progesterone rises, ligaments may become more lax and neuromuscular control can change slightly. That doesn't mean athletes are quote unquote weaker. It means that the body is temporarily shifting its balance. And that's really valuable data to consider when programming training and recovery sessions. Beyond that, meta-analyses and reviews have shown that strength and power may be slightly elevated in the follicular phase, while fatigue or soreness may be higher in the luteal phase. What's fascinating is that even when physical performance metrics stay the same, many athletes can feel that difference. They report more fatigue, less focus, or different recovery needs. And that tells us something important. Perception matters. If an athlete feels off, that can influence their confidence, their risk tolerance, and their decision making. So understanding these patterns helps coaches respond with empathy rather than frustration or misunderstanding. So let's talk about what training with the cycle in mind looks like in practice. In the follicular phase, that's roughly the first half of the cycle, estrogen is rising, and the body tends to handle stress, training load, and recovery really well. This is often the best time for strength and power work, conditioning and technical drills that require focus and explosiveness. Many athletes say that they feel sharp and capable during this window. During ovulation, some studies, like the one from the University of College of London, have shown that female athletes actually have slightly faster reaction times and enhanced coordination. So this can be a great period for decision making, reaction-based training, or game simulations that challenge awareness and speed. The luteal phase, which follows ovulation, brings more progesterone into the mix. This hormone raises their body temperature, alters metabolism, and can increase fatigue or soreness. It's also the phase most linked to slightly higher injury risk, particularly with the ACLs. For coaches, this doesn't mean pulling athletes back completely. It means training smart. You might focus more on technique refinement, mobility, balance, or tactical work that is mentally engaging, but physically less risky. And finally, the menstrual phase itself, some athletes feel fine. Others experience cramps or lower back pain or low energy. The best approach here is flexibility. Build options for lighter sessions, recovery work, or mental skill development on those days, while also letting the athletes who feel good push normally. Training isn't the only thing that shifts across the cycle. Fueling and recovery do too. In the follicular phase, the body uses carbohydrates efficiently. So fueling high-intensity sessions with proper carb intake supports performance and recovery. As you move into the luteal phase, metabolism relies more on fat oxidation and carbohydrate storage becomes slightly less efficient. That means athletes might benefit from more frequent meals, consistent protein intake, and intentional hydration, especially since progesterone can affect fluid balance and temperature regulation. Sleep can also fluctuate, particularly in the luteal phase. Encouraging pre-bed routines, mindfulness, or even lighter evening sessions can help maintain recovery and readiness. So, how can coaches support teams with athletes in different phases? Well, this is where it gets tricky for coaches. Because you're not just training one athlete, you're training a whole team of female athletes. And no two cycles are identical. So how do you balance this? Well, first it starts with awareness, not complexity. You don't need a color-coded spreadsheet of every athlete's hormone levels. Instead, foster open communication and normalize the conversation. Make it okay for an athlete to say, I'm a little low energy today, or my recovery feels slow. The goal isn't to treat athletes differently, it's to respond intelligently to what they need in the moment. Second, build flexibility into your program design. If you're running a team of 20 athletes, chances are some are in their follicular phase while others are in their luteal or menstrual phase. Instead of rigidly prescribing the same load, use what's called autoregulation. This means providing intensity ranges rather than fixed numbers. For example, train at 75 to 85% effort today, allowing each athlete to self-adjust within that range based on how they feel. Third, emphasize movement quality and activation every day. Because regardless of their phase, every athlete benefits from neuromuscular priming, things like balance drills, single leg work, and core activation before practice. These not only improve performance, but also buffer against injury, especially in the higher risk phases of the cycle. Fourth, track what matters most, and that's feedback. Encourage athletes to log their energy levels, their soreness, and their sleep quality along with their performance notes. Over time, you'll start seeing patterns. Maybe one athlete performs best early in the cycle while another peaks later. That's valuable data that can inform substitutions, rest days, or conditioning load. Fifth, protect the culture. Normalize the topic so that it's not awkward or whispered about. You can't optimize what you can't talk about. When coaches show curiosity and respect around women's health, it builds trust and trust fuels effort. And finally, for those of you who are coaching at the youth levels, communicate with parents. Many parents still don't realize how the psychical health impacts performance, and they might interpret fatigue or emotional swings as attitude problems rather than physiological realities. Helping families understand this opens the door for more support and less pressure. So, what's next in the research? This area of sports science is only expanding. The Kingston University study could reshape how elite programs design injury prevention and training protocols for female athletes. We're also seeing more investment in wearable technology that helps track physiological markers linked to hormone fluctuations, things like resting heart rate variability or core temperature. The future of coaching female athletes is moving toward personalization, not by isolating players, but by understanding their rhythms and designing systems that support the whole team through smarter, more informed coaching. And if you're an athlete listening, I want you to hear this very clearly. Your body is not an obstacle to performance, it's your foundation. The more you understand it, the better you can work with it, not against it. And if you're a coach or a parent, you have incredible influence here. You can help athletes see their bodies as powerful, intelligent, and capable, not unpredictable or problematic. If you'd like help creating team workshops or implementing a system to support your female athletes' mental and physical performance, reach out to me. I'd love to help your program become stronger, smarter, and more aligned with how athletes truly thrive. Until next time, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, join our Facebook group, send in your stories and feedback. And if you're looking for a mental performance coach or want more information, go to www.becoming my strongerme.com. I can't wait to hear from you.