great_depression
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Originally posted in /r/naturalbodybuilding in case the intro is confusing
There is a TL;DR section at the bottom.
Admittedly, this thread may look different than my previous threads. This is a breakdown of some of the topics discussed in "The Women's Book Volume 1" By Lyle Mcdonald /w Eric Helms.
A lot will be word for word and some will be summaries and simplifications*
I want to start covering more female based training topics since men have this information in abundance. To start off though, a basic explanation of the menstrual cycle is needed.
So over the last few weeks in my free time, I read Lyle Mcdonald's 400 page book on women and made a breakdown and summary of the menstrual cycle parts of it.
It is not all of it, he goes into great detail on the topic in the book but I decided to just cover what I think I'll need in order to make additional female based research threads.
I highly recommend "The Women's Book" to any women getting into fitness. There are a ton of topics like this one in his book that are explained in depth and he provides links to the scientific research that support the claims and explanations he makes in each chapter.
Some men and even some younger women here may be wondering:
"So what? How does a brief period of being uncomfortable make female training any different? All that's different is some cramping and bleeding for a week."
The menstrual cycle actually affects pretty much everything about a woman for most of her month.
What is rarely talked about is that the menstrual cycle does not start when a woman gets her period. It starts weeks before then. In fact, a typical menstrual cycle lasts for 24-32 days [.].
Second, the menstrual cycle is tied to so many things about how you look, feel and the benefits you get from training/dieting that it is essentially like a biological game of Jenga and because the menstrual cycle lasts for so long, it is something that a woman will always have to consider.
Thus, I feel a thread giving a brief rundown is needed in order to make additional threads on female-based training.
[sup]From[/sup] [sup]'The[/sup] [sup]Women's[/sup] [sup]Book'[/sup] [sup]by[/sup] [sup]Lyle[/sup] [sup]Mcdonald[/sup] [sup]/w[/sup] [sup]Eric[/sup] [sup]Helms[/sup]
Women have a few hormones that tie into their menstrual cycle but we will mostly focus on two. These are:
Progesterone
Progesterone is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the major progestogen in the body.
It can be converted to aldosterone (affects water balance), cortisol (stress hormone), and androgens.
Women have about four times the amount of estrogens compared with men. Estrogens promote the development of female genital organs and features, growth of the endometrium, and inhibit the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone by the pituitary. [.]
What changes during the menstrual cycle?
The blood concentrations of female hormones change during the menstrual cycle, with low estrogen and progesterone during the early follicular phase (FP), followed by a peak in estrogen just before ovulation, and high concentrations of estrogen and progesterone during the luteal phase (LP). [.]
No two women have an identical menstrual cycle and even an individual female's cycle may vary from month-to-month. For these reasons, hypertrophy research in men is more abundant than in women as it is harder to control for women. However, diet research is relatively more abundant in women as women tend to make up the majority of subjects. This is also reflective of the fact that women are far more likely to be dieting than men.
The cycle is typically divided into two phases called:
Graph from here
Graph of Hormonal Fluctuations Throughout Phases
As said before, a full cycle can last 24-32 days. Most women will report having a 28 day cycle but in reality, few actually have a 28 day cycle.
Day 1 of the cycle occurs at the onset of menstruation (bleeding). This typically lasts 3-5 days.
Afterwards the remainder of the cycle is divided into two distinct phases.
The Follicular phase
The release of the egg on day 14 of the Follicular Phase (halfway point of the cycle) is termed ovulation and this marks both the middle of the menstrual cycle along with the end of the follicular phase. At this point, a woman enters the Luteal Phase which can again be subdivided into early, mid and late phases.
Graph of Hormonal Fluctuations Throughout Phases
Early and Late Follicular Phase
There isn't a truly normal or consistent menstrual cycle.
The overall pattern is the same in women but the changes in hormone levels, durations of the phases, bleeding, presence or absence of PMS/PMDD
all vary greatly.
Being in a very high caloric deficit or under stress can also alter your cycle and cause you to miss your period.
However, this is why you should track your mood, energy, how you look, etc as this can help you figure out more about your cycle.
Graph of Hormonal Fluctuation
Early Follicular (Before Ovulation)
Change is bolded
The Women's Book by Lyle Mcdonald
There is a TL;DR section at the bottom.
Introduction
Admittedly, this thread may look different than my previous threads. This is a breakdown of some of the topics discussed in "The Women's Book Volume 1" By Lyle Mcdonald /w Eric Helms.
A lot will be word for word and some will be summaries and simplifications*
I want to start covering more female based training topics since men have this information in abundance. To start off though, a basic explanation of the menstrual cycle is needed.
So over the last few weeks in my free time, I read Lyle Mcdonald's 400 page book on women and made a breakdown and summary of the menstrual cycle parts of it.
It is not all of it, he goes into great detail on the topic in the book but I decided to just cover what I think I'll need in order to make additional female based research threads.
I highly recommend "The Women's Book" to any women getting into fitness. There are a ton of topics like this one in his book that are explained in depth and he provides links to the scientific research that support the claims and explanations he makes in each chapter.
What's the big deal?
Some men and even some younger women here may be wondering:
"So what? How does a brief period of being uncomfortable make female training any different? All that's different is some cramping and bleeding for a week."
The menstrual cycle actually affects pretty much everything about a woman for most of her month.
What is rarely talked about is that the menstrual cycle does not start when a woman gets her period. It starts weeks before then. In fact, a typical menstrual cycle lasts for 24-32 days [.].
Second, the menstrual cycle is tied to so many things about how you look, feel and the benefits you get from training/dieting that it is essentially like a biological game of Jenga and because the menstrual cycle lasts for so long, it is something that a woman will always have to consider.
Thus, I feel a thread giving a brief rundown is needed in order to make additional threads on female-based training.
[sup]From[/sup] [sup]'The[/sup] [sup]Women's[/sup] [sup]Book'[/sup] [sup]by[/sup] [sup]Lyle[/sup] [sup]Mcdonald[/sup] [sup]/w[/sup] [sup]Eric[/sup] [sup]Helms[/sup]
Hormones
Women have a few hormones that tie into their menstrual cycle but we will mostly focus on two. These are:
Progesterone
Progesterone is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the major progestogen in the body.
It can be converted to aldosterone (affects water balance), cortisol (stress hormone), and androgens.
- Progesterone remains very low during the follicular phase.
- Progesterone is increased in the Luteal Phase
- Progesterone increases metabolism but with it, also cravings.
- In the same way that women have roughly 1/15th the testosterone levels of men, men have about 1/10th (or so) the levels of estrogen and progesterone
- Promotes insulin resistance and can cause unstable blood sugar
- Progesterone increases the storage of fat in a woman's fat cells while increasing the use of fat stored in her muscles.
- Blocks Estrogen's beneficial effects.
- Decreases tendon strength and decrease the ability to build muscle
Women have about four times the amount of estrogens compared with men. Estrogens promote the development of female genital organs and features, growth of the endometrium, and inhibit the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone by the pituitary. [.]
- Is produced primarily by a woman's ovaries although it can be produced elsewhere, generally by the conversion of other hormones such as testosterone via aromatase.
- Is critically involved in the deposition of breast fat and contributes both to women's increased
overall body fat levels and her lower body fat patterning. - Estrogen affects body fat distribution patterns in women causing them to store more fat in their lower bodies.
- A woman who is not pregnant will find it easier to burn/mobilize upper body fat and find it difficult to burn/mobilize lower body fat. They will also store more fat in their lower body.
- During pregnancy and breastfeeding, a woman's normally difficult to mobilize lower body fat becomes the preferred source of fuel.
- Causes the growth plates of bones to close and this is part of why women are typically shorter than men; at puberty, their bones fuse and stop lengthening.
- Acts as a regulator of muscle energy metabolism and muscle cell viability, research shows.
- Is a major player in increasing bone density but not the only factor.
- Plays a role in cognition and mental function.
- Improves insulin resistance
- High levels of estrogen can also cause water retention.
- Estrogen starts at a low level, shows a gradual increase leading up to a large surge in the final few days of the cycle.
The Menstrual Cycle Basics
What changes during the menstrual cycle?
The blood concentrations of female hormones change during the menstrual cycle, with low estrogen and progesterone during the early follicular phase (FP), followed by a peak in estrogen just before ovulation, and high concentrations of estrogen and progesterone during the luteal phase (LP). [.]
No two women have an identical menstrual cycle and even an individual female's cycle may vary from month-to-month. For these reasons, hypertrophy research in men is more abundant than in women as it is harder to control for women. However, diet research is relatively more abundant in women as women tend to make up the majority of subjects. This is also reflective of the fact that women are far more likely to be dieting than men.
Phases and lengths
The cycle is typically divided into two phases called:
- The Follicular Phase (from menstruation to ovulation)
- The Luteal Phase (from ovulation through PMS).
Graph from here
Graph of Hormonal Fluctuations Throughout Phases
As said before, a full cycle can last 24-32 days. Most women will report having a 28 day cycle but in reality, few actually have a 28 day cycle.
Day 1 of the cycle occurs at the onset of menstruation (bleeding). This typically lasts 3-5 days.
Afterwards the remainder of the cycle is divided into two distinct phases.
The Follicular phase
- Within a 28 day cycle will typically last 14 days and has 3 phases. The early, mid and late phase of roughly 3-5 days each.
- Under certain conditions, the follicular phase can lengthen
- Progesterone remains very low during the follicular phase. Estrogen starts at a low level, shows a gradual increase leading up to a large surge in the final few days of the cycle
The release of the egg on day 14 of the Follicular Phase (halfway point of the cycle) is termed ovulation and this marks both the middle of the menstrual cycle along with the end of the follicular phase. At this point, a woman enters the Luteal Phase which can again be subdivided into early, mid and late phases.
- Body temperature increases slightly after ovulation and can be used to tell when ovulation has occurred and tell when the follicular phase has ended and the luteal phase has begun
- Progesterone and estrogen increase gradually reaching a peak at mid-cycle.
- Progesterone levels are higher than those of estrogen, which only reaches about half of the level seen during the peak of the follicular phase.
- In the late luteal phase, progesterone and estrogen start to drop again and PMS starts
The effects of each phase
Graph of Hormonal Fluctuations Throughout Phases
Early and Late Follicular Phase
- After menstruation, during the early follicular phase, estrogen and progesterone are both fairly low
although estrogen will start to increase and have the dominant effect overall - Insulin sensitivity will be high with a woman's body using more carbohydrates for fuel at rest.
- Appetite and hunger will be stable and controlled, especially in comparison to the previous luteal phase.
- Blood glucose levels will remain stable
- a higher carbohydrate/lower fat diet will be superior in the follicular phase
- Metabolic rate will be normal and fat storage will be normal and/or lowered relative to the luteal phase
- Estrogen will be exerting anti-inflammatory effects and have a positive effect on muscular
remodeling from training (increased muscle growth). - Lower water retention.
- Body temperature increases slightly and with this will come a small increase in metabolic rate. 100-300calories*
- Blood sugar becomes unstable and this can cause energy and mood swings along with hunger.
- Hunger and cravings will tend to go up both due to the fall in estrogen after ovulation along with increasing progesterone levels. Foods high in sugar and fats are typically craved (like chocolate).
- In studies of women who were not controlling their diets, an increased intake of 90-500 calories has been reported
- If calorie and fat intake is too high during this phase, there will be increased fat storage.
- If you can control your hunger during this phase, the increase in metabolic rate can be beneficial. The result typically being an extra 1000-3000 calories burned during the phase.
- Since progesterone is increased during the luteal phase, a slight degree of insulin resistance develops and a woman's body will use more fat for fuel (and less carbohydrates) both at rest and during exercise. The fat, however comes from within the muscle.
- Women actually use a larger percentage of fat for fuel during low and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise than men. This effect is even more pronounced during the luteal phase when insulin resistance increases due to elevated progesterone and limits carbohydrate use further.
- While increased insulin resistance is normally a bad thing, an increase in insulin resistance can be beneficial on a lowered or low-carbohydrate diet due to the altered usage of carbohydrates and fats.
- Setting dietary fat slightly higher while reducing dietary carbohydrates will be better.
- A lowered carbohydrate/higher fat diet will be better in the luteal phase
- Most of the burned fat actually comes from the fat stored in muscle tissue
- Little water retention in this phase
- Reduced inflammation
- Potentially limits muscle damage
- Muscle growth and remodeling are negatively impacted.
- The increase in body temperature may harm endurance performance especially in the heat.
- Moving into the late luteal phase, Estrogen and progesterone continue to drop and this has a large number of effects on a woman's body.
- Impaired insulin sensitivity.
- Blood sugar levels often become even more unstable during this time which can cause women to experience low blood sugar, negatively affecting energy, mood and hunger.
- Reduced utilization of carbohydrates
- Reduced serotonin and dopamine levels
- Cravings for high-fat and high-sugar foods are high
- Falling dopamine levels also cause levels of the hormone prolactin to increase, causing breast tenderness.
- The same basic pattern of fat storage and fuel utilization seen in the early luteal phase will be maintained.
- Water retention during this phase is heavily increased and made worse by high sodium intakes.
- Reduced quality of sleep and production of Melatonin.
No two cycles are the same
There isn't a truly normal or consistent menstrual cycle.
The overall pattern is the same in women but the changes in hormone levels, durations of the phases, bleeding, presence or absence of PMS/PMDD
all vary greatly.
Being in a very high caloric deficit or under stress can also alter your cycle and cause you to miss your period.
However, this is why you should track your mood, energy, how you look, etc as this can help you figure out more about your cycle.
TL;DR of the effects of the phases
Graph of Hormonal Fluctuation
Early Follicular (Before Ovulation)
- Dominant Hormone: Estrogen
- Insulin Sensitivity: Increased
- Resting Fuel source: Carbs
- Exercise fuel source: Fats
- Fat storage: Lowered
- Metabolic rate: Normal
- Hunger: Lowered
- Blood Glucose: Stable
- Water Retention: Lowered
- Muscle growth: Increased
Change is bolded
- Dominant Hormone: Estrogen
- Insulin Sensitivity: Increased
- Resting Fuel source: Carbs
- Exercise fuel source: Fats
- Fat storage: Lowered
- Metabolic rate: Normal
- Hunger: Lowered
- Blood Glucose: Stable
- Water Retention: Increased
- Muscle growth: Increased
- Dominant Hormone: Progesterone
- Insulin Sensitivity: Lowered
- Resting Fuel source: Fats
- Exercise fuel source: Fats (Increased)
- Fat storage: Increased
- Metabolic rate: Increased (100-300cals)
- Hunger: Increased
- Blood Glucose: Unstable
- Water Retention: Lowered
- Muscle growth: Decreased
- Dominant Hormone: Progesterone
- Insulin Sensitivity: Lowered
- Resting Fuel source: Fats
- Exercise fuel source: Fats (Increased)
- Fat storage: Increased
- Metabolic rate: Increased
- Hunger: Increased
- Blood Glucose: Unstable
- Water Retention: Increased (Highest)
- Muscle growth: Decreased
The Women's Book by Lyle Mcdonald