Performance Hacks for Women
Many of our insight into training and dieting methods come from studies that failed to include women participants in the study.
This has led to a lot of women using the advice from men, that only works for men.
Many claim the difference between women and men is largely just a weight issue, but emerging research shows that women respond to stress differently than men, and we have more complex dietary needs than men.
All of this makes sense when you consider that our bodies are built with the presumption that it will one day create another being.
Your body will always assume that you might get pregnant at any time, and it’s goal is to ensure the survival of your baby.
This is important to know so we can understand how our body works, and learn how to get what we want from it.
Wether you want better performance, or better body composition, you need to understand the mechanisms that work behind the scenes.
Unfortunately, most women don’t have a solid understanding of how their bodies work because it was never taught to us.
Women vs Men
So what are the biggest differences between women and men when it comes to training?
Women’s performance is greatly affected by her monthly cycle.
Many women “blame” their period for skipping the gym, but many don’t actually know the real impacts that our cycle has on our training performance.
We tend to feel frustrated when our intense dieting and training doesn’t lead to a better body composition. But our bodies are only doing what they know how to - we just aren’t educated in how they work.
Once we understand what is actually happening, we can mitigate symptoms and adjust our training to enhance our performance. We can learn how to work with our bodies.
The average woman's cycle is around 30 days long, give or take.
The first 15 days are considered the “low hormone” period, while the last 15 days, including menstruation, are the “high hormone” period.
In the low-hormone phase, otherwise known as the follicular phase, you can really push your training intensity and place moderate restrictions on your diet.
In the high-hormone period, or the luteal phase, the high levels of estrogen in our body inhibits our ability to access carbs for our workouts. We also experience a decrease in V02 max, so we don’t respond as well to high intensity workouts or heavy lifting.
The high progesterone levels during this period also inhibit our recovery. The presence of this catabolic hormone means we need more time between workouts four our body to rest and recover.
All of these factors hinder performance.
So this is when you need that extra push to get through your workout. But estrogen is also interfering with the neurotransmitters that help you to push past fatigue. So even mentally you are weaker than usual in respect to workout intensity.
For these reasons, it is essential to lower the intensity of your workout and increase recovery time during the luteal phase.
If you struggle to get out of bed and to the gym during this time, consider using a half-dose of preworkout before cardio or circuit training.
Many women also get cramps, or heavy bleeding, that tends to interfere with their ability to workout. You can mitigate the symptoms of PMS over time by taking what Dr. Stacy Sims calls“The PMS Stack.”
The PMS stack consists of baby aspirin, omega 3’s, zinc, and magnesium. The idea is that 5-6 days before the start of menstruation, you supplement with these on a daily basis.
When we are building the uterine lining, our body is using more zinc and magnesium than usual. We also have an inflammation response at this time, aka what triggers bloating, cramping… which is reduced with the PMS stack.
After three cycles of implementing this PMS stack, the intensity of your PMS symptoms should lower significantly.
2. Women don’t handle low energy availability as well as men.
Many women who participate in sports, or are active 5-6 times a week, at risk for low energy availability.
We were raised in a diet-culture, where we were told to eat as little as possible, and workout as much as possible.
However, research shows this can lead to low energy availability - which can have devastating effects on our bodies.
Low energy availability is when your body doesn’t have enough fuel for your training and the daily maintenance of your body's organs.
Your body won’t stop daily maintenance, but it will begin underperforming.
Any of these sound familiar?
Missed periods
Tired all the time
Irritability
Depression
Injuries
Low libido
Stomach/GI Issues
These are the result of disrupted hormones due to low energy availability. Although the symptoms are not fun to endure, it can also cause the potentially permanent breakdown of your skeletal bones, anemia, and lowered immunity.
However, men don’t seem to be affected as much by low energy availability. Their bodies seem more primed for prolonged states of stress.
Which is why intermittent fasting is so popular - this actually can work quite well for men. However, women need to make sure they fuel their bodies, especially before and after their workouts.
You can read more on fasted workouts and how to fuel your body in our blog here.
In summary, women’s bodies store body fat when they are under prolonged bouts of stress.
Both fasting and exercise are forms of stress.
However, when you signal to your body that it has enough nutrients, it will be more inclined to shed fat and give you sufficient power for your workouts.
So make sure you are fueling your body appropriately, because this could be one of the main factors keeping you from better performance, increased strength, and a lean body composition.
On training days where you perform HIIT, lift heavy weights, or do more than an hour of cardio, you should aim to eat 40 calories per kg of bodyweight. This overall calorie breakdown should include a healthy balance of protein, carbs, and fats.
Additionally, make sure to properly fuel before and after your workout.
In general, try to eat 20g of protein and 30g of carbs prior to working out. This seems to be enough to signal to your body that nutrition is readily available.
Women also need 30g of protein (40g post-menopause) within 30 minutes after your workout, and carbs within 2 hours after your workout. We need protein immediately after to get the full effect of muscle protein synthesis (MPS).
In stark contrast, men don’t need to refuel for 3-18 hours after their workout to still reap the full benefits of MPS. This difference is because our bodies have different pathways for stimulating MPS.
Men only need a sufficient amount of leucine (one of the 9 essential amino acids) in the muscle in order to activate MTOR for muscle protein synthesis. Women require signaling from our brain in order to stimulate MPS. This means we have a smaller window for consuming enough leucine post-workout.
