Cycle syncing is the practice of adjusting your lifestyle, including your eating habits, exercise routines, and other aspects of your life, to the phases of your menstrual cycle. The idea is to recognize the rise and fall of your sex hormones that can leave you feeling tired, energetic, or somewhere in between, and adjust your routines accordingly. Cycle syncing involves aligning lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, sleep patterns, social commitments, and more, in accordance with the different phases of your menstrual cycle to improve hormone balance and alleviate symptoms associated with hormones.

Benefits of cycle syncing include improving hormonal balance, reducing PMS symptoms such as bloating, mood swings, and cravings, making your workout routine more effective, reducing the risk of injury during a workout, reducing period symptoms such as period pain and mood swings, feeling more energized and balanced, providing fertility support, and better quality of sleep.

To start cycle syncing, the first step is to track your period and identify which phase you are currently in. While everyone can benefit from cycle syncing, certain groups may benefit the most, including women who have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), are overweight, are overly fatigued, want their libido back, or want to conceive. Cycle syncing can put you in tune with the monthly changes in your hormones, which can be especially helpful if you’re trying to become pregnant and need to pinpoint ovulation.

It is important to note that the cycle syncing program hasn’t been researched in a clinical setting, but there’s a lot of research supporting differences in mood and activity levels during each phase of the menstrual cycle.