Monthly cycle and training

[Heather]

This question has come up with some people that I know. The question is how strenuously can you exercise before your monthly cycle starts getting inconsistent. I understand everyone is individual, however, some people that I know who do not exercise at all feel that lifting three days a week, doing HIIT and SS will cause a loss of the monthly cycle. Basically intense or moderately intense exercise an hour a day every day will cause someone to lose their cycle. However, I was under the impression that when doctor's say you can lose your monthly cycle due to strenuous exercise, they were talking about athletes that train for several hours a day.

Does anyone have any knowledge about this? Thanks!

[inatic]

i never lost my cycle, even in a calorie deficit, very lean.

I WISH!

[KAT]

I just finished a plan where I did lifting 3x week, HIIT 2x week and SS 2x week and never lost TOM. (and now that I think about it, it also included bw circuits 2x week)

I always thought losing TOM was more a result of leanness as opposed to strenous exercise. I've been very lean (though not contest lean) and never lost TOM.

[noel]

Everyone is sooooo different. I know many competitors--myself included that even on the day of a show--HAVE TOM.

[Heather]

Thanks for the input. The people that were saying this do not exercise and one was a doctor, which concerned me. I know everyone is different but 1 hour a day, even if it is intense, doesn't seem like enough to stop TOM.

good to know that you guys never had a problem!

[scook]

I did not lose mine until my BF went way down and then it came back once I gained back to my "normal" weight. I had a blissfull 3 months without it! I excercised that much if not more for 6 months before I dieted way down and not only did it stick around but I got it 2x per month for a while.

[cheddar cheese]

I lost mine about 2 months out from both my shows, but it came back right away as soon as my bf went back up. It was a nice 3 month break each time.

[carolyn]

Originally Posted by noel

Everyone is sooooo different. I know many competitors--myself included that even on the day of a show--HAVE TOM.

THAT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!! WTF

[cindy]

In my experience it has much more to do with diet than how intensely one is lifting or how often etc. There is something with the very low fat diets and one's body fat getting really low that play into but not the exertion in the gym.

[fluteangel]

Originally Posted by cindy

In my experience it has much more to do with diet than how intensely one is lifting or how often etc. There is something with the very low fat diets and one's body fat getting really low that play into but not the exertion in the gym.

I have found that not jkust training but high stress is a factor,too. The only time I lost mine was at basic training. I was eating a ton of calories (as evidenced by the fact that I gained 6 lbs. while there, in 9 weeks) but I have never been so stressed in my life for such a long time. ait stayed gone for a month afterwards when my training was much less but my stress was still fairly high.