Cycle Syncing Probably Won’t Change Your Life, No Matter What TikTok Says
Usually when I’m working out, I try to actively avoid thinking about my menstrual cycle. But last week I found myself doing just that. In fact, I was actively focusing on the fact that I was on my period, down to visualizing the flow.
“We’re creating space through the body, just to lengthen and let everything go,” my trainer, Bianca, instructed me as I dutifully did standing oblique crunches.
The class I was taking was just phase one of a new program from Alo Moves called Syncd. I had begun trying out the program shortly after starting my period, or, as Alo calls it, my “menstruation phase.” The app instructed me that during this phase I should be focusing on slowing down, low-impact workouts like yoga and Pilates, meditations, and self-care.
“Be patient with yourself and give into that slowness—it’s time to prioritize rest,” the app instructs. “All this extra downtime gives you the perfect opportunity to reflect on where you are now and your future goals.”
Welcome to the world of cycle syncing, the hottest new fitness and wellness trend. The concept is relatively simple. Cycle syncing states that women can reach the peak of their wellness, fitness, nutrition, and even mental health goals by syncing their workouts, diet, and lifestyle to the four phases of their menstrual cycle.
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As the lifestyle has grown in popularity, it’s being embraced by companies like Alo, which launched Syncd, a cycle-synced workout plan, at the end of August. The brand’s vice president of brand innovation, Alyson Wilson, describes cycle syncing as the “concept of aligning how you move to the different parts of your menstrual cycle.”
“It’s a way to be more in tune with your body and tap into the natural power of each phase throughout the month,” she tells me. “Our moods, appetite, strength, and energy reach highs and lows throughout the month based on what phase of the cycle we’re in. By becoming more in sync with ourselves, we’re able to align with our body’s natural rhythms and control our overall well-being from the inside out.”
If you’ve tracked your menstrual cycle before, you know that there are four phases to it: the menstruation phrase, when you’re actively bleeding; the follicular phase, when you’re preparing to ovulate; the ovulation phase, when an egg is released; and the postovulation luteal phase. Cycle syncing holds that, since your body is going through different hormonal changes and challenges within a month, you should tailor your workouts and lifestyle to each phase. When you’re actively bleeding during phase one, for example, workouts should be “slow and gentle,” as Alo puts it in a press release. During the ovulation phase you can ramp things up with “high-intensity workouts for the body at its peak, when the mature egg is released and ready for fertilization.”
Benefits of following this plan, according to Wilson, include “hormonal balance, reducing PMS symptoms, alleviating period pain, more effective workouts, reducing risk of injury, providing fertility support, improved mood, sleep, energy, and productivity, and feeling more balanced overall.” And, according to Alo’s trainers, it works.
