How to Exercise for Healthier Hormones
Our bodies were designed to move but in modern society we do a lot less of it. Exercise benefits all aspects of our health. Moderate exercise improves cardiovascular health, joint mobility, reduces anxiety, helps you sleep better and boosts your mood. But it’s often not the first thing most of us think of when it comes to optimizing hormone health.
The truth is exercise can either help or hurt your hormones depending on what type of activities you’re doing, how often and at what intensity. As with many things in life, more is not always better. While a sedentary lifestyle is certainly not doing your hormones any favors, too much intense exercise can increase cortisol and down regulate hormone production negating all of your hard work.
Exercise is a really important way that your body communicates with your endocrine system. This system sends chemical messages throughout your body to make sure the right amount of each hormone is being released. Cortisol, insulin, and your sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are all key players in maintaining a healthy body weight and optimizing your metabolism.
Sure some days you may feel like you’d rather netflix and chill than workout but once you get moving you feel great. But, if you find that your body is feeling depleted rather than energized after your workouts, that is a huge red flag that you need to slow down.
Exercise naturally raises cortisol levels so if your body is already stressed, consider reducing the intensity of your activity, at least temporarily. Cortisol has an inhibitory effect on your sex hormones meaning that if cortisol is consistently elevated your body won’t produce enough of your sex hormones to maintain a healthy cycle. Your body prioritizes safety over reproduction so it makes sense that when you’re mega stressed out, your cycles can get a little wonky and even go missing altogether. Chronically elevated cortisol can also lead to weight gain, sleep disturbances, and mood swings. Sticking to more low intensity exercises like yoga, walking or hiking will actually help your body to recover more quickly.
Insulin and blood sugar regulation go hand in hand and a combination of HIIT and resistance training has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. Meaning that it helps the glucose in your blood get into the cell where it can be used, decreasing the risk for metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes. Incorporating 1-2 sessions a week is a good rule of thumb to get the benefits of this type of training while still allowing for proper recovery.
Strength training is particularly effective for boosting testosterone and DHEA, is great for bone health and is my personal favorite way to get moving. Testosterone is often thought of as a male hormone but it’s super important for women as well. It helps with bone health, ovarian function, and is necessary to build stronger muscles.
The key is to really listen to your body and mix things up. Your body likes to be challenged in new ways. So incorporate walking, hiking, balance and weight training, HIIT, yoga, and don’t forget about rest days. Allowing your body to recover is how you get stronger. And most importantly have fun. Exercise should leave you feeling energized, physically and mentally, not depleted. The more you enjoy the activity you’re doing, the more likely you are to stick with it and at the end of the day, consistency is really what matters.