What Exercise is Best for PCOS?

 

Okay, I admit, this is a minefield of a question.

As I’ve said before, PCOS is a basket diagnosis which means that so many people are labeled with this condition, yet there are so many unique variations of it.

For some of us, insulin resistance is our biggest issue, for others it’s chronic inflammation, and for others it’s adrenal dysfunction.  I get into the complexities of these and what they mean in my course, Functional PCOS, but suffice it to say that each of these root issues is unique.  Most of us overlap quite a bit as well .

So what’s a person to do?

My approach to PCOS exercise starts with the fundamental understanding that everyone with PCOS likely has overlapping issues in each of the above three categories.  That means they are dealing with some heightened stress responses, some insulin resistance, and some chronic inflammation.  To find an ideal workout routine, we need to account for all three of these issues.

For the insulin resistance piece, movement is key.  Any movement we can do, whether gentle movement like walking and stretching, or more intense movement like weight training and HIIT, will have a beneficial impact on insulin levels.

Research consistently shows that regular exercise in PCOS improves symptoms, mostly because it improves those markers of blood sugar response.

Movement will help decrease your blood sugars and that will lower how much insulin is circulating in your system.  This, in turn, will help reduce your testosterone levels and improve symptoms.

And really, any kind of movement will do for this.

Our adrenals, on the other hand, are a bit more picky about the type of movement we do.

If we have chronically elevated cortisol levels, strength training in particular can help to lower those cortisol levels, but excessive exercise will damage them.

The adrenal response is highly connected to the individual and things like childhood trauma can make us more sensitive to overactive responses.  With time, we might find that our adrenals are underactive leading to low energy and pushing ourselves in lengthy cardio sessions can increase our fatigue.

With the adrenals, I like to get more bang for my buck so I can incorporate lots of rest in between sessions and this helps keep those cortisol levels more balanced.

For those with adrenal dysfunction, gentle movement like walking and yoga will help reduce stress responses while also offering the benefits of mindfulness and insulin reduction.  Strength training helps keep your metabolism burning for about 72 hours after each session, which also improves insulin response and prevents you from needing to kill yourself at the gym daily.

That was the long answer of why I recommend what I do.  Here’s what I actually recommend:

Strength Training

Typically, 2-4 days of strength training are helpful in PCOS.  I like to see either a couple full body days with rest between or a few split days where you do upper and lower body on different days.

I typically recommend heavy weight training with slower movement.  My trainer sets a timer for 2 minutes and I use the weight machine as slowly as I can back and forth for that entire time.  This is an incredible workout and I can get my whole body done in about 30 minutes.  The efficiency helps keep me on track and because I worked my whole body, I can leave more time between sessions and still get the benefits.

Many folks are afraid to get bulky with heavy weight training but this really doesn’t happen.  Instead, weight training like this can actually help burn body fat more effectively and help you lean out if that’s something you are wanting.

Gentle Movement

Most days of the week, I like to see light walking and/or flexibility in the routine.  This can look like 15 minutes walks after your starchier meals of the day to help calm blood sugar responses or it can be a morning or evening walk closer to 30 minutes.  However you do it, this is the one non-negotiable I have for those working on PCOS.  If you skip all the others kinds of exercise, still try to include this kind of movement regularly as this is the single most helpful thing for your hormone balance.

Flexibility and stretching, whether via yoga or another paradigm is also helpful for PCOS.  That mindful movement can lower inflammation levels and improve insulin resistance, but it is also soothing for the adrenals, stress responses, and helpful for supporting the body.

I’m a little woo-woo so I believe in the chakra connection with PCOS- the idea that the sacral and root chakras, which concern our sense of safety and security, as well as our sexual health and hormone balance, are not aligned in PCOS.

Most of the folks I’ve spoken to over the years with PCOS have some stories of trauma to their reproductive organs, or some childhood issues of lack of security, abandonment, etc that are deeply buried.  Calling these things out into the open helps us to heal them and I believe that does help with parts of the PCOS puzzle.  That’s another place where mindfulness plays a role.

Find Something Fun

This is the biggest tip and also the hardest thing to accomplish.  I know I struggled with finding some form of activity I actually liked for YEARS.

Once I did, though, I realized just how helpful a solid workout routine can be, how much it improves mood and energy, and how much it truly matters.  P.s., did you know that exercise alone alters the gut microbiome beneficially?

I’ll tell you my personal journey of finding my dream routine and maybe it will help you.

The first consistent thing I started doing years ago was walking.  I’d make an evening walk part of my routine, simply out of boredom.  My husband and I were young and broke and couldn’t afford to do much else, so we walked our dog every evening.  This became a routine that I stuck with for years that really helped keep me balanced.

Back in 2017 I met a personal trainer at an event who looked at training from a different perspective.

She didn’t run people through endless reps of squats, she used machines and something called the super slow method and advocated for one to two days a week of training only.  She was also 65 at the time and looked incredible- lean, flexible, strong, and energetic.  I wanted that level of fitness for myself so I began working with her.

I’ve consistently seen her once or twice a week since then and I rarely ever miss because I’ve become close to her over the years and don’t want to disappoint her.  There’s definitely an element of obligation, and even guilt at times that keeps me going, but that keeps me accountable and consistent and that’s what I need.  Some weeks, the only thing that gives me the energy to go to my session is the fact that I know I’ll see her and I don’t want to let her down.

In the past, I’ve always signed up for exercise programs and classes that gave me an out- I never got close to anyone and it was easy to give it up when I lost interest.  I know it’s scary to commit yourself to something that you don’t have a good “out” for, especially if you’re a people pleaser like me, but I can honestly say that this is one area where my people pleasing has really served me.

Those workouts made me much stronger and leaner and I’m grateful for the conditioning they still give me.

But none of those things were really “fun” for me.  I can’t say that any exercise routine I’ve had in the past has given me a thrill.  That is until last year when I started pole fitness.

I’d long admired videos of incredibly strong and graceful individuals who could climb to the top of a pole smoothly, invert and create beautiful shapes and make it look so easy.  In fact, I got into the sport thinking it was going to be easy and fun and I quickly learned that while it was fun, it was definitely not easy.

Pole, the sport version at least, is similar to gymnastics.  It requires tons of upper body and core strength and lots of grit and determination.  It requires the flexibility and grace of a dancer and an element of mind-over-matter similar to yoga as you consistently create large, painful bruises and burns on your skin contact points.

For me, this has been the perfect combination of flexibility and strength.  There’s a competitive element to it as you move through the levels and the possibility to compete that keeps me engaged and learning new shapes is so fun and challenging.  Doing pole a few times a week gives me such a good, full body workout that I don’t need anything else, and I love it while I’m doing it!

I’m so grateful I’ve found it!  This is beginning to sound like an ad for pole dancing, which it isn’t, but I only share my story to help you think of different options for yourself.

Ask yourself what you love?  What have you always been interested in?  What’s something that could hold your attention for a while, something that might challenge you?  What’s something that maybe you’re scared to do because it’s taboo or you’re not sure what people will think or someone might judge you because of xyz?

Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn modern dance or tap?  Maybe you want to be a true yogi?  Maybe you want to be a rock climber?  Or maybe you just want to find a niche sport or exercise where you can make real friends?  My best friend’s sister is a sumo wrestler now and so good she’s competing in the world games!  Maybe there’s something like that out there for you!

Whatever it is, if you enjoy it enough, it won’t be hard to make space for it.  And you can organize the rest of your routine around it.

If it’s cardio heavy, keep it to a few days a week and let the other days incorporate more gentle movement or strength.  If it’s more gentle, look into some quick and efficient strength routines you can do from home once a week to get it out of the way.  Place your energy on what you enjoy and the rest will find it’s place.

One note: a big reason why I always stopped myself from doing things that sounded fun was fear of judgement, of what everyone would think about me and my body, and lack of self confidence.  I was embarrassed to even exist in the classes I’d take, as if I didn’t belong there and wasn’t “good enough” to be included.

I wish there was something I could say to you that would take that fear from you, but I know that it’s something many of us just have to work through.

Fitness and sports are for EVERYONE.  And you can’t get where you want to go until you take that first step.  Everyone starts out miserably bad at the thing they want to do!  That’s okay!  I think most of us walk into those big workout classes or yoga studios intimidated and feeling out of place.  If I can give you any encouragement here, I’ll try.  Just keep going.  I promise it will be worth it.