Exercise For PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).

Exercise For PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).

Exercise and PCOS. 

Women with PCOS experience higher rates of insulin resistance compared to women who don’t have the condition. Insulin resistance affects your body’s ability to use blood sugar for energy.

Doctors have connected a lack of physical activity and excess body weight as potential contributing factors to insulin resistance, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 

Not all women with PCOS have overweight. The good news is physical exercise is something you can do for your health when you have PCOS, regardless of your weight. 

1. Reducing BMI. 

A meta-analysis of 16 studies related to PCOS and exercise found that vigorous intensity aerobic exercise was the most likely to reduce body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance in women with PCOS, according to an article in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.

The researchers compared moderate exercise to vigorous exercise. They also found that vigorous exercise and healthy diet interventions resulted in the greatest decreases in BMI.

2. Managing weight. 

A research review of lifestyle interventions in PCOS published in the journal Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology found that exercise helped to reduce weight, abdominal fat, and fasting insulin levels.

The review also found exercise could help women of all weight levels with PCOS either lose or maintain their weight to help them look and feel healthier.

Any type helps? 

A literature review of studies published in the journal Sports Medicine regarding types of exercises, such as strength training and aerobic activity, did not find one specific exercise type was the most beneficial to women with PCOS.

Some of the studies reviewed aerobic exercise and resistance training, riding a stationary bicycle versus riding a bicycle outside, and treadmill walking or jogging at a moderate intensity versus vigorous intensity. The authors did find there are many exercise types that could benefit women with PCOS.

The message from these and other studies is that exercise can usually help you when you have PCOS, and the best exercise is what you will do regularly. Bonus points if the exercise can be something you enjoy doing.

Exercise types to consider

Here are some exercise types to consider:

1. Steady-state cardiovascular workouts: These are workouts that get your heart pumping, usually at about 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, if you are engaging in moderate exercise. You can calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Aerobic exercises in this category can include Walking🚶, Riding a Bicycle 🚲, Dancing💃🕺👯, or taking an aerobics class.

2. HIIT workouts: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves balancing intense exercise bursts with rest intervals. Typical exercises in a HIIT workout include things like Burpees, Tuck Jumps, and Mountain Climbers. A study published in the journal PLOS ONE  Trusted Source found that women with obesity reported greater enjoyment of HIIT exercises compared to those who engaged in continuous moderate to vigorous exercise. Enjoyment of exercise is an important factor for sticking with a routine long-term.

3. Interval training: Interval training is a way to exercise at different intensity levels, but not necessarily to the heart rate max you do with HIIT. This training type often involves doing different exercises in the same session to keep your heart rate up.

4. Mind-body exercises: Studies show that women with PCOS have an enhanced bodily response to stress and distress, according to an article in the journal Physical Exercise for Human Health. Mind-body exercises like Yoga🧘‍♀️ Pilates, and tai chi can help not only burn calories, but also reduce stress levels that worsen your PCOS symptoms.

5. Strength training: Strength training involves using resistance bands, weights, or your own body weight to build muscle. This training type can help you build healthy muscles and bones. Increasing your muscle mass could help you burn more calories at rest, helping you maintain a healthy weight.

These are just some examples of exercises you can do with minimal equipment and space.

Diet and PCOS. 

Researchers have completed several studies regarding the “best” diet types for those with PCOS to follow. The Androgen Excess and PCOS Society used this research to make recommendations for women, which include:

1. If overweight, reduce current calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day.

2. Make total fat less than 30 percent of your total source of calories for the day. Saturated fats, like high-fat beef, butter, cheese, and full-fat dairy products, should represent less than 10 percent of your total calorie intake.

3. Switch higher-fat foods for fiber, whole-grain breads and cereals, fruits, and “good” sources of fats, such as nuts and avocados.

4. Eat less than 200 milligrams of cholesterol a day.

5. Avoid trans fats whenever possible.

6. Incorporate an additional 5 to 10 grams of fiber in your diet per day.

7. If you aren’t sure where to start with incorporating these changes to your diet, talk to your doctor. Your doctor also may recommend seeing a dietitian to create an eating plan specific to women with PCOS.

⭐Sample eating and workout plan📝

⛹Exercises to improve your PCOS doesn’t have to take hours a week. Studies have found exercise sessions ranging from 30 minutes a day, three times a week, to three total hours per week improved metabolic and reproductive symptoms associated with PCOS.

Exercise plan. 

The Androgen Excess and PCOS Society recommends getting at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day and increasing your activity effort when you can. Some of the ways you can incorporate exercise in your life include the following:

Create your own interval training session, where you set up about six stations and exercise at each for about one to two minutes at a time. Examples could include:

• Squats. 

• Jumping jacks. 

• Lunges. 

• Bicep Curls. 

• Crunches. 

• Walk for 30 to 45 minutes a day on a treadmill or outdoors.

• Take an aerobics class online or at a gym.    

    

Examples include Step, Dance, Boxing, or Spinning.

Take a HIIT class at a gym or using online resources. YouTube offers many workout videos that you can complete at home. Just ensure the routine is from a reputable provider.

Practice Yoga, Pilates, or Tai Chi at a studio, Gym🏋🚴💪, or using an online class. If you have not practiced before, you may wish to seek the guidance of a trainer to evaluate your form and safety.

If boredom is a factor in your commitment to an exercise routine, utilize a combination of these exercise types, such as completing a different exercise session type three times a week.

Healthy eating plan. 

Try to incorporate the following habits for healthy eating with each meal and snack:

1. Let each meal consist of a serving of lean Proteins, such as Skinless Chicken, Fish, or Tofu.

2. Cook with healthful fats, such as olive oil.

3. Add a vegetable, such as Broccoli🥦, Kale, Spinach, and Peppers.

4. Incorporate a serving of Beans, Nuts, or Lentils.

5. Choose brightly colored Fruits🍍🍎🍓🍇, such as Red Grapes, Blueberries, Oranges, and Cherries.

Choose Whole-Grain Bread and Pasta options.

Using these guidelines, you can often stay within recommended daily calorie requirements given your overall Height, Health Level, and Weight.

When to talk with a trainer? 

If you have been sedentary for some time or don’t have a solid foundation in exercise safety or proper form, it may be a good idea to consult a personal trainer. Your personal trainer should have a fitness certification from an accredited organization. Examples include:

The American Council on Exercise. 

The National Academy of Sports Medicine. 

The National Strength and Conditioning Association. 

Your trainer should be experienced and emphasize safety.

Exercise can be an important part of your PCOS management. Not only does it improve your physical health, Exercise can help you manage your Stress Levels.

If you aren’t sure where to start, seeing your doctor and finding a personal trainer can help set you on a safe pathway. Exercising at least three times a week and sticking with it can help you improve symptoms from PCOS.

Other lifestyle changes to consider with PCOS. 

Some lifestyle changes can help improve PCOS symptoms.

• These changes include exercise and daily physical movement. When coupled with a limited intake of Refined Carbohydrates, both can help reduce Insulin Resistance. Many experts agree that at least 150 minutes per week of exercise is ideal.

• Daily Activity, Low Sugar Intake, and a Low-Inflammation Diet may also lead to weight loss. People may experience improved ovulation with weight loss.

• The symptoms associated with PCOS can cause stress. Stress reduction techniques, which help calm the mind and let you connect with your body, can help. These include Yoga and Meditation.

In addition, speaking with a therapist or another healthcare professional may be beneficial.

If you have PCOS, you may feel frustrated at times. Eating a PCOS-friendly diet and making some lifestyle changes may help improve your mood and reduce some of the associated symptoms of PCOS.

Note that on a PCOS diet, there are some foods you may want to limit or avoid. However, in many instances, these foods have nutritious, beneficial counterparts. For example, if you commonly eat margarine and white toast for breakfast, try substituting high fiber whole-grain bread and olive oil or avocado.

If your symptoms persist, speak with a doctor. They can work with you to identify the cause and recommend next steps.

Are there specific yoga poses that can help?

Yoga has a wide breadth of practice. From a gentle flow to advanced poses reserved for experienced Yogis, this ancient practice has something for all levels. That said, some styles may be a better fit for finding relief from PCOS.

“In seeking relief from the pain and other symptoms of PCOS, I recommend the more gentle yoga poses, especially those focusing on Stretching and Relaxation.”

I also recommend you to focus on the Abdominal Area, but with Tenderness and Grace.

Thus I like you to recommend yoga poses that increase Mindfulness and bring Blood Flow to the Pelvic region. With that in mind, here are Six of Mine favorite poses for managing the symptoms of PCOS plus a bonus breathing exercise.

1. Garland Pose (Malasana). 

Malasana can strengthen the Pelvic floor and abdominal core while opening the hips. This can benefit individuals with PCOS by increasing circulation and blood flow to the pelvic region, improving Metabolism, and Aiding Digestion.

You can use a block or two under your glutes for support until your body becomes familiar with this position.

• Start with feet about a mat’s width apart.

• Bend your knees and lower your buttocks toward the floor to come into a squat position.

Bring your hands in prayer position (Anjali mudra). You can allow your thumbs to touch your sternum to help keep the chest lifted.

• Press your upper arms/triceps inside of your knees and stay engaged with spine straight (elbows press into knees to open the hips).

• Extend the low back and draw shoulder blades toward one another.

•Remain in this position for up to 5 breaths.

• Come out of it by straightening your legs.

• Repeat the pose for a total of three times.

• It’s OK if your heels don’t remain planted on the ground when you come into the position. • Support the heels with a rolled blanket to help keep you balanced and upright.

2. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana). 

Bridge Pose can calm the brain and reduce stress and anxiety while relieving tension in the back muscles.

• Start by lying on your back with your knees folded and feet hip-distance apart on the floor.

• Place your hands, palm down beside your body.

• Inhale while slowly lifting your lower back, mid-back, then upper back off the floor (while the pelvis lifts up, lengthen from pelvis to sternum).

• Gently roll the shoulders and bring the chest toward the chin.

• Keep thighs parallel to each other and the floor with all four corners of the feet pressed firmly into the ground.

• Breathe with ease and stay in this pose for 1–2 minutes.

• Repeat up to 5 times.

3. Bow Pose (Dhanurasana). 

Dhanurasana may help relieve menstrual discomfort, stimulate reproductive organs, and regulate menstrual flow, according to the Yoga trainer“It increases circulation to the pelvic region, releases tension from abdominal organs, and also stretches the neck, shoulders, and legs muscles,” trainer says. Overall, it may improve anxiety and decrease stress.

• Start lying down on your stomach with your arms on the side of your body.

• Fold your knees up and reach your hands to hold your ankles.

• Breathe in and lift your chest up off the ground while pulling your legs up.

• Hold the pose for 15 seconds, and remember to keep breathing.

•To release, bring your chest and legs back toward the ground, release the hold on your ankles, and relax, face down.

• Repeat for a total of 3 times.

If you cannot reach both of your ankles at the same time, you can do one leg at a time, or use a yoga strap for assistance.

4. Cat-Cow Pose (Chakravakasana). 

The Cat-Cow Pose is also high on trainers go-to list for PCOS.

• Get in tabletop position with your palms down, wrists and elbows aligned under shoulders, knees under hips, ankles straight back from the knees. You can curl the toes under or tops of the feet down, as the flow moves you.

• Inhale, bend the elbows, lower the belly, lift the chin and the tail bone simultaneously, moving each of the vertebrae of the spinal column in a wave.

• Reverse the movement on the exhale by tucking the tail bone and chin, and doming the back as you draw the navel toward the spine as the chin tips toward the chest.

•Repeat for desired amount of times.

5. Head-to-Knee Pose (Janusirsana). 

Trainer says this is a great “all-inclusive” pose.

• Sit down on a yoga mat.

• Extend the left leg to the corner of your mat, foot flexed, back of the heel down, toes to the sky. • The right knee is bent with the foot tucked as close as comfortable to the groin.

• Extend your arms over the legs, breathe in deeply, and exhale, moving the upper body gently toward the left foot, while slowly bringing your right arm in an arc over your head. A strap is nice to create resistance and go deeper into this stretch of the rib cage facing the sky (the right on this side).

• Feel the twist of the torso, the shoulder/hip opener, the gentle massage of the sacroiliac joint, and the movement of kidneys, ovaries, and each internal organ with each deep breath.

• Do 7–12 on each side.

6. Butterfly or Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddhakonasana). 

This is an excellent restorative pose that completely supports the spine and back body, while gently releasing tension from the shoulders and chest, and opening the heart and the hips.

This pose is appropriate for every level. To modify, use blankets or pillows under the shoulders, under the head at an incline, and under the thighs.

• Begin seated on the mat with legs extended in front of you.

• Bend your knees and bring your heels toward you to press the soles together. Your knees will drop to the sides.

• Lean backward until your back is on the floor. Arms will be supported and open, palms up.

• Close your eyes, breathe deeply for 3–5 minutes, or longer if you are comfortable.

• Be sure to come out of the pose mindfully, by rolling to your right side and pausing there for several breaths and then up to seated, or in any way that works best for you.

7. Bonus breathing technique (Kapalbhati Pranayama). 

“Kapalbhati is a rapid breathing exercise that may help a few of the characteristics associated with PCOS such as weight management, blood sugar levels, and stress levels.”

In this technique you will inhale normally but exhale with force and the help of the abdominal muscles. This is best if performed on an empty stomach. This breathing exercise is not recommended during pregnancy.

• Sit in a chair or cross-legged on the floor.

• Close your eyes and try to relax the entire body.

• Inhale deeply through the nose while expanding the chest.

• Exhale with forceful abdominal muscle contractions to relax.

• Repeat 10 times (1 cycle) up to 5 minutes while beginning.

What other benefits does yoga provide?

What makes yoga practically perfect is the ability to benefit your body and mind at the same time.

Several studies back up the Pros of Yoga for a variety of Mood Disorders, Health Conditions, and Overall well-being. While not an exhaustive list, here are some of the more notable benefits of yoga:

• Is accessible to a wide array of ages. 

• Helps promote deep breathing and relaxation, which may help to decrease stress. 

• May be an effective practice to reduce anxiety. 

• Can reduce chronic pain and help with the overall treatment of chronic health conditions. 

• Can help improve balance and mobility in older adults. 

Can other forms of exercise benefit PCOS symptoms?

Yoga is not the only form of movement that can help with PCOS. Other forms of moderate exercise can also help you manage PCOS symptoms.

According to the CDC, participating in physical activities like Walking🚶👣, Jogging🏃‍♂️, Cycling 🚲, and Swimming 🏊‍♀️can help Balance Hormones, Boost Your Mood, Reduce Weight, and Manage Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels.

Moderate exercise in particular can increase your body’s sensitivity to insulin, which reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and more, according to the American Diabetes Association.