Exercising too much can cause missed menstrual periods or make your periods stop entirely. Irregular or missed periods are more common in athletes and other women who train hard regularly.
Intense exercise can interrupt the balance of hormones that drives your menstrual cycle. This can cause you to bleed when you are not on your period, have a lighter flow than normal, or stop having a flow at all. Young athletes, especially those who are eating very little, are well known to experience this.
In athletes, intense training and quick weight loss can affect period. If you suddenly start exercising and working out, you tend to miss your period. Exercise affects the menstrual cycle by elevating the metabolism. Metabolism is responsible for essentially sustaining chemical reactions in the body like menstruation.
In most cases, starting a new exercise routine shouldn't really affect your period. But an extreme new regimen—say, training for a marathon or triathlon or even doing intense interval training regularly—can cause you to menstruate less frequently or not at all.
Menstrual irregularities, such as missed or late periods, occur in 14–25% of women of childbearing age. They can result from a range of conditions besides pregnancy, including hormonal imbalances, hormonal birth control, stress, weight loss, trauma, and certain health conditions.
When periods are late, many women will have some mild symptoms similar to early pregnancy, including mild uterine cramping. The breasts may feel heavier and fuller or be tender to the touch. Nausea, constipation, mood swings, dizziness and fatigue may be experienced.
However, healthy cycles typically range from 21 to 35 days (three to five weeks). Unless a medical condition causes irregular cycles, most women probably have at least a rough idea of when to expect their next period. A period is considered late if it has not started within seven days (one week) of when it is expected.
Healthy cardio and workout routines can help lighten your period. Exercising also alleviates cramps and bloating because it pumps you up with happy chemicals and lessens water retention. Working out may also reduce the length of your period because stronger muscles help your cycle function faster.
Regular exercise can help to decrease excess circulating estrogen levels, improving symptoms of PMS and other estrogen-dominant conditions. Studies of the PCOS population have also shown that exercise can help improve the regularity and quality of menstrual cycles, contributing to better hormone regulation.
Though exercise can alleviate menstrual cramps in some women, it can have no effect or aggravate symptoms in others. In some women, exercise can trigger the onset of noticeable to severe cramping. This can be a sign of underlying problems, such as gastrointestinal issues, hypothyroidism, and reproductive issues.
Overall activity and exercise helps regulate the menstrual cycle and flow, which also may equate to less cramping and lighter periods.
Exercise can lighten your flow
Hormonal changes from a regular fitness routine can make your periods less heavy.
If your period is five days late, it doesn't necessarily mean you're pregnant. There are multiple factors that can cause your period to be late: Physiological — Stress, sudden weight changes, climate or time zone changes, breastfeeding (lactational amenorrhea), etc.
If your period is very late, or you've skipped your period, and you get a negative result, you are unlikely to be pregnant. If you are testing before the date of your expected period, you may be pregnant but your hCG levels are too low for the test to detect.
Top things to know about why your period might be late:
If you've had unprotected sex and your period is 10 or more days late, you should take a pregnancy test and talk to a healthcare provider regardless of the result. Speak to a healthcare provider if you haven't had a period for more than 90 days.
If the stress is short-lived, you may miss a period or be a few days late. However, if the stress is chronic, more erratic or absent menstruation can occur.
A late period means that it hasn’t started 5 or more days after the day you expected it to start. A missed period means that you have had no menstrual flow for 6 or more weeks after the start of your last period.
Why do I have cramps but no period? Your period may be late or, depending on your other symptoms, you could be pregnant or have one of several other conditions, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis, uterine fibroid or polyps, or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Symptoms of early pregnancy include missed periods, nausea and vomiting, breast changes, tiredness and frequent urination. Many of these symptoms can also be caused by other factors such as stress or illness.
In many cases, you might get a positive result from an at-home test as early as 10 days after conception. For a more accurate result, wait until after you've missed your period to take a test. Remember, if you take a test too soon, it could be negative even if you're pregnant.