Breaking Down the 4 Phases of your Menstral Cycle

If you are trying to get pregnant or balance your hormones..or heck you’re just a woman- it’s incredibly important to be familiar with the 4 phases of the menstrual cycle ( specifically YOUR menstrual cycle). It’s not enough to just know when your period is coming, you need to know all the emotions and things that happen within each stage. 

So let’s break down the menstrual cycle and make it easy to understand. Spoiler alert, this will be different from what you learned in health class in 7th grade ( which is honestly a shame but that’s a story for a different day). 

What are the 4 phases of the menstrual cycle?

The menstrual cycle is not just your period, but it’s actually a cycle of 4 phases within a 21-33ish day window.

Remember in health class they taught us a menstrual cycle was 28 days long? So we tend to think that if we aren’t 28 days on the dot then something is wrong, but in all reality anything between 21-33 days is normal. And it may even fluctuate each month depending on things like stress and sickness. 

Your 21-33 day cycle is broken down into these 4 phases:

Menstruation Phase/ Your Period

Cycle day 1 (  you might see this referred to as CD1) is the first day of your period. This is the official start of your entire cycle. It’s important to note that CD1 is FULL FLOW before 6 pm. If you are spotting a little on Monday but don’t have a real flow until 11 pm then CD1 is actually Tuesday. 

At this time estrogen is slightly rising and progesterone is slightly dipping. 

Healthy periods should be about 3-7 days in length with mild to moderate bleeding, but not severe or passing large clots. Light cramping is normal, but cramping that keeps you from your daily activities is NOT normal. It is common, but not normal. 

During this period you’ll be a little more tired and need extra rest. This is not a time for rigorous activity. Instead try things like reading, yoga, or goal setting. 

Follicular Phase

This overlaps menstruation a little and is actually classified as Cycle day 1 until ovulation. ( Some people consider it the day after your cycle ends until ovulation).  This is generally around 11-14 days in length. During this time you’ll notice your energy starting to grow and you feel very lovey-dovey. It’s exactly what your hormones want you to feel and do as you get closer to ovulation. 

At this time your hypothalamus is releasing FSH while estrogen and progesterone continue to rise. 

This is a perfect time to spend quality time with your partner and does date night or just a fun activity together. You might also feel creative and want to dig into a new project. 

Ovulation Phase

This phase is actually 24 hours long (Again you might see the “Ovulatory phase” which can be from the end of the follicular phase to the start of the luteal phase. Different texts break the stages down differently, but they cover the same hormones/needs).

Estrogen and testosterone are peaking at this phase so that’s why you feel very energetic and confident. Also, your body is ready to get pregnant. You’ll notice that egg white cervical mucous letting you know it’s GO TIME BABY!

So obviously this is a great time to make sure you are timing intercourse if you are trying to get pregnant, but it’s also a great time to schedule networking events or any big plans since your energy is high. 

Remember that just because ovulation is 24 hours, sperm can live up to 4 days. So if you are trying to get pregnant you can have intercourse the 4 days before and the day of! 

Luteal Phase

Last, but certainly not least is the luteal phase. This is the day after ovulation until the start of the next period. Generally, this is 9-14ish days long. 

During this phase, your energy is still high but starts to come down as you approach menstruation. This is a good time to do activities with your favorite friends and the people you truly enjoy being around. 

If you’d like to see a video breakdown of all the hormones involved in this cycle then this video is extremely informative!

How to keep up with the phases of your menstrual cycle

This is an easy one-cycle charting!

If you are trying to get pregnant, it’s likely you are already cycle-charting to make sure you catch that LH surge and know when you are ovulating, but even if you aren’t trying to conceive, then cycle charting can be beneficial. 

I generally tell my fertility clients NOT to use an app simply because if you go by the ovulation day the app predicts, then you might miss your actual ovulation day. ( Remember the app is just a little algorithm-based robot trying to predict what’s going to happen- it doesn’t know for sure because it doesn’t know your body). 

I suggest good ol pen and paper ( you can use your planner or calendar on your phone as well). Simply start with cycle day 1 and make note of when you start, any symptoms you experience, and cervical mucous, and you’re good to go. These things will help you keep track of where you are in your menstrual cycle. 

Knowing this will be very beneficial if you are trying to cycle sync ( which hint- you need to!).

If you are trying to get pregnant, grab my free Simple Cycle Charting Freebie!