My gym knows when I’m on my period. Why ‘cycle syncing’ workouts are rising in L.A.

I held on to the bar, trying to keep my heels together in first position, but my legs were shaking. It wasn’t supposed to be that difficult — especially for someone like me who works out regularly — but it seemed like total reach.

The Barrelates class at FOLMa new studio opening September 2025 in Melrose Hill, mixes barre and Pilates in a slow-burn flow designed for low-energy days. I was a few days away from my period and even getting off the couch seemed like a stretch. Two other women were moving quietly next to me, no one was chatting, we were all exhausted. When I arrived, I had seen women in the reformers’ room chatting animatedly as they packed their bags. Even that seemed exhausting.

At my old gym, a scrappy Muay Thai spot that has since closed, the trainers saw me on my best and worst days. Some weeks I would come in and destroy everyone in a fight. Other weeks I couldn’t do push-ups on my knees. The coaches didn’t know the difference (and, yes, I didn’t tell them about my cycle) – they just yelled at me to go harder. I was going to get through it, wondering why I was so lazy, so inconsistent, so weak.

It wasn’t until my late 30s, after I changed my birth control method and started having regular periods for the first time in years, that I started paying close attention to my body’s signals. The week I wanted a burger, I got the burger. The day I felt too exhausted for kickboxing, I took a walk instead. I stopped fighting my body and started listening to it.

Malloy Moseley relaxes in the FOLM infrared sauna.

FOLM is built around this idea. The name stands for follicular, ovulation, luteal and menstrual – the four phases of the menstrual cycle – and the class schedule offers different intensities throughout the day so women can choose based on their hormonal situation. Circuit training and power reformer for high-energy days. Classic Barrelates and Pilates for running on empty.

Two weeks later I came back for the reform course. This time the room looked like a party. I’m something of a Pilates connoisseur, and the course followed all the familiar, challenging and satisfying rhythms. Afterward, two women planned to go to a farmers’ market and have coffee. Three others headed to the infrared sauna. I checked my phone and remembered I had a full day ahead of me and the energy to tackle it. The training seemed almost incidental.

The trend toward cycle synchronization is on the rise. But is it backed by science?

FOLM is part of a growing conversation around “cycle synchronization,” the practice of tailoring exercise, diet, and lifestyle to the hormonal changes of the menstrual cycle. On social media, the concept exploded and the language of hormonal phases entered daily conversations. Science, however, is still catching up.

Instructor and co-founder Cindy Gomez, center, leads a Reformer-based class. FOLM student, above. Micaela Ricca, exercises in the weight room designed with a mix of barre, mat and circuit training, below.

“Women of childbearing age, from puberty to menopause, experience significant cyclical changes in their sex hormones during their menstrual cycle,” says Dr. Kacey M. Hamilton, a complex benign gynecologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. These hormonal changes don’t just affect the reproductive system: they influence mood, digestion and potentially the risk of injury. Hamilton Points researching female athletes which revealed higher rates of ligament damage at certain times in the cycle, likely related to the effects of estrogen on connective tissue.

But Hamilton doesn’t support cycling-based fitness programs. “There has never been any literature saying that women who follow cyclical thinking perform better in terms of strength or have more energy,” she says. “None of these results have outcome data to support them thus far.”

His concern is complications. “Lifestyle changes and healthy lifestyle choices are difficult for all of us,” she says. Hamilton fears that if a woman thinks she should rest two weeks a month, she risks missing out on resistance training crucial for bone health and longevity.

Co-founders Anna Collins, left, and Cindy Gomez at FOLM fitness studio.

A “recovery uterus,” hormone-balancing snacks, and lots of hormone talk

FOLM founders Anna Collins, 30, and Cindy Gomez, 35, say they don’t ask anyone to skip workouts. Both came to cycle synchronization through experience. Collins noticed that her ballet pirouettes suffered during her luteal phase; Gomez has seen women take passionate Pilates classes until they almost pass out. “After class, we’d ask, ‘When was your last period?'” Gomez said. “And they’d say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m supposed to get my period tomorrow.’ It’s like, OK, maybe you shouldn’t be doing HIIT in 100 degree heat.

The studio also offers what the founders call the “recovery womb.” An infrared sauna that can accommodate five people and offers 20-minute sessions. Unlike traditional saunas, infrared warms you from the inside out, and the founders recommend going after class when you’re already hot so you can sweat more effectively. (Though they suggest skipping it when you’re actually bleeding, since you’re already exhausted.)

There’s also a vibrating plate that Collins and Gomez say can help with lymphatic drainage before or after class. There’s bone broth and seed-based cookies, both made in-house by Gomez, a certified nutritional health coach, with seeds meant to support hormonal balance at different phases. In January, a cycling coach joins the team to lead workshops on syncing not only workouts, but also nutrition, creativity – even finances – with the menstrual cycle.

At FOLM, nothing is obligatory. “We want our clients to listen to what their body is telling them,” says Gomez. “Even during your luteal phase, if you take the lightest course, you’re still challenging yourself.”

Hamilton sees value in this bodily awareness. “My favorite thing about the current online conversation is that it allows people to become more familiar with their cycle,” she says. A few years ago, his patients rarely knew the difference between the follicular and luteal phases. Now they commonly talk about hormones. “Information is so powerful.”

FOLM is also women-only and welcomes anyone who identifies as female or non-binary. The founders expected a reaction, but say it didn’t happen. “I’ve been teaching for years and I see a huge difference in the way women feel here,” Collins says.

Whether this approach produces measurable fitness results remains to be proven. But this Barrelates class – hard, but not too hard – was exactly what I needed on a day when I almost didn’t show up. The idea behind the Barrelates class, Collins says, is that you never move, so the flow keeps your mind on the physical rather than what’s happening emotionally. After the reform course two weeks later, I had energy to spare. Next time I might try Barrelates when my body and mind kick in.