You’re in the midst of your vaginal gymnastics journey. Maybe you’ve joined The Ohlympus Program and are following our recommended schedule for training, enthusiastically practicing your squeezes and your whips, feeling hornier than ever. Maybe you’ve gotten The Gohddess Method and are putting together your own workouts based on the newfound knowledge you have over your vaginal muscles.

It’s been smooth sailing – until this morning. 

This morning, when you started your training, for some reason you weren’t able to swiftly alternate between your right and left vaginal walls as you usually go. Heck, you’re not even comfortable holding a contraction for longer than 10 seconds even though your max was 30 only a week ago.

You bite your lip, terrified.

And your mind starts racing as you confirm your hunch: the locking technique, which you  had proudly mastered last week and had exquisitely performed in bed while riding the luckiest man alive... is nowhere to be found.

What the hell is going on?!

And also, why am I craving ice cream all of a sudden?

Overly-dramatic intro aside, I promise to keep this article short and practical.

Because I too have been surprised to notice my pelvic floor strength change throughout the month.

Surprised is an understatement – I was as stressed as the little kid whose mom leaves her alone at the supermarket line because she’d forgotten to get some milk. And the cashier is moving at the speed of light. And there’s seven people queuing up behind.

Ah, memories.

Understanding why this happens –the pelvic floor strength changes, not my abandonment issues– allowed us to develop our vaginal gymnastics program with these fluctuations in mind, and better support our Pompoir students.

There are two overarching concepts we want to remember here:

1. The menstrual cycle is designed for reproduction;
   
   
2. and the pelvic floor muscles (those that we use during vaginal gymnastics) behave the same way as any other muscle in our bodies

With that in mind, this is what your menstrual cycle looks like:

As you can see, it starts on Day 1 of your period, and it typically lasts for 28 days, until the last day before your next period, when your next cycle begins. Of course, there are variations of this, but 28 days is the average for females.

The menstrual cycle can be divided into two main phases: the follicular phase (days 1 to 14) and the luteal phase (days 15 to 28). Here's how it works:

1. Follicular Phase (Days 1-14):
• Menstruation: The cycle begins on Day 1, when menstruation starts. This happens because the egg from the previous cycle was not fertilized. The lining of the uterus, called the endometrium, sheds, resulting in the blood and tissue seen during your period. This endometrial tissue, along with small amounts of blood, makes up most of your period flow.
  
  
• Follicular Development: Once menstruation ends (usually after 3-7 days), your body starts preparing for the next cycle. Follicles, which are fluid-filled sacs in your ovaries, begin to mature. Each follicle contains an immature egg. Around Day 7, one follicle becomes dominant and continues to grow, while the others stop. However, in some cases, more than one follicle can mature, potentially leading to the release of more than one egg (this can result in fraternal twins if both eggs are fertilized).
  
  
2. Ovulation (Around Day 14):
• Around Day 14, the dominant follicle releases its egg in a process called ovulation. The egg is released from the ovary and travels into the fallopian tube, where it waits to be fertilized. Occasionally, more than one egg can be released if more than one follicle matures, increasing the chance of multiple pregnancies.
  
  
3. Luteal Phase (Days 15-28):
• After ovulation, the empty follicle transforms into a structure called the corpus luteum, which produces the hormone progesterone. Progesterone plays a crucial role in thickening the uterine lining (endometrium), preparing it to support a fertilized egg.
  
  
• If the egg is fertilized, it will travel down the fallopian tube and implant into the thickened endometrial lining.
  
  If the egg is not fertilized, the corpus luteum breaks down, leading to a drop in progesterone levels. Without progesterone, the uterine lining sheds, triggering the start of a new menstrual cycle (Day 1 of your next period).

You might be thinking: Bel, this is all great, but I know all of this already. What I want to know is how all of this affects my vaginal muscle strength.

To which I’ll respond: Don’t lie to me. You’d forgotten about all of this and you know it.

But I hear your point. I just needed to provide some context.

How The Menstrual Cycle Affects Your Pompoir Training

It’s your hormones, those responsible for all of these processes happening in both the follicular and the luteal phases that are also responsible for the fluctuations in your muscle strength.

Specifically, estrogen and progesterone.

• High levels of estrogen in females are associated with high levels of energy, and an increase in muscle protein synthesis, muscle hypertrophy and muscle recovery.

And guess what? Estrogen rises in the middle of the follicular phase, around days 7 to 10 of your cycle, due to the growth of the main follicle in your ovaries (the one that will become the egg). After the egg is released, estrogen levels will drop precipitously. 

Now, all this means that after your period, your pelvic floor muscles will feel stronger (as will your other muscles). It also means that you’ll feel more energetic, and that you’ll recover better from your workouts.

This is one of the reasons why in our vaginal gymnastics program we recommend that you take your period week as a rest week, and then come back to perform the more challenging workouts (like learning how to twist with your muscles!).

• Progesterone, on the other hand, rises after ovulation with the development of the corpus luteum, and it’s typically associated with a rise in body temperature, cravings, and fatigue.

In the middle of the luteal phase (days 18 to 22), progesterone is high and estrogen will experience a second, less dramatic increase than pre-ovulation. This means that the “fatiguing” effects of progesterone might not be as severe, as they’ll be countered by the rise in estrogen. 

And while high levels of estrogen and progesterone can lead to water retention, hindering performance in sports where bodyweight and agility are critical, it shouldn’t affect your pompoir training. 

But, in the later parts of the luteal phase (days 22 to 28) estrogen will drop faster than progesterone, and high progesterone alone has muscle-relaxing properties, as well as the aforementioned fatigue.

Additionally, remember that during the luteal phase, your body is preparing to host a baby. So it makes sense that before your period comes you’ll feel less inclined to do high intensity workouts, and you’ll eat a bit more food.

All this means is that, in the week before your period, it’s totally normal that your muscles won’t feel as strong, and that you won’t feel as motivated to do your pompoir sessions.

Take it easy, and remember your rest week is coming up.



I hope you found some comfort in this article, or at the very least, some cool science-y terms you can annoy your friends with, like corpus luteum.

As always, have a great night, goddess ;)

– Bel