Is Your Workout Messing With Your Hormones?

If you've ever experienced symptoms like prolonged bloating, fatigue, mood swings, or trouble concentrating, you've probably dealt with hormone imbalance at some point in your life. While out-of-whack hormones can be caused by any number of factors, exercise can unfortunately be one of them.

While workouts like running, CrossFit, and HIIT are great for hormone balance in moderation, running two marathons in one year could wreak havoc on your hormones. "The most common imbalances I address are thyroid conditions, adrenal fatigue, and PCOS. For these, we want to offer the body a state of healing, and the excess adrenaline and cortisol spikes with workouts such as HIIT, cardio, and marathon running may wreak havoc on the delicate balance that your body may be trying to achieve," explains Thyroid Yoga founder and mbg class instructor Fern Olivia.

Now that you've gotten the bad news, here's the good news: Some forms of exercise are extraordinarily good for your hormones. "Balance is key," says Dr. Taz. "Alternating yoga or Pilates with swimming, cardio, and weights can protect the adrenals and balance hormones. Also, don't forget to rest: Gentle movement and stretching are as important in an exercise routine as burning calories. I can't recommend gentle movements like tai chi and qigong enough."

Fern Olivia also recommends gentler forms of exercise to keep your hormones in check. "I'd go for light movement like yin yoga, kundalini yoga, tai chi, qigong, hiking, light yoga, and thyroid yoga," she says.

And if you need a quick fix, Dr. Teitelbaum suggests getting back to basics. "Increase your salt and water intake," he says. "It's great for adrenal support."