Adapting workouts to PMS?

I just do yoga or PT exercises and some dog-walking when PMS hits, maybe swimming in summertime. None of the weight lifting or elliptical. I do try to burn some calories as I'm likely to overeat at TOM but I just dont push it for 3-4 days.

I usually do my regularly planned workout. I've only had cramps one time that were bad enough to need to change my plan. I felt them coming on, but I was out of town and couldn't get to my ibuprofen in time to ward them off! Being proactive is key.

I do my regularly planned workout, regardless. If I'm feeling sluggish I'll pep up with red bull beforehand and possibly a nap afterwards if I'm not busy. But my monthly cycle is no excuse to skip or modify my workout.

It really depends on the day for me. Some cycles I will switch a scheduled workout and rest day around so that the rest day takes care of that one really sluggish, dizzy, fatigued day I always have. Sometimes I will downgrade the intensity like you were talking about. Sometimes I will push through. My heart rate and how it responds to simple activity will tell me a lot about what I should do.

I love that I stumbled on this post today. Today is day 2 of my period (I'm usually on it for 3-4 days) and my cramps on the first day were debilitating (like call off work and lay in fetal position for five hours debilitating). My period came three days earlier than expected this month and I admittedly skipped the gym Friday and Saturday this weekend (was very emotional and exhausted, couldnt figure out why until yesterday). But I started going back on Sunday, because I wasn't going to let a few bad days turn into a week. Haven't taken a day off since then, but my cramps were awful yesterday and then this afternoon. Focusing more on cardio and core exercises while I'm on the rag. Core work outs and yoga poses that stretch the hips, lower back, and core seem to help a little. The cardio is definitely not helping reduce my cramps whatsoever. I'd say if nothing else, do some light strength training and definitely some yoga during this time of month. Like everyone else had said, just listen to your body and do what you think is best.

Don't know if this helps people doing serious workouts or having serious menstrual issues, but:

I noticed early that if flow started when I was awake and normally active, the cramps were much less of a problem than if flow started in the middle of the night when I was in bed. Then in my early twenties, I started doing very simple yoga exercises every day for just a few minutes. The cramps vanished, and stayed vanished even when I was only doing the warmup stretching exercises that I could do from a standing position.

I figured that my muscle tone was so marginal (not being a gym rat or anything close to it...) that the little bit of improvement from such a brief yoga routine made a big difference. So I'm not surprised to hear that people who are more into exercise than I ever was have noticed that continuing certain routines during their period can help.

From just my own experience, I would suggest making sure that girls learn how to do brief daily stretching exercises before they hit puberty and start menstruating. It might be enough to avoid the cramping problems entirely for most of them, and may help reduce pain for those with serious menstrual disorders.