Ugh, the struggle for the girlies with PCOS (aka Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) is real. A hormonal disorder that affects women of reproductive age, it’s fairly common but has no cure, making it difficult to manage. PCOS symptoms manifest differently in everyone but can include an irregular menstrual cycle, unexpected weight gain, unwanted hair growth, and insulin resistance… All things women don’t want.
But don’t stress, you don’t have to suffer forever. Though it may often get pushed to the bottom of our to-do lists, exercise is one of the most powerful natural remedies for mitigating PCOS symptoms.
No, it’s not too good to be true! Moving your body daily can level out hormone imbalances, regulate your menstrual cycle, maintain a healthy weight, and so much more. But with PCOS, there is a right and a wrong way to work out.
Cue the obé PCOS Collection—expert-curated workouts designed to boost your metabolism, manage PCOS, and keep you confident in your beautiful body. For even more tips and guidance on building the perfect wellness routine for PCOS, we tapped women’s health and fitness expert (and obé instructor!), Melody D.
Common PCOS Symptoms and How Exercise Helps
Public enemy number one of PCOS? Insulin resistance. The TL;DR is that with insulin resistance, certain cells in your body become less responsive to the insulin hormone, which typically helps keep your blood sugar stable. Unless you adopt preventative measures, insulin resistance may continue to build over time, increasing your risk of metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes.
“Bottom line, a lot of the hormonal shifts and side effects of PCOS are due to the body’s inability to properly metabolize insulin,” explains Melody. That can be the underlying issue for unwanted weight gain, difficulty losing weight, fatigue, irregular menstrual cycles, the cysts on your ovaries, hirsutism, all of it! “The good news is that exercise is scientifically proven to help mitigate that insulin resistance—it’s one of the best ways to absorb excess glucose without even needing insulin.”
💡Pro tip: If you have PCOS, take a 10-15 minute walk (or dance in the kitchen, drop some air squats, whatever!) after each daily meal to build insulin sensitivity. Even a little gentle movement soaks up glucose in your system. “Muscles are a sink for glucose!” says Melody.
Building a Hormone-Friendly Workout Routine for PCOS
With PCOS, your movement routine needs to work with your hormones, not against them. When hormones like testosterone or estrogen are elevated, you may feel out of whack. Energy levels dip suddenly, PMS symptoms get… intense, and movement may be the last thing on your mind. But it does help, a lot.
Research shows that regular exercise can improve the quality and regularity of menstrual cycles for those with PCOS and decrease excess circulating estrogen (hi, PMS relief). In general, working out has a major positive effect on hormone regulation. So how do you optimize the benefits?
Step one: Always start with strength training, says Melody. Aim for two 28-minute Strength classes each week, she adds. “These workouts help with muscle contractions, which naturally pull glucose out of the system while boosting your muscle mass. FYI, the more muscle mass you have, the less likely you are to deal with insulin resistance.”
Building muscle mass (we’re *not* talking the body builder kind) also goes hand-in-hand with decreasing body fat and improving overall body composition (bye, unwanted weight gain!). The better your muscle-to-fat ratio, the more set up for success you’ll be for managing PCOS, plus supporting your longevity and healthspan.
On the cardio front, aim to balance lower, steady-state Zone 2 workouts like cycling, dancing, walking, boxing, or jogging with high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Zone 2 cardio uses up glucose, regulating insulin without putting you into a high-stress cortisol state. Sprinkling in some brief HIIT sessions (we’re talking 10 minutes) also teaches your body to respond to stress and downregulate your response. Altogether, your goal should be 150 minutes of cardio!
💡Pro tip: Cycle syncing your workouts can also be a majorly effective strategy for managing hormone fluctuations from PCOS. Try this obé Collection for a beginner-friendly guide.
Working Out with PCOS and the obé PCOS Collection
One thing to be (extremely) mindful of when working out with PCOS? “Make sure you’re never training so hard or so much that you put your body into an extremely high-stress state,” emphasizes Melody. “That will leave you with elevated cortisol levels, exacerbating the hormonal imbalances you’re naturally dealing with.”
And no, that’s not to say high-intensity training = bad. It just means you want to balance those workouts that raise the intensity with mindfulness, breathwork, and lower-intensity exercise. Basically, your top goal is keeping your hormones from living in fight-or-flight.
If you’re not sure where to start, the obé PCOS Collection is your new ride-or-die. Featuring classes like Strength, Dance Cardio, HIIT, Walk, Breathwork, and Yoga, this series is expertly tailored to help women boost their metabolism and manage PCOS symptoms without taxing their bodies. Options range from 5-28 minutes, meaning you can squeeze something into even your busiest days.
Fun fact: These workouts are also all low-impact, meaning they won’t stress out your joints. Why does that matter? PCOS can cause inflammation, which can a) be uncomfortable during your workouts or b) lead to joint pain or arthritic conditions. Besides, you don’t need to have impact to get a good workout in. “We want to push the threshold cardiovascularly, but not place additional stress on the body,” Melody explains. “Work smart, not hard.”
On that note, you also don’t want to sleep on mindfulness or recovery, which also balance your hormones, helping avoid a high cortisol state. “As the owner of your body, listen to how you’re feeling after a workout,” Melody says. “If you finish the low-impact HIIT class but still feel super stressed, try the 5-minute breathwork to downregulate. Or start your day with it if you wake up feeling anxious.”
How to Tell If Your Routine Is Effective
So you’re putting in the work, but you’re not sure it’s “working.” While every woman’s response to fitness is bio-individual, know that moving your body at all is so impactful. The sooner you start, the better you’ll feel.
“You’ll feel the benefits almost immediately,” says Melody. “It may not be a complete reduction of symptoms or a total scaling back of the PCOS, but your body will notice the changes.” Remember: those benefits aren’t always external. You may not drop a dress size in 2 weeks, but you’ll probably feel more stable energy levels or get better quality sleep from your workouts.
“You know what your baseline is—what’s normal or not,” Melody adds. “If you’re waking up daily feeling fatigued, stressed, anxious, or like your body hasn’t recovered, you need to adjust your movement routine.” In this case, you’re likely overdoing it or not balancing your movement modalities. Never skip your rest days or push your body to the limit without including gentler, lower-impact training.
And if your workout routine is working, you’ll feel the exact opposite! “You’ll wake up feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to take on your day,” Melody says. “Any feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression will start to settle, and depending on how your PCOS symptoms present, you’ll see them decrease.”
Wearable technology can make a big impact here! Think: A FitBit, Whoop, or continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which can all give you real-time data on how exercise impacts your individual body. While a CGM can help you learn what happens to your glucose levels right after exercise, wearable sleep trackers can educate you about your heart rate variability or gauge recovery.
Holistic Tips for Overcoming PCOS Symptoms
Fitness is just one piece of the health puzzle—and it’s not the biggest, Melody emphasizes. To best support your body with PCOS symptoms, it’s key to integrate good habits in the four key pillars of health: movement, nutrition, stress, and sleep.
“These pillars all feed off each other,” says Melody. “If one is unbalanced, it doesn’t matter how great you’re doing in all the other areas.” She recommends focusing on mitigating all kinds of stressors in the body, whether they’re internal or external, to feel your best.
With that in mind, here are some extra obé resources for you to explore:
- Nutrition: As always, nutrition is key. Optimizing the fuel you put into your body (hint: you need protein, carbs, and healthy fats!) and avoiding toxins that can be endocrine disruptors will make a big difference in your journey. To make smarter nutritional choices, check out blogs from our in-house nutritionists and talks in the Wellness 101 Collection.
- 7 Days to Better Sleep: Moving your body daily is one of the best things you can do to sleep sounder at night. But we have even more tricks to level up your sleep routine. This obé Collection features Express Meditations that guide you to prime your body, mind, and space for truly restorative sleep.
- 7 Days of Self-care: Remember that mindfulness and stress management is also key to supporting your hormones. This mini-challenge features Express Breathwork and Meditation classes to help with anxiety and stress. You can always browse obé’s full on-demand library of Meditation and Breathwork classes.
- The Fan-Favorite obé Features Making Consistency Way Easier
💪 TL;DR Long hours at a desk can leave your shoulders rounded, hips tight, and energy low. This 10-minute desk workout combines strength and mobility moves you can do right at your desk—no equipment required. Moves include seated twists, desk push-ups, chair dips, calf raises, and posture resets. - How to Make High Protein Comfort Food for Cozy Nights💪 TL;DR Long hours at a desk can leave your shoulders rounded, hips tight, and energy low. This 10-minute desk workout combines strength and mobility moves you can do right at your desk—no equipment required. Moves include seated twists, desk push-ups, chair dips, calf raises, and posture resets.
- Winter Workout Plan: Strength & Metabolism Made Simple💪 TL;DR Long hours at a desk can leave your shoulders rounded, hips tight, and energy low. This 10-minute desk workout combines strength and mobility moves you can do right at your desk—no equipment required. Moves include seated twists, desk push-ups, chair dips, calf raises, and posture resets.
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