Fatigue, Inflammation, and Hormones: Why Some Women Need a Different Approach to Exercise

16 June

If you're feeling tired, foggy, or flaring — the right kind of movement can help. But only when it's tailored to your physiology.

It’s a question we ask every day as women’s health-focused movement practitioners — because for so many of the women we work with, the body is already carrying a significant inflammatory burden.

Whether it’s driven by endometriosis, PCOS, perimenopause, autoimmunity, persistent stress, or post-viral fatigue, chronic low-grade inflammation can quietly impact energy, recovery, nervous system regulation, hormonal balance, and more. And while movement can be a powerful tool for managing inflammation, it can also make things worse if it’s not delivered thoughtfully.

At any.BODY, we believe it’s essential that movement professionals understand the role inflammation plays in:

Fatigue and poor recovery
Pain sensitivity and central sensitisation
Hormonal shifts and immune dysregulation
Exercise tolerance and pacing needs

This is why our approach to prescribing movement for women with hormonal dysregulation — such as those who are pre- or postnatal, navigating perimenopause or menopause, or managing autoimmune conditions like Crohn’s disease — is grounded in a deep understanding of inflammation and nervous system load. We also support clients with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) and related conditions, where pacing, load management, and downregulation strategies are absolutely essential.

When we understand the physiology of chronic inflammation, we can modify how we dose movement — not just for gains, but for nervous system resilience, hormonal support, and long-term wellbeing.

1. What Is Chronic Inflammation?

Inflammation is your body’s built-in healing system — designed to fight infection and repair tissue.
Acute inflammation is short-term and helpful (like swelling after an injury).
Chronic inflammation, however, lingers silently — often driven by stress, poor recovery, gut issues, or immune dysfunction.
In women, it often shows up as:
- Persistent fatigue and “crash cycles”
- Muscle soreness and joint pain that lingers
- Brain fog or poor focus
- Gut issues (bloating, IBS, food sensitivity)
- Hormonal disruptions and cycle irregularities

2. Why Women Are More Affected

Hormonal changes across the lifespan — puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause — all influence inflammatory load.
Conditions like endometriosis, PCOS, and autoimmune diseases are more common in women and all have inflammatory components.
The nervous system also plays a key role — when it’s under constant pressure (from stress, overtraining, trauma, lack of recovery), the body stays in a low-grade fight-or-flight state.
In short: when inflammation and the nervous system collide, fatigue, pain, and burnout are common results.

3. Movement Can Be Anti-Inflammatory — If You Do It Right

Exercise has been shown to reduce systemic inflammation — but only when matched to your recovery capacity.
Overtraining, intense cardio without adequate rest, or high-volume strength training without regulation can worsen inflammation, especially in women with fatigue-sensitive conditions.
Our approach prioritises:
- Load management — understanding how your body compensates (thats our job to show you)
- Strength over sweat — progressive resistance supports hormones, bones, and metabolism
- Recovery as strategy — breathwork, mobility, and nervous system work are integral, not optional

4. Signs That Inflammation Might Be Driving Your Symptoms

Your body often whispers before it screams — here are some early signs that your system may be inflamed:

You feel puffy, sluggish, or inflamed most days
Post-exercise soreness lasts 2+ days
Your cycle feels more intense, irregular, or painful than usual
You’re waking unrefreshed, despite enough sleep
You get sick easily, or take a long time to bounce back
Pain, bloating, and fatigue fluctuate with stress

5. How We Support Anti-Inflammatory Movement at any.BODY

At any.BODY, we don't just guide you through movement — we help you understand the why behind your body’s responses.

We work with a deep understanding of joint variability and how each person moves differently. When joints lack stability or movement options, the body often finds compensatory strategies — which can feel efficient at first, but over time contribute to pain, fatigue, and inflammatory responses.
Many women are unknowingly training through compensation — pushing through pain, repeating patterns that increase stress on the system, or flaring symptoms without understanding why. Our role is to interrupt that pattern and support new, more sustainable strategies.
We use breathwork and mindful awareness to help women notice when their system is starting to upregulate during movement — whether it’s holding breath, gripping, bracing, or rushing. These are subtle signs the body is perceiving stress.
Our goal is to help you stay regulated during movement — to bring your nervous system into a calmer, more responsive state while building strength. It’s not about doing less — it’s about doing it in a way your body can absorb and benefit from.
Communication is central. We check in often, adjust in real time, and help you stay within a tolerable and productive movement threshold, especially during times of hormonal change, fatigue, or immune flares.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all model. Our sessions are designed to respect your body’s current capacity and give it the right amount of challenge — without triggering a stress or inflammatory response.

💛 Ready to move differently?

If you’re navigating:

Perimenopause, postnatal recovery, or hormonal shifts
An autoimmune condition like Crohn’s or Hashimoto’s
POTS, fatigue, or chronic pain
Or you simply want to build strength in a way that works with your body, not against it...

We’re here to help. Our women’s health-informed team uses clinical reasoning, nervous system awareness, and strength programming to support you in feeling strong, steady, and at home in your body.