Do women work out less (or more?) at certain times of the month?

If you’ve ever wondered whether syncing your workouts to your menstrual cycle is the secret to crushing every run or yoga session, you’re not the only one. But while the internet is buzzing with cycle-based fitness plans, what are people actually doing in real life?

Harvard researchers just crunched the numbers on more than 22 million workouts logged by over 110,000 participants in the Apple Women’s Health Study. They aimed to find out whether people naturally change their workout habits depending on which phase of their cycle they’re in.

What the data shows

One might intuitively assume that women work out less during the phase that includes their period, but as it turns out, most people are sticking to their routines regardless of where they are in their cycle. The average length of a daily workout? About 21 minutes a day in the follicular phase (the first half of your cycle, starting with your period and ending at ovulation) and just a hair less—20.9 minutes—in the luteal phase (the second half, after ovulation until your next period). In other words, no major shifts. The most popular activities were steady across the board, too: walking, cycling, running, strength training and yoga topped the list.

One place where researchers did spot a difference: people with regular cycles were logging slightly more activity overall—about 20.6 minutes a day, compared to 18.6 for those with cycles that were not regular. That gap could reflect more than just fitness habits. Irregular cycles are often tied to things like stress, health conditions or other factors that can also make regular movement more difficult.

The takeaway

“Exercise can have a positive impact on hormonal health,” says Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, principal investigator of the study. “Not only can it improve things like mood or energy levels in the short term, but any type of regular movement can also reduce risk for health issues long term.

While people aren’t drastically overhauling their workouts based on their cycle, they are staying active, and that consistency is a win. “As a physician, what I tell my patients is that it’s most important to just find an enjoyable and consistent exercise routine that works for you personally so that you can sustainably reap the benefits throughout your whole lifespan,” says Mahalingaiah.