How period tracking is giving female athletes the edge

Exercising regularly, eating well but not seeing any results? Experts believe that harnessing the power of your menstrual cycle to achieve your fitness goals could reap massive long-lasting rewards.

News that the Chelsea FC Women’s Football team sync their menstrual cycles to their training regime has highlighted the benefits of tailoring your exercise regime and diet to the various stages of your monthly cycle.

Lioness and Chelsea FC football player Fran Kirby (26) spoke about how the team’s training now focuses on the players’ menstrual cycles and how they affect their training methods. She and her team-mates use a period tracking app to log their symptoms, which is then shared with coaches to maximise the women’s training schedules.

“It can affect you so much, whether it’s your co-ordination or your reaction time – which is so vital in so many sports,” said Kirby.

Earlier this year, a global study showed that exercising can reduce some of the symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle. In a survey of 14,000 women, 78pc found exercise eased some of the most common symptoms like stomach cramps, breast pain and mood changes.

• READ MORE: ‘Women spend a lot of time hiding and carrying shame’ – Ireland’s first Period Coach

The study – led by Dr Georgie Bruinvels, co-creator of the fitness app FitrWoman, and based on data provided by users of the social network Strava – found that moderate intensity exercise was the most effective way of combating symptoms.

However the survey also found that teenage girls in the UK and Ireland were likely to exercise less during adolescence than their counterparts in other parts of the world, with 40pc of women in the UK and Ireland reducing their levels of exercise during puberty, compared to less than 20pc in the US, France and Germany.

“We wanted to start an important conversation about exercise, the menstrual cycle and other lifestyle factors that will empower all women to work with their body, not against it. We want women to feel comfortable discussing something that is very normal and natural,” said Dr Brunivels.

Dr Rebecca Robinson – a consultant in sports and exercise medicine at the Centre for Health & Human Performance Health Optimisation on Harley Street (CHHP) – has also pointed out that by using the cycle to adapt training, women can attain significant physiological benefits.

“The menstrual cycle in sport has historically been under-researched. Hormones that cycle in flux are tricky for researchers, so women have often been excluded from trials for that reason,” she said.

Making positive lifestyle changes in harmony with the monthly cycle is making a big impact in the lives of sportswomen who have teams of trainers and nutritionists on hand to help plot and plan their regime.

But what about the ordinary woman negotiating the demands of a busy life who may not have the foggiest clue about where to start charting her cycle to maximise the potential of whatever exercise she can fit in?

Galway-based Jonathan Gibson, who runs The Athlete Clinic, providing coaching, athlete testing and athlete services to both domestic and international athletes, believes that women often overlook their cycles and don’t integrate it into their training regime.

• READ MORE: Does this image make you flinch? Why it’s time to rethink our attitude to periods

But he says it’s important to start taking it into consideration, whether you’re a busy mum trying to make time for exercise again after having a baby or a seasoned triathlete going for your first Ironman.

Gibson, a certified coach with Cycling Ireland, Swim Ireland, Gymnastics Ireland, an Ironman University Coach and soft tissue and injury management consultant, says he was an early convert to the power of the period in a woman’s fitness journey.

And he says it’s often the case that women are not seeing results because they’re not doing the best kinds of exercises or eating correctly for the place they’re at in their cycle.

Gibson maintains that our hormones control much of what’s going on in our bodies so it makes sense to exercise in a way that’s in sync with them.

“When you start to understand your cycle and what’s going on, you’ll start to see big differences,” he says.

And he recommends that if you’re starting out on any training regime it’s important to eat regularly and aim for consistency as well as starting to get in touch with your own cycle by tracking where you’re at.

During the first eight days of the cycle, Gibson says the focus should be on strength training and doing things like gym work. If you can’t get to a gym, incorporating things like squats and hand weights into your workout at home will help you start to see results in your muscle tone.

In fact, two international studies carried out in 2014 and 2017 suggest that strength training during this period may result in higher increases in muscle strength, compared with other times of the month.

Days eight to 12 should include some rest days, building up to increased cardio work on days 12-14, according to Gibson. This could be something like skipping in the garden, or salsa dancing, or even going for a run but basically doing anything that gets your heart rate up.

With energy levels at their highest, Gibson says mid-cycle is a good time of the month to push yourself physically and enjoy the additional endurance and strength that often characterises this time.

He explains that the hormone progesterone remains low, meaning that the body’s overall pain tolerance increases and this is a good opportunity to strive for your own personal best.

However, he urges women to be cautious about overdoing it in this phase of the cycle because research shows that day 14 is typically the time women can get injured because often they feel so good, they overdo it in the exercise stakes.

Heading into the luteal phase (days 14-28), after the egg has been released at ovulation, Gibson recommends easing up on the strength training and focusing on things like walking and cycling but generally doing what he calls ‘lower heart rate exercises’ as you approach day 28.

The days leading up to day 28 offer a good opportunity to schedule a rest week. This doesn’t mean skipping exercising entirely but doing 40 to 50pc less during this time, he says.

Gibson explains that during this time, it’s important to listen to your body, reduce the intensity of your workouts and incorporate things like yoga into your routine.

He also says that it’s also really important for women to understand the importance of eating regularly to keep hormones balanced.

“The effects of the stress hormone cortisol are well documented and going for long periods without eating or even going for a hard workout session without fuelling up properly beforehand will all stress the female body,” says Gibson.

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