Exercise, hormones, and your menstrual cycle
That game last night! Testing my blood pressure to it’s upper limits…
Watching the men’s Euros with my defender daughter Kitty (pictured) got me thinking about hormones and the various phases of our menstrual cycle and how this can have a profound effect on performance, injury and our overall fitness and strength.
Many elite athletes experience menstrual cycle symptoms, which they feel negatively impact their performance. And yet, from 2014 to 2020 only 6% of scientific papers published in six sports and exercise journals focused on female athletes.
Earlier this year, a landmark study by University College London (UCL), the University of Bath, and St Mary's University examined the effect of the menstrual cycle on women in the super league. The analysis found that players were six times more likely to experience a muscle injury in the pre-menstrual phase, and five times more likely in the early-mid luteal phase, compared to when they were in the menstrual phase.
Watching the men’s Euros with my defender daughter Kitty (pictured) got me thinking about hormones and the various phases of our menstrual cycle and how this can have a profound effect on performance, injury and our overall fitness and strength.
Many elite athletes experience menstrual cycle symptoms, which they feel negatively impact their performance. And yet, from 2014 to 2020 only 6% of scientific papers published in six sports and exercise journals focused on female athletes.
Earlier this year, a landmark study by University College London (UCL), the University of Bath, and St Mary's University examined the effect of the menstrual cycle on women in the super league. The analysis found that players were six times more likely to experience a muscle injury in the pre-menstrual phase, and five times more likely in the early-mid luteal phase, compared to when they were in the menstrual phase.
And yet a different study suggests that performance might be slightly reduced in the early follicular phase (first days of your period) compared to other menstrual cycle phases. Clearly more research is badly needed!
What we do know is that the connection between exercise and the menstrual cycle varies for each individual, and for some exercise can help alleviate symptoms such as pain and PMS whilst in others the risk of soft tissue in jury is increased.
If you’d like to see me in clinic with your young athlete, I can advise you on preventive drills to ensure that they remain injury free. Bring your football boots along as these also play a crucial role when it comes to injury. Book your appointment with me here.
To read more about the link between hormonal fluctuations and how movement can best serve you, read this Clue article.
Posted on 11 July 2024