Female hormones, menstruation and exercise

Like I said, the past 2 days prove to me that science and research is on the right track. As someone who has suffered 2 ACL injuries, putting the pieces together in a way that ‘makes sense’ is important. I want to know why, as a female who worked out more than any other team mate, I suffered the worst injuries. WAS is the imbalance of quad to hamstring strength? Probably. WAS it where I was in my menstrual cycle? Maybe. Was it genetics? Maybe. There’s no way to know what was the TRUE cause. Maybe it was just all circumstances aligning in beautiful, painful harmony.

Nonetheless, yesterday I ran sprints. I’ve been running hill sprints all summer. Started playing on an indoor soccer league. No injuries. Just muscle soreness from the exercise. Annndddd I haven’t had my period in over 2 months. No I’m not pregnant. It’s just what happens with my body and PCOS + stress + chaste berry supplement. I took it when I was younger and it totally messed up my cycle. I figured it wouldn’t hurt taking it again to see if it affected me the same, it does! I stopped taking the chaste berry about 2 weeks ago.

Back to running. I didn’t suffer a direct injury. I felt fine walking home. This morning, I could barely bend my left knee!! It was swollen, painful (sharp knife) and I could barely flex/extend. I iced it once I woke up and again at lunch time. What happens this evening? I get my period.

Here’s what the research states: During the early follicular (pre-menses) phase testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone concentrations are low (Jonge et al., 2001) with evidence that women athletes are more vulnerable to errors and incidence of injuries (Reilly, 2000). Last night and this morning I was in the early follicular phase and at a higher risk of errors and injury. How interesting!

The point I’m making is that if you train women, or if you are a female who trains, it’s time to track your cycle to not only avoid or get pregnant, it’s important to plan your training around it! Us women all know how we feel at certain times of the month and because of it, we need to train accordingly. This graph from Optimum Health puts research together beautifully for us! Or course there is still more to learn as hormones are complicated and every female varies from the next.

Well Traveled Wellness has a podcast on periodization for the female athlete that talks about these concepts as well. Great listen!

All in all, planning needs to SERIOUSLY be taken into account for the active female routine. Whether you’re a coach, an athlete, a weekend warrior or parent, this is IMPORTANT. We need to get over our embarrassment about the female cycle and TALK ABOUT IT! We need to talk about it. Its how women harness their power, feel divine, connect to Earth, feel fueled. It’s how we excel in sport and life. No more training girls like their boys. It’s time to evolve.