Breaking the Taboo
How the Menstrual Cycle Affects Athletic Performance
OVERPOWER. OVERTAKE. OVERCOME. – Serena Williams
Physical and psychological changes associated with the menstrual cycle
It has long been suspected that the menstrual cycle significantly affects female performance in sports and athletics. Today, a growing number of scientific studies are confirming this. The evidence points out that the physical and psychological changes associated with the menstrual cycle can negatively impact on women’s ability to compete on the track and field as well as other areas.
Menstrual cycle inhibits their ability to perform
These studies are helping to open up discussion about one of society’s oldest and deeply ingrained taboos. It is in the athletic context that this discussion is, perhaps, finding its best focus. It’s not only men who must break the taboo. Many female athletes are reluctant to talk about how their menstrual cycle inhibits their ability to perform at their best because they don’t want people to think they are playing the ‘girl’ card. Click To Tweet
By monitoring menstrual cycle factors, athletes and their trainers can control for them, allowing women to train and compete at peak or near peak levels.
You control your own wins and losses – Maria Sharapova
Ways in which they impede female athletic prowess
Without going into the complexities of the menstrual cycle and its phases, researchers have identified numerous ways in which they impede female athletic prowess. One recent study looks at how the hormone, Relaxin, which peaks before menstruation begins, can create a general laxity in women’s ligaments, which increases the chances of ligament injury significantly.
Other more immediate physical symptoms that can have an effect include:
- Water retention issues
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Abdominal bloating
- Uterine cramps
- Excessive bleeding
Controlling these symptoms is yet another challenge that female athletes must face. But there are also psychological and emotional effects. These include:
- Change in sleeping pattern
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Irritability
These are all potential impediments to optimum performance and success.
Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice – Bethany Hamilton
Metrifit’s monitoring and managing software
As mentioned earlier, the menstrual cycle is complex. And it affects different women in different ways. This makes it hard to keep track of. Metrifit’s athlete monitoring and management software will give you and your coaches and staff, the knowledge and insights you need to minimize the negative effects of the cycle. Metrifit’s menstruation feature allows female athletes to easily monitor their period and symptoms on their daily wellness questionnaire. Individual reports compare symptoms and period dates with our proprietary readiness to perform score and other key indicators.
Metrifit was designed to meet just these kinds of challenges and to help overcome them, allowing the female athlete to train and perform at her best, pushing her body and mind to the utmost limit.
To find out more contact us at or click on ‘Request Demo’ below.
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References
Effect of the Menstrual Cycle on Athletic Performance in NCAA Division III Collegiate Athletes by Tremback-Ball et al