Table of Contents
Menstrual cycle and sport
Many women experience the menstrual cycle as an obstacle, an impediment to normal life and especially to training. This perception could derive from a physiological factor but also from a mental and social component. Before dealing with the physiological question, let’s talk about the other two components. In a mainly patriarchal social order, the menstrual flow could be considered as a moment to hide or keep quiet, between embarrassment and superstition.
In a beautiful article by Silvia Bencivelli published by La Repubblica, the historian of science at the University of Bari Francesco Paolo de Ceglia specifies: “The organs of the generation are inverted and the whole is described as humid, soft, a humid state that was said that he was expelled with menstruation, a kind of liberating natural bloodletting. This idea of religion is absorbed by science and thus we arrive at the concept that menstruation is a bit like excrement ». These are important words behind which that sense of impure, dirty, that constant fear of getting dirty, of red spots emerging from the pants and so on is explained. Live your period well it also has to do with the personal way each woman experiences bleeding and her own gender. It has to do with education, experiences in development, emotional wounds generated perhaps by forms of mockery or humiliation received. A culture that does not talk about menstruation also corresponds to a culture that ignores them on the side of the plan work out. Many personal trainers do not ask, do not take into account the ovulation phase and in this way training regimes are structured that do not take into account hormonal balances at all.
The sport has great potential to help women live the premenstrual and menstrual phase better as it is a constant that allows them to stay in contact with themselves, helps not to accumulate too many toxins that risk increasing pain and acts on hormonal balance and mood; it is also a factor that helps to find a regular rhythm for women living with oligomenorrhea. Certainly important precautions must be followed if you want to combine the two aspects and the first step is to listen to yourself thoroughly and not give up moving in advance as physical exercise stimulates blood circulation in the pelvic area, thus reducing in menstrual pain important way.
3 tips
Let’s see together 3 valuable tips for training during your period.
Don’t overdo it
Excess with physical exertion could have consequences on the flow of blood during the menstrual phase and in some cases it could lead to a drastic reduction of the same (amenorrhea). Even if you put a lot of effort into performance and eat a lot less, you risk the disappearance of your period. It is welcome to slow down but avoid stopping completely. Not giving up physical effort completely means transmitting to the unconscious that we care about our health and that we do not consider those days as if we were sick or unsuitable for movement. Highly recommended to slow down and mitigate the workload especially in the first 2 days of the cycle, where more fatigue, nervousness, less concentration, a sense of slowing down and little strength take over. If you train in the gym, pay attention to hygiene in the showers, it is advisable to take even greater care of the intimate areas in that delicate phase. If the breast in the premenstrual phase becomes sensitive, it is advisable to wear a nice technical bra that contains and supports. We remind you that there are many Apps that allow you to match the menstrual calendar to the training rhythm to keep physical work, mental and emotional state and flow under control.
Microcirculation of discharge and hydration
In the plan of work out a micro-cycle of unloading should be inserted which could consist in increasing the recovery to 2 days instead of only 1 weekly for the 4 or 6 days of flow. Alternatively, it is also okay to reduce the training volume or exclude high-intensity exercises. Always remember to keep hydration at heart and not to train during the hot hours to avoid pressure changes. It is also a good idea to do magnesium supplements. Every woman experiences her periods in a different way and for this reason it becomes very important to personalize her training. Do not be alarmed if in those days or in those preceding the cycle you feel pain in the lower back, indeed try to relax it, suspend your legs and drink plenty of water.
Watch out for abs and inverted
Whether you are practicing bodyweight yoga or Pilates on the Reformer or other large machines or other forms of training, you should be careful not to overdo it with crunches, lower ab exercises and all those executions that strain the rectum area. abdomen, transverse and obliques. Also watch out for inverted positions (such as Sarvangasana or Sirsasana in yoga or all those positions to go vertically); they should be avoided in order not to block menstruation and above all to prevent blood from returning to the uterus.
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