Speaking at the second Strong Women Run Club meeting, the experts from Fitr Woman explain how (and why) we should be harnessing the power of our periods if we want to run stronger.
If there’s one thing that most women seem to stress about, it’s hormones. We’re either freaking out at the prospect of accidentally free-bleeding on our runs or worried that our period won’t come at all. The older we get, the more anxious we become about looking out for perimenopausal clues. And even if you do have a regular, ‘normal’ cycle, the anticipation of feeling less emotionally balanced or having to manage pain takes up more mental space than it should.
And yet, the running community rarely talks about periods. In fact, when my period went AWOL for a few years, I struggled to find anyone who could relate or thought that was a bad thing.
Marathon training plans never take into account menstrual cycles, races never seem to offer emergency sanitary products and you never see women sharing cycle updates on their Strava posts.
It’s an undeniable truth that, for many women, hormones can get in the way of living a stress-free life. So, last week, Strong Women teamed up with Soar Running and Fitr Women to chat all things hormonal health and running. Here’s what we learned about how to run like a woman.
You won’t become a better runner until you deal with chronic stress
“We often look at the menstrual cycle as a dial of readiness,” says Dr Georgie Bruinvels, senior sports scientist at Fitr Woman. Having a regular cycle, she explains, is a sign that “hey, my body’s in a good healthy, happy state. If you stopped menstruating, then obviously that’s a sign that your body’s in a panic. It’s saying that it can’t do non-essential functions, like reproduction.”
She’s keen to help women move away from the kind of things we were told at 14 by our GPs: that bad menstrual cramps are normal and that taking the pill is the answer to every problem. Instead, we should be looking at why we feel a certain way during the cycle – and addressing the root cause.
“Are you stressed at work? Is that causing your body to not deal with these hormonal changes well, which is then causing your symptoms to be worse or your cycles to be irregular? Are you going out more than your body’s used to? Are you having lots of caffeine on an empty stomach or not including certain things in your diet? Has your training suddenly increased or decreased?” she asks.
“When I say ‘stressed’, that can be nutritionally-driven, training-driven, psychologically-driven, travel-driven or driven by a lack of sleep. Over time, your symptoms get worse and your cycle becomes longer or less regular or you experience bleed changes.”
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Tracking your period is probably the most useful tool you have
If you don’t track, you won’t know what’s ‘normal’ for you and that can make it harder to spot issues when they crop up. You don’t need to use an app (although plenty exist, from Fitr to Flo); you could keep a paper diary or use your phone’s calendar.
“I guess the key thing here is tracking your cycle to learn more about yourself,” Dr Bruinvels says. “Learn about what’s normal for you, and then try to manage it. So, let’s be proactive around nutrition, sleep, recovery, etc. But then also, like capitalise on what we know – there are times where your body can totally take more training and there’ll be others when you need to be a little bit more sensible and cautious.”
Athlete Niamh Brown agrees that tracking is probably the best place to start: “I always perform best when I’m having a regular menstrual cycle, and that’s because there are layers working underneath – things like having good nutrition, having a good recovery, good sleep, all that kind of stuff. All those factors are part of having a healthy menstrual cycle and that all feeds into a strong performance.”
In fact, Brown is so in-tune with her cycle, she’s able to spot which lifestyle habit might be to blame for weird cycle patterns: “Maybe I haven’t been getting enough protein after training or eating enough in general… I can see where I’ve been slacking a bit and can correct it. Men can’t do that – they can’t see what’s not working as easily, but women can. We can tell before we actually start to reap the effects.”
There’s no such thing as the ‘perfect cycle workout’
In recent years, we’ve heard a lot of experts recommend that you might want to lie low just before your period, take it easy while you’re bleeding then go all out at the gym the week after – ie the point at which you’re supposed to have the most energy and strength available. But what if you don’t have big energy dips – or your cycle doesn’t really align to the generic advice?
Dr Bruinvels explains that women, for example, will feel stronger, happier and better recovered the week after their periods, because that’s when oestrogen is highest (which she calls “the happy hormone” because it can help with facilitating faster recovery and muscle building). Those of us living with anaemia, however, might be really fatigued after a heavy period, so won’t necessarily feel powerful moving into the high oestrogen phase (and even then, not all anaemics experience low-iron deficiency in the same way).
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It’s never going to be possible to say what’ll work for everyone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get to understand our own cycles so that we can feel, move and operate at our best all month long.
“It’s about being empowered by the tools and then understanding yourself. But the key thing to think about during the menstrual cycle is making nutritional changes; the evidence has been found to be really compelling,” Dr Bruinvels explains.
“At the end of the day, menstruation is an inflammatory process. We know that the body is going through a stress and the buildup to menstruating. Supporting it at that time is a no-brainer.”
What you eat around your cycle can have a big impact on performance
Weeks one and two: smoothies, iron and carbs
The first thing you want to think about, Dr Bruivels suggests, is eating anti-inflammatory plants, iron-rich foods and more carbs. “Your body’s losing blood and, alongside that, as you get through phase one and into the first half of phase two, your body really needs carbohydrates. Women typically use fats more as a fuel source compared to men, but interestingly, the hormonal profile in phase one is more similar to that of a man – hence why you need more carbs.”
In fact, she even suggests that many of us might experience longer cycles or more erratic, irregular patterns because we’re not getting enough carbs in that first phase.
Interestingly, both Dr Bruivels and Brown strongly recommend having breakfast smoothies throughout your period week.
“I’ll always make sure that right before my period, and when I’m on my period, I’ll have a smoothie every day because you can just throw in lots of different anti-inflammatory berries and other plants. It’s a really good way of just like getting in four different fruits and veg, which can help lower that inflammation,” says Brown.
Weeks three and four: more protein, magnesium and hydration
In the second half of your cycle, your body is under slightly more pressure. The increase in progesterone starts to cause your body temperature, breathing rate and resting heart rate to increase. “To adjust to all of that, your body actually uses more protein in that window and your metabolic rate increases,” says Dr Bruivels. “So, you need a little bit more food and you need more protein. And protein around training is just so key.”
People often talk about the need for protein immediately after training, but Dr Bruivels says: “Getting protein in before training is what can mitigate the increased breakdown of muscle that happens in that phase three.”
By the premenstrual phase, you’re back to dealing with an inflammatory response. Think about staying hydrated, eating magnesium-rich foods and, of course, having those morning smoothies.
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