The menstrual cycle in women are constant hormonal changes for every month until menopause. During this cycle, when you menstruate it is perhaps the most cumbersome time, however, it does not have to force you to stay at home and not play sports.
Sport and the ruleOn many occasions, they have been a controversial subject, and we want to talk to you about the subject, the cycles, the workouts, which are the best exercises to perform during menstruation and which ones should be avoided.
Probably the last thing you want to do when you are menstruating is play sports, put on your sneakers and hit the gym, but it's probably what you need right now.
Currently there is no compelling reason that prevents you from doing sports or any physical activity. So if you feel good and without menstrual pain, you don't have to stay at home.
Menstruation and sport
As we said, many women cancel their sports plans when they are menstruatingHowever, in many cases it is a great failure since having the rule does not make it impossible to play sports. Many doctors even claim that doing sports relieves menstrual cramps and fatigue, in addition to increasing endorphins in the body.
Gentle exercise can be positive, tYou just have to make sure that when the activity is carried out, the water levels are well maintained and stop the moment you feel dizzy or uncomfortable.
On many occasions, women do not understand the different sensations that our body transmits to us during workouts and throughout the menstrual cycle, for this reason, on certain occasions we feel more tired, on others more hungry, without spirits or with energy vital, this is nothing more than the process that occurs during the menstrual cycles of each month.
We have to remember that the menstrual cycle is made up of two major phases: the follicular phase, which comprises menstruation, the postmenstrual phase and ovulation, and on the other hand, the luteal phase. The beginning of the follicular phase marks the first day of menstruation and therefore it also marks the end of the luteal phase.
As you well know, during these phases the body supports multiple hormonal changes, which directly influences the amount of energy that can help us train or train with less intensity.
During training, the ideal is to adapt the energy level that we feel with the intensity of the sport to be performed, that is why we have to be aware of each phase of menstruation to be able to adapt the activity to our mood and level of energy. Energy.
Phases of menstruation and physical activity
As we said, it is very important to know our body to know how we function inside and more in the case of women to be able to perform more when we do physical activity.
Follicular phase: more performance and recovery
This phase comprises the 5 and 14 days of the cycle. During this phase, estrogen levels progressively increase until day 14, when ovulation begins.
During this phase, lower estrogen levels favor rapid energy utilization, that is, it is perfect to have more energy and increase our performance. For this reason, it is recommended that high intensity series of short intervals, such as weight training or changes of pace, are favored by the use of glycogen.
In short, during the follicular phase a great sports performance is achieved and allows to increase the intensity and duration of workouts, since what we notice the most is a high recovery.
Ovulation phase: higher performance
Ovulation occurs in the middle of the cycle and lasts an average of 3 days. At this time, it is the peak of performance and highest outside of the woman since it is when the greatest amount of estrogens is present in the body. However, once this day 14 has passed, estrogens decrease in quantity while progesterone increases progressively before starting the next phase.
In a generic way, We can say that during this phase it is the best time to do physical activity because the maximum potential is achieved, so it is perfect for high intensity exercises although you have to be especially careful with injuries and energy.
During this phase, muscles become more flexible, the tension and optimal stiffness for performing strength exercises is reduced. Caution must be exercised to avoid injury.
Luteal phase: performance is reduced
From the ovulation phase, that is, during the second half of the menstrual cycle from days 16 to 28, we must distinguish two parts, the first phase ends on day 24, and in it, an adequate favored sports performance is maintained by the presence of estrogen and by the increase in progesterone.
Both hormones are decisive for better exerciseas they help us increase strength, endurance and speed. These exercises are perfect to do in this phase.
During this phase, if you can notice the influence of the menstrual cycle in sports activity, This may be because the woman's body prepares for pregnancy. Progesterone is found in large amounts in the body while estrogen decreases and the increased presence of progesterone influences performance since it is a hormone that favors energy production.
During this stage we can find certain symptoms that can be:
- Have a greater fluid retention.
- Increased heart rate and an increase in blood pressure.
- Changes in mood
- It can feel older irritability and apathy.
- Be older gastric problems.
- Basal temperature rise.
- Greater feeling of fatigue and tiredness.
The exercises that we recommend the most in this last stage are cardiovascular exercises and steady pace, it is not recommended to perform high intensity exercises since it could fatigue us a lot and make us feel bad. Therefore, he opts for long walks, moderate intensity runs, swimming or cycling.