Many women recognize that it is not easy to train with their menstrual cycle or in the days leading up to it. Let’s find out some tips to be able to practice sports during this time so full of challenges. The vast majority of women, due to premenstrual symptoms or the effects of the first few days of the menstrual cycle, find it difficult or unpleasant to exercise. For this reason, it is useful to discover a number of tips that will make it easier for you to practice physical exercise in those somewhat complicated days. Read our 6 tips for exercising during your period.
What are the most frequent inconveniences during this period?
During the menstrual cycle, and even in the preceding days, women suffer from mood swings, irritability, depression, breast pain, abdominal pain and, in many cases, even intense fatigue.
For all these reasons, it is often easier to rest at home than to go out for the physical activity that we like best. All of this can trigger some frustration, as an internal war is waged between what we want to do and how we physically feel about playing sports.
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6 tips for exercising during your menstrual cycle
That frustration we talked about earlier often results in not being able to train in the conditions you want. To mitigate this discomfort, here are some 6 tips for exercising during your period:
1. Beware of injuries
When women are in the premenstrual stage, they may be more likely to suffer certain types of injuries. Some of these can be knee joint problems, as its coordination can be damaged.
This risk can be avoided by working on motor and neuromuscular control. For this, it will be interesting to perform exercises that involve balance. At the same time, working on the buttock and hamstring area becomes important, as it will help mitigate any danger of injury.
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2. Importance of aerobic exercise during the days of the menstrual cycle
In these circumstances, regular aerobic exercise is highly recommended. This type of exercise will help reduce premenstrual symptoms and improve our mood at the same time. All this will help us to rest better, since the fatigue we will reach will be greater.
3. Organization of the training routine
As we have mentioned in other articles, planning your workout or training routine is the key to achieving your goals. During the menstrual cycle this type of strategy must not fail, as it will be interesting to be able to program the most important sessions in the most favourable days of the menstrual cycle.
4. Introduction of new sports practices
If the menstrual and premenstrual symptoms are stronger than usual, we can choose to do different activities such as hiking, swimming or yoga. It is also possible to use the period of the menstrual cycle to take a short break from normal physical practice, but always without leaving sport aside.
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5. Pay attention to eating habits
In many cases, PMS symptoms come from poor eating habits. As usual, it will be crucial to control what we eat, with particular attention to keeping sugar levels balanced.
Therefore, we must include in our diet foods rich in calcium and magnesium, as well as vitamin B. Likewise, foods like nuts, fish, vegetables, milk, or whole grains are some alternatives to consider during these days. For example, whole grains provide numerous benefits in endurance sports.
6. Key days of the menstrual cycle to train
Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the days when ovulation occurs. During these and the following days will be the best time to perform strength-based and high-intensity exercises – HIIT. This is because testosterone levels are very high during ovulation, so it’s worth taking advantage of.
Now that we know these simple tips, we will have no more excuses for not playing sports during the menstrual cycle. By following these guidelines, you will see that there is no reason to stop exercising during those days. Courage!