Menstrual Cycle & Training The Female Athlete
Being knowledgeable about, and discussing, the menstrual cycle with a female athlete is important due to the implications of the hormonal secretions and how it effects performance and well-being.
There are several anatomical and structural differences between men and women, but the most prevalent ones that I see when assessing clients is, firstly, the wider pelvis. Because the female body is designed to carry a developing foetus for 9 months, they are designed a wider pelvis. The by-product of this is a more angled femur inwards towards the midline of the body known as the ‘Q’ angle. This increased angle gives rise to the higher prevalence of knee injuries among females, and is why the conditioning coach will have to work more on the stabilising muscles of the lower body and core to help counteract the instability it often brings with it.
Secondly, due to ligament laxity and hormonal fluctuations, a lot of the females I assess are hypermobile. Being too hypermobile is a serious disadvantage as doing power exercises of which golf, as a sport, is one of them means that joint pain is experienced more often. At certain times in the menstrual cycle there is more joint laxity than at others meaning strength & conditioning programming for these athletes needs to be considered around their cycle.
As you can see from the picture above the hormones are in a constant state of flux throughout the menstrual cycle. The ovaries balance the functions of four major hormones: Estrogen, Progesterone, Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), and Luteinizing Hormone (LH).
Menstruation is typically 28 days in length but can range from 21-35 days.
Day 1-7 Menses – Bleeding phase, on average 5 days. On heavy bleeding days changing the strength programme due to back pain and the abdominals shutting off due to inflammation from the ovaries is paramount. Raised deadlifts and sumo variations are examples that I would use, amongst others.
Day 1-13 Follicular Phase – This is the stage where you can really strength train the female athlete – power exercises can come in this phase, as would high intensity exercise regardless of some of the rises of certain hormones (except may be in the latter phase – see below).
Day 14 Ovulation – Estrogen peaks here and some women feel pain on one side the abdominal wall as the egg is released. There is also a one day rise in body temperature. Due to the high levels of estrogen and potential for ligament laxity no high intensity activity or power training is recommended (also applies to late follicular phase). This is where a lot of ACL injuries happen in female athletes due to the increased laxity, and is particularly important to note for athletes that are hypermobile. I tend to taper a few rest or deload days around this time.
Day 15-28 Luteal Phase – standard weight training can apply here, however there may be some restrictions due to the thermoregulation changes with the increase in core temperature. Moderate intensity programming is preferred here. During this stage with the increase in estrogen it promotes fat utilisation as the female body is trying to spare glycogen. So making the use of this with fat burning circuits, and lower intensity cardio is optimal.
Day 24-28 PMS Phase – If the athlete is suffering from a multitude of symptoms then any high neurological exercises can be taken out and replaced with circuits, yoga, mobilisations, myofascial stretches and low level cardio.
Although the female can’t schedule her golf tournaments or match days around her cycle, being able to during her training programme and off season will allow her to train more effectively and, more importantly, reduce injury and fatigue.
The second photo is a picture of me with Janet Alexander, an instructor at TPI, and one of the leading experts in the field of female training, in which this article is based around her teachings and booklet on “The Hormonal Implications of being Female and How Menses Affects Female Performance.”
