Bloating, aching, mood swings and fatigue! These are all
symptoms of our dear friend “aunt flow”.
Perhaps you’ve been on your fitness regime a while, yet when your time
of the month rears its ugly head you seem to relapse into habits of binge
eating and little to no exercise.
When it’s that time of the month, how do you try to stay on
track?
Here is some advice based on science:
Changes in
temperature will affect your cardio:
When it comes to your period, do you ever notice that
sometimes you may have all of the energy in the world, and other times you feel
like death? Has this ever affected your cardio? Well, guess what!
Cardiovascular performance during menstruation is highly dependent on the
weather! The University of Newcastle Australia explains that cardiovascular
changes do not occur in temperate conditions,
however, increased fatigue just before your period was evident in
conditions of 32 degrees Celsius and during humidity of 60% or greater (Jonge de
Janse, 2012).
Perhaps decreasing your level of cardio or sticking to a strength program in
hot and humid conditions, especially one week before your period, may be more
beneficial to your overall performance.
Changes in strength
may occur:
Sakamai and Yasuda, researchers
at the University of Tokyo, demonstrate that isometric strength decreases
during your period. However one week before your period your isometric strength
increases. Isometric exercises are activities where the joints and muscles do
not move. Such exercises include the plank, isolated lunges (holding a lunge
for an extended period of time with the front leg in a 90 degree angle) and
isolated squats. Movement exercises such as the chest press, squats, and the
row may be performed with greater effectiveness during your period. Sakamai and
Yasuda also demonstrate that muscle growth (hypertrophy) and strength gains are
increased one week prior to your menstrual cycle. Perhaps a lower repetition
range and harder exercises should be explored during this premenstrual time.
Changes in metabolic
process: is it easier to gain weight?
We have all experienced excessive cravings and overeating
during that time of the month. We usually crave carbohydrates such as
chocolate, chips, or dare I even say it…POUTINE! This is explained by a shift from fat
oxidation to carbohydrate oxidation both before and during your period. In
other words, you are using more carbohydrates to fuel your metabolism (D. Campbell,
2001).
The glucose we use is the kind that is directly in our blood (plasma glucose)
and not in stored muscle glycogen. This means we need to consume carbohydrates immediately
to obtain energy from them! Taking a carbohydrate
supplementation or drink during exercise one week prior to and during your
period can potentially take away fatigue caused by lack of plasma glucose stores!
The best part is you don’t really gain weight! Sure, you may
feel bloated, but this is mainly water retention. There are such drastic metabolic changes occurring
in a woman’s body during her menstrual cycle that the metabolism actually
speeds up by approximately 500 extra calories! (Clark, 2008). So if you find
yourself feeling famished during your monthly visitor, add an extra 500
calories to your day!
This advice comes purely from a scientific perspective and,
like most science, results are generalized and may vary. The only person that
can really judge how you feel is yourself. Personally one week before my
period, my blood pressure drops, my strength levels decrease and I feel
exhausted. I don’t care what the studies say! During that time of the month you
may not see me in the gym!
References:
Clark,
N. (2008). Sports Nutrition Guidbook. Chestnut Hill: Human Kinetics.
D.
Campbell, A. a. (2001). Glucose kinetics and exercise performance during
phases of the menstrual cycle: Effect of glucose ingestion. American
Journal of Physiology, Endrocrinology and Metabolism.
Jonge
de Janse, T. C. (2012). Exerciise performance over the menstrual cycle in
temperate and hot, humid conditions. Medicine and science in sports
exercise.
M.Sakamaki,
Y. A. (2012). Comparison of low intensity blood flow restricted training
induced muscular hypertohpy in the follicular phase and luteal phase and
age-matched men. Clinical physiology and functional imaging, 185-191.
