KaMana Community
The importance of education
Introduction
“I wish I had learnt this when I was younger.” This is the most common piece of feedback we hear after our Female Athlete Health and Understanding the Menstrual Cycle workshop.
For a long time, education around the menstrual cycle has been overlooked or ignored. Fortunately, this is starting to change. Conversations, education, and awareness around menstrual health in sport are on the rise. Here, we outline why it is so important that girls in sport receive education about the menstrual cycle and performance.
The Importance Of Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle and Performance
Why We Need To Learn About the Menstrual Cycle in Sport
Understanding the menstrual cycle is important for several reasons:
General health: It helps you understand what is normal when it comes to your period.
Self-awareness: It can help you make sense of how you feel at different times.
Risk reduction: It can help identify and reduce the risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).
Performance: It can help you better understand and potentially enhance your training around your cycle.
How the Menstrual Cycle and Performance Are Connected
Different hormones impact various systems in the body. They can also influence how we train, recover, and feel. The hormones involved in the menstrual cycle fluctuate daily, which is why we can feel so different throughout each phase.
Some women are significantly impacted by these hormonal changes, while others notice very little difference. This is why it is so important for women to become in tune with their own bodies and understand their individual patterns.
This Should Really Be In All Athlete Wellbeing Course’s By Now
We believe that learning about the menstrual cycle should be as common as learning about other bodily systems, and we are working towards that becoming the norm. If this education had been more widely available, it would have made a significant difference to us as young athletes.
An Insight From Lizzie
I lost my period multiple times throughout my teenage years as an athlete. At the time, I thought this was a positive sign and meant I was training well (many of my friends believed the same).
Looking back, I strongly believe that having education around RED-S would have helped me recognise the warning signs earlier. It would have prevented me from overlooking my health and overtraining, and helped me understand that under-fuelling was not supporting my body or my performance in any way.
An Insight From Harriet
At first, I was hesitant to learn about the menstrual cycle. I didn’t want to know if there were times when I might perform better or worse, as I worried it would affect my confidence in training and racing.
However, once I learned more, I realised how valuable and empowering this knowledge is. Towards the later stages of my career, I was able to structure my training around my cycle, and I believe it helped me get the most out of my performance, especially when combined with what I learned through my Cert IV in Elite Athlete Wellbeing Course.
Parents need to be educated too: What Our Online Athlete Wellbeing Course Teaches
It is not only important for female athletes to understand the menstrual cycle, but also for the people who support them. Coaches and parents can provide more effective support when they have a better understanding of how the menstrual cycle impacts training, recovery, and wellbeing.
This is why we created an Athlete Wellbeing Course for parents, coaches, and teachers, focused on the menstrual cycle. Our online program, Supporting Female Athletes, covers essential topics such as what a normal menstrual cycle looks like, common abnormalities, how the cycle can impact performance, and how to best support athletes through these changes.
Featuring insights from elite athletes and real-life experiences, the program is designed to help you better understand the menstrual cycle and confidently support female athletes in achieving their goals.
Common Questions About Menstrual Cycle and Performance
Q: I wasn’t getting my period, so I was recommended to go on the pill to get it back. Is that a good idea?
Going on the pill doesn’t actually bring back your natural period, it causes a withdrawal bleed which is not a true menstrual cycle. This bleed is triggered by the break from synthetic hormones in the pill, not by natural ovulation.
While the pill can be helpful for medical conditions or as birth control, it won’t fix the underlying reason your period is missing and may mask underlying issues. One common example among athletes is Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).
If your goal is to restore a natural cycle, the pill is not the best solution. It’s important to work with a doctor who understands female athletes and the menstrual cycle to find the root cause and choose the right approach for your health and goals.
Q: Do I have a menstrual cycle when I have a hormonal IUD?
It depends, everyone responds differently. With a hormonal IUD, you may continue to have a menstrual cycle, you may or may not ovulate and you may or may not get your period. Some people stop bleeding altogether (around 20%), while others have lighter or irregular periods.
For many it takes a little while to adapt to what might be the new normal for you. Your response can also vary depending on the type of IUD, for example, lower-dose options like Kyleena are more likely to allow regular bleeding.
Q. So can I track my menstrual cycle if I have a hormonal IUD? What about if I don’t get a period?
You might still be able to track your cycle, even without a regular period. If you have a regular period, you can do this as you usually would. If you aren’t getting a period or if it’s irregular, take note of your symptoms, training effects, mood, energy and other signs. You may be able to notice patterns which may indicate regular hormonal changes that you can track.
You can also track ovulation using tools like basal body temperature, cervical mucus changes, or ovulation test strips. This can help you understand if and when you're ovulating, even if you're not getting a regular period.
Q. If an athlete experiences RED-S and no longer ovulates, does this prolong fertility as she is not using up her eggs?
Even when you're not ovulating, your body still uses up eggs each cycle, they just don’t mature and release. So, you're still losing eggs over time.
RED-S can also down regulate your menstrual cycle, which can impact fertility, bone health, and overall health.
In short: Skipping ovulation from RED-S doesn’t protect your eggs and can actually harm your fertility in the long run. Getting enough energy and restoring regular cycles is important for long-term reproductive health.
Tracking Your Menstrual Cycle and Performance: Getting Started
If you want to take action, the best place to start is by tracking your cycle. Begin simply by noting when you are bleeding so you can identify the different phases.
From there, start to observe how you feel during each phase - your energy levels, mood, and training performance. Over time, you may notice patterns that help you better understand your body. Once you have this awareness, you can begin to adjust and optimise your training around your cycle.
Conclusion
If you would like to learn more about the menstrual cycle and performance, you can book into our Female Athlete Health and Understanding the Menstrual Cycle workshop. We deliver this to athletes, parents, coaches, or a combination of all three.
If you would like to start learning straight away, you can access our online workshop here: https://www.kamanacommunity.com/onlineprogram