

These sessions then progress according to your fitness goals.Īfter a seven-day free trial, Jennis costs £5.99/month or £59.99 annually. Mapping out all four phases of your menstrual cycle, Jennis recommends personalised sessions to complete during each, as well as lifestyle and nutrition advice. Informed by female hormone research experts, Jennis asks you questions about yourself, your period and symptoms, your fitness level and preferred physical activities. Last year, Ennis-Hill told the BBC that if she’d spent more time understanding which phases to push herself in, strength-training wise, perhaps she would’ve built more lean muscle and become stronger. JennisĪlthough Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is an Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete, she thinks she could have been an even better athlete had she possessed the knowledge and tools to train around her periods. Thankfully, there's plenty of period tracker apps out there which won't just help you to track your menstrual cycle, but also provide training suggestions based on your hormonal fluctuations. Armed with this information, you can adapt your training according to your cycle according what might be best at different times during the month.

Those who menstruate will have around 480 periods in their lifetime and will regularly experience fluctuations in the main sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, through their menstrual cycle, of which there's four phases: the period phase, the follicular phase, the luteal phase and the premenstrual phase.Īs hormonal fluctuations can affect mood, sleep, energy levels and your ability to recover, while also increasing and decreasing your susceptibility to injury, the menstrual cycle naturally affects your running. How your menstrual cycle affects your running.Though it varies greatly by individual, GB distance runner Jess Judd has previously said that her 3000m time could vary by up to 15 seconds according to her menstrual cycle stage. In a sport which can come down to the finest margins, this can be incredibly useful information. Understanding your menstrual cycle – which covers the time from the first day of your period to the day before your next one – can be the key to recognising bodily changes and why your running performance might differ at different times during the month. From the Lionesses’ switch to blue shorts to Dina Asher-Smith’s public frustration about her period cramps, which had caused her to pull up in her European Champs 100m final last year, things are moving in the right direction. While the menstrual cycle remains largely taboo and under-researched in the world of sport, conversations surrounding the topic have – rightfully – increased in recent years. Tracking your menstrual cycle can help you to better understand your body – and work with it – so that you can optimise your training.
