Page 9 - 2021 AMA Summer

GUESTWRITER
PERIOD-ISATION
Maddy Cope, Education Lead & Coach, Lattice training Ltd
Should I train when I am on my period? Is it normal to feel scared during my premenstrual phase? I
always feel low energy at this point in my cycle, maybe training is too hard for me?
These are all questions that I have seen and heard within the climbing community over the past few years. After embarking on a personal journey to learn about my menstrual cycle and its impact on my climbing and training, it has become a passion to try and provide climbers with answers to questions such as these.
The menstrual cycle is not a new thing. So why so many questions all of a sudden?
The menstrual cycle has been thrown into the limelight in recent years with research groups working hard to shed light on the “why” and “what” and tech companies creating apps to help with the “how”. However, with the menstrual cycle becoming a hot topic (and being such a complex one with so much individual variation!) we can find ourselves overwhelmed with information. What applies to us? When apps are covered with photos of running and yoga, does the information apply to climbers?
Before we dive into hormones and the science of training, I want to make my
aim here clear; the aim is to develop an understanding that allows you to find what works for you. Hormones and being “hormonal” have gotten a bad rep - we are all hormonal, all of the time – and changing this rhetoric can be extremely empowering. Working with your cycle is not about optimising performance or experience “despite” your hormones, but working with a body that is doing its best to work for you. Theory and research play a role, but nothing trumps practice and understanding your cycle is a very personal journey. It starts with getting to grips with the cycle itself.
INTRODUCING THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE
If you sit down and open up any textbook you will find the same basic information. The menstrual cycle is 28 days long, with ovulation falling neatly in the middle on day14.Day1ofthecycleisday1ofyour period, and the phase that runs from day 1 up to ovulation is called the follicular phase, and thus includes menstruation. From ovulation through to day 1 of your next period is called the luteal phase.
The follicular phase is the part of your cyclewheretheconcentrationofthesex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, are low. Around ovulation there is a spike in oestrogen. During the luteal phase the concentrations of both oestrogen and progesterone are high. The end of the luteal phase is often termed the premen- strual phase, and is when symptoms of
“PMS” may be experienced. It is important to emphasise that we are talking about natural cycles here, and the use of hormonal contraceptives such as the pill will disrupt our cycling hormones, and is not covered in the scope of this article.
• Menses (day 1 to when period stops) • Follicular phase (day 1 to ovulation, includes menstruation, hormones
levels are relatively low)
• Ovulation (around day 14, after a
spike in oestrogen)
• Luteal phase (from ovulation to day
1 of next period, hormone levels are relatively high)
This is a very basic overview of the menstrual cycle and does not do justice to the complex symphony of hormones at work and the broad range of individual variety we see. So, what role does this basic overview play? It shows us that our menstrual cycle is much more than a period, and so explains why we may experience fluctuations throughout our cycle.
What do we need to be wary of with this simplistic overview? We are not textbooks! Cycles may range in length from 21 to 36 days and ovulation may fall nearer the start or end. To make things more interesting, our cycle length and day of ovulation may vary from one cycle to the next. Our hormones react to the environment around us, and given that
The Phoenix by Roee Peretz
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 9