The Food Medic - S9 Ask Dr Hazel: Tips for competing during your menstrual cycle

Episode Date: January 20, 2023

Welcome to Ask Dr Hazel, mini episodes that drop each week between our main epsiodes. This weeks listener question is: “I am really into Cross Fit but I can’t control my cycle around competitions and intense workouts. What would you recommend if a competition falls in my luteal phase of my cycle?”Find our more about training around your cycle in Dr Hazel’s book ‘The Female Factor’ : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Female-Factor-Making-womens-health/dp/1529382866If you would like to submit a question to the podcast please send your voice recorded question to [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome back to the Food Medic podcast. Welcome to our mini episodes Ask Dr Hazel. Thank you for submitting your questions and a gentle reminder if you do want to submit your own question to please send us your audio recorded questions to info at thefoodmedic.co.uk. So let's jump into this week's question. Hey Hazel, my name is Nick and I'm really into CrossFit but unfortunately I can't control my cycle around CrossFit competitions and intense workouts. What would you recommend if a CrossFit competition falls in my luteal phase of my cycle? Okay, so competitions in the luteal phase. This is a really great question, but let's just bring it back to basics. So when we're talking about the menstrual cycle, there are two main phases,

the follicular phase and the luteal phase with ovulation sandwiched in between. Now, luteal phase is our second phase just before our next period. And during that phase, progesterone is at its highest. Oestrogen is also high. And typically what we find is we tend to retain a little bit more water during this phase. We may find our motivation is slightly lower during this phase. Our temperature is slightly higher and our sleep can be impaired as well. So the question is related to what can I do if I have a competition or a big event or a big kind of training session during this phase. The first thing I would say is don't panic. Just because you're in that phase of your cycle doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to feel terrible. But you can do things to mitigate

bloating, fluid retention, and all of the things I just mentioned. What I would say is maximize on recovery during this time. So it may be that you add in more rest days, or more recovery in between sessions in the lead up to your event. Also thinking about things like making sure you're hydrated and reducing your salt intake and this will help with fluid and bloating. You could think about adding in magnesium supplementation during this time as well. Making sure you're fueling appropriately so getting in protein at every mealtime, good sources of carbohydrates and also healthy fats. At this time, people also report higher cravings. And there's a reason for this.

It's because our metabolic rate, so our metabolism, the amount of energy that we burn at rest, is actually slightly higher. So you need more energy on board, especially if you're training harder. So it might be that you just add in a few more calories into your daily meals during this time and that will also help with recovery and finally make sure you're prioritizing sleep during this time like I said most women report that they have slightly impaired sleep during the luteal phase which is also going to have a knock-on effect to your training so try getting to bed slightly early make sure you're doing all the usual sleep hygiene practices like not having caffeine after midday viewing early morning light and having a set wind down routine before bed

hopefully those things will help but like I said all of the work that you do before this is likely to have the biggest impact so try not to get too worried about where you are in your phase and best of luck from us.