Target! Scientists have studied the players of the FC Barcelona women's team
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The idea that we should make lifestyle adjustments depending on where we are in our menstrual cycle is gaining traction online as well as in scientific circles. Now, researchers have found that female athletes who suffer a sports injury during their period take longer to recover from it than during other periods of their cycle.
#cyclesyncing is featured in thousands of social media posts that advocate changing diet and physical activity levels at different stages of the menstrual cycle to accommodate the hormonal changes that occur. The evidence supporting such dietary changes is weak.and although exercise-related research on this issue is more robust, the results are also mixed. However, rugby teams in the USA and England are already adjust training according to the cycles of your team members.
To try to understand this better, Eva Ferrer and her colleagues at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona followed 33 professional soccer players from the FC Barcelona women's team over four seasons from 2019 to 2023.
As part of their regular exercise routine, the women self-reported the days they had their periods. Any injuries that occurred during the season were graded by a physician based on severity using a standard scale.
The researchers found that while women did not experience more injuries during their periods, those they did receive during this time were more severe. For example, soft tissue injuries occurring during this time resulted in more than three times the number of training days compared to those occurring at other times.
This may be due to low estrogen levels during menstruation. This hormone is associated with muscle repair and repair.. “The combination of low estrogen levels, possible iron loss and more severe symptoms [such as cramps] And greater fatigue can contribute to a worse prognosis for injuries at this stage,” Ferrer says.
However, Stuart Phillips from McMaster University in Canada notes that we do not fully understand the role of estrogen in muscle recovery. “The idea is that estrogen has a protective and reparative effect. [for muscles]”but most of this data comes from animal studies, not human studies,” he says. The study also did not measure women's iron levels or potential confounding factors such as fatigue.
Ferrer admits that overall there were few injuries: 69 of them occurred on non-bleeding days and only 11 during bleeding. “A small number of very serious injuries may skew the overall impression if sample size and confidence intervals are not taken into account,” she says. We also don't know whether the results apply to those who exercise or exercise. sport more casually rather than professionally, Ferrer says.
She hopes the picture will become clearer with further research, which could lead to the development of tailored solutions. exercise recommendations for different periods of the cycle. “The most responsible approach is that decisions regarding training load and type during menstruation should be made individually,” Ferrer says, “taking into account each player's symptoms and relying on objective data (internal and external load, injury history, well-being, etc.), while research continues to include hormonal measurements, iron markers, sleep patterns, nutrition and other variables that can help refine recommendations.”
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