97: New Perspective on Athletic Performance in the Menstrual Cycle: Research Roundup

Today hosts Tiffany and Katja talk about a topic that always draws lot of interest: the female menstrual cycle. The pair discuss new research around athletic performance throughout the cycle, offering new angles that go beyond the fluctuations of female sex hormones. They focus on new findings that consider the importance of psychological aspects in this context.

Listen in to learn some new perspectives on athletic performance and the female cycle and ways to use yoga to support your menstrual cycle.

“It’s very important that we make a distinction between performance output on a given singular day and training with the cycle. Those are two very different things and experts… have been stressing that for a while.” – Katja Bartsch

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“When we have high levels of estrogen in our bodies, which is typically the case around ovulation, that our muscle power is increased.” – Katja Bartsch

Show Notes:

• Assumptions of menstrual cycle-based training [3:51]
• New research on performance during menstrual cycle (MC) [6:52]
• Who participated in the study [10:44]
• What was tested for in the experiment [14:18]
• Results of the latest research [16:19]
• Further considerations on inclusion criteria [18:57]
• The complexity of studying the female cycle [21:24]
• Performance vs. training [23:38]
• How yoga can help to work with the MC [25:42]
• Importance of the nervous system in training [27:12]
• Limitations of current research [30:43]
• Individual experience “versus” research [33:03]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Athletic Performance Menstrual Cycle Overview
• Yoga for Athletes Teacher Training
• Female Health Yoga Teacher Training
• Connect with Katja Bartsch:

Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher

“It’s about picking some highlights from the research, seeing what we can do with that, but still focus mainly on your individuality – that’s what some of those studies say.” – Katja Bartsch