Exercise has a large influence on many aspects of health, from weight management to boosting wellbeing. Doing regular exercise is highly recommended by health professionals but it is also important to understand how exercise can affect your period.
Menstruation and exercise are closely connected, as your period is controlled by your body producing and regulating hormones, while exercise also helps to regulate hormones. The intensity of exercise will make a difference as to how much your menstrual cycle is affected by your exercise routine.
More intense exercise will cause more disruption to your menstrual cycle, which is why teenagers are advised not to exercise too vigorously, as this can result in the loss of regular menstrual cycles. Putting your body under the increased stress of intense exercise can cause your periods to become irregular, so you do not know when to expect your period to start.
Female athletes can often experience disruption to their periods through the intense training that their body goes through and sometimes this can affect their fertility as the body struggles to produce eggs.
However, doing moderate levels of exercise has many benefits to help your body throughout the menstrual cycle, such as:
Lighter periods
Doing exercise can impact the flow volume of your period, with regular exercise often helping to reduce the heaviness of the blood flow. Losing weight through increased exercise can also help to lighten periods, as body fat produces estrogen, which causes the uterus lining to build up more.
Reduce the pain of cramps
When you do exercise, it can help to reduce the pain of cramps. There are two different types of period pain, primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea. With primary dysmenorrhea, there is no obvious reason for cramps, and this is the type that can be helped by exercise.
With secondary dysmenorrhea, there is an underlying problem such as fibroids or adenomyosis which cannot be relieved through exercise. In some cases, doing exercise can actually worsen the pain of uterine fibroids.
Overall, there are many positives in terms of how exercise can help periods, as many women are looking to reduce the heaviness of their period and reduce the pain from cramps. Moderate exercise is less likely to cause issues such as irregular or missed periods but if intense exercise is combined with low-calorie dieting, there is a greater chance of periods being negatively impacted. If your periods are being disrupted by exercise or any other underlying issue, you should speak to your doctor to identify the cause of the issue. Your periods are a good indicator of your overall health, so irregularities could be a sign that there is another health issue that requires attention.
Some small irregularity in your period is not usually a health concern but it can be inconvenient when you do not know when the first day of your period will be. Using IMAARA period knickers can help to ensure that you are always prepared and do not need to worry about an unexpected period starting while you are at work or out socialising.
See our beautiful range of styles to find period knickers that provide the protection you need while looking great too.
Please Note: We at Imaara are not medical professionals if you have or are being affected by anything that you have read today then please contact your local clinic.