My Top 8 Tips for Dealing with your Period at the Gym
I wanted to start this post today by letting you know (if you didn't read the title) I will be talking about periods. I am here to help and to educate other females and there is so need for any shame on my blog. Periods are the most natural thing in the world and you shouldn't be embarrassed to talk about them. Today, I want to share with you just a few tips and tricks I found that have helped me since going vegan and beginning a new active lifestyle at the gym!
Before getting into the tips I just want to tell you a little back story about my period. (For those of you who are not mature enough to handle this, just click that little "x" in the corner). For those of you who are still here, that's awesome, and thank you! I hope I can help.
Ever since I can remember getting my period when I was 12 years old, it was uncomfortable, painful, heavy, and just gross! I never knew that diet could be the reason these things were happening during my period. I was a meat eater for the first 8 years of my period and it was hell! I was constantly missing school and work because they were just unbearably heavy and painful. When I was about 19 years old I started looking into natural things to help my period and that's when I stumbled upon RUMP's (Reusable Menstrual Products) and I will never look back!
I started by ordering 5 liners (cotton topped because I do have sensitive skin and I was prone to yeast infections, cotton kept things cool and dry), 8 regular, and about 5 heavy. I quickly realized that was not enough unless I wanted to do laundry every single day, so I thought about how I could get a lot without going over budget, and that's when I taught myself how to sew. I quickly learned how to make my own cloth pads in different shapes and sizes and that's when I decided to buy my first menstrual cup.
For the first 5 or 6 years of my period, I never used tampons. My mom kind of put in my head that they are bad so I never went near them (and she was right). But when I was 17 I decided to start using tampons because of school, and work, and well, life! I used them for a couple years before switching over to all-natural products. I quickly learned tampons are horrible for our bodies, they are too absorbent and absorb literally everything. Unless you are buying organic, a wide variety of chemicals and pesticides can contaminate the cotton used in popular brands of tampons. That's just a couple reasons I no longer use them.
So now that takes us to today, I am 21 years old, almost 22 and I only use natural menstrual products. I am actually going out today to get some organic cotton liners for the last couple days of my period because the cloth ones are just a bit too thick for my liking at the gym! I use a menstrual cup and cloth pads for about 4 days, and for those of you who don't know what a menstrual cup is, keep reading.
1. Start Slow..
The gym can be intimidating on any day, but on your period its like 10x worse! Start out with some cardio, build up your energy and get your heart rate up. I find that after about 10-15 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical that my cramps are gone. After cardio is done, that's when you want to stretch, that brings us to our next point..
2. Stretch Stretching when on your period can sometimes be awkward at first, but just take it slow. Grab a mat and go to the corner of the gym to do your stretches if you're feeling uncomfortable. A foam roller is a great thing to use to roll out sore muscles, especially if you are into weight training. Another great tip is to bring a friend with you so you have a buddy and a little bit of a support system.
3. If you can't, dont!
If all you can do is a little bit of cardio or just a little bit of machines with low weight or just a walk around the block, that is all you should put your body through. I just want you to know though, women have a higher threshold for pain the first few days of her period so you can actually lift heavier on those days if you are physically able to. If you can't, don't force yourself to.
4. Use a menstrual cup
I highly recommend investing in a menstrual cup if you don't already own one. If you don't know what that is, it's like a tampon but it is in a cup shape and made from medical grade silicone (so it's totally safe! even more-so than a tampon, actually) and you just fold it up, put it in and it catches your menstrual flow from 6-12 hours depending on how heavy it is (I can usually keep mine in for 10 hours on second and third day). Pair this cup with a little organic cotton panty liner and you are good to go!
5. Magnesium is your best friend Before I go to the gym when I am on my period I will take a magnesium supplement for my already achy body. It helps me cope with cramping and body aches until I get that cardio in. When your body is low on magnesium your pain tolerance is low as well, so you feel pain faster and more of it.
6. Wear dark clothing If you are one of those girls who gets nervous about leaks or your pad showing (which I'm sure is every girl) then definitely just wear dark pants and maybe a longer, flowy top incase you get bloated, like me. This way you can also cover up your pad incase you wear tighter pants, but try wearing something a little looser on those first few days.
7. Backups, backups, backups! I cannot stress this enough, always make sure you have an extra pair of undies, a few organic liners, a couple extra pads and even an extra menstrual cup. I recommend going with a sporty one for the gym because they are firmer but sometimes that can be uncomfortable when you have severe cramps, so always have a softer one as a backup. This way your mind can be at ease incase anything does go wrong!
8. Diet Make sure you always have a healthy diet while on your period. Sometimes those cravings can surface and it sucks to ignore them, but the best thing for you would be some bananas and red raspberry leaf tea. Both are so good for easing menstrual cramps, and it's best to eat fruits and veggies, low fat on your period because that's what can worsen cramps. Stay away from coffee, it usually makes cramps worse, try green tea instead.
I hope I was able to help you out today! Please leave a comment below if you have any other tips to share and don't forget to follow me on all my social media platforms to stay updated with new blog posts!
