Tracking your menstrual cycle can help you to better understand your body – and work with it – so that you can optimise your training.
While the menstrual cycle remains largely taboo and under-researched in the world of sport, conversations surrounding the topic have – rightfully – increased in recent years. From the Lionesses’ switch to blue shorts to Dina Asher-Smith’s public frustration about her period cramps, which had caused her to pull up in her European Champs 100m final last year, things are moving in the right direction.
Understanding your menstrual cycle – which covers the time from the first day of your period to the day before your next one – can be the key to recognising bodily changes and Best winter running gear at different times during the month. In a sport which can come down to the finest margins, this can be incredibly useful information. Though it varies greatly by individual, GB distance runner Jess Judd has previously said that her 3000m time could vary by up to 15 seconds according to her menstrual cycle stage.
Those who menstruate will have around 480 periods in their lifetime and will regularly experience fluctuations in the main sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, through their menstrual cycle, of which there's four phases: the period phase, the follicular phase, the luteal phase and the premenstrual phase.
As hormonal fluctuations can affect mood, sleep, energy levels and your ability to recover, while also increasing and decreasing your susceptibility to injury, the menstrual cycle naturally affects your running. Armed with this information, Advertisement - Continue Reading Below according what might be best at different times during the month.
The best period tracker apps
Thankfully, there's plenty of period tracker apps out there which won't just help you to track your menstrual cycle, but also provide training suggestions based on your hormonal fluctuations. Here's eight great options.
Jennis
Although Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is an Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete, she thinks she could have been an even better athlete had she possessed the knowledge and tools to train around her periods. Last year, Download on Apple Watch that if she’d spent more time understanding which phases to push herself in, strength-training wise, perhaps she would’ve built more lean muscle and become stronger. Thus, Jennis was born.
Informed by female hormone research experts, Jennis asks you questions about yourself, your period and symptoms, your fitness level and preferred physical activities. Mapping out all four phases of your menstrual cycle, Jennis recommends personalised sessions to complete during each, as well as lifestyle and nutrition Getting back to running after giving birth.
After a seven-day free trial, Jennis costs £5.99/month or £59.99 annually. The only downside to this exercise-focussed app is that you can’t use it if you’re taking hormonal contraception – it maps training recommendations to the hormonal fluctuations that occur across a ‘natural’ cycle unaffected by synthetic hormones.
Dina Asher-Smiths public frustration about her period cramps
Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men
FitrWoman
you can adapt your training according to your cycle with your menstrual cycle by empowering you with the information to do so. Through an initial questionnaire, FitrWoman helps you begin to track and visualise your menstrual cycle. It asks you to log training intensity, period data and symptoms in an interactive calendar as you use it. The idea is that you can begin to see trends emerge over time.
The free app makes training and nutrition suggestions for each cycle phase and also provides insights on why changing hormone levels affect your body throughout your menstrual cycle.
While you can still use FitrWoman effectively if you are on a progesterone-only form of contraception, if you take a combined contraceptive, some of the physiological information won’t apply because your hormone fluctuations aren’t the same. However, you can still track your symptoms alongside your exercise and use the information accordingly.
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Dina Asher-Smiths public frustration about her period cramps
Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men
Wild AI
Wild AI curates your individual pattern of menstrual cycle symptoms to understand what it means for your training and helps inform your decisions with training recommendations. It can be synced with Training Peaks, Strava, Garmin, Oura, Fitbit and Apple Health accounts, automatically tracking your training data across your menstrual phases. And also recommends what and when to eat before and after sessions, based on your hormonal fluctuations. It even offers intermediate training plans for running and triathlons based around your personal cycle.
We also love that it can be used if you are taking the contraceptive pill and if you are going through the menopause or peri-menopause.
Wild AI’s basic free version includes calculated readiness scores, wearable device integrations and data visualisation for up to two months. The pro version costs $5.99/month or $50.28/year and includes unlimited data visualisation, training plans and additional premium training, nutrition and recovery content.
Dina Asher-Smiths public frustration about her period cramps
Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men
Moody Month
Like most period trackers, the more you put into Moody Month, the more you will get out of it. Informed by the data you input, Moody Month promotes an understanding of your body’s hormone fluctuations through a daily feed, written by an expert team of female health specialists, tailored to whereabouts you are in your menstrual cycle. Your personal feed will present expert information on your symptoms, a daily ‘weather forecast’ about what’s happening in your body each day, plus daily mood predictions. It also offers advice on training and nutrition relating to your personal mood and symptoms, and provides daily yoga and mindfulness videos tailored to your changing hormones.
Moody Month is also suitable if you are using contraception or do not menstruate and is free to use.
Dina Asher-Smiths public frustration about her period cramps
Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men
Apple Cycle Tracking
Apple’s own cycle tracking app offers a pretty comprehensive way of tracking your menstrual cycle. You can do this through the Health app on your iPhone or the Cycle Tracking app on your Apple watch (compatible with Apple Watch Series 1 and later). As well as logging your period, you can track additional symptoms, including spotting, basal body temperature and more. You can also use heart rate data from your watch to better inform the app’s cycle prediction data.
The app also accounts for factors like pregnancy, if you’re lactating or on contraceptives – you just need to ensure you add this information. And it will send you notifications about period predictions, fertility window estimates and possible cycle deviations. It also helps you build up an exportable picture of your cycle and any irregularities should you need to show it to a healthcare provider.
The only downside is that the apps do not yet provide training recommendations based on your hormonal fluctuations.
Clue
Clue allows you to easily track your periods and symptoms and can help you recognise unique patterns that might occur throughout your menstrual cycle. It can be used if you're trying to get pregnant or if you're looking to manage and track your cycle-related experiences. The app also includes easy-to-digest articles that break down complicated topics like fertility, STIs and the science of sex. However, it does not include cycle-related training advice.
Clue allows you to log any form of contraception. While the basic version of the app is free, a Clue Plus subscription – which provides enhanced period predictions and more detailed analysis about your cycle – costs $9.99/month.
Dina Asher-Smiths public frustration about her period cramps
Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men
28
Providing you with a daily cycle status and phase progress bar, 28 allows you to track the different phases of your menstrual cycle, with themes for each: Restore, Awaken, Perform and Balance. The app offers daily exercise suggestions – with guided workout videos – designed for varying energy, strength and flexibility levels. You'll also receive daily nutrition tips and suggested recipes, plus insights into your changing mood and emotions.
The app primarily considers the ‘natural’ cycle, so if you are taking a contraceptive, you might not feel the benefits as widely. The basic version of 28 is free, and the premium version costs $89.99/year. This gives you access to unlimited recipes, as well as weekly food shopping lists, plus full use of the app’s workout library.
Dina Asher-Smiths public frustration about her period cramps
