What Sports to Practice During Your Period?
During your period, it’s easy to find an excuse to stop all physical activity and curl up with your blanket, hot water bottle, chocolate bar, and favorite series. While we’re not against any of that, exercising during your period can actually be a great idea, especially to relieve menstrual pain. Since everyone is different, it’s important to listen to yourself first and adapt your activity based on how you feel. Only you know what’s best for you. However, if your pain isn’t completely unbearable, here are the recommended sports to favor during your period:
1. Yoga
The various yoga poses will help you reconnect with your sensations, relax, and stretch the areas of your body that usually hurt during this time of the month, such as the lower back and pelvic muscles. Just avoid inverted poses and favor gentle yoga styles like yin yoga or kundalini yoga.
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2. Pilates
If you prefer gentle muscle strengthening exercises, Pilates is for you. It reduces tension and loosens the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. This helps decrease uterine contractions and thus reduces pain.
3. Swimming
Contrary to popular belief, and even if you don’t always feel comfortable going to the pool during your period, swimming can work wonders. It massages and relaxes all parts of the body, greatly easing menstrual pain. No need to race lengths at full speed; you can simply swim calmly, keeping in mind that you’re there to feel good. A little tip: if you have lower back pain, try backstroke—it’s the ideal movement to relax your back muscles.
Another tip: there are menstrual swimwear and menstrual swimwear for teens so you never have to worry about a little accident.
4. Running
This is not the time for sprinting, hurdling, or interval training; the goal is to get your body moving and work your cardiovascular system. You’ll release endorphins, also known as the happiness hormone. These endorphins help relieve cramps and reduce headaches. Additionally, cardio increases your overall blood flow, which lessens discomfort. And if you’re not feeling very energetic, you can simply opt for brisk walking.
5. Meditation
Although it’s not technically a sport, meditation is highly recommended during your period because it helps you refocus, reduce depressive feelings, and observe your pain without adding any negative judgment. Also, breathing exercises relax muscles and reduce anxiety. Why not combine a meditation session before or after your yoga, Pilates, swimming, or running session?
With all these examples, you can see that it’s easy to include physical activity during your period and feel good without causing harm. Once again (we can’t say it enough), listen to yourself, and if you feel like moving, go for it. Of course, to feel comfortable, equip yourself accordingly. While tampons or cups are necessary for swimming, the SMOON menstrual panties are a discreet alternative that will provide all the comfort you need to practice your sport with peace of mind.
By Flore
