The information I’m about to share today is intended for my ladies.
(Guys, you’re welcome to listen in. Maybe you’ll learn something that you can pass on to the women in your lives.)
Ladies, I want to talk about something that we all experience regularly, something that affects us in varying degrees, something that we all tend to dread. What is it? Menstrual cycles and cramps.
Many women tend to suffer debilitating cramps during their cycles, and it literally makes them not want to do anything. They’ll often be found saying, “I feel like crap. I’m not going to the gym. I’m just going to lay on the couch and eat bonbons while watching soap operas and talk shows.”
What a lot of women don’t realize is that we should actually be working out during our cycles.
When I went to basic training for the military – yes, I am an Army Vet – all the drill sergeants were male except for two females. During one of the first few weeks of basic training, they split us up so that they would have the guys with the male drill sergeants while the females stayed back and talked to the female drill sergeants. Of course, the male drill sergeants didn’t want to talk about girl stuff.
The female drill sergeant said, “Look, I don’t want to hear any of you say that you can’t do PT stuff because you have cramps. That crap will work on the male drill sergeants, but it sure won’t work on me. I’m a lady, so I know how it goes. You’re actually going to feel better when you work out during your cycle. Trust me.”
Naturally, I didn’t believe her. I was just like, “Oh, she’s just being hardcore.”
Guess what? She was right – absolutely right!
Working out while you’re on your period can be really beneficial for you, but it doesn’t mean that you have to do a lot of strenuous workouts in order to reap the benefits. You don’t have to run five miles or get on a bike. All you need to do is go for a walk, or a jog, or lift weights.
The reason behind this is because your body releases feel-good endorphins whenever you exercise. Endorphins give you a natural high that helps to make you feel better and boost your mood.
Furthermore, endorphins help minimize stress which is one of the major culprits behind debilitating cramps. When you’re on your period and you sweat it out, you are literally sweating out all the stress. You’re sweating out the extra cramps which essentially makes you feel so much better.
I don’t know about you, but there are days when I don’t always want to get up and go to the gym or even workout at home or run out in my neighborhood. You wake up, you experience those cramps, and you literally just don’t want to do anything. But, when you force yourself to go on and get up, magical things can happen! Every time I persist, I find myself feeling better when I’m done, and I really want to pass that important tip along to all my ladies that need the boost.
The important thing to take away from this is to make sure that you do not hibernate during your cycle. When you’re on your period, you need to get out there and get active. If you’re cynical about it, that’s fine. I was cynical about it when I first heard about it, too. But I gave it a shot and found that it really does work.
Give it a try!