Editorial author Georgie Bruinvels, BSc, a researcher at St. Mary’s University in London, and colleagues reviewed 1,382 sports and exercise research studies published between 2011 and 2013. All the studies involved more than six million participants, but only 39 percent of those participants were women.
Here are four points:
1. A Public Library of Science study found nearly 42 percent of women who exercise reported their menstrual cycle has a negative impact on exercise training and performance.
2. Researchers speculate heavy bleeding and undiagnosed iron deficiency may be the reason why menstrual cycles have a negative impact on exercise, although no official studies have been conducted to prove this.
3. Historically, medical trials and drug trials were conducted solely in men because researchers feared the studies could potentially damage unborn fetuses.
4. The editorial calls for medical professionals and researchers to properly study the correlation between women’s menstrual cycles and exercise.
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