Lydia Ko made a reporter uncomfortable when she revealed she was having her time of the month. Photo / File
Lydia Ko left her interviewer lost for words when she revealed her period was causing some discomfort. Far from being a taboo impediment, some sportswomen are using their cycles as a tool to boost performance, finds Kate Wells
Women all around the world menstruate each month, but some people - including Golf Channel reporter Jerry Foltz - still find the subject rather uncomfortable.
Lydia Ko's post-match interview after her final round at the LPGA's Palos Verdes Championship created headlines across the globe. The world number three received some attention on her back which she was asked about by Foltz. She was upfront, confirming some tightness in the area due to it being "that time of the month", in which he awkwardly responded "thanks".
There have been countless barriers for females participating in sport over hundreds of years. But they haven't let a monthly period stop them. Fast forward to 2022 and athletes use their cycle as a tool to boost their performance on the sports field.
Athletes in New Zealand are lucky in the sense that sports doctors and female specialists have been working hard over the past few years to remove the taboo around periods and help athletes to track their cycle to stay healthy. One of those is Dr Stacy Sims, who is a female athlete performance physiologist.
Sims has worked with the Olympic gold-medal-winning Black Ferns Sevens team. She says leading into the 2016 Rio Games, the majority of players were on the contraceptive pill, and nobody knew what stage they were at in their menstrual cycle. But when she asked the same question last year, the team all pulled out their phones with their chosen tracking app and shared what stage they were at.
She says the benefit of being in New Zealand and having such a small community is that we can leverage each other's knowledge and openly share between the sports.
From a coach's perspective, she says there's a whole plan they can use with the natural physiology and hormones to maximise and leverage what the body has to offer.
"When we look at the menstrual cycle, when we're in the low-hormone phase our bodies are really resilient at taking on stress. They can push the loads and we see really good recovery. Then, after ovulation, we want to tone down the intensity and utilise more technique. Then a few days before the period starts, this is where we dial in economy of movement."
Although New Zealand athletes have made leaps and bounds when it comes to using the cycle as a tool, Dr Sims says we still have a cultural aspect where some don't talk about the period.
"That's part of that sport environment where, to be successful, you have to demonstrate being infallible, aggressive and powerful. And when you start talking about the word period, menstrual cramps or being a bit off my game it goes against the face of what it means to be successful in sport, so it goes back to that push pull."
New Zealand 400-metre hurdler Portia Bing is very well tuned when it comes to her menstrual cycle. Although it's not a bother to her now at 29 years of age, she says in the sport of athletics it can be difficult to deal with as a youngster, especially with the uniform.
"When you're 16 and 17 and changes are happening to your body, there's a lot of uncomfortableness around it. We run in race undies, so you're worried about leakage and you get cramps and fatigue."
Bing says the key is having supportive people around you who are open to talking about it.
Fast forward to now, Bing is in the shape of her life. She broke the national record three times this summer, and still has the World Athletics Championships and Birmingham Commonwealth Games to come.
At this stage in her career, she and coach James Mortimer use her cycle as a training tool.
"I have very little [period] problems now, but what I find is on my first few days I might be a little bit more fatigued. For me, it's about having tools in the kit to know when it's appropriate to pull back, when you're just going to be slamming the Panadol and having those open communication lines with coaches."
Bing uses an app to track her cycle, which Mortimer can access. She says it's important for him to understand how she's feeling and to know at what stage of her cycle she's at.
"It's been really cool to see he's [Mortimer] adapted to the feedback he's got from training a group of females. You can use your cycle to your benefit and change the way in which you train.
"He really took on that feedback and implemented some systems that really supported those who wanted to try it out."
Team sports have also taken on board the impact of periods in a high-performance environment. The world champion Silver Ferns take the menstrual cycle into consideration when it comes to overall performance.
Coach Dame Noeline Taurua says each player is impacted differently and along with the other coaches and support staff they do what's best for that individual at that moment.
But Taurua says there's not anything less that they're expected to do.
"We understand how it impacts performance and their ability, they may not be on their game at that moment of time. We know it's not about the programme, but we can monitor and make sure that everything's alright for next time they get out there."
There's no squeamishness around periods when it comes to the Silver Ferns, with coach Taurua conceding periods are normal for them, as is getting pregnant and returning to play.
She says prior to players getting pregnant it's important that their body is healthy.
"There's been a lot of stories in sport where people don't get their period so we're really mindful of that and making sure that's part of the discussion. There's always that balance about performance but also health and wellbeing.
Not only is high-performance sport affected by menstruation. Young women are particularly affected, especially those without access to products. There are organisations working to enable young women to play sport, by not letting periods become a barrier.
Dignity is a New Zealand social enterprise that started in the beginning of 2017, championing period equity. It provides free period products to those without access as well as selling products to businesses and organisations.
Co-founder Miranda Hitchings says it's great to see Ko being open about menstruation.
"It's so normal and that's the way it should be. It's good to open up the conversation and not have it be weird."
Hitchings says there's an interesting intersection with periods and sport.
She says when Dignity started to note down the outcome of providing products to people with no access was that people were able to participate in sport, by just being able to have access to pads and tampons.
"Being able to have access to products or be able to talk more openly about it is better for overall participation. It's great that it's becoming more normal."
Not only are organisations like Dignity enabling more young women to play sport, but the Government has taken a stand. Early last year it enabled primary, intermediate, secondary school and kura students to have free access to period products, helping to remove the stigma of missing school, also aiding with participation in sport.
Maximising performance through menstruation
*Identify the low-hormone phase of your menstrual cycle
*Increase training loads during that time, while the body is better suited to recovery
*Identify when ovulation finishes, and tone down the intensity of training while focusing more on technique.
*A few days before the period starts, introduce economy of movement into training
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