Your menstrual cycle is about much more than the few days when you have your period.
Throughout the cycle, hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone change. Those changes are part of normal female physiology and can influence different systems in your body.
You might notice changes in your energy, sleep, mood, appetite, body temperature, cramps, recovery or simply how training feels.
Or you might notice very little.
Both are completely normal.
The important thing is not learning a set of rules about how you are supposed to feel. It is learning what is normal for you.
First, what actually is the menstrual cycle?
Day 1 of your menstrual cycle is the first day of your period.
From there, your body moves through different parts of the cycle before the next period begins.
You will often hear these described as:
- Menstruation
- The follicular phase
- Ovulation
- The luteal phase
Diagrams often make these look like four neat sections of a 28 day cycle.
Real bodies are not that tidy.
Cycles vary between people, and they can vary from month to month too. This is particularly common during the first few years after periods begin.
So think of the phases as a way of understanding what is happening inside your body, rather than a timetable your body has to follow.
When you have your period
At the beginning of the cycle, oestrogen and progesterone are relatively low.
Some players feel absolutely fine.
Others may experience cramps, tiredness, headaches, backache, digestive changes or just feel less comfortable than usual.
You can normally still play football if you feel well enough. Some people even find that movement helps mild period pain.
But playing through severe pain is different from playing through a bit of discomfort.
If period pain regularly stops you going to school, sleeping, training, playing matches or doing normal activities, it deserves proper attention.
The follicular phase
After your period begins, oestrogen gradually rises as your body prepares for ovulation.
Some players report feeling particularly good during this part of their cycle. You may notice good energy, motivation or recovery.
Or you may notice no difference at all.
We do not recommend automatically changing your training simply because an app says you are in your follicular phase.
If you feel good, train well.
If you feel unusually tired, sore or under recovered, listen to that too.
Ovulation
Ovulation is when an egg is released from an ovary.
Oestrogen is generally higher around this time before changing again afterwards.
There is a lot of interest in what this might mean for football performance and injury. You may have heard that players are automatically more likely to injure their ACL around ovulation because hormones make ligaments looser.
The reality is more complicated.
Hormones can influence tissues in the body, and this is an important area of female sports science. But we cannot currently look at a player's cycle day and accurately predict whether she is going to get injured.
Our advice is simple. Do not ignore the menstrual cycle. But do not fear it either.
Good strength, movement skills, landing technique, appropriate training loads, recovery and nutrition matter throughout the month.
The luteal phase
After ovulation, progesterone rises and oestrogen also changes.
Some players notice very little. Others begin to notice symptoms, particularly later in this phase.
These might include bloating, tiredness, headaches, changes in mood, sore breasts, food cravings or changes in sleep.
You may also simply notice that training feels harder.
That is useful information. It does not automatically mean your fitness has dropped.
Your cycle is one part of the picture alongside sleep, food, school, stress, training load, illness and recovery.
Should I train differently during different phases?
Sometimes you might want to.
But the decision should come from how you are actually feeling and the patterns you have learned about your body, rather than a generic cycle chart.
The old idea of cycle syncing often suggested that everyone should train hard during certain weeks and back off during others.
We now know that female athletes are far too individual for that approach.
A better question is: How am I feeling today, and is this something I recognise from my own cycle?
That is where cycle awareness becomes genuinely useful.
Your cycle is information
Sleep matters. Nutrition matters. Recovery matters. Stress matters. Training matters. Your menstrual health matters too.
Understanding your cycle gives you another piece of information about your body.
It should help you understand yourself better. It should never tell you what you are allowed to achieve.
The LTM takeaway
Know your cycle. Notice your patterns. Work with your body, not somebody else's calendar.
Sources and further reading
- England Football Female Health Hub
- UEFA Consensus Statement on Menstrual Cycle Tracking in Women's Football
- Recent systematic reviews of menstrual cycle effects in female footballers
- Dr Stacy Sims, The Evolution of Menstrual Cycle Training
This article provides general educational information and does not replace individual medical advice or club safeguarding procedures.