😣Menopause Symptoms Hit Endurance Athletes Just as Hard
Once in a while, I run into a woman who believes she doesn’t (or won’t depending on her age and stage of life) have peri/menopause symptoms because she trains so much. I’m not one for pointless confrontation, so I usually just smile and say, “Yeah, training can help with lots of things, but it doesn’t prevent menopause or the myriad symptoms that can come with it. Some women just have fewer symptoms,” and move the conversation along.
Because I get it. I thought the same thing: “Oh, that won’t happen to me.” Until it did. Which is the same story I hear from literally thousands of you. And it’s true.
Physical activity–cardio and resistance training–is obviously good for your health. Sure, it might help assuage some symptoms–but it doesn’t prevent your ovaries from doing their thing and it doesn’t prevent the symptoms that come along with that. That’s why exercise is in the “not recommended” category for managing symptoms in The Menopause Society’s Nonhormonal Therapy position statement. As much as I hate that wording; it’s not technically wrong.
I was also heartened to see a new study published in PLOS One titled Frequency and perceived influence of menopausal symptoms on training and performance in female endurance athletes validating what millions of active and athletic menopausal women are experiencing.
How Menopause Symptoms Affect Training and Performance
For the study, the researchers surveyed 187 endurance athletes—including runners, cyclists, swimmers, and triathletes—ages 40 to 60 who participated in their sport at least 5 years and trained at least ≥3 days/week and ≥3 hrs/week. Using the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS), they asked about their symptoms and how they affected training and performance.
What they found
Menopausal symptoms were very common in this athletic group.
Most frequently reported symptoms included:
The symptoms athletes said most affected training/performance were:
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Joint & muscular discomfort (negative effect reported by 97% for training; 91% for performance among those with the symptom)
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Sleep problems (92% training; 89% performance)
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Physical/mental exhaustion (87% training; 88% performance)
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Weight gain (79% training; 88% performance)
Unsurprisingly, the more severe the symptoms the more perceived performance impact.
Athletes who reported a strong negative effect on training/performance had higher total MRS scores than those reporting none/slight effects.
Also, perhaps unsurprisingly, perimenopause stood out as a time for peak symptoms. Perimenopausal participants had higher total MRS scores than pre- and postmenopausal women.
The women overwhelmingly rated their health as healthy, with 38% saying they were in excellent health and 46% rating their health as very good. Despite high activity levels and solid health, their symptoms frequency and severity looked similar to the general population.
The biggest day-to-day performance disruptors were sleep issues, fatigue, pain, and weight change.
Does that mean all that training is for naught? Of course not. That’s not what we’re training for (though it’d be nice if it did inoculate us against symptoms). It does mean that menopause is a biological transition that needs support–no matter how active or otherwise healthy we are. And if you’re super active and still suffering, it is not your fault. Find the care you need so you can continue to thrive in sport…and life. |
