Women Fitness Cycle

ongoing

Women Fitness Cycle is a project dedicated to researching the effects of the menstrual cycle in physical activity practice, understanding how it affects the experiences of women in sport, and addressing barriers to practice that arise from menstrual cycle symptoms. WFC aims to perform a systematic review of the existent literature, plus additional research, in order to build European Guidelines for Physical Activity Following the Menstrual Cycle. Moreover, it aims at building two additional tools: 1) an educational course for sport coaches and trainers to be able to understand the effects of the menstrual cycle in female athletes, raising awareness and normalising conversations around menstruation in sports; and 2) a tool for female athletes and sport practitioners to be able to track their cycle and receive personalised recommendations for physical activity based on reported symptoms. For that, the project has set up 5 specific objectives: 1) To understand the state-of-art regarding the effects of the menstrual cycle on willingness to engage in PA, physical state and performance; 2) To design evidence based tools for training and awareness raising, including an educational programme for coaches and sport professionals on Physical Activity throughout the menstrual cycle and, informational materials for the general public; 3) To implement a “Physical Activity Throughout the Menstrual Cycle” Online Educational Programme for athletes and coaches; 4) To design and develop an app that facilitates control of the menstrual cycle and provides specific advice on the physiological and performance changes that occur on the users’ body, to enhance athletes and sport practitioner’s menstrual literacy and facilitate their PA practice; 5) To disseminate the project’s outcomes among researchers and the general public.