Hormones Q&A with Esther (7 Mar 24)

Hormones Q&A with Esther (7 Mar 24)

Topics Covered (time in video in brackets):

  • In the days leading up to my period, I get really heavy night sweats. I’ve tried adjusting my exercise schedule around this time to see whether that helps but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. What causes night sweats around periods and what could help to reduce this? (27:00)
  • How should I adjust my weekly exercise plan around my cycle? I typically run 3 times a week (one short easy run, one longer eg 5-8k easy run, and one speed workout) and do an S&C and a yoga session each week. (28:30)
  • I am on HRT and take it for 12 days in a row which makes me very hot and out of breath, is this normal and what can I do? (30:40)
  • I think that my performance is heavily impacted by my cycle. Now that the nutrition during the run has improved, it’s the only conclusion I can come to. When I’m premenstrual and on on my period I really do struggle on the runs. And it seems to be getting worse and lasting longer. What can I do to help this? (36:20)
  • How do I know if my symptoms are related to my hormones? (38:50)
  • I have heard that you are supposed to eat more around your period? Is this true and if so how much more should I eat? (41:10)
  • My period fluctuates each month by a couple of days. How many days does it need to fluctuate by for me to be worried about RED-S? (42:40)
  • What do you think is the best contraception for runners to be on? (44:40)
  • When testing your hormones, as a female, is there a “right/best” time of the month to test? (47:30)
  • And in terms of high intensity training, if you had to be specific, what hormone/s would be the most important to check and make sure they’re balanced? (48:40)
  • How can you recover from RED-S? (49:50)