Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries

Euro concludes in a big summer in women’s sport.

However, a scientific revolution is realized away from the drama and excitement in the field.

Scientists teams are investigating the unique ways of distinguished sports affecting the female body – how the breasts change your way, but the right sports bra can give you edges; how the menstrual cycle can affect the performance and what role the audience can play; And why is the risk of some injuries higher and what can be done to avoid them?

It is far from the time they say that professional female athletes are just thought to me as a “mini man”.

Throw your mind back to the iconic stage from the final of the last European championships in 2022.

It was an extra time in Wembley, and Lioness Chloe Kelly scored a winning goal against Germany.

In the next euphoria, England flapped his shirt to the world.

Proud of Prof. Professor Professor by Prof Joanna Wakefield-Scurr of the University of Portsmouth.

Here is his chest facts:

• In a football match, breasts can jump on average 11,000 times
• An average leap is 8 cm without suitable support (3)
• They can be compared with the experience of the Formula 1 driver and move with force up to 5G (five times the gravity force)

Laboratory experiments – using motion sensors on your chest – revealed that a changing mass of breast tissue changes the movement of the rest of the body and the sport performance in contrast.

“For some women, their breasts can be quite heavy, and if this weight moves, it can change the movement of your body, and even change the amount of power you apply to the ground.”

By restricting the movement of your upper body, compensating the jumping breasts changes the position of the pelvis and shortens the length of each step. So sports bras are not only for comfort or fashion, but for a piece of performance equipment.

“In fact, low breast support means a four-centimeter step-long reduction.”

“If you have lost four centimeters every step in a marathon, it will add a mile.”

“If we stretch them, this is permanent,” Sports bras also protect the sensitive structures in the chest, “says Professor,” This is about prevention rather than treatment, “he says.

The menstrual cycle has a clear effect on the body – it can affect emotions, mood and sleep, and may also cause fatigue, headache and cramps.

However, Calli Hauger-Thhachery, a distance runner representing the GB team in the Olympics, says about the sport effect “Still so taboo and not because we are fighting it,” he says.

Calli says he always noticed the difference in his leading body until his time.

“I feel really tired, heavy legs, I [feel like I’m] Almost sometimes passing through the mud, everything is tense than it should be, “he says.

Calli finds what he “live” by the menstruation audience, because to be in his time “is a source of concern, especially when I have big races.”

One of these big races was in April – the Boston Marathon – and Calli’s time. He finished the sixth place and remembers “fortunately passed” – but he says he can’t worry if he can do better.

The menstrual cycle is arranged by rhythmic fluctuations of two hormones: estrogen and progesterone. But how big can this have on athletic performance?

“There are very individual and many nuances here, not as simple to say that menstrual cycle affects performance,” Prof Kirsty Elliott-Sala, who specializes in women’s endocrinology and exercise physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University, said. Says.

“Competitions, personal best, world records, every day of the menstrual cycle everything was established, won and disappeared,” he says.

As a celebrity, the marathon includes Paula Radcliffe, who broke the world record. run around In 2002 in Chicago.

Finding whether the menstrual cycle affects sports ability requires understanding of physiological changes that hormones have throughout the body, the difficulty of experiencing symptoms, the psychological effect of the anxiety of competing throughout your period, and the perceptions of all of the above.

Prof Elliott-Sale says “a stage you’ll be more powerful or weaker” or “you will win or lose,” but in theory estrogen and progesterone hormones can change parts of the body, such as bone, muscle or heart.

“We don’t understand yet: Does this have a big effect that really affects performance?” says.

The professor adds that weak sleep, fatigue and cramps will have an impact on performance, and fear and anxiety is “absolutely concrete” that performs in front of big crowds for athletes.

To avoid the risk of leakage and shame, “sometimes he spoke to the” athletes with a period of trousers and “this is a heavy mental burden”.

Rugby Union team, sales dogs are working with women Manchester Metropolitan University.

I met Katy Daley-Mclean, the former England Rugby captain and the leading scorer of England.

The team has open discussions in times to help them understand the effect of menstruation and how to plan. This involves buying Ibuprofen three days ago: “I can’t do anything about it,” says Daley-MClean.

Iz We can fulfill the plans and change our behavior to make you a better rugby player, “he says.

Another issue that emerged as women’s sport has been drawn more attention, a difference in sensitivity to some injuries.

Most of the attention has been around the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a part of the array that attracts the top and lower parts of the leg. Injuries can be cruel and may take a year to heal.

Manchester Metropolitan University Sports Biomechanical Researcher Thomas Dos’santos, depending on sports, they become more common, not three to eight times higher than men, but also more common.

However, he says that there is no “a simple answer” to explain greater risk in women.

It may be partially due to differences in anatomy. In women, larger hips mean that the top of the thigh bone starts from a wider position, which changes the angle where it is connected to the lower leg in the knee and potentially increases the risk.

ACL is also a little smaller in women “So a little weaker, potentially,” he explains.

ACL injuries may be at all stages of the menstrual cycle, but hormonal changes are also being investigated, Including a study supported by FIFAManagement organ for world football.

The high estrogen levels before ovulation can change the properties of the bonds, which can make them a little more flexible, so that “there may be a theoretically increasing risk of injury.”

However, Dr. Dos’antos argues that women are still important to think beyond pure anatomy because they still do not get the same support and force training as men.

Compares with the ballet where dancers receive quality education. ” [difference in] Incidence rates are basically insignificant among men and women, Dr says Dr. Dos’antos.

There are researches whether it is possible to minimize the risk of ACL injury by educating female athletes to act in different ways.

However, there is a risk of reducing performance, and some techniques that are forced to ACL – such as lowering your shoulder to deceive a defense player before the explosion in another direction – they are the necessary movements in sports such as football.

“We can’t wrap them in cotton wool and you can’t say you need to avoid playing sports.” Says. “What we need to do is to make sure that they are strong enough to tolerate these loads, but some people are not as simple as saying that we can eliminate ACL injuries by 100%.”

Although there are still many questions that have not been answered, sales are still a world of difference for Sharks women for Katy Daley-MClean.

When he got his first hat in 2007, he remembers that all assumptions about how his body will perform is based on the data of male rugby players.

Daley-MClean said, “We literally treated as a mini man.”

And now, girls and women don’t feel like foreigners in sports, not only improved their performance at the distinguished level, but also helps keep more women in sports.

“Great, something to be celebrated because if you look at the statistics, one of the biggest reasons for young girls out of sports is the image of the body, around the periods and does not have a right sports bra, so easy.”

InSide Health was produced by Gerry Holt