Fiona Pocock, another guest on the podcast, is a former England rugby player who suffered an ACL injury during her playing career and now works as a personal trainer, focusing on female-specific programmes that are geared around the menstrual cycle. She recognises the importance of women tracking their cycle to know what their body needs at different times of the month.
“I think we’re at a point where we just need to educate the players on their own menstrual cycles,” said Pocock, who focuses on women’s rugby fitness with her company FeePo. “That includes tracking menstrual cycle length, symptoms, how you feel at a particular time, if you need more sleep or if you need to be more hydrated. These are all very simple ways that players can manage themselves.
“If you know when you’re going through your ovulation phase, your laxity in your joints is said to be more, so simply extending your warm-up, doing more activation, making sure that around that time you’re getting more recovery and your food is on point. These are all little things that can make a difference with how you’re feeling around training.”
Listen to The Telegraph’s new podcast, The Telegraph Women’s Sport Podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
