Welcome to Trained, a podcast exploring the cutting edge of holistic fitness.

I'm Ryan Flarety, Senior Director of Performance at Nike.

For now, I'm still recording from my office, calling up some of the world's leading experts

in mindset, movement, nutrition, recovery, and sleep to discuss all the ways you can train

your body and mind.

Today, I'll be talking with a scientist who's breaking new ground in our understanding

of women's physiology in sport and training.

The menstrual cycle is actually a sign of health.

It's a normal natural process, hormones are fluctuating in a cyclical manner, and actually

having a regular menstrual cycle suggests that your body is in a good state of health.

We call it a vital sign, and it suggests that your body can adapt and get the most out

of what it's doing, you know, be it in work life, be it in exercise performance.

It's a really important marker that women are lucky to have, and I think reframing it

in that regard firstly is important.

That was Dr. Georgie Brunville, a senior research scientist at Oraco.

Creators of the Fitter Woman app, talking about how important it is to look at the menstrual

cycle positively, even to look at it as a guide.

And not just during menstruation.

Georgie's research shows that learning about the entire hormonal cycle can help you time

your training and recovery to increase results and decrease symptoms.

This kind of research has been a long time coming.

It seems like for the last 100 years, studying performance has been studying men's performance.

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