Research into how athletes are affected by the different stages of their menstrual cycle has started at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The study will focus on a group of 26 participants, monitoring various aspects of their health and performance while also tracking their menstrual cycles.
It is hoped the findings will help athletes and other researchers better understand the impact of menstruation and how to use that knowledge to optimise performance.
Hope study will fill gap in sports medicine research
Ataliah Love, 19, has been monitoring her periods for almost as long as she has been playing rugby league.
The Mackay resident has been involved with the sport for six years.
"When I first started playing footy, [my period] was a bit irregular," she said.
"So it just took a bit of getting used to the different changes of my level of activity, like sorting out how to manage it and my diet.
"It's [been] a process to get used to it."
Ms Love is now one of those participating in the study.
She said she hoped to learn more about what her body needed at different stages of her cycle.
"I'm definitely looking forward to figuring out times, especially if at certain points in my cycle I'll be stronger or if I'll get the most gains," she said.
"Just being around such elite researchers and coaching staff, to be surrounded in that sort of environment is just an incredible opportunity."
Sports and Exercise Medicine Physician Rachel Harris, who is leading the study, said it was common for athletes like Ms Love to have a good understanding of their own bodies' needs during different times of their cycle, but that was where the knowledge ended.
She said just 6 per cent of research in the field was performed on females.
"The amount of good-quality research that has been done in those specific areas is minuscule," she said.
There's no such thing as 'normal'
The study is being conducted through a female athlete research camp in collaboration with the NRLW and the Australian Catholic University in a bid to "fill those gaps in the research".
It is also functioning as a training camp for the participants, who are hopeful of one day becoming professional NRLW players.
Participants have already spent two months tracking their menstrual cycles, while scientists have been analysing their performance, sleep, nutrition, recovery and strength.
Some of those in the group are taking hormonal contraception.
Dr Harris said while there were a lot of myths and beliefs about how menstrual cycles affected people's physical abilities, there was huge variation between individuals.
"We've been tracking these athletes now for two months, and when we look at it, there's probably only like a handful of athletes within that that would sit within the 'normal' ranges of a normal menstrual cycle — if we put that in inverted commas," she said.
"All of those other athletes that sit outside of that have got some really big variations, and one of the biggest things to come out of this is really to look at what that range of normal is within our athletic population."
She said they were also interested in better understanding what percentage of the athletes might have dysfunctional menstrual cycles and what impact they could be having on their sporting ability.
Researchers hope the study will have a positive effect on not only athletes but on the general population when it comes to their health.
"So often, when we talk about the menstrual cycle, there's a lot of negativity around it," Dr Harris said.
But she said that did not have to be the case.
"Some of our athletes actually feel really strong at different times of the cycle, or would prefer to have, you know, their grand final at a different part of their menstrual cycle.
"But for the most part, women are very resilient — we've got women out there breaking records, we've got them winning gold medals … and they're at all stages of their menstrual cycle.
"I think we have to be really careful about you know, lumping too much negativity on the menstrual cycle and there is absolutely some positive aspects as well."
Dr Harris said she hoped further research in the field would help more females continue to participate in sports for longer.
"We've got women dropping out at every stage along the life cycle at a far greater rate than men do, and we really just want them to continue exercising," she said.
"I think one of the great things about this research is it will prove that you can do anything along the menstrual cycle and keep being as active and fit as you possibly can."
