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John Parker's avatar

Great article Michael... As a personal trainer and functional health coach, I keep an open dialogue with my female students. We are deliberate with the menstrual cycle: heavier strength training when progesterone/testosterone rises 7 days after menses, a higher conditioning focus 14 days after menses and until menstruation, then full-body maintenance (usually around 60-70% loads for 6-8 reps) during the cycle.

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Gwen's avatar

Great article and so glad that research is starting to focus on female athletes! (I’m def checking out Christine Yu’s book.) The point you made about gear is a huge one for me as a 5’4” woman — so many times training gear isn’t made with women’s bodies in mind, more or less short or tall women’s bodies. It’s incredibly frustrating to have to fight my gear or figure out how to work around it in addition to doing the actual workout or endeavor.

In particular, I see a lot of brands offering packs (rucks or other exercise packs) in one height or torso length with a reduced volume that say they were designed for women in mind. This is frustrating to me because it’s not the volume of a pack that determines the fit, but the height/torso length. And inevitably, this length is usually longer than what would fit most women or anyone with a shorter torso. It’s surprising to me when athletic brands don’t take this into account because torso length is widely used in the backpacking world to ensure fit for both men and women.

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