Ask Lattice: Climbing, Training, and Menstrual Cycles

Training hard is just as important as training smart. If you spend time considering that which will maximize your strength gains, you should achieve goals more quickly. It sounds simple enough, but what do you do if you have to train around a menstrual cycle? What does that entail?

As isolation continues, athletes are beginning to realize that there are lots of ways to train. Climbers across the country have tuned into various podcasts and youtube channels to learn all that they can while they wait for the gyms to open.  In recent years, researchers have begun to study the technicalities of climbing training, but with one big blind spot: female climbers.

Though our knowledge in regard to training routines is limited anyway, it is disproportionately researched in relation to male climbers. As a result, female climbers have had to follow training plans that were not designed for their physiologies. Though there is a great deal of work left to be done, Lattice Coaches Ella Russell and Maddy Cope have begun the conversation regarding training and menstrual cycles. Their video, Climbing, Training, and Menstrual Cycles, offers advice to female climbers who seek to reach their next level.

Featured photo by Athena Mellor of Madeleine Cope.