Ladies - do you know what goes on in your body?

I attended a webinar today which was titled "Running for Women" - but Holy Smoke did I learn a lot about my body during that time.

Ladies - do you actually know what goes on in your body during the month? And other than the obvious differences :blushing: , do you know what makes you different than a guy?

At the beginning of the session, I was quite skeptical about how much valid information the presenter would be giving, as the presenter was a male. However as he went on, I realized he "got it" - - we women don't necessarily have control over how we react during the month, and our hormones DO make a difference.

I've never allowed myself to use TOM as an excuse to not exercise (oh, but there are so many other excuses!), but I have beat myself up for having an "off" workout over and over again. But as the session detailed the physiological and hormonal changes during any woman's cycle, and explained what happens when different hormones flood our bodies, I realized that not only TOM but also where in the cycle I am makes a HUGE difference in a workout and my perceived rate of exertion! He even went so far as to say that when creating training schedules for his female clients, he schedules around their cycles to make sure that they get the best workouts possible.


A couple of things I totally didn't know (that have nothing to do with hormones!):
- Men physically have larger hearts, so they move more blood through their bodies - which means more oxygen to their muscles.
- Men will always have a larger percentage of lean muscle mass when at a healthy percentage of body fat than women will. In order to be healthy, we need have more body fat. Sucks - - but there it is. :grumble:
- Women and men metabolize carbohydrates differently. That would lead me to believe that I have to eat different than a man, wouldn't it.

And it was nice to hear that there is a scientific reason for bloating. Yes, girls, don't let anyone tell you that you can stop that TOM bloat just by watching what you eat. You can lessen it - for sure! But it might never go totally away. :sad:

So, if you aren't 100% sure of what's happening in your body, you might want to do some research! I know for me, the information that I picked up from this webinar will definitely change how I view my workouts - when I need to pump it up and when I allow myself to pick an easier workout ! And it will mean that I will get better results because of a better frame of mind!!