@latticetraining

class="content__text" 💦WATER RETENTION & WEIGHT FLUCTUATIONS💧TRAINING & THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE🏋️‍♀️ ➡️Some people experience water retention premenstruation. This is because of an increase in progesterone in the late luteal phase, which causes the kidneys to retain water and salt. Water retention may cause stiff joints, achiness, swollen hands, ankles... Some people may experience tender breasts, weight gain or bloating. ➡️Personally, I (coach Maddy) wouldn’t say that I suffer too greatly from PMS, but something I do suffer from is water retention. This is not uncommon and weight can vary within the menstrual cycle by up to 2 kg. Although the weight fluctuation doesn’t sound like much, I noticed the difference when I wanted to access my max strength!💪 ➡️ How do I change my training when retaining water? 🟣 Understanding and tracking changes throughout my cycle has helped me look at weight fluctuations objectively. When I do feel bloated, I remember that this is not permanent weight gain. This helps maintain a positive mindset. 🟣 When I am experiencing water retention, the increase in weight is a relatively large proportion of my max hang load, so during this phase of my cycle, I drop the load. This has helped me to not over-work my fingers. In the past, my fingers have felt tweaky after pushing too hard to match my previous session.🖐️ 🟣 I know that lots of climbers like to take the ‘I can do anything on any day’ approach to climbing which is great if that works for you! However, I find it helpful to make informed choices about what climbing I do during this phase, which has positively impacted my mentality and motivation. The result of this is that I have more positive experiences and maintain my motivation – I’m practising self-compassion and reminding myself I’m not being ‘lazy’. 🟣 I remember that, despite feeling slightly heavier, this is not a sign of a mismatch between my intake and expenditure. Weight fluctuations are normal,this weight gain isn’t due to a caloric overtake, so I make sure I keep fueling my climbing! ❤️Do you experience water retention? Let us know in the comments! #LatticeTraining #WaterRetention

February 23, 2023