7 Best Exercises Women Can Do during Periods

Periods, for most women, are a daunting time of the month where they have mood swings, bloating, abdominal cramps, stomach upset, irritability, fatigue, muscle and joint pain and an overall lack of enthusiasm in body and mind.

The symptoms differs from woman to woman: some may experience back pain; others may suffer lower body pain, yet others may go through nausea and a lack of vigour.

As such, it might be tempting for you to curl up inside your blankets with a warm water bag and forget about worldly woes during your periods. However, we are here to tell you what you should do instead.

What should you do during your Periods?

During periods, you must do what you feel the least like doing: exercise. Exercising during your periods will not add to your pain, rather it will decrease your cramps and bloating, elevate your mood and help decrease other PMS symptoms like nausea, gas and upset stomach.

Exercise can help release endorphins in your body, which are sure to make you feel better and might even reduce your period pains. Cramps can be reduced by performing light aerobic and stretching exercises, which can increase circulation in your body and relieve stress and tension in your muscles as well as mind.

In fact, exercising during your periods can help you gain more strength and power. Research suggests women experience a rise in their strength in the first two weeks of their menstrual cycle due to a drop in their female hormone levels.

Exercises Women Can Do during Periods

Here's a look at seven exercises you can do during your periods. We have included simple stretches and yoga asanas that can help ease period cramps (if any), and exercises like walking and swimming, which are greatly beneficial during periods.

Let's get started:

1) Standing Forward Bend

The Standing Forward Bend is one of the best exercises you can do during your periods. It's a beginner-level relaxing yoga asana that calms the brain, helps relieve stress and stretches your hips. Here's how you do this exercise:

Begin by standing on a mat with your hands at your hips.
Bend your knees slightly, and fold your torso over your legs, hinging from your hips and not the lower back.
Place your hands next to your feet or in front of you on the ground.
Exhale, and gently straighten both legs without hyperextending them. Raise your kneecaps, and spiral the upper, inner thighs back gently.
Extend your torso without rounding your back as you exhale. Extend the crown of your head toward the ground while drawing your shoulders down your back and towards your hips.

2) Child's Pose

The Child's pose flexes your reproductive organs and releases tension in your back, shoulders and neck. Menstruation may cause aches in your joints and muscles, so this stretch is an easy way to relax those muscles. You can stay in this pose as long as you want and calm yourself down - both body and mind.

Here's how this pose is done:

Sit back on your heels. While maintaining your hips on your heels, stoop forward ,and place your forehead on the floor.
Keep the arms alongside the body with the palms facing up on the floor. Alternatively, you can place one fist on top of the other, and rest your forehead on them.
Gently press your chest against your legs.
Hold, and relax as you slowly rise to sit on your heels, uncurling each vertebra as you do so.

3) Head-to-Knee Pose

This simple pose offers a bunch of health benefits. From counteracting the negative effects of prolonged sitting to being a part of recovery after strenuous sports or physical activity to helping you relax, this exercise does it all.

It stretches your hamstrings, hips and groin muscles and helps relieve menstrual symptoms and pain. Here's how it's done:

Begin with the Dandasana (Staff Pose), and bend your right knee to place the sole of your right foot high on your left inner thigh.
Inhale deeply, and move your right hand to the outside of your left thigh and your left hand behind your left hip.
Exhale while bending at the hips and leaning forward over the left leg.
Try to reach your left foot. Whenever possible, clasp your left wrist with your right hand.
Inhale, and extend your sternum forward; exhale and rotate your right ribs even further toward your left knee.
Exit the pose by inhaling and lifting the chest. Return to the Staff pose by extending your right leg and returning to the starting position.
Repeat with your other leg.

4) Wide Angle Seated Forward Bend

The Wide Angle Seated Forward bend is one of the best asanas you can perform during, before or after your periods - or at any other time. It stimulates your abdominal organs and lessens period discomfort, both in the short and long term.

Here's how it's done:

Sit directly on top of your sitting bones while in the Dandasana (Staff Pose).
Open your legs as wide as possible to the sides. Flex your feet, and turn your toes upwards.
Press through the mounds of your big toes, and root down with your femurs so that your quadriceps face the ceiling.
Exhale, and hinge at the hips, walking your hands forward and bringing your torso to the floor between your legs.
Maintain a straight back, and avoid curving the spine.
Walk your hands back, and return to the Staff Pose to exit this pose.

5) Reclined Bound Angle Pose

This yoga asana stimulates your abdominal organs and reproductive system. It also stretches your inner thighs, groin and knees, relieving the symptoms of periods and menopause. It's done as follows:

Assume a floor position with a rolled-up blanket at the base of the back and a pillow on top.
Bend knees to bring the soles of your feet together, and slowly lay back your spine on the blanket, and rest your head on the pillow.
Breathe normally, and unwind for a minute.

6) Walking

A simple, light stroll is the most beneficial form of exercise during your periods. This low-intensity aerobic exercise improves the function of your lungs later in your cycle.

It can also improve your mood and help burn calories. These light body movements can stimulate the release of endorphins. During the worst of your period symptoms, walking may be your best option.

7) Swimming

Swimming is one of the most relaxing and gentle exercises you can do when you are having your periods.

It will not only work out your muscles and reduce cramping but also help ease the physical and psychological symptoms of PMS, including anxiety, depression, tension, mood changes, weak coordination, headache, tiredness, pain, breast tenderness and cramps.

Don't worry about bleeding out in the water; if your flow is light, the counter pressure of the water will work to ensure you won't bleed. Tampons can also be used for improved protection. Many physicians believe females would bleed less in cold water due to the cold constricting their blood vessels.

The aforementioned seven exercises/ physical activities can help you ease your cramps and maybe even allow you to enjoy your periods.

Edited by Bhargav