Cyclist Maghalie Rochette discusses the physical & mental benefits of exercising during your period

21 June 2022

By Lucy Roberts

Professional cyclist and three-times Canadian Cyclocross Champion, Maghalie Rochette stopped having periods because of the intensity of her training. She was told by doctors that this was normal and believed that it was a sign that she was doing everything right as a pro athlete. However, Maghalie came to the realisation that this was wrong – periods should empower women and it was not healthy that she wasn’t having them at all. She now uses her menstrual cycle to inform her training regime and has seen optimised results. She wants to educate women about the power of the period and to not see it as an inconvenience when exercising. Maghalie spoke to Female First about the physical and mental benefits of exercising while you’re on period and how the four distinct phases of your period can help you plan a successful exercise routine throughout the month.

Maghalie Rochette

During the early stages of your career when you stopped getting your period, what did you immediately think?

I thought it was just normal since I was training a lot. In fact, when I was really young I was almost proud of the fact I wasn’t getting a period because I thought it meant I was a real athlete.

But you went to the doctors and they said it was normal for a pro athlete, so how intense was your training around that time and how did you feel when they told you it was normal?

I told the doctors that I didn’t have a regular period and that I was an athlete, and they simply said this was most likely due to the fact that I was training regularly and intensely and that I need not worry. I knew other athletes who were going through a similar thing therefore I didn’t think much of it.

At that time I was a triathlete. I was training around 15-20 hours a week splitting this between swimming, running, and riding, and I was a full-time student (at a school that was not sports oriented). So it was a full curriculum and full days schedule.

When did you start to realise that not going through the menstrual cycle wasn't healthy? Were you concerned about it biologically or mentally in terms of getting periods being empowering for women?

For me the questioning began after I started taking the contraceptive pill. It didn’t sit well with me. I tried a few different ones over the course of a few years but had to stop taking it as it felt unnatural and it was making me unwell.

However, even when I stopped taking the pill I still didn’t have my period - this is when I started to question whether it was normal. What I found incredibly reassuring was the amount of professional athletes talking about their menstrual cycle on social media at the time. I found pro cyclist, Nikki Brammier, really inspiring as she took to Instagram to talk about her journey with her menstrual cycle. She spoke about how she improved as an athlete once she accepted and embraced having a period. I then read a book called Road by Dr Stacy Sims and it opened my eyes. I realised that I knew nothing about my menstrual cycle and even less about how the cycle can affect performance. What struck me most was when I read that not having your period could be down to “relative energy deficiency in sports”. While my problem wasn’t at a high risk level, it was shocking to know that not having my period could be due to the fact that my body didn’t have the energy needed to accomplish this natural human function. This led me to question, if it doesn’t have enough energy for this, does it really have all the energy it needs to perform at its best?

And how do you optimise your training around your periods now?

I’m still very much in the learning stages of this process. This year I started to work with professionals to ensure that I get my period regularly. Before, I used to have my periods randomly a few times a year. But it was always a “surprise” and I never knew what to expect. Now I have it regularly every month. If I am honest, right now I am finding it quite inconvenient. It’s frustrating and I have to deal with symptoms that I didn’t have before when I didn’t have my periods. But I’m being patient as I see it as a learning process and a long-term project. It might mean I will be a bit slower for a short period of time as I learn how to navigate this new change, but I strongly believe it will make me stronger and healthier in the long run.

I’m lucky to have such supportive sponsors on this journey such as the cycling technology company, Hammerhead. I’m tracking my periods and my symptoms throughout the whole month. Now, after a few months I’m starting to see patterns on which days I feel awesome and which days my symptoms are worse. Fortunately, the team of professionals at Orreco are helping me find ways to diminish and deal with the symptoms. The good thing is that now, I am clear on when to expect my period and I’m finding ways to manage the symptoms and arrange my training around them. If one day I don’t feel 100%, I’ll plan that day as an easy day for training. Knowing that I’ll typically feel a lot better the next day, this is when I plan to do a bigger session. Being organised like this helps me optimise my training every day, and I can easily track all the data on my Hammerhead cycling computer, the Karoo 2.

Personally I’ve felt a huge difference in myself, I feel a lot healthier. I often used to get quite sick but over the last few months since I’ve been letting my body take its natural course, I have stayed healthy.

How passionate are you about educating other women about the power of the period?

I think it’s a very personal journey. I don’t want to pressure anyone to think they should follow the same learning process I am on. However, for me, I started to be interested in my menstrual health because someone else talked about it. And it made me learn a lot about myself, so I am very grateful to Nikki Brammeier. I mostly share my journey because I think that periods have historically been a taboo subject, and I don’t think it should be. If we could all be more comfortable talking about it, we could all help each other to find solutions to live with this better.