Recently, I (X.J.J.) was happily surprised when I was approached by National Geographic with a request for an interview about exercise and the menstrual cycle. It has been over 25 years now since I first started research on this topic. Back then, when I mentioned my research at social gatherings, men would usually quickly find a reason to leave the conversation. On the other hand, most women would be very interested in finding out more, but it definitely wasn`t a usual topic of conversation. My initial interest in this topic originated from my personal experience of bad menstrual cramps that affected my training and performance and caused a monthly interruption of my life. As a sport-science student, I therefore started looking into this area and soon realized that just about everything I was learning during my degree was based on research with male participants. The only female-specific exercise physiology information in textbooks in the 1990s was usually a small section on sex differences, and something about the risks of exercise resulting in menstrual disorders. However, my interest and that of many other women was focused on the other side of that picture: "Does the menstrual cycle affect exercise performance?" I was very excited when I found a review by Lebrun1 suggesting that there were subtle variations in several physiological functions throughout the menstrual cycle and that further prospective studies with hormone verification of menstrual cycle phases were needed in this area. Soon after that, I started my PhD on the menstrual cycle and exercise performance.
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