The authors present opinions based on their applied experiences of working with female athletes in combination with the existing evidence-based literature. Most of the existing menstrual cycle research focuses on a few steady-state time points within the pre-defined menstrual cycle phases, yet this disregards the day-to-day hormonal changes that women have to accommodate to perform optimally and consistently. The traditional research models are inadequate for studying symptoms and symptom management, and ultimately for supporting athletes to perform well throughout the entirety of their cycle. As such, the monitoring of the day-to-day variation, particularly during the transitions between menstrual cycle phases appears to be an important “overlooked” consideration. This is particularly pertinent considering the known intra-individual and inter-individual variation in menstrual cycle characteristics. Anecdotal and research evidence supports the idea that athletes can use non-pharmacological solutions to mitigate negative menstrual cycle symptoms and do not need to “grit their teeth and roll with it”. However, further research (including case studies) is needed in this important research area. Such knowledge should be and needs to be widespread amongst practitioners and athletes as they should not have to figure this out alone. As such, researchers and practitioners need to put more work into understanding symptom aetiology, symptom clusters and their relationship with hormonal changes, menstrual cycle phases and transitions, with potential for a profound impact on individual athlete health and well-being. In so doing, those working with female athletes need to continue building on the recent progress made in educating athletes and practitioners; for example, normalising the discussion of and about the menstrual cycle and all of its implications.

作者根据他们与女运动员合作的应用经验并结合现有的循证文献提出了意见。大多数现有的月经周期研究都集中在预先定义的月经周期阶段内的几个稳态时间点，但这忽略了女性必须适应的日常荷尔蒙变化，以实现最佳和一致的表现。传统的研究模型不足以研究症状和症状管理，也不足以支持运动员在整个周期中表现良好。因此，监测日常变化，特别是在月经周期阶段之间的过渡期间，似乎是一个重要的“被忽视”的考虑因素。考虑到已知的月经周期特征的个体内和个体间差异，这一点尤为重要。轶事和研究证据支持这样一种观点，即运动员可以使用非药物解决方案来减轻月经周期的负面症状，而不需要“咬紧牙关”。然而，在这个重要的研究领域还需要进一步的研究（包括案例研究）。这些知识应该并且需要在从业者和运动员中广泛传播，因为他们不应该独自解决这个问题。因此，研究人员和从业者需要做更多的工作来了解症状病因、症状群及其与荷尔蒙变化、月经周期阶段和过渡的关系，这可能对运动员个人的健康和福祉产生深远影响。在这样做的过程中，那些与女运动员一起工作的人需要继续在最近在教育运动员和从业者方面取得的进展的基础上再接再厉；例如，规范关于月经周期及其所有影响的讨论。