My name is Hallie Schiffman, and I am an athlete on the US National Sailing Team and the Stanford Sailing Team. I enjoy sailing, cycling, staying active, cooking, and baking. Over the past 5 years, I have competed as a Team USA member and the National Team on the Olympic circuit, with a career highlight of earning a gold medal at the Pan American Games. Despite training and competing on some of the highest levels in my sport, I became increasingly aware that there are many gaps in the efficiency and effectiveness of training programs targeted towards female athletes. The general knowledge of athletics, specifically training and nutrition, has been researched and geared predominantly towards male bodies. I realized that all of the training programs that I was prescribed had no consideration of how females should train at different points in their menstrual cycle. In addition, team nutritionists didn’t include nutritional strategies to help support our cycles. I had asked my competitors from other nations if they experienced the same issues, and it was a consensus that even at the pinnacle of the sport, there was very little to no differentiation in males’ and females’ training and nutrition plans. If women optimally train and fuel, they can significantly enhance their performance.
The concept of females requiring specific training and nutrition regarding their menstrual cycles is so new, and there is so much mixed rhetoric that I struggled for years to find information on how to fine-tune my plans for increasing my athletic performance. Through much trial and error, I have found strategies that have helped me support my hormones and menstrual cycle, thus allowing me to train more efficiently. These strategies are:
- Types of workouts
- Nutritional changes
- Lifestyle changes
I hope to share my personal experiences and strategies with you, helping you gain control of your cycle and athletic performance.
