Sport for women: advice from Émilie Rimbert

A trainer in modern symptomothermy (a method of observing the cycle), Émilie Rimbert supports many women in managing their fertility. She is also an accomplished sportswoman who ran the Ironman in Nice last June, and qualified for the women’s Ironman world championships which will take place in September. She hosts conferences and regularly speaks in sports clubs on the subject of the women’s cycle and sport.

LaNutrition: How does your profession influence your sporting life?

Émilie Rimbert: I divide my days between my professional activities and my sports training. Incorporating variations in my ovulatory cycle into the planning of my training and taking it into account during my competitions is an important performance factor. This should be the case for all sportswomen, amateurs or professionals.

Knowing and understanding your cycles allows you to live in health: cycle disturbances are never trivial, they are accompanied by symptoms which sometimes hide more general dysfunctions. A healthy lifestyle is a good ally for harmonizing your cycles.

Why did you write this book?

Because there are no others and it’s a real lack for women!

Shouldn’t a woman train “like a man”?

Whether in sport or health, the majority of studies are essentially based on men. Women are often excluded under the pretext that the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause produce “white noise”. Subsequently, the results observed in humans are extrapolated to the general population. Considering that we are only “little men” (as Stacy Sims, the famous American physiologist, puts it so well), is to forget that we have our own physiology, a menstrual cycle and therefore different needs. What if linearity wasn’t the norm? What if we, cyclical beings, had everything to gain from playing with our cyclicality?

Is the female body shape an advantage for certain sports? A disadvantage for others?

We have a body shape that differs from that of men and which tends to put us at a disadvantage when it comes to speed or power. On average, the performance gap between men and women is 10%, it decreases to a maximum of 7% for endurance sports. There are several reasons for this: much lower testosterone levels, smaller motor organs (notably heart and lungs), a different body composition with fewer muscles and distributed differently, and even a different composition of muscle fibers…

But our wider pelvis, our chest, our fat distribution, the composition of our muscle fibers are also assets because it gives us a better sense of balance, more flexibility, qualities for swimming but also for endurance!

In this book, you show that sometimes women’s performances are better than men’s. Is there any misinformation about this? Received ideas that harm women’s performance?

“The history of women’s sport is a story of permanent combat,” said historian Cécile Ottogalli-Mazzacavallo. And for good reason, women have long been prohibited from practicing sports and participating in sporting events. The reasons then given are aestheticism, the fear of becoming masculinized and even of endangering their health. Women have had to fight to use their bodies as they see fit, start races and move the lines! All this seems to belong to the distant past, but the introduction of the women’s marathon at the Olympic Games only dates back to 1984 and the women’s Tour de France, which was contested in the 1980s, did not return until 2022!

In the media, media coverage of events is still very low: men’s competitions are broadcast 15 times more than women’s competitions, while in other television areas, such as news, parity has been achieved. In addition to this, there are also limiting thoughts, socio-educational factors, gender stereotypes that make many women not dare, think that they are not capable. And all those who dared will say, you are much stronger than you think!

Do women handle long distance events like men? Is their metabolism the same during exercise?

Women have undeniable qualities for endurance and especially ultra-endurance. Studies show that they are more resistant to neuromuscular fatigue and that they indeed have a greater capacity to recruit and use lipids. Women have a different metabolism from men, let’s say that we are made for longer, less explosive efforts. Like the hare and the tortoise, women have more linear running strategies than men, who tend to start faster and decelerate at the end.

Why should an athlete know the stages of her cycle?

A woman, whatever her age, her passions, her history, has every interest in knowing the phases of her cycle. The cycle is one of the vital signs, just like heart rate for example. It’s a guide to knowing yourself better and being healthier! It is also a way to reclaim your body and be more serene.

For athletes, I see two major advantages for long-term practice with results.

First of all, many women give up, are unable to be regular or progress because at certain times in their cycle, they cannot train: pain, fatigue, low morale, etc. Sometimes they make the link with their cycle, but not always because these are often symptoms that we do not necessarily associate with the cycle: headaches, digestive problems, back pain, lack of motivation… Understanding why and how the cycle impacts our lives allows us to put in place actions, because suffering from your cycle is not normal! All women should be able to participate in sporting activity throughout the cycle.

Then, recent research has shown that if we train taking into account the phases of our cycle and taking advantage of our “optimal performance window”, as researcher Juliana Antero describes it, we will progress and above all minimize the risk of injury.

Does hormonal contraception influence the performance of athletes?

Hormonal contraception influences women’s health. We tend to believe that having a natural cycle is only useful for conceiving a child. In truth, the natural hormonal secretions of estrogen and progesterone are necessary for the overall proper functioning of a woman’s body: cardiovascular health, bone density, nervous system, well-being, etc. Having a healthy cycle allows us to see that we are in good health. Conversely, if for example we do not have our period, it is a real alert about our condition. Possibly we suffer from RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport), a syndrome that affects many athletes (and athletes) when our energy balance is unbalanced.

Hormonal contraception prevents us from feeling the alerts and makes these types of syndromes much more difficult to detect. It also affects our ability to metabolize minerals and trace elements: women on hormonal contraception are often deficient in vitamins, iodine, iron, zinc, copper… which is very problematic for athletes.

Have mentalities evolved regarding the consideration of women’s cycles in sport?

We are witnessing a real turning point over the last four to five years. The menstrual cycle has long been ignored, considered taboo, but this is less and less the case. On the one hand, athletes feel more and more comfortable talking about their periods and their cycle pains, on the other hand, more and more coaches are integrating this dimension into their training and recovery programs.

In France, Juliana Antero, researcher at Insep, and her team supported Olympic athletes preparing for the 2024 Olympics to get the most out of their cycles throughout their preparation and for the days of competition to come. The cycle is increasingly considered as a performance factor which can also influence endurance, strength and susceptibility to injury. This is an important step towards equality in sport so that female athletes can reach their full potential while preserving their short and long term health.

What about sport during and after pregnancy?

There are still a lot of preconceived ideas on this subject. Women do not feel very supported postpartum (after giving birth). Fortunately, we can once again count on high-level athletes, sources of inspiration, who show us that it is possible and that it is important!

To go further, read: Train like a woman