I was wondering whether I was the only one who was questioning herself? Not understanding why, one day I am all about taking risks and surfing waves perhaps above my level and feeling ok about it, and a week later, everything is scary, I doubt myself and as a consequence, push myself, talk badly to myself and end up having a sh*tty session. Turned out, I was definitely not the only woman feeling like this, and the answer is: how about your menstrual cycle and surfing?
So I started tracking my menstrual cycle, and guess what. There is a full explanation as to why I (and probably many women like me) feel like we do. Thing is, no one talks about it, and we are left questioning ourselves, comparing ourselves to men or to other women who might simply be in a different stage of their cycle. Getting access to that knowledge, and accepting these phases, has been one of the most useful things I’ve done for my female self. So I want to share some of the knowledge I gained on the menstrual cycle and surfing with you.
Just a brief clarification: I’m not an athlete chasing podiums; I’m someone who paddles out because, well, most of the times I like it. But I am assuming most of you who read this, are also recreational surfers. So, what I wanted to understand wasn’t how to perform better; it was why the fun sometimes disappears out of nowhere, and why I was so quick to make that my own fault.
Sports science mostly forgot we exist
For years, sports science was built almost entirely on male bodies, and most of the advice that trickled down to the rest of us, gym programs, surf coaching, even the vague “you´re overreacting, just paddle harder and don´t be scared” attitude in the lineup, came from that same blind spot. It’s only recently that researchers have started paying real attention to how the menstrual cycle affects women, and even then, most of that research is still aimed at elite athletes who are trying to be just a few seconds faster. There’s almost nothing written for the rest of us, you know, the normal ones that go out on a Wednesday morning when her little girl is in school, for the joy of it, not the score.
However, the science doesn´t lie and I started reading more and mostly used the knowledge to be nicer to myself.
So what´s going on, you know, inside there
Roughly speaking, your cycle moves through phases: the follicular phase (starting with your period, building toward ovulation), ovulation itself, and the luteal phase afterward, leading back to your period. Estrogen and progesterone rise and fall through this, and it turns out that shift doesn’t just affect your body, it affects your mood, your energy, your patience, and generally how safe or unsafe the world feels (you know, your body thinkkssss it might be pregnant, so better to just stay away from anything scary, doesn´t matter if you´re very diligent using anti-conception methods, your body doesn´t get that part and just prepares for the, just in case…´.
Some things researchers have noticed line up almost too well with what I journal after a session: women often report feeling off, more tired, less confident, right around their period and again in the days before it. Sleep tends to get worse in that same window, and so does general fatigue. Around ovulation, on the other hand, there’s a documented uptick in competitiveness and a certain fearlessness (bring on those big sets!). None of this is about your actual surfing ability changing overnight. It’s your relationship to risk, confidence and rest quietly shifting underneath you, without anyone telling you it’s happening.
What this looks like in the water, for fun
Translate that to an average Tuesday session and it suddenly started to make sense why one week I was surfing a 1.5m wave and the week after a tiny little one even made me scared. How nice is it to know that I did not all of a sudden become worse at surfing. Some days my nervous system is simply less interested in taking a hit, and that’s not weakness; it’s chemistry.
Once I understood that, I stopped treating a nervous, small-wave day as failure. Some weeks I paddle out hoping to push myself a little. Other weeks the whole plan is to catch a few soft ones, feel the water, and go home without any drama. Both are still a good session. Neither one needs fixing. I just used to think only one of them counted.
Nobody talks about this, and that’s the actual problem
There’s still not much research aimed at recreational surfers, and honestly, I don’t think we need a study to tell us what we already feel in our bodies. What we need (or what I needed and sometimes still do) is permission to stop comparing a scared week to a fearless one, and to stop assuming the guy paddling next to us, or the friend who’s somehow always stoked, is simply braver or better than we are that day. Oh, and for the sake of my marriage, stop comparing myself to my husband. Period.
Understanding my menstrual cycle and surfing didn’t make me a better surfer. It made surfing feel like mine again, on every kind of week, not just the confident ones. If any of this sounds familiar, I’d love to hear how it shows up for you out there.
Want to read more (believe me, it will help you!)
A few sources, for the curious:
- The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Elite Athlete Performance: A Critical and Systematic Review — on how thin the research base still is, and where the evidence does and doesn’t hold up.
- Injury Risk and Overall Well-Being During the Menstrual Cycle in Elite Adolescent Team Sports Athletes — on sleep and fatigue clustering in the luteal phase.
- The Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Athletes’ Performance: A Narrative Review — on how female athletes consistently report feeling worse in the early follicular and late luteal phases.
- Understanding the Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Training and Performance in Elite Athletes: A Preliminary Study — on the ovulation-phase uptick in impulsivity and competitiveness.
- Inconsistencies in the Perceived Impact of the Menstrual Cycle on Sport Performance: A Scoping Review — on why the science still lags, and why normalising the conversation matters more than waiting for perfect data.
However, as you can see, most of this research is done on competitive and elite athletes, not occasional surfers, so treat it as a starting point for understanding your own patterns rather than a rulebook.
Also, check out this blog on generally staying fit while on the road.
