Some women loathe the time their period comes around because it can keep them away from their regular runs due to intense cramps, exhausting fatigue, or because they don't feel comfortable running during this time of the month. Many of these women would shout out in joy if their period ceased to exist.

For some women, this is exactly the case.

Amenorrhea

One major issue that women runners face is the loss of their menstrual cycle, otherwise known as secondary amenorrhea (primary being when the period never starts to begin with).

This does not just occur in runners though, it is often seen in any sport that requires the athlete to get down to very low body fat percentages and train for numerous hours per week. Typical activities like this would include ballet, gymnastics, figure skating, fitness, bodybuilding, and running.

The Female Athlete Triad

This problem can also be sometimes part of a larger problem known as the Female Athlete Triad, which encompasses the three major symptoms of:

-Loss of the menstrual cycle (amenorrhea)

-Presence of an eating disorder

-Osteoporosis

Why this Occurs

The two main reasons why a runner will often lose her menstrual period is because of reaching very low body fat percentages or not taking in enough calories to support her physical training. Note that they can be interconnected because the former can be a direct impact of the latter.

Since pregnancy requires a great deal of energy to form the baby and carry it to term, the body knows that if you are not supplying it with enough calories to even meet your basic needs for your ownbody to function, it definitely is not going to let you try and support another living human being off the few calories you are consuming.

As such, it stops producing a period. If there is no period, you can't get pregnant.

Much of the time if a runner stops getting her period, simply adding more calories to her daily diet will, over time, bring it back up to normal functioning.

The other reason why being at a very low body fat can also bring about the loss of the period is because the female sex hormones are often not being regulated as they should be when at these low body fat levels. Females are not meant to get down to sub-10% body fat; however, many athletes try and force their bodies to do just that.

This does seem to be relatively individual though because there are some athletes that can maintain quite a low body fat level and still have their periods, but this is not possible for other individuals. One key difference between the two is that for those who are at a low body and getting their periods, often they are still eating enough to fuel their activity.

So more than anything, caloric intake seems to be the largest factor at play here.

How to Treat this Condition

If you have noticed you've missed a few periods the last couple of months, it might be time to sit up and do something about it. Clearly this is a warning sign from your body that something isn't right, and further problems (such as osteoporosis) could result if you don't make some changes to fix the problem.

There are some women who are irregular and always have been, so pay attention to just how irregular you are if this is your case. You still could very well be suffering from this condition if you go long enough without getting a period. [/p]

What to do:

-Adding more calories back into your diet

-Reducing the intensity and duration of your runs (if possible)

-Assessing for any underlying eating disorders at work

-Evaluate whether the other aspects of your life are extremely stressful and if so, take measures to reduce this stress load

-Ensure enough dietary fat is eaten in the diet (no less than 15% of total calorie intake)

After taking all these measures, then be patient and see if your period returns. It may also be a good idea to consult your doctor about the issue because she may have further ideas on how to go about treating you (some doctors will prescribe birth control for the time being for example).

In Summary

So to sum up, the greatest determent for most women as to whether or not they get their period is total calorie intake. If you have been eating low-calorie for too long, this is likely why your period is no longer occurring.

Second to that is total exercise level and body fat percentage. If you are training hard for hours a day, it may just be too much for your body to handle at this point, and you will need to back off for a while. Likewise, if you have reached a new lower body fat level recently, this could be causing problems with hormone regulation.

The desire to sport a lean, athletic body should never come before overall health.