Playing sports as a woman can be difficult, especially when you get your period at just the wrong time. Can you play badminton during periods?

Many people mistakenly believe that periods render you incapable of getting anything done. While the pain is definitely real, that doesn’t mean everything else gets put on hold.

You can play badminton and any other kind of sport during your periods by wearing pads or tampons, depending on whatever you’re comfortable with. In fact, playing badminton may actually help you with period pain and hormone imbalance, and relieve some stress.

While periods do cause difficulties in doing even the most simple activities, getting exercise can actually be beneficial.

We looked into some of the ways sports affect the body during menstruation and asked for people’s opinions on the topic while carrying out our research.

Should You Play Badminton On Your Period?

There are plenty of myths about what is and isn’t possible during menstruation. Sports are one of them.

Periods are extremely painful, so you’d think playing sports might just cause problems, but it could be the other way around. Working out during menstruation can be beneficial in multiple ways, and this also extends to sports.

Distractions

A good game of badminton (or any other sport, really) can give you a pretty good distraction. When you’re cramping and aching all over, badminton can keep your mind off these things by making you focus more on the game and less on the various pains all over your body.

Improving Mood

All the running around, jumping, and diving to get the shuttlecock gives you a pretty good exercise. This helps because it makes your body release dopamine and endorphins, which are general mood lifters. This helps you feel better on normal days as it is, but when you’re on your period and are already low on happy hormones, the release of these neurotransmitters can help improve your mood and make you feel better.

Being on your period is a pain (literally) and you’d be getting irritated at every small thing. A game of badminton can help you improve your mood and feel better about yourself.

Getting Rid of Stress

Aside from just the hormonal effects of sports, badminton can also help you get rid of some of that irritation by providing you an outlet for negative feelings. You can hit the shuttlecock as hard as you want, and nobody will ask any questions, because that’s what the game is about!

In fact, on the first few days of the period cycle, you may find that you have a lot more strength than you usually have. This is because estrogen levels are low and testosterone levels are high, which allows for greater strength and power, and probably a lot more aggression.

Benefits To The Body

Aside from all of that, it’s also true that playing sports during your period can help your body as well. For one thing, because you’d be experiencing cramps in various parts, giving these a little workout can help relieve some of those cramps.

Playing sports like badminton will also result in better circulation and improved metabolism - both of which are needed to make sure your body is functioning properly. Good circulation and metabolism will also help with making the uterine muscles relax. Because cramps are caused by these muscles staying contracted, this helps get rid of some of the pain of cramps and helps you feel better.

Better circulation also helps with reducing headaches and pains that could be a result of iron deficiency. Since you’d be losing blood as it is, poor circulation would likely cause problems otherwise. Some exercise can help reduce this.

Things to Keep In Mind

So, technically, you can play badminton during periods and it wouldn’t cause any kind of problem.

However, it’s important to keep some things in mind. Periods are a sensitive time of the month, and your body is not at its best, so you should take care of it. Make sure to warm up before you start playing so that you can take some of the pressure off your body.

You should also keep the game itself very light. A workout is good, but if it’s too intense, you may just cause more problems for yourself. Keep the game a relaxed, low to moderate intensity one, and you can reap the benefits.

Also, always make sure to eat something before you start to give yourself some extra energy.

At the same time, you should remember that people who face a lot of pain and bleeding during periods should avoid exercise altogether. Playing badminton if your periods are intense can make you weaker and cause more pain. You should take the time to rest for a few days before you get back on your workout schedule.