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How often do you exercise? When you do exercise, how long is a typical training session?
It’s not uncommon for women who over-exercise to lose their period. However, if you’re a professional or elite athlete, losing your period may seem to be something that comes with the job. But there is a way to train hard, make progress, reach your goals, all while supporting and keeping your menstrual cycle.
Carla Papc, an elite Ironwoman, joins me to talk about this topic. She has personally experienced losing her period from the rigorous daily training, and at one point she thought that gave her an “elite athlete” status. Today, Carla has reclaimed her period and is passionate about educating women on how they can train in a way to support their cycle.
Throughout this episode, Carla talks about how she got into sport, the intensity of her training, her journey of losing her period due to intense training and how she reclaimed it, how she trains to support her cycle, the effects of exercise on the body, her work as an exercise physiologist, and so much more.
Meet Our Podcast Guest:
[Cycle Day 5 – Inner Winter] Carla Papac is an elite Ironwoman having competed in surf life saving for 16 years. She has represented Australia and recently boasts the title of Coolangatta Gold Champion, a gruelling 42km battle through the ocean. Carla followed her passion of sport, obtaining a bachelor of exercise physiology from the University of Sydney in 2021. Carla used to think losing her period was a proud symbol of an elite athlete. However, combining her experience as an elite athlete and exercise physiologist she dug deeper into the studies and found that she was under-fuelling her body and therefore her athletic performance. Now, she endeavours to educate women on the power of the Menstrual cycle and how it distinctly separates female athletes from males.
In this episode we chat about:
- How Carla got into sport (7:45)
- Carla’s menstruation background (14:20)
- How Carla structures her training around her cycle (23:51)
- Carla’s experience losing her period (34:55)
- What Carla did to understand her cycle & change her training to support it (53:11)
- Carla’s tips to connect with your cycle (1:14:28)
- How to connect with Carla (1:19:43)
Connect with our Guest:
Instagram: @carlapapac Resources: @womanperformanceView this Episode on YouTube:
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Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Well Woman Podcast. I’m beyond honoured that you’re here and would be grateful if you could take 2 minutes to leave me a 5-star review in iTunes or on your podcast app, this way together we can inspire, connect and educate even more women.
Let’s connect? Take a screenshot of this episode and share it on Instagram tagging me in with @wellsome_jemalee and the hashtag #WellWomanPodcast – can’t wait to connect.
Until next time beautiful!
Get connected, listen to your body and remember; body confidence all begins with living in tune with your menstrual cycle.
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