Playing sport on your period: how it actually works (leaks, products, kit)

With three things that depend on organisation rather than on the athlete: a menstrual product suited to the movement, kit that does not add to the fear of leaking, and supplies available at the gym. Among adolescents, between 25.2% and 61.1% avoid or reduce physical activity during their period, and fear of leaking is a recurring barrier (Harvey et al., 2025).

Fear of leaking is one of the reasons girls skip training sessions and PE lessons — and among adolescents, between 25.2% and 61.1% avoid or reduce physical activity during their period. Almost every article on the subject stops at saying it is a problem. This one tries to answer the practical question nobody addresses: what do you actually do on the day it happens.

Almost everything written about periods and sport stays at the level of principle: that it is normal, that there is nothing to be ashamed of, that physical activity is fine during menstruation. All true. But none of it answers the question a thirteen-year-old actually asks herself on a Tuesday afternoon before training: what do I do, concretely, today.

This article tries to stay at that level: products, kit, bag, changing room. It is not a minor subject. It is precisely the point where the taboo stops being a conversation and becomes a missed training session.

Key points

  • Among adolescents aged 10-18, between 25.2% and 61.1% avoid or reduce physical activity during their period: for pain, but also for fear of leaking and embarrassment (Harvey et al., 2025; 86 studies, 33 countries).
  • Informational gaps appear in 24 of 42 studies (57.1%) in the same review: poor menstrual health literacy among girls and inadequate training among PE staff.
  • On products: the largest review (43 studies, 3,319 participants) finds menstrual cups are safe with leakage similar to or lower than pads and tampons, but requiring a familiarisation phase (van Eijk et al., 2019 — no age breakdown).
  • On kit: uncomfortable or unisex uniforms increase body self-consciousness and reduce participation in a qualitative study of 44 girls aged 12-13 (Porter et al., 2025 — a study of body image, not of menstruation).
  • Only 11% of athletes discuss their cycle with the person coaching them: 4% if the coach is a man (Höök et al., 2022). The solutions that work require no conversation.

Can you play sport on your period?

Yes, and in most cases there is no reason to stop. There is no evidence that physical activity during menstruation is harmful; on the contrary, exercise is among the treatments with a measured effect on period pain — a large reduction in intensity compared with doing nothing (SMD -1.86; 95% CI -2.06 to -1.66), at a dose of 45-60 minutes at least three times a week, with evidence quality rated low (Armour et al., 2019). The topic is covered in full in the article on period pain.

And yet the opposite happens. In the global review of 86 studies across 33 countries, among adolescents aged 10-18, between 25.2% and 61.1% avoid or reduce physical activity during their period (Harvey et al., 2025). And the reason is not only pain: the same review lists fear of leaking and embarrassment among the recurring barriers, to the point that in several studies girls would rather stay out than risk it.

This is the point that changes everything: part of the problem is not physiological, it is logistical. And what is logistical can be solved.

One useful distinction before going further: not every leak feared during sport is about periods. Urinary incontinence during jumps and changes of direction is a different and equally widespread phenomenon — it concerns the pelvic floor and is addressed differently (I leak urine when I jump). Confusing the two leads to the wrong solutions: a menstrual product does not fix a urinary leak, and vice versa.

Which menstrual product do you use for sport?

It depends on the movement and the flow, and the choice stays personal — for a minor, one to make with family. What the data allow us to say concerns one product in particular, the cup, because that is the one with a large systematic review behind it.

Across 43 studies and 3,319 participants, the review published in The Lancet Public Health concludes that menstrual cups are safe and that leakage is similar to or lower than with pads and tampons: of the 4 studies directly comparing products (293 participants), three found no difference and one reported significantly less leakage with the cup. Around 70% of participants across 13 studies said they wanted to keep using it after the initial period (van Eijk et al., 2019).

Two caveats that matter more than the conclusion:

  1. A familiarisation phase is needed. The authors say so explicitly: use is not immediate. Translated for an athlete: competition day is not the day to try a new product.
  2. Adverse events exist, though rare. The review reports 5 cases of toxic shock syndrome (without the denominator, i.e. how many people were using cups), 47 difficulties with removal, 13 intrauterine device dislodgements, and isolated reports of pain (5), vaginal wounds (3), allergic reactions (6) and urinary complaints (9).

And above all: that review reports no breakdown by age. It is therefore not a recommendation specific to a thirteen-year-old, and that is exactly the kind of leap this site tries not to make. The honest practical rule: choose the product for comfort in movement, try it at home first, and if in doubt ask a healthcare professional.

Kit: how much what you wear weighs

Here the evidence is qualitative and needs reporting precisely, because it is easy to make it say more than it does. In a study of 44 girls aged 12-13 across six English secondary schools, with interviews with PE staff too, uncomfortable or unisex-cut uniforms increased self-consciousness about their bodies and reduced participation; communal changing rooms also discouraged engagement, especially among less confident girls. Among the authors' recommendations: offering a choice of bottoms, allowing extra layers, avoiding white tops because they are see-through (Porter et al., 2025).

To be clear: that study is about body image and participation, not about menstruation. The link between what is worn and fear of leaking comes from another source — the global review that lists that fear among recurring barriers (Harvey et al., 2025). Together the two suggest a cautious but useful conclusion: kit you can choose, with the option of something dark underneath, removes a problem without asking anything of anyone.

The kit at the gym: the simplest measure there is

If there is one thing a club can do this week, it is this. A container anyone can reach — not in the manager's office, not in the coach's bag — holding:

It costs a few tens of euros. And the point is not the contents, it is the location: if getting the kit means asking the coach, for many athletes that is the same as not having one. The figure that explains it best is the one on communication: only 11% of athletes discuss their cycle with the person coaching them, dropping to 4% when the coach is a man (Höök et al., 2022). Waiting for the question means never answering it — the same mechanism described in talking about periods with your coach.

What a male coach can do (without awkward conversations)

Three actions, none of which requires a private conversation:

  1. Make the kit available and say so once, at the start of the season, in front of the whole squad: where it is, that it is there for anyone, that nobody has to ask.
  2. Do not mandate light colours in the training kit, and allow a second layer.
  3. State the practice: whoever is not up to it says «not today» without explanation, and the session is adapted rather than skipped — reduced load, technique, floor work.

The third point protects most, because it replaces the binary choice of «in or out» with a third option. It is the same logic that applies to pain that lasts and to overuse injuries: stopping altogether also removes the training that does good.

One necessary caveat: none of this applies to pain that prevents training every month. That is not an organisational problem. In the review of 21,573 young women under 25, 20.1% reported absence from school or university because of period pain (Armour et al., 2019): if it happens every cycle, it belongs with a healthcare professional, not with a supply box.

What a family can do, before it is needed

The right moment to set up the conditions is when there is no urgency — that is, before the first away trip.

This is not an organisational detail: the global review identifies informational gaps as one of the main knots, present in 24 of 42 studies (57.1%), with poor menstrual health literacy among girls and inadequate training among PE staff (Harvey et al., 2025). Practical information arrives late, or not at all.

Where BAB fits

BAB does not sell menstrual products and gives no clinical guidance. It does two things missing from all the data above: it gives the athlete a private place to note what happens — including her cycle, pain, missed sessions — and gives the club aggregated, anonymous signals, never individual data.

Because the number that sums up this whole article is that 4%: with a male coach, four athletes in a hundred raise the subject. The other ninety-six do not need persuading to speak. They need the environment to work even if they don't.

Sources

This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Choosing a menstrual product for a minor is a decision to make with family and, if in doubt, with a healthcare professional. Period pain that every month prevents going to school or training should be assessed clinically: it is not an organisational matter.

Can you play sport during your period?

Yes, and in most cases there is no reason to stop: there is no evidence that physical activity during menstruation is harmful, and exercise is in fact among the treatments with a measured effect on period pain (a large reduction in intensity compared with doing nothing, SMD -1.86; low-quality evidence; Armour et al., 2019). The documented problem is not physiological but practical and social: among adolescents aged 10-18, between 25.2% and 61.1% avoid or reduce activity during their period — for pain, but also for fear of leaking and embarrassment (Harvey et al., 2025).

How do you avoid the fear of staining during training?

By acting on the three variables you can actually change, none of which depends on the athlete's willpower. First, the menstrual product, chosen for the movement and the flow — an internal product removes the movement problem, but the choice is personal and, for a minor, one to make with family. Second, what you wear: dark shorts, a second layer, not being forced into a light colour. Third, availability — having a spare within reach rather than at home. The global review of 86 studies flags fear of leaking as a recurring barrier and informational gaps as one of the main knots, present in 24 of 42 studies (57.1%) (Harvey et al., 2025).

Can you use a menstrual cup while playing sport?

The largest available systematic review — 43 studies and 3,319 participants — concludes that menstrual cups are safe and that leakage is similar to or lower than with pads and tampons: of the 4 studies directly comparing products (293 participants), three found no difference and one reported significantly less leakage with the cup. The authors note that a familiarisation phase is needed and report rare adverse events: 5 cases of toxic shock syndrome, 47 difficulties with removal, 13 IUD dislodgements, plus isolated reports of pain, vaginal wounds and urinary complaints (van Eijk et al., 2019). CAUTION: the review reports no breakdown by age, so it is not a recommendation specific to a thirteen-year-old — product choice should be discussed with family and, if in doubt, with a healthcare professional.

Can the colour of the kit really affect participation?

On kit there is qualitative evidence, and it should be reported for what it actually says. In a study of 44 girls aged 12-13 across six English secondary schools, uncomfortable or unisex-cut PE uniforms increased self-consciousness about their bodies and reduced participation, as did discomfort with communal changing rooms; the authors' recommendations include offering a choice of bottoms, allowing extra layers and avoiding white tops because they are see-through (Porter et al., 2025). To be honest about it: that study is about body image and participation, NOT about menstruation. The link with fear of leaking comes from another source — the global review that lists it among recurring barriers (Harvey et al., 2025).

What goes in a club's «period kit»?

Menstrual products in at least two types and two absorbencies, wipes, an opaque disposal bag, spare underwear and a pair of dark shorts, in a container anyone can reach without having to ask. The point is not the contents but the location: if getting the kit means asking the coach, for many athletes that is the same as not having one — only 11% discuss their cycle with the person coaching them, dropping to 4% when the coach is a man (Höök et al., 2022). It costs a few tens of euros and is the simplest measure a club can take.

Can a male coach deal with this topic?

Yes, and the data suggest the best way is to deal with it without having to talk about it one to one. Only 4% of athletes raise the subject with a male coach, against 55% with a woman (Höök et al., 2022): waiting for athletes to bring it up means, in practice, never addressing it. Three actions require no private conversation: make a kit available without anyone having to ask, do not mandate light colours in the kit, and say once at the start of the season that skipping or adapting a session because of your period is legitimate and needs no justification.

More than a rule, what is needed is a stated practice, because the vacuum gets filled with embarrassment. One formulation that works: whoever is not up to it says «not today» without having to explain, and the session is adapted rather than skipped — reduced load, technique, floor work. On the data side, pain that costs school and training should not be normalised: in the review of 21,573 young women, 20.1% reported absence from school or university because of period pain (Armour et al., 2019). Pain that prevents training every month is not an organisational matter: it should be taken to a healthcare professional.

What can a family do before the problem arises?

Set up the conditions when there is no urgency — that is, before the first away trip or competition. Three concrete things: keep a small permanent kit in the sports bag (two absorbencies, wipes, opaque bag, a spare), try the product intended for training at home rather than on the day — the menstrual cup review explicitly notes a necessary familiarisation phase (van Eijk et al., 2019) — and agree together on a ready-made sentence for the coach that requires no explanation. The global review identifies informational gaps as one of the recurring knots, reported in 24 of 42 studies (Harvey et al., 2025).

Is leaking during sport always about periods?

No, and it is worth untangling because the confusion leads to the wrong solutions. Loss of urine during jumps, sprints and changes of direction is a distinct and very common phenomenon: among adolescent female athletes the mean prevalence is 48.58%, and 87% say they would not mention it to their coach (Rial Rebullido et al., 2021). It concerns the pelvic floor, not the menstrual cycle, and is addressed differently — the topic is covered in full in [I leak urine when I jump](/blog/perdite-urina-giovani-atlete).