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| google search birth control. You can thank me later. |
So, we heard you got on the pill like almost every other
young woman in America. If you aren’t, you’re getting injections, patches, or
other various new ways to prevent pregnancy, regulate cycles, control cramps,
and get rid of acne. I tried to find statistics but only found 3 in 5 have some
sort of prevention and one third of teens are on the pill. It has great reasons
for a woman to stay on it, but have we ever considered what else it is doing to
our bodies, specifically its effect on working out?
There’s been a lot of research in this area but a lot of
ideas and hypothesis are still under examination. One finding that makes a lot
of sense was that being on the pill reduces the ability to gain muscle in
comparison to women not on the pill. In fact, women not on the pill gain 60%
greater muscle mass.
Still worried about lifting and bulking?
This makes sense
since testosterone builds muscle and the pill is primarily estrogen and
progesterone. Also, going along with this research, women on the pill take
almost 2 days longer to recover their muscle strength after working out.
These findings are more important for women focused on muscle building and competitive lifting athletics.
However, for every woman, we often hear how much
weight we gained when we first went on the pill. In all honesty, this is more
of a mental and emotional weight gain. Let’s face it, girls crave stuff when
their hormones are fluctuating and it’s ironically always something not super
healthy. For example, for me last week it was Taco Bell, Abyss, Raising Canes,
Reese’s pieces, Sweettart chews, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. There’s
definitely not a lot of nutritional value there. However, it’s all about mind
over matter.
You won’t gain that weight if you don’t eat it. Plus, when on the
pill, estrogen increases the size, not the number, of your fat cells. This
makes it all the more possible to retain more fluid, which will show in your
hips, thighs, and breasts. Most of those bad foods have a lot of unnecessary
sodium and cause your body to hold on to all that. This weight gain and
bloated-ness may cause some discouragement to go work out. However, if you go
work out, you’ll lose water, lose bloat, make you feel better and skinnier, and
become more refreshed. In fact, it may even balance some of your cravings and
release some endorphins to make you not feel as crazy.
The one thing that most people didn’t discuss though was the
awful feeling you get when it’s that wonderfully dreaded time of the month. For
some it is no big deal. For others, it causes cramps, nausea, fatigue,
diarrhea, bloating, and an overall sense of feeling blah. How do you combat
that? I still struggle with it. But again, it’s mind over matter.
If your performance decreases, it’s only because you’re allowing it.
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