Sports fuel is not designed for men — it’s for every body. Yet, until recently, the narrative has been driven by conversations and research that focus on male athletes. This has left female athletes feeling unsupported, having to derive their understanding of fueling from resources that are not tailored to their needs.

This article mentions disordered eating and experiences that some readers may find distressing.

This article doesn’t have the answers — it’s a starting point. A way to identify topics and conversations specific to female athletes that can foster development of knowledge and improve athletic performance. Separate and unique conversations that enable female athletes to have better access to information.

All athletes have fluctuations in motivation and sensations, but there are situations that should be approached and talked about differently — normalized. Let's be satisfyingly red-faced from the effort of a great race or well-fueled training session — not from embarrassment or awkwardness.

Recently, SYNRGY held an all-female training camp in Girona. It gave us the opportunity to chat with riders on their terms — openly — about the pressures and complexities that they encounter as female athletes. It has provided a starting point to opening up about the impact of the menstrual cycle, about premeditated under-fueling, pressure to keep weight unduly low, and the impact of unsolicited (often male) advice.

Thank you to all the riders from the SYNRGY camp who took the time to talk with us and to expose their personal stories. This is a small start, but nonetheless an important one. 

Even in a small group there are variations in the sensations that riders feel throughout their menstrual cycle, reinforcing the point that no two riders experience the same pattern of physical and mental feedback. For Anna, there is little deviation. “I actually race better when I'm on my period. I don’t feel like my stomach is more sensitive or less sensitive. For me, I don't feel like my energy is much different — I actually feel pretty good.” Bella, a track and road cyclist, noted an awareness that her period can influence her riding more specifically. “I do get fluctuations in my motivation. Sometimes I really want to get out, because I really need some fresh air, but most of the time I just want to curl up in a ball. Sometimes my core goes a bit wobbly when I'm on my period, especially if it's particularly heavy, but my strength is better. And my power is normally better for sprinting and shorter efforts.”



As athletes it’s easy to give ourselves a hard time if the path to better performance is not constantly an upward trajectory. Recognising when it’s appropriate to take the foot off the gas and appreciating that from one day to the next the body will be giving us different signals is important — particularly when the signals can be amplified by the menstrual cycle. Bella also mentioned that there can be a need to give a bit of slack. “The week of my period I usually give myself a free pass with food, because I tell myself that my body is probably working harder. But if I'm craving sugar, which happens, then I have to tell myself to eat fruit rather than a whole bar of chocolate. So I try to make healthier choices. Training-wise, I definitely do less intense efforts.” Recognising these signs is an important part of athlete self-care.

During her racing career, Hannah realised that it can be counter-productive to be over-critical of inconsistent performances in training. “If I came home from a hard session, or intervals, and I felt terrible, then I wouldn't let it get to me too much. Because I couldn't go from being great 3 days ago to suddenly being terrible — there must be a reason.” 



Periods can also bring mental fatigue and anxiety, and for some riders in race season that has the potential to be more detrimental than negative physical sensations. As Hannah explained when we discussed whether it was helpful for riders to track their cycle, “Perhaps some women might not want to track it because they don't want to know that they're going into a big race, like Roubaix, and potentially they're already at a disadvantage. Physically you might not feel great, but also, mentally, you don't want to start the race knowing that you might not be at your best.”



Being an athlete promotes an obsession with weight, especially in cycling. The weight of the bike, the weight of every component, the weight of clothing, and, of course, the weight of the rider. And the theme has always been — less is better. That lighter means faster. But what we see now are two worlds colliding — a dichotomy. On one side the traditional mentality of being light still runs deep. It still has influence. On the other side there’s new science. That you get faster by fueling properly and by eating more carbohydrates. Hannah describes it as a “strange balance.” Adding that, “The pressure came from myself — thinking that the lighter you are, the faster you are going to go. Which isn't the case now. People are a lot more educated that it's not healthy and not actually good for you to be lighter.”

For Anna, who came into cycling from competitive running and then briefly triathlon, it has been a longer process of education to pivot away from what has, at times, been quite a self-destructive mindset. “It sounds terrible to even say it out loud, but I always wanted to be in calorie-deficit. I was doing double-days of running, up to maybe 80 miles per week, so I think it's a big mindset shift for me.” Looking back now, and with support from groups such as SYNRGY, she’s able to shine a light on routines which were ultimately harmful. “I'd crave sugar all the time. I'd be training really hard, not seeing the results in my performance, and then also not losing weight. It was because I'd not been fueling on the rides and then binge-eating afterwards.”



Heather, who raced when women’s cycling was starting to break through, acknowledges the shift towards positive conversations around what to eat on the bike. “Definitely the conversation is about fueling, more so than it ever has been before. People are talking about fueling their rides in a way that I never heard before. It has taken us a long time as a culture to even start questioning those attitudes, much less addressing solutions.” And as a post-menopause cyclist she has also been able to recognise that as her style of riding has matured, so has her relationship with certain food. “I certainly now have a different set of requirements for nutrition and a different set of tolerances for nutrition than I had 20 years ago.”



It's not only internal pressure that can elevate doubt and poor self-image around weight. As a junior, Bella raced in Belgium. A single comment, insensitively directed and pointedly specific, left a lasting impression on how she felt around other riders. “This one guy said I was too fat to be an endurance rider, when I was about 17. It's just crazy that a middle-aged man would say that to a kid. I've found weight to be a weird thing. When I was a track sprinter I was the smallest one there. But as a junior, riding on the road, I always felt like I was the biggest girl, and I think it was all down to what that one man said, once.”

Riders recall returning home from rides and being so hungry that they would stand in the kitchen, full kit, and binge eat before even taking their helmets off. And of neglecting to fuel to the end of a ride because they’re close to home, almost feeling a sense of achievement to return hungry. The reality is that they would be depleted, not simply tired, and the impact on recovery from finishing hard sessions in this state extends beyond just a flat-out evening on the sofa, but also well into future training. 



Fast weight loss brings additional health concerns — stress fractures, reduced immunity, and loss of periods. Manon, making the transition from running into ultracycling, knows first-hand what the impacts on the body can be when bodyweight falls too low. Not just a history of shin splints from running on a weakened body, “last summer I stopped getting my period because I lost a lot of weight very quickly. I had felt great on the bike for a while, but then I felt super-low, no energy.” She’s now fighting to get her periods back. 



Hannah also recognised that weight had a tipping point after which performance returns diminished. “I definitely had a race weight, and if I went under it then I may as well not even start the race. If you’re losing weight, you're lighter, but you're also sick all the time.”



Sometimes a team environment can have positive and negative influence. Hannah brought years of experience to Uno-X that would be invaluable for supporting younger riders in the team. And as a newly-retired pro she can go on to impart that knowledge in a coaching capacity. Bella noted some of the negative pressures. “I remember, as a junior, girls not eating. And it was a real stamp on your shoulder if you didn't have your period. I remember feeling really bad because I would get mine every month.” It’s an experience echoed to a more extreme level by Anna. “I've been on cycling teams where the girls would go on long rides with just electrolyte tabs. And others, with disordered eating, would be eating the evening meal and then throwing up, so it has been a bit of a toxic environment.”



But the tide is turning. Fueling is a necessity and the impacts of under-fueling run deeper than a bonk. For most of the riders there have been lightbulb moments and for Hannah that came at one of the biggest races. “I remember it was 2017, at the Women's Tour of Britain, when I realised just how important fueling was. I ate so much food — more than I thought I needed to — and by day five I was still really strong.”

When it comes to fueling properly, we say that it's personal — that one size doesn't fit all. That all athletes — male and female — should practice a fueling strategy in training to learn what the body can tolerate. And for female athletes there are additional factors to consider. Circumstances that are intricate and highly personal. It has created a shortfall in how the sports nutrition industry has advocated for the different needs of female athletes. Choosing to paint a fueling picture with a broad brush that greatly favors male athletes rather than break down advice to make it relevant where necessary.



It’s important that women’s sport benefits more from research. That science puts more of a spotlight on enabling athletes to have a better understanding of how they can work with their natural, biological functions and cycles and still improve performance. And within teams, we see a shift to supporting each other. That riders can count empty wrappers at the end of a ride as a mark of respect, rather than ridicule.



This has been an important moment of reflection and a chance to start elevating topics that are specifically relevant to female athletes. It’s a chance for us all to do better — to normalize conversations and share resources that better educate athletes.

Special thanks to SYNRGY, Hannah Barnes, Heather Johnston, Manon Ardunio, Anna Greenwood, and Bella Butler.