Luckily, more and more women are joining the practice of physical exercise on a regular basis. Leading a healthy lifestyle is essential to enjoy good health, and on many occasions we rely on applications or wearables that motivate us. On occasion we have talked about how does the menstrual cycle influence of women in physical performance, and Gazella was born as a help for all women.
gazella.app It is the first running application designed exclusively for women, since it is based on the changes of the menstrual cycle to obtain maximum performance. There are many of us who use applications that control our cycle and alert us when we are in the ovulation phase, for example. In this case, each user will have to enter different values so that Gazella designs specific training plans according to the characteristics of the female body and the phases of the menstrual cycle.
Gazella: designed solely for women
It is considered the first running application designed solely for women. In the current market we find that most apps do not distinguish between the way men and women train, in addition to having a very brief customization. According to Alberto García Bataller, PhD in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and co-founder of the app, "equality between men and women in sport implies accepting differences and being able to use them to improve performance".
We don't really know why, but menstruation has always been a taboo subject in elite and popular sports, despite being a totally natural process for women. «From the physiological point of view, it is a reality that the rule causes physical and emotional changes caused by hormones«.
Accept your differences to improve
No matter what type of training you do, the best way to address equality between men and women is to accept differences and use them to improve training and performance. This is how Gazella is created. This application is responsible for creating specific training plans, taking into account the different characteristics of the female body and the phases of the menstrual cycle. In general, we don't usually find apps that create personalized training routines, let alone make a distinction between genders.
To train and improve your performance you must take menstruation into account. Despite the fact that for many women it is their greatest enemy, having a cyclical hormonal rhythm that causes us to have preponderant hormones in each phase, in charge of regulating certain functions related to mood, metabolism, etc. “It is a reality that the menstrual cycle causes physical and emotional changes, so it is key that the woman knows them to use them to her advantage and get the most out of her body.”, says Alberto García Bataller, one of the co-founders of Gazella.
On second thought, it's totally logical, but most of us completely ignore it when we train. Menstruation is a natural and normal process, we should stop treating it as a taboo and avoid going to the gym when we have our period.
Why is it necessary for you to provide as much data as possible?
Gazella is an application that you can download completely free of charge, available for devices Android e iOS. Once we have it downloaded, we will have to enter values related to our physical characteristics, in addition to the objectives we want to meet: age, training level (beginner, intermediate or advanced), training days, etc.
It will be interesting that you also enter data corresponding to your weight, characteristics, duration and periodicity of your menstruation.
With all the information you provide, Gazella will create running workouts adapted to your menstrual cycle so that you can adjust your physical activity and training to each phase. “It is an innovative approach that focuses on the fact that the female body has special characteristics that we must take into account. It is about leaving behind the idea that our menstrual cycle is something negative, and understanding that, on the contrary, it is precisely what will help us take off” explains Carmen Meixide, product manager for the project.
Surely you have noticed that there are certain days of the month in which you feel weaker in energy, or more flexible and fast. Everything is related to the menstrual cycle.
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