10 Thoughts We Have When Working Out On Your Period

If you’re like most, the week of your period is one of your least favorite times to work out. Personally, I tend to feel like a big cramping mess. However, the show—or in this case, workout—must go on, so you do what you have to do. Luckily, activity can often help ease cramping or other side effects, but that doesn’t mean that it is always a pleasant experience.

Of course, menstruation is a completely normal part of life, so you shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed of what our bodies were born to do. However, thanks to the common side effects, here are just a few thoughts you may have while working out on your period.

1. “This pad feels like a diaper. Do I look like I’m wearing a diaper? What if my sweat stops it from sticking to my underwear and it falls out of my running shorts? Is that a thing that happens?”
2. “What are these cramps? Maybe my morning coffee just ran right through me? Wait, what day is it? Did I just start my period while doing those squats?”
3. “Why did I think buying lightly colored running shorts was a good idea?”
4. “Wait, what is that smell? I hope that is just my sweat. I’ll go to this treadmill in the corner just in case.”
5. “I really just want to stay in bed. I mean, I know it doesn’t seem like a lot of work, but bleeding like this is kind of a lot of work. No? Okay, fine…”
6. “Okay, run done…time to go to the bathroom. Wait, where is the string?! What?! Did I lose it in ther…oh, here it is. Phew.”
7. “Not only do I already sweat like crazy, now I’m bleeding, too? My next run is going to make my lady parts feel like they are in their own private swampland.”
8. “I will take wearing this pantyliner any day over those pads. Thankfully this is almost over. I couldn’t handle one more day of running in a diaper.”
9. “What’s that noise? Is that my shorts crinkling as I run? Or is that my pad? Can everyone hear that I’m wearing one? Is that a thing, too?”
10. “Women have been doing this forever, so I guess I can, too.”