• Sharan Srinivasa Gopalan, Caitlin Mann, and Ryan E Rhodes.
• School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada. Electronic address: sharangopalan@uvic.ca.
• Prev Med. 2024 Jul 1; 184: 107980107980.

ObjectiveThe menstrual cycle often presents barriers to participation in daily life activities, including physical activity (PA), which is a cornerstone of health and well-being. The purpose of this systematic review was to explore and summarize the impact of symptoms, experiences, and perceptions of the menstrual cycle on recreational PA (RPA), including sports, exercise and active recreation, in the general population.MethodsSix databases were searched for studies that investigated the impact of the menstrual cycle on PA among individuals who were cyclically menstruating, healthy, and not involved in professional sports training.ResultsThe search yielded 3025 studies that were screened for relevance and eligibility, resulting in 25 eligible studies, which were found to be of moderate-to-high quality following a quality and risk-of-bias assessment. Thematic synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data from the selected studies, constituting 16,557 adults and 3715 adolescents, identified the impact of menstrual symptoms on the physical and psychological capability to participate in RPA, social opportunity barriers to RPA (e.g., social pressure due to the sociocultural taboo against menstruation), as well reflective (knowledge) and automatic (habit) motivation on RPA behaviours.ConclusionThe variability in menstrual symptoms and corresponding experiences suggested the need for an individualized approach to RPA promotion. Furthermore, this review highlighted the need to address the sociocultural taboo against menstruation, as well as improve the provision of knowledge and resources related to the menstrual cycle and RPA, in order to promote and facilitate RPA for cyclically menstruating individuals throughout the menstrual cycle.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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