Anon Girl talk

[Anonymous (bc51)]

If you're a female gymnast/parent of one, how do you/your gymnast work with periods and meets?

 

[Coach Kate]

Former gymnast and coach here:

As a gymnast, I used a tampon and changed it frequently. I was paranoid.

As a coach, now that the rules have changed, we absolutely allow our athletes to wear solid black shorts if they need to in order to feel comfortable.

 

[Anonymous (2cc5)]

As a gymnast I can tell you it’s rough when it comes to meets but you just do the best you can. I personally cannot wear tampons w/o fainting so for meets I just change the pad between each event, and wear a Leo liner to double up on pads to prevent leaks. It’s annoying but you sort of learn how to feel comfortable and forget about it with practice. Unfortunately my gym doesn’t allow shorts for comp, but if you can black shorts fix every worry lol.

 

[Anonymous (bc51)]

(OP here)
Yeah, I'm terrified of tampons. I don't mind the uncomfortable-ness, rather I'm scared of either pad showing or leak on the sides. I wish my gym allowed shorts (USAG ALLOWED THEM, WHY CAN'T MY GYM DO THAT TOO) - it would really help with both periods and help me perform better because I get self conscious in a leo. UGH

 

[Anonymous (6c53)]

I bought my daughter black period underwear that wouldn't show under her leo initially. She wasn't a fan. She found she prefers tampons, so that's what she uses.

 

[Anonymous (be68)]

For me, no shorts would feel like a potential deal breaker in a gym. It feels like it disrespects the athlete's needs and autonomy.
For leaking, you could consider using night pads, they will surely hold for 2 hours. I'd say maybe ask your coach if you could either wear shorts on your period or wear skin coloured tights under your leo?
(personally I'd be tempted to be very blunt with the coach, like: "hey, I was wondering if I could wear shorts, because if I bleed through on the beam that may be a deduction or something". But that'd just be me being passive agressive, like "if you wanna make things difficult, you're gonna have to face the reality of what I'm dealing with here".)

 

[Anonymous (bc51)]

Guys, I had my meet. And guess what, just discovered that my gym allows shorts in some situations. So yeah, I wore a pad and shorts. Meet didn't go too well, but oh well.

 

[Anonymous (ced8)]

If you're a female gymnast/parent of one, how do you/your gymnast work with periods and meets?

Hello, gymnast here,
For some context, I am an aerial gymnast and have been for the past 2 years, I used to use pads but they definitely made my life a bit harder. Tampons are a life saver, but make sure to wear a panty liner or period underwear with them. But this is easier because my uniform uses pants and not just a leotard. Also if you have a female coach or female friends, make sure they know because they will definitely check up on you.

 

[Anonymous (f339)]

For practices, I wear black shorts (I wear shorts all of the time, so people can't tell if im on my period or not), period underwear, tampon, and sometimes pad with that (sometimes I feel like the underwear and tampon is not enough lol)

For meets, I wear just a tampon and pray I dont bleed through (one time I did wear black period underwear with my black leotard, and no one notices)

 

[Anonymous (db9f)]

Learned to use a tampon reallll quick.

 

[Anonymous (8a67)]

Playtex Sport Tampons (super size for for anything longer than 2hrs)