WBO world lightweight champion Terri Harper is always adapting her training, and yet her sport appears no closer to displaying the same appetite for change.
Over the past few years, the 28-year-old has tracked her menstrual cycle during each training camp, ensuring that she makes championship weight in the safest and most efficient way possible.
Naturally, there are specific times of the month where her weight fluctuates, mostly due to water retention, which only ever presents greater challenges amid an already complicated process.
But Harper, 15-2-2 (6 KOs), like any woman campaigning in a division below heavyweight, must overcome each hurdle, not wishing to make a single excuse – or be branded ‘unprofessional’ – if ever the scales produce an undesirable set of digits.
“There’s times throughout camp when my weight will hold, and I’ll know that it’s because of my menstrual cycle,” she told Boxing News.
“Even with my performances in the gym – some weeks I’ll feel a bit flat, whereas other weeks I’ve just got this crazy amount of energy.
“So it’s just me learning more about myself – and my body – and understanding how I respond at certain times of the month.
“I’ve always made weight, and never used my menstrual cycle as an excuse, so it’s just about these little adjustments to make sure I hit the scales bang-on.
“You only have to look at women’s football. [Some studies suggest that] a lot of knee injuries are linked to menstrual cycles, so I think there’s still a lot more research that needs to go into it.”
Regarding the impact of menstrual cycles in sport, a lack of comprehensive research has largely left the situation in a state of stagnation.
But while boxing, for instance, remains behind the times when it comes to enforcing change – or indeed initiating conversations around certain issues – professional football is at least in the process of accelerating such discussions.
Fifa, the sport’s international governing body, has committed to funding research into whether hormonal fluctuations during menstrual cycles could be contributing to a rise of ACL injuries in women’s football.
A similar attitude, however, remains far removed from boxing, a sport where sanctioning and governing bodies could truly be doing more – even if just by opening a series of discussions.
Nevertheless, an openness to discuss her weight-making challenges is expressed by Harper.
“To be honest, I probably overshare at times,” she admitted. “My coaches are a bit old-school, but I think it’s important to educate them, as well as educating myself.
“There’s a lot that goes into it. But luckily for me, I’ve got the Flo app, which helps me keep on track [of her menstrual cycle].
“I’m quite new to it myself, and have only used it over the past few camps, but it’s been good so far.”
Ahead of her next outing – a title defence against unbeaten contender Natalie Zimmermann at the Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster, on May 23 – Harper will follow the same weight-making process she has developed throughout her career.
Only, instead of boiling herself down to super-featherweight, the widely supported Yorkshirewoman – having operated at higher divisions in more recent years – now feels far more refreshed at 135lbs.
“I was killing myself [to make 130lbs],” Harper recalled. “There’s just absolutely no way I’d be able to do super-featherweight again.
“At lightweight, I know it’s only five more pounds, but it’s so much more comfortable for me to make.
“I’m not killing myself to make the weight, even though I’m on a strict diet and nutrition plan for 12 weeks.
“I’m fuelling my body and getting in the ring rehydrated, with a weight advantage.”
