Menstrual Cups for Sport and Exercise: A Complete Guide

Me Luna Classic / Me Luna Sport | Coupon 10% Off:  MECO 

Check Price (Me Luna)

Mooncup Size A / Mooncup Size B

Check Price (Amazon)

Lena Cup Small / Lena Cup Large

Check Price (Amazon)

Most of the time a menstrual cup that you buy for your everyday life will work perfectly fine for any type of physical activity.

But if you're a very active person, such as an athlete, or if you've been active for a long time and you know you have very strong pelvic floor muscles you might want to consider investing in a sport cup.

Sports and Exercises That Have a Strong Effect on the Pelvic Floor Muscles

Some sports and exercises have a strong effect on the pelvic floor muscles:

• Yoga
• Horseback Riding
• Pilates
• Kegel Excercise
• Martial Arts
• Pole Dancing

If you have very strong pelvic floor muscles consider investing in a firmer cup.

What Is a Sport Cup?

Our definition of a sport cup is a menstrual cup that is firmer than a standard cup.

If a standard cup is a 3 on a scale from 1 to 5 — 1 being very soft, and 5 being very firm — then a sport cup would be classified as a 4 or a 5.

But this is not an exact science and a cup that is a 3 or a 3½ could work just as well.

What to Consider Before Buying a Sport Cup

Menstrual cups are great (If you don't believe me check out my article 12 Reasons Why You Should Switch From Panty Liners, Pads, and Tampons to Menstrual Cup).

Specially for sport and exercise.

For example, unlike with a tampon, because there is no string, you don't have to worry about chafing during a long run, or a long-distance cycling route.

Even if you're cycling on a light period, as cups collect rather than absorb fluid, it won't cause you dryness or irritation, both things that can cause untold discomfort when you're in the saddle for hours.

Squatting 70 kg, 80 kg, 100 kg or bench pressing during powerlifting class is also something that your sport cup will be able to handle without any problems.

Consider the following things before buying a sport cup:

• Firmness
• Stem Type
• Capacity

Firmness

Athletes or very active people with toned pelvic floor muscles find that a firmer cup holds up and stays in place better for them during extreme workouts.

They also find that firmer cups open more easily.

The majority of these sporty people also say that when they instead use a softer cup it tends to leak.

This happens because when inside of you when exercising a softer cup can literally collapse, be knocked loose, or pop out of position and make a bloody mess!

If you have a sensitive bladder, consider picking a cup that is medium-firm instead of going straight to the firmest cups like the Me Luna Sport or Yuuki Classic.

Stem Type

Also, if you're more delicate than normal you should consider buying a cup with a ring (Check out my article Menstrual Cups With a Ring to see a list of some cool-looking ring stem designs!).

A ring stem is usually less pokey.

Capacity

Another thing to look for in a sport cup is capacity.

If you're going to be out exercising for a long period of time — maybe you're running a big-city marathon like New York or Boston, and maybe you're even meeting up with your training friends for a beer afterward — consider buying a high-capacity sport cup to avoid any pit stops.

Menstrual Cups for Sport and Exercise

There isn't any "best" menstrual cup for sport and exercise.

There are over 200 menstrual cup brands in the world — The cup models; they all come in different shapes and sizes.

And all bodies are different.

So make an educated decision.

Me Luna Classic and Me Luna Sport

Me Luna menstrual cups are made from TPE — Check out why some brands prefer TPE over silicone in a research I did not too long ago.

The Me Luna is offered in four sizes:

Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large.

You can choose between three firmness levels:

Soft, Classic, and Sport.

The Me Luna Sport is extremely firm.

The Soft cup is 25% softer than the Classic and the Sport is 25% firmer than the Classic.

The Sport version might be a little too firm for a beginner.

If you're not careful with it, it could snap open and cause pain!

The Classic version is easier to fold and hold until you're ready for it to open.

If you have a sensitive bladder, pick the Me Luna Classic.

Coupon 10% Off:  MECO 

Check Price (Me Luna)

Yuuki Soft and Yuuki Classic

The Yuuki Cup is also a very firm cup.

It has a very strong resistance and a prominent rim.

But not too prominent that it would hurt.

But just enough for it to open up easily and stay open.

And because it's so firm and it's got great grips you're never going to struggle to get it out.

So it's good for both as a beginner cup because it will go in and open easily and it will also form a strong seal.

The Yuuki Cup Classic is available in Small and Large.

The smaller model can hold up to 24 ml and the larger model can hold up to 37 ml.

If you have a sensitive bladder pick a cup that is medium-firm (the Me Luna Classic, or Yuuki Soft for instance) instead of the Yuuki Classic.

If you have very strong pelvic floor muscles consider buying the Yuuki Classic otherwise pick the Yuuki Soft.

Both models will work fine for sports and exercise.

Femmecup One-Size

The Femmecup has a very soft body but it has a firm and large rim.

This means that you can do a lot of sports and the rigid rim will stay open really well.

The Femmecup is great in this aspect, and specially if you have strong pelvic floor muscles.

The only downside to this cup is that the air holes are quite low so it hasn't got as great capacity as other cups.

But if you don't have a heavy flow and you're only out exercising for let's say an hour or so then it could be a great cup for you.

Mooncup Size A and Mooncup Size B

The Mooncup works great for sports and exercise.

Specially if you have very strong pelvic floor muscles.

The cup has a very high resistance and it's virtually impossible to crush it due to its very firm silicone and prominent rim.

The Mooncup comes in two sizes:

Size A, and Size B.

Both cups can hold approximately 29 ml.

Sport Cups for a Low Cervix

Check out my low cervix cups guide if you want to learn more about your cervix and to see a list of all cups for a low cervix that is available.

Here are some low cervix cups for sport and exercise that you should consider:

• Formoonsa Standard Cup
• Formoonsa Training Cup
• Me Luna Shorty Classic
• Me Luna Shorty Sport
• Merula Cup

Sport Cups for a High Cervix

Check out my high cervix cups guide if you want to learn more about your cervix and to see a list of all cups for a high cervix that is available.

Here are some high cervix cups for sport and exercise that you should consider:

• Femmecup One-Size
• Merula Cup XL
• Mooncup Size A
• Mooncup Size B
• Selenacup Active M
• Selenacup Active L
• Me Luna L
• Lunette Cup Model 2
• Hello Cup Large
• Voxapod Cup Medium
• Me Luna XL
• Yuuki Cup Classic Large
• Yuuki Cup Soft Large

Other Cups for Sport and Exercise

I've seen reports from users in different forums saying that their standard cups work just fine for sport and exercise.

Here are some of those brands:

• Lily Cup Coupon 10% Off
• LadyCup
• Ruby Cup
• Lena Cup

  

• Fleurcup
• OrganiCup
• AmyCup
• Naturcup
• Shecup
• LaliCup
• Blossom Cup
• Saalt Cup
• MonthlyCup
• XO Flo Cup

Remember that we're all different and what works for someone else might not always work for you!

Menstrual Cups for Sport and Exercise Comparison Chart

How to Find Your Perfect Sport Cup

There are other factors that you need to take into consideration as well apart from the ones mentioned in this post in order to find your "Goldilocks" sport cup.

Age, if you've given birth, menstrual flow, how toned your pelvic floor muscles are, cup material, etc. — they all play an important role in determining the best menstrual cup for your body.

At menstrualcup.eco we've developed a tool for finding the best fit for your body.

The tool is called CUP-FIGURATOR™ Menstrual Cup Finder.

CUP-FIGURATOR™ not only speeds up the process of finding a menstrual cup but it also provides you with some handy comparison tools that will save you even more time and effort.

And hopefully, some money too by not having to buy multiple incompatible cups before finding the right one.

If you haven't tried it already, I recommend giving it a go!

Find My Perfect Cup Match

3 Bonus Tips for the Ultimate Workout Experience

To check if your cup has a good seal on it, give the base of the cup a gentle tug.

If it slides down really easily it probably doesn't have a very good seal.

But if you give your cup a gentle tug and there's some resistance behind it, it means that your cup has a good seal and it's properly placed.

If you've followed my tips and instructions above, your cup shouldn't move and you also shouldn't have any leaking prior, during, or after your training session!

Rose Desrosiers

3 years ago  8 min