Breanna Stewart is a dominant force in the WNBA. Overcoming period pain and adjusting for her menstrual cycle is part of her strategy.

• WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart is one of the most dominant basketball players on the planet.
• Building routines around her menstrual cycle and period pain helps her compete at her best.

WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart boasts otherworldly talent on the basketball court.

But for a dreaded stretch of each month, the 27-year-old Seattle Storm forward's period threatens to bring her back down to Earth.

"It is definitely a pain in the ass," Stewart told Insider. "But women are resilient, and we learn to deal with it as it comes."

"I always seem to get my period at the worst possible time, whether this is right before a big game or on a day I know practice is going to be tough," she added. "As women, dealing with our periods is just another thing we have to contend with."

During the early years of her illustrious basketball career, the two-time WNBA Finals MVP and four-time NCAA national champion had simply taken a grin-and-bear-it approach to managing her menstrual symptoms. She long saw her "pain and discomfort" as merely "something I had to play through," regardless of severity.

But now — with access to proper information, top-tier resources, and an elite trainer in Susan King Borchardt — Stewart has learned how to "build my routine around my menstrual cycle to effectively train and recover, according to my body's needs."

"My trainer, Susan, handles my training plan on a daily, monthly, even yearly basis, and my menstrual cycle plays a huge part in how she develops that plan," the four-time WNBA All-Star said. "When I have my period, I need more recovery days, though they are sometimes hard to come by.

"It's obviously really hard when I'm in season," she added. "But when I am in the fourth week of my cycle, Susan pushes me to do more meditation and yoga, and focus on relaxing at night to calm my body."

Recovery tools are a significant part of the equation. And for Stewart, Therabody — the health and wellness brand she invested in — offers several products for managing her menstrual symptoms, she said.

Stewart initially used the company's PowerDot to stimulate her quadriceps and avoid muscle atrophy while recovering from Achilles surgery. But soon after she started implementing the muscle stimulator into her routine, she learned it could also be used to alleviate cramping as well as reduce menstrual flow, clot formation, and fatigue.

PowerDot capitalizes on the research-backed strategy of treating dysmenorrhea — the scientific term for period pain — with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). Not only is TENS proven to intercept pain signals before they reach the brain, but it also stimulates the release of endorphins to promote pain relief.

Studies have even suggested that TENS therapy can help individuals experiencing period pain reduce the amount of pain medication they would otherwise take to manage their symptoms.

"When I'm about to get my period I often feel bloated and have cramping and lower back pain," Stewart said, explaining that she uses the PowerDot "on any body part I anticipate will be sore after a hard workout."

"I also use it on my lower back when I get my period because my back gets really sore," she added. "It's incredible how within just a few minutes of using PowerDot, I already start to feel better."

Therabody offers additional tools that help the two-time Olympic gold medalist manage her menstrual symptoms, too. She uses the Theragun "to preemptively alleviate soreness so there's one less thing to worry about when I know I'm about to get my period." Stewart also makes a habit of wearing Therabody's RecoveryAir JetBoots "at night while watching TV on the couch with my wife and daughter" to maximize blood circulation in her legs and "minimize the pain and cramping from my period."

The 6-foot-4 superstar insists that, collectively, these treatments have "absolutely changed my life" by helping her "train for success and feel better during my menstrual cycle." And by discussing her strategies for managing her period, she hopes to help chip away at the enduring stigma surrounding menstrual cycles and related treatment.

"The menstrual cycle is still a topic that people are uncomfortable really diving into," Stewart said. "For women, we menstruate once every month, and it is important to understand the questions we all have — like how you should take care of your bodies during each phase of your cycle, and how to get relief, especially during the first few days when many women experience the most intense pain."

In recent months, the topic of menstuation as it relates to female athletes has become more commonplace. In May, LPGA star Lydia Ko truthfully responded to a question about receiving physio treatment at a tournament: "It's that time of the month." A Chinese tennis player blamed menstual cramps for hampering her performance after a French Open loss, and periods became a hot-button talking point at Wimbledon this year because of the strict, all-white dress code enforced at the All-England Club.

"There is still so much for young ladies, women, and even men to learn about female menstruation and how to best take care of the body at different times throughout their cycle," Stewart added. "Education opens the door for more opportunities for women to enhance our lives by alleviating pain and stress around our periods."