Which Menstrual Cup Is Best For Exercising: Lily Cup Compact & Saalt Menstrual Cup Review

“Which Menstrual Cup Is Best For Exercising: Lily Cup Compact & Saalt Menstrual Cup Review” – Monica May

I always hated working out on my period.

There’s absolutely nothing worse than having to sweat while wearing a maxi pad, constantly getting inside your butt cheeks, and making exercising ever harder.

In the long years I’ve been into fitness, I’ve tried so many things to make working out on my period more barrable.

There were days when working out while using a tampon was simply too uncomfortable for me, not to mention the fact that I always experienced leakage.

So I started reading about the best ways to manage your period while working out.
And that’s how I first got into menstrual cups.

Since then, working out on my period became as simple as working out on any other day.

However, it was a bumpy road till I found a cup that works for me best.

And today I’m giving you a full guide on why menstrual cups are amazing for exercises and which menstrual cup is best for exercising.

I’ve tried 2 menstrual cups so far, and finally managed to find the one that works best, especially when it comes to active lifestyle, and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Let’s jump to it right now!

I just want to mention that this article is not sponsored in any way.
I paid for the menstrual cups myself.
I tried Lily Cup Compact by Intimina and The Saalt Cup and today I’m giving my honest review in hopes to help as many of you.
This is my honest review, and my personal experience with the cups.

Can You Exercise With a Menstrual Cup?

Of course.

Not only that you can, but you absolutely should.

Here’s why:

• It’s super comfortable.
  Once the cup is in place, chances are you’ll forget it’s there at all.
  Unlike tampon, cups are super comfortable, especially if you’re active
• It’s adaptable.
  Even if you work out vigorously, the cup will probably stay in place.
  No leaks, no distractions, no matter what you do.
• It holds more.
  I leave my cup for 10-12 hours without changing it, and I can’t say this with tampons or pads.
• No itching or irritations.
  I always had itching problems when using pads, and irritations when using tampons.
  I can’t say any of that for menstrual cups.
• No odors whatsoever.

So, not only you help the planet by making the switch to menstrual cups, but you get tons of benefits making periods so mush more comfortable.

Which Menstrual Cup Is Best For Exercising?

Since I found out about menstrual cups and their amazing benefits while exercising, I instantly wanted to try one out.

So, I stared doing my research and I was already all in with Intimina and their Lily Cups.

Since the only thing I was afraid at first was feeling the cup and not being comfortable wearing it, I knew I had to go with a softer one.
So, I decided to start off with their Lilly Cup Compact.

However, I was wrong about 2 things to start with:

1. Comfort was my #1 priority.
   I couldn’t stand tampons as they were too uncomfortable for me, so I just came to a conclusion that I am too sensitive and needed a softer cup (which was not true at all).
   And two…
2. I never took the quiz.
   So many women were talking about the Put A Cup In It Quiz, but I just went for the cup without doing any quiz (which was obviously a huge mistake, but we’ll get to it in a while).

My Experience With The Lily Cup Compact

I’ve read nothing but positive reviews about the Lily Cup Compact.

It was the softest cup I could get, and I loved the idea that it was collapsible, so I just went for it.

I was super excited to start using it.

Once I got it, I immediately tried it, even before getting my period.
I was just so curious to see how it feels.

I inserted it without any problems with the punch down fold.

Once it was inside, I couldn’t feel anything at all, and I was so happy about it.

The silicon was supper soft, the cup looked even smaller in real life than in the reviews I watched, and I was supper happy about everything.

However, when I got my period, I realized that everything changed.

I put it in, made sure it’s sealed, and did a few squats to really get it in place.

After just 5 minutes of wearing it, I experienced leakage.

So, I went to the bathroom and tried it again:
I kneeled down in a squatting position, relaxed, and all. I made sure the cup is opened and sealed properly.

I experienced leakage again.

This was repeating all day.

I started watching tons of videos troubleshooting my leaking, tried different folds, got my hands inside to make sure everything’s sealed…
Spoiler alert: It was all pointless – I was still leaking.

However, if you know anything about me, you know that I am really persistent when I do almost anything, and since I was desperate to make the cup work, I didn’t stop trying.

I tried it every single day for the rest of my period.
Some days were better than others, but all in all I was experiencing leakage most of the time.

At this point, working out with the cup only was almost impossible because of the leakage, so I just wore a pad too.

Apparently from what I was reading and noticing, the cup kept collapsing inside me, making it break the seal and leak.

But as I said, am not a quitter.
I don’t give up easily, so I kept using the cup for the next 6 periods.

At the end of the day I was a real newbie in menstrual cups, so I figured it would take some time for me to learn how to do it right.

And it was a disappointment every single time –  I just couldn’t get it to work properly, especially when I was exercising, or being active.

After 6 months of struggling it hit me:

Maybe the problem isn’t in me, maybe it’s the cup.

And yes, it was the cup.

After 6 months of pointlessly trying to make it work, I started reading and found out that although the Lily Cup Compact was so famous, there were so many people experiencing leakage.

And that was because of 3 things:

1. The cup was supper soft, which makes it really comfortable (you don’t feel it at all).
   However, if you’re working out you already have strong pelvic floor muscles and chances are your vaginal muscles are punching down your cup and breaking the seal.
2. The cup is collapsible, and it takes real skill to insert it and make it open properly because of the fact that it’s collapsing inside of you.
   Even if you insert it right, chances are you’ll sit down and the cup will collapse inside you (again linked to your vaginal muscles).
3. This cup was not beginner friendly at all.
   I’ve even tried inserting it after using my other cup, and again, leakage after leakage.

So I decided it was time for me to try another cup.

That’s how I got the Saalt Cup.

Saalt Menstrual Cup Review

If comfort was my priority before, now it was at the bottom of my list.

This time around I was all about making a cup work for me.

I loved the idea of using menstrual cups so much, that I was willing to put up with whatever it took just to make it work.

So, I finally took the quiz, and that’s when I realized that I’ll never make a soft cup work.

Here’s how my results came out:

It all made sense.

I am an extremely active person, I do a lot of weight training, cardio, jumping, running, and yoga, and I needed a cup that’s firmer.

How did I not know this before?

Well, I was so afraid that it would be uncomfortable, that I prioritized comfort instead of finding the best cup for my body type and lyfestyle.

So, I started reading reviews about the Saalt Cup, and decided to just go for it.

And spoiler allert – it was the best decision I’ve ever made regarding my period.

Let me outline again, this is not a sponsored article, and I payed for the Saalt Cup myself.
Although, Saalt, if you’re reading me, please sponsor me :)

This cup was everything I hoped for when I first started using menstrual cups.

It’s just so simple to use – especially inserting, and adjusting to place – you barely do anything, your body just accepts it.

I am more than happy to say that this cup has never EVER leaked in the 5 months I’ve been using it.

It’s a little bit tricky to get out, I’ll be honest.
This is because the suction is so good.
But honestly, I don’t mind the extra effort at all.

I can put up with anything but leaks!

And this cup does that for me.

I’ve done intense HIIT trainings, weight lifting, yoga, running, even swimming – it just holds.

I love using it, it holds so much more that the Lily Cup Compact – Saalt holds 25 mL and I wear it for 10 hours on my heavy days, and up to 14 hours on my lighter days.

I also got the pack with the 2 sizes the small one and the regular one, since I was again afraid of leakage because of sizing problems.

However, I haven’t even tried the bigger one, I’m using only size small and it works perfect.

The only downsize of the cup is the getting out process, which is a bit tricky as I said.

Especially for me, I have a pretty high cervix and I really need to push with all of my pelvic muscles, and pull really hard to get it out.
But honestly, I don’t mind it.

And the best thing is that if you’re not happy with your Saalt product, they offer to send you a replacement you’ll love, or your money back.

That’s honestly amazing. 

I am never ever going back to tampons and pads.

Which Menstrual Cup Is Best For Exercising

Obviously, for me it’s the Saalt Cup.

Right after I tried it out I knew I wanted to do a salt menstrual cup review to share my experience with all of you out there struggling to find your perfect fit, or maybe deciding to try out menstrual cups first time.

The Saalt Cup is also great for beginners, because of the easy insertion.

So when someone asks me “which menstrual cup is best for exercising” I’ll always say Saalt, since I haven’t tried other firmer cups yet.

Maybe they work even better.

If you have any positive, or negative experience with other menstrual cups, please feel free to share it in the comment section bellow.

To finish it all off, I’m leaving you with a list I made myself for the best cups for active people.

Check it out!

I really hope you like my guide and find it helpful.

I just want to outline that this is only my opinion I have out of my personal experience with these cups.

Please know that it can be different for everyone.

Don’t forget to share this article with your friends, help them learn more about menstrual cups and pick out the best one for them.

Till next time, babes!
xo