Study, 2021
Does the point in the menstrual cycle change mood, anxiety and exercise performance in active women?
It made a small difference to aerobic fitness and to how exercise affected depression, but most other measures of mood, anxiety and performance did not clearly differ between cycle phases.
What they did
12 physically active women (average age 24.9 years) were tested twice, once in the early follicular phase and once in the mid luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. In each phase they did aerobic and anaerobic exercise tests, and the researchers measured saliva hormone levels (estradiol and cortisol), mood and anxiety before and after exercise.
What they found
Estradiol levels before exercise were higher in the mid luteal phase than the early follicular phase, a clear difference. Aerobic fitness (VO2max) was higher in the early follicular phase (39.9 mL/kg/min) than the mid luteal phase (36.9 mL/kg/min). Depression scores went down after aerobic exercise, but only in the early follicular phase. No other clear differences were found between the two phases for exercise performance, mood or hormone changes.
What it means for you
Active women may see a small dip in aerobic fitness and get less of a mood lift from exercise during the luteal phase compared with the follicular phase, but most other effects did not clearly differ by cycle phase. The study only tested 12 women, so these findings need confirming in larger groups.
12
Women studied
39.9 mL/kg/min
VO2max, early follicular phase
36.9 mL/kg/min
VO2max, mid luteal phase
About the study
- Original title
- The impact of menstrual-cycle phase on basal and exercise-induced hormones, mood, anxiety and exercise performance in physically active women
- Authors
- Paludo AC, Cook CJ, Owen JA et al.
- Journal
- The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness
- Year
- 2021
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Comparing exercise performance, hormones, mood and anxiety in two different menstrual cycle phases (early follicular vs mid luteal)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.23736/s0022-4707.20.10844-2
Topics
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