Janse de Jonge Xanne A K
School of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Sports Med. 2003;33(11):833-51. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200333110-00004.
This article reviews the potential effects of the female steroid hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle on exercise performance. The measurement of estrogen and progesterone concentration to verify menstrual cycle phase is a major consideration in this review. However, even when hormone concentrations are measured, the combination of differences in timing of testing, the high inter- and intra-individual variability in estrogen and progesterone concentration, the pulsatile nature of their secretion and their interaction, may easily obscure possible effects of the menstrual cycle on exercise performance. When focusing on studies using hormone verification and electrical stimulation to ensure maximal neural activation, the current literature suggests that fluctuations in female reproductive hormones throughout the menstrual cycle do not affect muscle contractile characteristics. Most research also reports no changes over the menstrual cycle for the many determinants of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), such as lactate response to exercise, bodyweight, plasma volume, haemoglobin concentration, heart rate and ventilation. Therefore, it is not surprising that the current literature indicates that VO2max is not affected by the menstrual cycle. These findings suggest that regularly menstruating female athletes, competing in strength-specific sports and intense anaerobic/aerobic sports, do not need to adjust for menstrual cycle phase to maximise performance. For prolonged exercise performance, however, the menstrual cycle may have an effect. Even though most research suggests that oxygen consumption, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion responses to sub-maximal steady-state exercise are not affected by the menstrual cycle, several studies report a higher cardiovascular strain during moderate exercise in the mid-luteal phase. Nevertheless, time to exhaustion at sub-maximal exercise intensities shows no change over the menstrual cycle. The significance of this finding should be questioned due to the low reproducibility of the time to exhaustion test. During prolonged exercise in hot conditions, a decrease in exercise time to exhaustion is shown during the mid-luteal phase, when body temperature is elevated. Thus, the mid-luteal phase has a potential negative effect on prolonged exercise performance through elevated body temperature and potentially increased cardiovascular strain. Practical implications for female endurance athletes may be the adjustment of competition schedules to their menstrual cycle, especially in hot, humid conditions. The small scope of the current research and its methodological limitations warrant further investigation of the effect of the menstrual cycle on prolonged exercise performance.
本文综述了月经周期中女性甾体激素波动对运动表现的潜在影响。在本综述中，测量雌激素和孕激素浓度以验证月经周期阶段是一个主要考虑因素。然而，即使测量了激素浓度，测试时间的差异、雌激素和孕激素浓度在个体间和个体内的高变异性、它们分泌的脉冲性质及其相互作用，可能很容易掩盖月经周期对运动表现的潜在影响。当关注使用激素验证和电刺激以确保最大神经激活的研究时，当前文献表明，整个月经周期中女性生殖激素的波动不会影响肌肉收缩特性。大多数研究还报告，最大摄氧量（VO2max）的许多决定因素，如运动时的乳酸反应、体重、血浆量、血红蛋白浓度、心率和通气，在月经周期中没有变化。因此，当前文献表明VO2max不受月经周期影响也就不足为奇了。这些发现表明，定期月经的女性运动员，参加力量专项运动和高强度无氧/有氧运动时，无需根据月经周期阶段进行调整以最大化表现。然而，对于长时间运动表现，月经周期可能有影响。尽管大多数研究表明，次最大稳态运动时的耗氧量、心率和自觉用力评分反应不受月经周期影响，但有几项研究报告，在黄体中期进行中等强度运动时心血管压力更高。然而，次最大运动强度下的疲劳时间在月经周期中没有变化。由于疲劳时间测试的重现性低，这一发现的意义值得质疑。在炎热条件下进行长时间运动时，在黄体中期，当体温升高时，运动至疲劳的时间会缩短。因此，黄体中期通过升高体温和潜在增加的心血管压力，对长时间运动表现有潜在负面影响。对女性耐力运动员的实际影响可能是根据月经周期调整比赛日程，尤其是在炎热、潮湿的条件下。当前研究范围小及其方法学局限性，需要进一步研究月经周期对长时间运动表现的影响。
