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Sex Hormones, Menstrual Cycle, and Resistance Exercise

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Sex Hormones, Exercise and Women

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Abstract

There have been a number of studies about the effects and influence of the menstrual cycle on aerobic and anaerobic performance, but most studies that investigated muscle strength responses to resistance exercise over the menstrual cycle have not found any changes. However, since there are many factors that can influence exercise performance, the effect of the menstrual cycle on muscle strength is probably very individual specific, and hence, the effect of menstrual cycle status on the response to acute resistance exercise is not clear. To this end, some studies have demonstrated that the responses of anabolic hormones to acute resistance exercise in women vary with menstrual cycle status. Women with menstrual disorders associated with low serum estradiol and progesterone levels have an attenuated anabolic hormone response to acute resistance exercise, suggesting that menstrual disorders characterized by low ovarian hormone levels may affect exercise-induced changes in anabolic hormones in women. It has also been suggested that estrogen may be protective against exercise-induced muscle damage, and that recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage may differ between the menstrual cycle phases. These differences might critically affect long-term adaptations to resistance training; however, to date there is little data available to examine this point. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the short-term and long-term effects of changes in skeletal muscle response to resistance exercise by menstrual cycle status in women.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Japan Institute of Sport Sciences, 3-15-1 Nishigaoka, Kita-ku, Tokyo, 115-0056, Japan

    Yuki Nakamura

  2. Senshu University, 2-1-1 Higashimita, Tama-ku, Kanagawa, 214-8580, Japan

    Katsuji Aizawa

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  1. Yuki Nakamura
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  2. Katsuji Aizawa
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Correspondence to Yuki Nakamura .

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  1. Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Anthony C. Hackney

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Nakamura, Y., Aizawa, K. (2023). Sex Hormones, Menstrual Cycle, and Resistance Exercise. In: Hackney, A.C. (eds) Sex Hormones, Exercise and Women. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21881-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21881-1_10

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