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Exercise Training in the Normal Female: Effects of Low Energy Availability on Reproductive Function

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Endocrinology of Physical Activity and Sport

Part of the book series: Contemporary Endocrinology ((COE))

Abstract

This chapter begins with a brief description of our current understanding of the female athlete triad. It explains what had been the three most widely held hypotheses about the cause of the triad, and then summarizes the prospective clinical experiments that identified low energy availability as the specific cause. Exercise was found to have no suppressive effect on reproductive function beyond the impact of its energy cost on energy availability, and the suppression was found to occur abruptly below a threshold of 30 kcal per kilogram of fat-free mass per day. The chapter closes by identifying four distinct origins of low energy availability among female athletes, and stresses the importance of identifying the particular origin in each case of the triad before attempting to modify that athlete’s diet and exercise behavior.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    Anne B. Loucks PHD

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Correspondence to Anne B. Loucks PHD .

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  1. , Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hadassah-Hebrew UMC, 4 Ha'razim St, Jerusalem, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel

    Naama Constantini

  2. , Applied Physiology Laboratory, UNC at Chapel Hill, 203 Fezter Hall, Chapel Hill, 27599, North Carolina, USA

    Anthony C. Hackney

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Loucks, A.B. (2013). Exercise Training in the Normal Female: Effects of Low Energy Availability on Reproductive Function. In: Constantini, N., Hackney, A. (eds) Endocrinology of Physical Activity and Sport. Contemporary Endocrinology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-314-5_11

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