The Influence of Menstrual-Cycle Phase on Measures of Recovery Status in Endurance Athletes: The Female Endurance Athlete Project

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the influence of menstrual-cycle (MC) phase on measures of recovery status, that is, resting heart rate, perceived sleep quality, and physical and mental readiness to train, among female endurance athletes.

Methods: Daily data were recorded during 1 to 4 MCs (ie, duration ≥21 and ≤35 d, ovulatory, luteal phase ≥10 d) of 41 trained-to-elite-level female endurance athletes (mean [SD]: age 27 [8] y, weekly training: 9 [3] h). Resting heart rate was assessed daily using a standardized protocol, while perceived sleep quality and physical and mental readiness to train were assessed using a visual analog scale (1-10). Four MC phases (early follicular phase [EFP], late follicular phase, ovulatory phase, and midluteal phase [MLP]) were determined using the calendar-based counting method and urinary ovulation-prediction test. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.

Results: Resting heart rate was significantly higher in MLP (1.7 beats·min-1, P = .006) compared with EFP without significant differences between the other MC phases. Perceived sleep quality was impaired in MLP compared with late follicular phase (-0.3, P = .035). Physical readiness to train was lower both in ovulatory phase (-0.6, P = .015) and MLP (-0.5, P = .026) compared with EFP. Mental readiness to train did not show any significant differences between MC phases (P > .05).

Conclusions: Although significant, the findings had negligible to small effect sizes, indicating that MC phase is likely not the main determinant of changes in measures of recovery status but, rather, one of the many possible stressors.

Keywords: follicular phase; hormonal fluctuations; luteal phase; ovulatory phase; readiness to train; resting heart rate; sleep quality.