Transactions on Data Analysis in Social Science

Transactions on Data Analysis in Social Science

The Effect of Different Phases of The Menstrual Cycle on Some Physiological Indicators (Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Maximal Oxygen Consumption and Anaerobic Capacity) In Female Athletes

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Assistant Professor, Sports Science Department, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran.
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different phases of the menstrual cycle on physiological indicators (heart rate, blood pressure, VO2max and anaerobic capacity) in female athletes. 15 female athletes (mean age 21.73±1.49 years, height 1.61±0.04 m, weight 58.03±5.99 kg) with at least three years of athletic experience and no history of taking hormonal and sexual drugs for six months participated in this study because their monthly cycle was normally 25-35 days. To accurately determine the different phases of the monthly cycle (early follicular phase, late follicular phase, and mid-luteal phase), estrogen and progesterone measurements were used by the blood serum method. To minimize the effects of learning, the subjects were randomly divided into three groups, and each group started the test from a different phase than the other groups. Resting heart rate on awakening and blood pressure after half an hour of rest before blood sampling and lying down were measured. Riming-Astrand and RAST submaximal tests were also used to estimate VO2max and anaerobic power. Repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni's post hoc test (P≥0.05) were used to analyze the research results. The results showed that Resting heart rate increased significantly during the mid-luteal phase compared to the other two phases. At the end of the follicular phase, resting systolic blood pressure and VO2max showed a significant increase. Also, maximum anaerobic power and fatigue index were associated with a significant decrease in the mid-luteal phase, while no significant difference was observed in resting diastolic blood pressure, minimum power and average power. The results obtained confirm the influence of the different phases of the menstrual cycle on the physiological indicators of female athletes; therefore, when measuring the physiological indicators of athletes, the effect of the different phases of the menstrual cycle should also be considered.
Keywords

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Volume 1, Issue 4
Autumn 2019
Pages 205-214

  • Receive Date 04 July 2019
  • Revise Date 20 September 2019
  • Accept Date 15 December 2019