Study of Vo2 Max During Phases of Menstruation in Young Female Athletes

Abstract

Context:The menstrual cycle is a natural monthly event in young women, coordinated by the hypothalamic-pituitary ovarian axis and may influence physiological and pathological changes that occur throughout the life time of the woman. There is a cyclical change in sex hormones during the course of menstrual cycle that have the potential effects on exercise capacity and performance through numerous mechanisms, such as substrate metabolism, cardiorespiratory function, thermoregulation, psychological factors and injuries. Consequently hormone level changes may theoretically lead to either improved or decreased performance at various times throughout the menstrual cycle. Physiological indices such as heart rate, tension, VO2max and aerobic power are of the main indicators of exercise performance, a potential change in these indices over the menstrual cycle will have large practical implications for female athletes. VO2 max is highly predictive of endurance performance, hence the present study was done to evaluate whether there is any changes in the VO2 max during phases of menstruation in young female athletes. Aim: The present study was done to evaluate the VO2 max during phases of menstruation in young female athletes. Settings and Design: The present study was a cross sectional study consisting of 30 healthy female athletes of 17-20 years of age. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Adichunchanagiri institute of medical sciences after the institutional ethical clearance and written consent from each participant. VO2 max (maximum oxygen uptake) was indirectly assessed by the Astrand nomogram method from submaximal exercise data obtained using Harvard step test during all the three phases of menstrual cycle. Results: The parameters were analyzed for statistical significance using Students't' test and p<0.05 was considered the level of significance. There were no significant changes in the VO2 max during all the phases of menstrual