Menstrual cycle and use of different doses of oral contraceptive do not affect torque parameters in strength training programs

Abstract

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to verify the effects of different periods of Menstrual Cycle (MC) (menstrual and non-menstrual) of women who use (users) or did not use (non-users) oral contraceptive (OC); (b) to compare the influence of the use of different doses of OCs at these MC moments. Two groups, women who did not use OC (NCG = 13) and women who use OC (CG = 13). The participants were assessed on the 1^st or 2^nd day of their menstrual period and the 14^th or 15^th day post-menstrual period. The Peak Torque (PT) and work (W) variables were evaluated at all MC moments. To compare the estrogen dosage, CG was subdivided into two subgroups, (ULCG = 6) that used ultra-low doses of estrogen and a group (LCG = 7) that used low. No interaction (group x period) was observed for PT_isometric (F=0.170, p=0.687), PT_concentric (F=0.495, p=0.495) and PT_eccentric (F=0.348, p=0.566), W_concentric (F=0.001, p=0.971) and W_eccentric (F=0.075, p=0.790). In addition, no significant interactions (dose x period) were observed in the torque parameters between women who used OC at different estrogen dosages (PT_isometric: F=0.803, p=0.411; PT_concentric: F=0.548, p=0.492; PT_eccentric: F=0.239, p=0.645; W_concentric: F=0.030, p=0.869, W_eccentric: F=0.027, p=0.876). In conclusion, using or not using OC seems to have no effect on torque parameters at the different moments of MC. Furthermore, the different doses of the OCs did not seem to promote effects on torque and work during MC.