INTRODUCTION: The hormonal fluctuations during the phases of the menstrual cycle (MC) have an impact on female athletes` self-reported physical fitness and performance (1) and they also lead to changes in mood and fatigue (2). Female athletes perceive their worst state of fitness and performance during bleeding, the early follicular phase (EFP), while their perceived best state of fitness and performance is in the late follicular phase (LFP) (1). In contrast to that, the physiological ability to recover after exercise is better in the luteal phase (LP) compared to the EFP (3). METHODS: In total eight female German national field hockey players (17.0 ± 1.8 years; 164.5 ± 7.7 cm; 54.3 ± 4.4 kg) were included in this pilot study. They were not using hormonal contraceptives and had a regular MC (26.9 ± 3.2 days cycle length; 3.8 ± 0.9 days bleeding length). The phases of the MC were determined with a menstrual bleeding calendar. Based on the self-reported menstrual bleeding days, the MC was divided by the calendar method into three phases: EFP, LFP and LP. To assess individuals` acute recovery and stress levels the psychometric Short Recovery and Stress Scale for Sport (SRSS) was filled-in every morning (4). To assess their daily physical workload the Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR) was used (5). A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to detect differences in means within the MC phases (p< 0.05). RESULTS: No significant changes in the SRSS states and the ACWR (EFP 1.0 ± 0.3; LFP 1.0 ± 0.3; LP 1.1 ± 0.1) across MC phases were observed (p > 0.05). However, athletes` states of physical (EFP 4.1 ± 1.0; LFP 4.2 ± 0.8; LP 4.3 ± 0.8), mental (EFP 4.1 ± 0.4; LFP 4.3 ± 0.8; LP 4.3 ± 0.6) , emotional (EFP 4.3 ± 0.7; LFP 4.6 ± 0.9; LP 4.4 ± 0.8) and overall recovery (EFP 4.0 ± 0.7; LFP 4.3 ± 0.6; LP 4.1 ± 0.8) tended to be higher in the LFP, while the states of physical (EFP 1.4 ± 0.7; LFP 1.3 ± 0.5; LP 1.5 ± 0.7), mental (EFP 1.8 ± 0.7; LFP 1.5 ± 1.1; LP 1.7 ± 0.9), emotional (EFP 1.5 ± 1.1; LFP 1.0 ± 0.6; LP 1.3 ± 0.6) and overall stress (EFP 1.8 ± 0.6; LFP 1.4 ± 0.5; LP 1.8 ± 0.7) tended to be lower in the LP. CONCLUSION: There is no significant effect of MC phase on workload and the acute states of recovery and stress in elite female field hockey players. However, the athletes have a higher states of recovery and a lower states of stress in the LFP than in the EFP and the LP. Especially the emotional and overall states of recovery and stress tend to be more sensitive to MC phases.
© Copyright 2022 27th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Sevilla, 30. Aug - 2. Sep 2022. Julkaistu Tekijä Faculty of Sport Science - Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään. / Kääntänyt https://www.DeepL.com/Translator