Female athletes often worry about the “pill cycle” and how it’ll affect their endurance, but a new study suggests you don’t have to. The study published in the journal of Perceptual and Motor Skills looked at whether female rowers had better or worse endurance during different phases of the oral contraceptive cycle. During a moderate one-hour row done in the two pill phases, the rowers had similar values in measures like energy expenditure, oxygen consumption and heart rate.
The authors concluded that endurance-trained female athletes should not worry how different phases of the oral contraceptive cycle might harm their endurance.
But the bottom line is: women tolerate contraceptives differently. There are a number of different pills on the market, all varying in their level of hormones. Talk to your doctor to see if contraceptives are right for you.
