The aim of this PhD project is to utilize gold-standard methodologies to examine the influence of three hormonally distinct menstrual cycle phases (early follicular, ovulatory, and mid luteal) on different aspects of endurance performance and recovery in endurance trained females.
Key Objectives
1. Explore the influence of menstrual cycle phase on endurance performance determining variables.
2. Investigate the acute physiological response to standardized endurance sessions (high intensity intervals and low intensity training sessions) during three distinct phases of the MC.
3. Examine the impact of menstrual cycle phase on subjective recovery and objectively measured sleep following standardized exercise sessions.
Data Collection
Data collection for this project was carried out in two phases between 2021-2023 across five nationwide centers; UiT (Tromsø), NTNU (Trondheim), NIH (Oslo), Høyskolen Kristiania (Oslo) and Nord University (Meråker). Gold-standard methodology was employed for the assessment and verification of menstrual cycle phase, including calendar-based counting, at home urinary ovulation testing and serum hormone analysis of ovarian hormones on each test day. Over 100 endurance trained women participated in these data collections. Data collection was completed in June 2023, and analysis is underway.
PhD Candidate: Madison Y. Taylor