Core temperature changes and sprint performance of elite female soccer players after a 15-minute warm-up in a hot-humid environment

The Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Athletes’ Performance: A Narrative Review

“…Performance in most sprinting and multiple jump tasks did not differ by MC phase [38,53,54,68,95,106,108,110]; as some authors purport tissue stiffness is unlikely to change over a MC [35,36], sprinting over short distances and reactive jump performance is unlikely to be affected by MC phase, or is affected by a different mechanism. Performance in other tasks requiring rapid force production was also largely unaffected by MC phase; explosive half squat [71] and countermovement [53,106], vertical [95] and squat jump test [106] outcomes did not vary by MC phase.…”

“…No studies included in this review have measured agility over the MC, despite agility being a significant performance determinant in field-based team sports [130,131]. It should be confirmed whether agility is unaffected by MC phase like other measures of lower body power, such as jumping and sprinting performance [38,53,68,95,106,110] or it is affected by MC phase, potentially as a result of factors other than power such as coordination being adversely affected by MC phase [132].…”

“…Increased body temperature is known to improve performance in short duration activities requiring speed and power via better muscle contractility and force production [37]. It was proposed that the increased basal body temperature in the luteal phase could enhance short duration performance; however, it was found that sufficient active warm up protocol will negate the between-phase differences in basal body temperature and not affect performance [38]. In prolonged activities, the elevation in basal body temperature is suggested to impose greater thermoregulatory and cardiovascular strain, and potentially limit endurance performance, during the luteal phase [39][40][41].…”

“…Sixteen of the included studies examined at least one anaerobic performance outcome; most of these studies (n = 13) determined that MC phase had no effect [38,[52][53][54]71,95,96,100,[106][107][108]110] and three studies demonstrated at least one anaerobic performance outcome fluctuated with MC phase [27,68,93]. Many outcomes derived from tests lasting 3 min or less demonstrated no effect from MC phase [38,52,53,68,71,95,96,100,106], which agrees with Eston and Burke's proposal [112] that MC phase is unlikely to affect performances lasting 3 min or less in duration. Three studies assessing performance in short duration tests were concluded to be affected by MC phase [27,68,93]; 100 and 200 m sprint performance was better in the mid luteal phase [93], vertical jump height greater in the early follicular phase [68] and peak power during a repeated, short duration cycle ergometer sprints was significantly increased during the ovulatory phase [27].…”

“…Other gaps in the literature include the efficacy of commonly used ergogenic aids throughout the MC, the effect of MC phase on agility performance and performance in different environmental conditions. Thus far, only the efficacy of caffeine supplementation during the early follicular, ovulatory phase has been studied in athletes [96,97], and only three studies tested performance in extreme environments [38,98,108]. The effect of beetroot juice on endurance performance in different phases of the MC should be assessed as female sex hormones have been attributed to changes circulating nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthesis [127,128] and the effect of these hormones on the exogenous nitrate to nitric oxide pathway and ergogenic effect in multiple MC phases is yet to be researched.…”