Survey study, 1994
Does regular exercise reduce negative mood and pain during the menstrual cycle?
Yes. Regular exercisers reported significantly lower scores on negative mood, poor concentration, behavior change, and pain compared to non-exercisers, but similar positive mood levels.
What they did
Cross-sectional comparison of 97 women who exercise regularly and 159 women who don't exercise. All completed mood and menstrual symptom questionnaires at three different times in their cycle: premenstrually, menstrually, and intermenstrually.
What they found
Regular exercisers obtained significantly lower scores on impaired concentration, negative affect, behavior change and pain. No differences were found between groups on positive affect and other physical symptoms. Effects were significant across all menstrual cycle phases.
What it means for you
Regular moderate exercise may reduce certain negative symptoms during the cycle, particularly mood and concentration problems. However, this was a cross-sectional study without random assignment, so we cannot confirm that exercise causes these improvements rather than that women who exercise may differ in other ways.
97
regular exercisers
159
non-exercisers
4
symptom categories improved
About the study
- Original title
- Aerobic exercise, mood states and menstrual cycle symptoms
- Authors
- Aganoff JA, Boyle GJ
- Journal
- Journal of psychosomatic research
- Year
- 1994
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 159
- What was tested
- Regular moderate exercise
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(94)90114-7
Topics
Related studies
Randomised trial, 2026
Does aerobic or resistance exercise reduce anxiety in women with PMS?
Lab study, 2026
Do core stability exercises help women with PMDD?
Cohort study, 2026
Are diet and lifestyle linked to premenstrual symptoms in college students?
Cohort study, 2026
Does the menstrual cycle phase affect how much physical activity women do?
Cohort study, 2026
Are stress, physical activity, and diet linked to premenstrual symptoms?
Randomised trial, 2026
Is yoga or aerobic exercise better for reducing PMS symptoms in adolescent girls?