Study, 1995
Does exercise reduce how much stress affects women before their period?
It is unclear. Exercise reduced how much heart rate increased in response to stress, but mood changes in response to stress were actually greater in exercising women. The menstrual cycle did not affect how much stress changed performance.
What they did
Researchers tested 20 regularly exercising women and 20 sedentary women. Each woman completed a stressful laboratory task at three times during her cycle: premenstrual, menstrual, and postmenstrual phases. Heart rate, blood pressure, and mood were measured.
What they found
Exercising women had smaller heart rate increases in response to the stress task than sedentary women. However, exercisers showed larger mood changes in response to stress. The menstrual cycle phase affected baseline heart rate and baseline mood but did not change how much the stress task affected heart rate response, mood response, or performance.
What it means for you
Exercise and the menstrual cycle appear to affect the body and mood separately. The idea that women are especially vulnerable to stress before menstruation was not clearly shown in this study. The timing in the cycle did not change how much stress actually affected performance or immediate physical responses. The study is small.
20
exercising women
20
sedentary women
About the study
- Original title
- Stress responsivity in exercisers and non-exercisers during different phases of the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Choi PY, Salmon P
- Journal
- Social science & medicine (1982)
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 20
- What was tested
- Comparison of regular exercisers and sedentary women
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00043-7
Topics
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