Study, 2026

Does the menstrual cycle affect athletic performance, recovery, or sleep despite hormone changes?

Hormone levels change significantly across the menstrual cycle and symptoms are higher at certain times, but athletic performance, recovery, and sleep remain consistent in trained women. This is a well-designed study.

Moderate study design 20 trained female participants, age 27 ± 5 years

What they did

Twenty trained female participants tracked their menstrual cycle across two complete cycles. Researchers measured hormone levels, athletic performance (jumps, leg strength, cycling), sleep quality, and symptoms across menstrual phases.

What they found

Estradiol and progesterone varied across the cycle as expected. Menstrual cycle symptoms were significantly higher in phase 1 compared to phases 3 and 4 in the first cycle only. No significant differences were found in athletic performance, recovery, or sleep between phases in either cycle, except for one sleep stage measure in cycle 2. Heart rate was lower in phase 1 versus phase 4. Hormone levels were highly variable within each phase (28% to 95%), while athletic performance showed minimal variation.

What it means for you

Trained female athletes can perform consistently throughout their menstrual cycle despite hormone fluctuations and despite having symptoms at certain times. Practitioners should test athletes when convenient rather than scheduling tests for specific cycle phases. The main limitation is that this only studied trained athletes, so results may not apply to all women.

trained female participants

27 ± 5

average age in years

menstrual cycles measured per person

About the study

Original title: Variations in Estrogen, Progesterone, and Nocturnal Physiology are not Associated with Performance and Sleep within and between Menstrual Cycles
Authors: Pearson MA, Weakley JJS, Johnston RD et al.
Journal: Medicine and science in sports and exercise
Year: 2026
Study design: Study
What was tested: Repeated measurements of performance, hormones, sleep, and heart rate across menstrual cycle phases
Read the paper: doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000003966

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