The effects of oral contraceptives on delayed onset muscle soreness following exercise.
Several authors have suggested that estrogen may serve to protect skeletal muscle from exercise-induced damage. The present study examined the effects of regularly ingesting estrogen, in the form of oral contraceptives, on postexercise muscle damage following a bench-stepping regimen. Women currently ingesting oral contraceptives (OC) were compared with eumennorheic controls (CG). All subjects performed a 50-min stepping exercise during the midluteal phase of their menstrual cycle. Muscle damage was evaluated on 2, 3, and 5 days postexercise using several established indirect indicators: perceived soreness, strength and range of motion changes, girth measurements, and creatine kinase (CK) activity. Subjects on OC reported significantly lower quadriceps soreness (p < 0.05) relative to the CG (peak soreness = 4.0 and 7.8, respectively, on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is normal and 10 is very, very sore). These results indicate that oral contraceptive use attenuates soreness following an exhaustive stepping activity but cannot support a relationship between estrogen ingestion and other indices of exercise-induced muscle damage.
Thompson
H S
HS
Department of Exercise Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA. hthompso@excsci.umass.edu
Hyatt
J P
JP
De Souza
M J
MJ
Clarkson
P M
PM
D000328:Adult; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000032:analysis; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008183:Luteal Phase; D009132:Muscles / Q000201:enzymology / Q000293:injuries*; D010146:Pain
D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D003402:Creatine Kinase