Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37033884›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in sports and active living2023

Current evidence shows no influence of women's menstrual cycle phase on acute strength performance or adaptations to resistance exercise training.

Lauren M Colenso-Semple, Alysha C D'Souza, Kirsty J Elliott-Sale, Stuart M Phillips

Registry-linked trialAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in sports and active living, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07591818 (Menstrual Cycle and Oral Contraceptive Use in Athletic Performance and Health-related Hydration and Energy Balance Status), which is not on this map. Cited by 63 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
63citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07591818 recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Menstrual Cycle and Oral Contraceptive Use in Athletic Performance and Health-related Hydration and Energy Balance Status

TypeobservationalSponsorFaculdade de Motricidade HumanaRan2026 to 2028Enrolled40ConditionsMenstrual Cycle, Oral Contraceptive Use, Athlete
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

63 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  6. Dietary nitrate and muscle contractile function in women: effect of menstrual cycle phase.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2026
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  8. Caffeine's influence on vertical jump height: a real-life collegiate student-athlete approach.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025
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3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lauren M Colenso-SempleDepartment of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Alysha C D'SouzaDepartment of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Kirsty J Elliott-SaleInstitute of Sport, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Stuart M PhillipsDepartment of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: The bias towards excluding women from exercise science research is often due to the assumption that cyclical fluctuations in reproductive hormones influence resistance exercise performance and exercise-induced adaptations. Methods: Hence, the purpose of this umbrella review was to examine and critically evaluate the evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews on the influence of menstrual cycle phase on acute performance and chronic adaptations to resistance exercise training (RET). Results: We observed highly variable findings among the published reviews on the ostensible effects of female sex hormones on relevant RET-induced outcomes, including strength, exercise performance, and hypertrophy. Discussion: We highlight the importance of comprehensive menstrual cycle verification methods, as we noted a pattern of poor and inconsistent methodological practices in the literature. In our opinion, it is premature to conclude that short-term fluctuations in reproductive hormones appreciably influence acute exercise performance or longer-term strength or hypertrophic adaptations to RET.

Indexed as

exercise performancehypertrophymenstrual cycleresistance trainingstrength

Identifiers

PMID37033884
PMCPMC10076834

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.