Identifying Periods of High Training Load Considering the Menstrual Cycle Phases in Elite and Non-elite Female Athletes

ConditionsMenstrual Cycle Athletes Physical Activity

Trial statusRecruiting

Trial phaseNot listed

Trial typeObservational

Biological sexFemale

Age18-50

SponsorWingate Institute

About this trial

Despite a rise in the number of women participating in competitive sports, there remains a gender gap within sport and exercise science literature. Studying females involves potential "noise" through the change in hormone concentrations during the different phases of the female menstrual cycle (MC) which can potentially affect physiological parameters, thereby making study design and interpretation of findings difficult. Longitudinal data on the acute and chronic combined effects of training load and MC phases on circulating female hormones in elite and non-elite female athletes is lacking.

The investigators aim to characterize and track the potential effects of training load and MC phases on performance, anthropometric measures, sport emotions, intestinal microbiome, serum metabolites and injury prevalence in elite and non-elite female athletes.

200 competitive premenopausal female athletes will be recruited. In a longitudinal observational design, each participant will be followed for 1 year, and tested at three time points. At each point, data will be collected on two occasions reflecting distinct phases of the MC.

Finding the possible relationship between the MC phases, training load and performance or specific bio-markers for training load are of utmost importance and can assist professionals to identify periods of high load and over-training, thus preventing injuries and training adjustment.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Elite athletes are defined as participating and competing at national and/or international level at their sports.

Non-elite athletes are defined as performing at least 3 hours of physical activity per week.

Disqualifiers

Currently pregnant or lactating or planning a pregnancy in the following year.

Regular drug use which may affect performance, including but not limited to performance enhancing drugs.

Any medical diagnosis, including recent or current injury, which could affect performance and/or health under the discretion of the study team.

Trial population

Competitive elite and non-elite female athletes.

Trial design

Design model

Cohort

Time perspective

Prospective

Treatments tested in this trial

Effect of training loads and sport performance level on health and sport performance
Behavioral
Effect of training loads and sport performance level on health and sport performance

Treatment groups

200 Participants

are divided into 2 treatment groups

Group A: Regular cycle1 intervention

Group B: Irregular/contraceptives1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

Stool Microbiome

Participants will receive kits in order to collect stool samples at home, and store it in their home freezers until they will be delivered to the Elinav lab at the Weizmann Institute, where they will be stored encoded at -80C. A whole-genome shotgun metagenomics sequencing will be performed on the samples. This will enable the investigators to sample all genes in all organisms present in each sample, including unknown unculturable bacteria.

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Serum metabolomics

An untargeted high-performance liquid-chromatography mass-spectrometry is used to characterize the small molecules profile in plasma samplesץ

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

VO2max

Maximal Aerobic power

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Countermovement jump

Countermovement jump performance will be measured using the Optojump Next system. The participants will be instructed to start from an upright position and to descend to a self-selected depth by bending at the hips and knees, immediately followed by a maximal vertical jump effort. Participants' hands will be kept on their hips throughout the entire movement. Participants will perform three attempts, separated by 30 seconds rest. Jump height will be recorded to the nearest 0.1 cm. The best and calculation of average jumps' height will be selected for statistical analysis.

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Secondary outcomes

Anthropometric (Height)

Height in centimeters

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Psychological questionnaire (Positive-Affect Negative-Affect scale - PANAS)

Two primary general dimensions of mood, positive and negative affect, will be measured by using the Positive-Affect Negative-Affect Scale. The 20-items scale is internally consistent and has excellent convergent and discriminant correlations with lengthier measures of the same underlying mood factors. The participants will be asked to rate themselves on a five-point Likert scale.

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Anthropometric (Weight)

Body mass in kg

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Percentage body fat (%)

Body fat will assessed using Dexa

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months

Other outcomes

Psychological questionnaire (The Sport Emotion Questionnaire (SEQ)

The Sport Emotion Questionnaire (SEQ) is a sport-specific measure of precompetitive emotion grounded in the experience of athletes, assessing: anger, anxiety, dejection, excitement, and happiness. The SEQ shows good evidence of validity and reliability and represents a range of emotions with greater emphasis on positive emotions than that provided by other available group-oriented measures for use in sport research. The participants will be asked to rate themselves on a five-point Likert scale.

Time frame

3-6 times during 12 months