The Effect of Menstrual Cycle Phase, Symptoms, Motivation, and Readiness to Perform on Resistance Training...

The menstrual cycle can influence a range of physiological and psychological processes that may affect physical performance. However, existing evidence is inconsistent and often based on isolated testing timepoints rather than typical training conditions. Monitoring kinematic outputs during resistance training allows quantification of day-to-day performance changes.

This study evaluated whether kinematic outputs during resistance training vary across menstrual cycle phases over two mesocycles and explored associations with symptoms, and perceived motivation and readiness.

This study was conducted at Australian Catholic University (Brisbane, Australia) between February 2023 and June 2025 and was registered with the trial number ACTRN12626000365369. Twenty-eight resistance trained females (mean ± SD; age: 27.1 ± 5.2 years) completed two mesocycles of supervised resistance training. Across the intervention, menstrual cycles were monitored using calendar-based counting, urinary ovulation tests, and retrospective serum 17β-estradiol and progesterone concentrations. Three-repetition maximum (3RM) and load-velocity profiles (LVPs) for the bench press and trap bar deadlift were assessed at baseline, mid training (~4 weeks), and post training (~8 weeks). During each training session, kinematic outputs were recorded for all repetitions, with the fastest repetition from each set used to assess training performance across menstrual cycle phases and the observed velocity compared to the expected velocity from the LVP. Symptoms, perceived motivation, and readiness were reported at the start of each resistance training session.

Significant differences in observed versus expected average peak mean velocity were found in the bench press during phases 1 and 5, and in the deadlift during phases 1 and 6. For both exercises, observed versus expected average peak mean velocity differed by ~ 0.01-0.02 m·s⁻¹ across menstrual cycle phases. After multivariate modeling, motivation to train was a strong predictor of training performance (β = 0.0004, p = 0.021), whereas readiness to perform was not. The symptom domain pain was positively associated with bench press performance (0.00065 m∙s^-1 per unit change; p = 0.018), whereas pain was negatively associated with deadlift performance (- 0.001 per unit change; p < 0.001). Additionally, no significant main effect was found for the symptom domain control, but a between-exercise difference was found (p < 0.03). No other symptom domains showed significant relationships with training performance.

Menstrual cycle phase appears to have minimal effect on resistance training performance, with kinematic outputs demonstrating modest differences compared to what would be expected. Consequently, these findings support consistent resistance training across the menstrual cycle, without the need for phase-based adjustments to maintain performance. However, motivation and symptom profiles may influence resistance training across the menstrual cycle.