What does this research mean for the field?

Female endurance athletes with oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea experience significantly greater reductions in diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure 60 minutes post-exercise compared to eumenorrheic athletes. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to determine the differences in post-exercise hypotension between female endurance athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea and eumenorrheic athletes.

March 7, 2026Open Access

Enhanced post-exercise hypotension in female athletes with menstrual disorders

Key Result

Female endurance athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea showed significantly greater reductions in DBP and MAP at 60 min post-exercise compared to eumenorrheic athletes.

Key Points

This research aims to determine the differences in post-exercise hypotension between female endurance athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea and eumenorrheic athletes.
Compared ten eumenorrheic athletes with eight athletes experiencing oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea.
Conducted incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion and measured various hemodynamic parameters.
Assessed blood pressure, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance, and baroreflex sensitivity at multiple post-exercise time points.
Both athlete groups experienced significant post-exercise hypotension.
No baseline differences in systolic blood pressure; however, diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure were higher in the OAA group at baseline.
Significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure were observed at 60 minutes post-exercise in the OAA group compared to the EA group.

Structured PICO

Does incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion cause greater post-exercise hypotension in female endurance athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea compared to eumenorrheic athletes?

Population

18 female endurance athletes, comprising 10 eumenorrheic (EA) athletes and 8 athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea (OAA).

Intervention

Incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion in athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea (OAA)

Comparator

Incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion in eumenorrheic (EA) athletes (tested during the early follicular phase)

Outcome

Magnitude of post-exercise hypotension (brachial blood pressure) at 15, 30, and 60 minutes post-exercise in the supine positionsurrogate

Female endurance athletes with menstrual disorders experience augmented post-exercise hypotension compared to eumenorrheic athletes, suggesting chronic hypoestrogenism alters hemodynamic recovery.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%

Abstract

To investigate whether the magnitude of post-exercise hypotension (PEH) is greater in female endurance athletes with oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea (OAA) compared with eumenorrheic (EA) athletes, and to examine the associated hemodynamic correlates. Ten EA athletes (tested during the early follicular phase) and eight OAA athletes performed incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion. Brachial blood pressure (BP), cardiac output (CO), total peripheral resistance (TPR), and spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (SBRS) were assessed at baseline and at 15 (P15), 30 (P30), and 60 (P60) min post-exercise in the supine position. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare temporal responses between groups. Both groups demonstrated significant PEH. Absolute systolic BP showed no between-group differences at baseline or during post-exercise recovery, whereas absolute diastolic BP (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were higher at baseline in the OAA group. When expressed as changes from baseline, reductions in DBP and MAP at P60 were significantly greater in the OAA group than in the EA group (both p < 0.05). Post-exercise changes in CO and relative changes in TPR and SBRS demonstrated significant main effects of time ( p < 0.05) but showed no significant between-group differences. These findings suggest that chronic hypoestrogenism may augment PEH in female endurance athletes through mechanisms not fully explained by systemic TPR or SBRS.