Background and Purpose: Physiological changes associated with different phases of the menstrual cycle may affect women’s cardiovascular endurance capacity. This study aimed to examine the effects of concurrent resistance-aerobic training during the follicular and luteal phases on the cardiovascular endurance of healthy young women.
Methods: This semi-experimental study involved 23 young women with regular menstrual cycles (mean age 17.35±2.08 years; cycle length 26.52±1.83 days). Concurrent training was implemented separately in each phase over 8 weeks, with three sessions per week. A washout period based on each participant's menstrual pattern was considered to control for crossover effects between phases.
Results: Training in both phases led to significant improvements in cardiovascular endurance (follicular phase: t=18.64, P<0.001; luteal phase: t=15.36, P<0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in training effectiveness between the follicular and luteal phases (F=1.677, P=0.203).
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the timing of training across different menstrual cycle phases does not result in significant differences in improving cardiovascular endurance in healthy young women.