According to a study presented Friday at the American Physiological Society meeting recently held as part of the 2009 Experimental Biology conference in New Orleans, young women who use oral contraceptives may not get as much out of their weight lifting routine as women who are not on the pill.

 

 For the study, researchers from Texas A&M University in College Station analyzed 73 generally healthy women between 18 and 31 years old who participated in whole-resistance exercises three times per week for 10 weeks. Thirty-four of the participants used oral contraceptives and 39 did not. They were encouraged to eat enough protein to promote muscle growth.

 

Blood samples taken by the researchers revealed that the group that did not take the pill had 60 percent less muscle mass development that the group that didn’t.

 

“The present study is meaningful in that we have identified a potential new factor that may be independently associated with the characteristics and variability of muscle responses to a controlled resistance exercise training program,” Chang-Woock Lee, from Texas A&M University in College Station said.

 

The study also found that other muscle responses, such as strength gains and arm/leg circumferences, were similar between the OC and non-OC users.

 

“Numerous health and performance benefits including improved exercise/athletic performance, body composition, esthetic beauty, and self-image can be attained from the increased muscle mass and strength associated with resistance exercise training. OC users may not be able to fully enjoy those benefits while experiencing impaired exercise performance and difficulties achieving athletic goals due to diminished muscle responses they get from resistance exercise training,” Lee concluded.