A recent study has found that the use of oral contraceptives (OC) by young women may lead to impaired muscle gains and is associated with low hormone levels.

It is important to note here that the effect of contraceptives on the body composition and exercise performance was not studied in detail before this study.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Findings

The researchers found that:

* There were significant differences in lean mass gains (OC: 2.1±2.1%  vs. non-OC: 3.5±3.2% / OC: 1.0±1.0kg vs. no-OC: 1.6±1.4kg, p<0.05).  However, other muscle responses such as strength gains and arm/leg circumferences were similar between the OC and non-OC users.

* Resting/fasting blood concentrations of the anabolic hormones were significantly lower in women taking OC vs. non-OC users throughout the study period.  At the same time, plasma concentrations of cortisol (catabolic hormone) were elevated.

* Those OC users had reduced DHEA hormone at the end of the training period. By contrast, the other participants’ levels did not change.

The findings were disclosed in a study entitled Oral Contraceptive Use Impairs Muscle Gains in Young Women.

This study was conducted by Chang-Woock Lee and Steven E. Riechman, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; and Mark A. Newman, Human Energy Research Laboratory, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.