Fases do ciclo menstrual e sinais de fadiga em atletas de futsal

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Females have been historically left aside in different sectors of our society, including research and sports. This aspect is even more striking in futsal since it has been traditionally considered a space for men. Even though this reality has been slowly changing and improvements can be seen for women's futsal practitioners and professionals, various structural and financial difficulties still linger. In this project, we aim to study the relationship between fatigue and the different phases of the menstrual cycle in female futsal athletes. This will allow us to give visibility to women's needs while dismantling the tabu of the menstrual cycle and seek low-cost and good-benefit tools to improve sports performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out in a female futsal team in the city of Pelotas/RS and included 15 athletes, aged between 18 and 38 years. To collect the data, we used a questionnaire to characterize the sample, the questionnaire for tracking premenstrual symptoms, the scale of subjective feelings of fatigue, the analysis of heart rate variability, dynamometry, the scale of subjective perception of exertion. and the RAST test. RESULTS: 80% of the athletes had PMS, with varying physical and emotional symptoms. 93.33% consider that their sports performance is impaired by the menstrual cycle. The results that involved physical variables did not show differences, while the variables related to the perception of fatigue and effort showed worse results in the premenstrual phase (PSE: p=0.007 and ESSF: p=0.01). The HRV measurement showed that in the premenstrual phase the athletes have less variability in relation to the other phases (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: The phases of the menstrual cycle, despite not showing differences in the strength test of the athletes, may be related to alterations in the signs of fatigue. We suggest that HRV analysis can be an objective tool to assist in monitoring load and fatigue throughout the menstrual cycle.