Hormonal
Oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use results in trivial or slightly inferior exercise performance compared to naturally menstruating women, with no practical group-level difference warranting general guidance against use.
If you take combined oral contraceptives, do not expect them to significantly boost or hinder your performance on average. The data shows any disadvantage is trivial and highly variable between individuals. You do not need to stop taking your pill to perform, nor do you need to time your training to specific weeks of the pack. Focus on individual response: if you feel good, keep taking it; if you feel consistently worse, consult a doctor about other contraceptive options, but do not assume OCPs are inherently performance-limiting.
OCP use might result in slightly inferior exercise performance on average when compared to naturally menstruating women, although any group-level effect is most likely to be trivial. Practically, as effects tended to be trivial and variable across studies, the current evidence does not warrant general guidance on OCP use compared with non-use.
Why this rating
The meta-analysis includes 42 studies and 590 participants, but 83% were graded as moderate, low, or very low quality, and there was large between-study variance.
Source
The Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Exercise Performance in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Kirsty J. Elliott‐Sale et al. · Sports Medicine · 2020
DOI 10.1007/s40279-020-01317-5
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