Effects of oral contraceptive use on muscle strength, muscle thickness, and fiber size and composition in young women undergoing 12 weeks of strength training: a cohort study

Table 2 Macroscopic muscle parameters before and after 12 weeks of submaximal strength training in young women

Variables	Testing	non-OC (n = 40)	OC (n = 34)	non-OC versus OC p	G × T
F_max (kg)	Pre	69.31 ± 14.08	86.54 ± 21.53	0.000	0.073
	Post	92.61 ± 16.17	114.56 ± 24.86	0.000	0.073
	p	0.000	0.000
	Δ	+ 23.30 ± 10.82	+ 28.02 ± 11.50	0.073
Mtk (cm²)	Pre	6.13 ± 1.08	5.98 ± 0.57*	0.483	0.894
	Post	6.61 ± 1.16	6.48 ± 0.77	0.575	0.894
	p	0.000	0.000
	Δ	+ 0.48 ± 0.47	+ 0.50 ± 0.44	0.888
F_max (kg)/Mtk (cm²)	Pre	11.52 ± 2.63	14.46 ± 3.28	0.000	0.283
	Post	14.30 ± 3.07	17.78 ± 3.55	0.000	0.283
	p	0.000	0.000
	Δ	+ 2.78 ± 1.93	+ 3.32 ± 2.37	0.285

*OC_pre versus non-OC_post, p ≤ 0.05. Non-OC, women not receiving oral contraceptives; OC, women receiving oral contraceptives; G × T, group × time interaction; Pre, pre-training; Post, post-training; F_max, maximum isometric force; Mtk, sum of the thicknesses of the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, and vastus lateralis muscles; F_max/Mtk, maximum isometric force divided by muscle thickness

ISSN: 1472-6874