Birth control pills and muscle building - is there a connection?

That the Muscle building is not just a man's business, as the many strong girls who are currently making the nation's gyms unsafe and showing many a muscle man where the hammer hangs. With increasing occupation with the topic of weight training, however, numerous questions regarding nutrition and muscle building also arise among the ladies of creation. In view of the fact that the female body ticks a little differently due to hormonal differences, among other things, it is also not surprising that numerous questions relate precisely to this context. However, the question that burns most under the nails of us girls is the one about what influence the Birth control pill has on muscle building.

How does the pill work?

However, before we delve deeper into the subject and look in detail at any connections that may exist between the contraceptive pill and muscle building, let's first look at the contraceptive itself, as this understanding will form the basis for later conclusions. The birth control pill, or simply the pill for short, was officially approved as a medication in 1960 and has since been the most widely used contraceptive in the industrialized nations of this world. Basically, the pill contains female sex hormones that sometimes strongly influence the natural hormone level. In principle, two variants are used. One variant contains only progestins, the other a combination of progestins and estrogen.
Among other things, these hormones prevent egg maturation, making pregnancy virtually impossible. Even those who have not yet had sexual intercourse are often prescribed the pill at a young age, for example to treat menstrual cramps or hormonally induced acne. Since the bottom line is that it is always an intervention in the hormonal balance of the healthy organism, it is obvious that this hormonal shift also affects other metabolic processes to a greater or lesser extent. With regard to the fact that estrogen and testosterone, which we women also need to build muscle, are hormonal counterparts, the question about the influence of the pill on muscle building is therefore more than justified, even if it is asked less in public.

What does science say about this question?

That there is a possible connection between the pill and the building of muscle, many women seem to suspect and have asked the question more and more often, especially in recent years. As a result of the increasingly loud voices, sports science has also become increasingly concerned with this issue, and seems to confirm a direct connection. According to a study by scientists at Texas A & M University and the University of Pittsburgh, there is, much to the chagrin of us women, a negative correlation between taking the pill and building muscle. The researchers came to this conclusion through an experiment conducted with 73 women between the ages of 18 and 31. During the study, the women were divided into two groups, each of which either took the birth control pill or abstained from it.

What did the study uncover?

In order to measure the effect on muscle growth, all subjects underwent a 10-week training program and received strict dietary instructions based on their individual weight. Finally, at the end of the test period, in addition to recording changes in weight and girth, examinations of the subjects' blood took place to determine any differences in hormonal milieus. As expected, the levels of anabolic growth hormones in the test subjects taking the contraceptive pill were in some cases significantly lower than in the other test group that did not take the pill. The bottom line is that the women in the comparison group built up a good 60 percent more muscle under otherwise identical conditions.

How should this result be assessed?

However, the researchers were not able to localize the exact cause in detail, so that further studies should provide more precise findings about this connection and the extent of the hormonal influence. From the point of view of other scientists, however, the chances of really getting to the bottom of this connection are rather poor. Not because it is impossible from a scientific or methodological point of view, but for ethical reasons. Why? Quite simply because undoubted studies with test subjects can only be carried out using the so-called double-blind method, as this is the only way to largely eliminate possible placebo effects. In detail, the procedure, which is also used for testing dietary supplements, involves the test groups not knowing who is taking a particular active ingredient and who is not. In view of a study lasting several months, it would of course be ethically irresponsible to leave women in the dark as to whether or not they are using contraception and thus to risk corresponding pregnancies.

What can you do?

So now that it will probably take at least a while for science to unearth more details and confirm the negative correlation between hormone-based birth control pills and muscle building, good advice is now at a premium. However, there are a few options you can pull to get around what is after all a significant disadvantage in terms of muscle building. The simplest, because most obvious, measure is of course the complete discontinuation of the pill. However, as already mentioned, since it is a hormone-containing product, discontinuation may also be associated with side effects, so you should always consult your gynecologist. Alternatively, your gynecologist can advise you on the use of other contraceptives that do not interfere with your hormone balance.

Do not bury your head in the sand

A light at the end of the tunnel, however, are variants of the pill that do not contain any hormones at all and therefore do not negatively affect the release of the necessary growth hormones. Since such preparations in particular involve very individual tolerances and intolerances, a change should also be discussed in depth with a doctor. Regardless of whether you are currently taking the pill, whether you would like to stop taking it or whether you have never taken it, you should not drive yourself crazy. The actual extent of the effect is not yet clear, nor are the mechanisms behind it, so a hasty reaction is not advisable. In any case, you should first concentrate on training and nutrition, because without the perfect interaction of these factors, muscle building will not happen.

How to improve your hormonal environment for muscle building

As already mentioned, the blood concentration of anabolic hormones such as testosterone and HGH (Human Growth Hormone) plays the decisive role in muscle building. Whether you want to continue taking birth control pills or not, you should do something to promote the release of these hormones in a natural way. The most important measure in this respect is probably a sufficient amount of sleep, especially since HGH in particular is increasingly released during the night hours and in this context promotes the regeneration processes. Consequently, you should make sure that you regularly sleep at least seven to eight hours and stop eating short-chain carbohydrates shortly before going to bed. The intake of zinc can also have a beneficial effect, especially since the mineral ensures a normalization of testosterone production.