Humid heat stress affects trained female athletes more than does their menstrual phase

The prevailing view is that healthy, pre-menopausal women with a regular menstrual cycle face a performance disadvantage and increased risk for heat illness when exercising in a hot environment during their luteal (post-ovulatory) phase. In our recent Journal of Physiology article [1], we challenged this view and demonstrated that for trained females their menstrual phase was of little physiological or performance consequence during self-paced exercise but that the thermal profile of the environment (dry vs. humid) was important