Effects of Bodybuilding on Women

Female health and wellness expert Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar talks about the effects of bodybuilding on women.

THE sport of women bodybuilding can be quite baffling. For one, many do not understand why these women would train to the extent where they lose all traces of physical femininity although some may argue that professional and extreme bodybuilding goes beyond such triviality.

After all, the sport is all about pushing the body to its limits in search of that “perfect image” that tends to vary from person to person. Others might claim that it’s an addiction that can’t be helped, a habit that must be continuously fuelled and supported.

While personal motivation can be curious and subjective, the health aspect of such training can be startling to the layman. Issues like breast reduction, amenorrhoea (cessation of menstruation) and ultimately, the abnormality for the female physique to be put through such “stress”’ are frequently raised.

The core of the matter lies in the composition of fat in the body. Take breast size, for instance.

“Breasts are mostly made of fat. Female bodybuilders often have low fat; anything under 12% body fat will make breasts smaller,” says Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist.

Lean athletes who manage to maintain sizeable breast cups are the exception, and this is attributed to genetics.

Similarly, sportswomen who train themselves into levels of low body fat for periods of more than three months usually suffer from secondary amenorrhoea which occurs when fat levels fall below 20%. (The optimum body fat percentage for athletes is 15% to 20%.)

However, athletes with fat levels of between 20% and 25% are likely to experience an intermediate problem known as oligomenorrhoea in which the menstruation cycle is irregular.

Fortunately, not all athletes experience this problem. Secondary amenorrhoea is typical of athletes who resume a more “normal” lifestyle after the competition season.

“While intensive exercise has been blamed for ovulatory problems among sportswomen, it would be useful to understand that the maintenance of the period cycle is controlled by several complex factors: gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a regulating factor released by the hypothalamus in the brain; stress; and body weight and body composition, in which the percentage of fat plays a pivotal role in the body.

“Thus a woman who maintains her body fat level, may proceed with strenuous exercises without compromising her monthly cycle,” Dr Nor Ashikin assures.

“The good news is that exercise-induced amenorrhoea, whether primary or secondary, is normally reversible, with most women resuming regular menstruation within three months of easing their training load. Fertility rates of former athletes are no lower than the average – and physically fit women tend to have easier labour and healthier babies.”

Now the bad news is that women who have not menstruated for six months or more are susceptible to accelerated bone deterioration. While the link is not entirely clear, one theory suggests that this is due to an increase in blood calcium levels, which suggests parathyroid hormone secretion and this, in turn, impairs conversion of vitamin D to its active form which reduces the body’s capacity to absorb calcium.

This also sheds light on why increasing dietary intake of calcium does not seem to compensate for bone mineral loss.

To put things into perspective, there is nothing wrong with pushing and conditioning the body to outperform itself from time to time – if done within all that is reasonable and natural.

So what is deemed natural? Progressive strength conditioning with ample recovery time.

Taking steroids is unnatural and dangerous. These steroids, particularly anabolic steroids, are hormones which are directly related to the predominantly male sex hormone, testosterone, which increases the synthesis of protein within cells to build muscles.

“The side effects associated with steroid abuse are particularly negative for women, resulting in a whole range of problems and unwanted effects such as deepening of the voice, increased body hair and clitoromegaly (an abnormal enlargement of the clitoris),” says Dr Nor Ashikin.

“Women should never be discouraged from training or competing at a high level because of the potential effects on their men-strual function. But they should be aware of potential problems and give their bodies a chance to recover whenever possible.

“The best advice I can offer all athletes is: listen to your body, and train safely and intelligently.”

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