‘ Women are more resilient to physical activity than thought’

transantarctic expedition.

The researchers monitored several markers of their health before and after the successful expedition.

These included indicators of stress, reproductive and metabolic hormone levels, body weight and bone strength.

The findings indicated not only that markers of reproductive function and bone strength were preserved, but that some markers showed evidence of delayed, exercise- related benefit to their physical fitness two weeks after the expedition.

“Our findings contain some potentially mythbusting data on the impact of extreme physical activity on women. We have shown that with appropriate training and preparation, many of the previously reported negative health effects can be avoided,” said Gifford.

Although the team consisted of just six women and it was not possible to account for confounding factors such as age or ethnicity, these findings do suggest adherence to a comprehensive training schedule may have mitigated any negative health effects, researchers said.

The team now plan to further investigate how different types of activities can contribute to negative effects on stress and energy balance caused by physical exertion which may help in the generation of transferrable strategies that prevent them in future.