Stage performance of dancers relies fundamentally on both physical and mental capabilities, which to some extent fluctuated with sex hormones across the menstrual cycle (MC) in young women. Length of menstrual cycle reflects metabolic pace for a woman. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine the role of MC length on muscle strength and mental wellbeing of young female dancers. This short-term longitudinal study was undertaken to tracked lower-body muscle strength and wellbeing variables every week for the young female dancers with MC length less than 28 days (short MC group, n = 6) against those with MC length greater than 28 days (long MC group, n = 6). Autonomic nervous activity among participants was also determined. Our result shows that estradiol levels were highest at day 1 for the short MC group and day 21 for the long MC group, respectively. Progesterone levels for the long MC group elevated at day 14 and day 21 during leuteal phase, but this normal trend was not observed not for the short MC group. Unexpectedly, muscle strength of the short MC group was significantly greater than that of the long MC group. This difference diminished around time of ovulation (day 14). In addition, subjective fatigue feelings and mood disturbance of the short MC group were significantly higher than those of the long MC group, indicating a relatively poor status of wellbeing. Despite heart rate variability was not significantly different throughout the MC period, premenstrual sympathetic power of the short MC group was higher than that of the long MC group at day 21 (premenstrual phase). Conclusion: The new finding of the study is that young women with shorter MC length exhibited poor status of mental wellbeing, but greater muscle strength. This result provides a ground for the time management to optimize the stage performance of female dancers.
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