Physique Athletes Not Prone to Metab./Hormonal 'Damage', Recent Pilot Study in 15 Male & Female Athletes Suggests
Even though the study has male and female study participants this study is still more geared towards the men - why else do we have testosterone, but not estrogen measurements? As the scientists point out as early as in the title, a recent paper by Trexel et al. (2017) is indeed (at best) a "pilot study" to "evaluate changes in body composition, metabolic rate, and hormones during post-competition recovery" in "physique athletes". In view of the lack of reliable data from the contest preparations o bodybuilders and other physique-sport athletes, even this "pilot" data is more than worth reporting. That's particularly true, because it is still not clear, as Trexel et al. write whether the "physiological effects of contest preparation persist after competition" and thus whether "they may predispose [...] to preferential gain of fat mass and prolonged, deleterious endocrine side effects" (Trexel 2017) Read about rather...
