Weight Training & Birth Control (Specifically Yaz)

[hhickm21]

I've been doing research and found a couple comments on these forums related to the issue of birth controls negatively effecting weight training.

I just started Yaz for reasons other than birth control (heavy flow, pmdd, etc). As a fitness addict and soccer player, I'm worried that it will hurt my training.
Has anyone had trouble on yaz? And if so, what birth controls are the best for maintaining progress in strength&weight training?


And some additional information I found in an article stated that certain birth control were less likely to cause problems. Which birth controls would these be?


This article (sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/43210/title/Birth_control_pills_can_limit_muscle-training_gains) specifically states that:: "...Lee grouped the contraceptives on the basis of whether their progestins exhibited low, medium or high androgenicity (i.e. androgen-receptor binding). And then a really striking difference emerged.

Women who took pills containing low-androgenicity progestins acquired muscle through exercise as effectively as did women not on the pill. But women whose oral contraceptives contained medium- or highly androgenic progestins attained less than a 0.5 percent gain in muscle mass over 10 weeks — a far cry from what the others achieved. "

[nunu713]

I've been on Yaz for about 2 years, and I haven't noticed a change in my performance one bit. My doctor just took me off Yaz in February though due to increased risk of blood clots...

[ives]

I've been doing research and found a couple comments on these forums related to the issue of birth controls negatively effecting weight training.

I just started Yaz for reasons other than birth control (heavy flow, pmdd, etc). As a fitness addict and soccer player, I'm worried that it will hurt my training.
Has anyone had trouble on yaz? And if so, what birth controls are the best for maintaining progress in strength&weight training?


And some additional information I found in an article stated that certain birth control were less likely to cause problems. Which birth controls would these be?


This article (sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/43210/title/Birth_control_pills_can_limit_muscle-training_gains) specifically states that:: "...Lee grouped the contraceptives on the basis of whether their progestins exhibited low, medium or high androgenicity (i.e. androgen-receptor binding). And then a really striking difference emerged.

Women who took pills containing low-androgenicity progestins acquired muscle through exercise as effectively as did women not on the pill. But women whose oral contraceptives contained medium- or highly androgenic progestins attained less than a 0.5 percent gain in muscle mass over 10 weeks — a far cry from what the others achieved. "

I think Yaz is high-androgenic. It accomplishes its acne-fighting effect by lowering free testosterone (which causes acne). This is a gross oversimplification, but it has some of the same effects as spironolactone or a "water pill."

I've been on it for two months for acne and, while my face has definitely improved, it is making every other aspect of my life completely miserable. I have constant nausea (not great when you're trying to eat 2,900 calories a day), horrible gas, frequent headaches, general lethargy, and just feel like **** overall. I'm also using some topical retinoid creams and I am hoping SO HARD that the creams will "get ahead" of the acne and I'll be able to drop this horrible pill in a couple months after my derm. re-check.

Yaz is horrible enough that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it's especially nefarious for the sort of muscle-loving women who frequent these boards.

[princessTiffany]

I used Yaz for about 4 years and felt (and looked) terrific. It wasn't until they took me off that I started to feel like **** consistently every day. I wasn't training consistently while on Yaz but it was during this time I noticed I was getting "toned" for the the first time.

Everyone's different but I've seen tons of bc pill threads here and all of them say different things about it.

It's kinda hilarious so much is still up in the air about womens' health and bc pills while erecticle disfunction medication has so many identified contraindications while being around 1/4th of the time.

[Adelaide.]

Something to keep in mind is that women using BC tend to fall into one of two categories. Women who use BC for BC, and women who use BC to correct hormone imbalances. The former may have more negative effects because they are starting normal, and making it abnormal (even if only slightly). The latter group is taking abnormal and making it normal.

Because of that comparing the experiences of two women taking BC for different reasons won't yield very accurate results.

To the OP, if you google "low-androgenicity progestins" you should find what you are looking for.

[hhickm21]

Awesome to know.. I'm using to correct some kind of hormonal balance so hopefully I'll be okay.. Just wondering what better options would be if I wanted to switch but I'm giving yaz a shot. Any specific problems coming off of it?

[powerbarsssssss]

Awesome to know.. I'm using to correct some kind of hormonal balance so hopefully I'll be okay.. Just wondering what better options would be if I wanted to switch but I'm giving yaz a shot. Any specific problems coming off of it?

I've taken yaz (kept my periods heavy), loestrin (lightened my periods) and microgestin (pretty much got rid of my periods).

Needless to say, I liked microgestin best

Coming of the pill, I got cramps and one heavy ass menstrual cycle. My skin broke out initially and then settled down.

[SexyChic]

I've been on ortho tricyclen for about 7 years and I have no probs with muscle gains.

[LDB158]

I'm on seasonique birth control and it hasn't effected my workouts at all. The reason I am taking it is to help regulate my period and to help with cramps. The only side effect that I've noticed since starting it almost 2 years ago is the massive increase in weight, I'm guessing water weight, when I first started taking it. Within a couple of months, I went from 125 lbs to 150 lbs. I'm down to 137 lbs and I'm still trying to lose that weight.

[princessTiffany]

Something to keep in mind is that women using BC tend to fall into one of two categories. Women who use BC for BC, and women who use BC to correct hormone imbalances. The former may have more negative effects because they are starting normal, and making it abnormal (even if only slightly). The latter group is taking abnormal and making it normal.

Because of that comparing the experiences of two women taking BC for different reasons won't yield very accurate results.

To the OP, if you google "low-androgenicity progestins" you should find what you are looking for.

Good point. I was taking Yaz because I have pmdd. Also, when I was in middle school I got a hormone test and my doctors attributed my problems to having too much testosterone. Yaz pretty much balanced me.