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No Baby Fat

Does The Pill Make You Weaker?

Madonna: On or Off the Pill

Bummer, dude. A new Texas A & M University study suggests that the Pill may inhibit our ability to build muscle mass. It appears that women not using oral contraceptives build 60% greater lean muscle mass than those who pop the Pill given similar workout routine.

Granted, the study sample was small (just 73 women age 18 to 31) but the workout was rigorous. The training included three sets of six to ten reps of chest presses, lat pull downs, leg extension machines, arm curls and even ab crunches -- three times a week for ten weeks. The women were also encouraged to eat one third more protein per day than recommended by U.S. nutritional guidelines to help foster muscle gain.

In the end, the ladies who were Pill-free got more ripped. The scientists suspect that low hormone levels in the women on the pill prevented the muscle development. Remember, for the most part, women can't "bulk up," regardless of how much they lift, on or off the pill. Building muscle mass, generally means losing fat and developing "tone." To that point: Despite having more muscle mass, the women off the pill in the Texas study showed no greater "gains and arm/leg circumference."

Anyway, Catch-22, right? All dressed up, but nowhere to go. Oh, snap!