Table 5.

Summary of off-target effects of oral contraceptives

Category	Oral Contraceptive Effect	References
Skeletal muscle	– Strength	10, 47
	↓Protein turnover	49
	↑Myo-proliferation	50, 51
	↓Muscle injury	64
Tendon/ligament	– ACL laxity	56
	↑ACL strength	53
	– ACL injury	54–56
	↑Achilles tendinopathy risk	57
Bone	↓Bone mass/mineral density	59–61
	↑Fracture risk	62
Performance	↓Aerobic capacity/VO2	63
	↓General performance	47

Where ↑ indicates an increase, ↓ indicates a decrease, and – indicates mixed findings in the literature surveyed.