Female Athlete Podcast

This episode takes a dive into the experiences of Olympian Steph Davis and elite triathlete turned marathon runner Heather Townsend.  Steph finished top GB finisher at the Tokyo Games and last October had her first child.  Heather competed regularly on the international triathlon circuit and has twin boys and balances full time work. Both are super female power houses and had very different pregna...

In this episode we have Sophie Jenz with us, a rising star in the field of neuromuscular physiology research. Sophie has an interesting background with lots of experience in applied practice of strength training for females, which ultimately directed her to her current research area. Sophie is coming to the end of her PhD and her work so far has certainly impacted the way in which we think about f...

In this episode Georgie and Jess are joined by Prof Abi Smith-Ryan, a Professor  in exercise physiology and nutrition at University of North Carolina. Abi has a wealth of experience conducting human intervention studies trying to unpick the mechanisms of different exercise and nutritional strategies on physiology and metabolism. She has a particular interest in trying to understand why these respo...

On this weeks episode Georgie and Jess discuss the many extras that can influence the way our hormones work and fluctuate.  Many of us are aware of the implications of energy availability on menstrual cycles and the regularity of female sex hormones, but energy is not the only factor at play. There are many other things within our environment that can impact the way our hormones work. The covid-19...

In this episode we chat to Sian Allen who is the research manager with the product innovation team at Lululemon. Hear how to Sian applies scientific knowledge to key aspects of sports wear development and the fundamentals when it comes to sports bras! Also featured are NTU researchers Dr Katy Griggs and Katie Reeves who have some exciting work in this area with regards to appropriate sports bra&ap...

In this episode Jess speaks with researcher and SENr registered nutritionist Samantha Abbott. Sam has a wealth of knowledge around female athletes, the menstrual cycle and gut health/symptoms. She has also worked with athletes on an individual basis at varying levels so is able to provide advice from both her academic knowledge and applied practice. Gut health has received a lot of attention in th...

In this episode Georgie and Jess are joined by Olympian Adelle Tracey who shares her experiences of getting into the sport, her understanding of the menstrual cycle and how she uses this now to inform her training. Adelle is a great example of how tracking and an increased understanding of your menstrual cycle can enhance training and performance.

In this episode Georgie and Jess revisit some of the tips around tracking your menstrual cycle and why it can help female athletes utilise their super power! Although this topic has been covered before there are still many questions on the do's and don'ts, so hopefully this episode provides a means to get started!

We live in a world where we can measure almost everything about ourselves. Heart rate, sleep scores, stress scores, training loads, heart rate variability the list is ultimately endless! On one hand this demonstrates substantial improvements in technology, but on the other side this can be quite overwhelming and sometimes might result in missing training/exercise when we don't necessarily nee...

After a long stint away from the podcast The female athlete podcast is finally back! This episode unpicks all the reasons why we should and need to acknowledge sex differences within both sport and research.  Dr Georgie Bruinvels and Dr Jessica Piasecki delve into some of the reasons why males and female are physiologically different and how we can utilise these differences in a positive way.  Sex...

It's a busy one! In our final episode of Series 5, we answer two questions around the mirena coil, discuss how to deal with the impact of puberty on performance, why it's important to listen to your body when training through pregnancy and we give our book recommendations as we head into the autumn months! Thank you again for providing us with some interesting topic points. Keep your que...

In this episode we are joined by Sue Anstiss MBE and Dr Ali Bowes to talk about the recent Netflix documentary 'Game On- The Unstoppable Rise of Women's Sport'. Sue was the presenter and producer of the documentary which highlights some of the issues historically faced by women in sport and the knock on effects still impacting women and girls today. We discuss barriers placed in the...

In this episode we speak to long-distance triathlete Emma Pallant-Browne. Recently Emma raced whilst on her period and bled through to her race suit...and it made the news. When a Twitter user called out a picture taken of Emma during the race to be cropped so the blood wouldn’t show, Emma responded in such an empowering and honest way (check out her most recent post on Instagram ) and the text be...

In this episode we cover breast injuries and breast pain, including how common it is, why breast injuries in particular go under-reported, plus what you can do to help, such as wearing a correct sports bra and tracking breast pain throughout your cycle. We also cover how to stay motivated during periods of injury and why doing research in females is so hard, and the areas which need more attention...

In this episode we discuss the relevance of International Women's Day (this episode was recorded on 15th March), and we answer listeners questions around osteoporosis, osteopenia, and ask can the pill mask a menstrual dysfunction such as amenorrhea? The team also give strategies and tips around how to help get your period back when coming off the pill. Plus, we discuss the various menstrual c...

In this episode we answer listeners questions across a range of topics. Including: What are the key things women should be aware of in regards to iron? How can endometriosis sufferers tailor their training? Plus, we give advice and personal stories about social media comments and abuse and how best to deal with it. We also recommend an awesome new book around women in running and the inequalities...

Our questions this week are around coaching the female athlete. We chat about the challenges for male coaches and ask are females the preferred option? Also, should National or World Governing Bodies be expected to take on the responsibility of educating their athletes or should it fall to parents?  We discuss how we can ensure coaches and clubs are educated on the various topics of female athlete...

In our second episode back, we're chatting through more listener questions and we're focussing on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). We cover what RED-S is, how it may present, how to deal with RED-S when returning from having a baby and the difference between RED-S and Overtraining Syndrome. Send in your questions for future episodes here . Helpful resources: Returning to runn...

We're back for Series 5 and answering your questions! In this episode we catch up with all the happenings of the past six months, highlights include travels to New Zealand, getting married, buying a house and competing in the World Championships to name a few! But enough about us, we're back to answer our listener questions around female athlete health. This episode sees us chat about th...

In this episode we speak about a topic close to our hearts: how to get more people speaking openly about the menstrual cycle and why it is so important the area becomes less stigmatised. We ask when is it the right time to bring it up with your coach as an athlete and vice versa or as a parent. We give our top tips for starting this conversation both at home and in a sports setting and more genera...

How about we cover all stages of the female life cycle in one episode? Let's do it! From puberty, menarche and menstruation, to pregnancy, peri-menopause and beyond, in this episode we discuss the physiology, hormonal changes, nutrition and exercise requirements of the female life cycle. We also touch on bone health through the different stages and the wellness and mental health aspects of go...

We're back with another episode to begin series 4! We speak with superstar sisters Dr Natalie Brown and Beky Williams (Director of Stride Active) about the state of menstrual cycle education in UK schools. Recently Natalie and Beky, along with our co-hosts Georgie and Jess and Dr Laura Forrest collected some very powerful data that details the current lie of the land with regards to menstrual...

For this special episode we talk to co-host Dr Jess Piasecki about her recent marathon performance. Jess completed the Seville marathon in February and achieved a 3 minute personal best time of 2.22.25, to put her second on the British all time list for the marathon, only Paula Radcliffe has run faster!  In this episode we hear from Jess about the race itself and how she put together all the littl...

In this special Series 3 FINALE, we look forward to the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics in less than a month. We speak to two current Olympic gold medalists; GB Hockey player Lily Owsley and GB Track Cyclist Elinor Barker, as well as our own Jess Piasecki who has been selected for Team GB in the marathon. We also catch up with our other co-host Dr Georgie Bruinvels about her work with female athle...

In this episode we cover a whole host of topics about the female athlete with Dr Katie Lydon, a Sports Medicine doctor with a particular interest in the menstrual cycle. In our open and honest chat we talk about how women need to be more thoroughly educated on their menstrual cycle and the correct terminology, why it is so important to track our cycles, hormonal contraception and how a withdrawal...