Female Athlete Podcast Female Athlete Podcast

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 generally with your friends and colleagues.

We speak to ten time Olympic swimming medalist Allison Schmitt who tells us about her experiences and anxiety of being on her period when competing in the pool and how she developed an open and positive relationship around the topic with her male coach.

This episode was recorded in collaboration with Orreco and FitrWoman's Summer of 2022 education campaign encouraging more people to open up and have the conversation about their menstrual cycle.

For more resources visit the FitrWoman website. 

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 going through puberty and peri-menopause.

Plus we chat about the research relevant to the various stages- it's a bit of a whirlwind tour but we enjoyed covering the whole lot in one episode, hope you do too!

Resources:
Return to running postnatal guidelines

Twitter: Dr Georgie Bruinvels
Twitter: Dr Jess Piasecki

Twitter: FitrWoman and FitrWoman Instagram
FitrWoman website 

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 cycle education in the schooling system and the findings unfortunately weren't too encouraging.

As a podcast team we are particularly passionate about this topic and providing young women and girls with all the information they need in order to remain physically active and have a firm understanding and appreciation of their menstrual cycle.

Natalie and Beky go into detail on the reasons behind the study and the important information that can now be drawn from the data, plus what their recommendations are to schools, parents, teachers and young women and girls.

Read the full report here.

Dr Natalie Brown on Twitter: @Natalie_107 and Instagram: @optimal.period
Beky Williams on Twitter: @stride_active and Instagram: @beky.williams 

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 little things in order to achieve her personal best. We chat through things like a typical training week, her fuelling in the build up and during the race, tapering, chafing, race tactics and much more.

She gives some great insights that will hopefully help anyone listening achieve their own personal best, and not just in the marathon!
Check out Jess on Instagram

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 athletes in the build up to the Games.

In our discussions we cover why tracking the menstrual cycle has been a GAME CHANGER for both Lily and Elinor, why you might be less coordinated as you approach your period and why role models are so important to inspire women to get involved in sport, plus how the Olympics and sportswomen in particular can help provide these.

*Disclaimer: Materials and content in the Female Athlete Podcast are intended as general information only and should not be substituted for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment

A huge thank you to our Title Sponsors for Series 3; Umi Health. Umi  is your go to, one-stop-hub for all things pelvic health, come join the revolution at umi-health.com.  Want to lean more about pelvic health? Watch the Umi Essentials course for FREE, sign up here or learn with  Umi Plus including incredible resources and courses around pregnancy and postnatal, all for  £4.50 a month, no minimum term, cancel anytime.

Thank you to Specialized Bikes for sponsoring this episode.  Specialized is the global leading bike brand aiming to serve all riders of all abilities, helping them to better enjoy every aspect of cycling. Specialized’s innovation has improved riders’ performance, comfort and understanding to enable all riders to go further and faster. 

Head to Specialized.com to see how it is helping pedal the planet forward.

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 bleed is not a 'real' period, plus what PMS is and how nutrition can really help with the associated symptoms.

*Disclaimer: Materials and content in the Female Athlete Podcast are intended as general information only and should not be substituted for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment

A huge thank you to our Title Sponsors for Series 3; Umi Health. Umi  is your go to, one-stop-hub for all things pelvic health, come join the revolution at umi-health.com.  Want to lean more about pelvic health? Watch the Umi Essentials course for FREE, sign up here or learn with  Umi Plus including incredible resources and courses around pregnancy and postnatal, all for  £4.50 a month, no minimum term, cancel anytime.

Thank you to Specialized Bikes for sponsoring this episode.  Specialized is the global leading bike brand aiming to serve all riders of all abilities, helping them to better enjoy every aspect of cycling. Specialized’s innovation has improved riders’ performance, comfort and understanding to enable all riders to go further and faster. 

Head to Specialized.com to see how it is helping pedal the planet forward.