The Women in Sport & Exercise Academic Network Podcast

Emma moved to New Zealand in 2017, and currently works as a Health Partner with ACC and as a Musculoskeletal Medicine Lecturer at The University of Otago, Wellington. She is also completing a PhD on the impact of a female-specific anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction rehabilitation programme. Emma is strongly interested in including female participants in her research and investigating female-specific prevention, causation and management of common musculoskeletal conditions.

When Emma is not working, she is usually running, biking or tramping in New Zealand’s backcountry. 

Twitter: @femaleathletept

Topics discussed:

• Overview of career journey to date and advice for others who would like to work and live in NZ, plus PhD progress to date.

• Main multi-centre RCT from PhD: Explain the intervention, follicular-phase based vs. luteal-based training. Trends observed to date.
• Scoping review purpose and findings regarding phase-based resistance training. Mechanisms to support adaptation.
• Qualitative study with health and medical practitioners on their knowledge, perceptions of and comfort in discussing the menstrual cycle. Study overview and findings. Practical recommendations, based on this study, for the medical professions.
• Career plans post-PhD/dream job.
• Personal experiences on using menstrual cycle phased training/injury avoidance.

When I retired from playing football in 2015, I had clocked up three decades of unwavering dedication to the sport. My experience of, and within, football shaped my childhood and adulthood in many personal and professional ways. My memories of football include wearing oversized shirts designed for the male form, playing on undulating pitches, paying my subs and of overwhelming joy. The joy football brings cannot be under-estimated; it stirs the grey matter in the brain, facilitates the smell of Sunday afternoon shin pads and most importantly brings you a sense of community that you didn’t know could exist. The backdrop to this joy was a relentless need to prove myself on and off the pitch, and not always related to performance, but to be able to sustain your presence in a male dominated and guarded space. This is discussed at length in my book where I interweave my own memories of playing into a broader study alongside other players’ experiences.

My lived experiences of sport have shaped my professional and epistemological views of the world. My teaching covers modules relating to sport and society, and I also lead institutional equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) projects. A current study I am conducting explores the sense of belonging of students on male, white dominated degree programmes, such as Sports Business Management. I have found that my male dominated teaching spaces are reflective of my previous experiences in football. My feminist standpoint and approach to inclusive education must and does influence my teaching and learning practices. It is these experiences which led me to the creation of the Critical Pedagogies in Sport (CPIS) international network. The overall purpose of CPIS is to facilitate, support and share valuable practice relating to teaching and learning. It is hoped this will be achieved by interrogating what, why and how we teach in relation to inclusive education in sport. CPIS will be able to re/view, challenge, and address inequities in relation to teaching and learning which impact student experience. The aims of CPIS are as follows:

1. To provide a space for academics to share, discuss, collaborate, and challenge the way in which T&L is framed, delivered, and understood within Higher Education.
2. To host and facilitate network opportunities for critical pedagogical scholars to collaborate, innovate and create impact in teaching and learning practices.
3. To bring together evidence-based research on critical pedagogies in sport to inform and transform T&L in sports Higher Education.

Earlier this year (2023), I invited academics from across four institutions to join me in leading CPIS, they are: Professor Philippa Velija and Dr Catherine Phipps (both from Solent University), Dr Nik Dickerson (Loughborough University), Professor Chris Headleand (Staffordshire University) and Professor Belinda Colston (Eleanor Glanville Institute). Our own research which inspired us to develop this network includes work on the impact of gender regimes on students’ experiences and in relation to gender justice. The network is in its infancy but has already received overwhelmingly positive responses since its launch at the end of October 2022. The network currently has over 35 members, spanning 14 countries and is growing all the time.

Academics who currently (or aspire to) teach across degrees such as sports business management, esports, sports and coaching, physical education, sport and exercise science, sports psychology, and sports technology, amongst others, will find this network valuable. We hope to put on collaborative events soon and undertake various writing projects. If you would like to learn more about CPIS and/or join the network, please do get in touch with me via email hpielichaty@lincoln.ac.uk and follow on Twitter @ CritPedSports.

Professor Győző Molnár joined the University of Worcester in September 2008. Győző is a critical sociologist with a research focus on identity politics, political populism, gender and empowering marginalised populations. His current research has focused on the migratory and gendered aspects of Fiji rugby, challenging dominant perspectives in Adapted Physical Activity research and unfolding connections between sport and populist politics in Hungary. He is co-editor of The Politics of The Olympics (2010, Routledge), Ethnographies in Sport and Exercise Research (2016, Routledge), Women, Sport and Exercise in the Asia-Pacific Region: Domination-Resistance-Accommodation (2018, Routledge), The Routledge Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity (2022, Routledge), Encyclopaedia of Politics of Sport(Forthcoming, Elgar) and co-writer of Sport, Exercise and Social Theory: An Introduction (2012, Routledge).

In this episode, we talk about the Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity, that he edited with Rachael Bullingham, his insights from his research with the Fijian women rugby players, his international collaborations and his future research directions.

Themes/topics

· The Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity: Overview of content

· Contributing chapters and how connections between politics, gender and sport are made more explicit. How to untangle politics from socio-cultural, environmental influences

· Research with the Fijian women rugby players (finding motivation in a hostile environment): key findings

· The importance of and advice on expressing positionality and negotiating power relationships in ethnographical research

· Collaborating with others: Tips, advice, approach

· Research needs in the area

· Future projects

Gráinne Donnelly is an Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner and clinical researcher from N. Ireland in the UK. She is incoming co-editor for the journal of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy and will sit on the Board of Trustees for the Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy Association. She is on the specialist advisory board for the Active Pregnancy Foundation and is an associate member of the Perinatal Physical Activity Research Group at Canterbury Christ Church University. After 13 years in the NHS, she left the position as Team Lead for the pelvic health service to pursue private practice and research. She has published several peer-reviewed publications on return to physical activity postpartum and on diastasis rectus abdominis. She educates physiotherapists internationally and is currently pursuing a PhD. She also co-hosts a podcast called At Your Cervix, which aims to improve evidence-based information dissemination within the general public.

In this episode, I talk to Gráinne about some of her research papers in this area, her research and infographic on return to running postpartum, and her PhD, looking at the effect of compression garments on the pelvic floor. Gráinne also talks about her other projects, in which she is involved. Main topics we cover include:

• Research/paper on biopsychosocial factors contributing to return to running and running-related stress urinary incontinence in postpartum women. Summary of this research.
• Paper on how advice and guidance affects running habits. Summary of findings.
• Guidelines/infographic. How previous research (discussed) informed the graphic.
• Systematic review on self-reported symptoms in women with diastasis rectus abdominis. Main findings/interpretation.
• PhD work, investigating the compression garments to target the pelvic floor. 
• Role as co-editor for the journal of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy. Within sport and exercise, typical papers that this journal accepts.
• Other activities, e.g., Active Pregnancy Foundation and Perinatal PA Research Group – how these came about. How others can get involved.

Emma Brockwell is a Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. She treats women of all ages with all women’s health-related conditions. She is passionate about pre and postnatal rehabilitation and exercise. She specialises in supporting women back to exercise, particularly running and netball if they have any pelvic health dysfunction or are postnatal. She has co-authored the first ‘Returning to Running Postnatal Guidelines’ and has spoken about this subject at many medical and exercise conferences. Over the past two years she has co-authored further publications on this subject. Emma has written for many magazines including Women’s Running and Women’s Health magazine and last year her first book called ‘Why did no one tell me? How to protect, heal and nurture your body through motherhood' was published.

Emma founded and leads a Walk and Running club, Oxted Ladies Run Club. She is on the advisory board for The Active Pregnancy Foundation and is an associate member of the Perinatal Physical Activity Research Group. She now works privately in Guildford and Godstone and is the co-presenter of the podcast, At Your Cervix – the podcast. Alongside Grainne Donnelly and Helen McElroy, she co-founded the Athletic Female an evidence-based course aimed at healthcare, fitness and medical professionals who work with female athletes.

You can follow her on Instagram @physiomumuk and find out all the links to the above on www.physiomum.co.uk

In this podcast, I talk with Emma about the key pieces of advice from the ‘Returning to Running Postnatal Guidelines’. We talk about her other work and how she has managed to create an impact. Emma also gives her thoughts on what the gaps in the research are and her future research-related projects.

Themes discussed:

• Conditions typically treat among athletes, as a Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist
• The 'Return to Running Postnatal Guidelines': key advice from these recommendations
• Strongest research evidence supporting pelvic floor recovery
• Other activities (such as the ‘At Your Cervix’ podcast, recent book and the Athletic Female course) and how these have created an impact
• Athletes' response and challenges encountered
• Improving pelvic floor - is it too late?
• Research ideas for the future
• Future projects

Dr Natalie Brown is a research associate based at Swansea University and Sport Wales, working with the Welsh Institute of Performance Science. Her specialist area is the menstrual cycle and sport, supporting all levels of performance, whether that is the Olympic Games or helping women and girls have an active lifestyle. Both her research and applied work focusses on understanding the menstrual cycle, increasing awareness and understanding, and promoting a proactive approach to menstrual-related symptoms and management.

In this podcast, I chat with Dr Natalie Brown, who is a research associate based at Swansea University working with the Welsh Institute of Performance Science. Natalie’s specialist area is the menstrual cycle and sport, so we talk about her work on teachers’ perceptions and experiences of menstrual cycle education in UK schools, and the resources she has created for UK Sport on the menstrual cycle. Natalie also talks about the research she is involved in on concussion in rugby, her next research projects and her career advice.

Dr Lori Gano-Overway is the director of and instructor in the coaching education minor program at James Madison University. She has been involved in coaching education for over 20 years teaching coaching courses and workshops, collaborating with coaches on creating environments that foster positive experiences and performance enhancement outcomes for athletes as an Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)-certified mental performance consultant, assisting with programme development and evaluation, and conducting research on ways the social psychological climate and coaching practices foster positive youth development (1, 2, 3). Lori serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, the International Sport Coaching Journal, and is the Editor for the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal (here is an initial and most recent editorial related to work on the journal). Lori is also a member of the Virginia High School League coaching education committee and serves on the National Advisory Board for the Positive Coaching Alliance (here is a recent blog). She recently chaired the task force to revise the National Standards for Sport Coaches for SHAPE (Society of Health and Physical Educators) America (https://www.jblearning.com/catalog/productdetails/9781284205572).

In this podcast, we talked about:

· Lori’s research on psychological climate and coaching practices to foster positive youth development – what this is and how the idea has evolved.

· Effectiveness of this caring culture and environment according to gender (of both the coach and athlete), and across different cultures and ethnicities

· Steps/processes of teaching this coaching technique

· Lori’s work as editor for the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal (WSPAJ). Pros and cons of being an editor and benefits of being a reviewer for this journal.

· Improving intersectional work and intersectionality as part of WSPAJ

· Lori’s future research plans

Dr Georgie Bruinvels is a Research Scientist and the Female Athlete lead at Orreco.  Georgie is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London. Both her applied and research focus is on better understanding female physiology and in particular focusing on how the hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle impact physiological, physical and psychological readiness. At Orreco, Georgie works across a wide range of both team and individual sports including both National and WSL teams. Within her applied practice, she has four different aims: Improving education, increasing participation; helping to support performance; and ultimately driving research in this space.

Podcast content:

· How Georgie initially got into research on menstrual cycle.

· The recent publication on menstrual education provision in UK schools: Key findings and recommendations.

· Georgie’s thoughts on whether there is an actual increase in knowledge application.

· Orreco’s work with FIFA on education about women.

· Georgie’s own growth and promotion of her research (e.g., the Female Athlete Podcast): Advice for others.

· The Fitrwoman app and Fitrcoach

· Georgie’s recent publication on COVID-19, menstrual cycle and the female athlete, and thoughts on how COVID vaccinations might disrupt the menstrual cycle.

Lorna Mackay runs her own business as a personal trainer and Zumba instructor. Her specialist interest lies in the management of chronic pain through the participation in exercise. She is a strong believer in both the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise. Lorna holds an MSc in Applied Sport an Exercise Science; her research considered the effect of Zumba® and ZumbaGold® on non-specific, pre-existing musculoskeletal pain. Lorna is currently a PhD student and is building on her previous research by investigating the effect of integrating percussive therapy into warm ups of strength and conditioning programmes, to improve experiences of chronic non-specific musculoskeletal pain in knees, lumbar spine and shoulders. When Lorna isn’t in the gym or studying, she is out walking her dog in the local countryside.

Topics covered in the podcast:

· PhD research.

· Recent research projects on pregnant women and exercise/COVID-19.

· The European Women in Sport (E-WinS) project on women’s football: Insights and findings.

· Skills learnt in conducting interviews with women.

· Perspectives as a more mature student. Words of wisdom/advice for others who are contemplating starting a research career later in life.

Dr Philippa Velija is Head of School for Social Sciences, Psychology and Education and Associate Professor in the Sociology of Sport at Solent University, Southampton. She is author of Women’s Cricket and Global Processes which explores the development and emergence of the global game in relation to broader changes in gender relations. She has also co-edited Gender Equity in UK Sport Leadership and previously co-edited Figurational Research in Sport, Leisure and Health. Her research, which has been published in the Sociology of Sport Journal and International Review for Sociology of Sport and Leisure Studies, has focused on a sociological analysis of women’s experience in a range of sport, leisure and education settings. In this podcast, I asked Philippa about her latest book, and about her previous research on cricket. Because of Philippa’s successful career in senior management, we also talked about her journey, her advice to others, as well as her current and future research plans.

Dr Naomi Datsonis a Reader within the Institute of Sport, Nursing and Allied Health at the University of Chichester. Naomi is an experienced practitioner and has provided sport science support to elite female soccer players for over 15 years. Previously, Naomi was employed as Head of Sport Science (women’s) for the English FA. In this role, Naomi worked with the England women’s senior and youth teams at numerous international tournaments as well as Team GB for the London 2012 Olympics. Naomi continues to work in elite sport and currently provides consultancy services to club teams and National associations. Naomi has published numerous peer-reviewed academic articles relating to sports science and medicine. In this podcast, Naomi talks about this varied and challenging career, giving tips for success and survival in such a competitive environment. Naomi’s research is also discussed, which includes research on match analysis and player characteristics.

Dr Maurizio Valenti is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Law at Manchester Metropolitan University and member of the Faculty’s Sports Policy Unit. He is the leader of the BSc (Hons) Sport Business and BSc (Hons) Sport Marketing undergraduate programmes that are offered at Manchester Met. His principal research interests reside around the development of women’s football. He has received support from UEFA to conduct a project on the organisation and management of European women’s football clubs and explore the integration between men’s and women’s football teams. He has also published on the approaches to maximise attendance at UEFA Women’s Champions League matches, and on the policies relating to the international sporting success of the 55 UEFA member associations in the women’s game. In this podcast, Maurizio provided an historical context of women’s football, as well as discussing the current situation, before talking about the pros and cons associated with being an integrated versus an independent club. He talked about the ‘Big Five’ and how this might affect women’s football and particularly, competitive balance and uncertainty of outcome. Gaps in the research, such as targeting those involved in football who are not players or coaches, football in different countries and player welfare were highlighted. Maurizio also talked about his plans for research.

Dr Emma Ross was, until recently, the Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), supporting practitioners working across Olympic and Paralympic sports and leading the EIS Female Athlete Programme. This programme aimed to empower coaches, athletes and sports practitioners to better understand the exercising female, and how to capitalise and cope with her physiology and psychology in the context of sport. Emma recently co-founded The Well HQ, to continue this mission to tackle the taboos, educate and empower people in sport and beyond, about topics such as periods and the menstrual cycle, breast health, pelvic floor health and what it takes for girls and women to thrive in sport, in health and in life. In this podcast we talked about the SMARTHER campaign at the EIS and what the picture is like now in terms of Olympic women’s medals and her thoughts on where to place the emphasis – at grassroots or elite level. We also talked about any objections she has come across in her work, her specialism at the Well, best practices and her career tips.

In this podcast I talk to Marie-Stéphanie Abouna and Balkis Lefebvre. We talked about the 3-year, Erasmus+-funded project, E-WinS, but I also asked Marie-Stephanie about her research and future goals, and from Balkis, I asked about her tips on how to have success in applying for grants for large, multi-partner projects, from funding sources such as Erasmus+.

After working in various intercultural environments, Balkis Lefebvre has been working at CY Cergy Paris University European Affairs as a project officer in charge of managing and submitting European projects of the Erasmus+ Programme, in collaboration with her colleagues. She is currently involved in the organisation of activities in the EUTOPIA 2050 project, one of the 41 projects funded under the Erasmus+ “European Universities” call. She is also in charge of the project management of two selected Erasmus+ projects, of which CY is the coordinator: INPAD, a strategic partnership for school education and E-WinS, a collaborative partnership in the Sport action.

Marie-Stéphanie Abouna is an Associate Professor in sociology and head of a two-year University degree in Scientific and Technical Studies in Sport Management at CY-Ileps (Cergy Paris Université). She is a member of the Laboratory of Information and Communication Sciences (CIMEOS) in Dijon (France). Marie-Stéphanie’s research focuses on gender, sport, health and communication. She is particularly interested in women's football, studying aspects such as the influence of local and national contexts in its development through international comparisons, its visibility in social media, and its evolution of gender norms. She considers both popular and professional clubs such as Paris Saint Germain. She is currently working with a network of researchers and sport stakeholders from several European countries on two projects funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme: "European Women in Sport" (E-WinS), for which she is the scientific leader, and "Sport without Stereotypes" (SWOST).

Kelly McNulty is a PhD student at Northumbria University in the UK, investigating the effects of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptive use on performance, recovery, and adaptation in sportswomen. She has recently launched a project and podcast (*coming soon*) – the period of the period – which aims to promote awareness and increase evidence-based education on the topics surrounding women's health and performance in sport and exercise.

In this podcast, Kelly, gave some insights and advice for researchers and practitioners based on the results of her systematic review and meta-analysis on menstrual cycle and its effects on performance and her sister study on oral contraception. We also talked about her Twitter and podcast project - the period of the period - as well as her future PhD study, and how she has had to adapt it, in light of COVID-19.

Instagram: @periodoftheperiod

Twitter: @periodofperiod

Spotify: Spotify – the period of the period. | Podcast on Spotify

Dr John W. Dickinson, PhD is Reader within the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Kent, UK. He has over 17 years’ experience of helping athletes optimise their airway health. Over this time, he has seen in excess of 2000 athletes. His work has influenced policy on the management of athlete respiratory health, helping practitioners differentiate between various respiratory problems experienced by athletes. He has worked with elite organisations including the British Olympic Association, the English Institute of Sport, the Football Associationand UK Anti-Doping. He has also featured in multiple media stories explaining respiratory issues faced by athletes (e.g., Exercising with asthma during COVID).

In this podcast, I asked John about COVID-19-related issues as well as breathing issues and dysfunction that are specific to females. John gave some advice for asthmatics who exercise, his thoughts on mask use during exercise, and advice for recovery for individuals who have suffered from Coronavirus. The gaps in the literature on female-specific respiratory research were also discussed.

Rebecca Myers is a journalist for The Times and Sunday Times and the lead reporter for the prestigious Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year awards. She has covered major sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games, the World Athletics Championships, and the FIFA Women's World Cup, and her work focuses on women's sport. She was shortlisted for the Society of Editors’ Young Journalist of the Year award 2018.

In this podcast, I asked Rebecca about the female athletes she has reported on and interviewed during the COVID-19 lockdown – how they have been able to keep up with their training, and what restrictions, including financial restrictions, they have encountered. Rebecca talks about the positive outcomes – the silver lining – of being confined to the house for these athletes and how she hopes that the balance in the portrayal and coverage of sports women in the media, although currently not favourable for women, might be more promising in the future. I am pleased to discover that you don’t need to be ‘sporty’ or know the sports ‘lingo’ to be a successful female sports journalist!

Dr Glen Davison is Reader and Director of Research in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kent, where he also co-ordinates the Endurance Research Group. Glen’s research interests include: Nutrition and exercise immunology; interval training; and strategies to maintain optimal health and performance in athletes. Glen is a BASES-Accredited sport and exercise scientist (Physiology) and a Chartered Scientist (CSci). He has worked with amateur, elite and professional athletes from a range of sports, including football, rugby, hockey, athletics, triathlon and cycling.

This podcast has been recorded during the COVID-19 outbreak, so I ask Glen questions about why women seem to be at a reduced risk compared to men for Coronavirus, and whether, as a female, you can reduce your risk further. I also ask him about what exercise you should be doing to improve your immune response, both when you do not have the disease and when you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Glen also gives some tips on what nutrition and supplements could be used to improve an individual’s immune response, as well as his thoughts on differences that might occur in response to respiratory infections in female athletes.

Dr Nicola Keay BA, MB (Cantab), MB, BChir, MRCP, studied medicine at Cambridge University, with clinical attachments including sports medicine clinics in Australia and University of Geneva. After gaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, Nicky trained in endocrinology. As a Research Fellow at St Thomas’ Hospital, she was part of the international medical team which developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. With sport medicine grants, Nicky researched and published on the training effects on the endocrine system. More recent publications include those on competitive male cyclists and relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). Currently, Nicky is an Honorary Fellow at Durham University in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences researching the risk of RED-S in dancers and athletes.

Nicky wrote the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) educational website Health4Performance on RED-S. She is the medical advisor to Scottish Ballet, part of multidisciplinary team at EN:SPIRE clinic for dancers and athletes and Chief Medical Officer of Forth Edge, providing medical interpretation of blood tests to athletes. Nicky frequency writes blogs for the British Journal of Sport Medicine (BJSM), such as “Of Mice and Men…”

In this podcast, I asked Nicky about the energy availability questionnaire that she has developed, her personal experiences and thoughts on reversibility and treatment for amenorrhoea, the lack of research on women within medicine, her current research and her future plans.

www.nickykeayfitness.com

Selected Publications

Clinical evaluation of education relating to nutrition and skeletal loading in competitive male road cyclists at risk of relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S): 6-month randomised controlled trial Keay N, Francis G, Entwistle I, Hind K, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2019

Infographic. Energy availability: Concept, control and consequences in relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) Keay N, Francis G, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2019

Low energy availability assessed by a sport-specific questionnaire and clinical interview indicative of bone health, endocrine profile and cycling performance in competitive male cyclists Keay N, Francis G, Hind K, BMJ Open Sports and Exercise Medicine, 2018

Growth hormone (GH) effects on bone and collagen turnover in healthy adults and its potential as a marker of GH abuse in sports: A double blind, placebo-controlled study, Keay N, Longobardi S, Ehrnborg C et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2000) 85(4) 1505-1512

Bone mineral density in professional female dancers, Keay N, Blake G, Fogleman I, British Journal of Sports Medicine (1997) 31(2) 143-147

Áine Brislane is a lecturer in exercise physiology at York St. John University (YSJU) within the School of Sport, where she is responsible for delivering teaching in exercise physiology and supervising dissertation projects at undergraduate level. Áine is particularly interested in how physical activity, sedentary behaviour and exercise affect various aspects of vascular health during the lifespan. She is a member of the newly established Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health (PAtCH) research group at YSJU, where she, along with colleagues, is currently setting up a research laboratory. Here, she intends to continue her research in the area of women’s cardiovascular physiology. Áine has a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Limerick and an MSc by distinction from Manchester Metropolitan University, where she investigated the effect of antioxidant supplementation on recovery from exhaustive exercise in recreationally active women. Áine gained her PhD from Liverpool John Moores University, investigating how menopause and pregnancy influence the peripheral and cerebrovascular system.

Twitter: @ainebrislane

Jane Dowling is a clinical exercise specialist and has over 20 years’ experience in the health and fitness arena. She is a public speaker and blogger, as well as running a successful fitness 1-2-1 personal training studio in London Bridge. Inspired by her own menopause experiences, she founded MENO&ME, which offers evidence-based exercise, diet and lifestyle advice to women on how to find their fabulous again through menopause and beyond! Jane has extensive experience in dealing with a variety of clients, including older adults suffering from heart disease and osteoporosis. This ignited a passion to help educate younger women on how to take preventative measures towards improving their overall health. You can follow Jane on Instagram for dally tips @menoandme. She also has a closed Facebook group, Meno and Me Ageless goddesses. Jane has just launched a free health initiative to help menopausal women become more active which will help with bone, heart and mental health. It is called Menopause Active and she is training women as volunteers to lead walks across the country to help other women.

In this podcast, I talk to Jane about this latest initiative, Menopause Active, the content of her exercise programmes for postmenopausal women and her thoughts on areas of research that are lacking in this particular population.

Emily Pappas has a strong background in the physiological sciences, holding a bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in biochemistry, and a master’s in exercise physiology. She is an adjunct instructor at Temple University and the founder of Relentless Athletics. Relentless is a company driven by science that focuses on the development of female athletes through strength training, sports nutrition, and sports injury rehabilitation. For more information on Emily, you can listen to her podcasts: Travis on Barbell Life; Deshawn on SportsMastery . Stronger Experts Roundtable, Kati Galli’s Keep Moving Forward, The Speed, and Complete Football Health. She has also written articles on her subject area: hormones & anatomy.

In this podcast, I chat with Emily about why she started her company Relentless and we debate and discuss various issues such as the gap between research and applied practice, her thoughts and perceptions about ACL injuries in a female athletic population, what she feels should constitute a module in strength and conditioning on females and where she thinks research might be lacking in this area.

Julie Harrington was announced as British Cycling’s new chief executive in March 2017.

Before her current role, Julie amassed almost 15 years’ experience in senior leadership roles in a sports environment. In her former role as group operations’ director at the Football Association, Julie was responsible for running both Wembley Stadiumand St George's Park, in addition to women's and development team games away from Wembley. Julie joined the FA in 2011 as managing director of St George's Park, tasked with the final stage of construction and launch of a £100-million elite training centre, home to the 24 England teams. She was also responsible for developing the strategy for the centre and its commercial performance against its business plan.

Since joining British Cycling, Julie has overseen the implementation of the organisation’s action plan following the Cycling Independent Review, as well as widespread changes to allow the governing body to comply with the government’s new Code for Sports Governance.

Professor Nanette Mutrie is the Chair of Physical Activity for Health at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and directs the Physical Activity for Health Research Centrethere. She has extensive experience of conducting interventions aimed at increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time. She has contributed to policy, for example, ‘Let’s make Scotland more active’ and has published on psychological and public health aspects of physical activity for health with over 200 publications. Nanette received an MBE from the Queen in 2015 for services in Physical Activity for Health in Scotland. Her own activity involves dog walking, walking the golf course and commuting by bike whenever possible.

Nanette’s research in a nutshell: https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/1_y78n3nfc

For information about the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre and how to get in touch, visit: https://www.ed.ac.uk/education/rke/centres-groups/pahrc

In this podcast, I had the pleasure of talking to Nanette about a range of physical activity related topics, including the ‘sit less, walk more’ campaign, which also forms part of the ‘ActWELL’ study for female breast cancer patients. Nanette discussed the relative importance of sitting less versus moving more. She also spoke about how physical activity levels, especially for women, have increased in Scotland through the use of walking interventions, and about future projections. I asked Nanette about her legacy, her career journey and about her advice for others in academia. My take-home message that I got from Nanette was about how collaboration and a positive, supportive environment are the keys to a successful research centre. It was a pleasure to chat with Professor Nanette Mutrie, MBE!

 Dr Wolfgang Kemmler is a professor and research director at the Institute of Medical Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nürnberg. He is a leading expert on the effects of exercise on osteoporosis and sarcopenia, carrying out extensive research within these areas. Exercise interventions, as part of the research carried out by Professor Kemmler's research group, have included resistance training as well as whole-body electromyostimulation. This podcast came about as a result of staff mobility funding from Erasmus+ and features the research that Professor Kemmler and his team have carried out on osteoporotic fracture in postmenopausal women and on whole-body electromyostimulation 

Dr Jenny Burbage completed a BSc (Hons) Sports Science degree in 2006 at the University of Portsmouth and an MSc Sport & Exercise Biomechanics degree in 2007 at the University of Chichester. She completed a part-time PhD in July 2013, which focused on the breast support implications for female recreational athletes. Jenny is currently a Senior Lecturer in biomechanics and the Recruitment & External Promotions Lead for the Department of Sport & Exercise Science at the University of Portsmouth. She continues to carry out research and innovation activities as part of the Research Group in Breast Health, focusing on functional breast support, bra fit and breast health education.

Brogan Horler graduated from the University of Chichester in 2011 with a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science. She then went on to complete an MSc in Sports Performance Analysis. Brogan joined the University of Portsmouth in 2015 and works as a Research Associate and member of the Research Group in Breast Health (RGBH). Her main responsibility is to lead the RGBH Bra Testing Unit which offers product testing and consultancy work to some of the major lingerie, sports bra and apparel manufacturers around the world. 

In this podcast I talk to Jenny and Brogan about their work as part of the Research Group in Breast Health at the University of Portsmouth, their advice and tips for appropriate bra support and their future planned research in this area.  

For more information on the Research Group in Breast Health:

Website: port.ac.uk/breastresearch

Email: breastresearch@port.ac.uk

Twitter: @UOP_RGBH

Joan Eckerson, PhD, FNSCA, FACSM, CSCS, CEP is Professor and Chair in the Department of Exercise Science and Pre-Health Professions at Creighton University. Dr Eckerson joined the Exercise Science faculty in the Autumn of 1995. She has over 55 publications in the area of body composition and dietary supplementation and has received a number of awards acknowledging her accomplishments in teaching and research. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Certified Exercise Physiologist. She is past President of the NSCA Foundation, and currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

In the podcast, Joan talks about the nutritional needs of female athletes, creatine supplementation for females, her plans for research within the area of nutrition and supplementation and her advice for female academics. 

Dr Lucy Piggott is a Research Fellow at the University of Chichester. Both her research and applied activities are focused around women and sport. She has recently completed a doctorate looking at gender equity within English sport governance and used a multi-method approach of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and an analysis of supporting documents to understand the workings of dominant gender power relations within two large English national governing bodies of sport: England Golf and the Lawn Tennis Association. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice as a theoretical framework, she found evidence of simultaneous conservation and resistance of practices that privilege and profit male leaders. She recommends that resistance to male-dominated sport governance needs to occur at all levels of sport organisations (macro/structural, meso/cultural, and micro/individual) to enable sustainable change. She also suggests that gender equitable governance should be linked to organisational values and performance to provide motivation for organisations to make change. 

In her current role, Lucy is working with both internal and external colleagues on research ideas, proposals and bids across a range of topics. In addition to her research activities, Lucy sits on the Operational Management Group for the Anita White Foundation (AWF), which is a part of the University of Chichester and aims to combine scholarship and activism for women and sport. The AWF has three key areas of focus: the education and development of women leaders and scholars in sport, preserving the heritage of women and sport, and research and scholarship. The primary project of the AWF is the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA), which has a its main component a residential week held at the University of Chichester for women working in middle to senior sport leadership to develop their confidence and competence across a range of leadership behaviours. Lucy was coordinator for the 2019 Women’s Sport Leadership Academy which saw 36 women from 19 countries attend the residential week. WSLA has also run programmes in Botswana and New Zealand. Excluding WSLA 2019 participants, WSLA has a global network of 228 women from 41 countries who have graduated from a WSLA programme.  

In this episode, Lucy talks about her PhD on gender equity in sport governance, her advice she has for organisations and individuals to foster gender equality and also her current research projects and activities.

In this podcast, I talk with Dr Donna Duffy about the issue of head injuries being unreported in women’s sport, her work as part of the Female BRAIN Project, and future research needs in the area of concussion among female athletes.

Dr Donna Duffy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and the Director of the Program for the Advancement of Girls and Women in Sport and Physical Activity at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Dr Duffy completed her PhD at UNCG in 2007 and completed her MEd (1999) and her BSc (1996) at Boston University in Boston, MA. Dr Duffy’s lifelong, personal and professional commitment to advancing women’s health helped her define her current research agenda, focused on girls’ and women’s experiences with sport related head injuries (e.g., concussions). Dr Duffy is the Co-Director of the Female BRAIN Project at UNCG, where she leads an active research team of research collaborators from Boston University’s School of Medicine and the Female Athlete Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, all focused on the neurological and physiological implications of head injuries in different types of high contact and collision-based sports, including women’s tackle football, roller derby and rugby. Dr Duffy and her research team are focused on better understanding the role of sex hormones in moderating and mediating head injuries among female athletes in paediatric and post-collegiate female athlete populations. In addition to her position at UNCG, Dr Duffy served as a Visiting Research Scientist in the Department of Neurology at Boston University’s school of Medicine and as a Visiting Research Scientist in the Female Athlete Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr Duffy serves on the board of advisors for PINK Concussions and the Board of Directors at the Women's Resource Center in Greensboro NC. 

Dr Nancy Williams is currently Professor and Head of the Department of Kinesiology at Penn State University. She earned her doctorate in anatomy and physiology from Boston University in 1992 and then completed postdoctoral work in Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and of the National Academy of Kinesiology. She is currently the President of the American Kinesiology Association (AKA). With over 200 departmental members, the AKA promotes the academic discipline of Kinesiology through advocacy, leadership development, and outreach.

The focus of Dr Williams’ research is to improve our understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying the modulation of reproductive function via alterations in energy balance resulting from changes in diet and/or physical activity. The clinical applications of this work relate to fertility and menstrual function, musculoskeletal health, exercise performance, the Female Athlete Triad, and other women’s health issues. Dr. Williams has over 100 peer-reviewed publications in these areas with a particular focus on prospective studies in exercising women. 

Dr Williams co-directs the Women’s Health and Exercise Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology. She has served as the President of the Female Athlete Triad Coalition, an international 501c3 organization of physicians, researchers and practitioners who work to promote education and research on the Female Athlete Triad. 

Dr Amber Mosewich is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. A key directive of her work is to understand the psychological skills and resources necessary to promote adaptive responses to stress and emotion and how best to foster their development. She is passionate about ensuring athletes have the resources to effectively manage demands to facilitate successful sport experiences that are also positive and healthy.

Dr Leah Ferguson, Métis, is an Assistant Professor in the College of Kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan. Her sport psychology research explores how athletes flourish and reach their potential, and she is particularly interested in the role of self-compassion in sport contexts. She is also a mental skills consultant for the Sport Medicine & Science Council of Saskatchewan, where she works with athletes, coaches, and parents to facilitate positive sport experiences.

In this podcast, we explore psychological issues that are pertinent to female athletes or the exercising female, and we delve into the theory and application of self-compassion. 

Photo credit for Leah Ferguson to David Stobbe for the University of Saskatchewan.

In this podcast, I talk to Dr Mini Zumwalt about her work as an orthopaedic surgeon. We talk about factors that are thought to increase injury incidence in the female athlete and also about the applied work that she does on injury prevention through exercise.  

Dr Mini Zumwalt is a professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of sports medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas. She earned an undergraduate degree (Magna Cum Laude) in biology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and went on to complete her medical studies from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Mimi is co-editor of the book, The Active Female: Health Issues Throughout the Lifespan, and also a contributor to the book, The Exercising Female: Science and its Application. She undertook a transitional internship at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in el Paso, Texas. She spent two years as a flight surgeon at Fort Rucker-Enterprise, and served in Iran and Iraq receiving a combat medic badge. She holds the title of reigning champion in the Over 40 and Over 50 categories in the Tri-Fitness World Challenge, a hybrid obstacle course and bodybuilding competition held each year in Florida. 

Dr Leanne Norman is a Reader in Sports Coaching within the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. She is an internationally leading researcher for her research and writing within the area of gender equality and issues of diversity related to sports coaching, sports leadership, and organisations. Her work is driven towards improving the participation, performance, and leadership pathways for diverse social groups, principally, different groups of women. Leanne has written for academic and practitioner textbooks, written educational resources for coaches, and has published widely in academic journals related to sport and social issues. She has led national and international research projects as well as acted as academic expert and consultant for research funded by sport councils, governing bodies, and charities. Leanne utilises such research as the evidence for impactful outreach activities including leading the delivery of programmes towards supporting women to enhance their experience of sports coaching as a credible and valuable profession, as well as working with organisations to support them towards creating a diverse leadership and coaching workforce.

In this podcast, Rachael Bullingham talks to Dr Leanne Norman, who is a Reader in Sports Coaching at Leeds Beckett University. They discuss gender equity in sport coaching, the current status of sport coaching for women, and the impact of media coverage. Leanne also gives her advice for the young coach just starting out.

In the podcast, I talk to Robin Pickering about a number of issues concerning the exercising female, from exercise in pregnancy to the impact of social media on self-efficacy and motivation to exercise. 

Robin Pickering is programme director of Women and Gender Studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. She is also an Associate Professor of Health Sciences specialising in Community Health and a personal development consultant. Her research interests include women’s health issues, exercise self-efficacy, and the impact of social media on health risk behaviours. She currently serves as a member of the Women and Gender Studies Committee at Whitworth University and the advisory board for the Eastern Washington University Alumni magazine, as well as a contributor for several local media publications. She has served as the Vice Chair of the Board for the Spokane AIDS Network, Programme Director of Community Health at Eastern Washington University (EWU), and steering committee member for the Masters in Public Health degree for EWU. Robin received her PhD in Education with an emphasis on Health, Psychology, and Adult Education, a master’s degree in Exercise Science and Pedagogy, and a bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and Wellness. She has also served on the board for Early Head Start, The Spokane Birth Outcome Task Force, and on various other committees committed to promoting community health.  Robin is a certified Wellness Coach and currently serves as a Personal Development Consultant specialising in Sexual Assault Prevention for the Spokane Chiefs (a local hockey team) and has instructed yoga in the community for 16 years.

Robin’s most recent area of interest includes the impact of social media use on women's exercise motivation, self-efficacy, and body image. She also likes to write about reproductive health issues and rights, and sexuality education. See also: https://www.spokanejournal.com/authors/robin-pickering/ 

In this podcast I speak to Dr Glen Davison (@GlenD800) and Dr Judith Allgrove about their research and activities associated with the immune system. We talk about differences in immune function between men and women and how the immune system is affected by exercise and by the menstrual cycle. We also talk about immune-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as various lifestyle strategies to enhance our immune function for when we exercise.  

Dr Judith Allgrove (@JudithAllgrove) completed her first degree in physiology at the University of Bristol. She then went onto study for an MSc and PhD in exercise physiology at Loughborough University, where she was awarded the postgraduate progression prize for outstanding academic achievement. Following a period working in a research post in exercise immunology at Loughborough, she moved to London to work as a senior lecturer in exercise physiology at Greenwich University, before taking her current post as senior lecturer in human physiology at Kingston University. Judith’s principal research interests lie in exercise-induced stress, the immune response and nutritional interventions in men and women. She is also interested in the study of markers of cardiovascular and Type 2 diabetes risk, particularly in relation to exercise and nutrition. Judith has worked on projects in a variety of areas including swimming, professional football, rugby and the fitness industry.

Dr Glen Davison is Reader and Director of Research in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kent, where he also co-ordinates the Endurance Research Group. He attained his first degree in Sport and Exercise Sciences (Sheffield Hallam) in 2001, MSc in Exercise Physiology (Sheffield Hallam) in 2002, and PhD in Nutrition and Exercise Immunology (Loughborough University) in 2006. He spent five years at Aberystwyth University in Wales before joining the University of Kent in 2011. Glen is a BASES-Accredited sport and exercise scientist (Physiology) and a Chartered Scientist (CSci). He has worked with amateur, elite and professional athletes from a range of sports, including football, rugby, hockey, athletics, triathlon and cycling. Glen’s research interests include: Nutrition and exercise immunology; interval training; and strategies to maintain optimal health and performance in athletes. He is currently conducting a study on variability in responses to caffeine (and the role of genetic variations), where he is comparing males and females to see whether they respond differently.

Lindsay Woodford is a chartered sport and exercise psychologist at The Sporting Mindset and co-programme lead for the masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of the West of England, Bristol. She has worked in private practice for over 10 years supporting athletes, coaches and parents to enhance athletic performance and mental well being. She is passionate about women in sport and exercise and her current applied practice work has a strong focus on supporting adolescent female athletes. 

In this episode, Lindsay talks about the adolescent female athlete, The Sporting Mindset, Patient Voices, and her latest research and projects on overtraining syndrome. 

In this episode, I chat with Molly Hurford, who is a coach & journalist in love with all things cycling, running, yoga, and nutrition. When not outside, she’s writing on TheOutdoorEdit.com, interviewing world-class athletes and scientists for The Consummate Athlete Podcast, or writing articles for Outside, Bicycling and TrueSport, among others. She’s a USA Cycling & PMBI-certified cycling coach and a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance. Molly is obsessed with getting more women psyched on adventure and wellness, and hosts talks and coaches’ clinics and camps for cyclists. She’s also the author of multiple books on cycling and nutrition. Her most recent project, Shred Girls, is a young adult fiction series out with Random House and website focused on getting girls excited about bikes. 

In this podcast, I chat with Professor Mark De Ste Croix about: injury management and robustness training for young females who take part in sport; his latest ventures and research, such as the risk project, which is a grass-root coach education programme aiming to support the health and well-being of young people; and his advice on being successful in gaining research grants. Mark is an invited speaker at our WISEAN conference on 11th/12th June 2019, 'Pushing the Boundaries', being held at St Mary's University, Twickenham, London...Mark gives us a flavour of what he will be talking about!

Prof Mark De ste Croix is Professor of Paediatric sport and exercise at the University of Gloucestershire. Having trained as a PE teacher Mark has always been interested in the health and well-being of children and in the development of talent. More recently Mark’s interests have been geared specifically around injury prevention in youth sport and coach education. Mark has a specific interest in the female athlete and is the research lead for the University-based FA Women’s High Performance Football Centre (HPCs). He has set up a national group looking at research within women’s football and this involves leading academics from a number of HPCs and individuals working in women’s football within Europe. He has previously completed research projects looking at fatigue and injury risk in female youth footballers for both FIFA and UEFA and secured research funding from the FA looking at robustness training for female players. More recently Mark led and completed a large European-funded project, exploring the development of grass-root football coaches’ youth movement competency skills, which are now being developed with UK Coaching. Mark also helped to develop and deliver the FA level 3 Talent Identification course. He has worked with a wide range of sports and national organisations including the English Cricket Board, British gymnastics, netball, rugby, Barcelona Football Club and currently with Athletic Club Bilbao in Spain. In his spare time, Mark plays football, golf and badminton and loves spending time with his family, usually on a roller coaster somewhere.

Nicole Sapstead, Chief Executive of UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), talks about her career as a woman, her challenges, her role models and her advice for other women pursuing a career in sport and exercise. She also talks about some of the emerging and current issues among females in terms of doping in sport. We have delighted to have Nicole speaking at our WISEAN conference this year on 11th/12th June 2019 at St Mary's University, Twickenham. 

Nicole Sapstead was appointed as interim Chief Executive of UKAD in January 2015 and was appointed to the position permanently in March 2015.

Previously UK Anti-doping’s Director of Operations, Nicole was responsible for the delivery of the organisation’s testing, intelligence and investigations, and science and medicine functions.

Nicole has worked in anti-doping since 1997, having previously worked as the Assistant to the Director and Legal Advisor at the Drug Control Centre at King’s College, and in various roles at UK Sport, where she progressed to Head of Operations before joining UK Anti-Doping on its formation in 2009.

Here are some useful links that set out UKAD's direction of travel for the next few years.

About UKAD

UKAD’s Strategic Plan

What UKAD does

Much of UKAD's activity currently relates to delivering against the Tailored Review Recommendations.

UK Anti-Doping prepares to meet ambitious objectives following government funding boost

UK Anti-Doping receives £6 million funding boost

& TR here

This means that their focus is very much on testing across a wide range of sports and at varying levels within these sports, educating those within sport, from the very young, right through to the elite end and all those in between as well as the ‘entourage’ that impact/surround an athlete at the varying stages of their athlete pathway.

In terms of athlete pathway education, UKAD publish news articles ad hoc (see below), but the Athletes Hub is content tailored for athletes.

More than 1,000 young athletes to receive UK Anti-Doping education at 2018 School Games

UKAD are starting to look at the wider integrity piece – not just as it relates to anti-doping and where they can be more joined up with those other stakeholders who are also are involved with differing aspects of integrity – they are also entering into a wider remit where they feel they have a part to play with educating the wider population and those that use gyms about supplements and the increasing societal trend of steroid use. 

Claire-Marie talks about her latest research and insights on athlete career termination, specifically for female athletes, and how she applies her research to her work in the premier league.  She will also be presenting her research at this year's Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network conference 2019. 

In this episode, I am chatting to Dr Rachael Bullingham, who is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education at the University of Worcester. Rachael’s research is all about homophobia in sport. In her PhD, for instance, she analysed the experiences of openly lesbian athletes participating in team sports. She has published ‘Out in Sport’, as well as book chapters and various articles on the portrayal and perception of lesbian athletes in the media. At the moment she is exploring the experiences of gay and lesbian teachers and female commentators. A further activity of Rachel’s is being part of the Sport Collision Collective, the focus of which is to make rugby, within educational settings, safer for children. 

In this episode, I chat with Kate Nicholson and Tanya Martin, both of whom are from Women in Sport. Kate is Head of Insight and Innovation and Tanya is Insight Officer. Women in Sport is a leading organisation that researches sport purely from the perspective of women and girls. The charity has been using their insight and research to drive change through campaigns and partnerships. Kate Nicholson joined Women in Sport in 2017, bringing over 25 years of experience in research, behaviour change and strategy development to the charity. She is also an enthusiastic netball player and coach. Tanya Martin also joined Women in Sport in 2017 and has led the organisation’s key insight projects to explore how significant life stages, such as puberty and the menopause, impact on girls’ and women’s relationships with physical activity. Tanya is also an Associate Lecturer at The Open University and is passionate about psychology of sport and exercise. I am delighted to share with you the latest research and developments from Women in Sport, which Kate and Tanya explain all about. 

Twitter: @womeninsport_uk

Instagram: @womeninsport_uk

https://footballcollective.org.uk/2018/04/09/an-introduction-from-dr-hanya-pielichaty/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2014.882822?scroll=top&needAccess=true&

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2159676X.2018.1549094