Female Athlete Podcast – Opening up the conversation around the female body

Run4It is delighted to be one of the supporting sponsors of The Female Athlete Podcast for series 2. For those not yet familiar with the great work the team behind The Female Athlete Podcast do, this article serves as a brief introduction.

The Female Athlete Podcast returns for series 2

The second series of the Female Athlete Podcast launched at the beginning of this month (October 2020), continuing in its aim to open up the conversation around areas to do with female physiology, which can often be perceived as shameful or embarrassing and which consequently go under-discussed and under-researched.

The Female Athlete Podcast was launched in March 2020 by sports journalist Lucy Lomax (formerly BBC) and researchers and runners Dr Georgie Bruinvels (Orreco/FitrWoman) and Dr Jess Piasecki (Nottingham Trent University, 3rd fastest British female marathon runner in history).

Opening up the conversation around the female body

We pride ourselves in having open, honest and informative conversations with fantastic guests and experts around topics which can often be shunned and avoided, but which are important and relevant to women of all ages today.

Tackling taboo topics

On the Female Athlete Podcast, we’ve previously spoken to a variety of guests including sports scientists, doctors, breast health experts, athletes suffering with menstrual dysfunctions such as endometriosis and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and we've interviewed real women about the impact of long-term oral contraceptive pill use on their bodies and personal experiences of female puberty, menopause and peri-menopause.

"Our aim is to open up the conversation around areas to do with female physiology which can often be perceived as shameful or embarrassing"

In series 2 we’re continuing to open up the conversation by tackling other areas such as injuries in women’s sport (ACL and concussion), pregnancy and when it’s safe to get back running, ultra-endurance, mental health, menstrual cycle symptoms explained and the broader topics of hydration, nutrition and recovery; and always approaching these topics with a female athlete-specific angle.

We believe anyone who uses their body to move or exercise in any way is an athlete and we want women to better understand their physiology and to appreciate how amazing our bodies are and to feel empowered and worthy.

Answering important questions

Each episode of the Female Athlete Podcast includes a ‘Question Time’ section. What is the best contraception for runners? Why is my body taking so long to adjust to my new pill? How come I haven’t I had a period in six months? Why is my coach asking me to train fasted? How do I lead an education session with my athletes? Or how do I approach the topic of the menstrual cycle as a male coach?

These are just some of the questions we have received and answered through our dedicated ‘Question Time’ at the end of every episode over the past six months. If you have a question around the female body and exercise, please email us at femaleathletepodcast@gmail.com. We’d be happy to help and may include your question on the podcast.

Future plans

We also have exciting plans for the future! The Female Athlete Podcast team is looking to launch a short ebook around the many women’s health and exercise topics mentioned above. Plus, in the more distant future we will be launching a website filled with useful educational resources. Spanning from puberty to pregnancy to menopause and everything in between!

Download our latest podcasts, including Series 2, Episode 1, with adventure athlete and ultra-endurance specialist Jenny Tough (who earlier this year won the Atlas Mountain Race in the Moroccan desert) and take a look back on our catalogue of episodes from series 1 via femaleathletepodcast.buzzsprout.com or through your usual podcast provider.

For useful resources, snippets of interviews and podcast updates head to our social media channels:
Twitter: @female_pod
Instagram: @femaleathletepod

We are delighted to be partnering with Run4It for this series of the podcast.

Join us and together we can open up the conversation!

Female Athlete Podcast Presented by three curious young women; journalist Lucy Lomax, Dr Georgie Bruinvels and Dr Jess Piasecki, The Female Athlete Podcast is here to shine a light and bring focus to topics around the female body and sport and exercise which have originally gone under the radar.