News | Wednesday, 24th May 2023
University joins forces with UK Sports Institute on female athlete health
Effect of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception on performance will be focus of research
How the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception affects female athletes’ performance will be investigated through an exciting new research partnership to provide better understanding and support for sportswomen and coaches.
Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport and the UK Sports Institute, formerly the English Institute of Sport, have signed the visionary partnership, which will focus initially on the influence of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception on performance.
There will be a particular focus on how to apply the research so that it positively impacts athletes and coaches.
Several high-profile athletes have spoken in recent times on the impact of periods on athletic performance, including long-distance runner Eilish McColgan and sprinter Dina-Asher Smith, and the need for more studies.
Hormones released during athletes’ periods have also been linked to ACL injuries in women’s football, where they are far more common than in men’s football.
It is widely acknowledged that more robust, high-quality research is needed to better inform the health and performance support of female athletes and this partnership will significantly enhance the University’s and UK Sports Institute’s (UKSI) leadership in this area, benefitting elite athletes, coaches and sports.
Kirsty Elliott-Sale, Professor of Female Endocrinology and Exercise Physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said: “This is a special partnership allowing us to bridge the gap between high-quality laboratory research, which is performed under very stringent conditions, and the reality of applied sport, which is performed under highly variable conditions.
“In the past we have overlooked female athletes, especially elite female athletes, from sport and exercise science research; this research programme will allow us to finally conduct high-quality, fit-for-purpose research for elite female athletes.”
Championing sports research
Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport is championing every aspect of sport and health, from strengthening communities and building a healthier society, to inspiring the next generation of athletes and pushing the limits of human performance.
University researchers are already setting the international agenda for female athlete-based research and practice, alongside a number of key external partners including the UKSI, the European Club Association, Arsenal Football Club, England Cricket, World Rugby, and Manchester Thunder Netball team.
Research and expertise in the Institute of Sport includes the studies on the effect of periods on performance but also the role of genetics in sport and concussion, injury prevention and recovery, sport governance, paralympic sport classification, sport nutrition, dementia in football, science of ageing and mobility, and much more.
Dr Richard Burden, Co-Lead for Female Athlete Health at the UKSI, added: “We are all very excited about this partnership. For the science and medicine of female sport to progress there needs to be collaboration and here we are combining world-leading researchers with some of the most experienced applied science and medicine practitioners in elite female sport.
“We hope that this partnership will simultaneously provide vital research to support athletes and sports across the UK, while also raising the profile of these topics globally and keeping them high on the international agenda.”
Over the past four years, the Female Athlete Health Team at the UKSI has been involved with a number of successful projects through the SmartHER campaign, which seeks to further understand female athlete health and performance.
The award-winning female hormone monitoring technology, Hormonix, was developed with Mint Diagnostics to provide real-time female hormone data to improve training and performance. Hormonix has been used by elite athletes, including players at Manchester City Women.
The team also led a project to provide bespoke sports bras, as well as expert advice and guidance, to more than 100 athletes from 15 sports with the aim of improving both health and performance.
The UKSI team has recently completed a series of educational roadshows across the country, attended by more than 150 athletes, coaches and practitioners.
