Aim The overall aim was to investigate Swedish elite athlete’s perceptions about the effects of the menstrual cycle on sports performance. The research questions applied was: 1. How do elite athletes perceive the effects of the menstrual cycle on performance, and do they adjust training or competition accordingly? 2. How do elite athletes perceive the knowledge and beliefs within the area, among their coaches? Method A cross-sectional study design was applied using an online questionnaire for data collection. The study group of interest were female Swedish elite athletes, from both team and individual sports. Teams and athletes defined as ‘elite athletes’ were contacted and offered participation. All data collected from the questionnaire was processed in IBM SPSS® where both descriptive and analytic statistics was performed. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to test the assumptions of normality for the data, Chi2-tests and Fisher’s exact test were used to examine relationships between variables in the sample and the statistical significance level for analysis was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results Both menstrual- and premenstrual symptoms (PMS) effected the athletes in the sample. The psychological PMS affected close to 70% of the sample in at least one aspect and the symptoms menstrual bleeding affected majority of the sample (82%). The phases were athletes perceived themselves perform the best and the worst were different, with majority of the sample perceiving their worst performance being close to bleeding. This may be an effect of the negative symptoms associated with the bleeding phase. Both coaches’ and athletes’ perceived knowledge were considerably low, as well as athletes’ possibilities to discuss menstrual problems with their coach. Conclusions Elite athletes perceive negative effects of the menstrual cycle and somewhat experience variations in performance throughout the cycle. The knowledge within the area, especially for people involved in female sports, needs to improve. / Syfte och frågeställningar Det övergripande syftet var att undersöka svenska elitidrottares uppfattningar om effekterna av menstruationscykeln på deras prestationsförmåga. Frågeställningarna var: 1. Hur uppfattar elitidrottare effekterna av menstruationscykeln på deras prestation och anpassar de träning eller tävling i enlighet med detta? 2. Hur uppfattar elitidrottare kunskapen och åsikterna inom det specifika området, bland sina tränare? Metod En tvärsnittsstudie genomfördes med hjälp av webb-enkät för datainsamling. Studiegruppen av intresse var kvinnliga svenska elitidrottare, från både lag och individuella idrotter. Lag och idrottare som kunde definieras som "elitidrottare" kontaktades och erbjöds deltagande. All insamlade data från enkä̈ten behandlades i IBM SPSS där både beskrivande och analytisk statistik genomfördes. Shapiro-Wilk’s test användes för att testa antaganden om normalfördelning för data, Chi2-test och Fisher’s exakta test användes för att undersöka samband mellan variabler i urvalet och den statistiska signifikansnivån för analys var ≤ 0.05. Resultat Både menstruella- och premenstruella symptom (PMS) påverkade idrottarna i studiegruppen. De psykologiska PMS påverkade nära 70% av deltagarna i åtminstone ett avseende och symptom vid menstruationsblödning drabbade majoriteten av gruppen (82%). De faser i menstruationscykeln där idrottarna upplevde sin bästa- respektive sämsta prestation var olika, med en majoritet av gruppen som upplevde sin sämsta prestation i samband med blödning. Detta kan vara en effekt av de negativa symtom som är förknippade med blödningsfasen. Både tränares och idrottarnas upplevda kunskap var förhållandevis låg, liksom idrottarnas möjligheter till att diskutera menstruationsproblem med sin tränare. Slutsatser Elitidrottare upplever negativa effekter av menstruationscykeln och upplever vissa variationer i prestation under cykeln. Kunskapen inom området, speciellt för de involverade i kvinnlig idrott, behöver förbättras.

This study investigated whether or not a relationship exists between ventilation and oxygen uptake at 40% and 85% of V02 peak intensity in 30 upper body fit and 30 unfit 18- 35-year-old women. The correlations between ventilation and oxygen uptake at 40% of peak intensity for the fit group (r = -.51) and the unfit group (r = -.48) were modestly negative. At 85% intensity the relationship between ventilation and oxygen uptake in the two groups was -.44 and -.66, respectively. The lower correlations between ventilation and oxygen uptake observed at the 85% level of peak intensity among the unfit group could be due to a lower ventilatory threshold (66% = fit; 49% = unfit), lesser local muscle changes, along with reduced lactate and C02 management; all of which would be improved with training.

The relationship between the body, food and exercise is complex and remains poorly understood within the athletic population. Much of what is currently known stems from disordered eating literature grounded in objectivist perspectives. While this literature has been fruitful, it has limited our understanding of athletes' eating and body experiences as they have primarily been conceptualized through an objectivist lens as pathological and/or linked to individual psychological deficiencies (e.g., low self-esteem, body image distortion). In turn, the ways in which food and exercise are negotiated and experienced by athletes in the context of taken-for-granted social, cultural and gendered discourses had not yet been explored. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to use an alternative theoretical perspective (i.e., feminist psychology) to look beyond the traditional objectivist notion of `disordered eating' and explore the complex relationship between the body, food and exercise in athletes (i.e., male and female distance runners), including the underlying meanings surrounding the athletic body and the role of gender and power in the social construction of their body experiences. A narrative approach drawing from Sparkes & Smith (2008), Smith & Sparkes (2008, 2010), and Riessman (1993, 2008) was used to accomplish this research goal. As such, participants were asked to tell stories about their body experiences, in relation to both eating and exercising, over the course of two separate individual interviews, as well as to create a visual representation/story of their running experience. These stories stood as the backdrop through which meanings were sought, as they provided a window into larger social, cultural and historical narratives as well as the process of individual meaning-making around the body, food and exercise (Riessman, 1993, 2008; Smith & Sparkes, 2010). A total of nine recreational distance runners (5 males, 4 females) and three elite (i.e., collegiate or post-collegiate) distance runners (1 male, 2 females) participated in the study. Together, these 12 runners produced a sum of 23 narrative interviews and 11 visual narratives, all of which underwent a combined thematic, dialogic/performance and visual analysis. The results of this thorough analysis indicated that the runners' stories were primarily situated in broader self-identity narratives and further demarcated by one of two opposing running narratives that shifted the meanings around the body, food and exercise in complex ways. Furthermore, their stories, along with the construction of meanings around the body, food and exercise, were found to be situated and negotiated within gendered narratives of the self. The ways in which the runners drew upon these narratives, and formed meanings within them, directly impacted their thoughts, emotions and behaviors around their bodies, food and exercise in both empowering (i.e., positive and healthy) and/or disempowering ways. As such, this study highlighted the complexity of the body, food and exercise relationship in distance runners and demonstrated how athletes' eating and exercising practices are socially and culturally formed through the narratives made available to them.

Research has shown that elite female athletes competing in competitive sports may experience weight consciousness and face demands to conform to unrealistic standards of body weight. The purpose of this research was to investigate body image and dieting behaviours in adolescent female athletes and non-athletes. A self-reporting questionnaire was administered to 60 athletes aged between 13-16 years derived from eight different sporting populations, and a control group consisting of 60 non-athletes or inactive individuals aged between 13-16 years. Two major areas relating to weight and eating behaviours were examined: disordered eating and distorted body image. Other variables under investigation included current attempts at weight loss, level of acceptance of thin female stereotypes promoted by the media, reasons for dieting, and perception of one’s own body image. Results indicated that the majority of the athletes displayed a positive body image and were generally happy with their overall body shape. This group was less likely to employ weight loss behaviours. However, the non-athletes were more likely to display distorted body image and distorted eating behaviours. Consistent with the cultural expectations of thinness, large proportions of the non-athletes wished to lose weight, even though their actual weight (i.e. Body Mass Index) was normal or underweight. Weight concerns in the non-athlete group related more to attaining a media driven “ideal” of femininity. The weight concerns recorded amongst a small number of athletes were related more to improving sporting performance. Although no clinically diagnosed cases of eating disorders were recorded, eating behaviours, weight reduction practices and body image beliefs indicated that the adolescent female non-athletes may be at risk of developing disordered eating and body image problems.

This study examined the effectiveness of a multi-dimensional education program in facilitating attitude changes in adolescent female athletes away from dysfunctional eating behaviours and restrictive body image. Although research is available for diagnosing and identifying the problems associated with dysfunctional eating behaviours and attitudes in female athletes, few preventative tools have been proposed in order to address the problem. This study involved the design, delivery and the evaluation of a proposed a multi-dimensional education model as a preventative tool. The research design involved 18 teenage female middle/long distance runners, aged between 13 and 19, who were registered with the ACT Cross Country Club. The study was a quantitative and qualitative investigation employing a pre and post test design and using the process of triangulation to increase the study's validity. It was proposed that a multi-dimensional education program might be effective in steering attitudes away from dysfunctional eating behaviours and body image and that a mixed method design may corroborate and elaborate on the findings of the study to strengthen the understanding of the potential benefits of such an education program has to its participants. Results showed that education proved to be a successful tool in facilitating attitudinal changes in a positive direction, across a number of variables such as menstrual functioning, nutrition, flexibility, strength, and general awareness, on what constitutes a balanced healthy athletic body.

There are many methods to measure the physical fitness of athletes, including tests that can be applied in the field or in the laboratory. Much of the recent research with regard to fitness of team sport players has been undertaken using laboratory testing to measure aerobic power, anaerobic power and capacity, strength and flexibility. Field tests are an alternative method to measure the fitness of players without the expense, time and expertise required for the laboratory testing, especially in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to establish procedures for the application of contemporary sports science practice for Indonesian female field hockey players, including determination of the precision of field tests of the physical and performance characteristics of field hockey players in Indonesia; determination of the physical and performance characteristics of Indonesian female field hockey players; identification of the performance demands and distance covered during competitive field hockey at the national level in Indonesia; comparison of the physical and performance characteristics of national level female field hockey players in Indonesia with those of club level players in Australia; and determination of the relationships between field and laboratory tests of physiological performance capacity for field hockey. Due to conversion problems, five paragraphs have been omitted. For full abstract, see 01front.pdf. In conclusion, the present study found that the Indonesian female field hockey players (at the national level) were comparable to the Australian female field hockey players (at the club level) in some physical and performance test results. However, they were also different on other physical and performance characteristic measurements, with the Indonesian players generally have lower values, for other performance measurements.

<p>This study used a qualitative interview design to explore the experiences of seven Swedish female elite athletes and their career retirement. The athletes were engaged in three different sports; track and field (athletics), handball and golf and five of them are former professional or semi-professional athletes. The process of their athletic role exit was based on the theoretical findings of Ebaugh (1988) and her four phases: First Doubts, Seeking Alternatives, The Turning Point and Creating the Ex-Role. The findings reveal that for these female former elite athletes Seeking Alternatives already starts before the First Doubts and that possibly the athletes at an early stage have insights of the discontinuity of their athletic career. The importance of transferring their role residual to future paths in life was stressed among the female athletes in order to be able to have a smooth transition process. Furthermore, gender issues were discussed indicating the emergence of family life and lesser financial support than male athletes to be factors of importance for positive adaptation to the role exit as well as the awareness of Seeking Alternatives. In general, the results suggests that the athletes did not experience as severe difficulties in the role exit process as much earlier research indicates.  </p>

This study explores the extent to which national newspaper coverage of a successful female coach reflects the broader gender ideology of society. This study looks specifically at the New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today's coverage of six Women's Division I national basketball tournaments in which Pat Summitt coached the University of Tennessee in the championship game. The years included for this analysis are 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004. This rhetorical analysis examines this print coverage to determine if, consistent with previous research on media coverage of the female athlete, Summitt's traditional gender role is privileged over her coaching role. The results suggest that Summitt is characterized in ways that marginalize and trivialize her coaching acomplishments. The findings also suggest that even as women succeed in the male-dominated world of sport, societal pressures require that they be presented as properly gendered heterosexual females.

In order to determine how female athletes and women’s sports are framed in sports magazines, a textual analysis was conducted on three popular sports magazines (ESPN Magazine, Sporting News, and Sports Illustrated). The researcher analyzed the texts within these three magazines and found four emergent themes commonly applied to women in sports: mental weakness, male reference, motherhood and sisterhood, and celebrity. The research found both consistencies and inconsistencies in the thematic framing utilized among the three publications. The textual analysis also revealed a tendency for the sports media to reference individual sports more than team sports. Knowing the exact frames utilized in these magazines, allows the researcher to suggest solutions that may alleviate the negative portrayals of female athletes and women's sports in sports magazines. The results from this study also provide a foundation for those who wish to further explore and raise awareness on this issue.

This study used a qualitative interview design to explore the experiences of seven Swedish female elite athletes and their career retirement. The athletes were engaged in three different sports; track and field (athletics), handball and golf and five of them are former professional or semi-professional athletes. The process of their athletic role exit was based on the theoretical findings of Ebaugh (1988) and her four phases: First Doubts, Seeking Alternatives, The Turning Point and Creating the Ex-Role. The findings reveal that for these female former elite athletes Seeking Alternatives already starts before the First Doubts and that possibly the athletes at an early stage have insights of the discontinuity of their athletic career. The importance of transferring their role residual to future paths in life was stressed among the female athletes in order to be able to have a smooth transition process. Furthermore, gender issues were discussed indicating the emergence of family life and lesser financial support than male athletes to be factors of importance for positive adaptation to the role exit as well as the awareness of Seeking Alternatives. In general, the results suggests that the athletes did not experience as severe difficulties in the role exit process as much earlier research indicates.