The Forgotten Athletes: Why Midlife Women Deserve Better Science with Kelly McNulty, PhD (Episode 217)

Hit Play Not Pause

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Mental Health

4.9 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2025

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Women have been left on the sidelines when it comes to sport and exercise research. Research finds a measly 6% of studies in the field have exclusively focused on women. That’s bad. But for menopausal women, it’s worse. Of that 6%, menopausal women account for only 9% of total study participants, with only 16% of female-only studies focusing exclusively on older women. This despite the fact that 40+ women have been lining up in greater numbers in sports of all kinds. We deserve better and this week’s guest, women’s health and performance researcher, Kelly McNulty, PhD, has a lot to say about it. We talk about what she has learned studying menopausal women of all walks of life and how education and information can make our lives exponentially better.

Kelly McNulty, PhD, is a research assistant at Northumbria University currently investigating endocrinological, lifestyle, and psychosocial determinants of brain health outcomes in female veterans. She is a graduate from Northumbria University, with both a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Sport and Exercise Science and a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Strength & Conditioning. Her research interests are in the area of female physiology; the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraception, breast health, pelvic floor health, pregnancy, menopause, as applied to sport and exercise. Kelly is the founder and podcast host of 'The Period of the Period'; a digital education platform on a mission to change the narrative for women's health and performance in sport and exercise by promoting awareness, increasing evidence-based education & providing support.

Resources

Experience of the menopause transition in Irish women and how it impacts motivators, facilitators, and barriers to physical activity engagement here

Invisibility of female participants in midlife and beyond in sport and exercise science research: a call to action here

“Invisible Sportswomen 2.0”—Digging Deeper Into Gender Bias in Sport and Exercise Science Research: Author Gender, Editorial Board Gender, and Research Quality here

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to Hit Play, Not Pause, a feisty menopause podcast for active performance-minded women.
0:14.6	I am your host, Celine Yeager. Each week, I bring you advice from athletes, scientists, researchers, and other experts to help you feel and perform your best no matter what your hormones are doing.
0:25.0	This show is a production of Live Feisty Media.
0:31.5	Hello, strong feisty women.
0:34.1	Welcome to Hit Play Not Pause, the show where we are constantly reminded how little we actually know.
0:41.5	I have another one of those mildly infuriating shows for you today. But before we get to that,
0:47.5	I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who came up to me and thanked me for this show
0:53.1	and my work with midlife and menopausal
0:55.3	women and was just so wonderful at the Daydreamer Ultra Run a couple of weeks ago.
1:00.9	As many of you know at this point, I took my own advice last December and I signed up for a 30K
1:06.6	ultra run in Patagonia, Arizona called The Daydreamramer. And I know, I know that 30K is not super
1:14.3	long as ultra-trail runs go, but for someone like me who is more of a cyclist and who generally
1:19.4	only runs around 10K, it was definitely a stretch. And I've never actually run an off-road event
1:26.1	that long, and I've never run one outside the East Coast.
1:29.7	So I knew I'd face some unique challenges coming in from a winter in Pennsylvania and dropping into the Southwest with heat and altitude and high pollen, and I wasn't actually expecting the high pollen.
1:40.6	But, you know, all of those things, yes, they were challenging.
1:44.9	But, man, it was really awesome.
1:48.5	It was incredibly beautiful and it was incredibly fun.
1:52.0	And it was just really great to engage my body and my mind in a fresh new adventure.
1:58.3	And with the help of my coach, Marni Sambal, I trained up for this thing,
2:02.1	and I stayed totally healthy and injury-free. And I was proud to come in 11th on the day,
2:09.1	despite definitely struggling at points and going through some of those dark periods,
	...

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