Differentiation caused by sex hormones are thought to be the main reason for the variation in performances between men and women. Ovarian hormones potentially affect exercise capacity through numerous mechanisms, including but not limited to: metabolism, cardiorespiratory function and thermoregulation. For the female athlete to better her performance and possibly equal the performance of male athletes, training programs and timing of events cannot rely on the schedules and training protocols developed for their male counterparts. Both coach and female athlete need to be aware of the influence the ovarian hormones have on female physiology and take into account how this can affect the athlete throughout each month as well as through her competitive career. The aim of this study was to investigate if the differences in female physiology were being taken into account by coaches when discussing training or developing training programs for their female athletes by surveying female long-distance triathletes.
Method:
One hundred fifteen female triathletes between the ages of 20-59 years, and who had completed at least one triathlon over Half-Ironman distance (consisting of 2km swim, 90km bike and 21km run), took an online survey which was conducted in accordance with the Human Research Ethics Board of the University of Victoria. The survey attempted to assess: knowledge the triathletes held about sex-specific factors that may affect performance, including: nutrition and eating disorders; the number of triathletes that suffered from Premenstrual symptoms and/or dysmenorrhea, and if these symptoms affected quality of training and racing; and finally, what actions the respective coaches took to educate athletes and adapt programs to produce optimal training and race performances.
Analysis/Results:
Results indicated that many of the athletes did not know, or had erroneous beliefs about: nutrition, hydration, body composition and the Female Athlete Triad in relation to athletic performance. Many of the respondents suffered from premenstrual syndrome and/or dysmenorrhea to a degree that aspects of their training, work and relationships were detrimentally affected during the symptomatic period. No appreciable amount of gender specific physiological information was exchanged between athlete and coach nor was it taken into account during program design.
Conclusions:
Current coaching practices for female triathletes does not take physiological gender differences into account, and therefore may hinder female athletes in reaching potential peak performances. Further research into coaching education and communication is needed in order to address issues and help improve both coaching and athlete performance