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The February selection for the Out of Your League Book Club really important and topical in the current women’s sports climate. The link to register for this event is at the bottom of this newsletter, below the paywall.
I’m thrilled to share that we will be reading Up To Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes by Christine Yu.
Christine is a writer friend of mine whose work I admire so much. As someone who often struggles with the scientific elements of stories, Christine’s ability to really dig into that stuff and make it super accessible for readers is something I admire greatly. I have learned so much from reading her writing, and I know you will, too.
In the last several years—even since UP TO SPEED was published in 2023—we have seen massive leaps when it comes to research about women athletes and how their bodies are impacted differently than men’s (a great example of this I can think of is the research about the correlation between ACL tears and menstrual cycles). Christine’s book looks at this discrepancy head on, showing what research specific to women athletes has taught us, how not funding that research has failed us, and how sexism permeates that research at every turn.
From the book’s description:
Over the last fifty years, women have made extraordinary advances in athletics. More women than ever are playing sports and staying active longer. Whether they’re elite athletes looking for an edge or enthusiastic amateurs, women deserve a culture of sports that helps them thrive: training programs and equipment designed to work with their bodies, as well as guidelines for nutrition and injury prevention that are based in science and tailored to their lived experience.
Yet too often the guidance women receive is based on research that fails to consider their experiences or their bodies. So much of what we take as gospel about exercise and sports science is based solely on studies of men.
The good news is, this is finally changing. Researchers are creating more inclusive studies to close the gender data gap. They’re examining the ways women can boost athletic performance, reduce injury, and stay healthy.
Our Zoom event will be on Saturday, February 28th at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT. Christine will be joining us for that conversation, which is only open to paid subscribers. The conversation will be recorded and sent out to everyone who registered for the event, so you can watch it even if you can’t join us live.
A few days before our Zoom meeting, I’ll send out another email with the link to the event.
Access to the Zoom event requires registration. You can register for ‘UP TO SPEED’ BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION at the link below:
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