Up to Speed

April 3, 2023
Journalist Yu debuts with an illuminating survey of how researchers have overlooked women athletes and what science says about what they need to achieve. She covers the challenges women athletes face, including a paucity of research, assumptions that women’s bodies function identically to men’s, and ill-fitting gear originally designed for men and shrunk down. Highlighting the institutional lack of support for women athletics, Yu notes that a review of academic studies on athletic performance found only 34% of subjects were women and that another analysis found Division I schools spend 71¢ on women’s teams for every dollar they spend on men’s. She tells stories about the creative solutions women have devised to navigate the male-dominated sports world and recounts how amateur runner Lisa Lindahl started the first sports bra company in 1977 with a design based around two jockstraps. Yu also provides guidance on how women can enhance their performance, recommending they prioritize calorie intake to keep up energy levels and tailor their workout routine to their menstrual cycle (though she doesn’t get into specifics, writing that what works for one woman won’t necessarily work for someone else). Yu’s overview of the many ways women athletes are underserved enrages, and her mastery of the scientific literature impresses. This is a valuable contribution to the growing science on women in sports.