Sports Science Insights - Julia Donnelly: What Does Support for Athletes’ Menstrual Health Look Like?

2025-09-08

Episode 196: In this episode of the Sports Science Insights Podcast, powered by Inform Performance and hosted by Steve Barrett, we’re joined by Julia Donnelly — Head of Performance at Athletes Focused, where she provides performance services across multiple sports and professional organisations. Julia’s applied work includes supporting the Scottish Women’s National Team age groups, Glasgow City Women, and other elite athletes. She recently completed her PhD exploring the menstrual cycle in football, adding valuable research to an underrepresented but vital area of sports science...

Episode 196: In this episode of the Sports Science Insights Podcast, powered by Inform Performance and hosted by Steve Barrett, we’re joined by Julia Donnelly — Head of Performance at Athletes Focused, where she provides performance services across multiple sports and professional organisations.

Julia’s applied work includes supporting the Scottish Women’s National Team age groups, Glasgow City Women, and other elite athletes. She recently completed her PhD exploring the menstrual cycle in football, adding valuable research to an underrepresented but vital area of sports science.

Topics Discussed:

Julia’s background and applied performance work across sport
Her PhD research on menstrual health in female athletes
How growing knowledge in this area can shape better athlete support
Insights from her recent published papers

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in athlete health, applied performance support, and the integration of research into practice for female athletes.

Where you can find Julia:
• LinkedIn
• ResearchGate
• X

Julia’s Papers:
🔗 Menstrual cycle perceptions in professional football
🔗 Menstrual health support in elite women’s sport

Sponsors

VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training

Hytro: The world’s leading Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearable, designed to accelerate recovery and maximise athletic potential using Hytro BFR for Professional Sport.

Where to Find Us

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