April: Swimmy ghosts & Dr Emma’s achilles’ hell

Oh and Bella ran a marathon (she doesn’t like to talk about it)

1. Working Well

Technogym and Dr Emma’s Achilles’ hell

Another month another amazing event; this time at Technogym’s Piccadilly HQ. Baz and Dr Emma shared the platform with prime time physiologist and podcaster Oli Patrick to discuss the key metrics we should be using to track, gauge and support girls and women properly. Properly, mind.

With major influencers in health and sport in attendance it was an electric evening that, if only for a moment, made The Gap seem less gappy, gaping and grinding.

Oh speaking of grinding, who knew that Dr Emma busted her Achilles? It’s true. After a lifetime of intensive exercise (running, horse racing, rugby), it was her new love padel which led to an audible (as in EVERYONE heard it) Achilles snap that has sidelined Emma for now 19 weeks and counting. A career of researching injury, this is the first time she’s been at the business end of it. What’s it like? Here’s Emma …

The psychological challenge is just as big as the physical. Being sedentary just doesn’t suit me, yet somehow recovery is super-tiring. I’ve just about been able to see this whole thing as permission to rest but it’s only thanks to the tireless work of friends and family I’ve been able to do that.

It’s one thing to research and preach this stuff but going through it’s a different kettle of crud. Whilst I’ve been immobile I’ve had to step up strength work (boo, but necessary) and be hyper-conscious of my diet: protein for muscle and tissue repair; Omega-3s, vitamin C, collagen to tackle inflammation and support tissue regeneration, and magnesium and zinc help with muscle function and recovery.

Home stretching it now though. Check our socials and website for more on returning from injury, a process which, in Emma’s words, is brutal and dull as shit.

2. The World at Well

Billions of oceans of blue ghosts

Ever heard of a Blue Ocean Strategy? How about a Ghost Market? Us neither until the recent release of a report which quantifies and defines the untapped potential in women’s health using the US as a snapshot.

Guess how much. We’ll tell you in a minute.

Using Harvard models, Amboy Street Ventures set out to define the size of the Blue Ocean (nothing happening; massive opportunity) of women’s health, later calling it a Ghost Market (nothing happening; massive opportunity).

Drumroll. In the US alone the revenue potential in the Ghost Market of women’s health is into billions, tens of billions. Hundreds of billions. The untapped potential of female health is $360bn … and that’s just one country.

Maternity, menopause, mental health, marcomms, other m-things … the report calls out the financial opportunity and the moral imperative of growth. Well said.

Also, it’s ironic that the Amboy report came out at roughly the same time Elvie went into administration. We’ve always been impressed with Elvie solutions but surviving in an ocean of nothingness with ghosts for customers … it’s an ask.

Right place wrong time, and a real shame.

3. Any excuse

(well done Bella)

Did we mention that Dr Bella ran a sub-five-hour Barcelona Marathon? She doesn’t like to talk about it, but because she can’t stop talking about it …

Joking aside (sub five hours – a marathon with the running and the breathing), Bella raised well over £5,000 for Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis, a relatively unknown charity close to home for Dr Bella and her Barcelona running mates.

You can donate here, and we’ll bring you the exact same news again next month.

4. Here Comes the Science Bit

A turning point dot period?

Females perform worse on their period, right? Well, no …

A January paper out of UCL found that female athletes actually performed better during menstruation than other cycle phases. Yes, better. Stop the presses.

Perform better means that athletes exhibited, among other things, verifiably faster reaction times and fewer errors during menstruation. As an FYI, the luteal phase was associated with the slowest reaction times and the predicted ovulatory phase with more errors.

When the same cohort of female athletes self-reported their mood, cognitive state and physical symptoms, all were at their lowest points during the menstruation phase. But. The overwhelming perception that menstruation symptoms were negatively affecting performance did not bear out in actual performance data.

On the contrary …

It’s a hugely interesting development. We love the idea of rebranding periods as a superpower, but that’s a significant ask given the negative narrative is so prevalent in most walks of life, and exercise especially. This nascent data and its evolution could be a pivotal addition to the conversation, and to changing that narrative.

5. Medical BS

Should I take meds to soothe post-exercise muscle pain?

Dr Bella says: Unless you’re under some kind of doctor’s orders then no.

I’ve recently seen billboard and tube ads for painkiller-type products which promise to tackle post-exercise pain as if it’s abnormal. It’s not.

A quick 101: exercise causes stress and strain to muscles. In basic terms, exercise is tearing up muscle so that it rebuilds harder, better, faster, stronger.

The technical term is delayed onset muscle soreness, aka DOMS, and it’s very normal to feel the burn up to 48 hours after physical exercise; especially intense exercise or working out for the first time in a while. Even though I trained for months my calves screamed for 10 days after my (sub five) Barcelona Marathon.

It’s funny, sad and ironic. The female health market is so underserved yet here we have a product that doesn’t really need to exist. And in fact it’s a double donut: not only does it vilify (and commoditise) something normal, studies show that taking paracetamol or ibuprofen after a workout actually blunts muscle development.

So unless you’ve been given specific and direct advice, steer clear of OTC meds for DOMS. Let your muscles do what they need to do without chemical intervention.