Running as a way fat women re-story their bodies and construct a runner identity in a North American sociocultural context

AimThis research sought to identify the process by which women who identify as fat or as not having a typical athletic body construct an athletic identity and persist in their running and other athletic endeavors despite body size-related barriers.MethodsFrom an online recruitment effort, 19 North American women runners in larger bodies completed interviews in which they told the story of how they had become runners. A narrative analysis with a feminist, constructivist approach was conducted to identify story types.ResultsFour narrative types were identified: reclaiming the body, reclaiming health, space-making, and future-imagining. Through finding a size- and pace-inclusive running community, running persistently, and completing races, women relinquished the stories they’d believed that their bodies were not athletic since childhood and constructed an identity of runner in a fat body.ConclusionsThese women’s engagement in running is a personal form of resistance against those who define athletic and healthy as “thin” or “fit.” They have found a welcoming athletic community and have moved on to leadership where they are working to make running accessible to other women in bodies like theirs. Those reading these narratives should consider ways in which fat bodies have been excluded from athletics, as well as ways to support the work being done by women runners in fat bodies to redefine health and athleticism.     

The effect of breast support on upper body muscle activity during 5 km treadmill running

Breast support has previously been shown to influence surface EMG of the pectoralis major during running. Reductions in muscle activity have previously been associated with a reduction in energy cost, which may be advantageous for female runners. Ten female participants performed two self-paced (average pace 9 km h⁻¹) 5 km treadmill runs under two breast support conditions (low and high); an additional bare-breasted 2 min run was also conducted. Surface EMG electrodes were positioned on the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, medial deltoid, and upper trapezius, with data collected during the first 2 min of running and each kilometer interval thereafter. Reductions in peak EMG of the pectoralis major, anterior and medial deltoid were reported when participants ran in the high breast support during the initial intervals of the run (up to the second kilometer). The increased activation in the pectoralis major, anterior and medial deltoid in the low breast support may be due to increased tension within these muscles, induced by the greater breast pain experienced in the low breast support. This may be a strategy to reduce the independent breast movement causing the pain through increased muscular activation. This study further promotes the use of a high breast support during running with potential benefits for treadmill running associated with reductions in muscular demand during a 5 km run.     

A prospective comparison of lower extremity kinematics and kinetics between injured and non-injured collegiate cross country runners

Collegiate cross country runners are at risk for running related injuries (RRI) due to high training volume and the potential for aberrant lower extremity biomechanics. However, there is a need for prospective research to determine biomechanical risk factors for RRI. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare ankle, knee, and hip kinematics and kinetics and ground reaction force characteristics between injured and non-injured cross country runners over a 14-week season. Biomechanical running analyses were conducted on 31 collegiate-cross country runners using a 3-dimensional motion capture system and force plate prior to the start of the season. Twelve runners were injured and 19 remained healthy during the course of the season. Peak external knee adduction moment (KAM), a surrogate for frontal plane knee loading, and peak ankle eversion velocity were greater in runners who sustained an injury compared to those who did not, and no differences were noted in ground reaction force characteristics, or hip kinematics and kinetics. Reducing the KAM and ankle eversion velocity may be an important aspect of preventing RRI.     

Comparison of ankle kinematics and ground reaction forces between prospectively injured and uninjured collegiate cross country runners

Biomechanical comparative studies on running-related injuries have included either currently or retrospectively injured runners. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare ankle joint and ground reaction force variables between collegiate runners who developed injuries during the cross country season and those who did not. Running gait analyses using a motion capture system and force platform were conducted on 19 collegiate runners prior to the start of their cross country season. Ten runners sustained running-related injuries and 9 remained healthy during the course of the season. Strike index, peak loading rate of the vertical ground reaction force, dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM), eversion ROM, peak eversion angle, peak eversion velocity, and eversion duration from the start of the season were compared between injury groups. Ankle eversion ROM and peak eversion velocity were greater in uninjured runners while peak eversion angle was greater in injured runners. Greater ankle eversion ROM and eversion velocity with lower peak eversion angle may be beneficial in reducing injury risk in collegiate runners. The current data may only be applicable to collegiate cross country runners with similar training and racing schedules and threshold magnitudes of ankle kinematic variables to predict injury risk are still unknown.     

A British university case study of the transitional experiences of student-athletes

ObjectivesWithin Great Britain, increasing numbers of elite sport performers are attending higher education institutions. The current study presents an exploration of the transitional experiences of these individuals at a specific British university. Wylleman and Lavallee's (2004) developmental model on transitions faced by athletes and Stambulova's (1997, 2003) athletic career transition model were used to provide the theoretical foundation of inquiry.Design and methodAn instrumental case study design was adopted to provide an in-depth analysis of student-athletes’ experiences at a university. The case university was selected based on its provision of elite sport support services. To acquire a holistic understanding, interviews were conducted with current and recently graduated student-athletes from the university, and focus groups were run with university staff (viz. administrators, coaches, and support staff). Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic framework approach.ResultsElite student-athletes at the British university were found to experience simultaneous athletic, academic, psychological, and psychosocial transitions. To overcome the transitional demands, student-athletes were found to draw on a variety of internal (e.g., self-awareness) and external (e.g., academic flexibility) resources and to implement coping strategies (e.g., seeking social support). Potential barriers to successful transitions were also identified (e.g., parental overprotection).ConclusionsThese findings advance the limited existing literature on British university student-athletes’ transitional experiences and suggestions are provided for how other universities can enhance provision for their elite student-athletes.     

“All I have to do is pass”: A discursive analysis of student athletes' talk about prioritising sport to the detriment of education to overcome stressors encountered in combining elite sport and tertiary education

ObjectivesIncreasingly, athletes are expected to undertake tertiary education contemporaneously with their sporting careers. However, to do so may prove difficult and stressful. Exploration of the stressors encountered by student-athletes in combining the two pursuits is limited. There is also limited research examining whether combining the two pursuits impacts upon sporting or educational success.Design and methodA discursive psychological approach was employed, examining twenty interviews conducted with Australian athletes enrolled in tertiary education, exploring how athletes integrated sport and education.ResultsWithin the interviews, athletes constructed their primary academic goal as to ‘just pass’. Athletes repeatedly presented themselves as sacrificing educational success to integrate the two pursuits. Moreover, athletes constructed accounts of themselves as prioritising sport, but as passive in decision-making around priorities. In doing so, athletes produced accounts that removed their own agency for their sacrificed academic success. The interviewees also constructed time as a barrier to the successful integration of sport and education. In the dataset time was constructed either as fixed, limited and externally controlled, or as flexible and controllable.ConclusionsThese alternate constructions allowed athletes to remove agency for poor educational outcomes, or conversely, enabled them to present themselves as successfully able to integrate sport and education. Thus, differing constructions of time were used to achieve different rhetorical ends. Implications and interventions for supporting student athletes successfully to combine sport and education are discussed.