Who wrote it?
Anna Kessell, sports writer for the guardian and
the observer. Co founder and chair of women in football.
Who's it for?
Any woman interested in sport and exercise, men
in sport, sport students and PE teachers.
I think this book is so good that I believe
extracts should be compulsory reading for students within PE lessons.
What's actually in there?
A huge amount is covered within the book! Topics
include: exercise and pregnancy; PE lessons; sporting taboos (including
periods, the menopause and their influence on exercise); not needing to play
sport to enjoy sport; hard hitting stories and sports women in the media.
Quote from book:
'It's time for women over the world to reconnect
with our bodies'
Would I recommend it?
I would definitely recommend this book to any
woman interested in sport or exercise. The book is so inspiring, and has left
me feeling inspired to take part within a team sport again as a competitor.
My reflections on the book
How my eyes were opened to the subject of women
in sport by reading the book ‘Eat Sweat Play’ by Anna Kessel.
Despite having taken an active role in sport and
exercise for the whole of my life I have been pretty absent from the area of
women in sport. From the age of 3 to 18 I regularly took ballet lessons, and
although I was dancing in a class of other girls, I felt completely alone in
the activity. All work in class was geared to individual training and not team
work.
When I began rowing in my second year of
university, I felt my competition, within the team was the male rowers.
Without blowing my own trumpet, I felt I did pretty well compared to the men.
This was probably due to the very strong leg strength I had as a result of my
ballet training. I also took the rowing training very seriously, whereas some
did not. The attitude of some women on the team, I must say, has put me off
joining purely women's teams. Since leaving university I have worked wholly
with male teams, as a sports therapist/coach, so the female sporting
environment is relatively unknown to me.
Something which particularly shocked me in the
book was the fact that there is little to no advice for expectant and new
mothers wishing to exercise for the health of themselves and their child. I didn't realise that there is such a huge
need for research in the area of sport and exercise for new and expectant
mothers. I also didn't realise how concerned and passionate I would become
about it, as a 23yr old professional woman, not looking to start a family for a
good few years yet. My partner always jokes that I will never want to have
children as I'd never want to give up the gym. This makes me laugh and I agree
because, in the back of my mind for some stupid reason, I have believed that if
and when this time comes, I will have to give up heavy weight training and
sacrifice all that hard work I have put in. Reading ‘Eat Sweat Play’ has led me
to re-evaluate my thoughts, stop being stupid and think as the sport scientist
I am that actually it is very healthy for women to take part in activity
throughout pregnancy and post childbirth. I'm sure when the time comes I will
be less selfish in my views. However, I am deeply concerned by the lack of
research in this area and I do worry for other women and myself in the future.
In fact it's kind of scary. When can we return to activity? For how long can we
continue to weight train? What benefits will exercise have on childbirth and
carrying the child, or even the health of the baby? What are the areas of
training that should be avoided?
I believe women need to assert themselves in the
gym. I'm not an overly confident person and before I began training in the gym
I didn't have a clue how to lift weights, but with patience and persistence, I
have worked it out. I have never once felt the need to shy away from the
weights area because it was a 'men's only' room. This could be because I can
look past what others think, and would encourage others to do the same. I know
that some men in there are often more concerned about themselves and how they
look in the mirror, than what you're doing - I've seen the evidence -
particularly one guy hugging his own reflection in the mirror. The majority are
either as confused as you or completely absorbed in their own workout. My
advice would be to ask if you're unsure, or use available resources to help
you.
A growing trend that I have noticed are those
women, who are influenced by the media, treating the gym as a fashion
show/social hub. Similarly, the current
obsession with 'booty gains' (ala Kim Kardashian-West) drives me nuts. The
Kardashians are, in my opinion, not good role models with their rumoured
plastic surgery and body reshaping giving an unrealistic view of the female
form. Yes having strong glutes are important for athletic performance but
seriously, what about the rest of you? A fit and healthy body is more important
than a passing fashion trend.
I totally agree that women should support each
other in sport. I love the ‘Girl Gains’ concept developed by Zanna, Tally and
Victoria, which holds events for women to get together to enjoy being active
and healthy.
Recently many people have commented about being
friendly in the gym to other women.
Working with people every day in my job, it is nice to be able to train
quietly by myself, pushing myself to achieve. It’s my downtime. When I'm in the
gym I don't always wish to talk to others. So yes I don't always look happy or
want to start a conversation, but not because I'm unfriendly or don't support others.
I can and do smile, and say hello.
I do take my gym training very seriously for
both personal and professional reasons, and I hope my attitude/approach to
training in the gym would encourage others. However I have noticed that there
can be too much shaming of some women in the gym when they are simply dedicated
and motivated individuals wanting to achieve their best when training. So don't
take offence if they look very serious and focused.
Part of the book ‘Eat, Sweat, Play’ speaks about
women making their voice heard at football matches. Although I have no
experience of this sport, I have watched many rugby and American football games
where there are few women on the side-lines screaming support. However, at the
rugby club I work with we have an awesome lady called Lynn, who is the glue
that holds the teams together. Lynn is a very special lady, who volunteers many
hours of her week, organising the rugby admin, acting as a mother to all the
boys and still times find to scream support on the side-line at home and away
games. It is great to hear a woman's voice among the men's more colourful
language, and I think it has encouraged me to open up during games too. Hands
down to Lynn for all the work she does.
So far within my career I have felt little
prejudice towards me as a woman working within sport. The one area I have
experienced some difficulty is working as a Strength and Conditioning coach. I
am happily accepted as a Sports Therapist, caring for individuals, acting out a
more ‘womanly’ role, but not so as a strength coach. I feel that some believe
that, as I am woman, I can't know more than men about building individual and
team strength to better performance. However, there are some environments where
I am completely accepted as a specialist in these areas, and by some very good coaches and athletes. I believe this difference in attitude is down to the background,
experience and education of individuals. It can be disheartening at times as
this is the area I am most passionate about, but I’m finding ways to move
onwards and upwards.
Personally, like many women working within the
field of sport and exercise endeavouring to build a good reputation as
professionals and athletes, I find it difficult to support female ‘sports’ such
as the American Football Lingerie League. For practically naked women to flaunt
around for men to watch in the name of sport is a huge step back for women’s
equality and sexualizes women within sport. Again, working with purely men's
teams I hear a lot of changing room talk, and these 'sports' just aren't
helping women to be respected. Don't get me wrong, I admire the athleticism and
training that goes into the sport itself, but just wish they would cover up.
Even if you are a very talented player, many people will make assumptions as to
your reasons for participating in such a ‘sport’.
I am incredibly lucky to have a very supportive
partner who I met through sport when at university. He is himself a sportsman
and I now coach him in strength and conditioning. Also, I have rehabbed him
through injury and now coach American Football alongside him, where he's taught
and continues to teach me about his sports, and I him about mine. We hold a
mutual respect for each other's knowledge of sport and exercise and spend our
weekends playing/coaching/training. It's great to have someone who completely
supports me and also allows me to vent my frustration at times!
Here’s to continued development of women in
sport!
And thank you Anna for writing such an inspiring book!
-E
