Gareth Davies S&C Coach

What can coaches and their organisations do to break the stigmas surrounding body image and mental health in sports?

A 2019 consensus on mental health states that coaches and sports governing bodies are key to changing the culture around mental health, body image and gender stereotypes

The estimated prevalence of eating disorders and/or disordered eating among athletes in general ranges from 0-19% in men and 6-45% in women (Bratland-Sanda & Sundgot-Borgen, 2013); considerably higher than in non-athletes (Joy et al., 2016)

More than 60% of elite female athletes from both leanness focused and non-leanness focussed sports have been subjected to body shaming pressures from their coaches (Kong & Harris, 2015)

With it being it’s about time I shared the research I have been conducting over the last 15 months or so surrounding

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) is a term all sports coaches need to be familiar with especially when it comes to enhancing athletic performance

The female athlete triad was historically denoted by Low Energy Availability (LEA), menstrual dysfunction & low bone mineral density (Ströhle, 2018; De Souza et al., 2014; VanBaak & Olson, 2016)

Male athletes may present with an analogous condition characterised by LEA, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and low bone mineral density (Tenforde et al., 2017)

After convening, the International Olympic Committee redefined these terms under a broader umbrella; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), which addresses the more global impact of relative energy deficiency on physiological function and its psychological consequences and includes all genders (Mountjoy et al., 2018; Mountjoy et al, 2014)

A before and after of what I am doing Eating Disorder Awareness Week:
Bright ✅
Bold ✅
Stand Out ✅
No doubt I will be seen
Now time to stand up for the 1.25million UK individuals that suffer from Eating Disorders
Time to speak up for those that are affected in the sporting world

My reasons why can be found in the JustGiving link in my bio

Sometimes you have to be bright to be heard
Sometimes you have to be bold
Sometimes you have to stand out
Sometimes you have to be seen

In support of I plan on standing out, being bright, being bold & being seen. To find out how and why, click the link in my bio and support the cause

All through next week (28th Feb to 6th March) I will also share facts and statements from research on Eating Disorders in Sport and how the sporting world can make a difference

📸

Long overdue post - 2 months late! 😬

After 8 months of training, countless training runs, endless training miles and 2 pairs of trainers, I finally got round the route in 3hrs 54mins!

One of the hardest challenges I’ve faced to date but all for a worthwhile cause that is close to my heart.
The last 3 weeks leading into race day were far from ideal let alone the cramp suffered with 3 miles to go.

This is not the end of my eating disorder awareness. Hopefully I will get the conversation started highlighting that eating disorders affect individuals you least suspect and how those around them can make an impact.

Just honoured and proud to do my bit for with so much more to come

A massive thank you to for the heavy duty taping, my cheer squad on the day and throughout the training & a huge shoutout to my reasons why. Not forgetting the generous individuals who helped me raise vital funds for

Race day!

32 weeks of training have led to today. Can’t wait to do my bit for a charity that have helped me immensely over the last few years. Running the Virgin Money London Marathon] in London or virtually is the least I could do.

Road Runner mode will be in action

Virgin Money London Marathon]

Are you suppose to taper or tape up before a marathon??

If in doubt, go for both. Massive thank you to again for taping my calf up in preparation for tomorrow’s in aid of

Nothing can beat the originals .tufnell

Enjoyed watching this programme since I was young and watching in person is so much better

Funny coincidence that all the guests are Welsh 🤔 .williams84