Georgie Bruinvels

Georgie Bruinvels
University College London | UCL · Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH)

Doctor of Philosophy

About

65
Publications
38,123
Reads
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1,077
Citations
Additional affiliations
January 2015 - October 2019
St Mary's University Twickenham London
Position
  • Research Associate
March 2015 - July 2018
University College London
Position
  • PhD
March 2014 - March 2017
St Mary's University Twickenham London
Position
  • Visiting Research Associate

Publications

Publications (65)
Article
Despite continued success, female athletes are still underresourced and minoritized in research and applied spaces. This has translated to disparate injury and health outcomes among female athletes resulting from a sport infrastructure built on male physiology. The purpose of this article is to propose an evidence- and experience-based menstrual cy...
Article
Full-text available
Background Physical, affective and behavioural symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle are commonplace. Adolescents with problematic symptoms have reported a negative impact on school attendance, behaviour and participation in physical activity. In the United Kingdom, evidence suggests that menstrual health education delivered by teachers focu...
Article
Despite a growing body of research focused on women's experiences of menstruation in sports, most of this has been done by white women on white women and then applied to sportswomen from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Very rarely are the menstruation-related experiences of Black, Indigenous, and women of color considered, let alone the fo...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Physical, affective and behavioural symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle can significantly impair the daily lives of individuals. Within school, the menstrual cycle has been reported to affect attendance, behaviour and participation in physical activity. However, investigations have lacked understanding why the menstrual cycle ne...
Article
Objective This study aims to investigate how athlete ethnicity is discussed in the inclusion and exclusion criteria, methodology, findings, and conclusions of research focused on menstrual health in sports science and medicine. Design A scoping review of sports-based research conducted on athletes related to (1) menstrual health and ethnicity, (2)...
Article
Purpose The aim of the study was to assess the influence of menstrual cycle phase on injury incidence, severity and type in elite female professional footballers over three seasons. Methods Time-loss injuries and menstrual cycle data were prospectively recorded for 26 elite female football players across three seasons. The menstrual cycle was cate...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose: This preliminary study examined the influence of estimated menstrual-cycle (MC) phase on responses to soccer matches and training sessions in preparation for and during the FIFA ( Fédération internationale de football association ) Women’s World Cup 2019. Methods: Twenty outfield players representing a national team were tracked over a 45-...
Article
Introduction : There is a substantial amount of sporting dropout in teenage girls worldwide linked, in part, to the menstrual cycle (MC). Firstly, this study aimed to retrospectively quantify the reasons for decreased sport and, or, exercise (sports/exercise) participation during adolescence across different countries. Secondly, this study investig...
Article
Full-text available
Over the last few decades, there has been an unprecedented growth in the number of females in sport and exercise, including an exponential rise in female participation, alongside an increased interest and investment in female sport. This success in many aspects underscores the demand for and importance of female-specific research to optimize health...
Article
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Certain nutritional practices may reduce menstrual-related symptoms, but there is no current consensus on what foods/supplements are sufficiently evidenced to warrant promotion to reduce menstrual symptoms of naturally menstruating individuals. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guid...
Preprint
Full-text available
Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the influence of menstrual cycle phase on injury incidence, severity and type in elite female professional footballers over three seasons. Methods: Time-loss injuries and menstrual cycle data were prospectively recorded for 26 elite female football players across three seasons. The menstrual cycle was...
Article
Objectives: To investigate associations between self-reported exercise training habits and amenorrhea/oligomenorrhea among physically active women. Design: A cross-sectional survey was completed by 3705 women (median age = 40 years [quartile 1, quartile 3: 30, 45], body mass index = 22.1 kg/m2 [20.5, 24.2]) representing multiple nationalities an...
Chapter
Tracking markers of health and fitness is an effective way of measuring progress and maintaining general wellness, including reducing the risk of negative menstrual cycle symptoms and reducing the risk of illness. In females, the menstrual cycle provides an additional marker that is important to monitor. Having a eumenorrheic cycle is a positive in...
Article
Full-text available
We tested the hypothesis that women will be more dehydrated during physical work in the heat in the early follicular phase (EF), compared to the late follicular (LF) and mid-luteal (ML) phases of the menstrual cycle when allowed free access to drink. Twelve healthy, eumenorrheic, unacclimated women (26 ± 5 y) completed three trials (EF, LF, ML phas...
Article
The use of technology in football is increasing, although, products predominantly focus on men’s football in performance, safety, comfort, and fit considerations. A recent scoping review identified just 32 published scientific articles on technology in women’s football, despite demands of those playing/working in the women’s game increasing. We wis...
Preprint
Blood biomarker profiling, using data from blood tests beyond its traditional medical diagnostic context, is a practice that is becoming more common and accessible in an health and athletic setting. Blood profiling may cast light on macro- and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies that can cause increased risk of illness and injury or be di...
Article
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This research investigated the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the menstrual cycle and any contributing factors to these changes. A questionnaire was completed by 559 eumenorrheic participants, capturing detail on menstrual cycle symptoms and characteristics prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. Over half of all...
Article
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The authors present opinions based on their applied experiences of working with female athletes in combination with the existing evidence-based literature. Most of the existing menstrual cycle research focuses on a few steady-state time points within the pre-defined menstrual cycle phases, yet this disregards the day-to-day hormonal changes that wo...
Article
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The purpose of this study was 2-fold, to (1) explore current education provision in UK schools including barriers to menstrual cycle education and (2) assess the perceived support teachers received to deliver menstrual cycle education. Seven hundred eighty-nine teachers (91% female) from all stages of school education in England (48%), Scotland (24...
Article
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The ability to predict an individual’s menstrual cycle length to a high degree of precision could help female athletes to track their period and tailor their training and nutrition correspondingly. Such individualisation is possible and necessary, given the known inter-individual variation in cycle length. To achieve this, a hybrid predictive model...
Article
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Background Due to the diversity in profiles associated with the female reproductive cycle and their potential physiological and psychological effects, monitoring the reproductive status of exercising females is important from a practical and research perspective. Moreover, as physical activity can influence menstrual function, the effects of physic...
Article
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The SARS CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) caused the whole sporting calendar to be paused. As we embark on the challenge of navigating through the return to play (RTP) process, there is a necessity to consider the needs of all athletes. This commentary specifically considers recommendations and requirements for the female athlete with a physiological emphasi...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant changes to homes, working life and stress. The purpose of this research was to investigate the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the menstrual cycle and any contributing factors to these changes. Methods A questionnaire was completed by 749 participants, wh...
Article
Full-text available
The recent launch of the new National elite women's football competitions in Australia has seen a 20–50% increase in grassroots female participation. With the growing participation across grassroots to elite competitions, understanding the health of female athletes should be prioritized. In elite level athletes, hormonal contraceptive (HC) use is c...
Preprint
Full-text available
The ability to predict menstrual cycle length to a high degree of precision enables female athletes to track their period and tailor their training and nutrition correspondingly knowing when to push harder when to prioritise recovery and how to minimise the impact of menstrual symptoms on performance. Such individualisation is possible if cycle len...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives The menstrual cycle can affect sports participation and exercise performance. There are very few data on specific menstrual cycle symptoms (symptoms during various phases of the cycle, not only during menstruation) experienced by exercising women. We aimed to characterise the most common symptoms, as well as the number and frequency of s...
Preprint
Full-text available
Covid-19 has caused the whole sporting calendar to be paused, however as we look to navigate through the return to play (RTP) process, there is a particular need to consider the needs of all athletes. This commentary specifically considers recommendations and requirements for the female athlete.
Article
Full-text available
Objectives To systematically review the current body of research that has investigated changes in strength-related variables during different phases of the menstrual cycle in eumenorrheic women. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Method A literature search was conducted in Pubmed, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science using search terms related...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Menstruation is the leading cause of iron deficiency anaemia in pre-menopausal women. When combined with regular exercise, iron deficiency (ID) risk in menstruating women is increased. This may be exacerbated in those with heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), which despite no validated diagnosis, is thought common in the general population but is under-...
Article
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Low energy availability (EA) is suspected to be the underlying cause of both the Female Athlete Triad and the more recently defined syndrome, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defined RED-S as a syndrome of health and performance impairments resulting from an energy deficit. While the importance...
Article
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Maintaining a positive iron balance is essential for female athletes to avoid the effects of iron deficiency and anaemia and to maintain or improve performance. A major function of iron is in the production of the oxygen and carbon dioxide carrying molecule, haemoglobin, via erythropoiesis. Iron balance is under the control of a number of factors i...
Article
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Background Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) can improve human performance and is therefore frequently abused by athletes. As a result, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) introduced the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) as an indirect method to detect blood doping. Despite this progress, challenges remain to detect blood manipulations such...
Article
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EARLY SPORT SPECIALIZATION IS OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY INTENSIVE TRAINING AND IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMMON. ADOLESCENT FEMALE ATHLETES, WHO TRAIN EXCESSIVELY AND ADOPT POOR DIETS, ARE AT RISK OF THE FEMALE ATHLETE TRIAD, OVERUSE INJURY, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, AND OVERTRAINING. THE OCCURRENCE OF ONE OR MORE OF THESE ISSUES CAN LEAD TO EARLY RETIREME...
Conference Paper
Background The effects of the menstrual cycle on exercise participation and performance are poorly researched. Menstrual blood loss is a leading cause of iron deficiency (ID) and ultimately iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Furthermore, iron losses are increased in those who exercise. The menstrual cycle, ID and IDA may affect the ability to exercise,...
Article
Full-text available
Despite a decreasing gender gap in exercise participation, there still remains a significant under-representation of women included in sport and exercise medicine research studies.1 A review of 1382 sport and exercise research studies involving over 6 million participants, from 2011 to 2013, found the representation of women to be 39%.1 The complex...
Article
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Exercise causes alterations in redox homeostasis (ARH). Measuring ARH in elite athletes may aid in the identification of training tolerance, fatigued states, and underperformance. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined ARH in elite male and female distance runners at sea level. The monitoring of ARH in athletes is hindered by a lack...
Article
Full-text available
To identify the prevalence and impact of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in exercising females where anemia may have a significant effect on training and performance a 'Female Health Questionnaire' was designed incorporating a validated diagnostic HMB series, demographics, exercise ability data, training status, anemia, iron supplementation and whet...
Article
Full-text available
The single most common cause of iron deficiency anaemia in the developed world in premenopausal females is the menstrual cycle.1 It is well recognised and reported that amenorrhoea and oligomenorrhoea are common in elite athletes typically as a result of relative energy deficiency;2 however, little is known about the prevalence of other menstrual a...

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