Up to Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes
“Illuminating. . . . Yu’s overview of the many ways women athletes are underserved enrages, and her mastery of the scientific literature impresses. This is a valuable contribution to the growing science on women in sports.”
How the latest science can help women achieve their athletic potential
Over the last 50 years, women have made extraordinary advances in athletics, accomplishing incredible feats and smashing long-held beliefs about the limits of their physical capabilities. And yet, the institutions of sport and science have largely ignored the needs of this growing population.
In UP TO SPEED: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes, sports and health journalist Christine Yu disentangles myth and gender bias from real science, making the case for new approaches that can help women athletes excel at every stage of life, from adolescence to adulthood, through pregnancy, menopause, and beyond. She explains the latest research and celebrates the researchers, athletes, and advocates pushing back against the status quo and proposing better solutions to improve the active and athletic lives of women and girls.
Talking about humans and their bodies within the context of sports and science is a tricky endeavor. Both disciplines rely heavily on binary categories that often conflate sex and gender and don’t accurately describe the larger spectrum of sex or gender. Ultimately, the systemic injustices and assumptions embedded in sports and science don’t just affect women and girls. They affect all people. By examining how women and girls are marginalized and excluded, we can start to uncover ways to make these systems more equitable for everyone.
Read excerpts of the book in Outside and Runner’s World.
available now:
praise for up to speed
“Christine Yu deftly skewers the failings of current sports science research, but also finds encouraging signs that the experiences of women athletes are finally being taken seriously. A meticulously reported, often surprising, and ultimately uplifting read.”
—Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure
“A brisk, well-researched study of athletic performance.”
—Kirkus
“This book is a deeply important asset for building a better future for women in sport. Yu gives context to the experiences of so many female athletes and calls for a future where female athletes are studied, supported and valued equally.”
—Kate Courtney, Olympian and World Champion mountain-bike racer
“An essential read for all of those women (and men!) trying to navigate the world of sex and gender difference in sport, nutrition, exercise and adaptations.”
—Stacy Sims, author of Roar