Girl on the River
Patricia Carswell, aka Girl on the River, loves to row and loves to talk, so it makes sense that in her podcast she'll be chatting to guests from all around the rowing and sporting world about anything and everything to do with rowing. Always informal, occasionally silly, sometimes serious, often informative, she delves into questions such as how athletes become champions, how to promote diversity in sport, the secret to staying alive on an ocean, how to improve your erg score and what to do to keep your body and mind in one piece. Her guests include Olympians, health experts, Atlantic rowers, kit companies, indoor rowers, TV presenters - in short, anyone with something to say about rowing and its place in the world. The podcast isn't just about Girl on the River and her guests, though. Community is everything in rowing, so you, the listener, are an important part of the show. There'll be regular Q&As and listener debates, and if you have suggestions for fantastic guests, she's all ears. Patricia can be contacted at girlontheriverpodcast@gmail.com or on social media at @girlontheriver on all channels - come and have a chat .And until then... next stroke, easy oar.
Girl on the River
Baz Moffat, ex-GB rower and women's health coach, on women's health and sporting performance
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Patricia Carswell
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Season 1
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Episode 3
Before I go any further, I want to say something to my male listeners. This episode is for you, too. If you're a male coach working with female athletes, it's an absolute must-listen, but even if you're not, assuming you have a wife or a mother or a daughter or a sister or a female friend, or if you belong to a club where there are female athletes, you'll learn something valuable. So please keep on listening.
When I decided to invite someone on the podcast to talk about women's health, there was only one person I could possibly consider - the brilliant Baz Moffat. As a former GB rower turned women's health coach, with a huge passion and enthusiasm for her subject, she had the complete package, so I was thrilled when she agreed to join me.
Baz started her career as an elite athlete, spending three years as a member of the GB rowing team and winning medals at the World Championships and World Cup. She now works as a women's health coach, with a specialism in pelvic floor, core, nutrition and women's wellness. She is one of the co-founders of The Well HQ which provides much-needed education on women's health to both individuals and businesses.
We could have talked for hours, but managed to keep it to just over an hour, during which we discussed:
When I decided to invite someone on the podcast to talk about women's health, there was only one person I could possibly consider - the brilliant Baz Moffat. As a former GB rower turned women's health coach, with a huge passion and enthusiasm for her subject, she had the complete package, so I was thrilled when she agreed to join me.
Baz started her career as an elite athlete, spending three years as a member of the GB rowing team and winning medals at the World Championships and World Cup. She now works as a women's health coach, with a specialism in pelvic floor, core, nutrition and women's wellness. She is one of the co-founders of The Well HQ which provides much-needed education on women's health to both individuals and businesses.
We could have talked for hours, but managed to keep it to just over an hour, during which we discussed:
- Baz's career as a rower and her unusually late start in rowing
- How healthy her life was as an athlete
- The challenges talking about women's health in sport and the workplace and the particular challenges for male coaches
- How parents and coaches can get the conversation started about women's health
- Body literacy and how little we understand about our bodies
- The importance of not judging people for their lack of knowledge
- The benefits to performance of understanding our menstrual cycle
- Effects of contraceptive pill on sporting performance
- Exercising during pregnancy and after childbirth - what is safe?
- Benefits of consulting a women's health physio in second trimester
- Training through perimenopause and menopause
- Importance of strength training and what that actually means
- What to prioritise if only have 10 minutes for yourself a day
- Avoiding overwhelm
- Misconceptions about core stability (and what is included in the core)
- Importance of pelvic floor exercises
- How to get advice and reminders for pelvic floor exercises
- The Well HQ - its mission to improve the health of female athletes and to help male coaches to address women's health issues without being inappropriate or creepy