Former middle-distance runner Pippa Woolven was not aware that she was suffering from RED-S – relative energy deficiency in sport – until well afterwards such was the lack of general understanding of the condition at the time.

“It took several years to recover and the scars of that experience will forever remain,” she tells the Leaders Performance Podcast of her experiences of RED-S while competing in the US college system in the 2010s.

“I’m lucky enough to say I’m in a healthy place now and I hope to help other people avoid the same pitfalls.”

Woolven is the Founder, CEO and Director of Project RED-S, an initiative formed by a group of athletes, parents and partners whose lives had been impacted by a condition that is still relatively unknown and misunderstood.

Joining the conversation was James Morton, the Director of Performance Solutions at Science in Sport, who was part of a research project that revealed some time ago that just one in 23 of England’s Lionesses squad were consuming the correct quantities of carbohydrate.

The duo discuss the reasons why athletes succumb to RED-S and the ways in which the condition can be both treated and prevented.

They also touch upon:

• The causes of low energy availability [7:00];
• Team culture and the role of coaches in preventing RED-S [16:00];
• The role of parents in educating young athletes [24:00];
• How athletes can support team-mates in their fuelling [27:30].

Pippa Woolven LinkedIn | Twitter

James Morton LinkedIn | Twitter

Sarah Evans LinkedIn | Twitter

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