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Health and Wellbeing

Female Performance & Health Initiative

Delivering educational opportunities and resources relating to key female athlete performance and health considerations

Education modules

The AIS has partnered with specialist medical practitioners, high performance athletes and high performance coaches to design a suite of online learning modules for athletes, parents, coaches and medical practitioners.

Upon completion of these modules, athletes with ongoing questions are advised to see their medical practitioner for review.

Please note, these modules will not store your progress if you exit before completing. However, when you return to the module, you can select a start point from anywhere in left hand menu.

Pelvic Health

Athlete module New
Addresses many of the common questions about the pelvic floor, its structure, and function, discusses pelvic floor symptoms and options for management and normalises conversations around pelvic floor symptoms with the aim of improved athlete awareness and health.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
10 minutes

Start module

Breast Health

Athlete moduleNew
Provides information on breast structure and bra support, breast injuries, breast cancer awareness and normalise conversations around breast health to improve athlete awareness, knowledge and health.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Body Image in Female Athletes

Athlete moduleNew
Provides information regarding body image and body image concerns that may be experienced by athletes and normalises conversations around body image to help improve athlete awareness and health.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Bone Health

Athlete moduleNew
Provides information on bone structure, bony injuries such as stress fractures, low bone density and osteoporosis and optimising bone health for female athletes.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Low Energy Availability

Athlete moduleNew
Provides information on Low Energy Availability (LEA), Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and the health and performance consequences to athletes when they experience energy imbalance.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Nutrition for Female Athletes

Athlete moduleNew
Provides information on the topic of nutrition in female athletes, considers goals within sports nutrition that are commonly prioritised by athletes and provides helpful tips to address these key areas of athlete nutrition.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
10 minutes

Start module

Puberty and Development

Athlete module 
Address many of the common questions about puberty and development.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

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Normal Menstrual Cycle

Athlete module 
Help increase your knowledge regarding the normal menstrual cycle.
It’s important for female athletes to understand exactly how their body works, to optimise performance.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Menstrual Abnormalities 1

Athlete module
Increase your knowledge regarding the menstrual cycle and what’s abnormal when it comes to the timing of your cycle.
It’s important for female athletes to understand exactly how their body works, to optimise performance, and to identify problems that need to be addressed.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Menstrual Abnormalities 2

Athlete module 
This is part 2 of ‘Menstrual Abnormalities’. In this module, we discuss menstrual abnormalities such as period pain, bleeding and premenstrual syndrome. If you haven’t completed Menstrual Abnormalities 1, we recommend you completing this first.
This module will help increase your knowledge regarding the menstrual cycle and what’s normal and what’s abnormal. It’s important for female athletes to understand exactly how their body works, to optimise performance, and to identify problems that need to be addressed.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
10 minutes

Start module

Contraception for Female Athletes

Athlete module 
Increase your knowledge regarding contraception and the choices available to female athletes.
It’s important for athletes to understand commonly-used options available, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
15 minutes

Start module

Myths - Fact or Fiction?

Athlete module 
There are many myths and half-truths that circulate about women’s health topics.
This module is a fun way to check your knowledge and “bust those myths” about puberty, periods and contraception.
Who this module is for: Female athletes, parents of female athletes and coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
10 minutes

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Coaching Considerations for Female Athletes

Increase your knowledge regarding health and performance considerations when coaching female athletes. It is important for coaches to have an awareness of how the female body works, to understand how menstrual issues might impact performance and health and to recognise when to refer athletes.
You will hear from a number of coaches about their personal experiences and recommendations for coaching female athletes.
Who this module is for: Coaches of female athletes.
Estimated time to complete:
Up to 1 hour

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Considerations for Medical Practitioners managing Female Athletes

There are some unique considerations relating to the health and performance of female athletes. This module aims to share information about:
the demands of being a female athlete,
additional factors in female athlete health, including anti-doping and performance consideration,
referral options such as Sport and Exercise Medicine Specialists, Endocrinologists and Gynaecologists, and
considerations regarding hormonal contraception options.

Who this module is for: Medical Practitioners managing female athletes.
Estimated time to complete: Up to 1 hour

Start module

About the modules

During these modules, you will hear fellow athletes and coaches share their lived experience with female specific health considerations.

These modules are a valuable educational tool but they should not be relied on solely. We encourage all athletes to be proactive in discussing their health, wellbeing and performance with their coaches, families and support teams and to establish a strong relationship with their General Practitioner and Sports Physician.

Module content includes:

videos
written content
knowledge tests

* Please note, your answers will not be recorded or stored.

2021 LearnX Live! Award Winner

The Female Performance and Health Initiative (FPHI) suite of online education earned the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and White Leaf Solutions (WLS) two honours at The 2021 LearnX Live! Awards

Platinum Award for Best Talented Team 
Gold Award for Best eLearning Design

Female Performance & Health Initiative (FPHI) webinar

We recently hosted a Female Performance & Health Initiative (FPHI) webinar to explain what resources and education modules are available, as a result of high level collaboration between the AIS and system partners.
Attendees had the opportunity to hear from and ask questions to the program lead Dr Rachel Harris and panel members Australian freestyle aerial skier, Laura Peel; head of AusCycling’s Olympic Fast Track cycling program, Dr Lynne Munro; and Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Manager at Hockey Australia, Rohan McHugh.

More information

For more information please email femaleperformancehealth@ausport.gov.au.

To cite these modules:

Female Performance and Health Initiative, Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Sports Commission, accessed [day] [month] [year], <https://www.ais.gov.au/fphi/education>.

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