How to keep working mothers in sport by empowering each other for health

Women are less likely to take part in sport than men, but one women’s health physiotherapist believes that this does not have to be inevitable. Only 25 per cent of women participate in sport compared to 43 per cent of men, according to RTE . Mandy Tik Tolman, physiotherapist, says she sees a sharp drop-off for women in their late 30s or early 40s. “Women at the end of their 30s or over 40s, have hesitation to get back into sport. The two reasons – one is babies, the other is careers – I’m seeing women have babies around 35, where 10 years ago it would have been 30,” she said. “This is to do with them having careers and delaying babies. After 40, childcare, they are tired and have career advancement goals. That is the specific age group that I see in terms of stopping playing sport.” Tik Tolman’s clients include high-powered career women such as lawyers and investment bankers and she believes the solution to getting them into sport can be in the office. Companies should invest in women-specific gyms. “We have mixed gyms. But women work differently. We have more hypermobility. When I coach or when I treat my patients, I see when we lift weights we have to do different things. When a woman has lower back pain in a dead lift, it could be completely different to why men have back pain. And women face hormonal changes, post-partum issues, joints getting out of range when they resume training or powerlifting,” she said. ‘Faith over fear’: mental strain of crash no issue for extreme triathlete “So why gender specific? Because I can see how we move differently, how we are structured differently, but motivation is not lacking at all. They can go [to the gym] at lunch, and it’s not just treadmills but new machines, made for women.” There are two camps of women looking to start sport in their late 30s, said Tik Tolman, who is a high performing triathlete. Firstly, complete newcomers and secondly, women who have played sport before but want to start again. For the former, Tik Tolman advised to be specific. Why do you want to start sport? For weight loss, to tone a specific part of the body, to enjoy a new sport and team? Once you have narrowed down your goals it is easier to create a pathway to involvement. For the latter group, it can be that they want to take up a sport they played when they were younger, or a new sport. Tik Tolman said first identify any old injuries and fix them with a physiotherapist or personal trainer, then the sky’s the limit. Try to remember your “dream”, like did you want to be a dancer when you were a child. She said it’s never too late to start. For both groups, embrace peer pressure. “The key thing is you have friends with you. That will help you sustain your sports. Peer pressure is key to sustaining sports participation. If you are a mother, get another mother friend. You are hard working women, so find someone with the same attitude. Be empowered by each other’s enthusiasm,” Tik Tolman said. “In reality, enthusiasm comes and goes: you are tired at work, your baby cried all night. And that’s the moment sports participation helps and the moment you get the mental health benefits.” Men have a role in the equation of keeping women in sport. Tik Tolman advises men who want to be part of the solution to be open minded. “If your partner loves doing serious hip-hop lessons, just go and have a crack with her. They will appreciate your attitude and you seeing how hard their sport is. It gives you a different perspective,” Tik Tolman said. “Plan a date to do her sports once in a while. It’s a healthy thing.” “My husband is a channel swimmer – when I met him I was only doing triathlons, Ironman, where the swim is only 3km. I was intrigued by what he was doing, relationships work both ways. You’re wondering about doing it, well the key thing to doing it is just to do it. “It can bring a couple closer together. Try your partners interests, be curious about sports. It’s not just about women, it’s way beyond that,” she said. There is hope for the future. Tik Tolman said her teenage clients are playing more sports than any generation of women before them. They have big lofty goals and are uninhibited by traditional expectations. “They want to be superstars. It gives me goose bumps. I don’t think when I was 12 I wanted to be an extreme athlete. I have one girl, 12, she has knee pain, and I asked her what she wanted to do and she said ‘I want to be a professional skier’. That’s exciting. “We spend so much time researching restaurants, asking for recommendations,” Tik Tolman added. “If we apply the same attitude to sports, this generation of girls – they will be superwomen.”