Allison Schmitt, Ten-Time Olympic Medalist
Allison Schmitt, Ten-Time Olympic Medalist: American 4-time Olympian Allison Schmitt, who was diagnosed with anemia in 2010 and required to wear an intrauterine device (IUD) for the next eight years while she pursued peak performance, recently spoke to sporttechie.
It is about a scientific approach to coping with the hormonal changes female athletes’ bodies undergo while striving for peak performance. Her fears about discontinuing birth control when athletics lost their significance were also voiced.
The freestyle specialist, who competed in the Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo Olympics, won a total of 10 medals throughout the course of his career, including four gold, three silver, three bronze, and five podium places in 2012.
Pittsburgh
The native of Pittsburgh won gold in the 200-meter freestyle and helped the United States set a new world record in the 4×100-meter relay at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Similarly to how he guided Michael Phelps’s career, legendary American coach Bob Bowman guided Schmitt’s.
Nonetheless, it was an educational experience for both of them, as she stumbled into the field of women’s health and only recently began fusing that understanding with elite-level performance.
My performance at the time necessitated that (scientific assistance). There was no way for me to complete the drills. The inability to practice as well as I should have prevented me from getting as much out of them as I could have.
And, you know, we all just raised our hands. Bob and I have no idea what we’re doing as far as female health is concerned, so please enlighten us on what we can learn and what will be most helpful.
Statements
Together, we were able to make it work (she collaborated with bloodwork specialists). It was a huge jump from where I was in March and April to where I was in Tokyo, and I don’t think we could have made it without the assistance,” she said to sporttechie.
She had been accustomed to the intense training routines of guys and had to unlearn the mindset that had gotten her where she was successful but wasn’t good for her.
Having grown up in a predominantly male training environment, I have developed the mindset of “Okay, put your head down, push through, you can get through it,” which has helped me achieve great success in sports.
There’s a tremendous difference between men and women, she continued, “but I believe just now realizing the difference between pushing through something and obtaining the correct help in this scenario is a big difference.”
She couldn’t get the nagging thought that athletics was casually ignoring a fundamental biological topic. How come we put girls through male-style training?
Given that males and females are different, why do studies just focus on men? Our physical composition is very different. Noting that “[females] may use those hormones and the differences to their advantage, and they can be more powerful than what they are already,” she emphasized the need of treating one’s body as it is made up.
RIO
Following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Schmitt announced his retirement and enrolled at Arizona State University to earn a master’s degree in social work.
Since she started swimming competitively again in 2018, she has cut her course load in half and is on target to graduate in May.
Her early difficulties were unique. In 2010, I was informed that an IUD would help me stop bleeding and so treat my anemia. Eight years of using an IUD taught me nothing else.
By the end of 2018, I had stopped doing it. To test out the effects on my body, if you will. According to this misconception, the only fact we know for sure regarding women’s health is that their bodies undergo dramatic transformations every seven years.
She explained to sporttechie, “I thought maybe my hormones have altered and I wouldn’t bleed as much.”
Her worries were not just about her playing career. What I meant to say was that. The only question I had about discontinuing birth control was, “I want babies someday,” because I had no idea what an intrauterine device (IUD) was.
Will this make it impossible for me to have children? As soon as you quit, they said, “you can have kids.” What synthetic hormones (birth control) do to your body is much more serious than I had previously thought.
My body has been trying to generate synthetic progesterone for the past eight years, so it took quite a while to adjust when I stopped taking it.
Schmitt could tell you how she came to be checking her blood every week.
Declarations
I reached out to Keenan Robinson, the head of sports medicine for USA Swimming because I had no idea what was wrong with my body. We started working together after he put me in touch with Dr. Georgie. My participation was crucial.
Georgie and I had nearly daily phone conversations. Typically, I’d have team calls once a week. Like a team, really. We’d get in touch to see how things were going and make sure everything was okay. Our needs would be met with the help of blood tests.
Therefore, I had a lot of health issues leading up to the Olympic trials, which would have taken place between October 2020 and May 2021, and they helped me get through those difficulties. And by the time I was back in full training, I was having bloodwork done every Monday to monitor my cortisol levels and see how they were reacting to the exercise,” she continued.
Nutrition, rest, and exercise were all part of the aftercare plan. If the result was abnormally low on Mondays, I would have to reschedule my workouts for the day or the entire week.
Just modifying that depending on what the scientific data are was probably a new challenge for my coach, Bob Bowman. What I appreciate most about Orreco is that they base their claims on hard evidence rather than speculation.
In the past, athletes rarely discussed menstruation, but now, because to advances in technology, they can.
We divide a female athlete’s life into four distinct stages, each of which calls for a unique approach. Adjusting to your requirements and your period is not requesting less work, but sure, we do have our goals that we want to reach.
Remarks
I’m still putting in the same amount of effort, but I need to be more aware of and knowledgeable about opportunities to improve my results.
As an athlete, it is my responsibility to learn about whichever aspects of performance improvement are most relevant on any given day.
Athletes can be harsh on themselves enough as it is without a coach putting more pressure on them to perform. In addition, they will strive to improve their performance each week, as stated by Sporttechie.
Even if the changes trickled in late, Schmitt welcomes them. Simply because I believe I have gained so much knowledge in this area, I feel compelled to share this expertise with others.
How many other women my age (30) are also discovering these things about their bodies for the first time?
High school and college students would benefit greatly from hearing this advice early in life, as it would help them avoid common pitfalls and increase their chances of achieving professional success.
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