Why this site exists
Too much sports health advice is either too technical to use or too simplified to trust. We're trying to sit in the useful middle.
Research in, plain English out
Sports Health Guide is an independent publication about the four things every athlete has to manage: how they train, how they eat, how they recover and how they handle pressure.
It started from a familiar frustration. Look up almost any sports health question and you tend to find two kinds of answer. The first is written for researchers: accurate, dense and very hard to turn into a plan for Tuesday's session. The second is written to get clicks: confident, simple and often wrong. Neither helps much when you're standing in the kitchen with a sore shin, wondering whether to run.
So we write the guides we wanted to find. Each one starts from the research, mainly systematic reviews, position statements from bodies like the American College of Sports Medicine and the International Society of Sports Nutrition, and the clinical guidance physiotherapists use. Then we translate it into something you can act on.
We're not doctors and we don't pretend to be. When a question needs a professional, we say so plainly. But we think athletes at every level deserve to understand their own bodies, and that understanding is the best defence against bad advice.
Our editorial rules
Every guide has to pass these before it goes live. The full version is in our editorial policy.
Evidence first
We start from published research and expert consensus, not from what's trending. Every guide lists its sources.
Honest about uncertainty
Sports science is young and messy. When studies disagree or are small, we tell you rather than picking the convenient answer.
Useful on Monday
Every guide ends with something practical you can do this week, not just interesting facts.
Independent
No sponsored articles and no supplement deals. Ads are labelled, and advertisers have no influence over what we write.
Kept current
We review guides regularly and update them when the evidence moves. The date at the top shows the latest review.
Written for people
Plain English, short paragraphs and real examples. If a term needs jargon, we explain it the first time it appears.
How the site is organised
Everything we publish sits in one of four lanes, the same four things every athlete has to manage:
- Training: building fitness that lasts, from endurance to strength.
- Nutrition: fuelling for training, competition and recovery.
- Recovery: injury prevention, rehab, sleep and staying healthy.
- Mindset: nerves, focus, confidence and motivation.
Each lane has one long guide published so far, with more on the way. We'd rather build slowly and get it right.
From question to published guide
It starts with a real question. Most topics come from readers, coaches and the questions that come up again and again in training groups and forums.
We read before we write. We look for systematic reviews and meta-analyses first, then position statements and clinical guidelines, then individual studies. We note how big and how good the studies are, because a small trial in 12 college athletes doesn't carry the same weight as a review of thirty trials.
We write for use, not for show. The aim is a guide you can act on. That means practical examples, tables you can screenshot and a clear answer near the top for people in a hurry.
We check it. Every number in a guide has to trace back to a source in the reference list. If we can't trace it, it comes out.
We keep it current. Guides are reviewed on a schedule and whenever important new research appears. The "updated" date at the top of each article tells you when it was last checked.
How the site is funded
Sports Health Guide is free to read and is supported by advertising. Ads are clearly labelled "Advertisement" and kept visually separate from our writing.
Advertisers don't see articles before they're published, don't choose topics and can't ask for changes. We don't publish sponsored content. If that ever changes, it'll be labelled at the top of the article in plain words.
We don't sell or recommend supplements for money. If we mention a product, it's because the evidence supports it, and we'll explain why.
Questions? Get in touch.
Get one useful email a week
New guides as they come out, plus one practical training idea. Sunday mornings, and short enough to read over coffee.