#165: Ally Orr on Learning to Embrace Fear

This week on Sparta Chicks Radio you’ll meet Ally Orr. Ally brings a unique perspective to the podcast; she is both a competitive Jiu-Jitsu player and an Exercise and Sports Scientist. A talented musician growing up in regional NSW, Ally moved to Sydney at 16 to attend music school. Not long after, her then-boyfriend introduced her to strength training and weight lifting - and the rest, as they say, is history. She then found the sport of Judo before moving onto Jiu-Jitsu and has won (amongst other things) the lightweight Pan Pacific Championship and in 2021, she became Australian Champion in the 60kg division. At about the same time she discovered her love of combat sports, Ally transferred her studies from music to Exercise and Sports Science. In this conversation Ally and I discuss: * how she transitioned from studying music to exercise and sport science, * where her love of exercise and movement came from (given that she wasn’t an active or sporty kid) * what she loves about the sport of Jiu-Jitsu and the common misconceptions about it, * the personal power that grows in women when they are physically strong, * how she manages the fear of being physically hurt * the female athlete triad and why it’s common in combat sports * the impact of needing to ‘cut weight’ to compete in your weight division and the impact of that on body image and mental health, * whether you can maintain a healthy body image in a sport that requires you to cut or reduce your weight, * the 3 biggest misconceptions she hears that undermine women’s health and performance, and * how to find ways to incorporate recovery into your busy life.

You can listen to #165: Ally Orr on Learning to Embrace Fear online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#165: Ally Orr on Learning to Embrace Fear is an episode from Sparta Chicks Radio: Mindset | Confidence | Sport | Women by Jen Brown.

This episode is 01:01:34 long.

This episode was published on Sep 19, 2025.

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