Hit Play Not Pause

As active women, muscle is the engine that powers us through our lives, no matter what sport we love. When we hit midlife and menopause, it can feel like that 8-cylinder engine drops to six—less punch when we hit the gas, even though we’re still training. We may notice less muscle and more body fat when we look in the mirror. Muscle and strength loss during the menopause transition is multifactori...

The menopause transition is a critical tipping point for bone health. Bone loss accelerates rapidly in late perimenopause and continues for roughly 3 to 5 years after menopause begins–a window in which some women lose up to 20% of their total bone mass. For too long, society accepted this decline as inevitable. That fragility is our fate. That as women, our stature–and our lives and our worlds–jus...

Unpredictable cycles. Sleepless nights. Mood swings. Body composition changes. And performance that mirrors all of it. During the menopause transition, you never quite know which body will show up on any given day. As this week’s guest menopause run and strength coach Becky Croft explains, you can still get stronger and faster, but it won’t come from constantly pushing through or grinding it out....

Our ligaments, tendons, and overall musculoskeletal system can take a real hit during the menopause transition, making injuries more frequent and recovery slower. Too often, practitioners still overlook common issues like tendinopathies—leaving women to live with unnecessary pain before getting an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. This week’s guest, former pro triathlete and licensed mas...

Grazing. Chronic stress. Poor sleep. Rushed meals. Sitting for long hours. Underfueled workouts. Estrogen decline. There’s a lot more behind our fasting glucose and A1C than how many carbs we eat. This week we return to one of the most consistently requested topics: blood sugar meaning and management with Liz McKinney, CNS, LDN. We explore what glucose spikes really mean, why time-in-range and var...

We asked for your big questions on hormone therapy–and an avalanche ensued! This week, after 5+ years of Hit Play Not Pause, we’re doing a level set on hormone therapy. This week’s guest, nationally-recognized menopause expert Lauren Streicher, MD, digs into hormone therapy research, what it tells us and what it doesn't, why formulations matter, perimenopause versus postmenopause therapy, the card...

At 46, professional off-road cyclist and coach Serena Bishop Gordon has redefined what she thought was possible—physically, mentally, and emotionally. From second place at this year’s Unbound XL (360 miles in 22:19:56 hours) to multiple podiums at Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, Serena shares how she’s learned to let go of limits, release outcomes, and lean into curiosity. We dive into the mental shi...

When amateur boxer Jessica D'Abrosca entered perimenopause, she didn’t know what hit her. The exhaustion. The night sweats. The joint pain. She felt like she was unraveling. Then she found our community and studied up on this new opponent perimenopause and its hormonal haymakers and learned how she could fight back with training, diet, and lifestyle adjustments. Today, she’s still in the ring. Thi...

We’re told stress (looking at you cortisol) is the enemy in midlife—but that’s too simple. In the right dose (and with real recovery), stress is good medicine that builds resilience and makes us stronger, in sport, at work, and in life. In this episode, we dive into the “stress that helps” with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist—physician, researcher, and author of The Stress Paradox . We break down horm...

The next wave of menopausal women is here. Millennials (born 1981–1996)—with the oldest now 44—are marching into the transition. And no, they’re not “all set.” They’re still running into poor care, confusion about hormone therapy, and real mental-health turbulence. Many are also rolling straight from postpartum into perimenopause—stacking new physical and emotional challenges. This week’s guest, l...

Kim Beckinsale and Alina McMaster, both in their mid-50s, race with Mountain Designs Wild Women, along with their teammates Cass Kimlin and Del Lloyd, who are both over 40. The team made history last year by becoming the first all-female team to win the 450 km Legend Expedition Race along Australia’s Great Ocean Road, finishing in 73:09:27 and outracing men half their age. They unpack how women-on...

Eighty percent of us will develop fibroids by age 50–making them an epidemic nobody talks about. Tennis legend Venus Williams, 45, has recently spoken up about the debilitating pain, fatigue, and heavy bleeding she suffered with due to fibroids for literally decades. This week we talk with the doctor who finally helped her find relief, Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, Founder and Director of the Center for...

Buckle up for a trip (pun intended) into the midlife brain. This week we sit down with neuroscientist Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley to connect the dots between cannabinoids, psychedelics, trauma, and the menopause transition. We cover CBD/THC for sleep, anxiety, pain, and inflammation; how the endocannabinoid system works, and how psychedelics like psilocybin act on serotonin pathways, reduce neuroinflam...

Growing up in sport, this week’s guest was often told her body wasn’t “right”—too muscular, not tall enough, never thin enough—and those messages followed her into adulthood through the pressures of work, marriage, motherhood, and loss. Her turning point came in a hotel gym, where she discovered the power of fueling well, eating enough protein, and lifting heavy. What began as a shift from self-me...

At 65, Diane Grim was the oldest woman competing at the Western States 100–widely considered one of the toughest organized trail runs in the United States–this year. It was her first ever 100 miler and she didn’t even start running till she was in her 50s, but as she says, every mile, every step is a gift, so why not? She didn’t have the day she hoped for, but she left filled with pride, hope of b...

She did it. At 10:06 a.m. on May 24th, two-time guest Jeannette McGill stood on top of the world. Jeannette, 52, summited Mount Everest after three years of navigating hot flashes, heavy, erratic periods, joint pain, stubborn injuries, brain fog, and maybe most difficult of all for a high altitude mountaineer–newfound fear that made tasks that once came easily feel overwhelming. Along the way, inc...

How many times have we heard that weight loss and maintenance is simply “calories in, calories out?” Well, the equation may be rooted in thermodynamics, but the reality is biology, history, hormones, and a whole lot more. This week, endocrinologist and Harvard obesity researcher Dr. Jody Dushay breaks down why this concept is far more complex than the numbers on a food label or how many calories o...

For the longest time, endurance athletes avoided the weight room, afraid unwanted muscles would weigh them down, while strength athletes all but kicked cardio to the curb. Now we know that no matter if you’re running an ultra or competing in a CrossFit competition, the right blend of cardio and strength is the secret sauce for success–especially once you hit midlife and menopause. This week, renow...

This episode originally dropped on February 12, 2025. Bill Campbell, PhD, has spent his entire career as a fat loss researcher. So when his wife hit menopause and wanted help with body composition changes, he thought it would be easy. Spoiler alert: It was not. Which made him realize his field had a lot to learn, especially about active women whose bodies change even when their training and nutrit...

We're sharing this episode of Feisty's weekly women's sports show, called The Feist, because we thought you’d enjoy this preview of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Even if you already know everything about cycling, we're sure you’ll find something you don’t know in today’s episode. And be sure to subscribe and follow The Feist wherever you listen, so you don't miss any future episodes of the...

When things start to feel “off” in midlife, it’s easy to blame perimenopause. It’s easy to accept the advice to slow down—or to internalize the idea that age automatically means decline. But this week’s guest, Jen Temperley, isn’t buying it. A lifelong triathlete, Jen has faced her share of challenges: unexplained fatigue, weight gain, gut issues, injuries, and symptoms that looked like menopause—...

Former track and field Olympic champion Marion Jones, who lost her record-breaking 5 medals and served prison time in a high profile doping scandal, thought that her hardest days were behind her. And in that realm, they certainly are. But now she’s facing a challenge she never saw coming: perimenopause. This week, Marion opens up about all of it–navigating her past, moving forward from her mistake...

Feisty favorite Peloton Instructor Christine D’Ercole is back on the show this week for a candid conversation about how she’s managing a high profile athletic career while also in the throes of perimenopause. Through her ups–winning three more National titles since we last spoke–and her downs–peeing herself in the gym as she struggles with pelvic floor dysfunction–Christine is simply open, honest,...

Like many women, Dena Lewis planned on “fighting through” menopause. She thought she could outrun, out-nutrition, and out-supplement menopause. Menopause–which came swiftly through surgery–had other ideas. Through mood swings, soaking night sweats, hair loss, and a relentless barrage of symptoms, Dena did keep running–10+ miles a day–but she also sought hormone therapy that made the rest better. A...

Welcome to The Feist — your favorite sports, with your feistiest friends. Hosted by Sara Gross and Kelly O’Mara, Feisty's newest podcast is here to celebrate the unstoppable rise of women’s sports. Every week they'll cover what you need to know in women's sports: from running to basketball to everything in between. The Feist will bring you the untold stories of female athletes, interviews with tho...