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When we reach menopause and midlife, we’re sometimes leery of trying new things. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves. We feel afraid. We don’t want to get hurt. Whether hormonal, societal, or a blend of both, we can easily succumb to the urge to stay on the sidelines. But the real magic happens when you jump (maybe literally) into something new, especially an activity that builds skill, confidence, and a community of like-minded women who want to break expectations. For this week’s guests, that activity has been parkour, a practice that involves maneuvering over, under, and through obstacles, which has given them both a newfound sense of power and strength, as well as play and fun. They talk all about their path to parkour and how much it’s improved their lives in this week’s show. 

Penny Szentkuti, 53, is a teacher librarian at Ascham School in Edgecliff, Sydney, Australia and is a mother of two (which is how she got into parkour in the first place). You can see her parkour in action on Instagram here. Rachel Gray, 48, is an early childhood educator, running Outdoor Playgroups. She is a mother of three active children (which is how she, too, got into parkour). They both practice parkour at AAPES (Australian Academy of Parkour, Exercise and Self-Defence). 

Resources: 

Parkour, skydiving, wing foiling — women over 50 are finding freedom in adventure sports, ABC.net.au feature here.

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Millions of women will tell you they feel like their muscle disappeared overnight once they hit the menopause transition. It may not technically happen in a 24 hour period, but muscle tissue really does slip away quickly over the perimenopause period. That’s a problem because muscle is our metabolic engine and helps us live, play, and perform our best. This week, we sat down with exercise scientist Sam Moore, who was so moved by her athletic mother’s experience during perimenopause, she devoted herself to learning as much as she could to help others. She presented her research on body composition, activity, and nutrition in menopause at this year’s Female Athlete Conference. We talk all about her research there and much more.

Sam Moore is an applied sport scientist and Human Movement Science Doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Medicine, researching endocrinological topics of applied female athlete sport science. Sam completed her undergraduate degree in Exercise Science and Human Biology from Western Oregon University and her master’s degree in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention from California University of Pennsylvania. Prior to Carolina, Sam was with the NC State Wolfpack from 2019-2021 as the Director of Sport Science and Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach. As the first woman to serve as a Director of Sport Science in the NCAA, Sam implemented a revolutionary and evidence-informed framework of women’s specific training design based on the hormonal landscape of the Wolfpack female athletes. You can learn more about her and her work at mooresportscience.com

Resources

Evaluation of the relationship between body composition and menopause symptoms across the menopause transition, here.

Body Composition, Activity, & Nutrition in Menopause, here.

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We’ve been fed a narrative that you can’t get faster after a certain age. We used to say 40. Definitely not after 50. Could you possibly get faster after 60? This week’s guests say, “Why not?” When it comes to women in midlife and menopause, we’re more active than ever. We also know more, have better coaching, and have more information at our disposal. This week, during a special educational session at the Vinfast Ironman World Championship, we had a panel discussion on all of it with five-time world champion Melanie McQuaid, physical therapist and strength and triathlon coach Dr. Chrissy Davis, and co-founder of FLY Health + Wellness and USAT certified coach Jen Temperley. Together the panel takes on body image, musculoskeletal health and injury prevention, how to adapt through the menopause transition, and training for the long game. Even if you never step foot in the three-sport arena, you’ll get a ton of useful and inspirational information from this incredible conversation. 

Melanie McQuaid is a professional triathlete, mountain bike racer, and five-time world champion. She continues to compete at an elite level while focusing her energies on her coaching business, MelRad Coaching. You can check her out there and at melaniemcquaid.com. In 2023, Melanie was 2nd pro female at Ironman Maryland and became the first 50-year-old to podium in the open pro category of an Ironman race and the first ever 50-year-old to qualify for the main pro race with her 3rd place finish at Ironman Coeur d’Alene. 

Dr. Chrissy Davis, PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS is a coach with MSM + JHC Coaching, a USAT and Ironman University Certified Coach, a Certified Running Analyst, as well as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Certified Holistic Health Coach. She is the owner & sports performance physical therapist at Precision Performance Sports in Park Ridge, Illinois.

Jen Temperley is co-founder of FLY Health + Wellness. Along with being a USAT Certified coach, she is a Precision Nutrition Coach and female athlete specialist. She’s been in triathlon since doing Ironkids at the age of 8. Her career includes age group wins at Oceanside 70.3, Wildflower Triathlon, and Escape from Alcatraz, and she’s competed in 7 World Championships including the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. 

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Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

Menopause is not a monolith. We all experience this stage of life differently and require unique care. So this week we sat down with Dr. Heather Hirsch, author of Unlock Your Menopause Type to talk about the six basic types she sees in her practice, including premature, sudden, full-throttle, mind-altering, seemingly never-ending, and silent and the care they require. We also dig into the controversial topics of hormone testing and menopausal hormone therapy for perimenopause. Heather’s ultimate goal is to give all women the information they need to make fully educated decisions about their care. And we’re happy to support that mission on the show this week.

Dr. Heather Hirsch is board certified in internal medicine and completed advanced fellowship training in women’s health at the Cleveland Clinic. Her clinical work and research centers on inequalities and unanswered questions in the field of gynecology and women’s health, specifically in menopause and its role in chronic disease development. Heather was the founder of the Menopause and Midlife Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Massachusetts. She is also a private telemedicine practitioner at Heather Hirsch MD, PLLC. You can learn more about her and her work at heatherhirschmd.com

Resources:

The ABCs of MHT with Heather Hirsch, MD

Unlock Your Menopause Type by Heather Hirsch, MD, MS, NCMP with Stacey Colino

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Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

Ultra running sensation Camille Herron is currently smashing world records, including a new woman’s 48 hour running world record set earlier this year where she logged a whopping 435 kilometers (270.5 miles) around a 400-meter track(!), which also made her the first female athlete to surpass a Men’s American record, all while managing the hormonal havoc of perimenopause, something she has recently opened up about in a series of posts on Instagram. We talk all about it, as well as her involvement with Lululemon’s groundbreaking FURTHER multi-day ultramarathon and research initiative on this week’s show.

Camille Herron is an ultra running phenom. She is the first and only athlete to win all three of the road IAU World Championships for 50K, 100K, and 24 Hours, where she clocked 270 kilometers (nearly 168 mi), more than any woman in history. Last year, just after turning 40, she won the Jackpot 100, outright beating all of the men by almost 30 minutes. At age 41 she set a new woman’s 48 hour running world record. And she holds a Guinness Book of World Records record for the fastest marathon by a female in a superhero costume—running 2:48 dressed head to toe as Spiderwoman. You can learn more about her at camilleherron.com

Resources

Lululemon FURTHER initiative 

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Nina McGowan didn't begin freediving until she was in her late 40s and sliding into the menopause transition. With the help of her background in meditation, yoga, dance, the arts, and eventually hormone therapy, she’s reached depths she would have only dreamed imaginable, setting multiple Irish National Records as well as securing a World Record in the 50-54 age division with a dive of 43 meters (141 feet) that involved holding her breath for 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Just last month, Nina set three new National Records including 46 meters (151 feet) in the Constant weight No Fins (CNF) division and 58 meters (190 feet) in the Free Immersion (FIM) division. We talk all about it, along with her history and work as a visual artist this week.

Nina McGowan is a visual artist who is primarily concerned with the human body, and considers it a tool for understanding, mediating, and perceiving the world. She uses freediving as a research tool to inform and direct her artwork. Her current themes address the overwhelm that people cite when they think about the scale of the climate crises. Her work attempts to re-scale and re-map aspects of the crises to the human body. She performs on stage, makes sculpture, and speaks publicly on these topics. You can learn more about her and her artwork at nina_mcgowan_artist and her diving at marinina_freediver. 

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Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

The conversation around menopause is moving at lightspeed these days, with a wave of misinformation following quickly in its wake. So this week we sat down with the medical director of The Menopause Society (formerly the North American Menopause Society), Dr. Stephanie Faubion, author of The New Rules of Menopause to catch up on where we are with our understanding of menopause, menopause therapies, hormone testing, and much more.

Stephanie S. Faubion, M.D., M.B.A., is the Penny and Bill George Director of Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health and is chair of the Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Faubion has practiced as a physician in the Women’s Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic for over 18 years. She also serves as medical director for The Menopause Society. She has a broad interest in women’s health and has evaluated and treated women with menopausal, hormonal, and sexual health concerns. Her research encompasses sex and gender-based differences in disease, menopause, hormone therapy, healthy aging, and sexual health and dysfunction in women — addressing questions that come directly from the clinical dilemmas faced every day in medical practice. A leader in women’s health, Dr. Faubion, frequently lends her expertise to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, NBC News, and other national media.

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Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

Amanda Thebe was so frustrated by her two-year odyssey to find out what was behind her bone-crushing fatigue, vertigo, incontinence, rage, migraines, depression, and other symptoms that were outright derailing her life (spoiler: it was perimenopause), she wrote what would become an Amazon best-selling book, Menopocalypse: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too! to help other women avoid the same fate. Now, three years later and “post menopocalyptic,” Amanda is on a mission to help menopausal women have better access to care and a more supportive workplace. We talk all about that and much more this week.

Amanda Thebe has nearly 30 years of experience in the fitness industry and is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, Menopocalypse: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too! She is the co-founder and Chief Wellness and Branding Officer at Nyah Health, a complete healthcare solution for menopausal women in Canada. As Canada’s first menopause workplace educator, Amanda provides on-site or virtual educational presentations in the workplace to improve productivity, retention and attendance for female employees through menopause. Amanda has been featured in media outlets like Oprah, Shape, Prevention, Health Line, CBC Radio, Global News Canada, The Doctors, and many more. You can learn more about her and her work at amandathebe.com

Resources

Menopocalypse: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too! - all buying options listed here.

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Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

Menopause is all over mainstream media these days. But too many women are still missing the message that they don’t have to needlessly suffer, especially Black women who on average go into menopause earlier and have worse symptoms such as hot flashes, depression and sleep disturbances than White women, but are less likely to receive hormone therapy, as well as medical and mental health services. This week’s guest health and wellness coach Diesta Goldsmith is grateful for the people who helped her when she needed it and is now on a mission to help others who are suffering get their lives back. The former bodybuilder, figure competitor, and system engineering consultant is also a fun, funny, and positive force in the menopause space.

Diesta Goldsmith is the founder of Vision Up Health & Wellness Coaching. She has been in the fitness industry for more than 30 years and now specializes in helping women navigate through menopause and live with vision and vitality through her coaching programs. You can learn more about her and her work at visionupwellness.com.

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Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause

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Hettas: Shop Hettas at https://alnk.to/h6KsEBr

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Previnex: Get 15% off your order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/

Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

Of all our hormones, cortisol might be the most misunderstood and maligned. We’re told this stress hormone is the culprit behind excess belly fat, high blood sugar, accelerated aging, and a host of menopausal and midlife woes. Menopausal and midlife women sometimes are afraid to exercise too much because they’ve been told it will raise their cortisol, which can already be elevated during this time of life. The problem with this narrative is that it’s one-sided. It paints cortisol as a demon to be avoided at all costs, when actually cortisol is essential to maintain and improve fitness, and frankly for human life. This week we sat down with endocrinologist Dr. Carla DiGirolamo to dive into what cortisol is, what it does, and how menopausal women can manage–even befriend it–to optimize their health, performance, and well-being.

Carla DiGirolamo, MD, PhD, is a Double Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Obstetrician/Gynecologist specializing in infertility and menopausal medicine. She is also a Crossfit Level 1 trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach, and member of CrossFit Health. She is a MedFit Care provider and provides weekly workouts and medical updates at her Substack Athletic Aging. She has most recently become an Endocrine Consultant for Wild Health. 

• Dr. Carla DiGirolamo’s Athletic Aging blog post on cortisol

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Previnex: Get 15% off your order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/

Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr