Have you ever seen a workout that promises to get rid of belly fat with three moves? In this episode I explain that targeted fat loss is a complete lie, because that is simply not how biology works. However, for decades we have heard about workouts to blast belly fat, "bounce back" from pregnancy, "tone up" arms, "reduce" inner thighs, and so much more. This can be confusing, so let's dive into the science so you can understand how fat loss actually works. 

Further reading: 

• Seminal study that looked at arm fat in tennis players to see if people lose more fat around working muscles.
• 2023 article with a small sample size that did find some evidence of targeted fat loss in men. 

Links:

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It’s summer, which means the weather’s hot and the pressure to have a “summer body” is even hotter. In this episode, we unpack where that idea comes from, how it harms women, and what we can do to push back. From magazine covers to crash diets, we're shifting the focus from appearance to strength, function, and confidence.

PS - Any Good Place fans out there? If you don't get the "Bullshirt" reference in the episode title, this is your sign to discover one of TVs best shows! 

Further reading:

Read Anna Maltby's Refinery 29 article reacting to Women's Health outlawing "Bikini Body" on covers.

Content analysis of Women's and Men's Health Magazine covers found that all prominent captions were objectifying phrases. 

Check out the How-To Fitness Podcast's episode on toxic masculinity to learn more about the pressures that boys and men have to achieve unrealistic physiques. 

Links:

Get 3 exercises a week sent to your inbox: https://strongher.kit.com/41e98aeb53

1-1 Virtual training: https://forms.gle/sTBnmgHUiwUhtaW5A

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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📖 StrongHer Collective is on Substack! Access free articles about women's strength, or subscribe to get strength workouts that you can do at home or at the gym.

📲 Connect with StrongHer Collective on Instagram

💪 Looking for 1-1 training support? Fill out Morganne's training application form, or learn more here.

Think you need 10,000 steps a day to be healthy? Think again.
In this episode of the StrongHer Collective podcast, I’m breaking down where that magic number really came from (hint: it wasn’t science), what the research actually says about step counts and health, and why small, consistent movement matters more than hitting an arbitrary target. We’ll dive into the real benefits of walking, the importance of making fitness accessible, and why strength training still reigns supreme for overall health.

Major takeaways:

More steps correlate with better health outcomes, but you don't need 10,000 steps to see big benefits!

• 1,000 steps reduces risk of death by 15%, 500 steps reduces risk of death by cardiovascular emergency by 7%. 
• A 2019 Harvard study of nearly 17,000 older women found that those who walked just 4,400 steps per day had a 41% lower risk of death compared to the most sedentary group, with benefits increasing up to about 7,500 steps—after which the impact plateaued, suggesting more steps aren’t always significantly better.
• More recently a 2022 study (Liu et al.) found a similar leveling off of benefits at 7,500. In this meta analysis, researchers found that those who walk 4,000 steps lower their risk by 37%, 6388 lowers by 60%, and 10k has a 75% lower risk. If you graph this, the steepest reduced risk happens around the 7500 mark. 

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This week we tackle YOUR questions about women's fitness, and fitness in general. We cover considerations for perimenopause and menopause (also check out the episode titled Menopause & HIIT: Science vs. Social Media claims), cycle syncing (surprise - don't spend money on "miracle" programs), lifting heavy and the effects on joints as we age, sleep and sleep debt, what it actually means to lift heavy, and how often to train vs. rest. 

Resources:
1-1 Virtual Training Application form
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Cheat Sheet - Downloadable PDF
Email newsletter subscribe 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Updates
03:48 Perimenopause/Menopause - does training need to change? 
6:50 Lifting Heavy and the effects on our joints as we age
9:18 Cycle Syncing 
15:41 Understanding Sleep Cycles and Sleep Debt
20:22 The Importance of Recovery in Fitness
26:44 How to figure out how heavy to lift? Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) 

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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This week, I’m joined by Suz Stein, a registered dietitian, former D1 athlete, and fitness instructor, to dive deep into the complex world of nutrition and fitness. Together, we explore all things nutrition related, from fueling your workouts with carbohydrates, optimal protein intake to build muscle, health beyond weight loss, and so much more.

Suz’s refreshing perspective will support your approach to nutrition—whether your goal is health, performance, or simply feeling your best.

Connect with Suz at [email protected] or on Nourish: https://signup.usenourish.com/providers/suz-stein

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Suz Stein: A Journey into Nutrition and Fitness

05:42 Understanding the Role of Registered Dietitians vs. Nutrition Coaches

11:02 The Ideal Diet: Balancing Nutrition and Enjoyment

16:04 The Impact of Morality on Dietary Choices

19:07 Common Mistakes in Dietary Overhauls and the Importance of Self-Compassion

25:38 The Importance of Realistic Goals

27:57 Body Image and Health Perception

31:10 The Impact of Comments on Body Image

32:59 Health Beyond Weight Loss

34:10 Small Changes for Big Impacts [American Institute for Cancer Research has further reading on nutrition choices]

38:33 Protein Intake and Muscle Gain

46:18 Fueling for Performance: Carbohydrates and Workouts

48:16 The Importance of Protein Timing

51:10 Navigating Protein Supplements: Myths and Realities [research study about banned substances in supplements]

57:48 Fat Loss vs. Muscle Gain: The Balancing Act

01:04:31 The Reality of Bodybuilding and Health

01:23:33 Where you can find Suz

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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📖 StrongHer Collective is on Substack! Access free articles about women's strength, or subscribe to get strength workouts that you can do at home or at the gym.

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A client recently told me her friend said women in menopause should skip HIIT and stick to lifting weights and zone 2 cardio. Ever heard that? My gut reaction was that lifting is essential, but there’s no blanket reason to avoid higher-intensity workouts. So I did some digging! 

🔬 Key Topics:

• What is menopause?
  Natural decline of estrogen and progesterone (plus some testosterone), typically starting with perimenopause and bringing symptoms like hot flashes, sleep issues, and mood changes.
• Why the anti-HIIT hype?
  Many influencers claim HIIT spikes cortisol, worsens belly fat, and causes burnout. But the research doesn’t always back this up.
• Stress sensitivity vs. cortisol:
  Postmenopausal women are more sensitive to stress (higher blood pressure reactions), but this doesn’t mean they have higher cortisol spikes compared to younger women. Here's the research supporting this.
• Cortisol & HIIT:
  Cortisol does rise during workouts—it’s your body’s way of mobilizing energy! But levels return to baseline (or even below) within 90 minutes after exercise. Here's the research that supports this. There's also meta analysis that suggests that people who exercise are less stressed than those who don't. 
• Body composition & HIIT:
  A 2020 study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that menopausal women who did HIIT (or HIIT + resistance training) lost more fat and gained muscle compared to moderate cardio alone. So no, HIIT isn’t off-limits!

✅ Takeaways & Tips:

• Prioritize sleep and nutrition—under-eating can elevate cortisol more than exercise!
• HIIT can be great for fat loss and fitness, but if you’re feeling wiped out, try cutting back to 2-3 HIIT sessions a week and focus on recovery.
• Remember: The best exercise is the one you enjoy and will stick to.

🔗 Related Episode:
Ep 07: Cortisol: The Hormone Influencers Love to Hate [Listen on Spotify] [Listen on Apple]

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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📖 StrongHer Collective is on Substack! Access free articles about women's strength, or subscribe to get strength workouts that you can do at home or at the gym.

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💪 Looking for 1-1 training support? Fill out Morganne's training application form, or learn more here.

You’ve heard the warnings—“HIIT spikes cortisol!” “Stop doing intense workouts or you’ll never lose weight!” In this episode, I’m diving into these claims to separate social media myths from science. What is HIIT, what is cortisol, and what do experts and peer-reviewed research actually say about the two? If you’ve ever felt confused about whether high-intensity training is helping or hurting your hormones, this one’s for you.

What We Cover in This Episode

• A definition of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
• What cortisol actually is and why we need it
• How cortisol naturally fluctuates during the day—and during exercise
• Common myths and claims from influencers (yes, we name a few)
• Why HIIT does temporarily raise cortisol—and why that’s not a bad thing
• The truth about under-eating, recovery, and chronically elevated cortisol
• Smart ways to listen to your body and optimize recovery

Key Takeaways
🔥 Cortisol is not your enemy—it's your body's way of mobilizing energy.
📈 Intense workouts temporarily raise cortisol, but levels return to normal (or below) within hours.
🥗 Chronic cortisol elevation is more often tied to under-eating, not just working out hard.
💡 Influencers oversimplifying this conversation are often leaving out science and context.
💪 Sleep, fuel, and variety in movement are your friends when it comes to hormone health.

Further Reading
What is Cortisol–and should you actually be worried about it? (published in National Geographic in 2024)

Cortisol Rises During Intense Workouts. Is that Really a Bad Thing? (published in National Geographic in 2025) 

"Acute effect of HIIT on testosterone and cortisol levels in healthy individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis" (Published in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports in 2021)

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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📖 StrongHer Collective is on Substack! Access free articles about women's strength, or subscribe to get strength workouts that you can do at home or at the gym.

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💪 Looking for 1-1 training support? Fill out Morganne's training application form, or learn more here.

Think your Apple Watch is telling you how many calories you’re really burning? In this episode of StrongHer Collective, we break down how energy expenditure is actually measured — and why your smartwatch might be giving you the wrong idea.

You’ll learn:
 ✅ What a calorie really is and where the concept came from
 ✅ How scientists measure calorie burn using indirect calorimetry
 ✅ How fitness trackers (like the Apple Watch and others) estimate energy expenditure
✅ Why smartwatches can drastically miscalculate calories burned — especially during strength training
✅ Why relying on your watch to guide how much you eat can backfire
✅ What to focus on instead if your goal is sustainable fat loss, strength, or weight maintenance

Whether you're lifting heavy, walking more, or just trying to better understand your body, this episode gives you science-backed insights and practical strategies to stop obsessing over your smartwatch and start trusting your progress.

Research: 

• 2017 Article from the Journal of Personalized Medicine "Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort"
• 1894 Farmer's Bulletin Publication by W.O. Atwater "Foods: Nutritive Value and Cost"

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro
1:35 What is a calorie?
1:55 Origin of the calorie applied to nutrition
4:58 How do scientists accurately measure energy expenditure (calories burned)? 
5:38 Indirect calorimetry
7:43 How do smartwatches actually estimate calories burned during exercise?
13:05 What specifically is your Apple Watch doing to estimate calories burned?
16:00 Are these systems accurate? (Spoiler: NO!)
18:42 Given that smartwatches are so poor at tracking calories, what should we do?!

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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📖 StrongHer Collective is on Substack! Access free articles about women's strength, or subscribe to get strength workouts that you can do at home or at the gym.

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Delve into the complexities of Body Mass Index (BMI), exploring its historical origins (all the way back to the 1830s!), practical applications, and significant limitations. Our discussion highlights how BMI, while a widely used metric for assessing body fatness, fails to account for individual differences in body composition, particularly among women and diverse populations. We emphasize the importance of understanding BMI's limitations and encourages listeners to advocate for more personalized health assessments.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Setup Challenges
01:08 Episode preview
02:12 What is BMI, exactly?
03:32 The Historical Context of BMI: Adolphe Quetelet
8:35 The Historical Context of BMI: Ancel Keys
12:10 Limitations of BMI 
14:14 Where will you encounter BMI?
17:58 What do we do about it?

Further reading:
2016 article from The Atlantic about Adolphe Quetelet
More on Ancel Keys (coined the term in 1972)
The History and Faults of the Body Mass Index (2023 article)

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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💪 Looking for 1-1 training support? Fill out Morganne's training application form, or learn more here.

In this episode, we dive into how our mindset shapes our strength. Using research psychologist Carol Dweck's theory of mindsets, we discuss fixed vs. growth mindsets and how that applies to us as women building strength. 

Timestamps: 

0:00 - Intro
1:07 - How parents impact our mindsets as children
2:25 - Self-theories can determine our success
2:47 - Carol Dweck and growth and fixed mindsets
5:31 - Trait-based praise. Mueller & Dweck (1998) article on this.
8:34 - How does growth and fixed mindset impact us as women cultivation our strength?
12:51 - Growth mindset tips for women lifting

If you want to go deeper into mindsets, start with Carol Dweck's book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" or watch her Ted Talk. 

📱 Connect with me on Instagram! I'm @strongher.collective.
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📖 StrongHer Collective is on Substack! Access free articles about women's strength, or subscribe to get strength workouts that you can do at home or at the gym.

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💪 Looking for 1-1 training support? Fill out Morganne's training application form, or learn more here.