Women's Performance Feisty Media

At Feisty Media, we are all about reclaiming language and turning it on its head. That's why we're proud to present our limited series, HORMONAL - Periods, Pills, and Pregnancy: How Women’s Hormones Impact Sports Performance.
This series is hosted by double-board certified Obstetrician and Reproductive Endocrinologist Dr. Carla DiGirolamo, who has been featured in Boston Magazine as one of "Boston's Best Doctors" every year since 2019.
Carla is joined by Feisty's own Selene Yeager, who has been hosting the Hit Play Not Pause podcast since 2020, and has conducted over 160 interviews with leading experts and top athletes in the perimenopause and menopause space. Combined with her background as a health and science journalist, Selene is great at reading the research and translating it into actionable steps for active women.
During these four episodes, you will learn what you need to know to work with your body's fluctuating hormones and perform your best.
Episode two discusses questions around hormonal birth control and IUDs, fertility treatments, and pregnancy, including:
What are hormonal contraceptives? How do they work? How do they impact what would be a "normal" cycle?How does Dr. DiGirolamo counsel women when it comes to hormonal contraceptives and exercise?Do hormonal contraceptives make it harder to identify Low Energy Availability and REDs?Do women need to stop exercising if they want to get pregnant? What about women who are undergoing fertility treatments? What are the special considerations there?
For everyone who is sick of the narrative that women's hormones are a curse, we are here for you. Together, we will learn how amazing it actually is to be hormonal.
Have a hormonal question for Dr. DiGirolamo and Selene? Leave a voicemail at https://www.speakpipe.com/Hormonal or DM us at https://www.instagram.com/feisty_womens_performance/
Listen to Episode 1
Research:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32666247/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK164632/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060104232338.htm
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33993156/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29283683/
https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/02/28/what-happens-female-athletes-pill-oral-contraceptives/
https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/hormonal-birth-control-athletic-performance-research/
a...

At Feisty Media, we are all about reclaiming language and turning it on its head. That's why we're proud to present our limited series, HORMONAL - Periods, Pills, and Pregnancy: How Women’s Hormones Impact Sports Performance.
This series is hosted by double-board certified Obstetrician and Reproductive Endocrinologist Dr. Carla DiGirolamo, who has been featured in Boston Magazine as one of "Boston's Best Doctors" every year since 2019.
Carla is joined by Feisty's own Selene Yeager, who has been hosting the Hit Play Not Pause podcast since 2020, and has conducted over 160 interviews with leading experts and top athletes in the perimenopause and menopause space. Combined with her background as a health and science journalist, Selene is great at reading the research and translating it into actionable steps for active women.
During these four episodes, you will learn what you need to know to work with your body's fluctuating hormones and perform your best.
Episode one covers all the basics about your hormones, including:
How our ovarian hormones impact sports performanceWhether you really need to sync your training routine with your menstrual cycleWhy some women are more or less sensitive to their monthly hormone fluctuationsWhat happens when your hormones start fluctuating in your 40s or flatten out in your 50s and beyond.How to know when and why you might need hormone testing
For everyone who is sick of the narrative that women's hormones are a curse, we are here for you. Together, we will learn how amazing it actually is to be hormonal.
Have a hormonal question for Dr. DiGirolamo and Selene? Leave a voicemail at https://www.speakpipe.com/Hormonal or DM us at https://www.instagram.com/feisty_womens_performance/
Register for the Feisty Summer STRONG Course: https://www.womensperformance.com/strong
Sign up to Receive The Feisty 40+ Newsletter:
https://www.feistymenopause.com/blog/Feisty-40-plus
Sign up to Receive The Feist Newsletter:
https://www.womensperformance.com/the-feist
Follow us on Instagram:
@feisty_womens_performance
Feisty Media Website:
https://livefeisty.com/
https://www.womensperformance.com/

Support our Partners:
Hettas: Use code FEISTY20 for 20% off at https://hettas.com/
MOTTIV: Get two months of full premium access with the code FEISTY at mymottiv.com
Lagoon Sleep: Go to LagoonSleep.com/performance and take the 2 minute sleep quiz to find your match, and then use the code PERFORMANCE for 15% off your first purchase

What happens when you leave a situation that is holding you back and you start betting on yourself? Anything becomes possible in the case of today’s guest, Vicki Anstey.
After 20 years in a relationship that limited and stifled her, this former advertising professional, turned fitness pioneer and award-winning entrepreneur, became (at age 41) one of the first ever women to participate in Channel 4’s ‘SAS Who Dares Wins’, reaching the final stages after 11 days in extreme conditions at an altitude of 3,000ft in Chile.
In 2021, she and two other women, the Girls Who Dare, set a new World Record for rowing unaided across the Pacific Ocean, confronting her fear of deep, open water to do so. It took 60 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes.
Her most recent endeavor was a five day race in one of the northernmost, remote parts of the world, The Arctic. She covered a distance of over 230km in temperatures of -35 degrees, carrying everything she needed to survive.
Up next? She and a team of three other women (Four the Record) are tackling the World’s Toughest Bike Race, the Race Across America (RAAM), covering 3,000 miles across 17 states in just 7 days. They are attempting to break the women’s world record in this event.
On paper, Vicki is an avid adventurer, but her biggest achievements are less about the adventures, and more about her self-discovery. In times of adversity and extreme difficulty, Vicki learned to tap into her self-reliance, trust, and emotional endurance.
Today, Vicki shares her personal story with Sara, including:
Her career changes and personal growth from advertising executive to entrepreneurHow she followed her gut instincts, which led to Vicki opening the first Barre studio in the UKThe personal and professional growth that stemmed from leaving her controlling relationshipHer transformation from “non-athlete” to extreme adventurerOvercoming her personal fears and adapting to challenges in all of her experiencesLessons learned from her personal and physical adversityHoning the skill of emotional endurance, which involves understanding, processing, and letting go of emotions, rather than just tolerating themDeveloping the muscles of self-reliance, mental toughness, and resilience, especially in times of turmoil and extreme personal difficulty What's next? Another World Record attempt at RAAM and how you can help
Vicki’s story is one of wild bravery and self-knowledge, but her true wisdom comes from her own internal journey and ability to understand her strengths, remain emotionally resilient, and overcome her fears. These are the skills that make her incredible achievements all the more inspirational.
Vicki Anstey Website
Vicki's Instagram
Four the Record RAAM Website
Four the Record Instagram
Register for the Feisty Summer STRONG Course: https://www.womensperformance.com/strong
Sign up to Receive The Feisty 40+ Newsletter:
https://www.feistymenopause.com/blog/Feisty-40-plus
Sign up to Receive The Feist Newsletter:
https://www.womensperformance.com/the-feist
Follow us on Instagram:
@feisty_womens_performance...

Are you feeling stress or anxiety about something right now? How are you holding your shoulders? Are you breathing through your nose or your mouth? Is your breath shallow or deep?
This week, Sara talks with Stephanie Green about the power of breathwork to alleviate anxiety and lift your mood. Stephanie is a Vancouver Islander who lives in Nanaimo. She is founder of OmTown Yoga Studio and is also an ultra runner and mountain biker, turned multi-day adventure racer.
Like so many guests, Stephanie learned how to overcome patriarchal notions that limit women's potential, and used her own knowledge, physical strength, and skill to propel her mental and emotional growth.
Sara and Stephanie discuss:
Gender dynamics in adventure racing and how women are often seen as "mandatory gear"Remaining open and curious to learning new skills, especially as an adventure racerHow motherhood prepared Stephanie for several races that required patience and sleep deprivationHow breathing deeply and efficiently can improve running form, economy, and overall athletic performance by connecting the diaphragm, pelvic floor, and coreNasal breathing vs. mouth breathing for better health and athletic performanceEmploying simple nasal breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and lift your mood throughout the dayUsing breathwork to manage fear and anxiety in racing and competition
So, breathe deep (through your nose), relax, and enjoy the episode.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram
Register for the Feisty Summer STRONG Course: https://www.womensperformance.com/strong
Sign up to Receive The Feisty 40+ Newsletter:
https://www.feistymenopause.com/blog/Feisty-40-plus
Sign up to Receive The Feist Newsletter:
https://www.womensperformance.com/the-feist
Follow us on Instagram:
@feisty_womens_performance
Feisty Media Website:
https://livefeisty.com/
https://www.womensperformance.com/

Support our Partners:
Hettas: Use code FEISTY20 for 20% off at https://hettas.com/
MOTTIV: Get two months of full premium access with the code FEISTY at mymottiv.com
Lagoon Sleep: Go to LagoonSleep.com/performance and take the 2 minute sleep quiz to find your match, and then use the code PERFORMANCE for 15% off your first purchase

45 Days, One hour and 27 minutes. 
That’s how long Nini Champion and Lisa Roland spent rowing non-stop in the Atlantic Ocean during the 2023 Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a 3,000 nm unassisted ocean row beginning in La Gomera, Spain and finishing in the Caribbean port of English Harbour, Antigua.
(For our non-maritime audience, that’s over 3452 land miles and 5555 kilometers!) 
In two-hour increments and through every curveball from Mother Nature imaginable, the ladies traded rowing, eating, and sleeping duties, all while setting a new world record for the women’s pair in this event. 
Sara chats with both Nini and Lisa today as they share details about their inspiration for this feat of endurance, their training regime, how they stayed alert and supportive of each other’s physical and mental needs. 
Yes, it’s extremely important to be physically strong, as they say, but these two women who both have impressive resumes in the sailing industry, also stress the importance of having a strong mindset and a mission-drive goal. 
Their mission? It’s a personal one, especially for Lisa. They raise money for their Bridges Over Water Program, providing scholarships for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system and want to pursue a career in the maritime industry. Lisa herself was a product of the foster care system and, at 15, experienced challenges with addiction and homelessness. Sailing saved her and she and Nini hope to provide the same safety net for others. 
Not only is this an inspiring (and also humorous) look at their race and expedition, it is also an example of two women succeeding together and elevating the possibilities in a male dominated industry — which is women’s performance at its best.
cover photo courtesy of World's Toughest Row
Team Ocean Grown Website
Bridges Over Water Grant Fund
Follow Team Ocean Grown on Instagram
Register for the Feisty Summer STRONG Course: https://www.womensperformance.com/strong
Sign up to Receive The Feisty 40+ Newsletter:
https://www.feistymenopause.com/blog/Feisty-40-plus
Sign up to Receive The Feist Newsletter:
https://www.womensperformance.com/the-feist
Follow us on Instagram:
@feisty_womens_performance
Feisty Media Website:
https://livefeisty.com/
https://www.womensperformance.com/

Support our Partners:
Hettas: Use code FEISTY20 for 20% off at https://hettas.com/
MOTTIV: Get two months of full premium access with the code FEISTY at mymottiv.com
Lagoon Sleep: Go to LagoonSleep.com/performance and take the 2 minute sleep quiz to find your match, and then use the code PERFORMANCE for 15% off your first purchase

Lindsay Housman was floored when she learned that women are considered “a confounding variable” when it comes to scientific and athletic research. That is to say that women are rarely researched because they are more “complicated.”
This is especially true in the athletic footwear industry where most research has been done exclusively on men and then applied to women as a “smaller version of men.”
Learning this was a lightbulb moment for this entrepreneur with two twin daughters (who also happen to run). Hettas, performance running shoes for women, was born. 
Truth be told, there are multiple differences between males and females in this area as it pertains to anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics and, today, Hettas is leading this charge in female specific research and design, thanks to their relationship with Dr. Chris Napier. Chris is a clinical assistant professor at the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia. He is also a member of the Minerva research group at Simon Fraser University. His research interests include running biomechanics and injury prevention, particularly through the use of wearable technology. 
Lindsay and Chris unpack their process from idea to full fledged running shoe. 
They discuss:
The many anatomical, physiological, and biomechanics differences between male and female athletes How hormonal changes in women could affect training and footwear choices The detailed research studies they conducted to determine what women actually needThe three shoe types and why they chose the specific materials and designThe power of building community and receiving feedback from female runnersTheir plan for growth and product expansionTheir dream research projects 
Not only are they providing a practical product to help women perform better, but Hetta’s is also mission driven to lead the way in women’s research, encourage female business leadership, and close the confidence gap between males and females in the athletic industry. 
And, according to Lindsay, Chris, and the entire Hetta’s team, there is no better way to serve young girls and women- especially their own daughters.