Women’s Fitness Expert: What You NEED To Know About Dieting & Exercise | Dr. Stephanie Estima

1. Shift Focus from Losing to Gaining

Concentrate on gaining muscle, bone density, and connective tissue capacity rather than solely pursuing weight loss or smaller dress sizes, which can have detrimental long-term health consequences.

2. Prioritize Strength Training Regularly

Engage in strength training 3-4 days a week, alternating upper and lower body, to build muscle, improve bone density, and enhance body composition, aiming for about 10 sets per muscle group per week.

3. Train Muscles to Near Failure

When lifting weights, push your muscles close to failure (1-3 repetitions from being unable to complete another rep) to effectively stimulate muscle growth and strength gains.

4. Adopt a Wider Squat Stance

For women, a slightly wider stance with toes turned out can be more comfortable and allow for a greater range of motion during squats, accommodating the natural anatomical differences of the female pelvis.

5. Strengthen Hip Stabilizer Muscles

Focus on exercises that strengthen the glutes, particularly the glute medius, to help control inward knee movement during squats and lunges, reducing the risk of ligamentous injuries like ACL tears.

6. Incorporate Sprinting into Routine

Sprint regularly to increase your VO2 max (how much oxygen your body can use) and maintain cardiovascular capacity, as this capacity declines significantly if not actively trained.

7. Practice Deceleration Training

Include exercises that involve coming to a stop and changing direction to improve mobility, prevent falls, and train tendons and ligaments to absorb kinetic energy effectively.

8. Perform the X Plank Exercise

Execute the X plank (a side plank with the top leg lifted) to test and build stability and mobility in the hips, core, and shoulders, progressing from knee-supported to full extension.

9. Practice Getting Up Unassisted

Regularly practice standing up from a cross-legged seated position without using your hands to improve overall leg and core strength, balance, and reduce the risk of falls as you age.

10. Connect with Your Pelvic Floor

For women, especially post-childbirth, perform Kegels (contracting and relaxing pelvic floor muscles) to strengthen a weak pelvic floor, or consult a pelvic floor physiotherapist if issues persist.

11. Prioritize Sleep for Recovery

Make sleep your number one recovery priority, as it is crucial for muscle growth, hormone production (like growth hormone), and brain detoxification.

12. Bias Eccentric Training for Tendons

When lifting weights, emphasize the eccentric (stretching) portion of the lift to encourage tendons and ligaments to become stronger and increase their tensile strength.

13. Heal Relationship with Carbs

Understand that carbohydrates are essential for mood, sleep, and gym performance; while temporary restriction can be beneficial for certain metabolic conditions, long-term avoidance is often unnecessary and can be detrimental to health.

14. Increase Daily Movement for Fat Loss

To reduce overall body fat, focus on increasing daily movement and exercise (calories out) rather than relying on severe caloric restriction, which is often difficult to sustain and can negatively impact hormones.

15. Don’t Fear Heavy Weights

Women should not be afraid of lifting heavy weights or engaging in progressive overload, as the vast majority lack the hormonal environment to ‘bulk up’ like bodybuilders.

16. Avoid Long Fasts

Women should avoid prolonged fasts (20+ hours) as the female body is more sensitive to nutrient availability and may interpret extended fasting as famine, potentially disrupting the menstrual cycle and hormone balance.

17. Fuel Before Workouts (If Possible)

Ideally, consume a small amount of protein and carbohydrates before training to raise blood sugar and provide available fuel for your workout, if personal constraints allow.

18. Consume Sufficient Daily Protein

Ensure adequate total protein intake over the course of the day, primarily from whole foods, as overall daily intake is more critical for muscle building than immediate post-workout timing.

19. Use Habit Stacking for Supplements

Improve adherence to supplement routines by placing them next to existing daily habits, such as keeping magnesium by your salt and pepper at lunchtime or omega-3s in the fridge by your fruit.

20. Consider Foundational Supplements

For general women’s health, consider supplementing with magnesium glycinate, omega-3s (stored in the fridge), and Vitamin D3 with K2 daily.

21. Take Creatine Daily

Women should consider taking 3-5 grams of creatine daily to enhance performance, strength, and muscle fullness, especially when combined with resistance training.

22. Consider Higher Creatine for Cognition

For perimenopausal women experiencing poor sleep, a higher dose of creatine (e.g., 10 grams) may help improve cognition, awareness, and alertness by crossing the blood-brain barrier more effectively.

23. Supplement with Collagen

Take 10-15 grams of hydrolyzed Type 1, 2, and 3 collagen daily to support joints, tendons, ligaments, fascia, skin, hair, and nails, recognizing its value beyond muscle protein synthesis.

24. Include Vitamin C with Collagen

Take Vitamin C alongside collagen to enhance its absorption and benefit from its general antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

25. Incorporate Jump Training

Engage in jump training or plyometrics, even simple hops or isometric holds, to strengthen bones and knees and maintain the ability to jump as you age, counteracting the ‘use it or lose it’ principle.

26. Don’t Rely Solely on Pilates

While Pilates is beneficial for muscle endurance, pelvic floor health, and posture, it is generally not sufficient on its own for building significant muscle mass, bone density, or overall load capacity needed for long-term health.