The Truth About Cycle Syncing, Hormones, and Women’s Performance with Dr. Victoria Felkar
Optimal Protein Podcast with Vanessa Spina
Vanessa Spina
4.5 • 758 Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2025
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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In this episode of the Optimal Protein Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Victoria Felkar, a leading expert in women’s health, endocrinology, and performance. Victoria’s work challenges common myths and misconceptions surrounding women’s health — from hormone fluctuations to muscle growth and strength training.
In this episode, we discuss:
✅ Why the belief that women and men are vastly different in muscle growth and strength isn’t as clear-cut as you might think
✅ Misconceptions about cycle syncing and whether tailoring training to the menstrual cycle is backed by solid science
✅ Why overly simplified messages about hormones and female health can do more harm than good
✅ The dangers of focusing solely on estradiol in peri- and post-menopause and why this narrow focus is bad science
✅ Why isolating health into distinct processes — like sleep, nutrition, or hormones — overlooks the interconnectedness between these factors
Victoria’s insights will empower you to better understand the complexities of female physiology and take a science-backed approach to improving your health, performance, and body composition.
Episode Highlights:
🧠 Common misconceptions about women’s health and performance — and what the science really says
💪 Are women and men really that different when it comes to building strength and muscle?
🔍 Why oversimplifying menstrual cycle training strategies can mislead women
🔥 The surprising truth about hormonal influences in peri- and post-menopause
🌐 Why sleep, nutrition, and hormones shouldn’t be treated in isolation — and how interconnected these systems really are
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Connect with Victoria Felkar:
🔗 Website
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Optimal Protein Podcast. I'm Vanessa Spina. |
| 0:05.4 | Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host, Vanessa, and I am so excited for today's episode. |
| 0:12.5 | We are joined by Dr. Victoria Falkar. She is a leading expert in the research and ongoing research into women's health, endocrinology, and the |
| 0:23.7 | science of performance. Her research dives deep into the unique physiological differences |
| 0:29.0 | in women when it comes to muscle growth, fat loss, and hormonal health. I truly enjoyed this |
| 0:36.0 | far-reaching conversation about women's health, |
| 0:39.9 | women's performance, muscle growth, body composition, and fat loss, and all about her ongoing |
| 0:47.4 | research, bridging the gap between academia and real-world applications in bodybuilding |
| 0:53.5 | and improving metabolic health and body composition. |
| 0:57.5 | So I absolutely love getting to speak to incredible scientific researchers like Dr. Falkar |
| 1:03.4 | and her important work and research that is ongoing. |
| 1:07.6 | So we talk so much about the impact of muscle growth and the importance of strength |
| 1:14.2 | conditioning for women and the research that she has been doing on the impact of training and |
| 1:21.2 | muscle health on longevity in women. So I know you're going to get a ton from this conversation |
| 1:27.4 | and I can't wait |
| 1:28.3 | to hear any insights or takeaways that you have from the episode today. As always, be sure to |
| 1:33.4 | share any highlights or takeaways in our podcast group, which is the optimal protein podcast on |
| 1:38.8 | Facebook. And I would absolutely love to hear from you and any insights or takeaways that you had also on social media. |
| 1:47.0 | If you want to share where you're tuning in from, what you're doing as you're listening. |
| 1:51.5 | I always love hearing from you all so much in your stories or seeing what you're up to as you're listening. |
| 1:57.1 | It just makes my whole day. |
| 1:59.0 | So we will jump right into today's episode with Dr. |
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