Women Are Not Small Men! Why Fitness Advice Is Failing Half the Population | Dr. Stacy Sims

The Dr. Hyman Show

Dr. Mark Hyman

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Nutrition

4.5 • 9.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2026

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Most health and fitness advice for women is based on research done in men. That’s something we need to rethink. On this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show, I sit down with Dr. Stacy Sims, an exercise physiologist and leading researcher in women’s health. Her work has focused on how female physiology actually changes over time—and how training and nutrition need to change with it. Watch the full conversation on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. We explore: • Why eating less and doing more cardio can make fat loss harder • What actually changes in your metabolism in your 30s and 40s • How to train for strength—and why it matters for long-term health • Why most workouts aren’t building muscle (and what to do instead) • How to eat and time protein to support recovery, energy, and better sleep A lot of the advice women have been given doesn’t account for how the body actually changes. Adjusting how you train and eat can make a meaningful difference in your energy, strength, and long-term health. If you’re interested in learning more, Dr. Stacy Sims is offering my listeners 15% off her online courses with the code DRSTACYSIMS15OFF. View Show Notes From This Episode Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman https://drhyman.com/pages/picks?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Sign Up for Dr. Hyman’s Weekly Longevity Journal https://drhyman.com/pages/longevity?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Health https://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Join the Hyman Hive for Expert Support and Real Results https://drhyman.com/pages/hyman-hive This episode is brought to you by Rho, Pique, Perfect Amino, Sunlighten, Korrus and Made In Cookware. Head over to rhonutrition.com and use code HYMAN to get 20% off their entire product line. Secure 20% off your order plus a free starter kit at piquelife.com/hyman. Go to bodyhealth.com and use code HYMAN20 to get 20% off your first order. Visit sunlighten.com and use code HYMAN to save up to $1600 today! Visit korrus.com/drhyman for 15% off their newest product OIO Sphere with code HYMANSPHERE15. Visit madeincookware.com and use code HYMAN10 for 10% off your order (0:00) Women’s unique health needs, fitness, and nutrition mistakes (0:56) Introduction of Dr. Stacy Sims (3:34) Women’s health and fitness through life stages (5:39) Navigating diet, exercise, and cognitive health for women (24:00) Benefits and misconceptions of heavy weight lifting for women (30:55) Understanding anovulatory cycles and high intensity interval training (HIIT) (35:47) Reducing inflammation and proper high intensity exercise (39:11) How to properly perform HIIT (46:06) Overcoming gym intimidation and starting strength training (50:12) Importance of community, support, and lifestyle on longevity (55:01) Optimizing nutrition: circadian rhythm, time-restricted eating, and protein (1:02:44) Post-exercise nutrition and fasted vs fed workouts (1:08:01) Common nutrition mistakes for women (1:12:17) Scheduling self-care and wellness meetings (1:13:43) Quick fire questions on women’s health and fitness (1:17:40) Benefits of creatine and favorite workout snacks (1:18:23) Morning vs evening workouts and advice for younger self (1:19:28) Where to learn more about Dr. Stacy Sims and Collective X Health (1:20:20) Closing remarks, sharing, and social media (1:21:15) Disclaimer, importance of healthcare practitioners, and sponsor gratitude

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if brain fog, anxiety, and mood swings aren't simply all in your head?
0:04.7	What if the health of your mind actually starts deeper in your body, in your gut,
0:09.7	and your hormones, metabolism, and your immune system?
0:12.3	Well, let me tell you, the connection is real, and it affects how you think and you feel
0:16.4	every single day.
0:17.3	And that's why I created Brain Shaping Academy, a six-week program that shows you how
0:22.1	healing your body can help you heal your mind. Brain Shaping Academy relies on the same targeted
0:27.6	nutrition and lifestyle strategies that I've used for 30 years to help my patients improve their
0:31.9	mental, emotional, and cognitive health. So if you want to feel calmer, clear, and more in control,
0:37.4	and stay sharp and
0:38.3	protect your brain as you age, check out Brain Shaping Academy at Dr.hyman.com for slash brain shaping.
0:45.0	That's Dr.hyman.com or slash brain shaping. We have a culture that actually has ignored women
0:50.6	in the research field. You have this great line, which is women are not small men.
0:55.6	What the hell does that mean? But we're told that we just need to do what the men are doing,
0:59.3	but we're still not getting the same gains that the men are. Almost all the stuff you know
1:03.5	with exercise and nutrition has been based on male data and generalized to women.
1:08.1	What are the nutrition mistakes that women are making mostly now?
1:10.6	They're listening to all the fat diets, and they're listening to the rhetoric that's on social media
1:15.2	and they're not really paying attention to, okay, who am I? How do I respond? When am I hungry? You're
1:21.6	not going crazy. You're just being compared against the wrong baseline. We need to stop the rhetoric of
1:26.3	old as frail. What you're basically saying is that by
1:28.7	lifting heavy weights for women, it slows down Alzheimer's risk. The very first thing I tell every
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