046 Amy Stephens - How Hormones Impact Our Running

Episode Summary

Amy Stephens is a registered dietitian, certified specialist in sports nutrition, blogger, runner and food coach. She has over twenty years of experience working with amateur and high-performing Olympic level athletes to achieve their sports performance goals using the latest science- backed approaches. Today, Whitney and Amy discuss how running affects our hormones and how our hormones affect our running. Amy delves deep into the signs you should look for that may signal that you have an imbalance and strategies to keep hormones balanced through training, recovery, and how you eat.

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Key Takeaways

01:04 – Whitney Heins welcomes Amy Stephens to the show who shares her expertise as a registered sports dietician and the impact hormones have on running

08:50 – Signs to look out for when monitoring your hormones and stress level

17:15 – Low estrogen and low testosterone

19:25 – The importance of diet and nutrition

29:24 – Next steps for those experiencing a hormonal imbalance

37:26 – Whitney and Amy both open up about their shared experience with hormones, having children, and how it impacted their running

42:37 – Whitney thanks Amy for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“What does it mean to balance hormones? What does this all mean? Why is this important? Hormones kinda control everything in our bodies. They regulate all of our functions such as the menstrual cycle, bone growth, heart rate, muscle growth and repair, digestion, temperature, blood sugar, mood. They control everything.” (07:19) (Amy)

“Exercise is great, but too much or maybe not recovering well can definitely impact performance. So, you asked about signs or how to know when your body is not recovered. So let’s start there. There’s some signs that are very clear that I usually ask someone. Do they feel rested? Sometimes people can say, ‘No, I feel tired all the time. I don’t feel like I’m recovering from the workouts.’ Another big sign is there’s no appetite. If you don’t have an appetite, it means those stress hormones might still be circulating.” (10:59) (Amy)

“There are some initial studies, Adam Tenforde out of Boston has some great studies that show that low testosterone can have a similar impact on men, meaning that the bone reformation after a workout can be altered with low testosterone.” (18:41) (Amy)

“Also, it’s about getting used to trying different foods. See what works for you so you know on race day what your body feels good with and what maybe it doesn’t.” (28:54) (Amy)

“Carbs are not bad. They provide energy and help us to feel better. And that’s part of a healthy diet.” (31:35) (Amy)

“Cortisol levels can be helpful, but again if you just worked out or if you’re feeling stressed at that moment, that cortisol is going to be high. The same goes for insulin. Insulin levels are high after a meal. That’s normal.” (35:53) (Amy)