Womens Fitness & Hormone Expert | Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple

To find Dr. Lauren: https://www.instagram.com/drlaurencs1/?hl=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlaurencs/ https://www.instagram.com/massresearchreview/?hl=en Overview of My Conversation with Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple We had a really thoughtful conversation centered less on specific training prescriptions and more on the philosophy of women’s fitness and how women make decisions about training. Key themes: • Women’s hormones and training: We discussed the current conversation around female hormones and exercise and the importance of separating evidence from marketing and oversimplification. While hormonal fluctuations can matter in certain contexts, the impact is often overstated in mainstream fitness messaging. • What actually works for women: The conversation emphasized that foundational training principles still matter most: progressive overload, recovery, consistency, nutrition, adequate energy intake, and individualized programming over chasing “female specific hacks.” • Helpful vs. unhelpful research: We talked about where exercise research for women has historically fallen short and how interpretation can become distorted. There was discussion around being cautious of conclusions drawn from limited studies, overgeneralized cycle phase recommendations, and protocol driven content that lacks real world applicability. • How women should think about training: Rather than constantly adjusting training based on hormones alone, women may benefit from focusing on long term adaptation, building body awareness, and creating flexible systems that allow for performance, recovery, and sustainability. • Fitness philosophy over protocols: A major takeaway was shifting attention away from searching for the perfect protocol and toward understanding principles. The discussion encouraged women to think critically, question absolutes, and avoid unnecessary complexity. For specific training protocols and deeper dives into implementation, listen to her appearances on Huberman Lab and her own podcast content where she breaks down the evidence in more detail.