Understanding the Female Edge 

Here are Women’s key physiological differences

• Body composition - Women have a natural edge in endurance-based activities due to a greater proportion of mitochondria-dense, type I muscle fibers. They also have higher (subcutaneous) body fat percentage, smaller hearts (higher resting HR), lower hemoglobin & red blood counts, and smaller lungs & oxygen diffusion capacity. 
• Energy metabolism - Women tend to rely more on fat oxidation for energy and have lower glycogen storage capacity, resulting in higher circulating glucose levels. They also exhibit enhanced heat tolerance due to unique thermoregulation (brown fat).
• Hormonal cycle - Adult women experience monthly hormonal fluctuations, influencing various aspects of health and wellbeing. During the first half of the 28-day cycle (Follicular phase), estrogen levels gradually rise, while the second half (Luteal phase) is marked by a dominance of progesterone.
• Circadian rhythm - Women’s morning cortisol spikes are more significant and sensitive to feeding.

The following sections explore how women can claim their edge in tailoring popular wellness trends to suit their unique physiology.

Fitness Racing

From Hyrox to the resurgence of Olympic lifting, strength and power events are taking center stage. 

Women can maximize performance in such events by focusing on high-intensity, explosive workouts that elicit sufficient muscle and bone adaptation without excessively spiking cortisol. Using minimal rest between sets, women can leverage their superior endurance-recovery capacity. Prioritizing lower-body training – where muscle growth potential is greatest – with compound movements like deadlifts, squats, and lunges also helps prevent injury of the knee and hip, areas where women are particularly prone to strain.

Rethinking Contrast Therapy

Contrast therapy is more popular than ever, but should women address the trends differently?

Women should choose milder water temperature, avoid excessive discomfort and still reap recovery benefits. Women do not usually report feeling of increased self-control and alertness, as most men adepts do, making their entire cold plunging experience less enjoyable. 

Heat-based modalities like saunas leverage women’s greater heat tolerance and sweat response.

From Restless to Restorative Sleep

The quest for restorative sleep is undeniable, but women must evaluate their sleep quality through the lens of the hormonal cycle. Sleep quality can be at its best mid-cycle and at its worst at the end of menstrual cycle (and during menopause). During this period, more restlessness – a potential sign of hormonal imbalance and iron deficiency – and nocturnal awakening can be experienced, reducing deep restorative sleep. 

In those moments, women should optimize sleep hygiene, prioritizing naps and perform deep breathing & meditation for parasympathetic activation.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting has gained attention as a strategy to manage insulin and glucose spikes in support of maintaining weight. But how does this approach align with women’s physiology?

Unlike men, women do not respond optimally to extended periods of fast therefore, women should limit fasting to overnight periods (i.e., 12 hours), and break the fast within 30 minutes of waking. This will blunt excessive morning cortisol spikes and help regulate blood glucose.

Women are also more vulnerable to negative energy balance, particularly during demanding training blocks, and should ensure adequate protein & caloric intake within a 45-minute post-exercise re-feeding window.

Perimenopause - Rewriting the Longevity Playbook

Like everyone, middle age women seek to preserve health and delay illnesses. But as women enter perimenopause – marked by a sharp decline in estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone – they need to address healthspan on their own terms.

The hormonal shift experienced during perimenopause accelerates aging, and increases the risk of heart diseases, osteoporosis, and autoimmune & neurodegenerative disorders – diseases from which women were protected during their early lives.

Testosterone - a role beyond sexual health. Women have small but non-negligeable levels of testosterone, which should be monitored and maintained, especially in aging. 

Testosterone receptors in the heart, brain, muscles, and bones; and the natural rise of testosterone during women’s 70s suggest its influence extends beyond sexual health. Low-dose testosterone therapy can support energy, mood, cognitive function, and muscle mass.

The loss of muscle mass and accumulation of visceral fat that coincide with reduced testosterone levels put aging women at risk of frailty and sarcopenia. Hormonal health platforms should take notice—testosterone could be a game changer for women across all stages of life.

To support healthspan, women in perimenopause should :

• Emphasize high-intensity, plyometrics, and heavy lifting to mitigate bone (and muscle) density loss. The key is quality or volume.
• Embrace sauna and heat therapy to counterbalance hormonal shifts and lessen hot-flashes (heat acclimation).
• Increase protein intake, and pre- & probiotics to support gut bacterial diversity and metabolic health.
• While not a silver bullet, Hormone replacement therapy can be effectively combined with lifestyle interventions.

FemTech: Mind the Gap

As FemTech advances at an unprecedented pace, women are finally gaining access to tools designed specifically for them, rather than scaled-down versions of men’s solutions. 

The real breakthrough lies in how women can harness emerging technologies – not only to bridge the women’s health and wellness gap but also to transform theoretical knowledge into practical application.

What’s emerging

• Wearables devices like Evie ring are being designed with women’s needs in mind, while Whoop or Oura are increasing incorporating women-specific metrics. 
• Hormonal health platform like Hormona and Eli.health are increasingly catering to women, not solely for fertility purposes, but with general health and wellbeing in mind. 
• Women inside - Digital health and API providers like Wild.ai and RYA health are training AI-models specifically aimed at optimizing women’s training and wellness.
• Symptoms relief - Tools like Embr against hot flashes or devices for menstrual pain are becoming widely accessible. 

The narrative around women’s health and fitness is evolving

Mindsets are changing – and technological innovations to support the shift are catching up.

Women don’t need to fit in trends designed for men – they can make those trends work for them and turn their differences into a powerful advantage.

Ready to rewrite the narrative ?