Home Podcasts BETTER! with Dr. Stephanie Estima | Strength, Body Composition & Perimenopause
BETTER! with Dr. Stephanie Estima | Strength, Body Composition & Perimenopause

BETTER! with Dr. Stephanie Estima | Strength, Body Composition & Perimenopause

Dr. Stephanie Estima, Perimenopause & Women's Fitness Expert 477 Episodes Sep 14, 2026

Most women are told that feeling exhausted, gaining weight, losing muscle, and watching their body change after 40 is just what happens. Dr. Stephanie Estima is here to tell you that's the wrong map. BETTER is the podcast for women in perimenopause and menopause who want to build real strength, understand their hormones, and take body composition seriously — without the diet culture nonsense and without the fear. Dr. Stephanie is a chiropractor, brain health expert, and one of the few voices in the menopause space who leads with fitness, muscle, and what your body is actually capable of. Each week she brings the world's leading researchers, clinicians, and practitioners into conversation — then translates the science into something you can use on Monday morning.

Episodes

The Physiology of Grief: What Loss Actually Does In Your Body with Mary-Frances O'Connor, PhD.
The Physiology of Grief: What Loss Actually Does In Your Body with Mary-Frances O'Connor, PhD. Sep 14, 2026 01:17:03 Falling in love triggers a specific hormonal cascade: oxytocin, dopamine, the whole cocktail that makes you feel like you can't think about anything else. What almost nobody talks about is that losing someone runs that same system in reverse. Mary-Frances O’Connor, director of the Grief, Loss, and Social Stress Lab, discusses how grief can be understood as a hormonal “withdrawal” from the bonding
How Nitric Oxide Controls Blood Flow, Energy & Hormone Function with Cathy Eason, MS, BCHN
How Nitric Oxide Controls Blood Flow, Energy & Hormone Function with Cathy Eason, MS, BCHN Sep 7, 2026 01:17:19 If you’ve got a cupboard full of supplements you bought with good intentions but never used, this episode is for you. Cathy Eason, Chief Science Officer at Berkeley Life, talks about nitric oxide, a molecule that affects almost every body system, including blood flow, blood pressure, digestion, energy production, and sexual arousal. She explains why nitric oxide production declines in your 30s and
Your Brain on AI: How to Build Your Memory Muscle Before You Borrow It with Jim Kwik
Your Brain on AI: How to Build Your Memory Muscle Before You Borrow It with Jim Kwik Aug 31, 2026 00:55:34 For over 30 years, Jim Kwik has coached Hollywood, professional athletes, political leaders, and Harvard University on how to learn faster and think sharper — and in this episode, he tackles the question sitting underneath so much of modern life: what happens to your mind muscle when every cognitive task gets handed off to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini? The good news: your brain, like your muscles, ad
Pilates Girls, You're Losing Bone. The Exercise Science of Building Bone After 40 with Prof Belinda Beck
Pilates Girls, You're Losing Bone. The Exercise Science of Building Bone After 40 with Prof Belinda Beck Aug 24, 2026 01:14:22 For decades, women with low bone density were told to take it easy; Professor Belinda Beck's research proved the opposite: high-intensity resistance and impact training safely rebuilds bone, even in women who had been told their bones were too fragile to lift heavy. Belinda covers the full arc of bone health, from how peak bone mass is set in the teenage years, to what actually happens to bone whe
Frozen Shoulder, Aching Hips & Just Aging: Midlife Joint Pain with Dr. Tom Walters
Frozen Shoulder, Aching Hips & Just Aging: Midlife Joint Pain with Dr. Tom Walters Aug 17, 2026 01:24:30 You did everything they told you. You rested it. You waited. And it still hurts. Here's the part no one explains: rest is often the reason it isn't getting better. Dr. Tom Walters is an orthopedic physical therapist, kinesiology professor, and founder of Rehab Science. Tom has spent over a decade teaching people that their bodies are adaptable, not fragile, and this conversation is a masterclass i
Spiritual Fitness: Letting Go vs. Giving Up with Danielle LaPorte
Spiritual Fitness: Letting Go vs. Giving Up with Danielle LaPorte Aug 10, 2026 01:22:17 We've been taught that healing is something you power through. Overcome the fear. Crush the goal. Cut the cord and move on. Danielle LaPorte says that's exactly why so many high-achieving women are still stuck in the same loops they swore they'd released; they were given the wrong instructions. In this episode, Dr. Stephanie (a self-described mechanist who wanted KPIs for her soul) gets Danielle t
Why Your Body Composition Isn't Changing (And It's Not What You Think)
Why Your Body Composition Isn't Changing (And It's Not What You Think) Aug 3, 2026 00:42:27 You’re training hard, tracking macros, getting enough protein, and sleeping eight hours a night, yet your body isn’t changing. In this solo episode, Dr. Stephanie explains that your body has been listening all along, but it’s been given the wrong instructions. She also breaks down weight loss and fat loss, explaining that the scale can’t tell you which one is happening. She explains muscle protein
Perimenopause & Autoimmunity Look Identical. Here's How to Tell the Difference with Mickey Trescott, MSc
Perimenopause & Autoimmunity Look Identical. Here's How to Tell the Difference with Mickey Trescott, MSc Jul 27, 2026 01:20:51 Is it perimenopause or autoimmunity? The symptoms are similar, and most women don’t ask. Mickey Trescott, founder of the Autoimmune Protocol movement, explains the overlap between hormonal changes and immune dysfunction in midlife. 🎤 EPISODE OVERVIEW: (00:00) Introduction — Is It Perimenopause or Autoimmunity? (01:17) Rapid Fire: Hashimoto's Personality, Worst Doctor Quote & More (05:00) You Ei
Is Muscle Soreness Progress?  Dial in Your Exercise Intensity & Recovery with Dani Coleman
Is Muscle Soreness Progress? Dial in Your Exercise Intensity & Recovery with Dani Coleman Jul 20, 2026 00:53:23 If you've ever judged a workout by how wrecked you felt the next day, this episode is going to reframe everything. Dani Coleman, VP of Training and Head Trainer at Pvolve and Jennifer Aniston's personal trainer since 2021, feels less like a podcast guest and more like a sister from another mister. Dani covers the cardio myth that kept a generation of women on the elliptical for hours, why "toned"
Don't Love the Stairmaster: Try Passive Cardio with Infrared Sauna with Connie Zack
Don't Love the Stairmaster: Try Passive Cardio with Infrared Sauna with Connie Zack Jul 13, 2026 01:08:12 If you've ever dismissed a sauna as a spa luxury, this episode will change your mind. In this episode, Connie Zack, co-founder of Sunlighten, breaks down how infrared light interacts with the body at the cellular level — and why it's genuinely different from just getting hot. Connie covers all four wavelengths, the SoloCarbon blood pressure trials, why deliberately exposing yourself to heat can ac
Look. Feel. Perform. Why Muscle Is the Answer to All Three After 40 with Andy Galpin, PhD
Look. Feel. Perform. Why Muscle Is the Answer to All Three After 40 with Andy Galpin, PhD Jul 6, 2026 01:06:46 If you've ever felt like your body stopped cooperating in your 40s — the recovery that takes days instead of hours, the muscle that seems to disappear no matter what you do, the fitness advice that just doesn't land anymore — this conversation is your explanation. Dr. Stephanie and Dr. Andy Galpin cover why fast-twitch muscle fiber loss is the real aging problem nobody's talking about, what perime
HRT Can’t Fix Your Ligaments: The Diabolical Role of Estrogen on Connective Tissue
HRT Can’t Fix Your Ligaments: The Diabolical Role of Estrogen on Connective Tissue Jun 29, 2026 00:52:19 You've been training consistently for years. You know your way around a gym. And then, out of nowhere, a shoulder gives out on a weight you've pressed a thousand times. Or your knees start complaining on the stairs. Or your hips talk back on leg day — and nobody can find anything wrong on imaging. This isn't aging. This isn't bad form. This is what happens when one system gets all the attention, a

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