Episode 36A - Discussion with Stacy Sims PhD – scientist, author, former professional cyclist

Timeline
00:00 – About Stacy Sims PhD – scientist, author, former collegiate rower, endurance athlete extraordinaire (former professional cyclist).
3:36 – How Dr. Sims visualized and actualized the ISSN’s Position Paper, Full article: International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutritional concerns of the female athlete (tandfonline.com).
5:24 – Women are not small men – there are clear sex differences starting at the beginning of life as explained by Dr. Sims
7:10 – That annoying term, “metabolic flexibility.” Well, you wouldn’t be alive if you weren’t metabolically flexible.
8:57 - Perimenopause and Menopause period – hormonal changes during this time – how does this affect a female athlete’s training. Why do women gravitate towards the ultra-long distance events?
15:33 – Dr. Sims recommends that women do more sprint interval training, more high intensity interval training (HIIT)
16:10 – the “typical” male endurance training program of 80% LSD (long slow distance) and 20% HIIT or SIT doesn’t apply to women; instead, focus on intensity and less so on LSD.
19:25 – Dr. Sim’s loves plyos! We all need to do more of this; it complements resistance training.
24:06 - How much strength do women lose each decade; how do you convince women that lifting weights won’t make you large?
24:23 – Women, you have two choices when you are 80 years old; do you want to live in assisted living or be a fully independent person?
29:30 – Some adaptogens that Dr. Sims loves for women – ashwagandha, maca, rhodiola, and schisandra
33:14 - Other more “traditional” supplements – iron, calcium, anti-oxidants (no!), creatine, caffeine, etc. Supps women should take!
36:00 – Just taking calcium won’t help bone mineral density!
36:45 – Don’t take anti-oxidant supplements! Not good.
38:21 - Creatine and caffeine – Women should ALL take CREATINE dangit!!
41:33 - Gut health – what are the benefits of having a healthy gut microbiome – what can we do to insure our gut health?
44:25 – American grocery stores are full of shit food! No wonder Americans are so unhealthy; 3 out of every 4 Americans are fat.
47:10 – Stacy’s training from high school until now. She was a x-country runner, rower (Purdue University), triathlons (iron man), cycling, xterra racing; she loves gravel racing too!

Our guest:
STACY T. SIMS, MSC, PHD, is a forward-thinking international exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who aims to revolutionize exercise nutrition and performance for women.
She has directed research programs at Stanford, AUT University, and the University of Waikato, focusing on female athlete health and performance and pushing the dogma to improve research on all women.
With the unique opportunities, Silicon Valley has to offer, during her tenure at Stanford, she had the opportunity to translate earlier research into consumer products and a science-based layperson's book (ROAR) written to explain sex differences in training and nutrition across the lifespan. Both the consumer products and the book challenged the existing dogma for women in exercise, nutrition, and health. This paradigm shift is the focus of her famous "Women Are Not Small Men” TEDx talk.
Her contributions to the international research environment and the sports nutrition industry has established a new niche in sports nutrition; and established her reputation as the expert in sex differences in training, nutrition, and health. As a direct result, she has been named:
• One of the top 50 visionaries of the running industry (2015) by DMSE Sports.
• One of the top 40 women changing the paradigm of her field (2017) by Outside Magazine.
• One of the top four visionaries in the outdoor sports industry (2017) by Outside Magazine - Genius Issue (no electronic version but here is the proof).
• One of the top four individuals changing the landscape in triathlon nutrition (2017) by Triathlete Magazine
Dr. Sims has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers, several books and is a regularly featured speaker at professional and academic conferences, including those by USOC and USA Cycling.
Stacy currently holds a Senior Research Associate position with SPRINZ- AUT University, supervises PhD students, writes academic papers, and is on the advisory board of some cutting edge companies including Tonal Strength Institute, WILD.AI, and EXOS. She also has her own business (www.drstacysims.com) where she creates and delivers online learning material focused on women training with their physiology across the lifespan.
She currently resides at the beach in Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand with her husband and young daughter.