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

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

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

By: Dr. Stephanie Estima Perimenopause & Women's Fitness Expert
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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. Topics include strength training in perimenopause, body composition after 40, HRT and hormonal health, bone density, metabolic health, injury prevention, sleep, nutrition, and the kind of training that actually works when your body is changing. This is not a podcast about surviving menopause. It's about building the strongest, most capable version of yourself — at the exact moment most women are told to expect less.2019 - 2026 All Rights Reserved Alternative & Complementary Medicine Exercise & Fitness Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • 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

    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, and another one runs out of runway.

    In this solo episode, Dr. Stephanie introduces the JTL — joints, tendons, and ligaments — the connective tissue system that holds your entire muscular strength together, operates on a completely different adaptation timeline than muscle, and has been systematically ignored by decades of fitness programming aimed at women.

    🎤 Episode Overview:
    (0:00) Intro/Teaser
    (1:30) Ligaments 101
    (3:10) The JTL: joints, tendons, and ligaments
    (18:50) The biology of connective tissue
    (30:00) Hypermobility: when flexibility is a symptom
    (32:30) How to train if you're hypermobile
    (42:00) The estrogen paradox
    (49:15) How to load your JTL: actionable training tips
    (57:15) Action steps for better JTL

    ⚡️ Watch Dr. Stephanie on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast - https://youtu.be/HwVn3WMv5oI?si=UFaHJG3CMEKjGZhQ

    📎 Resources mentioned in this episode: https://drstephanieestima.com/podcasts/ep475

    🎁 We couldn’t do it without our sponsors:

    YOUNG GOOSE - Skin aging isn't defined by wrinkles. It's defined by skin quality. Head over to https://drstephanieestima.com/younggoose and use code BETTER for a deal on your first purchase.

    TIMELINE - Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now available at a new, lower price when you go to https://timelinenutrition.com/better with code BETTER.

    BIOPTIMIZERS - Your digestion can take a hit in midlife, but you don't have to suffer. Learn how enzymes can help at https://bioptimizers.com/better and use code BETTER to save.

    QUALIA NAD+ - Boost energy, DNA health, and cellular protection. Get a special deal at https://qualialife.com/better with code BETTER.

    ****************************
    P.S. When you're ready, here are two ways Dr. Stephanie can help you:

    Subscribe: The Mini Pause — My weekly newsletter packed with the most actionable, evidence-based tools for women 40+ to thrive in midlife.

    Build Muscle: LIFT — My progressive strength training program designed for women in midlife. Form-focused, joint-friendly, and built for real results.


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    52 mins
  • Stop Trying to Feel Better — Get Better at Feeling: Heal Anxiety from the Body Up with Dr. Russell Kennedy

    Stop Trying to Feel Better — Get Better at Feeling: Heal Anxiety from the Body Up with Dr. Russell Kennedy
    Jun 22 2026

    If you've tried therapy, medication, journaling, and every mindset tool available — and you're still anxious — this episode is for you. Dr. Russell Kennedy, physician, neuroscientist, and certified trauma therapist, makes the case that anxiety doesn't start in your mind. It starts in your body, as a physiological alarm that's likely been there since childhood. And until you address the alarm directly, you're only ever managing symptoms.

    Dr. Kennedy explores why perimenopause turns up the volume on anxiety that felt manageable before, why overachievement is just another way of outrunning the alarm, and what you can actually do — today — to start healing from the body up. Fair warning: Dr. Kennedy takes Dr. Stephanie through a live exercise to find her body alarm. There were tears in the production room.

    🎤 Episode Overview
    (0:00) Intro/Teaser
    (1:30) Stand-Up Comedy, Mother's Death, and What Anxiety Is
    (08:28) Why We're So Anxious in a World That's Never Been Safer
    (12:51) Alarm vs. Anxiety: The Distinction That Finally Makes Sense of It All
    (26:00) JABS, the Default Mode Network, and Overachievement
    (46:00) Perimenopause and SSRIs
    (53:00) Live Exercise: Finding the Alarm in Your Body (Baby Steffi)
    (01:06:00) How to Start Feeling Your Feelings Without Blowing the Lid Off Pandora's Box
    (01:11:39) Three Beach Balls and No Progesterone
    (01:17:00) The After-Party with Dr. Stephanie

    📎 Resources mentioned in this episode: https://drstephanieestima.com/podcasts/ep474

    🎁 We couldn’t do it without our sponsors:

    OXFORD HEALTHSPAN PRIMEADINE - A whole-food spermidine supplement that supports cell renewal and healthy aging. Save at https://OxfordHealthspan.com/DrStephanie with code DrStephanie.

    ONESKIN - With age, skin becomes thinner, produces less collagen, proliferates at a slower rate, and accumulates damage. Fight back at https://oneskin.co/better with code BETTER.

    JUST THRIVE HEALTH - Take the Just Thrive FEEL BETTER challenge today, and save on your first order. Go to https://justthrivehealth.com/better and use the code BETTER to see the difference for yourself.

    AGZ - If you’re ready to turn down the stress and focus on the rest, head to https://drinkag1.com/STEPHANIE to get a special offer.

    ****************************
    P.S. When you're ready, here are two ways Dr. Stephanie can help you:

    Subscribe: The Mini Pause — My weekly newsletter packed with the most actionable, evidence-based tools for women 40+ to thrive in midlife.

    Build Muscle: LIFT — My progressive strength training program designed for women in midlife. Form-focused, joint-friendly, and built for real results.


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • More Cardio, Less Food, Still Gaining: Your Midlife Fitness Do-over with Natalie Jill

    More Cardio, Less Food, Still Gaining: Your Midlife Fitness Do-over with Natalie Jill
    Jun 15 2026
    If you’ve been eating less, exercising more, and still experiencing unwanted body changes, this episode is for you. Natalie Jill, a Licensed Master Sports Nutritionist and functional fitness trainer, joins Dr. Stephanie for a peer-to-peer conversation between two women in the fitness industry who have seen the same broken patterns and concluded that the plan most women follow is not suitable for them. Natalie’s journey from rock bottom to 13 magazine covers in her 40s and 50s was not due to a better diet plan, but rather a complete overhaul of her False Assumed Truths (F.A.T.). She discusses the mechanics behind why chronic cardio is counterproductive in midlife, the accelerating bone loss caused by ellipticals, the falsehood of three sets of twelve, and the necessity of changing beliefs before any protocol can work. This rare episode features two practitioners in the same space, with the same audience, comparing notes honestly. Episode Overview: (0:00) Intro/Teaser (1:21) Two Midlife Women, One Honest Conversation — with Natalie Jill (4:22) The Best Thing That Happened to My Body After 40: Natalie's Explant Story (8:25) Toxic Load, the "Bucket" Theory & What We Blame on Menopause (10:13) From Rock Bottom to 13 Magazine Covers: Natalie Jill's Origin Story (19:24) Why Your Desire to Change Makes Other People Uncomfortable (25:00) Did the Fitness Industry Do Midlife Women Dirty? Ignorance vs. Negligence (29:36) Why Cardio Stops Working After 40 — and What's Actually Happening in Your Body (32:32) The Real Problem with Cardio Machines, Calorie Counting & the Elliptical (35:54) Where Cardio Actually Helps: Polarising Your Training & the Norwegian 4x4 Protocol (38:54) Low Impact Is Killing Your Bones: Heels, Hip Pain & Babying Ourselves to Death (42:34) Why Glutes Are the Central Problem — and Why Nobody Is Checking Them (45:54) False Assumed Truths: The Belief System Running in the Background of Every Midlife Woman (50:45) Is Menopause Weight Gain Inevitable? Becoming Your Own Health Detective (52:42) GLP-1s, Muscle Loss & Why "Just Get Enough Protein" Isn't Enough (1:03:48) This Is Why I Lift: Strength Training as Resilience for Whatever Life Throws at You (1:07:05) What a Real Training Week Looks Like: Progressive Load, Planks & Pull-Ups (1:10:37) After Party: Stephanie's Highlights Resources mentioned in this episode: https://drstephanieestima.com/podcasts/ep473 We couldn’t do it without our sponsors: YOUNG GOOSE - Skin aging isn't defined by wrinkles. It's defined by skin quality. Head over to https://drstephanieestima.com/younggoose and use code BETTER for 10% off your first purchase. BON CHARGE - Achieve glowing skin, gain more energy, and uplevel your recovery practice with a suite of red light products. Get 15% off at https://boncharge.com/better with code BETTER. PIQUE - Designed to deeply hydrate, enhance skin elasticity & firmness and support sustained energy—exactly what we need during this stage of life. Start your daily ritual today and elevate your routine. Head to https://piquelife.com/drestima. INCREDIWEAR - Whether you're an athlete, dealing with chronic joint pain, or just someone who wants to feel better in your body — this is worth trying. Head to https://drstephanieestima.com/incrediwear and use code DRSTEPH20 for 20% off your order. RAPID REBOOT - Weekend warrior, a competitive athlete, or a parent of one — this is a game-changer for the whole household. Go to https://drstephanieestima.com/rapidreboot and use code DRSTEPHANIE for 10% off. ****************************P.S. When you're ready, here are two ways Dr. Stephanie can help you:Subscribe: The Mini Pause — My weekly newsletter packed with the most actionable, evidence-based tools for women 40+ to thrive in midlife.Build Muscle: LIFT — My progressive strength training program designed for women in midlife. Form-focused, joint-friendly, and built for real results. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
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