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This week's issue of Feisty 40+ is presented by Wahoo. Get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN when you use code FEISTY here. 

Join me for four weeks of live coaching!

We're offering a four week coached community for our Navigate Menopause course, starting October 29. 

In the coached community, you'll learn: 
✅ How to train smarter (not harder) for your changing hormones
✅ How to fuel your body for strength, energy, and recovery
✅ What’s really happening with weight, muscle, and metabolism
✅ How to build mental resilience and better sleep habits
✅ How to pull it all into your own Menopause Blueprint

Plus, each week, we'll have a live call where an expert and I will answer your questions about all things menopause, including strength, nutrition, hormones and more!

Click here to sign up!

*Already took the course but want to get in on the coached community? Hit reply to this email. 

💊 The Supplement Cabinet

🥚 This week we’re taking a look at eggshell membrane (ESM). Full disclosure, this is one I had never heard of until I started working with Previnex* (who sponsors this newsletter and the Hit Play Not Pause podcast). But having used it for nearly 5 years with great success for joint pain in my big toes, I felt like it was worth exploring here, especially for osteoarthritis.

Recent clinical trials and meta-analyses show that eggshell membrane (ESM) supplementation can provide measurable benefits for folks with knee osteoarthritis. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that daily ESM (typically 300 to 500 mg) can improve pain and physical function compared with placebo, with symptom relief often noticeable within 10 to 14 days and sustained improvements through 30 to 60 days. While most research focuses on symptom management rather than cartilage preservation, functional gains suggest ESM may be linked to reduced cartilage-degradation markers (though that’s yet to be definitively shown). For postmenopausal women specifically, ESM appears to reduce exercise-induced joint discomfort and markers of cartilage turnover.

Obviously, if you have egg allergies, ESM is a non-starter/no-go. Overall, the supplement is well tolerated, does not appear to interfere with common medications, and is considered a low-risk strategy for managing joint pain. Clinical trials using 500 mg daily have reported no serious adverse effects.

As with many such studies, it’s important to note that supplement manufacturers fund this research. 

*When it makes sense, I drop sponsor links into the newsletter. This is one of those times. Previnex Joint Health Plus includes 500mg of eggshell membrane (as well as 100mg of Boswellia serrata extract, which has also been shown to help with osteoarthritis. If you’re interested, you can use the code FEISTY40PLUS to get 15% off your first order at  www.previnex.com/

🏃‍♀️ A Treadmill I Actually Like

Wahoo revolutionized indoor training for cyclists by creating the first smart trainers, and now they are doing the same for running with their new treadmill, the Wahoo KICKR RUN. Even if you're a treadmill hater (like me!), you'll love the FreeRun feature.

It's a treadmill that follows you, not the other way around. Click this link and use the code FEISTY to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN.

🔥 Feisty Badass Athlete of the Week Goes To…

We gave a shout out to all the 40+ women competing in the Ironman World Championship race in Kona last week. In case you missed it, the average age of the field on the Big Island was 43. This week we want to give a special shout out to Natalie Grabow who became the oldest woman ever to cross the line at the Ironman World Championship at age 80! 🎉

Check out the pre-race interview Feisty reporter Kelly O’Mara did with her on her thoughts going into it. Then check out the incredible moment she crossed the finish line here (and believe me when I tell you, running up that little ramp at the end of that event is way harder than it looks!).

Thanks Natalie for your grit, grace, and inspiration! 🌺 

👉Want a chance to be featured? Click here to share your badass story

🏋🏻‍♀️ Let's get Strong together! 💪

If you want to learn to lift heavy and get strong, Feisty has an awesome camp coming up and I’ll be there!

💪 Feisty 40+ Strong Retreat: This is a 2.5-day immersive weekend for women 40+ with hands-on coaching, expert insight, and real community connection. Whether you’re new to lifting or fine-tuning your form, you’ll build confidence, train smarter, and lay a strong foundation for life. Feisty favorite Cassi Niemann will be leading the camp, November 14–16, in Albuquerque, NM.  You can sign up here. 

👩🏻‍💻 Hit Play Research Round Up

We spend a lot of time scouring the latest research for news you can use to stay strong and feisty forever. Here’s what’s making waves this week:

🪑More sitting = faster aging. The picture is pretty clear: lots of sitting is bad for your health. In a study of U.S. health data from over 5,500 women, researchers found that prolonged sitting was associated with “accelerated aging” (phenotypic age > chronological). The tipping point was about 7 hours a day: each additional hour beyond that raised the odds of “accelerated aging” by roughly 12%. Women who sat 8 hours or more had more than double the odds compared to those sitting less than 4 hours a day. The study also found that inflammation and kidney function markers (creatinine) partly explained this link—suggesting that too much sitting might promote inflammation and stress in the body that speeds up biological aging. Try to keep total sitting under ~7 h/day and break up long sitting bouts (2–5 min of light movement every 30–60 min).

🦻🏽Researchers find link between reproductive health history and hearing loss. A UK Biobank  study of more than 214,000 women found that early menopause, having four or more children, and very short or long reproductive lifespans were linked to a higher risk of hearing loss later in life. Both natural and surgical menopause roughly doubled that risk compared to premenopausal women, and hormone therapy was linked to a slight increase as well. Some of these links—especially those involving early menopause and more children—were partly explained by cardiovascular health, suggesting that changes in circulation and metabolism may play a role. It’s hard to fully untangle the cause and effect here, but it’s always smart to stay on top of your hearing health, since hearing loss raises dementia risk.

😴 Hard workouts close to bedtime could disrupt your sleep. A study of more than 14,000 women and men wearing WHOOP straps over ~4 million nights found that later workouts and higher strain were linked to worse sleep. If exercise ends ≥4 hours before your usual bedtime, sleep looks unchanged. Within 4 hours (or after bedtime), sleep onset gets later, sleep shortens, and night HRV drops—especially after long or hard sessions. Wrap up tough workouts ≥4 hours before bed; light activity can actually improve sleep.

What's On My Mind...

It was bittersweet to see the final all-women Ironman World Champion race at Kona a couple of weeks ago. It’s so special to see their whole race from tape to tape without searching for the female contenders in a sea of men. I hope Ironman finds a way to give the women their own spotlight again down the road. It really makes a difference.

🎧 Listen to this week's episode of Hit Play Not Pause - The Secrets to Going Further Than you Think You Can with Serena Bishop Gordon

Feisty 40+ is written by Selene Yeager. Edited by Maya Smith. Ads by Ella Hnatyshyn

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