“Women should never exercise fasted”

Dr Stacy Sims has a very simple but effective message: “Women are not small men.”

But there’s the problem. The New Zealand-based exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist aims to revolutionise exercise, nutrition and performance for women and to that end has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers.

But the biggest obstacle to overcome to better understand female performance physiology is that the overwhelming majority of research done to date is data collected and analysed from studying men.

While female-focused research is a drop in the ocean compared with the great depths of data that exist on male training, nutrition and recovery, Dr Sims’s findings on optimal performance for women are already making waves, not least that women – unlike men – should never exercise on an empty stomach.

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Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond by Dr Stacy Sims (£18.99, Rodale) is out now.

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