What if your body is warning you that you’re under-recovered, under-fueled, or hormonally struggling—before your performance ever drops?
Dr. Stacy Sims is back on Crackin’ Backs, and this time we go beyond “women are not small men” to answer a more important question:
How can women actually learn to read what their bodies are telling them?
Stacy breaks down the early warning signs many active women overlook—from changes in sleep, menstrual cycles and HRV to iron deficiency, appetite, body temperature, fatigue and recovery.
We also get into why a woman can still be training hard, hitting PRs and looking incredibly fit while her body may already be struggling underneath.
In this conversation, we explore:
• The early signs of under-recovery and overtraining in women
• Why your menstrual cycle can act as a vital sign
• What HRV may—and may not—be telling female athletes
• The connection between iron deficiency and changes in HRV
• Why waking up exhausted despite enough sleep matters
• How under-fueling and low energy availability affect recovery
• Why women may lose normal hunger and thirst signals during heavy training
• When to push through a workout—and when to back off
• Why your wearable's “recovery score” may not tell the whole story
• How strength training supports women and girls across the lifespan
• Why female athletes need a different approach to training, recovery and injury prevention
• The growing problem of applying male-based research and algorithms to female physiology
• How AI could amplify misinformation in women’s health
Stacy also shares a simple morning check-in women can use before blindly following a training plan or fitness watch: How did you wake up? What is your resting heart rate doing? Are you thirsty? How do your muscles feel? What happens after you fuel?
The goal isn't to collect more data.
It's to understand what your body is trying to tell you.
If you’re an active woman, female athlete, coach, parent, trainer or healthcare professional—or simply want to better understand women’s health, hormones, exercise, nutrition and recovery—this conversation is for you.
▶️ Watch to the end, and if conversations like this help you make better decisions about your health, subscribe to Crackin’ Backs. We bring leading experts in physical, mental and nutritional health directly to you every week.
Learn more about Dr. Stacy Sims:
Dr. Stacy Sims
Learn more about Collective X:
Stacy's new women's health intelligence platform is working to close the female health data gap with vetted, women-specific research and evidence-backed insights.
Collective X Health
#StacySims #WomensHealth #FemaleAthlete #WomensFitness #Overtraining #Recovery #FemalePhysiology #StrengthTraining #Hormones #HRV #MenstrualCycle #SportsScience #CrackinBacks
We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.
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