Muscle Science for Women

In this episode Ashleigh and Rachel talk about a recent 36-hour fast they started together: why they decided to do it, and a broader conversation on the types of fasting options, calorie-cycling, the potential benefits and drawbacks, who may benefit from fasting and who may not do well with the practice, ideal duration and frequency, what protein-sparing modified fasting is, and how any tool can be a right or wrong one depending on how you use it and what your end goal is.

Have more thoughts or questions about fasting? Send them to musclescience4women@gmail.com

Thank you to our sponsor, True Nutrition, where you can customize your own protein! AND they just announced that they ship worldwide. Choose a mix of protein bases, a range of delicious flavors and sweetness level, and boost your protein with adaptogens, collagen, immune support, electrolytes and much more. Ashleigh loves the chocolate fudge brownie with a grassfed New Zealand beef protein base, and Rachel is testing different protein base combos for the ultimate protein ice cream recipe. Save time, effort, and money by combining all your supplement needs into one delicious protein powder. Head to truenutrition.com/MUSCLE and use the code MUSCLE for 20% off your custom mix!

Join the conversation - leave a comment on the podcast, share the episode on social media, or leave a comment, topic idea, or question on the website: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/contact

Or send a voice message here and they may play it on the pod! https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/468952/1/3h8gyc5cfc71vsbu 

Check out the MSW Substack here: https://musclescienceforwomen.substack.com

Learn about all of the MSW training programs here: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/programs

Subscribe to the new YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@musclescienceforwomen 

Brad Kearns is a New York Times bestselling author, including his recent book Born to Walk. He's a #1 world-ranked Masters track & field high jumper in 2025 and a #3 world-ranked professional triathlete. He has written twenty books on diet, health, peak performance, and ancestral living, and is a popular speaker and podcast host, and creator of the Primal Fitness Expert Certification course.

In today's episode, he talks to Ashleigh about a very important but mostly missing piece in our fitness regimen: sprinting. He talks about the difference between a HIIT workout and a true sprint workout, as well as what happens in the body when we do an all-out sprint: how it can improve our body composition, overall fitness, agility, power, strength, and longevity. 

Brad tells us how to do a sprint workout effectively and safely, how often you should be sprinting to maximize the benefits, why he believes Zone 1 training is actually underrated, and much more.

This episode is sponsored by Peluva, makers of five-toe, zero-drop, barefoot-style shoes. When you put on a pair of Peluvas, you are getting an automatic foot strengthening effect, a toe spacer effect, and a healing effect from the damage caused by regular shoes. Peluva has sufficient cushioning to use for all manner of everyday movement, fitness and athletic activities, and navigating hard modern surfaces. And they look (surprisingly) good, and are super comfortable.

Go ahead and use your specialized athletic shoes, work boots or even high heels when you need to, but the more you wear minimalist shoes when walking around and exercising safely, you can reawaken the natural functionality of the human foot to stand, walk, run, and perform. Visit https://checkout.peluva.com/MUSCLEMAVEN and use the the code MUSCLEMAVEN For 10% off your first pair!

Join the conversation - leave a comment on the podcast, share the episode on social media, or leave a comment, topic idea, or question on the website: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/contact

Or send a voice message here and they may play it on the pod! https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/468952/1/3h8gyc5cfc71vsbu 

Check out the MSW Substack here: https://musclescienceforwomen.substack.com

Learn about all of the MSW training programs here: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/programs

Subscribe to the new YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@musclescienceforwomen 

Does it suddenly feel like everyone you know is on a GLP-1 medication? Even people who seem to be using it just to lose those "last ten pounds"? Are you feeling pressure to do the same, frustrated that doing it the "hard way" doesn't seem to be working...or are you just curious about whether a GLP-1 would be helpful for you?

In this episode, Rachel and Ashleigh talk about the decision-making process for GLP-1 use, and some things you may want to consider about muscle gain and loss while using GLP-1's. As a reminder, MSW does not intend to judge, prescribe, or diagnose anyone - we are not medical professionals and your decisions are your own. Still, we hope you find this episode helpful and at the very least, gives you a framework for decision-making. 

Just remember, regardless of the tools you use to lose weight, the only way to get strong and build muscle is the hard way, earning it through intelligent training, but it's also the fun way, and we think it's very worth it.

Hey, do you want to join Rachel and Ashleigh somewhere warm and beachy for a healthy, fun, challenging  MSW retreat? Fill out this form to give us feedback on your ideal fun fitness retreat!

Thank you to our sponsor, True Nutrition, where you can customize your own protein! Choose a mix of protein bases, a range of delicious flavors and sweetness level, and boost your protein with adaptogens, collagen, immune support, electrolytes and much more. Ashleigh loves the chocolate fudge brownie with a grassfed New Zealand beef protein base, and Rachel is testing different protein base combos for the ultimate protein ice cream recipe. Save time, effort, and money by combining all your supplement needs into one delicious protein powder. Head to truenutrition.com/MUSCLE and use the code MUSCLE for 20% off your custom mix!

Join the conversation - leave a comment on the podcast, share the episode on social media, or leave a comment, topic idea, or question on the website: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/contact

Or send a voice message here and they may play it on the pod! https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/468952/1/3h8gyc5cfc71vsbu 

Check out the MSW Substack here: https://musclescienceforwomen.substack.com

Learn about all of the MSW training programs here: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/programs

Subscribe to the new YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@musclescienceforwomen 

If you listened to episode 136 and completed the six-step audit to determine if you're REALLY doing the right things to lose fat, and you're still at a loss, you may be thinking: ok, I am doing everything right. It's still not working! Am I broken? Is there something wrong? What next? This episode is for you. Ashleigh and Rachel walk you through, in a clear and non judgemental way, the fat loss equation that you have probably heard before, but broken down into steps you can actually get your head around. This episode will help you on the next stage of your fat loss journey, or perhaps even more importantly, help you figure out if you should be switching up your goal for a bit in order to give your body and mind a much-needed break.

Hey, do you want to join Rachel and Ashleigh somewhere warm and beachy for a healthy, fun, challenging  MSW retreat? Fill out this form to give us feedback on your ideal fun fitness retreat!

Thank you to our new sponsor, True Nutrition, where you can customize your own protein! Choose a mix of protein bases, a range of delicious flavors and sweetness level, and boost your protein with adaptogens, collagen, immune support, electrolytes and much more. Ashleigh loves the chocolate fudge brownie with a grassfed New Zealand beef protein base, and Rachel is testing different protein base combos for the ultimate protein ice cream recipe. Save time, effort, and money by combining all your supplement needs into one delicious protein powder. Head to truenutrition.com/MUSCLE and use the code MUSCLE for 20% off your custom mix!

Join the conversation - leave a comment on the podcast, share the episode on social media, or leave a comment, topic idea, or question on the website: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/contact

Or send a voice message here and they may play it on the pod! https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/468952/1/3h8gyc5cfc71vsbu 

Check out the MSW Substack here: https://musclescienceforwomen.substack.com

Learn about all of the MSW training programs here: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/programs

Subscribe to the new YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@musclescienceforwomen 

Have you been trying, seemingly forever, to lose fat, and just not seeing the results you want? Maybe you've tried a bunch of methods or different diets, you've tried exercising more, you've upped your protein, and you've hit a plateau. In this episode, Rachel and Ashleigh walk you through six things to check in your habits and behaviors before you give up or decide that there's something "wrong." Fair warning, going through this checklist requires you to be absolutely honest with yourself: are you really being as consistent as you think you are? Does your effort match your expectations? Have you actually been paying attention to the right things?

Listen to the full episode for clear instructions on a six-step audit to determine if you're really doing what you need to do in order to lose fat.

Thank you to our new sponsor, True Nutrition, where you can customize your own protein! Choose a mix of protein bases, a range of delicious flavors and sweetness level, and boost your protein with adaptogens, collagen, immune support, electrolytes and much more. Ashleigh loves the chocolate fudge brownie with a grassfed New Zealand beef protein base, and Rachel is testing different protein base combos for the ultimate protein ice cream recipe. Save time, effort, and money by combining all your supplement needs into one delicious protein powder. Head to truenutrition.com/MUSCLE and use the code MUSCLE for 20% off your custom mix!

Join the conversation - leave a comment on the podcast, share the episode on social media, or leave a comment, topic idea, or question on the website: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/contact

Or send a voice message here and they may play it on the pod! https://www.speakpipe.com/msg/s/468952/1/3h8gyc5cfc71vsbu 

Check out the MSW Substack here: https://musclescienceforwomen.substack.com

Learn about all of the MSW training programs here: https://musclescienceforwomen.com/programs

Subscribe to the new YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@musclescienceforwomen