Power, Protein, & Progress: Your Guide To Smarter Nutrition, Training, & Recovery

When it comes to health and fitness, one-size-fits-all advice simply doesn’t work—especially for women. From unique nutritional needs during menstruation to optimizing body composition during menopause, tailored strategies are key to helping women achieve their health goals.

Smith-Ryan emphasizes that women’s nutritional and fitness needs evolve throughout their lives. From menstruation to pregnancy and into perimenopause and postmenopause, each stage requires tailored approaches to optimize health.

For example, iron, vitamin D, and calcium are critical throughout life but serve different purposes depending on the stage. Calcium supports bone development in youth and helps maintain bone density in later years, while iron supplementation can be essential for menstruating or active women to improve daily energy and overall well-being.

Protein also plays a starring role in Smith-Ryan’s advice. Women should increase protein intake during pregnancy or before their menstrual cycle when protein turnover spikes.

She advocates for building meals around 30 grams of protein paired with vegetables, emphasizing consistency and simplicity.

Smith-Ryan challenges outdated health messages like "eat less, exercise more" with a more empowering approach. Her research underscores the importance of maintaining and building muscle to support metabolism, bone health, and cardiovascular health, particularly during midlife when body composition naturally changes.

“One of the key things women can do to help optimize body composition and energy expenditure metabolism is to really focus on the window around training,” she explains. 

One of her top tips for women is to avoid long gaps between meals. Eating regularly, especially high-quality protein, before and after exercise can improve energy levels, muscle recovery, and metabolic health.

For example, a small pre-workout snack like a 4 oz glass of milk or a 90-calorie protein source can significantly enhance workout performance.

Smith-Ryan is also a big proponent of creatine supplementation—not just for performance but for its brain, bone, and recovery benefits.

When it comes to exercise, Smith-Ryan advocates for smarter, not harder, training. High-intensity interval training and high-intensity resistance training offer maximum benefits in minimal time.

A simple protocol like 10 one-minute intervals of intense effort with one minute of rest can yield significant cardiovascular and metabolic improvements after just three sessions.

For strength training, Smith-Ryan emphasizes the benefits of high-intensity resistance training, which involves lifting heavy loads—around 80% of your maximum—for 6-8 reps with short rest periods.

Smith-Ryan’s passion for empowering women shines through in her research and advice. Her practical approach to nutrition, training, and recovery proves that taking small, consistent steps can lead to transformative health benefits.