Dr Stacy Sims says women are not small men. Here's how to turn that into how you program and fuel your female clients.
The default coaching template was largely built on studies of men and handed to women unchanged. Sims' TEDx talk is the most-shared explainer of why that is a problem. This breakdown covers her documented positions in our own words, adds our honest take for running a coaching roster, and shows how to capture life stage and deliver a customised plan without hand-building a new program for every woman you coach. It is general coaching education, not medical advice.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Sims' talk argues that most nutrition and training science was researched on men and wrongly generalised to women, and that female physiology - fueling, the menstrual cycle, and the shifts of perimenopause and menopause - deserves its own considerations. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop running female clients on a shrunk-down men's template. Capture each client's life stage at intake, fuel and program around it, and lean into heavy resistance work for midlife women. These are her documented positions in an evolving field - present them as an informed approach, keep it coaching education, and refer medical questions out.
Dr Stacy Sims at TEDxTauranga - "Women are Not Small Men"
Source: this is a guest TEDx talk by Dr Stacy Sims, hosted on the TEDx Talks channel on YouTube - "Women are Not Small Men: a paradigm shift in the science of nutrition | Stacy Sims | TEDxTauranga". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words. The talk was delivered by Dr Stacy Sims and published by TEDx Talks; it is not from a Coachway channel, and nothing here implies her endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Dr Stacy Sims, and why coaches watch
Dr Stacy Sims is an exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who specialises in sex differences in training and fueling, and the author of ROAR and Next Level. She has become the most-cited name in women's-fitness circles for the argument that female athletes need protocols built for female physiology rather than borrowed from research on men. This particular video is her TEDxTauranga talk - a guest talk on the TEDx Talks channel, not her own channel - and it is the most widely shared public explainer of her paradigm. For coaches it is effectively the reference point when a female client asks why her plan should differ from a partner's or a generic program. That is the lens this page takes: not "copy Sims' protocol," but "what do her positions mean for how I intake, fuel and program a roster of women."
What Sims argues (our summary)
This is our summary of her documented positions, in our own words - not a transcript. These are her views in an evolving science; watch the original and read her books for her own framing and evidence.
- 1
Women are not small men. Her core thesis is that much of sports-nutrition and training research was conducted on men and then generalised to women as if body size were the only difference - which she argues leaves female physiology under-served.
- 2
Fueling matters, and she cautions against habitual fasted training for women. Her documented guidance generally favours eating before demanding sessions rather than routinely training fasted.
- 3
Protein deserves real attention. Across her published work adequate protein intake is a recurring priority for female clients, not an afterthought.
- 4
Consider the menstrual cycle when planning. She argues the cycle is a variable worth accounting for in how training and recovery are structured, rather than ignored.
- 5
For perimenopause and menopause, prioritise heavy resistance and intensity. Her guidance for midlife women leans toward heavy resistance training and high-intensity or sprint-interval work plus adequate protein, over long slow cardio and light weights.
Coachway's take
We think the core reframe is right and overdue for most coaches: a female client is not a lighter version of a male client, and the parts of a plan that should flex - fueling, recovery, how the cycle and life stage factor in, the emphasis on heavy resistance work for midlife women - are exactly the parts a generic template ignores. If you have ever copied a "proven" program straight onto a female client and watched adherence and results lag, this is a large part of why.
Where we'd add nuance: this is applied science, not a fixed formula, and it is still evolving. Present these as Sims' informed, documented positions - which is how she frames them - rather than as laws that apply identically to every woman. Individual clients vary enormously, and the win is testing the variables with each client (does pre-session fueling help her energy? does she feel and perform differently across her cycle?) rather than declaring a universal rule and defending it.
And a hard line for coaches, because this topic is health-adjacent: your job is to program and to refer, not to diagnose or treat. Perimenopause and menopause symptoms, hormone therapy, blood-sugar or medical conditions, disordered-eating red flags - those go to the client's doctor or a registered dietitian, and you build around their clearance. Keep specific gram-and-number prescriptions to what you can genuinely cite or clear with the client's clinician. Sims' own point is individualisation, not a one-size number.
So our version of her message is: build a strong default framework for female clients, capture life stage and symptoms at intake, adjust fueling and programming around them, and lean into strength for midlife women - then deliver and track it through check-ins so you can actually see what is working. And do that as a reusable system, not a from-scratch rebuild for every woman on your roster.
Capture life stage once, then program and track around it
Individualising for female physiology only works if the information reaches you and the plan can flex without a rebuild. That's what Coachway is for. Use custom intake forms to capture life stage (cycling, perimenopause, menopause, postpartum), cycle tracking and symptoms up front, build a strength-forward plan in the workout builder - templating a heavier-resistance framework for midlife clients that you assign and adjust rather than rewrite - and then use check-ins and progress tracking to see how fueling and training are actually landing for each client over time, so you're adjusting from real data instead of assumption.
For the strategy layer, our guides on coaching clients around the menstrual cycle and coaching clients through menopause go deeper on the programming, and the companion breakdown of Steph Gaudreau on fueling female athletes covers the nutrition side of the same paradigm.
Female-client intake + positioning block
A block you can paste straight into your intake form and your sales page or DMs, adapted from Sims' individualisation approach. Add the questions to your onboarding, edit the positioning line to your voice, and keep number-specific advice to what you can cite or clear with the client's clinician - the point is individualisation, not a fixed formula.
Intake + positioning block
Add to your female-client intake
- Life stage: cycling / perimenopause / menopause / postpartum
- If cycling: do you track your cycle? Any phase-linked symptoms (energy, sleep, cravings, performance dips)?
- Fasted training: do you currently train fasted? How do you feel during and after?
- Protein: current protein habits (rough)
- Medical: any conditions, medications or symptoms your doctor is managing that I should program around?
Positioning line for your page / DMs
Most programs were built on studies of men and handed to women unchanged. I coach around female physiology - your life stage, your fueling, and a training plan that shifts with you - not a shrunk-down men's template.
Caveat to keep visible: this is coaching, not medical care. Keep specific gram or number recommendations to what you can cite or clear with the client's clinician, and refer symptoms, hormone-therapy questions and medical conditions to their doctor or a registered dietitian.
FEMALE-CLIENT INTAKE + POSITIONING BLOCK (via Coachway) Adapted from Dr Stacy Sims' individualisation approach. Coaching education, not medical advice. ADD TO YOUR FEMALE-CLIENT INTAKE - Life stage: cycling / perimenopause / menopause / postpartum - If cycling: do you track your cycle? Any phase-linked symptoms (energy, sleep, cravings, performance dips)? - Fasted training: do you currently train fasted? How do you feel during and after? - Protein: current protein habits (rough) - Medical: any conditions, medications or symptoms your doctor is managing that I should program around? POSITIONING LINE (page / DMs) "Most programs were built on studies of men and handed to women unchanged. I coach around female physiology - your life stage, your fueling, and a training plan that shifts with you - not a shrunk-down men's template." CAVEAT (keep visible) This is coaching, not medical care. Keep specific gram/number recommendations to what you can cite or clear with the client's clinician. Refer symptoms, hormone-therapy questions and medical conditions to their doctor or a registered dietitian. Sims' point is individualisation, not a fixed formula.
Coaching female clients - FAQ
What does "women are not small men" actually mean for training?
It is Dr Stacy Sims' signature phrase, and her documented argument is that most sports-nutrition and training research was done on men and then generalised to women as if the only difference were body size. Her position is that female physiology - fueling needs, the menstrual cycle, and the big hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause - warrants its own considerations rather than a scaled-down men's plan. For a coach, the practical read is not a fixed new formula but a mindset: treat a female client's life stage and physiology as programming inputs, not afterthoughts. These are her documented positions in an evolving field, so present them to clients as an informed approach, not settled universal fact.
Should female clients train fasted?
In her published guidance Sims cautions against habitual fasted training for women and generally favours fueling before hard sessions. That is her documented position rather than a universal rule, and individual clients differ. As a coach the safe way to use it is to raise it as an option worth testing - try eating something before demanding sessions and see whether energy, performance and recovery improve - rather than banning fasted training outright. Keep the framing as general coaching education, and if a client has a medical condition that affects fueling or blood sugar, that is a conversation for their clinician, not the coach.
How should coaches program for perimenopausal and menopausal clients?
Sims' documented guidance for midlife women leans toward prioritising heavy resistance training and higher-intensity or sprint-interval work, alongside adequate protein, rather than long slow cardio and light weights. For a coach that translates into building genuine strength progression and short intense efforts into the plan for these clients, and treating protein intake as a real target. Present it as her evidence-informed approach and individualise it to what the client can recover from and enjoy. Anything that crosses into symptoms, medication or hormone therapy belongs with the client's doctor - the coach's job is to program and to refer, not to diagnose or treat.
Does this mean I need a completely different plan for every woman I coach?
No - and that is where coaches often over-correct. The point is individualisation of the inputs that matter (life stage, fueling, the cycle, recovery), not throwing out structure. In practice you build one strong framework for female clients and then adjust the variables: fueling guidance, how training and recovery flex around the cycle, and a heavier resistance emphasis for midlife clients. Capturing life stage and symptoms at intake, then delivering and tracking the plan through regular check-ins, is what makes that customisation manageable across a whole roster instead of a new spreadsheet per client.
More women's-coaching breakdowns
- · Steph Gaudreau on fueling female athletes - the nutrition side of the same paradigm.
- · Meg Squats on women's strength programming - building genuine strength progression for female clients.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in women's coaching
all guidesHow to Coach Clients Around the Menstrual Cycle (2026)
The evidence on cycle-based programming is genuinely mixed and individual variability swamps the averages - so track the individual, not the textbook cycle. Two to three cycles of check-in data first, autoregulation over reprogramming, what hormonal contraception changes, and the red flags that mean refer out.
Read the guideHow to Coach Clients Through Perimenopause & Menopause
Falling estrogen accelerates muscle and bone loss, shifts body composition and disrupts sleep - so strength, protein and recovery move to the front of the plan. The evidence-backed adjustments, the myths to skip, what to track in check-ins, and the red flags that mean refer out.
Read the guideHow to become a menopause fitness coach (2026)
A growing, underserved niche: what the coaching involves at the fitness level, real specialist certifications, positioning, pricing and finding your first clients.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Macro Calculator · One-Rep-Max Calculator · Warm-Up Set Calculator
Coach female physiology, not a shrunk-down template
Individualising for life stage only works if the information reaches you and the plan can flex without a rebuild. Coachway lets you capture life stage and symptoms at intake, build a strength-forward plan you assign and adjust instead of rewrite, and track how fueling and training actually land through check-ins. Start your 14-day free trial and build your female-client framework once.
