Optimizing Women's Health and Training: Embracing Female Physiology for Performance and Wellbeing

by Katja Martina Bartsch

Overview

This detailed, yet approachable guide distils the latest research studies on female physiology and its effects on physical performance and psychology. Using these new findings, it provides a framework for optimizing physical training with the natural cycles of the female body, helping your clients make the most of their individual body-mind system.

It pays special attention to the changing conditions within the female body across different life stages and experiences, and how to best manage/maximize them. This includes the monthly hormone cycle, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause as well as contraceptives, conditions like PCOS and endometriosis, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839976469
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	11/21/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272

About the Author

Dr Katja Bartsch is a sports scientist and yoga teacher (E-RYT 500, YACEP). She was trained in Anatomy Trains Structural Integration by Tom Myers and his team. Katja offers trainings, workshops, and lectures on female hormones, fascia, and yoga and is part of the international Yoga Medicine® teaching and podcast team. She is based in Germany.
Katja Bartsch has been teaching yoga for about a decade and teaches anatomy and fascia physiology in teacher trainings around Europe. Katja is certified as E-RYT 500, has a Bachelor's degree (BSc) in sports science and is a Board-Certified Structural Integration Practitioner (BCSI; ATSI) trained by Tom Myers and his Anatomy Trains school. She is currently working towards her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Robert Schleip and the Fascia Research Group in Munich (Germany).

Editorial Reviews

A game-changer in fascia-informed women's health! This book combines scientific depth with clinical precision in a way that is both refreshingly original and highly applicable. It's one of the most inspiring contributions I've seen in years.

Dr. Robert Schleip

The physiological fluctuations of the female body over a lifespan are complex indeed - but it is knowable. Katja has pulled together research from all corners of science to compile the go-to reference for any coach, athlete, trainer, clinician, anatomy enthusiast or researcher working with the cycling or no longer cycling female. It puts an end to arguments and misinformation regarding hormones, training and food. It tackles locker room conversation around sexual behavior, sleep, psychological impacts and so much more. The book is also written as a time-stamp of how and why research on the female athlete has been historically dim, but this document represents a tide-shift of awareness and interest in developing healthy female movers no matter her age or stage of life.

Jill Miller

This book is a magnificent guide to how unique differences in female physiology impact exercise, physical training, and lifespan. Backed by impeccable research, this book needs to be read by all professionals who treat or train women, and any woman who wants a deeper understanding of the inner workings of her body. Basically, most of the planet needs to read this book!

David Lesondak