Zone 2, Fuelling and Bone Health for Women in Midlife, with Olympian Rachel Neylan

There is a lot of conflicting advice about how women should train and fuel through midlife.

Should they prioritise high-intensity work over Zone 2? Train around the menstrual cycle? Cut back on carbohydrates?

In this episode of Stronger With Time, I speak with Rachel Neylan, Olympic cyclist, world championship silver medallist, physiotherapist and high-performance coaching psychologist.

We discuss under-fuelling and carbohydrate fear, bone health after years of cycling, and whether Zone 2 is really overrated for women. Rachel explains why the aerobic base that supported her professional career also helped her absorb harder training and recover from it.

We also talk about training around the menstrual cycle without rigid rules, rebuilding after serious injury, the difference between motivation and identity, and creating systems around training, nutrition, sleep, recovery and community.

This conversation is for women who want to stay strong, fit and capable through midlife, and for the coaches and health professionals who work with them.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

01:40 Rapid-fire cycling questions

06:30 Leaving physiotherapy for professional cycling

09:45 Matching your physiology to the right sport

14:15 Why children need variety before specialisation

17:00 Movement variety for healthy ageing

19:25 What endurance sport teaches you about doing hard things

21:40 Motivation versus identity

24:35 Training after retiring from professional sport

26:15 Bone density and the hidden cost of cycling

29:25 Recovering from a major crash

33:15 Resilience and training around injury

37:30 Under-fuelling and fear of carbohydrate

42:45 Fuelling around a one-hour training session

44:55 Why every workout should not be hard

47:15 Is Zone 2 overrated for women?

52:00 Why an aerobic base supports high-intensity training

55:05 Female physiology and training differences

57:50 Menstrual-cycle tracking without rigid rules

01:01:25 Building a personal performance ecosystem

01:04:00 Rachel’s current work in performance coaching

01:06:20 Closing thoughts

Resources

Rachel Neylan’s websitehttps://www.rachelneylan.com/

Rachel Neylan’s Australian Olympic profilehttps://www.olympics.com.au/olympians/rachel-neylan/

Tony’s websitehttps://tonyboutagy.com/

Explore Tony’s courseshttps://tonyboutagy.com/explore-the-courses-page

Follow Tony on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/tonyboutagy/

Subscribe to Stronger With Time for more evidence-informed conversations on training, health and performance.

This episode is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.