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.