17| Amy West, MD: Celebrating Women's Strength and Being Resilient Against Injury

Did you know that out of all the strength and conditioning research that shapes most of the plans and decisions we make as coaches, practitioners and as consumers- that less than 6% of the research is exclusively on women? Women are physiologically, behaviorally and psychologically completely different from men. Our needs must be attended to separately than men.  Even though we are seeing more females in sports and in the gym, we are still underrepresented in sports medicine which puts us at risk for injuries and not performing to our maximum potential.

Change begins with the help of people like Amy West, MD, EdM - who we interviewed in today's episode. Dr. Amy West is a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Physician who dedicates her career and personal life to celebrating and advocating for the strength of women. 

She is currently the team doctor for Hofstra University NCAA Division one and the Crossfit games. Yes you heard me right- she is a doctor who recommends Crossfit. You’ll learn all about why Amy recommends Crossfit for injury prevention in this episode. You’ll also learn about the research and work Amy has done involving female athletes, the effects hormones have on musculoskeletal tissue, adaptive sports, functional movement and injury prevention.   

1:47 Amy is really cool- Amy’s story
4:40 What is a sports medicine physiatrist?
5:50 A doctor…who loves CrossFit for… injury prevention
9:20 Do you use this ESSENTIAL tool for behavior change?
11:16 The Adaptive Training Academy
13:42 Less than 6% of current S&C research is on exclusively women
15:17 Researching how a woman’s menstrual cycle & hormone fluctuations affect...
17:20 Stress fractures are more common in women- why??
19:49 Advice on how to talk to your female clients when you think there is a problem
24:22 Specific advice for men & normalizing talking about periods
25:56 Big problem: Many providers aren’t attuned to what athletic women need
27:56 What is a stress fracture?
28:52 Last points on injury and activity 
30:43 Why is not moving often- bad?

Find Amy on Instagram: @amywestmd
Twitter: @AmyWestMD
Listen to Amy's podcast: @docsinthebox

Learn about physical therapy services at Reload here
Learn about fitness services at Reload here
IG: @reload.pt

Diggin' the intro/outro jam? Check out my friend, Joe Spinelli on SoundCloud!