A woman's body does not fully recover from pregnancy for close to 24 months. Yet in the United States, most women receive a single postpartum visit. Within minutes of delivery, a woman goes from the highest estrogen and progesterone state of her life to an extremely low one, and for breastfeeding mothers, that low-estrogen state continues, placing the body into what is effectively a post-menopausal state.

In this conversation on postpartum health and women's longevity, Dr. Westgate explains the hormonal cliff that follows delivery, genitourinary syndrome of lactation and the painful symptoms nobody warns women about, the difference between normal baby blues and postpartum depression, and why postpartum brain fog is real, backed by brain imaging that has been mistaken for early neurocognitive decline.

She also explains how pregnancy functions as a pressure cooker that reveals future health risks. Gestational diabetes predicts earlier type 2 diabetes. Gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia are established risk factors for cardiovascular disease later in life. Persistent postpartum depression foreshadows what a woman may face during perimenopause. Dr. Westgate makes the case that a woman's pregnancy history belongs in her medical record with the same weight as a family history of cancer.

The episode also covers bone health, why peak bone density occurs around age 27, and how pregnancy and breastfeeding create a bone loss window that most women never address. Dr. Westgate shares her own experience of developing osteopenia at 45 after five years without exercise, and why self-care during postpartum is not selfish but essential.

Topics include postpartum recovery, the fourth trimester, postpartum depression, perimenopause, hormonal health, breastfeeding and estrogen, maternal health, bone density, preventive care, and women's longevity.

If you're a woman who has had a baby, is planning to, or loves someone who has, this is the conversation you didn't know you needed.

Muscle power is strength and speed combined, and it starts declining in your 30s and 40s at a rate of one to two percent per year. The clinical term is dynapenia, and it's the longevity metric almost nobody is measuring. Dr. Jordan has spent more than 20 years working with Olympic and professional athletes, and what he's learned about power training applies directly to healthy aging, fall prevention, and functional independence.

In this conversation on muscle health and longevity, they cover the difference between muscle strength and muscle power, why resistance training matters more for aging adults than for young athletes, the four roles of muscle in human movement, and the frailty cascade that leads from power loss to falls, social isolation, and loss of independence.

Dr. Jordan also breaks down exactly how to train muscle power, including the practical protocol of using 30 percent of your one rep max and moving it as fast as possible, why you should stop the set when bar speed drops rather than training to failure, and why hiring a coach outperforms any supplement you could buy.

Topics include muscle power, dynapenia, sarcopenia, resistance training for longevity, healthspan, functional independence, fall prevention, power training protocols, and mechanical biomarkers.

If you've ever thought resistance training was just for athletes or people chasing aesthetics, this episode will change how you think about aging.

performance scientist and researcher at the University of Calgary, to introduce a concept  

that should be part of every longevity conversation: muscle span.

Dr. Jordan has spent 20+ years working with Olympic and professional athletes. What he's  

learned applies directly to how all of us age — and whether we'll be able to live on our  

own terms at 80.

TOPICS COVERED

[0:00] Introducing muscle span — why your muscles have a lifespan of their own

[7:59] The social barriers blocking access to resistance training

[11:41] Who should care about muscle health — a breakdown by life stage

[13:56] Early sports specialization and why kids today are weaker than 40 years ago

[19:40] It's never too late: resistance training outcomes in adults aged 94+

[26:18] Dr. Jordan's mother: reversing type 2 diabetes and deadlifting 100lbs in her mid-70s

[33:27] Muscle strength vs. muscle power — and why the difference determines your independence

[44:40] Mechanical biomarkers: what your blood panel can't tell you

[34:29] Lab tour: force plates, the robotic leg press, and the rapid force dynamometer

[56:57] Rapid force capacity — the metric that governs fall recovery and ACL ruptures

[1:01:46] Power across the lifespan: from peak output in your 20s to the threshold for daily living

[1:03:35] Plantiga: turning your gait into a vital sign

[1:07:02] Walking patterns as an early warning for cognitive decline and cardiovascular events

[1:08:41] Gabe Landeskog's comeback — how the lab helped an NHL captain return from injury

Dr. Matt Jordan — Performance Scientist, University of Calgary

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