Ep. 27 - Training and Empowerment as a Female Athlete with Carolyn Parker

I’m sure Carolyn Parker could have become a household name if she had wanted. In her 20s and 30s, Carolyn was one of the most talented all-around mountain athletes in the U.S. — she was one of the first women to become an AMGA certified Rock Guide, climbed 5.12 trad at altitude 🧗‍♀️, went on 8,000-meter peak expeditions 🏔️, sent M8, skied 50-degree couloirrs⛷️ and regularly ran mountain ultras. Or as Sarah Hudson, our co-host for this episode puts it, “Carolyn is a boss”.

Climbing was only half the story, though. After flirting with the limelight, Carolyn found that she derived as much, if not more, satisfaction from helping others achieve their objectives as she did in accomplishing her own 🙌. As a result, climbing and guiding eventually transitioned into training and coaching. More than 35 years later, Carolyn has worked with 1,000s of athletes in the pursuit of their dreams.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 The life, times and challenges of being a female climber in the 90s

• 🧊 Choosing to stay just under the radar

• 🧊 Her philosophy and approach to running a coaching business

• 🧊 Mental and physical aspects of strength training for female athletes

• 🧊 How the hormonal cycle and nutrition impact athletic performance

• 🧊 Navigating menopause

Resources and links:

If you’d like to learn more about Ripple Effect Athlete Training Center or coaching with Carolyn, you can visit their company website, rippleffectraining.com. To follow along with Carolyn’s latest endeavors, her IG account is @blitzkriegbarbie. 

To learn more about Carolyn’s coaching journey, there is a great article on Uphill Athlete. Further, UA has a lot of useful resources for training as a female athlete, including a general overview, strength training, and hormones.

If you’d like to dive deeper, Carolyn has shared quite a few resources as well:

Books:

• Dr. Stacy Sims: ROAR, Next Level

• Dr. Lisa Mosconi: The Menopause Brain

Research papers:

• Effect of Estrogen on Musculoskeletal Performance and Injury Risk

• The Effect of Menstrual Cycle and Contraceptives on ACL Injuries and Laxity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

• The Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Exercise Performance in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

  • Kelly McNulty also has a pdocast on the subject, “the period of the period.”

• Postmenopausal hormone therapy for cardiovascular health: the evolving data

Articles:

• Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport - A Cautionary Tale

  • More info on REDS

• Hormones for menopause are safe, study finds. Here's what changed

...

📸: Cover photo by Angela Hawse (@alpinist007), courtesy of Carolyn.

🙏 And a big thanks to Sarah Hudson (@sarahferocity) for joining as co-host!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.

• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Patreon: Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more, consider supporting us on Patreon.  (And for less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).