Next Level

Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond

By: Stacy T. Sims, Selene Yeager

Narrated by: Gina Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A comprehensive, physiology-based guide to peak performance for active women approaching or experiencing menopause—from the author of Roar, renowned exercise and nutrition scientist Dr. Stacy Sims

For active women, menopause hits hard. Overnight, your body doesn’t feel like the one you know and love anymore—you’re battling new symptoms, might be gaining weight, losing endurance and strength, and taking longer to bounce back from workouts that used to be easy. The things that have always kept you fit and healthy just seem to stop working the way they used to. 

But menopause doesn’t have to be the end of you kicking ass at the gym, on the trail, in the saddle, or wherever you work out. Once you understand your physiology, you can work with it—not against it—to optimize your performance. That’s where Stacy Sims, PhD comes in. In Next Level, you’ll learn the underlying causes of menopause: the hormonal changes that are causing all the symptoms you’re feeling, and their impact on your wellness and performance. Then, what you really came for—what to do about it. Inside you’ll find science-backed advice about training, nutrition, sleep and recovery and supplements, as well as sample exercise routines, meal plans, macronutrient planning charts, and case studies from real women Stacy has coached through the transition. It’s the ultimate guide to navigating the Next Level.

*Includes a downloadable PDF of exercise routines, meal plans, planning charts, and other useful resources from the book. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Stacy Sims (P)2021 Random House Audio

great info but....

There's so much valuable information in this book. It's empowering to women who are struggling with the inevitable change that menopause (peri and post) brings. I love how Dr. Sims cites & presents multiple studies to support her advice. She includes a PDF to print (or not) to assist you in "Getting It Done" when you're ready to Pull It All Together (last chapter)
Here is my one and only complaint... I am not an elite athlete nor endurance athlete but I have always liked exercise, particularly weight training. This book is geared more toward true female athletes-which is great, however, it's still very useful to those of us who just want to regain and possibly improve what we have lost during this transition. I have scoured YouTube and apps to find something or someone that incorporates what Dr. Sims has laid out and put it in workout video regimen I could subscribe and follow instead of making up my own. This, unfortunately, does not exist. There's plenty of workout videos but nothing tailored to following this valuable advice and routine. I'll keep looking and hoping they come out with videos we can workout to. 🤞🤞🤞

Get the physical book instead of the audiobook.

Very informative. I appreciate the fitness, nutrition, supplement, and medical information of this book; however, the audiobook is painful to listen to. Get the actual book for better reference to the information.

Great info, but maybe too much

This book has a LOT of great information about menopause, which is in the description, but it just seems to go on and on about that. I think it would be a better read with less menopause info and more of the kicking a$$ part, but it was really good if you really want to know A LOT about the ins and outs of menopause. Wish I would have read it BEFORE I went through all of that.

Not Best for Audible. Buy the hard copy.

Narrator is overly dramatic which is distracting but the information is best read instead of listened to. There are many charts and lists that are hard to follow as listener. I have the hard copy and there is good information to refer back to.
I wish there were more examples of food plans or sample eating schedules.

excellent advice from pros

at 64 yrs, I'm a competitive female equestrian athlete. this book has given me excellent advice from female professionals.


women's fitness is much different from men's fitness. these women authors deliver workouts and eating choices just for me! thank you so much 👍

Fantastic!!

Loved every chapter in the book! Extremely relevant for the masters athlete. Will likely listen to it several times on my long runs!

Good Info for Active Women

Torn between three stars and four.

This book focuses on menopausal women who are active and otherwise healthy. Other books I've read on the subject have been more generic and I always have to wonder if what I'm reading applies to someone like me. It was comforting to hear case studies of women experiencing the same symptoms as myself.

I liked that the author covered a wide array of treatment options. I did feel like she leaned more heavily toward pharmaceuticals than she did natural options. I loved that she explained why certain activities such as heavy weight lifting and jump exercises are so important. She differed in her opinion about intermittent fasting than my own, but it's a perspective worth looking at.

That being said, all of her case study examples sort of disheartened me because although they had similar symptoms and struggles as myself, she solved their problem by giving them individualized training, diet and medical plans. Normal women like myself do not have access to their own personal exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist. And the doctors we see would never take the time to provide such a service. Also, if I were to take one of the plans she provided for these other women, I would run into so many road blocks. I can't afford a personal trainer, and would probably have a hard time finding one who specializes in women over 50. I do not have a gym nearby and would spend so much time, travel and money going to one that it would really be an obstacle for me.

I did find the provided pdf with pictures and schematics of foam rolling, jump exercises and weight lifting techniques very helpful. I will be utilizing those at home. Her tip on tart cherry juice for better sleep and joint pain alleviation was very helpful and was something I saw immediate results from. I do plan on implementing several of the things she suggested (such as weight training), however, I spent so much focus and energy training hard while I was competitive when I was younger, the thought of heavy training now sort of depresses me. I will need to find a happy medium and of course, lower my standards from what I used to be able to do.

Overall, I would recommend this book, but as always, read/listen with an open mind.

Content very good. “LHS” I find annoying

I’m not one to consider myself a prude and I’m not a saint, but while walking and listening to the book specifically chapter 6 I found the excessive use of lift heavy “shit” to be overkill and distracting and annoying. It was used so much I had trouble getting past the excessive use. For general audiences I would think there could be many other words to choose from. The content otherwise is informative and thorough and thoughtful. Maybe it’s the menopause that hearing that “shit” word like it was on a loop annoyed me more than one would expect but it really put the hair up on my neck as I just waited for it to be said again… and sure enough it was … cringeworthy

AMAZING BOOK!! Narration is so PAINFUL!

This book is downright FANTASTIC! I have followed Stacy Sims on YouTube for a while. She truly is brilliant! I trust her information and the years she spent studying the physiology of women. 💪❤️ I would definitely recommend getting the hard copy of this book as well for a couple reasons...1) you will need to have it as a reference (listening is like drinking from a firehose) and 2) the narrator is annoying. If I had not known of Stacy and her work before listening, I would not have believed a word of it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ if Stacy had read it herself.
Get the audio, but definitely the hard copy!! SO GOOD!

One Stop for Info!

So much information but useable tips to make it work daily! Love this, a great listen and recommended to all my friends!

Missing PDFs

Where are the PDFs Stacy keeps referring to? Absolutely brilliant and really want to put into practice but missing the vital files

Active women over 45 NEED this book

Excellent book which works well as an audiobook. The content is first class, a Bible for women who train (especially but not exclusively marathoners and triathletes) in perimenopause. Knowledge bombs everywhere. Builds on ROAR but also recaps what you need from that book too.

Quite good but crammed with terminology

I found this book informative and a gd listen, however, for an average Joe, some of the terminology and facts were alittle beyond me.
I found I needed pen and paper close by to make notes of micronutrients etc.
I would guess this would be alot easier with the physical book infront of you, instead of having to keep rewinding.
I also believe the book would be easier to understand by somebody already into training and clued up on what the body needs in regards to micronitrients.
But overall I've learnt quite alot about signs and symptoms of the menopause, how to naturally treat these with different types of exercise and natural adaptogens. Also that the key to it all is regular exercise, a varied, healthy diet and to 'lift heavy shit' (LHS)