393. Stronger in Midlife: Muscle, Hormones, and Longevity for Women
You Are Not Broken
October 18, 2026
Dr. Casperson is joined by Dr. Rebbecca Hertel, DO, MSCP, for a candid conversation about getting stronger through perimenopause and beyond. They talk about how hormonal shifts change training, recovery, and body composition.
Speakers Kelly Casperson, Rebbecca Hertel
TopicsMedicineHealth & Fitness
Kelly Casperson (0:00)
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Welcome to You Are Not Broken, the podcast that challenges everything we've been taught about midlife, hormones, and sexuality. I'm Dr. Kelly Casperson, board certified urologist, author, and a leading voice in women's sexual and hormone health. Enjoy the show.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the You Are Not Broken podcast. I'm doing podcasting with friends today with Dr. Rebbecca Hertel because she texted me like yesterday about podcasting. And I'm like, well, I'm getting braces on, but otherwise I'm wide open because I'm getting braces on, and you need to block your schedule when you get braces on. So here we are podcasting. Welcome.
Rebbecca Hertel (1:37)
Thank you. Thanks for having me. And by the way, you did leave that little tidbit out yesterday because I was like getting ready. We're celebrating my third daughter. She just turned 15 And so we had all the adults over too.
And I got nothing about the braces.
Kelly Casperson (1:51)
Well, I didn't want you to be like, well, it's fine if we don't. I'm like, I can do this. I can podcast and get braces on on the same day.
Rebbecca Hertel (1:57)
Well, I don't know. It doesn't bother you yet.
Kelly Casperson (2:01)
Tomorrow morning, I can do this.
Rebbecca Hertel (2:04)
Tomorrow morning, you'll be like, fucking hate. What the hell?
Kelly Casperson (2:07)
I'm still on heavy doses of prophylactic Tylenol and NSAIDs. Okay. My biggest first question for you, because the listeners obviously need to know, Rebbecca with two Bs.
Rebbecca Hertel (2:17)
Yes. It is a wonderful story.
Kelly Casperson (2:20)
Yesterday, I like flipped over it because I'm writing a bio, which I haven't even read yet. But I'm like, oh, two Bs. Do I have this spelled wrong?
Rebbecca Hertel (2:27)
So what I was hoping is I didn't reiterate to you, yes, it's two Bs and two Cs, because normally I tell everybody that. And I thought, she's going to know that I'm not spelling my name wrong. When I texted her my email, she's got to know that. So I said nothing. And then I got the email. So that's why I said, got it. So I knew that you just copy and pasted it.
Kelly Casperson (2:47)
Okay, so two Bs and Rebbecca is not the default spelling.
Rebbecca Hertel (2:52)
My mom didn't know if it was one B or two Bs. And she's like, I'm just going to go with two Bs.
Kelly Casperson (2:56)
God bless. This is before the internet, people. So like, now you can Google your kids' names and they can tell you all the good and the bad. They're like, no, don't name your child Elon Musk right now.
Wait for some time to have passed.
Rebbecca Hertel (3:09)
Rebecca from Cernybrook Farms, that is where she got Rebecca from and then wasn't sure how to spell it.
Kelly Casperson (3:13)
So I have a good close cousin named Rebecca with one B, which is why I know this. Otherwise I wouldn't, because as a child, I had to remember how to spell Rebecca's name, R-E-B-E-C-E-C-A.
Rebbecca Hertel (3:23)
Yeah, with one. And then there's a K-A-A and now it's BB. So I'm like, two.
Kelly Casperson (3:29)
We're in midlife, we can do hard things, like get braces for the second effing time.
Rebbecca Hertel (3:33)
I did that.
Kelly Casperson (3:35)
So did you also like me not wear a retainer because college?
Rebbecca Hertel (3:39)
Yes.
It was not cool. Because it was the big, huge one. They didn't have the cool things where like they put on the inside or you only have to wear them at night. This was like, you know, after two and a half years of braces as 16, 17 year old.
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