How Do Hormones Impact Women’s Strength, Recovery, and Muscle Growth?

INSIGHT | March 2026

For many women, health and fitness have long been measured by external changes: weight on a scale, visible muscle tone, or how hard a workout feels.

But functional training and recovery science is shifting the focus – inward. Understanding what’s happening inside your body – your hormones, nutrient levels, stress response, and recovery markers – can transform how you train, recover, and feel every day.

At F45 Training and Joi + Blokes, this perspective is becoming a key part of women’s fitness: pairing effective training with data-driven insights and personalized supplements that support the unique needs of your body.

Below, we’re diving deeper into this relationship between internal health and visible results – unpacking the role of hormone and lab testing for women, exploring how to match what you eat to what your body needs, and busting some of the top creatine misconceptions.

Read on for more – or activate your exclusive F45 Training x Joi + Blokes offer now to start connecting the dots between your workouts, your recovery, and your overall wellbeing.

Why internal health matters for workouts and recovery

Women’s bodies are dynamic. Hormones fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, which affects training. Stress impacts your ability to recover. And your nutritional needs – for example, how much protein your body requires – shift based on training load, sleep, and lifestyle.

But inevitably, we end up guessing. We’ve all been there – trying random supplements or experimenting with new training approaches, desperate to see what sticks.

This is why understanding what’s happening internally is so important.

Testing and personalization can help you better tailor your workouts at F45 to how your body is actually feeling. This, in turn, can support you to:

Train smarter, not just harder. Hormone balance, iron levels, vitamin D, and cortisol can all affect energy, endurance, and muscle recovery¹.

Improve recovery. If your body is low in key nutrients like magnesium, B vitamins, or omega-3s, you may feel more fatigued or sore after workouts².

Support long-term health. Bone density, metabolic health, and hormonal balance are deeply connected to how we fuel and train.

This all sounds good, you’re thinking – but how can you turn it into tangible results?

If you’re one of our members, that’s simple. F45 members can now receive 50% off their first month of personalized supplements through Joi + Blokes, making it easier to build a sustainable fitness routine that supports both training and overall health.

The role of hormone and lab testing for women

Hormone and health testing can reveal insights that are impossible to see from workouts alone. Labs may help identify:

Hormonal imbalances impacting energy, mood, or strength

Nutrient deficiencies affecting recovery and performance

Inflammation markers related to stress or overtraining

Metabolic health factors that influence fat loss and muscle building

When you have these insights, you can tailor your fitness and nutrition strategy, in real time, to ensure it accurately reflects how you’re actually feeling. This helps you better manage how your body responds to training, recovery, and stress. For example:

If your iron is low, your endurance and performance can suffer⁵.

If cortisol is elevated, your recovery may be slower⁶.

If certain vitamins are depleted, muscle repair and energy production may be affected⁷.

That’s why access to testing is becoming a major part of holistic fitness programs. As part of this approach, F45 members now receive 50% off lab testing through Joi + Blokes – making it easier to understand what’s happening internally and adjust your wellness strategy in turn.

Personalized daily supplement packs: nutrition that matches your body

Another major shift in women’s wellness is moving away from generic supplement routines and off-the-shelf nutrition – and pivoting instead to personalized daily supplement packs.

Instead of guessing what your body needs, personalized supplements can be tailored to:

Lab results

Lifestyle and activity levels

Sleep and stress patterns

Fitness goals

Dietary habits

With daily supplement packs built for your body, you can experience:

Better recovery after workouts

Hormonal balance

Energy and mental clarity

Immune and metabolic health

When it comes to women’s supplements – particularly ones as widely-used as creatine – myths abound. So read on – we’re unpacking four of them below.

Creatine for women: busting 4 creatine myths

Did you know that creatine is a naturally occurring source of energy in your body?³

Creatine is one of the most researched and effective supplements in fitness, yet many creatine misconceptions and myths still prevent women from using it. As we’re diving into strength, recovery, and muscle growth for women, understanding what creatine is – and how it benefits your body and mind – will help you function at your peak state.

Dr Lanae Mullane, ND Head of Product Development at Joi + Blokes, explains more. “Beyond supporting strength and recovery, creatine plays a meaningful role in bone health, cognitive function, cellular energy, and metabolic support.”

Let’s break down the four biggest misconceptions.

Myth 1: Creatine causes bulking for women

One of the most common creatine myths among women is that it will make you look bulky.

In reality, creatine doesn’t build and maintain large muscle mass on its own. Most creatine goes to your skeletal muscles – which means creatine helps maintain a continuous energy supply to your muscles during intense lifting or exercise⁸.

This is ideal for helping you smash through a hybrid workout at F45 (or for improving your running endurance over longer distances), but it won’t add unwanted bulk to your frame⁹.

Instead, creatine for women:

Helps muscles produce energy during high-intensity exercise

Improves strength and power output

Supports lean muscle development over time

Enables strong performance and improved muscle tone⁹

“When combined with resistance training,” adds Dr Mullane, “creatine becomes a powerful tool for preserving lean mass and supporting long-term vitality at every stage of life.”

Myth 2: Creatine causes bloating

Does creatine cause bloating?

The answer is no – creatine doesn’t cause bloating or puffiness. What it can do is increase water stored inside your muscle cells. This is called intracellular water retention, and it’s actually a good thing – helping to support muscle function, strength output, and recovery.

This is very different from subcutaneous water retention (the kind that makes you feel soft, puffy, or swollen under the skin). Creatine doesn’t pull water under the skin or cause fluid retention in the way many people worry it does.

Most women who take creatine do not experience uncomfortable bloating when taking an appropriate daily dose¹⁰. Instead, they’re more likely to observe:

Muscles appearing slightly fuller
More hydration within the muscle tissue
Enhanced recovery and performance

Myth 3: Creatine is only for bodybuilders

Wrong! Creatine’s uses and advantages extend far, far beyond the world of bodybuilding.

While it can support strength training for women, the benefits of creatine for women also include:

Strength development

Muscle preservation

Bone health

Athletic performance

Recovery between workouts

“Creatine is far more than a muscle supplement,” says Dr Mullane. “In women, hormonal shifts across the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause influence how we produce and use creatine, and research suggests women often synthesize and consume less than men.”

Creatine is also increasingly recognized for its benefits for the brain. Emerging research suggests that creatine may support brain energy metabolism and improve focus and cognitive performance, as well as reduce mental fatigue¹⁰. Want to explore the link between physical and mental health in more detail? Explore our guide to what endorphins are, what role they play in our wellbeing, and how to boost them through F45 workouts.

Myth 4: Creatine isn’t ‘natural’

When it comes to women’s supplements, many people’s reaction is that they aren’t natural – and, therefore, that they aren’t good for our bodies.

It’s another myth – because not only is creatine found in foods like meat and fish, it’s also naturally produced in the body. The body uses creatine to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the primary energy currency your muscles and brain cells rely on¹¹.

Adding extra creatine into your diet simply helps increase your body’s available energy stores, which can enhance both physical and cognitive performance – whether you’re smashing out an F45 resistance workout or mastering your mental resilience skills.

Of course, not all creatine is created equal – and it’s vital to choose a manufacturer where quality, transparency, and safety come first.

“At Joi + Blokes, we believe women deserve to know exactly what they are putting in their bodies – which means transparency is non-negotiable,” says Dr Mullane. “Our creatine is manufactured in FDA enforced, cGMP certified facilities, which meet strict federal standards for safety, purity, and consistency. Every ingredient is tested to confirm potency and purity, and members can view the Certificate of Analysis directly on our website. That includes heavy metal testing, potency verification, and batch-specific results. Our creatine also carries a 9.25 SuppCo Trustscore rating, reflecting both quality and trust.”

A new era of women’s fitness: data + strength + personalization

Women’s health and fitness is moving beyond one-size-fits-all programs.

The future is about personalization. It’s about using the right methods – such as hormone and health testing, then using that to understand what’s happening inside your body.

But beyond that, it’s about how you use this information: to train with intention, and curate the right mix of science-backed women’s supplements. Through this, you can recover faster and work out in ways that not only make you stronger now – but support lifelong health.

And, if you’re a member of your local F45 studio, it’s never been easier than right now. With access to discounted labs and personalized daily supplement packs through Joi + Blokes, it’s your opportunity to connect the dots between workouts, recovery, and overall wellbeing.

Because the strongest version of you isn’t just built in the gym. It’s supported by understanding what your body is saying. So activate your exclusive F45 Training x Joi + Blokes offer now – and start listening to it.