Women's Health Fall 2025

CARDIOLOGY Jennifer H. Mieres, MD Professor of cardiology, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell; senior vice president, Center for Equity of Care, Northwell Health DERMATOLOGY Mona Gohara, MD Associate clinical professor, department of dermatology, Yale School of Medicine Ellen Marmur, MD Founder, Marmur Medical Joshua Zeichner, MD Director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City FAMILY MEDICINE Navya Mysore, MD Primary care physician; sexual and reproductive health expert FERTILITY Sheeva Talebian, MD Fertility specialist and reproductive endocrinologist, CCRM New York FITNESS Ariel Belgrave, CPT Board-certified health and fitness coach; Under Armour athlete; creator of the L.E.A.N. Method; DEI wellness expert Ben Bruno, CFSC Certified functional strength coach and private trainer Sohee Carpenter, MS, CSCS Evidence-based fitness coach and certified sports nutritionist; author…

When you hear the word coach, who or what comes to mind? A coach has the power to change the trajectory of your path. In our cover feature, coach Dawn Staley and basketball star A’ja Wilson reflect on their origin story. Dawn believed in A’ja at an early age: She could see that the tall teen from South Carolina had potential, but that she certainly wasn’t there yet. A lot of trust-building, hours of work on the court (and off) in college and beyond, and many tears and years later, A’ja is a threetime WNBA MVP and Dawn is one of the most iconic coaches of all time. They credit their support of, and belief in, each other for propelling them to where they are today. Now, there are no…

Generational Inspiration When WH associate health and fitness editor Addison Aloian, 25, began working on a story about her mom’s strength transformation, she didn’t expect to be so moved by 63-year-old Dena’s grit and hard work. (Read the piece: WomensHealthMag.com/dena-aloian-crews.) Motivation Goes Both Ways “When I was Addison’s age, it was all about being thin. Now her generation has embraced being strong—and honestly, being strong is way cooler. Addison is never afraid to try new things; she lifts heavy and she’s training for the NYC marathon. I’m so proud of how she approaches life, and you can see that same mindset in her workouts.” —Dena Daughter Reflections “Watching my mom embrace her muscles and proudly show them off taught me that it’s not just okay for women to be strong—it’s…

Several years ago, at age 60, Mona Weiger decided to give her son Kyle’s online fitness program a go. His video tutorials focused on mastering handstands—a move Mona “never dreamed I’d be able to do,” she says. But she joined to support her son. Just two months later, the formerly sedentary court reporter was able to kick up and hold without wall support. “Eventually, I could hold for five seconds, which actually felt like five minutes,” she says. Today? Mona can remain in a handstand for 30 seconds at a time—and she’s not done yet. “The thing about doing handstands is that you’re always reaching for the next goal,” she says, adding that she’s now focused on improving her alignment. Beyond the physical perks, she’s gained self-assurance. Holding back tears,…

Aim to train at least three times a week. If you wanted to be a better runner but ran only once a week for two miles, you’d see slow progress, Kyle explains. The same goes for handstands. You don’t need hours each session; just 15 minutes of drills (like the workout here) at the end of your regular strength workouts can make a difference. Don’t skip the warmup. Kyle makes sure his wrists, shoulders, hips, and hamstrings are warmed up, and he spends time in a seated straddle position, he says. “I’m getting loose. I’m getting mobile. I never ever handstand cold.” This one is easy if you’re incorporating handstands into a regularly scheduled strength program that already includes a solid warmup. Hit the wall. After warming up, spend a…

1. Total-Body Strength “You’re concentrating so much on doing the drills that you don’t really realize you’re getting a workout in,” Mona says. She noticed the results during daily tasks like shoveling snow and loading 40-pound bags of birdseed into her car. “I used to have to ask the store employees to load the bags into my car, but now I can do that myself, as my upper body and back muscles are much stronger.” 2. Fat Loss When she turned 40, she started seeing additional belly fat accumulating, and menopause seemed to make it worse. But after working on handstands, she noticed that her clothes fit better and she was losing weight in her midsection. “The more consistent I stayed with handstand practice, the more my appetite increased, but…