Ep 583 - Meet the Researchers: Hormones and Fascia with Katja Bartsch

Meet the researchers! Rachelle and Nicole continue in this series of conversations with fascia researchers from around the globe. Hormones are talking to the cells that build our fascia. In this episode, researcher Dr. Katja Bartsch of Munich, Germany shares how she's been listening in on that conversation and tells us what it means for the women on our massage tables. 

Dr. Bartsch is exploring an emerging and under-studied question in her research: how do female hormones — and the drop in estrogen through menopause — affect our connective tissues? Listen as she updates us on the current findings. Rachelle and Nicole discuss how the science translates to the treatment room, and why so many women in midlife arrive at our massage tables with new pain and stiffness. The research is early and the answers aren't simple, but the questions are ones every bodyworker will want to hear.

Dr. Katja Bartsch is a sports scientist and fascia researcher at the Technical University of Munich. She is a Board-Certified Structural Integration practitioner, an E-RYT 500 yoga educator, and author of Optimizing Women's Health and Training: Embracing Female Physiology for Performance and Wellbeing (UBC Press, 2025). Dr. Bartsch teaches anatomy, fascia physiology, and female hormones in trainings and workshops across Europe, including with Yoga Medicine, and through her own platform, Kalamana Yoga (kalamanayoga.com).

Resources:

Dr. Katja Bartsch's book: Optimizing Women's Health and Training: Embracing Female Physiology for Performance and Wellbeing (UBC Press, 2025)

AnatomySCAPES continuing education: anatomyscapes.com

Journey into the MATRIX: the Fascial System dissection lab workshop in San Diego this September 15-17, 2026: anatomyscapes.com/matrix

Questions? [email protected]

 

Image of Katja Bartsch.

Episode Hosts

Meet our hosts

  • Nicole Trombley Photo

    Nicole Trombley

    Nicole Trombley is an educator, author, and longtime massage therapist. Drawing on her background in biology and biochemistry, she has a passion for helping therapists better understand the tissues under their hands. She is the co-director of AnatomySCAPES, a continuing education provider of highly interactive dissection lab workshops and online courses that help massage therapists understand what real anatomy looks and feels like and how it moves and relates to its surroundings. AnatomySCAPES CE offerings can be found at anatomyscapes.com.