March 7, 2024 • 37 mins
In our first guest interview, we learn from an expert how midlifers can build a sustainable workout practice even if we're short on time and if our bodies and minds are unwilling. Ann Brennan, a Fitness Practitioner and Personal Trainer at Applied Fitness Solutions, shares tips on how to find the motivation to get fit and stick to a program that is both effective and enjoyable. She discusses the importance of frequency and intensity when planning a workout schedule and mixing strength-training exercises with cardio.
About Our Guest
Ann Brennan has been a fitness professional in Ann Arbor, Michigan since graduating with a Master’s in Exercise Physiology in 2014.
Ann specializes in helping people begin and sustain strength training exercise programs. She has several years of experience and specialized certifications to help clients improve health through exercise despite diagnoses including diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, lower back pain, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease. She will soon begin the process to become a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach.
Thanks for listening--keep on marauding!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
So we are very lucky today to have in the studio our
(00:04):
first guest for our talk show.
And so I'd like to introduce AnnBrennan--she has been a fitness
professional in Ann Arbor,Michigan since graduating with a
master's in exercise physiologyin 2014. So prior to studying ex
phys she grew up in Indiana, shestudied political science as an
undergrad at Miami University inOhio and has lived in many
(00:26):
different cities, includingWashington, DC, Madrid, and
London and Paris. And Ann and Imet while we were getting our
MBAs at the University ofMaryland and College Park, and
she really helped me get throughthe really tough statistics and
accounting classes. And she's adear friend of mine and has a
great sense of humor. So we'reso happy to have her here today.
And really, I think the timingis great, because I feel like
(00:48):
I'm at my low in terms offitness. And so I really wanted
to bring her in today to talk tous about you know, at this stage
in our lives what we should bedoing fitness wise, I'm so happy
to have her here. Welcome, Ann.
Welcome, Ann.
Hey, guys, thank you for havingme. See you. So and when I
(01:09):
texted you about being on theshow, you got the podcast title
right away. So I wanted to findout are you A Tribe Called Quest
fam? Like how did you know rightaway that the connection, but
like Max full disclosure, therewas when I was looking up the
podcast, there was somethingon one of the either the YouTube
or Spotify, it said somethingabout where the title came from.
(01:33):
And so and so. But then Iappreciated it because I am I am
a tribe fan. And I'll go that'snot my favorite album, which is
your favorite album. When afterthat, or the weekend I was
trying to think of my favoritealbum. It's the one that has
like Can I kick it you know,instinctual
people's instinct. Yeah. But Iremember the 90s. I owned low in
(01:57):
theory.
So I've always liked tribe, andnow in the gym where I've worked
now. No one theory I think isthe second one
is and so we listened to a goodbit of, of tribe in the gym. You
know, when I can get that going?
Yeah, that's a great. Yeah. So.
So I love that your podcastcalled back to, you know, people
(02:20):
who were listening to them inthe 90s. And that's, that's our
generation. Yes. And then we'lland I actually met when we were
DJs at UVA. And so that's ourconnection to so Oh, okay. Yeah.
So really excited about youbeing here. And being a tribe.
Yes. Thank you. Yeah. And Iheard you and Max went to
business school together. Canyou share a little bit about how
(02:42):
you guys met your background?
And what motivated you to becomea personal trainer?
Sure, yeah. Well,it was awesome meeting Max and
business school, because, youknow, she and I think, sort of
went to business school forsimilar reasons. We've been
working in nonprofits and justkind of feeling a little stuck
in our 20s, and wanting to dosomething else. And so when we
(03:04):
met, and then also our otherfriend, a partner in crime,
Shauna, we were the threeliberal arts majors here at this
kind of highly quantitativeUniversity of Maryland, business
school, everybody else seem tohave undergraduate degrees in
business or engineering. So wewere these, like Three
Musketeers of liberal artsdetermined to do well, in stats
(03:26):
and accounting and finance. Sowe stuck together and Max, you
know, of course, the serialentrepreneur that she is,
you know, helped us, the threeof us.
We did we, we were our friendwas getting married and shopping
(03:47):
for wedding dresses. And so wehad this idea of, let's disrupt
the wedding dress industry. Andso we went about making a
business plan for that how wewere going to just radicalise
this industry that seems so oldfashioned. And yeah, we had a
good time dreaming that up. Itwas really it was those were two
(04:08):
very special years. Yeah, thatwas really fun.
Back then you were a bigswimmer, and so is that kind of
how you got into fitness?
Yes, that's been the thread of,you know, the many careers and
jobs that I've had. I've always,I've always been a swimmer. And
so then when I was in my 40s,are just about to turn 40. I
(04:32):
decided to train for atriathlon. And it was in
studying that training that mademe so interested in exercise
science. And so I decided Ididn't know that was a field.
And so that's when I decided togo into it in my early 40s to do
this really major career change,which I'm glad I did, because
I've learned a lot. I reallylove working with people helping
(04:54):
them feel better. And it's beenit's been a rewarding career so
far, and Iand I love it. And I still work
out all the time. Was that ahard decision at that time?
Like, were you kind ofcontemplating? Oh, should I do
this? Or should I not? Or was itpretty clear?
It was hard because, you know, Iwas in, I was in a good job at
the University of Michigan. Andyou know, and I had two young
(05:17):
kids at home, elementary schoolaged kids. And so it was hard,
like, can I really do this? CanI kind of make this sacrifice,
our whole family was gonna haveto sacrifice for me to, you
know, step away from income andgo back to school, because I
needed prereqs to I didn't havechemistry and, you know, anatomy
(05:37):
physiology as as an undergrad,so I had to go back and do all
that stuff before the masters.
So it was a big sacrifice thatthe whole family made,
which I'm looking back, it wasthe right decision, it seems
like, right. I agree. I think itwas, and I'm glad I did it. And
you know, my family is glad I'min. I'm in a career, I'm really
(05:59):
happy. And it's been a goodthing. Yeah, a lot of people
have that. That's awesome. Iknow, we're still
we're still trying to get tothat level for sure. Exactly.
But it's really inspiring tohear that. So what about, tell
us more about your job rightnow? Like what types of clients
you work with? Are you workingwith people like us in midlife,
(06:20):
tell us more about that. Yeah,I've worked, I worked for a
small gym, that we do have aheavy focus on strength
training. And so we have, it'snot a gym, where you can just,
you just go and lift, like atyour, you know, kind of
neighborhood change in, youknow, you just go and lift
whenever you want. At hours, youhave an individualized program.
(06:44):
And then you sign up for a classin which you do your own
program. So it's not like we'reready to begin the 10 o'clock
class, but people come or littlebefore tad little after 10. And
then they're doing their programthat we've made for them based
on their needs, their goals,their limitations. And so, you
know, we cap out at 15. Sothere's 15 People Max in the gym
(07:05):
with two trainers, they're doingtheir own programs, we're
floating around, you know,making sure form is correct,
motivating, answering questions,that kind of thing. So the
people who want to be in a gymlike that, are usually
well, it's kind of pricey, sothey have money, but they're,
they're very motivated, theyreally want the help and
(07:26):
instruction, they don't justwant to go do their, you know,
three sets of 10 benchpress. Andleave, they really want to take
the time to do things right,maybe they're recovering from an
injury, maybe they have had ahealth issue. But they're,
they're pretty motivated tolearn to listen. And so these
(07:47):
people there a lot of midlife,you know, I fit right in, I
could read it with our Jim, andan older to lots of older
people. And the younger peoplethat we have there, sometimes
they're the children of members.
And, and sometimes they're justyounger people, maybe in the
tech industry that work nearbyor something like that, where
(08:09):
they have a they have a need ora goal where this kind of gym
format really speaks to them.
And so I do that, you know, soI'm a trainer, these classes,
like I've said, and I also havesome one on one clients too. And
people who want to do personaltraining. You know, I have
clients with osteoporosis,scoliosis, other kinds of back
(08:33):
issues, anxiety, you know, wheresometimes there's some barriers
to wanting to work out in agroup setting. And so, so I
have, you know, kind of myriadclients, but
lots of mid lifers, you know, soI can really relate to those
issues and struggles. Is it allis it sorry, are your clients
(08:57):
all in person? Or do you do any,they are all in person. I wasn't
working there during thepandemic.
In the pandemic, my fitnesscareer kind of blew up. I was
working at a YMCA. And so thatshut down. And so I actually
wasn't working in fitness forabout two years, because
(09:17):
everything's just sort of shutdown. So it's great to be back.
Okay, that's great. I thoughtwhen you said blew up, it was
like, Oh, really? Oh, yeah. No.
in the other direction. Yeah.
Hey, Dan, I want to ask you havea question. Since this is a
midlife podcast, what are theparticular challenges related to
(09:38):
fitness and health? That midlifers face that are different
from other age groups? And howdo we overcome and I know for
me, like, I've beensomewhat exercising for years
andI think I know what I'm doing.
But as I get older, I'm becomingless sure of what I'm doing.
Like for example, you know, I'mjust talking to men of my age,
(10:01):
you know, that used to liftheavy and do things, you know,
concentrate on heavier weightsand that sort of thing. And, you
know, now I'm more concernedabout
dialing that back. Because Idon't want the pressure on my
heart. I've heard of peoplehaving issues with their hearts
(10:23):
becoming and large because ofheavy weight. So what can we do
as midlife is to make sure thatwe're doing our exercises
properly?
That's, that's a really greatquestion and a question that we
get a lot, because, and onereason that, I'm guessing you're
asking that is because there'sjust so much out there, there's
(10:44):
just so much. And there's a lotof mixed messages too.
And so, you know, what I seewith people our age is,
sometimes there'ssome motivational issues, but
like,you know, maybe they're feeling
guilty, because they're notworking out, like they should,
(11:05):
you know, there's a lot ofshoulds. And that's, and so, you
know, so or maybethey feel like, you know,
customers with older people,they've, they've had the health
scare, they've had thediagnosis, and they can come in
and be very motivated. People inmidlife that are hanging on to
the health of youhave this abstract, like, I
(11:26):
should do this, because I mightwant to prevent illness, but
it's hard. It's, it feels alittle bit abstract at this
point. And so that can bedifficult to motivate,
especially, you know, midlife,there's, there's serious time
constraints, you know, your yourcareer is, is, you know, either
full steam, or maybe you'remaking a transition but careers,
(11:48):
you know, front and center. Andif you have a family, they're
front and center, too. And soit's it, there can be real time
pressures for this age group, infitting in the exercise. And so,
you know, the thing that thatI'd like to recommend for people
to kind of think about what theyshould be doing, and how is to
(12:12):
first think about your ownpersonal values. I mean, where
are you sitting? That's becauseyou're not going to stay
motivated. If it's someoneelse's goal. Yeah, you know, if
it's your spouse's goal, yourdoctor's goal, that's
gonna get yourunning three days a week for a
(12:33):
couple of weeks. But as soon aslike, the tiniest hurdle
appears, you're just not goingto keep doing it, because that
wasn't your goal within you. Soif you think about like, what do
you really value spending timewith your family? You value like
kicking butt at work? Do youvalue?
intellectual pursuits? You know,do you value sports competition,
(12:57):
you know, whatever that thing isyour social life, that you need
to think about prioritizingthose values. And then, as far
as like, Where does your healthreally fit in with that, and you
got to be honest with yourself,because if, if it's a little bit
low on the totem pole, and itmeans you're going to take 230
(13:19):
minute walks per week, that'ssomething you can stick with,
you know, if if that's whatyou're going to make your goal,
then then maybe that's somethingyou can really stick with,
because you've, you've set it upin your in your list of
priorities.
You know, if you set yourselfkind of a doable goal,
meet that, you might be ready totake on another challenge, oh,
(13:40):
hey, I could fit in those 230minute walks, they're feeling
pretty good. I think maybe Iwant to try to add this other
thing, or maybe I'll try joggingor something like that. But it
really comes down to with thisage group, being very realistic
about your time and your values.
And that's, that's what I haveseen really help people. Because
(14:02):
the best program in the worlddoesn't do you any good. If you
can't do it, you know?
Or you're not motivated to doso.
Yeah, but would you say like, ifyou came to us, or if we came to
you and said, Hey, what's thebest exercise regimen? For us? I
(14:23):
know, it's somewhat customized,right, depends on our priorities
and our values. But what wouldyou say, you know, what would
you recommend, I guess, in termsof our age, and what do we need
at this time? Like, I have anhour to do, you know, whatever,
what would you Okay, well, so,you know, again, kind of similar
to what I've seen before the,the best exercise is typically
(14:44):
the one you'll keep doing,right? But, you know, there's a
lot of talk on the web, like,Oh, you got to do hit. It's the
best training. That's that's thebest you know, and so it can be
confusing or you got to docardio zone to you have to do
that.
So that's, that can bedifficult, you know, with all
these things that are liketouted as the best. Right? You
(15:06):
know, the the nationalguidelines are 150 minutes of
moderate,moderate to higher than that
intensity, you know, which ismeans like your heart rate is
high enough where you can talk,but it's more difficult. So 150
minutes of that a week plus twodays of strength training. So
(15:28):
that's like, the recommendation,very few, very few Americans our
age meet that beat that.
Just, it's hard, that's a lot.
That's a lot. But that that'sthe recommendation. And so, as
far as how you're going to getthose minutes, you know, if you,
(15:48):
if you kind of dig into theguidelines,
you can get those minutes. A lotof different ways. It doesn't
have to be 530 minute workouts,you can do. I don't know, if
you've seen sometimes peopletalk about exercise snacks, you
know, where you do a 10 minuteworkout between zoom calls, or
(16:11):
between meetings or somethinglike that. You can do
I've seen, and I've done, likethe seven minute workout, you
know, it's it's, it's prettyintense, squats, push ups, you
know, and, and you can get thatdone. And those things add up
150A week, okay, so, so, you know,
(16:32):
when I say the best one is theone you'll do, it's it, you the
main thing is getting thatintensity, you really want to be
able to get your heart rate upsomewhat. Okay. Okay. And the
other thing is, you really wantto do something that has some
weight bearing feature, likewhether that's resistance
(16:55):
training with bands or weights,even walking or dancing, like as
a swimmer, swimming in andcycling or not weight bearing.
So, you know, especially forwomen, because of bone density
loss, which just happens toeveryone, as you start going
through menopause, your musclestarts to go away, your bone
(17:17):
density starts to deteriorate.
weight bearing exercise andstrength training are very
important. But if you lovecycling, and swimming, don't
stop doing them. But just add onthese other things. It's really
need to find joy in what, indoing something. And because
that's going to help you stickwith it, you need to like it.
(17:38):
And I want to ask you, I want toask you a question.
I debate with my friends a lotabout
cardio versus HIIT training. Ifind that
in my 50s It's hard for me to docardio, first of all, I don't
like running anyway. So thatmakes it easier for me. So I
(18:01):
tend to side more with the hittraining. What do you feel about
that? I just don't see thatagain, in my debate with
friends, you know, you know, Irun I jog. I do all this. And,
you know, they don't seem to behitting their their goals. I
mean, they're getting theircardiovascular health, but they
(18:21):
don't seem to be, you know, iftheir goal is to lose weight or
anything like that. They don'tseem to be changing their body
with that. What do you recommendfor people? Our age as far as
should we do cardio? Should wedo hit? So we do should cover
incorporate both? What are yourfeelings on that? So yeah,
(18:43):
that's a really good question. Imean, hit is awesome. Because
it just, it's efficient. Ittakes less time. Yeah. Right.
And you really get your heartrate up. And hit workouts are
alsothey can be really just fun and
high energy, you know, acircuit.
Switch it up. Yeah, for sure.
It's really they can be reallyfun. And so hit is.
(19:09):
I will always recommend hitokay. Okay. But the thing when
you were talking when you'retalking about cardio, because
hit is easy. Is it type ofcardio? Correct. And so the the
cardio that you were referringto in your other example is what
we call kind of long, slowdistance or you know, which, for
(19:29):
a lot of peoplethe mental health benefits are
enormous. And so for a lot ofpeople, they're doing it you
know, the mental benefits ofexercise across the board are
well documented, butyou know, there's some people
who just I know with swimming,for people with running for
people who do like, one boringthing for a long time.
(19:52):
There's there's a lot of mentalhealth benefits and just sort of
tuning out stress reduction,that kind of thing.
thing. But as far as likechanging your body, you're
right, though that kind of thatkind of workout does not tend to
change your body, you know,because, like calorie, calorie
(20:12):
spent and that kind of thing,you know, those the calorie
counters, you can't you can'ttrust those, those are those are
based on, those are absolutelybased on averages. Your watch
doesn't know how you burn, youknow, it has no idea how you
burn, it knows, it might know,like,
you know, the average 50 yearold male might burn between this
(20:34):
and this, you know, but there's,there's just so many factors
that go into that. So, you know,as far as like, wanting to lose
weight, or change your bodycomposition or something like
that.
Cardio alone is not really theof either type cardio, writ
(20:55):
large or hit specifically,that's not really going to
change your body composition,very much nutrition changes are
really what changed the body.
You know, exercise is great andshould be a part of any sort of
body composition changingprogram. But but it's the study
after study show that it's thenutrition changes that really
(21:15):
make the difference in in losingweight and putting on muscle. So
I hope that helps you with inyour debate, it will
given me more ammunition andthen that, for sure. I
appreciate that. I want to addto that, like how should someone
go about picking a personaltrainer? What were tracers
(21:37):
should you look for? And whatare the typical packages and
price points on that? And so,yeah, so for personal training,
I mean, you need to find someonewho you feel like you can have a
good relationship with, youknow, you got to have that, that
vibe with them? Andhow do you get that? Like, do
you have some, you know, certainquestions, like sometimes maybe
(21:59):
a younger person might workbetter for me, you know, like,
it's just a feeling they don'tneed to, you don't need to have
anything like, actually incommon with them. But it's, it's
a feeling that you'll get whenyou see when they listen to you,
you know? And because if you gosee a trainer, and they already
(22:19):
know what you need before askingyou stuff, you know, that's, you
need to pause. And really thinkabout that, because the trainer
needs to design a program basedon what you need? And how do
they find out what you need,they need to ask you questions.
And you might you might havekind of vague answers, like I
(22:40):
want to get in shape, I want tofeel better, well, then it's the
trainers job to kind of dig intothat, and help you establish
some goals that feel good toyou. And so once you and the
trainer agree on some of thesegoals, then
(23:01):
it's important that the trainerwill kind of have you at a, you
know, do an assessment to seewhere are you now? Let's just do
kind of like a day zeroassessment, based on what the
the parameters that are going tobe important to you? Is it
strength? Is it cardiovascularendurance, is it flexibility? Is
(23:23):
it balance? You know, what arethese? What are these things
that you want to change? Andthen design the program that
makes sense with your timing?
You know, what, if you can onlymeet once a week, what if you
meet three times a week, likethe program? Will? We'll need to
account for what you can do, youknow, your availability, your
adventure? Yeah, exactly. Andthen and a good trainer will
(23:47):
design things that that will fityour life. And then and then
a good trainer will then youknow, help you with this
program. And then assess you ata certain date. You know, like
you'll know that in advance.
We're going to do it threemonths, we're going to do these
(24:08):
tests again, and see where youare. And you might do those
tests. Some things have changed,some haven't. But in the
meantime, maybe you've decided,well, I've really liked working
on this aspect, which I didn'trealize I would enjoy so much.
I'm going to change my goals. Iwant to do this now. You know
and so, so when you have thesecheckpoints, every few months or
(24:31):
whatever you decide, that helpsyou stay on track because the
thing is, you know, a goodpersonal trainer has a lot of
experience and education andexpertise.
They don't even really theydon't just want to be your
workout buddy. You know what Imean? And so don't use them as
that if you want to workoutbuddy just get a workout buddy.
Right but if you but but get thefull advantage of having
(24:57):
experienced certified trainerthat can
Ah, you know, really help youshape your goals. Design a
program that gets you to yourgoals, because, you know, I know
one of the advantages of havingto trainers, that sort of
accountability piece, you know,well, I've paid
the appointment, I have to showup, even though I don't really
(25:18):
feel like it today. And there'ssomething to be said for that.
But really, going back to thevalues thing, it needs to, you
need to want this for yourself,you know what I mean, for it to
be sustainable. And just,and just because you've paid the
money or made the appointment,that's, that's not really going
to be enough to sustain a lot ofpeople. And so, really being
(25:45):
invested in your goals, like thetrainer is, I think, is going to
help help somebody stick withit. And that's, that's how you
can have a really goodexperience with with a trainer
when you know, you're workingtogether, on on these goals, and
they have your back and they'redesigning this program, to to
get you there and to also adjustif there's bumps in the road,
(26:06):
you know, you get sick, you getan injury, you got to be able to
weather those things that help,is there a minimum amount of
time that you should commit?
Like say, if you want to givesomebody a trial, you know, you
want to try out a trainer? Likewhat when How long should you
expect for things to be like,okay, and doing well at this,
you know, or, you know, how longshould you actually give one
(26:28):
minute well guess at our gym, wewe do things in in 90 days, you
know, okay, we kind of have likean on a 90 day onboarding
program, we try to assess ourclients, around every 90 days,
sometimes it gets to be longerthan that if there was like a
break or something like that,but
(26:51):
but I'd give it 90 days, if youfeel like the investment is so
huge. I don't want to wait thatlong, then you know, of course
make it to what makes sense foryou. But you got to give it
you've got to give it a littlebit of a shot to to see how
that's working. And that's myquestion. I think I've been
resist. I've never had apersonal trainer, but I feel
like I could benefit from it.
Because I can never stick to anexercise routine. So I don't
(27:12):
know, well, have you had atrainer before? No, I've had
people offer to trainI, I see the benefit of having a
trainer, like I said theaccountability factor ever.
Plus, if you're paying them,then you don't want to, you
know, waste your money. But I'venever personally had a fitness
trainer.
(27:35):
And do you have a trainer? Doyou have one yourself?
Right my own workouts, okay. ButI have the advantage of
with my colleagues who are veryexperienced traders, and so.
So it's really, it's reallygood. And we Our gym is closed
from one to three. And so that'skind of like staff workouts. And
(27:56):
so it's really fun to, you know,work out at that time and talk
about because, you know, myprogram that I write for myself
is is, is for swimming, youknow, and so. So mine's a little
bit different than some of theother people and so it's just
fun to like, talk about it,debate it and yeah, get help. So
yeah, I'd recommend having atrainer, if that's something
(28:19):
that makes sense for what you'retrying to do. You know, and
it's, it's not for everybody,and there are people, you know,
there's just, there's bad actorsin every industry. There's
people who, you know, just wantto make that money, but, but
really, people go into personaltraining, because they love
health and fitness. You know,it's not really a career you go
to for the money. Okay, but sowe shouldn't be skeptical or
(28:43):
suspicious of people. healthyskepticism is always good. But
But yeah,I would definitely I think it
can really help to have atrainer because they can really
open your eyes toways of moving that you hadn't
thought about ways of you know,because the other thing about
midlife is sometimes we get alittle we've gotten a little
(29:04):
stiff in our 50s You know, andjoints don't really work the way
they did before. And so, youknow, before your, you're gonna
hit that benchpress and try, youknow, to like max out on that. A
good trainer will, you know, bemaking sure how are your
shoulders, let's test how thosemoves. And let's see what we can
do to get them ready so that youso they're not going to get
(29:26):
injured so you can use themuscles that you want to use. So
that injury prevention isanother big thing. You know, for
our our age group, injuryprevention and sometimes
recovery. Do you guysincorporate stretching or
plyometrics or something to getthe joints you know,
(29:47):
activated and loose and limberfor totally, totally. Yeah, we
we have a lot offlexibility mobility exercises
that we recommend for People andand so yeah, that's we've had
people in pain or stiff or likelimited range of motion who, you
(30:09):
know, after working at our gym,even before they start kind of
lifting heavy, that we have themusing bands and different
exercises to get that jointwhere we can move in a healthy
way again. And so that can bethat's, that's as important as
any aspect of strength training.
(30:29):
Really gotcha because that'swhat I struggle with. I'm one of
those people that you probablywouldn't like, because I don't I
just go right into it. And everytime I do, I think to myself, I
probably should have stressedout before I started doing
after hobbling. Yeah, and I'mworking on stretching out after
(30:50):
I'm doing a better job of that.
But I do need to anybody outthere listening you you got to
incorporate that stuff,especially in your midlife
years, because the stiffness isno joke. And and I mean that
that will deter you from workingout. Yeah, the flexibility is
very important. Because justlike everything, it just goes
(31:11):
right, you know, you getstiffer. So, so just, you know,
working on flexibility. And thenthe other thing is balance. You
know, this is, you know, notwaiting, not waiting till you
fall. Right, right, just, youknow, and so the way we work and
unbalanced with a lot of peoplein our age group is it's not
technically like that we'regonna work on balance now, but
(31:34):
just doing things one leg at atime. Okay. That's, that's a
great way to work on balance,lunges, step ups, you know,
those areany single leg, you know, a
single leg squat to a bench.
These are great ways to work onbalance, because sometimes you
don't realize that you have animbalance to do a single leg
(31:55):
activity, right? You know,because you're always
compensating so.
So yeah, having balance in theback of your mind, is something
important tothis is so informative. So if we
wanted to work with you, we'dhave to move to Michigan, right?
Yes, you weren't. It's a greattown.
(32:16):
Well, we would love to have youback on the show. And maybe if
you can give us some kind offitness challenge. It doesn't
fit all but like if you cameback and like say six months or
something like that, where wouldyou want to see us or what what
can you challenge us with? Okay,this was a fitness challenge.
Yes. It was something, please.
(32:40):
Without knowing really very muchabout what you're doing now,
although it didn't sound likeyou're doing something to
regular.
I am she isn't? Hi.
Yeah. Hey, I'm on mystretching. He's not I'm not
stretching, but I am on a on afitness fitness journey. I got
started. Yeah, I've gotthis just sounds vain. But I've
(33:04):
got some trips coming up thisyear.
A wedding in Cancun Vegas. Mysister just called me talking
about what we should take thefamily to Belize. So I don't
want to be the fat guy outthere. I don't want to be the,
you know, the most out of shapedude out there. So I am working
(33:25):
out pretty much.
I would say about five times aweek now. Strength training and
hit training and that sort ofthing. So I am on a fitness
journey. So. Okay, yeah. So I'mhighly motivated. Excellent.
That is great. So, you know,within within six months,
(33:49):
you know, maybe you canI was trying to think of a like
a flexibility goal. You know,maybe you can talk about
you've, you've stretchedtwice a week, between now and
the next six months, you'vebuilt up a twice a week
stretching habit, you know, andso,
(34:13):
you know, before I get to Max's,I'll just say that sometimes,
you know, when we talk aboutgoal setting.
It's an important goal to havethese it's called, like a
process goal. Like, you know,I'm not saying you need to have
a goal that where you're goingto bench you know, to 25 but
a goal about like, how oftenyou're going to work out that
(34:36):
can be a really powerful goalbecause that's something
you really have a lot of controlover. You know,
as far as you know, being ableto squat 1.5 your bodyweight
like, you might not have so muchcontrol over that goal, but you
can control like how much effortyou put into something so,
(34:56):
So Max, yours is going to beUm, I challenge you to
report back on some activitycompleted. I want to know the
frequency and what the activitywas over six months. Okay, well,
whether that's a penny, youstarted walking twice a week or
(35:20):
you start you joined a class orwhatever that was, let's say
your that's your buddyconsistency. Okay. So it is
really important consistency.
And effort. Yeah.
Okay, and the effort comesthrough with the, you know, the
getting your heart rate up.
Okay, so that's, I can do that.
That's helpful. I love it, howyou don't set the bar super
(35:41):
high. It's like, what what canwhat you can do those, like
those seven minute workouts, hewas talking about those little
mini mini workout exercises.
There you go. I like to do itlike, I'll do.
Like a pretty hard like aCrossFit type work workout, but
(36:01):
then I won't do it again forlike, a couple of weeks. So it's
very up and down. And then andthen I'm really sore and work
out again, you know, I know thatsoreness, go away.
Increase the frequency. Okay,you know,
but maybe across our workoutstoo. takes too much time. Right?
(36:22):
You know, so you need to findsome some smaller that you can
do. You've given us a lot tothink about. I actually was
actually very educated. Okay,I'm glad I might get a trainer.
But thank you so much for beingto learn so much valuable
information. I'm ready to go. Ihave to make sure that I keep
going. Yeah, I love this sixmonth, check in and I will hold
(36:44):
her feet to the fire. I will askher you know, what does she do?
You know, and I expect her to dothe same thing. To me. I think
countability is 100 100%important part.
Thanks for joining us for thisepisode of midlife marauders.
Follow us on social media andwherever you stream your
(37:05):
podcast. We also want to give abig shout out to Frank moinmoin
music for providing the beatsfor our theme music and to our
listeners. Keep on marauding andsee you next time.
So we are very lucky today to have in the studio our
(00:04):
first guest for our talk show.
And so I'd like to introduce AnnBrennan--she has been a fitness
professional in Ann Arbor,Michigan since graduating with a
master's in exercise physiologyin 2014. So prior to studying ex
phys she grew up in Indiana, shestudied political science as an
undergrad at Miami University inOhio and has lived in many
(00:26):
different cities, includingWashington, DC, Madrid, and
London and Paris. And Ann and Imet while we were getting our
MBAs at the University ofMaryland and College Park, and
she really helped me get throughthe really tough statistics and
accounting classes. And she's adear friend of mine and has a
great sense of humor. So we'reso happy to have her here today.
And really, I think the timingis great, because I feel like
(00:48):
I'm at my low in terms offitness. And so I really wanted
to bring her in today to talk tous about you know, at this stage
in our lives what we should bedoing fitness wise, I'm so happy
to have her here. Welcome, Ann.
Welcome, Ann.
Hey, guys, thank you for havingme. See you. So and when I
(01:09):
texted you about being on theshow, you got the podcast title
right away. So I wanted to findout are you A Tribe Called Quest
fam? Like how did you know rightaway that the connection, but
like Max full disclosure, therewas when I was looking up the
podcast, there was somethingon one of the either the YouTube
or Spotify, it said somethingabout where the title came from.
(01:33):
And so and so. But then Iappreciated it because I am I am
a tribe fan. And I'll go that'snot my favorite album, which is
your favorite album. When afterthat, or the weekend I was
trying to think of my favoritealbum. It's the one that has
like Can I kick it you know,instinctual
people's instinct. Yeah. But Iremember the 90s. I owned low in
(01:57):
theory.
So I've always liked tribe, andnow in the gym where I've worked
now. No one theory I think isthe second one
is and so we listened to a goodbit of, of tribe in the gym. You
know, when I can get that going?
Yeah, that's a great. Yeah. So.
So I love that your podcastcalled back to, you know, people
(02:20):
who were listening to them inthe 90s. And that's, that's our
generation. Yes. And then we'lland I actually met when we were
DJs at UVA. And so that's ourconnection to so Oh, okay. Yeah.
So really excited about youbeing here. And being a tribe.
Yes. Thank you. Yeah. And Iheard you and Max went to
business school together. Canyou share a little bit about how
(02:42):
you guys met your background?
And what motivated you to becomea personal trainer?
Sure, yeah. Well,it was awesome meeting Max and
business school, because, youknow, she and I think, sort of
went to business school forsimilar reasons. We've been
working in nonprofits and justkind of feeling a little stuck
in our 20s, and wanting to dosomething else. And so when we
(03:04):
met, and then also our otherfriend, a partner in crime,
Shauna, we were the threeliberal arts majors here at this
kind of highly quantitativeUniversity of Maryland, business
school, everybody else seem tohave undergraduate degrees in
business or engineering. So wewere these, like Three
Musketeers of liberal artsdetermined to do well, in stats
(03:26):
and accounting and finance. Sowe stuck together and Max, you
know, of course, the serialentrepreneur that she is,
you know, helped us, the threeof us.
We did we, we were our friendwas getting married and shopping
(03:47):
for wedding dresses. And so wehad this idea of, let's disrupt
the wedding dress industry. Andso we went about making a
business plan for that how wewere going to just radicalise
this industry that seems so oldfashioned. And yeah, we had a
good time dreaming that up. Itwas really it was those were two
(04:08):
very special years. Yeah, thatwas really fun.
Back then you were a bigswimmer, and so is that kind of
how you got into fitness?
Yes, that's been the thread of,you know, the many careers and
jobs that I've had. I've always,I've always been a swimmer. And
so then when I was in my 40s,are just about to turn 40. I
(04:32):
decided to train for atriathlon. And it was in
studying that training that mademe so interested in exercise
science. And so I decided Ididn't know that was a field.
And so that's when I decided togo into it in my early 40s to do
this really major career change,which I'm glad I did, because
I've learned a lot. I reallylove working with people helping
(04:54):
them feel better. And it's beenit's been a rewarding career so
far, and Iand I love it. And I still work
out all the time. Was that ahard decision at that time?
Like, were you kind ofcontemplating? Oh, should I do
this? Or should I not? Or was itpretty clear?
It was hard because, you know, Iwas in, I was in a good job at
the University of Michigan. Andyou know, and I had two young
(05:17):
kids at home, elementary schoolaged kids. And so it was hard,
like, can I really do this? CanI kind of make this sacrifice,
our whole family was gonna haveto sacrifice for me to, you
know, step away from income andgo back to school, because I
needed prereqs to I didn't havechemistry and, you know, anatomy
(05:37):
physiology as as an undergrad,so I had to go back and do all
that stuff before the masters.
So it was a big sacrifice thatthe whole family made,
which I'm looking back, it wasthe right decision, it seems
like, right. I agree. I think itwas, and I'm glad I did it. And
you know, my family is glad I'min. I'm in a career, I'm really
(05:59):
happy. And it's been a goodthing. Yeah, a lot of people
have that. That's awesome. Iknow, we're still
we're still trying to get tothat level for sure. Exactly.
But it's really inspiring tohear that. So what about, tell
us more about your job rightnow? Like what types of clients
you work with? Are you workingwith people like us in midlife,
(06:20):
tell us more about that. Yeah,I've worked, I worked for a
small gym, that we do have aheavy focus on strength
training. And so we have, it'snot a gym, where you can just,
you just go and lift, like atyour, you know, kind of
neighborhood change in, youknow, you just go and lift
whenever you want. At hours, youhave an individualized program.
(06:44):
And then you sign up for a classin which you do your own
program. So it's not like we'reready to begin the 10 o'clock
class, but people come or littlebefore tad little after 10. And
then they're doing their programthat we've made for them based
on their needs, their goals,their limitations. And so, you
know, we cap out at 15. Sothere's 15 People Max in the gym
(07:05):
with two trainers, they're doingtheir own programs, we're
floating around, you know,making sure form is correct,
motivating, answering questions,that kind of thing. So the
people who want to be in a gymlike that, are usually
well, it's kind of pricey, sothey have money, but they're,
they're very motivated, theyreally want the help and
(07:26):
instruction, they don't justwant to go do their, you know,
three sets of 10 benchpress. Andleave, they really want to take
the time to do things right,maybe they're recovering from an
injury, maybe they have had ahealth issue. But they're,
they're pretty motivated tolearn to listen. And so these
(07:47):
people there a lot of midlife,you know, I fit right in, I
could read it with our Jim, andan older to lots of older
people. And the younger peoplethat we have there, sometimes
they're the children of members.
And, and sometimes they're justyounger people, maybe in the
tech industry that work nearbyor something like that, where
(08:09):
they have a they have a need ora goal where this kind of gym
format really speaks to them.
And so I do that, you know, soI'm a trainer, these classes,
like I've said, and I also havesome one on one clients too. And
people who want to do personaltraining. You know, I have
clients with osteoporosis,scoliosis, other kinds of back
(08:33):
issues, anxiety, you know, wheresometimes there's some barriers
to wanting to work out in agroup setting. And so, so I
have, you know, kind of myriadclients, but
lots of mid lifers, you know, soI can really relate to those
issues and struggles. Is it allis it sorry, are your clients
(08:57):
all in person? Or do you do any,they are all in person. I wasn't
working there during thepandemic.
In the pandemic, my fitnesscareer kind of blew up. I was
working at a YMCA. And so thatshut down. And so I actually
wasn't working in fitness forabout two years, because
(09:17):
everything's just sort of shutdown. So it's great to be back.
Okay, that's great. I thoughtwhen you said blew up, it was
like, Oh, really? Oh, yeah. No.
in the other direction. Yeah.
Hey, Dan, I want to ask you havea question. Since this is a
midlife podcast, what are theparticular challenges related to
(09:38):
fitness and health? That midlifers face that are different
from other age groups? And howdo we overcome and I know for
me, like, I've beensomewhat exercising for years
andI think I know what I'm doing.
But as I get older, I'm becomingless sure of what I'm doing.
Like for example, you know, I'mjust talking to men of my age,
(10:01):
you know, that used to liftheavy and do things, you know,
concentrate on heavier weightsand that sort of thing. And, you
know, now I'm more concernedabout
dialing that back. Because Idon't want the pressure on my
heart. I've heard of peoplehaving issues with their hearts
(10:23):
becoming and large because ofheavy weight. So what can we do
as midlife is to make sure thatwe're doing our exercises
properly?
That's, that's a really greatquestion and a question that we
get a lot, because, and onereason that, I'm guessing you're
asking that is because there'sjust so much out there, there's
(10:44):
just so much. And there's a lotof mixed messages too.
And so, you know, what I seewith people our age is,
sometimes there'ssome motivational issues, but
like,you know, maybe they're feeling
guilty, because they're notworking out, like they should,
(11:05):
you know, there's a lot ofshoulds. And that's, and so, you
know, so or maybethey feel like, you know,
customers with older people,they've, they've had the health
scare, they've had thediagnosis, and they can come in
and be very motivated. People inmidlife that are hanging on to
the health of youhave this abstract, like, I
(11:26):
should do this, because I mightwant to prevent illness, but
it's hard. It's, it feels alittle bit abstract at this
point. And so that can bedifficult to motivate,
especially, you know, midlife,there's, there's serious time
constraints, you know, your yourcareer is, is, you know, either
full steam, or maybe you'remaking a transition but careers,
(11:48):
you know, front and center. Andif you have a family, they're
front and center, too. And soit's it, there can be real time
pressures for this age group, infitting in the exercise. And so,
you know, the thing that thatI'd like to recommend for people
to kind of think about what theyshould be doing, and how is to
(12:12):
first think about your ownpersonal values. I mean, where
are you sitting? That's becauseyou're not going to stay
motivated. If it's someoneelse's goal. Yeah, you know, if
it's your spouse's goal, yourdoctor's goal, that's
gonna get yourunning three days a week for a
(12:33):
couple of weeks. But as soon aslike, the tiniest hurdle
appears, you're just not goingto keep doing it, because that
wasn't your goal within you. Soif you think about like, what do
you really value spending timewith your family? You value like
kicking butt at work? Do youvalue?
intellectual pursuits? You know,do you value sports competition,
(12:57):
you know, whatever that thing isyour social life, that you need
to think about prioritizingthose values. And then, as far
as like, Where does your healthreally fit in with that, and you
got to be honest with yourself,because if, if it's a little bit
low on the totem pole, and itmeans you're going to take 230
(13:19):
minute walks per week, that'ssomething you can stick with,
you know, if if that's whatyou're going to make your goal,
then then maybe that's somethingyou can really stick with,
because you've, you've set it upin your in your list of
priorities.
You know, if you set yourselfkind of a doable goal,
meet that, you might be ready totake on another challenge, oh,
(13:40):
hey, I could fit in those 230minute walks, they're feeling
pretty good. I think maybe Iwant to try to add this other
thing, or maybe I'll try joggingor something like that. But it
really comes down to with thisage group, being very realistic
about your time and your values.
And that's, that's what I haveseen really help people. Because
(14:02):
the best program in the worlddoesn't do you any good. If you
can't do it, you know?
Or you're not motivated to doso.
Yeah, but would you say like, ifyou came to us, or if we came to
you and said, Hey, what's thebest exercise regimen? For us? I
(14:23):
know, it's somewhat customized,right, depends on our priorities
and our values. But what wouldyou say, you know, what would
you recommend, I guess, in termsof our age, and what do we need
at this time? Like, I have anhour to do, you know, whatever,
what would you Okay, well, so,you know, again, kind of similar
to what I've seen before the,the best exercise is typically
(14:44):
the one you'll keep doing,right? But, you know, there's a
lot of talk on the web, like,Oh, you got to do hit. It's the
best training. That's that's thebest you know, and so it can be
confusing or you got to docardio zone to you have to do
that.
So that's, that can bedifficult, you know, with all
these things that are liketouted as the best. Right? You
(15:06):
know, the the nationalguidelines are 150 minutes of
moderate,moderate to higher than that
intensity, you know, which ismeans like your heart rate is
high enough where you can talk,but it's more difficult. So 150
minutes of that a week plus twodays of strength training. So
(15:28):
that's like, the recommendation,very few, very few Americans our
age meet that beat that.
Just, it's hard, that's a lot.
That's a lot. But that that'sthe recommendation. And so, as
far as how you're going to getthose minutes, you know, if you,
(15:48):
if you kind of dig into theguidelines,
you can get those minutes. A lotof different ways. It doesn't
have to be 530 minute workouts,you can do. I don't know, if
you've seen sometimes peopletalk about exercise snacks, you
know, where you do a 10 minuteworkout between zoom calls, or
(16:11):
between meetings or somethinglike that. You can do
I've seen, and I've done, likethe seven minute workout, you
know, it's it's, it's prettyintense, squats, push ups, you
know, and, and you can get thatdone. And those things add up
150A week, okay, so, so, you know,
(16:32):
when I say the best one is theone you'll do, it's it, you the
main thing is getting thatintensity, you really want to be
able to get your heart rate upsomewhat. Okay. Okay. And the
other thing is, you really wantto do something that has some
weight bearing feature, likewhether that's resistance
(16:55):
training with bands or weights,even walking or dancing, like as
a swimmer, swimming in andcycling or not weight bearing.
So, you know, especially forwomen, because of bone density
loss, which just happens toeveryone, as you start going
through menopause, your musclestarts to go away, your bone
(17:17):
density starts to deteriorate.
weight bearing exercise andstrength training are very
important. But if you lovecycling, and swimming, don't
stop doing them. But just add onthese other things. It's really
need to find joy in what, indoing something. And because
that's going to help you stickwith it, you need to like it.
(17:38):
And I want to ask you, I want toask you a question.
I debate with my friends a lotabout
cardio versus HIIT training. Ifind that
in my 50s It's hard for me to docardio, first of all, I don't
like running anyway. So thatmakes it easier for me. So I
(18:01):
tend to side more with the hittraining. What do you feel about
that? I just don't see thatagain, in my debate with
friends, you know, you know, Irun I jog. I do all this. And,
you know, they don't seem to behitting their their goals. I
mean, they're getting theircardiovascular health, but they
(18:21):
don't seem to be, you know, iftheir goal is to lose weight or
anything like that. They don'tseem to be changing their body
with that. What do you recommendfor people? Our age as far as
should we do cardio? Should wedo hit? So we do should cover
incorporate both? What are yourfeelings on that? So yeah,
(18:43):
that's a really good question. Imean, hit is awesome. Because
it just, it's efficient. Ittakes less time. Yeah. Right.
And you really get your heartrate up. And hit workouts are
alsothey can be really just fun and
high energy, you know, acircuit.
Switch it up. Yeah, for sure.
It's really they can be reallyfun. And so hit is.
(19:09):
I will always recommend hitokay. Okay. But the thing when
you were talking when you'retalking about cardio, because
hit is easy. Is it type ofcardio? Correct. And so the the
cardio that you were referringto in your other example is what
we call kind of long, slowdistance or you know, which, for
(19:29):
a lot of peoplethe mental health benefits are
enormous. And so for a lot ofpeople, they're doing it you
know, the mental benefits ofexercise across the board are
well documented, butyou know, there's some people
who just I know with swimming,for people with running for
people who do like, one boringthing for a long time.
(19:52):
There's there's a lot of mentalhealth benefits and just sort of
tuning out stress reduction,that kind of thing.
thing. But as far as likechanging your body, you're
right, though that kind of thatkind of workout does not tend to
change your body, you know,because, like calorie, calorie
(20:12):
spent and that kind of thing,you know, those the calorie
counters, you can't you can'ttrust those, those are those are
based on, those are absolutelybased on averages. Your watch
doesn't know how you burn, youknow, it has no idea how you
burn, it knows, it might know,like,
you know, the average 50 yearold male might burn between this
(20:34):
and this, you know, but there's,there's just so many factors
that go into that. So, you know,as far as like, wanting to lose
weight, or change your bodycomposition or something like
that.
Cardio alone is not really theof either type cardio, writ
(20:55):
large or hit specifically,that's not really going to
change your body composition,very much nutrition changes are
really what changed the body.
You know, exercise is great andshould be a part of any sort of
body composition changingprogram. But but it's the study
after study show that it's thenutrition changes that really
(21:15):
make the difference in in losingweight and putting on muscle. So
I hope that helps you with inyour debate, it will
given me more ammunition andthen that, for sure. I
appreciate that. I want to addto that, like how should someone
go about picking a personaltrainer? What were tracers
(21:37):
should you look for? And whatare the typical packages and
price points on that? And so,yeah, so for personal training,
I mean, you need to find someonewho you feel like you can have a
good relationship with, youknow, you got to have that, that
vibe with them? Andhow do you get that? Like, do
you have some, you know, certainquestions, like sometimes maybe
(21:59):
a younger person might workbetter for me, you know, like,
it's just a feeling they don'tneed to, you don't need to have
anything like, actually incommon with them. But it's, it's
a feeling that you'll get whenyou see when they listen to you,
you know? And because if you gosee a trainer, and they already
(22:19):
know what you need before askingyou stuff, you know, that's, you
need to pause. And really thinkabout that, because the trainer
needs to design a program basedon what you need? And how do
they find out what you need,they need to ask you questions.
And you might you might havekind of vague answers, like I
(22:40):
want to get in shape, I want tofeel better, well, then it's the
trainers job to kind of dig intothat, and help you establish
some goals that feel good toyou. And so once you and the
trainer agree on some of thesegoals, then
(23:01):
it's important that the trainerwill kind of have you at a, you
know, do an assessment to seewhere are you now? Let's just do
kind of like a day zeroassessment, based on what the
the parameters that are going tobe important to you? Is it
strength? Is it cardiovascularendurance, is it flexibility? Is
(23:23):
it balance? You know, what arethese? What are these things
that you want to change? Andthen design the program that
makes sense with your timing?
You know, what, if you can onlymeet once a week, what if you
meet three times a week, likethe program? Will? We'll need to
account for what you can do, youknow, your availability, your
adventure? Yeah, exactly. Andthen and a good trainer will
(23:47):
design things that that will fityour life. And then and then
a good trainer will then youknow, help you with this
program. And then assess you ata certain date. You know, like
you'll know that in advance.
We're going to do it threemonths, we're going to do these
(24:08):
tests again, and see where youare. And you might do those
tests. Some things have changed,some haven't. But in the
meantime, maybe you've decided,well, I've really liked working
on this aspect, which I didn'trealize I would enjoy so much.
I'm going to change my goals. Iwant to do this now. You know
and so, so when you have thesecheckpoints, every few months or
(24:31):
whatever you decide, that helpsyou stay on track because the
thing is, you know, a goodpersonal trainer has a lot of
experience and education andexpertise.
They don't even really theydon't just want to be your
workout buddy. You know what Imean? And so don't use them as
that if you want to workoutbuddy just get a workout buddy.
Right but if you but but get thefull advantage of having
(24:57):
experienced certified trainerthat can
Ah, you know, really help youshape your goals. Design a
program that gets you to yourgoals, because, you know, I know
one of the advantages of havingto trainers, that sort of
accountability piece, you know,well, I've paid
the appointment, I have to showup, even though I don't really
(25:18):
feel like it today. And there'ssomething to be said for that.
But really, going back to thevalues thing, it needs to, you
need to want this for yourself,you know what I mean, for it to
be sustainable. And just,and just because you've paid the
money or made the appointment,that's, that's not really going
to be enough to sustain a lot ofpeople. And so, really being
(25:45):
invested in your goals, like thetrainer is, I think, is going to
help help somebody stick withit. And that's, that's how you
can have a really goodexperience with with a trainer
when you know, you're workingtogether, on on these goals, and
they have your back and they'redesigning this program, to to
get you there and to also adjustif there's bumps in the road,
(26:06):
you know, you get sick, you getan injury, you got to be able to
weather those things that help,is there a minimum amount of
time that you should commit?
Like say, if you want to givesomebody a trial, you know, you
want to try out a trainer? Likewhat when How long should you
expect for things to be like,okay, and doing well at this,
you know, or, you know, how longshould you actually give one
(26:28):
minute well guess at our gym, wewe do things in in 90 days, you
know, okay, we kind of have likean on a 90 day onboarding
program, we try to assess ourclients, around every 90 days,
sometimes it gets to be longerthan that if there was like a
break or something like that,but
(26:51):
but I'd give it 90 days, if youfeel like the investment is so
huge. I don't want to wait thatlong, then you know, of course
make it to what makes sense foryou. But you got to give it
you've got to give it a littlebit of a shot to to see how
that's working. And that's myquestion. I think I've been
resist. I've never had apersonal trainer, but I feel
like I could benefit from it.
Because I can never stick to anexercise routine. So I don't
(27:12):
know, well, have you had atrainer before? No, I've had
people offer to trainI, I see the benefit of having a
trainer, like I said theaccountability factor ever.
Plus, if you're paying them,then you don't want to, you
know, waste your money. But I'venever personally had a fitness
trainer.
(27:35):
And do you have a trainer? Doyou have one yourself?
Right my own workouts, okay. ButI have the advantage of
with my colleagues who are veryexperienced traders, and so.
So it's really, it's reallygood. And we Our gym is closed
from one to three. And so that'skind of like staff workouts. And
(27:56):
so it's really fun to, you know,work out at that time and talk
about because, you know, myprogram that I write for myself
is is, is for swimming, youknow, and so. So mine's a little
bit different than some of theother people and so it's just
fun to like, talk about it,debate it and yeah, get help. So
yeah, I'd recommend having atrainer, if that's something
(28:19):
that makes sense for what you'retrying to do. You know, and
it's, it's not for everybody,and there are people, you know,
there's just, there's bad actorsin every industry. There's
people who, you know, just wantto make that money, but, but
really, people go into personaltraining, because they love
health and fitness. You know,it's not really a career you go
to for the money. Okay, but sowe shouldn't be skeptical or
(28:43):
suspicious of people. healthyskepticism is always good. But
But yeah,I would definitely I think it
can really help to have atrainer because they can really
open your eyes toways of moving that you hadn't
thought about ways of you know,because the other thing about
midlife is sometimes we get alittle we've gotten a little
(29:04):
stiff in our 50s You know, andjoints don't really work the way
they did before. And so, youknow, before your, you're gonna
hit that benchpress and try, youknow, to like max out on that. A
good trainer will, you know, bemaking sure how are your
shoulders, let's test how thosemoves. And let's see what we can
do to get them ready so that youso they're not going to get
(29:26):
injured so you can use themuscles that you want to use. So
that injury prevention isanother big thing. You know, for
our our age group, injuryprevention and sometimes
recovery. Do you guysincorporate stretching or
plyometrics or something to getthe joints you know,
(29:47):
activated and loose and limberfor totally, totally. Yeah, we
we have a lot offlexibility mobility exercises
that we recommend for People andand so yeah, that's we've had
people in pain or stiff or likelimited range of motion who, you
(30:09):
know, after working at our gym,even before they start kind of
lifting heavy, that we have themusing bands and different
exercises to get that jointwhere we can move in a healthy
way again. And so that can bethat's, that's as important as
any aspect of strength training.
(30:29):
Really gotcha because that'swhat I struggle with. I'm one of
those people that you probablywouldn't like, because I don't I
just go right into it. And everytime I do, I think to myself, I
probably should have stressedout before I started doing
after hobbling. Yeah, and I'mworking on stretching out after
(30:50):
I'm doing a better job of that.
But I do need to anybody outthere listening you you got to
incorporate that stuff,especially in your midlife
years, because the stiffness isno joke. And and I mean that
that will deter you from workingout. Yeah, the flexibility is
very important. Because justlike everything, it just goes
(31:11):
right, you know, you getstiffer. So, so just, you know,
working on flexibility. And thenthe other thing is balance. You
know, this is, you know, notwaiting, not waiting till you
fall. Right, right, just, youknow, and so the way we work and
unbalanced with a lot of peoplein our age group is it's not
technically like that we'regonna work on balance now, but
(31:34):
just doing things one leg at atime. Okay. That's, that's a
great way to work on balance,lunges, step ups, you know,
those areany single leg, you know, a
single leg squat to a bench.
These are great ways to work onbalance, because sometimes you
don't realize that you have animbalance to do a single leg
(31:55):
activity, right? You know,because you're always
compensating so.
So yeah, having balance in theback of your mind, is something
important tothis is so informative. So if we
wanted to work with you, we'dhave to move to Michigan, right?
Yes, you weren't. It's a greattown.
(32:16):
Well, we would love to have youback on the show. And maybe if
you can give us some kind offitness challenge. It doesn't
fit all but like if you cameback and like say six months or
something like that, where wouldyou want to see us or what what
can you challenge us with? Okay,this was a fitness challenge.
Yes. It was something, please.
(32:40):
Without knowing really very muchabout what you're doing now,
although it didn't sound likeyou're doing something to
regular.
I am she isn't? Hi.
Yeah. Hey, I'm on mystretching. He's not I'm not
stretching, but I am on a on afitness fitness journey. I got
started. Yeah, I've gotthis just sounds vain. But I've
(33:04):
got some trips coming up thisyear.
A wedding in Cancun Vegas. Mysister just called me talking
about what we should take thefamily to Belize. So I don't
want to be the fat guy outthere. I don't want to be the,
you know, the most out of shapedude out there. So I am working
(33:25):
out pretty much.
I would say about five times aweek now. Strength training and
hit training and that sort ofthing. So I am on a fitness
journey. So. Okay, yeah. So I'mhighly motivated. Excellent.
That is great. So, you know,within within six months,
(33:49):
you know, maybe you canI was trying to think of a like
a flexibility goal. You know,maybe you can talk about
you've, you've stretchedtwice a week, between now and
the next six months, you'vebuilt up a twice a week
stretching habit, you know, andso,
(34:13):
you know, before I get to Max's,I'll just say that sometimes,
you know, when we talk aboutgoal setting.
It's an important goal to havethese it's called, like a
process goal. Like, you know,I'm not saying you need to have
a goal that where you're goingto bench you know, to 25 but
a goal about like, how oftenyou're going to work out that
(34:36):
can be a really powerful goalbecause that's something
you really have a lot of controlover. You know,
as far as you know, being ableto squat 1.5 your bodyweight
like, you might not have so muchcontrol over that goal, but you
can control like how much effortyou put into something so,
(34:56):
So Max, yours is going to beUm, I challenge you to
report back on some activitycompleted. I want to know the
frequency and what the activitywas over six months. Okay, well,
whether that's a penny, youstarted walking twice a week or
(35:20):
you start you joined a class orwhatever that was, let's say
your that's your buddyconsistency. Okay. So it is
really important consistency.
And effort. Yeah.
Okay, and the effort comesthrough with the, you know, the
getting your heart rate up.
Okay, so that's, I can do that.
That's helpful. I love it, howyou don't set the bar super
(35:41):
high. It's like, what what canwhat you can do those, like
those seven minute workouts, hewas talking about those little
mini mini workout exercises.
There you go. I like to do itlike, I'll do.
Like a pretty hard like aCrossFit type work workout, but
(36:01):
then I won't do it again forlike, a couple of weeks. So it's
very up and down. And then andthen I'm really sore and work
out again, you know, I know thatsoreness, go away.
Increase the frequency. Okay,you know,
but maybe across our workoutstoo. takes too much time. Right?
(36:22):
You know, so you need to findsome some smaller that you can
do. You've given us a lot tothink about. I actually was
actually very educated. Okay,I'm glad I might get a trainer.
But thank you so much for beingto learn so much valuable
information. I'm ready to go. Ihave to make sure that I keep
going. Yeah, I love this sixmonth, check in and I will hold
(36:44):
her feet to the fire. I will askher you know, what does she do?
You know, and I expect her to dothe same thing. To me. I think
countability is 100 100%important part.
Thanks for joining us for thisepisode of midlife marauders.
Follow us on social media andwherever you stream your
(37:05):
podcast. We also want to give abig shout out to Frank moinmoin
music for providing the beatsfor our theme music and to our
listeners. Keep on marauding andsee you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!