October 21, 2024 • 28 mins
Ever felt that exercise is more of a chore than a celebration of movement? Join me, Courtney, as I promise to reshape the way you think about staying active, especially during midlife. Let's transform exercise from a grueling duty into joyful moments that nourish both your body and spirit. We'll explore nurturing movements that seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing your health, longevity, and overall well-being through techniques like habit stacking and movement snacks.
Discover the extraordinary power of quick, five-minute workouts that fit into even the busiest of schedules. These short exercises are more than just a time-saver; they’re a game-changer for your heart health, joint mobility, and strength. By focusing on longevity rather than aesthetics, we’ll tackle the effects of prolonged sitting with simple solutions like walking and stretching. These brief bursts of activity aren't just a wacky idea—they’re a vital investment in your energy levels, mood, and mental clarity.
As we navigate midlife, maintaining mobility and strength is paramount. Embracing joyful movement now sets a solid foundation for vibrant health in the years to come. I celebrate the strength and agility of women in their 70s and 80s, proving age is no barrier. Want to take the next step? My "Move Better, Feel Better" program offers a comprehensive 16-week journey to improve your movement and nutrition habits. Whether through our free community or personalized guidance, it’s time to embrace a healthier lifestyle with grace and ease.
Head to www.movingthroughmidlife. com to learn more
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today I want to talk to you about something I
mentioned last week, and it hasto do with embracing movement
for a healthier and happier life.
If you listened to my podcastlast week, I mentioned how there
was a recent episode I did onexercising and the amount of
(00:24):
downloads that were received forthat one episode was very
different than the ones whereI'm talking about nutrition or
interviewing someone, and I justhad to kind of giggle to myself
because that is true.
That is where we are is eitheryou love to exercise or you're
(00:47):
going to look at every other wayout there to meet your goals
without having to exercise.
And that is basically what Iwant to talk to you about today.
And don't worry, it's not aboutexercise.
It is more about movement andfinding movements that we can
love and enjoy and do all ofthis without having to feel like
(01:12):
we're exercising.
So let's get started.
Welcome to Moving ThroughMidlife.
I am your host, courtney, apersonal trainer and movement
specialist who wants to help youmove through midlife with more
grace.
Each week we will discuss wayswe can show up better for
(01:35):
ourselves and our childrenwithout the burnout.
We will focus on overall healththrough habit stacking to help
increase energy.
Provide movement snacks to helpyou move more throughout the
day, while also moving your bodymore, and learn from
professionals on moving throughmidlife with ease so that you
(01:55):
can feel confident with aging.
Gracefully, grab your earbudsand join me on a leisurely walk
while we discuss moving throughmidlife.
This week, I want to change theway you think about exercise.
If you've ever dreaded workingout and you feel like you know
(02:19):
you need to stay active but youdon't like to exercise, this is
for you.
I'm going to be honest with youall I love movement.
I do not love exercising, andover the summer, I did very
(02:40):
little exercise, very littleexercise.
I had just come off of workingwith clients for the past
ultimately 18 years of teachinggroup fitness classes.
(03:00):
I taught at the most, I wasteaching five mornings a week at
6am.
Plus, I was teaching some otherfitness classes as well, and I
got burnt out, very burnt out,and this summer, when I closed
(03:21):
down my online studio, I madethe decision that I was going to
take a break from all of it,because what had happened for me
was it was work and I just, youknow, was tired of it.
So now that I've had some space, I have started bringing in
(03:46):
workouts again, but in adifferent way, and that's what I
wanted to talk to you abouttoday is looking at exercise as
movement.
So the fitness industry hasalways been one where we think
of intense workouts focusing onweight loss and that go hard or
(04:12):
go home mentality, and I thinkthat is what has steered us
wrong when we think of it thatway.
So you think the only reason Iwould exercise would be to lose
weight.
But what happens for thosepeople who don't need to, don't
(04:32):
want to lose weight?
Don't you know this whole bodypositivity, where all shapes and
sizes matter, which is amazing.
But we're missing somethingwhen we do that, because our
bodies are designed to move.
They do not work effectively ifwe are not moving, and this
(04:54):
goes down to even the smallestthing.
I was listening to a podcastepisode of someone I really
enjoy and she was talking aboutcoughing and she said you know,
if you want to keep yourselfhealthy through something like
pneumonia, the goal is to getthe bacteria out, to get that
(05:17):
stuff out of you.
Coughing is important, but ifyou don't have a strong enough
core muscles, then you're notgoing to be able to cough
effectively to get things out.
So it made me think about youknow, like, as you get older,
what do you hear?
(05:38):
A lot of people, you know theyend up passing away from things
like pneumonia and it's becausethey are limited in mobility and
it's more involved than that.
But I'm just that is one aspectof it is that limited mobility
to where they're not able topush that out and you need to be
(05:58):
able to use your core and yourrib cage needs to be strong to
be able to get that out.
So exercising is more than justlosing weight.
Intense workouts and that gohard or go home, and if you're
(06:20):
looking at exercise that way, itcan be a situation where you
get yourself burnt out.
So for those people, for mostof us in midlife, we're dealing
with a lot of stress.
If you add those intenseworkouts into it, you're more
likely to suffer with thingslike adrenal fatigue, burnout,
(06:46):
brain fog, injuries, becauseyour body is already doing a lot
and then you're going to addsomething really intense onto it
.
So I do not practice the gohard or go home method.
I think that is very dangerousfor our overall health and for
(07:08):
our longevity.
We want to nourish our bodythrough movements.
That does not mean that youcan't put yourselves in the gym.
For those people who like toexercise, that does not mean
that it's more about you knowcreating movement and just
(07:30):
nurturing yourselves throughthose movements.
So I'd like you to really focuson finding joy in movement.
What do you do in your day thatyou enjoy?
You have to agree with me thatif you sit for long periods of
time, you don't feel well.
It is not fun.
(07:50):
Yes, I understand you might betired, but it is not fun to just
sit and do nothing.
Your body starts to ache, youstart to deal with other issues
when you sit for long periods oftime, and that is because our
body is not designed to do that.
Our body is not designed forthe culture we live in today.
(08:13):
Things have not caught upgenetically for us to just sit
for extended periods of day ofday.
We are designed to move.
So look at your day on thewhole and see what do you do in
a day and I've spoken about thisa lot throughout my podcast.
(08:34):
But if you sit a lot through theday, think about the position
that your body is in and how canwe counteract that position.
So for those of you who sit ina rounded forward position a lot
throughout the day.
How can you change yourmovement patterns to make it to
where you do some more extensionto go in the opposite direction
(08:57):
?
So that might be some yogaclasses.
That would probably be the mostbeneficial thing for that type
of thing where you're creatingsome extension.
It would not probably be goinginto like a Pilates class or a
cycling class, because if youthink about and I love both of
(09:19):
those things the goal is not tomake you realize that those
things are bad, it's justlooking at the position your
(09:39):
body's in.
Those are movements that you'rejust continuing to strengthen
to where you're going to startdealing with some back issues,
some tension in the abdominalwall, things like that.
So we need to look at findingways to move our body
differently and, again, findingthings that you enjoy.
(10:04):
So, yes, if you enjoy doingPilates and you enjoy cycling
but you also work in a desk job,then you're going to continue
to do those but find ways tocreate some extension in your
life as well.
So you know, maybe on theweekends you would, on the
(10:30):
weekends you would, I'm tryingto think, go paddleboarding or
something where you're standingup really nice and tall, or
going for a walk, you know, like, look at some fun things that
you could do Climbing.
Well, I say climbing trees, butwho's out there climbing trees?
I mean, how much fun would thatbe?
But maybe even going to like arock climbing place and having
fun with that, where you'retrying to get your body more
(10:52):
into this extension, arms upoverhead, body lifted and
lengthened, those kind of thingsis what I'm thinking of.
The key is is find things thatyou enjoy doing and do more of
them.
Maybe you enjoy dancing, maybeyou enjoy swimming.
All of these things are thingsthat you can incorporate and
(11:14):
that is considered your exercise.
I would even say, for those ofyou who like to go well, who
maybe we don't like it, butchores things that we're doing
cleaning, washing down thewindows, all of those things.
If you look at the movementpatterns of them, they are a way
(11:37):
to exercise and move the bodythrough different positions.
So make sure that you'refinding things that you enjoy
doing.
So make sure that you'refinding things that you enjoy
doing and then just also payattention to how your body's
moving throughout the day andhow can you challenge it and
move a little bit differently.
You will notice that withfitness programs.
(12:00):
There are definitely somecommon grounds.
You're going to be looking atdifferent ranges of motion that
are occurring, the speed withwhich you are moving and
changing the resistance.
So, thinking about that, howcan you incorporate that if you
don't want to go to a gym or youdon't want to go to a fitness
(12:23):
class, how can you do thosethings in your everyday life to
change positions, change yourrange of motion?
Like I mentioned, washing thewindows.
A lot of times I talk about notbeing able to get, not getting
your arms up over your head forextended periods of time.
Well, washing your windows isgoing to require you to get
(12:47):
those arms up and moving overyour head, even pushing things,
pushing your couch around, maybehaving to lift things up.
I'll tell you what for those ofyou that went through the
(13:07):
hurricane that was a huge thingfor me was that I challenged my
body in so many different waysbecause I was pulling all the
furniture into the house fromthe back porch and I did have
help, but you know that wasmoving the body differently and
(13:32):
having to do things like thatchallenged me to where I didn't
need to go to the gym that weekbecause I was busy pulling
things, pushing things, grabbingthings, carrying pots, big pots
of plants into my garage,walking lots of core work that I
was doing, naturally, in thatday where I was moving things.
And then when I broughteverything back out well before,
(13:53):
because I live in SouthwestFlorida where it rains all the
time, we tend to get mold andmildew on our pavers, so I was
back in the back pressurewashing.
My back hurt so bad the nextday from pressure washing
because I was like why was myback hurting?
(14:14):
I didn't work out what did I doand I was like, oh, I was
pressure washing.
So even those types ofmovements are going to be
working your body out.
So, finding ways to change upthe range of motion, adjust the
speed when you go for walks, tryto walk a little bit faster.
Or don't get discouraged ifyou're out walking your dog and
(14:37):
he's constantly sniffing allover the place, because it's
just changing that range, notthe range of motion.
It's just changing the speedwith which you're moving and
that is perfectly fine, and thenchanging resistance.
You can do this also with youknow, like I mentioned, pulling
the couch in the house, carryingdifferent pots, potted plants,
(15:02):
and I'm not saying you're doingthat.
If you know, like I hope togoodness I'm not going to have
to pull all the furniture in myhouse again over this next week.
But the goal is to get you tolook at things differently and
assessing how you're moving oreven just looking at how can I
(15:28):
get a little bit more movementinto my day, how can I get a
little bit more exercise into myday without actually exercising
.
Also, understanding that even ifyou do want to exercise, maybe
play with things a little bitdifferently.
(15:48):
So maybe you're always usingdumbbells, maybe grab a sandbag
or I mean goodness knows thatcat litter, those cat litter
boxes.
I have a 30, it's what 29pounds.
That sucker is heavy.
So even just kind of playingaround with that, like we have
to bring it in, you could do asuitcase carries one side of the
(16:12):
other side.
I think I've talked about thislast week with the core, um,
with bringing in all your Amazonboxes, holding them away from
your body a little bit more toactivate that core.
But all of these things, theseare helping you to get more
movement, get strengthening allof these things.
And then try to, if you can,look at doing quick workouts,
(16:38):
try a five-minute workout.
I have a ton of them If you goto my YouTube channel ton of
them.
If you go to my YouTube channelI don't know if I think if you
look it up like FormFit orMoving Through Midlife, you'll
be able to find it, hopefully,but on my YouTube channel I have
(16:59):
a ton of Fit in 5.
There are five-minute workoutsthat you can do.
There are five minute workoutsthat you can do and those are so
beneficial and I don't thinkpeople trust enough that five
minutes can make a hugedifference in your day.
I promise you it does, andespecially it does for the fact
(17:21):
of longevity right, longevity,if that's your focus, not
aesthetics.
If you're not worried about theaesthetics and you're worried
more about the longevity andbeing able to do certain things
as you get older, thosefive-minute workouts are the
best, and I don't mean just mine, but any five-minute workout,
(17:45):
and you can always add on tothese throughout the day.
So maybe you have five minutes,like when you're helping your
kids get ready for school.
Maybe you've got just fiveminutes and you can do a few arm
exercises.
What I do, I'll tell you what Ido, so I'll maybe look at a
(18:05):
video.
This is something I did earlyon.
Now I kind of know what Ishould do for my exercise
routine, but early on I used tolook at people's videos and I
would write down like three tofive of the exercises I liked
that they did, and then I wouldjust have them on like a little
sticky note and then I would tryto do one or two of them.
(18:27):
So that would be an option.
You can watch one of my fiveminute videos, write down.
I usually do three to fivedifferent exercises for those
five minutes.
So write down the threeexercises and be like okay, I
can do one while the kids aregetting ready, like while
they're, you know, I'm watchingthem make lunches, whatever.
So I'm watching them makelunches, whatever.
So I'm going to do these threeexercises.
And then as soon as you gethome usually you might like
(18:55):
right before you start dinnermaybe you can do the exercises
again.
Maybe you can find a way duringyour lunch break to do those
three exercises in a differentway, using different resistance,
those three exercises in adifferent way, using different
resistance.
Maybe you don't have weights oryou're unable to take weights
to your place of work, but maybeyou have a band or maybe you
can do the body weight exerciseto kind of change it up, which
(19:18):
is going to change theresistance which is part of a
fitness program.
Changing your resistance itdoesn't always have to be the
heaviest strength, heaviestweights.
You can work with whatever youhave on hand.
And by doing these things, itmay not change your aesthetics,
(19:40):
it may not change how you look,but at the end of the day, how
you look, but at the end of theday, the goal is longevity and
health, right?
So if it makes your hearthealthier, if it makes your
joints more pliable and mobileto where you're not dealing with
aches and pains and it makesyou slightly stronger, isn't
(20:01):
that the ultimate goal?
I mean, that's what it is forme, right?
So let's reframe our exerciseas an investment in our
long-term health rather than themeans to lose weight.
Let's find those joyfulmovements to help improve our
(20:27):
energy levels, our mood and ouroverall well-being levels our
mood and our overall well-being.
You'll notice some claritywithin your mind when you start
to work out.
Or, you know, do these types ofmovements for workouts and then
look at ways for you to like,pay attention to how your body
(20:54):
is moving right now and if thereare tension spots within your
body.
Think about how can I move intothis, not where I'm going to
get hurt, but if you're noticingthat your hips are really tight
.
Noticing that your hips arereally tight.
(21:21):
Think about how you sit most ofthe day and the way the thigh
and the hips into the stomach.
So if you're thinking ofsitting in a 90 degree position
right, you're sitting in a chairhow that is tightening up the
hip flexor, those muscles withinthe hips.
So where can you work onlengthening those hips?
Well, walking, walking requiresleg extension.
(21:44):
It requires that leg to movebehind you and you push off.
So, looking at where am I tight, can I move into this tightness
to create more movement throughthat?
And is there something I can doto counteract that?
(22:08):
Remember that sitting.
If I'm sitting in my chairduring the day, how can I
counteract that?
I can work on extensionlengthening, opening up some of
those yoga positions whereyou're going through an
extension, bringing the arms upoverhead, hanging I talk about
that a lot in some of my pastvideos, past podcasts.
(22:33):
They were from a long time ago,but even just hanging or, like I
mentioned, rock climbing, allof these things are going to
help with that, the key I wantyou to get from this episode is
exercise doesn't have to be thehard, intense workouts.
(22:59):
It can be what you're doing inyour everyday life.
Look at how you're moving.
Can the things that bring youjoy?
Move into those things thatbring you joy?
Listen to your body and whatit's saying through different
(23:25):
positions that you're in, andsometimes not most of the time.
If your body is, if you'refeeling that niggle of
something's not right in thebody, that means that you're
neglecting an area.
There's an area that's beingneglected and you need to focus
(23:51):
in on that area.
It doesn't mean to wrench itand move it to where it hurts.
It means notice it, payattention, move that area a
little bit more.
You're probably getting tightin that area and it needs some
movement.
Find those things that bringyou joy with your movement and
(24:15):
know that this is something youget to do.
It is definitely not somethingyou need to move now.
Right that I'm going to say ittill I'm blue in the face.
(24:40):
A body in motion stays inmotion.
You cannot expect to be an80-year-old walking around
moving if you sit all the timeat 40.
That is the truth.
You'll be able to get around,but you will not be getting
around effectively, y'all.
(25:02):
I just want to say that I havestarted at a new studio.
I'm teaching some classes there.
I'm teaching some classes there.
(25:28):
And these women, oh my goodness,70s, 80s, they're doing things
that I, you know, you would lookand you'd say maybe they
wouldn't be able to do this.
These women are strong, theyare moving.
They are doing bird dogs.
They are not struggling withbird dogs, they are doing
pushups.
They are doing all kinds ofamazing things.
So if you want to be that woman, you've got to get moving now.
You've got to move.
Don't stress yourself out,don't think I have to go
(25:51):
exercise and do all thesedreadful things.
Find ways to move.
Find joyful ways to move.
Have't stress yourself out.
Don't think I have to goexercise and do all these
dreadful things.
Find ways to move.
Find ways, joyful ways to move.
Have fun with it.
And then, if you're strugglingwith this, reach out to me.
Head to movingthroughmidlifecom.
I have my move better, feelbetter program.
It is a bundle.
It holds all the things that Ioffer.
(26:14):
You can get everything includedwithin it.
There are exercises, there aremovement patterns, there are
things that, if you're noticingthat you're tight in your hips.
I've got you moving throughdifferent foam rolling exercises
and things like that.
I'm also getting ready to.
(26:35):
I'm working on this right now.
It's a six week introduction tothe program because one thing I
kept getting people like oh,I'm so confused, what do I need
to focus on?
So I'm creating it right now.
If you signed up now you'regoing to start to get pushed out
the information and it's goingto be 16 weeks of movements.
(26:56):
So you're going to do movebetter, feel better, you're.
It's all incorporated.
So each week you're going to befocusing on a habit or a
movement to kind of help guideyou through my process of how
you should be moving.
We start start at the feet.
We move up to the hips.
We look at the core and thebreathing.
(27:17):
We look at your ribs and howyour ribs are moving.
We're going up the line at thesame time as helping you with
your nutrition what things tofocus on with your nutrition.
All of it 16 weeks to helpguide you through the program
and then you get moved into the,the monthly focus.
(27:40):
You know what we focus on.
So if you're interested in that,click on going move moving
through midlifecom.
You can click there for the uhmove better program.
Or you can go up to the topwhere there's like the three
bars and you say, work with me.
You can work with me there.
Or if you have a specific thingthat you struggle with, click
(28:02):
on the courses and you're goingto be able to access all of my
courses individually.
I hope you all have a wonderfulday.
Make sure to keep moving.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand found something to take
away to help you practicehealthier habits, move more or
(28:25):
handle the midlife and agingwith grace.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend or
leave us a review to help usreach more moms just like you.
Head to movingthroughmidlifecomto join the free community or
learn how you can move more andfeel better in your daily life.
Today I want to talk to you about something I
mentioned last week, and it hasto do with embracing movement
for a healthier and happier life.
If you listened to my podcastlast week, I mentioned how there
was a recent episode I did onexercising and the amount of
(00:24):
downloads that were received forthat one episode was very
different than the ones whereI'm talking about nutrition or
interviewing someone, and I justhad to kind of giggle to myself
because that is true.
That is where we are is eitheryou love to exercise or you're
(00:47):
going to look at every other wayout there to meet your goals
without having to exercise.
And that is basically what Iwant to talk to you about today.
And don't worry, it's not aboutexercise.
It is more about movement andfinding movements that we can
love and enjoy and do all ofthis without having to feel like
(01:12):
we're exercising.
So let's get started.
Welcome to Moving ThroughMidlife.
I am your host, courtney, apersonal trainer and movement
specialist who wants to help youmove through midlife with more
grace.
Each week we will discuss wayswe can show up better for
(01:35):
ourselves and our childrenwithout the burnout.
We will focus on overall healththrough habit stacking to help
increase energy.
Provide movement snacks to helpyou move more throughout the
day, while also moving your bodymore, and learn from
professionals on moving throughmidlife with ease so that you
(01:55):
can feel confident with aging.
Gracefully, grab your earbudsand join me on a leisurely walk
while we discuss moving throughmidlife.
This week, I want to change theway you think about exercise.
If you've ever dreaded workingout and you feel like you know
(02:19):
you need to stay active but youdon't like to exercise, this is
for you.
I'm going to be honest with youall I love movement.
I do not love exercising, andover the summer, I did very
(02:40):
little exercise, very littleexercise.
I had just come off of workingwith clients for the past
ultimately 18 years of teachinggroup fitness classes.
(03:00):
I taught at the most, I wasteaching five mornings a week at
6am.
Plus, I was teaching some otherfitness classes as well, and I
got burnt out, very burnt out,and this summer, when I closed
(03:21):
down my online studio, I madethe decision that I was going to
take a break from all of it,because what had happened for me
was it was work and I just, youknow, was tired of it.
So now that I've had some space, I have started bringing in
(03:46):
workouts again, but in adifferent way, and that's what I
wanted to talk to you abouttoday is looking at exercise as
movement.
So the fitness industry hasalways been one where we think
of intense workouts focusing onweight loss and that go hard or
(04:12):
go home mentality, and I thinkthat is what has steered us
wrong when we think of it thatway.
So you think the only reason Iwould exercise would be to lose
weight.
But what happens for thosepeople who don't need to, don't
(04:32):
want to lose weight?
Don't you know this whole bodypositivity, where all shapes and
sizes matter, which is amazing.
But we're missing somethingwhen we do that, because our
bodies are designed to move.
They do not work effectively ifwe are not moving, and this
(04:54):
goes down to even the smallestthing.
I was listening to a podcastepisode of someone I really
enjoy and she was talking aboutcoughing and she said you know,
if you want to keep yourselfhealthy through something like
pneumonia, the goal is to getthe bacteria out, to get that
(05:17):
stuff out of you.
Coughing is important, but ifyou don't have a strong enough
core muscles, then you're notgoing to be able to cough
effectively to get things out.
So it made me think about youknow, like, as you get older,
what do you hear?
(05:38):
A lot of people, you know theyend up passing away from things
like pneumonia and it's becausethey are limited in mobility and
it's more involved than that.
But I'm just that is one aspectof it is that limited mobility
to where they're not able topush that out and you need to be
(05:58):
able to use your core and yourrib cage needs to be strong to
be able to get that out.
So exercising is more than justlosing weight.
Intense workouts and that gohard or go home, and if you're
(06:20):
looking at exercise that way, itcan be a situation where you
get yourself burnt out.
So for those people, for mostof us in midlife, we're dealing
with a lot of stress.
If you add those intenseworkouts into it, you're more
likely to suffer with thingslike adrenal fatigue, burnout,
(06:46):
brain fog, injuries, becauseyour body is already doing a lot
and then you're going to addsomething really intense onto it
.
So I do not practice the gohard or go home method.
I think that is very dangerousfor our overall health and for
(07:08):
our longevity.
We want to nourish our bodythrough movements.
That does not mean that youcan't put yourselves in the gym.
For those people who like toexercise, that does not mean
that it's more about you knowcreating movement and just
(07:30):
nurturing yourselves throughthose movements.
So I'd like you to really focuson finding joy in movement.
What do you do in your day thatyou enjoy?
You have to agree with me thatif you sit for long periods of
time, you don't feel well.
It is not fun.
(07:50):
Yes, I understand you might betired, but it is not fun to just
sit and do nothing.
Your body starts to ache, youstart to deal with other issues
when you sit for long periods oftime, and that is because our
body is not designed to do that.
Our body is not designed forthe culture we live in today.
(08:13):
Things have not caught upgenetically for us to just sit
for extended periods of day ofday.
We are designed to move.
So look at your day on thewhole and see what do you do in
a day and I've spoken about thisa lot throughout my podcast.
(08:34):
But if you sit a lot through theday, think about the position
that your body is in and how canwe counteract that position.
So for those of you who sit ina rounded forward position a lot
throughout the day.
How can you change yourmovement patterns to make it to
where you do some more extensionto go in the opposite direction
(08:57):
?
So that might be some yogaclasses.
That would probably be the mostbeneficial thing for that type
of thing where you're creatingsome extension.
It would not probably be goinginto like a Pilates class or a
cycling class, because if youthink about and I love both of
(09:19):
those things the goal is not tomake you realize that those
things are bad, it's justlooking at the position your
(09:39):
body's in.
Those are movements that you'rejust continuing to strengthen
to where you're going to startdealing with some back issues,
some tension in the abdominalwall, things like that.
So we need to look at findingways to move our body
differently and, again, findingthings that you enjoy.
(10:04):
So, yes, if you enjoy doingPilates and you enjoy cycling
but you also work in a desk job,then you're going to continue
to do those but find ways tocreate some extension in your
life as well.
So you know, maybe on theweekends you would, on the
(10:30):
weekends you would, I'm tryingto think, go paddleboarding or
something where you're standingup really nice and tall, or
going for a walk, you know, like, look at some fun things that
you could do Climbing.
Well, I say climbing trees, butwho's out there climbing trees?
I mean, how much fun would thatbe?
But maybe even going to like arock climbing place and having
fun with that, where you'retrying to get your body more
(10:52):
into this extension, arms upoverhead, body lifted and
lengthened, those kind of thingsis what I'm thinking of.
The key is is find things thatyou enjoy doing and do more of
them.
Maybe you enjoy dancing, maybeyou enjoy swimming.
All of these things are thingsthat you can incorporate and
(11:14):
that is considered your exercise.
I would even say, for those ofyou who like to go well, who
maybe we don't like it, butchores things that we're doing
cleaning, washing down thewindows, all of those things.
If you look at the movementpatterns of them, they are a way
(11:37):
to exercise and move the bodythrough different positions.
So make sure that you'refinding things that you enjoy
doing.
So make sure that you'refinding things that you enjoy
doing and then just also payattention to how your body's
moving throughout the day andhow can you challenge it and
move a little bit differently.
You will notice that withfitness programs.
(12:00):
There are definitely somecommon grounds.
You're going to be looking atdifferent ranges of motion that
are occurring, the speed withwhich you are moving and
changing the resistance.
So, thinking about that, howcan you incorporate that if you
don't want to go to a gym or youdon't want to go to a fitness
(12:23):
class, how can you do thosethings in your everyday life to
change positions, change yourrange of motion?
Like I mentioned, washing thewindows.
A lot of times I talk about notbeing able to get, not getting
your arms up over your head forextended periods of time.
Well, washing your windows isgoing to require you to get
(12:47):
those arms up and moving overyour head, even pushing things,
pushing your couch around, maybehaving to lift things up.
I'll tell you what for those ofyou that went through the
(13:07):
hurricane that was a huge thingfor me was that I challenged my
body in so many different waysbecause I was pulling all the
furniture into the house fromthe back porch and I did have
help, but you know that wasmoving the body differently and
(13:32):
having to do things like thatchallenged me to where I didn't
need to go to the gym that weekbecause I was busy pulling
things, pushing things, grabbingthings, carrying pots, big pots
of plants into my garage,walking lots of core work that I
was doing, naturally, in thatday where I was moving things.
And then when I broughteverything back out well before,
(13:53):
because I live in SouthwestFlorida where it rains all the
time, we tend to get mold andmildew on our pavers, so I was
back in the back pressurewashing.
My back hurt so bad the nextday from pressure washing
because I was like why was myback hurting?
(14:14):
I didn't work out what did I doand I was like, oh, I was
pressure washing.
So even those types ofmovements are going to be
working your body out.
So, finding ways to change upthe range of motion, adjust the
speed when you go for walks, tryto walk a little bit faster.
Or don't get discouraged ifyou're out walking your dog and
(14:37):
he's constantly sniffing allover the place, because it's
just changing that range, notthe range of motion.
It's just changing the speedwith which you're moving and
that is perfectly fine, and thenchanging resistance.
You can do this also with youknow, like I mentioned, pulling
the couch in the house, carryingdifferent pots, potted plants,
(15:02):
and I'm not saying you're doingthat.
If you know, like I hope togoodness I'm not going to have
to pull all the furniture in myhouse again over this next week.
But the goal is to get you tolook at things differently and
assessing how you're moving oreven just looking at how can I
(15:28):
get a little bit more movementinto my day, how can I get a
little bit more exercise into myday without actually exercising
.
Also, understanding that even ifyou do want to exercise, maybe
play with things a little bitdifferently.
(15:48):
So maybe you're always usingdumbbells, maybe grab a sandbag
or I mean goodness knows thatcat litter, those cat litter
boxes.
I have a 30, it's what 29pounds.
That sucker is heavy.
So even just kind of playingaround with that, like we have
to bring it in, you could do asuitcase carries one side of the
(16:12):
other side.
I think I've talked about thislast week with the core, um,
with bringing in all your Amazonboxes, holding them away from
your body a little bit more toactivate that core.
But all of these things, theseare helping you to get more
movement, get strengthening allof these things.
And then try to, if you can,look at doing quick workouts,
(16:38):
try a five-minute workout.
I have a ton of them If you goto my YouTube channel ton of
them.
If you go to my YouTube channelI don't know if I think if you
look it up like FormFit orMoving Through Midlife, you'll
be able to find it, hopefully,but on my YouTube channel I have
(16:59):
a ton of Fit in 5.
There are five-minute workoutsthat you can do.
There are five minute workoutsthat you can do and those are so
beneficial and I don't thinkpeople trust enough that five
minutes can make a hugedifference in your day.
I promise you it does, andespecially it does for the fact
(17:21):
of longevity right, longevity,if that's your focus, not
aesthetics.
If you're not worried about theaesthetics and you're worried
more about the longevity andbeing able to do certain things
as you get older, thosefive-minute workouts are the
best, and I don't mean just mine, but any five-minute workout,
(17:45):
and you can always add on tothese throughout the day.
So maybe you have five minutes,like when you're helping your
kids get ready for school.
Maybe you've got just fiveminutes and you can do a few arm
exercises.
What I do, I'll tell you what Ido, so I'll maybe look at a
(18:05):
video.
This is something I did earlyon.
Now I kind of know what Ishould do for my exercise
routine, but early on I used tolook at people's videos and I
would write down like three tofive of the exercises I liked
that they did, and then I wouldjust have them on like a little
sticky note and then I would tryto do one or two of them.
(18:27):
So that would be an option.
You can watch one of my fiveminute videos, write down.
I usually do three to fivedifferent exercises for those
five minutes.
So write down the threeexercises and be like okay, I
can do one while the kids aregetting ready, like while
they're, you know, I'm watchingthem make lunches, whatever.
So I'm watching them makelunches, whatever.
So I'm going to do these threeexercises.
And then as soon as you gethome usually you might like
(18:55):
right before you start dinnermaybe you can do the exercises
again.
Maybe you can find a way duringyour lunch break to do those
three exercises in a differentway, using different resistance,
those three exercises in adifferent way, using different
resistance.
Maybe you don't have weights oryou're unable to take weights
to your place of work, but maybeyou have a band or maybe you
can do the body weight exerciseto kind of change it up, which
(19:18):
is going to change theresistance which is part of a
fitness program.
Changing your resistance itdoesn't always have to be the
heaviest strength, heaviestweights.
You can work with whatever youhave on hand.
And by doing these things, itmay not change your aesthetics,
(19:40):
it may not change how you look,but at the end of the day, how
you look, but at the end of theday, the goal is longevity and
health, right?
So if it makes your hearthealthier, if it makes your
joints more pliable and mobileto where you're not dealing with
aches and pains and it makesyou slightly stronger, isn't
(20:01):
that the ultimate goal?
I mean, that's what it is forme, right?
So let's reframe our exerciseas an investment in our
long-term health rather than themeans to lose weight.
Let's find those joyfulmovements to help improve our
(20:27):
energy levels, our mood and ouroverall well-being levels our
mood and our overall well-being.
You'll notice some claritywithin your mind when you start
to work out.
Or, you know, do these types ofmovements for workouts and then
look at ways for you to like,pay attention to how your body
(20:54):
is moving right now and if thereare tension spots within your
body.
Think about how can I move intothis, not where I'm going to
get hurt, but if you're noticingthat your hips are really tight
.
Noticing that your hips arereally tight.
(21:21):
Think about how you sit most ofthe day and the way the thigh
and the hips into the stomach.
So if you're thinking ofsitting in a 90 degree position
right, you're sitting in a chairhow that is tightening up the
hip flexor, those muscles withinthe hips.
So where can you work onlengthening those hips?
Well, walking, walking requiresleg extension.
(21:44):
It requires that leg to movebehind you and you push off.
So, looking at where am I tight, can I move into this tightness
to create more movement throughthat?
And is there something I can doto counteract that?
(22:08):
Remember that sitting.
If I'm sitting in my chairduring the day, how can I
counteract that?
I can work on extensionlengthening, opening up some of
those yoga positions whereyou're going through an
extension, bringing the arms upoverhead, hanging I talk about
that a lot in some of my pastvideos, past podcasts.
(22:33):
They were from a long time ago,but even just hanging or, like I
mentioned, rock climbing, allof these things are going to
help with that, the key I wantyou to get from this episode is
exercise doesn't have to be thehard, intense workouts.
(22:59):
It can be what you're doing inyour everyday life.
Look at how you're moving.
Can the things that bring youjoy?
Move into those things thatbring you joy?
Listen to your body and whatit's saying through different
(23:25):
positions that you're in, andsometimes not most of the time.
If your body is, if you'refeeling that niggle of
something's not right in thebody, that means that you're
neglecting an area.
There's an area that's beingneglected and you need to focus
(23:51):
in on that area.
It doesn't mean to wrench itand move it to where it hurts.
It means notice it, payattention, move that area a
little bit more.
You're probably getting tightin that area and it needs some
movement.
Find those things that bringyou joy with your movement and
(24:15):
know that this is something youget to do.
It is definitely not somethingyou need to move now.
Right that I'm going to say ittill I'm blue in the face.
(24:40):
A body in motion stays inmotion.
You cannot expect to be an80-year-old walking around
moving if you sit all the timeat 40.
That is the truth.
You'll be able to get around,but you will not be getting
around effectively, y'all.
(25:02):
I just want to say that I havestarted at a new studio.
I'm teaching some classes there.
I'm teaching some classes there.
(25:28):
And these women, oh my goodness,70s, 80s, they're doing things
that I, you know, you would lookand you'd say maybe they
wouldn't be able to do this.
These women are strong, theyare moving.
They are doing bird dogs.
They are not struggling withbird dogs, they are doing
pushups.
They are doing all kinds ofamazing things.
So if you want to be that woman, you've got to get moving now.
You've got to move.
Don't stress yourself out,don't think I have to go
(25:51):
exercise and do all thesedreadful things.
Find ways to move.
Find joyful ways to move.
Have't stress yourself out.
Don't think I have to goexercise and do all these
dreadful things.
Find ways to move.
Find ways, joyful ways to move.
Have fun with it.
And then, if you're strugglingwith this, reach out to me.
Head to movingthroughmidlifecom.
I have my move better, feelbetter program.
It is a bundle.
It holds all the things that Ioffer.
(26:14):
You can get everything includedwithin it.
There are exercises, there aremovement patterns, there are
things that, if you're noticingthat you're tight in your hips.
I've got you moving throughdifferent foam rolling exercises
and things like that.
I'm also getting ready to.
(26:35):
I'm working on this right now.
It's a six week introduction tothe program because one thing I
kept getting people like oh,I'm so confused, what do I need
to focus on?
So I'm creating it right now.
If you signed up now you'regoing to start to get pushed out
the information and it's goingto be 16 weeks of movements.
(26:56):
So you're going to do movebetter, feel better, you're.
It's all incorporated.
So each week you're going to befocusing on a habit or a
movement to kind of help guideyou through my process of how
you should be moving.
We start start at the feet.
We move up to the hips.
We look at the core and thebreathing.
(27:17):
We look at your ribs and howyour ribs are moving.
We're going up the line at thesame time as helping you with
your nutrition what things tofocus on with your nutrition.
All of it 16 weeks to helpguide you through the program
and then you get moved into the,the monthly focus.
(27:40):
You know what we focus on.
So if you're interested in that,click on going move moving
through midlifecom.
You can click there for the uhmove better program.
Or you can go up to the topwhere there's like the three
bars and you say, work with me.
You can work with me there.
Or if you have a specific thingthat you struggle with, click
(28:02):
on the courses and you're goingto be able to access all of my
courses individually.
I hope you all have a wonderfulday.
Make sure to keep moving.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand found something to take
away to help you practicehealthier habits, move more or
(28:25):
handle the midlife and agingwith grace.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend or
leave us a review to help usreach more moms just like you.
Head to movingthroughmidlifecomto join the free community or
learn how you can move more andfeel better in your daily life.
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