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Tired of being told there’s only one “right” way to get fit? We’re cutting through the gatekeeping to show how real progress happens when you build a routine around your life, your energy, and your goals. No badges required—just a smarter mix of movement that meets you where you are.

We walk through a clear, flexible framework you can tailor on the fly: cardio for heart health that might be as simple as a daily walk, strength training that’s heavy-for-you to protect muscle and bone, and recovery practices like yoga and mobility to keep your body ready for tomorrow. We talk about Pilates as a bridge between strength and recovery, why sports and playful movement keep motivation high, and how novelty can support consistency rather than derail it. If you’ve ever felt stuck waiting for the perfect plan, you’ll learn how “start messy” micro-commitments—five squats, a ten-minute mobility video, one machine after class—stack into real momentum.

You’ll also hear how to navigate medical realities with compassion, when to ask a trusted professional for guidance, and why showing up imperfectly builds the identity that sustains long-term change. We share practical progressions for class-goers curious about lifting, ways to adjust across seasons, and the mindset shift that turns exercise from a box to check into a toolbox you actually use.

Press play for a grounded, judgment-free approach to fitness that values consistency over perfection and curiosity over dogma. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review to help more people find a healthier way to move.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to the Tired ButToned podcast.
On today's episode, I wanted totalk about exercise, working
out, and different types ofmovement.
Okay.
I have definitely talked aboutthis concept before, and I will
probably drill it into theground because I'm very

(00:23):
passionate about it and I thinkit's a big issue.
Okay, so a lot of fitnessprofessionals gatekeep movement,
right?
They they kind of put thingsinto boxes, and it's just
natural, our human brain likesto think of things as black and
white.
It's easier for us to kind ofsort stuff out in our brain.

(00:44):
But this is why criticalthinking, thinking about things
uh beyond that black and white,and how everything is in
multiple shades of gray isimportant.
And at the end of the day,despite what anybody says on the
internet or wherever, or yourfriend, you need to take the

(01:04):
best course of action for whatworks for you.
You individually, just becausesomeone says something is good,
it may not be good for you andyour particular circumstance.
And if you are unsure, that'swhen it's a great idea to either
ask a medical professional youtrust or a fitness trainer that
you trust to see if, based offof your personal exercise

(01:28):
history, um, your just historyin general, medical history,
preferences, schedule, all thatstuff, what works best for you.
So keep that in mind.
But I feel like in the fitnessworld, there are these kind of
paths that we have the strengthtraining path, we have the yoga
path, the yoga and stretchingpath, um, we have the cardio

(01:51):
junkies, uh, like the runners.
I would say running is kind ofits own thing because that's
kind of gotten trendy by itself.
People who maybe run 5Ks, halfmarathons, marathons, they love
to run.
Um, and then we also have likethat like CrossFit style of
training, which is almost amixture of cardio and strength
training, right?
You have power lifting, powerlifting is lifting heavy for fee

(02:15):
reps, um, bodybuilding style ofstrength training, you get
functional training, Pilates,um, there's all kinds of stuff.
There's a lot of different typesof movement out there.

But here's the thing (02:27):
I don't think there is one right or
wrong, and I don't want you tofeel like you have to pick one
thing, and if you do somethingelse, it's bad, right?
Now, I will say, for mostpeople, varying your types of
movement is helpful.
Um, and again, this is gonnadepend on you and your seasons.

(02:49):
Like, you know, look at the90-year-old man that maybe walks
like two miles every day.
Like, he's in great health, andthat walking is going to keep
him moving.
But you know, some bro on theinternet is gonna be like, oh,
well, walking does nothingbecause we walk every day and
it's it's not gonna improve yourhealth.
And it's like, well, that's whatworks for him.
Like, would it be great if that90-year-old man maybe tried to

(03:11):
add in some strength training ina way that's like effective for
him?
Yeah, maybe, but like, let'slook at the circumstances here,
right?
Um, we're not aiming to beabsolutely perfect.
Uh, the the big issue at the endof the day, especially in
America, uh, very, very few ofus are even moving, very few of

(03:33):
us are meeting the minimalmovement guidelines.
Uh, there is a lack of educationand nutrition, and there are
things culturally and due todifferent economic statuses, uh
for food availability and thingslike that.
So it's a whole big thing.
So at the end of the day, likewhere we're at as a society, I

(03:56):
think just getting moving is thegoal because there's definitely
tiers.
I think a lot of us like tostart, and maybe some people can
work with this.
A lot of us like to start, andwe want to have it all laid out
for us, right?
You just want to be like, okay,so this is the plan, this is the
goal.
I want to um strength train Xamount of times a week.
I am going to add in running.

(04:18):
Here is my perfect meal plan,and this is what I'm gonna do,
and it's gonna be great.
And again, some people maybe canjust hit the ground running and
follow it, and that's great.
Um, but I think what happens fora lot of us is one, it's
unsustainable, uh, two, it canbe overwhelming, and we don't
stick with it.
And I think at least the way mybrain works is I prefer to kind

(04:38):
of jump in messy wherever feelsgood.
So, like for me, if I went offof track for a while, right?
And I wanted to get back intothings, like let's say I was
lifting before, and I'm like,oh, I do not want to feel like
lifting right now, like it'sbeen so long, it's intimidating
to me.
Whatever, yes, as a trainer, itcan happen.

(04:59):
Um, for me, walking out innature, I have a trail I go to,
is my like easy go-to, even onmy worst days.
Um, as long as I'm able to walk,I can walk.
So I'm like, you know what?
I'm gonna start with walking,and um, that's what I do, and
I'll start with walking.
And I might do that for a coupledays, a couple weeks, and once

(05:22):
you feel comfortable, you'regoing to find um that you're
gonna want more, okay?
And you're gonna want to exploremore.
Now, there's gonna be a stoppingpoint for certain people, but I
feel like in this day and age,um, forcing ourselves to do a
certain type of workout becausethe internet says that's the
right thing to do, um, or justforcing it because we feel like

(05:45):
we should be doing it is notgonna be productive in the long
term.
The only exception to this, Iwill say, is maybe if you went
to the doctors and you have somesort of medical issue where
they're like, hey, you have tostart exercising in to some
extent, um, or it's not gonna begood for your health.
Like it's gonna be verydangerous for your health.

(06:06):
Um, but at that point, I mean,we do have weight loss
injections now.
I'm not against these if they'reused properly and for the right
cases.
Um, but I would hope that if youdid get that, that would be the
momentum to help, you know, getthings rolling where maybe you
can start to get into some sortof movement plan that feels good
for you, right?
Um, but I don't think anybodyneeds to be forced because, in

(06:29):
my experience of being a trainerfor at least 10 years now, um,
forcing people to do stuff doesnot work long term.
So, again, it kind of brings usback to that concept of you
know, exploring differentmodalities of working out.
Okay, um, experiment, see whatlooks good to you, you know, try

(06:53):
different classes.
Oh, for a lot of people, workoutclasses are a great kind of
intro method into exercise.
I have a lot of my clients, umgroup class people, I should
say, that their only form ofworkout is classes, and then
after maybe so many months, uhthey're curious about strength
training.
And you know what I tell them,and again, this is a part of
that kind of progressivelyintegrating things.

(07:15):
I'm like, after class, pick onemachine and do like two to three
sets on it, you know, 10 to 12reps, okay?
Do that, and then maybesometimes they'll walk before uh
their workout, and then they'llstart to come in on days that
they're not in class, and thenthey'll find a nice balance,
right?
And that's progression, andeverybody is different, which

(07:37):
makes this very nuanced.
Um, but again, there are somepeople out there, and you would
not be listening to this podcastif it's you, but there's some
people that are just naturallylike, yeah, yep, tell me what to
do, I'll do it.
Give me the print plain boiledchicken that's unseasoned with
rice and broccoli.
I'll eat it every day.
Uh, no complaints.
I'll do the same workouts everyday.

(07:57):
Even if I feel like crap, I'mjust gonna show up.
It's gonna be easy.
Most of us are not like that,okay?
Especially if you're a female.
Uh, there's a lot of differentfactors.
I am not ashamed to say that Ithink novelty um in fitness can
be helpful.
If if something motivates you todo it, that's great.

(08:18):
I also believe that showing upimperfectly is also really
important, and again, kind ofswallowing our ego, swallowing
our pride a little bit, andgoing, oh, well, if it's not a
full-blown workout, I'm just notgonna do it because it's not
worth it.
I would rather you do whatever.
If you're like, I'm just gonnado five squats or I'm gonna do a
five-minute mobility YouTubevideo or whatever.

(08:39):
Um, that's why I have those kindof things in my coaching app for
my clients.
I have a ton of on-demand videolibraries with varying lengths,
varying difficulties for them touse.
Um, because the fact that youshow up and do something, not
only is it physically good foryour body, but it also kind of
cements that little thought inyour brain that goes, Oh, I can

(09:00):
show up when I'm not feeling mygreatest.
And if I do show up when it'sless than ideal, it's not what I
expected, it hurts a little bit,trust me.
I do it, I work through it.
My brain's always like, Thissucks, you're not giving it
110%.
You know, I still have thosethoughts after doing this for
years and years and years, itstill is there, but it's a lot
quieter.

(09:22):
Um, but you know, you'll you'llwork through it, and it it shows
you that you can show up foryourself when times are hard.
And I think it also, I trulybelieve, um doesn't stop the
momentum.
You know, just that little habitfor yourself will prevent you
from kind of spiraling into,well, I didn't do it yesterday,

(09:43):
I can skip today, and then it'slike weeks without you doing
anything.
So there's a lot of importanceto showing up, uh, not only
physically, but mentally, right?
So, yeah, definitely explore.
If you want my opinion, again,this comes down to everybody, my
opinion.
I think that you know it'simportant to work on heart

(10:06):
health to some extent throughcardio endurance.
This can be walking, biking, anytype of cardio machine that you
want.
Um, even certain classes thatare gonna get your heart rate up
that kind of function as cardio.
Um, if you don't liketraditional cardio, that could
be helpful.
Um, that is one thing that Ithink we should work on.
That's important.
Next is strength training.

(10:27):
Okay, so lifting weights and uhchallenging weights for you.
That's relative.
Five pounds might be heavy foryou, a hundred pounds might be
heavy for somebody else.
It's all relative, um, but ithelps, you know, with bone
density, resistance training isgreat for so many different
things.
Um, and then I would also say,you know, play around with

(10:47):
recovery.
Recovery, which again is notused enough, and this would be
your yoga, your mobility, yourstretching.
Some people argue Pilates, but Isay Pilates floats somewhere
between strength training andrecovery.
Pilates does not by any meansreplace strength training, but I
think Pilates complementsstrength training really well.

(11:07):
Um, you're using lighterweights, you're working um slow
twitch muscle fibers, and you'realso working the tiny little
stabilizer muscles and traininga little bit more
endurance-based, um, whilestrength training kind of covers
the bigger muscles, the fasttwitch muscle fibers, and you
know, you're working onendurance and different things

(11:29):
like that.
Um, so there's a lot going onthere.
But so Pilates may not be foryou.
Um, I really love it, it's lowimpact.
That could be something you can,you know, I would say is like a
little fourth tier, it's inbetween strength and recovery.
Um, and then of course, you justhave all these odds and ends in
between.
If you play sports, some peopleum do adult soccer leagues, they

(11:51):
play tennis, um, you know, theymight train for like a 5k as a
fun little thing, right?
And these are all fun littleadd-ons that you can sprinkle
in.
You don't need to stressyourself out and be like, am I
doing the right thing?
The fact that you start and youput the reps in, I think just do
something consistently, and onceyou build that solid foundation,
you can begin to add on, you canbegin to kind of evaluate, oh

(12:13):
well, this works well, thisdoesn't work well.
Like, I'll tell you, myjourney's been crazy.
I um started out kind of uh justgetting a girl's program and and
doing my own thing, somemachines, and then I kind of
built builded uh built on excuseme from that.
Um then I kind of leaned intomore bodybuilding style, mixed

(12:36):
with functional strengthtraining.
Um, I would do some cardio stuffthere, some athletic stuff in
there.
Uh, then I went to heavylifting.
I I was deadlifting andsquatting really, really heavy
and training heavy, and I reallyloved that.
Then I had an injury and I gotdiagnosed with an autoimmune
disorder, so I had to pullthings back.
So then I found yoga andPilates.

(12:56):
Um, so I've been really leaninginto that and walks, and now I'm
starting to incorporate uh moretraditional strength training
back in.
So things are gonna flow.
Um, I have gone through periodsrecently where I would run for a
little bit.
When it's a little warmer out,I'll run outside and I'll play
with that.
So you can you can incorporatedifferent things.
There's no right or wrong,especially if you're just

(13:19):
starting.
Um, just get moving, dosomething that feels good for
you.
Also, just be mindful, be safe,uh, be aware of your form and
that you're doing thingsproperly.
Um, you know, there's a lot ofgreat resources out there, and
you can always ask help ofprofessionals as well.
Okay, so that's just my littlebrain dump for today.
Um, I hope this inspires you totake some movement and not

(13:41):
stress yourself out too muchabout it.
Um, but thank you for tuning in,and I'll catch you in the next
one.