A lot of people think sarcopenia means age-related loss of muscle mass. But this is not what it means!

This week on the Movement Logic podcast, Laurel and Sarah unpack sarcopenia: what it actually is, why the definition has changed over time, and why losing strength and power matters more than losing muscle mass. They walk through the evolution from a tissue-focused understanding of sarcopenia to a function-focused one. Learn how the nervous system plays a major role in aging-related decline, and how this explains a far more rapid loss of strength and an even more rapid loss of power. They discuss why resistance training is essential if you want to maintain independence, reduce fall risk, and preserve the ability to do the things you love as you age. They also discuss why yoga, Pilates, walking, and cardio alone are not enough to prevent sarcopenia, and why training strength and power is non-negotiable for long-term physical function.

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RESOURCES

GUARDIAN ARTICLE [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/may/07/do-women-need-to-exercise-differently-from-men-and-ease-up-on-cardio-after-40] - We were asked to weigh in about Stacy Sims advice

EPISODE [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-375-the-sarcopenia-deep-dive-why-its-not-just/id1199780143?i=1000738341277] - Barbell Medicine on Sarcopenia

127: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/127-acsm-says-k-i-s-s/id1614469934?i=1000761480508]ASCM says K.I.S.S.

94: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/94-capacities-for-longevity-part-2-power/id1614469934?i=1000702829207] Capacities for Longevity - Power

CLARK, 2008 - PMID: 18772470

CLARK, 2012 - PMID: 22469110

MITCHELL, 2012 - PMID: 22934016

REID, 2012 - PMID: 22016147

European Working Group position stand 2018 - PMID: 30312372

European Working Group position stand 2010 - PMID: 20392703

BHASIN, 2020 (SDOC Paper) - PMID: 32150289

TØIEN, 2023 - PMID: 37881849

WIEGMANN, 2021 - PMID: 33657752

TØIEN, 2023 - PMID: 36442699

129: Sarcopenia Redefined: Loss of Strength and Power Matter More Than Muscle Mass

In this episode, we break down what drives fall risk, and why the common advice to “just work on your balance” falls short. We explore how falls are measured, what balance tests really tell us (and what they don’t), and why improving a test score doesn’t automatically mean you’re less likely to fall in real life.

We dig into the evidence on exercise and fall prevention, and explain why simpler, consistent exercise programs often outperform more complex approaches. We also look at surprising findings, like a randomized trial where a yoga group fell more than the control group, and what that reveals about confidence vs actual capacity.

From there, we focus on what matters most: power, reaction time, and the ability to recover from instability. Most falls aren’t failures of static balance; they’re failures to respond quickly when something goes wrong.

Finally, we cover what almost no one talks about: what happens after you fall. We discuss “long lies,” why getting up off the floor is a critical independence skill, and how a small amount of targeted practice can make a meaningful difference.

Power Play Course [https://themovementlogic.com/power-play/] available soon! 

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RESOURCES

 * CDC data on falls in older adults [https://shorturl.at/QGCx6]
 * 2024 Korean study on fear of falling [https://shorturl.at/CDini]
 * 2024 JAMA / USPSTF systematic review [https://shorturl.at/ZvT1w]
 * 2025 SAGE RCT, Iyengar yoga and falls [https://tinyurl.com/v32rw6wr]
 * 2020 Sherrington et al. Cochrane      Review [https://tinyurl.com/ycsfn4m2]
 * 2017 Sherrington et al. Cochrane      Review [https://tinyurl.com/n9mkktrs]
 * 2022 Simpkins et al. power vs strength [https://tinyurl.com/ykmf3keb]
 * 2025 Zhu et al. power and fall      prediction [https://tinyurl.com/e2zb7nws]
 * 2021 Okubo et al. stepping impairments      and fall risk [https://tinyurl.com/3veunjmk]
 * 2022 Devasahayam et al. reactive      balance training [https://tinyurl.com/4ywxyz7z]
 * Sheffield Long Lies Study [https://tinyurl.com/7rnbbtpv]
 * Floor Rise Training Trial [https://tinyurl.com/2xmzsys5]



128: Does “Balance Training” Prevent Falls, or Just Improve Balance?

In this episode, we break down the new 2026 American College of Sports Medicine position stand on resistance training—and why it’s not what the internet gurus were hoping for.

Instead of doubling down on rigid rules, this update does the opposite: it expands the evidence base, loosens the prescriptions, and makes one thing very clear—there is no single “best” way to train. Most resistance training works. What matters more is consistency, effort, and aligning your training with your actual goals.

We unpack what the ACSM looked at (including 137 systematic reviews and over 30,000 participants), what’s changed since 2009, and what the evidence actually says about strength, hypertrophy, power, endurance, and physical function. We also break down why “optimization” is often overhyped, why going from nothing to something is still the biggest win, and how power training may play a bigger role in real-life function than you think.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting fitness advice—or like you’re doing it “wrong”—this episode will simplify what actually matters and what you can safely ignore.

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Foldable Home Barbell Rack [https://verse.fit/movement-logic] by Verse, coupon code MovementLogic10%OFFat checkout

Resources:

ACSM 2026 Position Stand [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12965823/]

ACSM 2009 Position Stand [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19204579/]

POST [https://www.instagram.com/p/DQpGRRvjcl3/?igsh=d3dxM3cxdGp1czFq] about “strength span” from Stronger by Science

(Nuzzo, 2024) PMID: 38781472 [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38781472/]



127: ACSM says K.I.S.S.

In this episode, Sarah looks at two broad pain patterns, people who tend to push through pain and people who tend to avoid it, and explains how each one can shape your relationship with exercise. Before getting into those categories, she lays out a key foundation of modern pain science: pain is not a simple one-to-one signal of tissue damage. Instead, pain is a subjective experience shaped by the brain’s interpretation of threat, context, past experiences, beliefs, and emotions. She also explains why the common zero-to-10 pain scale is often misunderstood, what it is useful for, and why phrases like “I have a high pain tolerance” or “my pain is a 10 out of 10” may not communicate what people think they do.

From there, the episode walks through the fear avoidance model, pain catastrophizing, and the avoidance-endurance model to explain why some people stop moving the moment something feels wrong while others ignore pain until it becomes a much bigger problem. Sarah breaks down the strengths and liabilities of both patterns, including how pain avoiders can become deconditioned by steering clear of normal exercise discomfort and how pain endurers can blow past clear warning signs and delay recovery. She also talks through how these patterns show up in real life, how to tell which direction you tend to lean, and how better pain literacy, gradual progression, and thoughtful exercise programming can help you recalibrate your response to pain without swinging all the way to the opposite extreme.

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RESOURCES

Fear Avoidance Model revisited [https://journals.lww.com/pain/fulltext/2016/08000/the_fear_avoidance_model_of_pain.5.aspx]

Pain Catastrophizing Model [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7772183/]

Avoidance-Endurance Model [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20664333/]

Pain Catastrophizing Scale [https://www.oregon.gov/oha/HPA/dsi-pmc/PainCareToolbox/Pain%20Catastrophizing%20Scale.pdf]

Avoidance-Endurance Questionnaire [https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org/instruments/avoidance-endurance-questionnaire#need_this_questionnaire]

126: Are You a Pain Avoider or a Pain Endurer?

Dr. Vanessa Komarek, PsyD joins Laurel for a conversation about strength training, trauma myths, gymtimidation, training through pregnancy, and what it actually means to be trauma informed as a coach. They talk about how lifting can support mental health, why fear-based messaging can backfire, where coaching ends and therapy begins, and which evidence-based PTSD treatments deserve more attention than social media trauma narratives.

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RESOURCES

Dr. Vanessa Komarek, PsyD

Instagram @HeavyLiftingPychologist [https://www.instagram.com/heavy_lifting_psychologist/]

Website www.weightsforwellbeing.com [https://www.weightsforwellbeing.com/]

125: Trauma-Informed Coaching with Dr. Vanessa Komarek, PsyD

In this episode, Laurel and Sarah talk with menopause educator and advocate Amanda Thebe about Midi Health, its public messaging, and what happens when menopause care becomes a venture-backed business model. Amanda shares how she first noticed Midi when a physician moved from a major hospital to join the telemedicine platform, and why she initially saw it as a promising solution to a real problem, women being dismissed, under-treated, and unable to access knowledgeable care. Over time, she describes getting “amber flags” from Midi’s marketing, especially the way hormone therapy was framed as a near-universal fix with benefits that outpaced the evidence, a pattern she contrasts with other companies she feels communicate more responsibly.

The conversation digs into the incentives created by venture capital funding and what it can do to a company’s priorities, shifting from careful medical decision-making to selling more, retaining customers longer, and expanding into profitable add-ons. They discuss Midi’s move into wellness-style offerings and unproven products, including rapamycin framed for longevity, compounded and non-evidence-based creams, and the broader drift of menopause platforms into weight loss and longevity medicine to keep people buying beyond the menopause transition. They also unpack why influential clinician-brands can develop intensely loyal followings that resist criticism, and what it signals when platforms partner with high-profile figures like Mary Claire Haver. Throughout, Amanda emphasizes that the real need is ethical, evidence-based care that doesn’t put profit before patients, and she offers practical advice for what a solid menopause appointment looks like, how to prepare, where to look for reputable resources, and how to block the noise.


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RESOURCES
Instagram: Amanda Thebe [https://www.instagram.com/amanda.thebe/]
Website: amandathebe.com [https://amandathebe.com/]
LinkedIn: Amanda Thebe [https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-thebe/]


Movement Logic: Doctor vs Brand [https://www.instagram.com/p/DS5cUmlEpdh/?img_index=1] IG post
Amanda Thebe: Midi Health [https://www.instagram.com/p/DUyR1m1jiF3/?img_index=1] IG post

Instagram: Dr. Pauline Maki [https://www.instagram.com/pauline.maki/]
Instagram: Professor Susan Davis [https://www.instagram.com/professorsusandavis/]

The Menopause Society [https://menopause.org/]: Provider directory and resources

124: Doctor or Brand? Amanda Thebe on the Midi Health Model

In this episode, Dr. Sarah Court unpacks scoliosis from the ground up, what it is, how it is diagnosed, the different types, and what we actually know about why it happens. She explains the Cobb angle, idiopathic versus congenital, neuromuscular, and degenerative scoliosis, and why muscle imbalances, heavy backpacks, or “bad posture” are not the root cause. Drawing on her own experience living with scoliosis and her time observing medical care in a pediatric hospital setting, she walks through current medical interventions, including observation, bracing, and spinal fusion, along with the real-world tradeoffs that come with each.

The episode then turns to exercise. Do you need scoliosis-specific methods like Schroth or SEAS, and do they meaningfully change outcomes? Sarah reviews the current evidence, which suggests small to modest short-term changes at best, with limited high-quality data, especially in adults. She makes the case that most adults with scoliosis do not need to chase curve correction or cosmetic symmetry. Instead, the focus should be on building strength, addressing meaningful side-to-side capacity differences, supporting breathing where needed, and improving function and confidence. Heavy lifting, including deadlifts and squats, is not inherently dangerous for people with scoliosis, and getting stronger is often the most practical, evidence-informed path forward.



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RESOURCES:


The Schroth Method [https://schrothmethod.com/] 

The SEAS Method [https://en.isico.it/seas/]

VIDEO [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5Kcmux6bjJE]: Schroth in action

123: Don't Get it Twisted: Scoliosis Facts vs Fiction

In this episode, Laurel and Sarah are joined by Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Director of the Office for Science and Society at McGill University and one of the most experienced science communicators working today. They explore why pseudoscientific health claims spread so effectively, even among educated and well-intentioned people, and why wellness culture is so drawn to simple explanations for complex biological problems.

The conversation moves through three dominant narratives shaping modern health messaging: the obsession with finding a single root cause, the moralization of food, chemicals, and health behaviors, and the pressure to optimize every biological variable imaginable. Dr. Schwarcz explains how these narratives distort public understanding of science, create unnecessary anxiety, and distract from the few behaviors that reliably matter for health, like movement, nutrition, and basic risk management.

They also discuss how science actually works, including why it changes over time, how peer review can fail, how industry funding complicates research interpretation, and why cherry-picked studies and observational data are so easily weaponized in marketing. The episode closes with practical guidance on how to evaluate health claims, how to think about trust and expertise, and why asking better questions is often more powerful than finding definitive answers.

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Verse Agile Rack, Foldable Home Barbell Rack [https://verse.fit/movement-logic] coupon code MovementLogic50OFF

RESOURCES

Dr. Schwarz's radio show [https://www.cjad800.com/shows/the-dr-joe-show.html]

McGill University blog [https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/our-articles?page=9]

McGill University YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/mcgilluniversity]

Book: [https://amzn.to/4aMLU07] The Certainty Illusion, by Timothy Caulfield

122: A Science Communicator Explains Pseudoscience, with Dr. Joe Schwarcz, PhD

In this solo episode, Sarah takes the “doctor vs brand” framework that went viral on Instagram and runs it as a real-time case study on a real company. The target is Cadense, an adaptive shoe that claims to help with foot drop, toe catch, and neurologic walking difficulties using “variable friction” tech, basically a glide-to-grip outsole design meant to reduce toe snagging while still giving traction during stance and push-off. Sarah breaks down what foot drop is, who this type of device might help, who it might put at risk, and why any rehab-adjacent product should be judged on more than vibe, testimonials, or white-coat authority.

Then she gets into incentives, the part everyone wants to ignore until it’s their wallet. She walks through Cadense’s ambassador, coach, and affiliate pathways, and uses the full checklist to evaluate where Cadense lands on the clinician-led spectrum, including what they disclose well, what they oversimplify, and what they should tighten up if they want to be truly “do no harm” about a product that can literally change someone’s fall risk. Finally, Sarah looks at the actual research (yes, it exists, no, it’s not robust yet), explains what a five-person pilot study can and can’t prove, and lays out the line she personally won’t cross, recommending a product case-by-case versus becoming financially tied to a medical-ish purchase decision.



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Verse Agile Rack, Foldable Home Barbell Rack [https://verse.fit/movement-logic] coupon code MovementLogic50OFF

RESOURCES
Instagram Post [https://www.instagram.com/p/DS5cUmlEpdh/?img_index=1]: When a Doctor Becomes a Brand
Cadense, Official Website [https://cadense.com/]
Cadense Coaches Program, Clinician Partnership [https://cadense.com/pages/coaches]
Pilot Study of Cadence, A Novel Shoe for Patients With Foot Drop, Evora et al. 2019 [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/]
NIH Clinical Trial, Variable Friction Shoe vs AFO (NCT06234124) [https://clinicaltrials.gov/]
Global Wellness Economy Reaches $6.8 Trillion, Global Wellness Institute [https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com]


121: Do No Harm, But Also Sell Shoes? The Doctor vs Brand Problem

In this episode of the Movement Logic Podcast, Laurel Beversdorf revisits the advice to eat 30 different plants per week and explains why it sounds scientific while resting on a much shakier foundation than it appears. She reflects on encountering the claim, why her and Sarah’s initial reaction was skepticism, and how listener feedback led to a closer look at where the idea came from and how it spread.

Laurel breaks down what the American Gut Project actually showed: an observational association between self reported plant variety and gut microbiome diversity in a specific, self selected, largely affluent cohort. She explains why this type of research cannot identify an optimal number of plants or justify turning a statistical cutoff into a universal lifestyle rule, especially given the limits of how plant intake was measured.

She then examines how the venture backed consumer health company Zoe translated this association into a prescriptive target and built products around it, arguing that the clarity and certainty of the message functions as marketing rather than sound, science backed health advice. Finally, Laurel zooms out to the emotional and social impact of this advice, explaining how moralized wellness claims turn health into a performance metric while ignoring access, instability, and other social determinants of health.

FREE Barbell Mini Course—SIGN UP [https://mailchi.mp/d4c544ab3a5d/minicourse]

FOLLOW [https://www.instagram.com/movementlogictutorials/] @MovementLogicTutorials on Instagram

RESOURCES

113: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/113-debunking-menopause-grifters-dr-mary-claire-haver/id1614469934?i=1000731912781] Debunking Menopause Grifters

118: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/118-how-should-we-eat-to-be-healthy-with-abby-langer-rd/id1614469934?i=1000740595453] How Should We Eat To Be Healthy? with Abby Langer, RD

102: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/102-the-problem-with-moralizing-movement/id1614469934?i=1000715400053] Moralizing Movement

American Gut Project

McDonald, 2018; PMID: 29795809 [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29795809/]

Book: [https://amzn.to/4aMLU07] The Certainty Illusion, by Timothy Caulfield

Guardian Article [https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/18/zoe-nutrition-app-diet-tim-spector-wellness-science]: ‘Personalising stuff that doesn’t matter’: the trouble with the Zoe nutrition app

Zoe + Science + Nutrition interview [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zoe-science-nutrition/id1611216298?i=1000742775869] with Prof. Tim Spector

Post: [https://www.instagram.com/p/DQrq1kACebR/] Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple's infographic on scientific process

Post: [https://www.instagram.com/p/DSnMqbzEfzt/]What Peter Attia gets wrong

Post: [https://www.instagram.com/movementlogictutorials/reel/DTIbcaLjqNE/] Attia & 30 plants/week

Post: [https://www.instagram.com/p/DS5cUmlEpdh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D] Doctor vs. Brand

120: Is Advice to Eat 30 Different Plants/Week Science-Backed?

Welcome to the Movement Logic Podcast, with yoga teacher and strength coach Laurel Beversdorf, and physical therapist Dr. Sarah Court. With over 30 years combined experience in the yoga, movement and physical therapy worlds, we believe in strong ideas, loosely held – which means we’re not hyping outdated movement concepts. Instead, we’re here with up-to-date and cutting-edge tools, evidence and ideas to help you as a mover and a teacher. Music: Makani by Scandinavianz & AXM

Laurel Beversdorf

Shows