Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
15. Strength Training Through Injuries: Why Getting Older Doesn’t Mean a Lower Quality of Life
20 Plays1 month ago
Dealing with injuries — doesn’t mean you stop training or lower your expectations for how you feel in your body.
Similarly, we don't have to accept the narrative that assumes a lower quality of life as we age, in living with age related injuries that stem from living a sedentary lifestyle and losing muscle as a result.
In this episode, I talk about how strength training can support healing and quality of life when your body has limitations. We dig into how movement helps you adapt and stay active without ignoring pain or pushing through things that don’t make sense anymore.
I share real client examples and explain how we find what is possible instead of focusing on what’s off-limits — so training becomes something that supports your life, not something you have to “earn back” later.
This episode is for anyone managing injuries, getting older, or wanting to stay strong without burning themselves out or giving up on their body.
Because movement helps you heal + get more out of life.
#StrengthTraining #TrainThroughInjury #InjuryRecovery #MovementIsMedicine #FunctionalStrength #sustainablefitness #basicsofbalance #habitconsulting
Do you have a question you want me to answer on the show or a topic you want me to cover? Fill out the form below and let me know!
https://forms.wix.com/f/7052348738324398977
Join my newsletter for more brain gainz:
https://forms.wix.com/r/7064968032702955562
Ways we can work together:
1:1 Coaching Application:
https://form.jotform.com/habitconsulting/coachingapplication
Train With Me Training Membership
4x/week: https://coach.everfit.io/package/EQ664047
3x/week: https://coach.everfit.io/package/JR998021
1x Custom Nutrition Plan
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7X4SRS7V5FV/checkout/O6K2ROWQXKXKWVZ5FLXLTM2V
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Strength and Aging
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Basics of Balance. My name is Ariella. We are going to be talking today about kind of a lot as it relates to ah how we move our body, right? Why it's important that we are moving our body. in the context of dealing with injuries and how, you know, as we get older, one of the best predictors of how we're going to age is how strong we are, right? So they kind of go hand in hand and because, you know, as we get older, we deal with age-related injuries, right? And I'm going to argue many times likely that, you know, lot of those age-related injuries are actually preventable for the most part based on the choices that you make earlier on in life, right? The earlier, the better, okay? And also in that same line of logic, you know, it's very common that we, you know, are going to deal with injuries throughout our lifetime, right? Whether those are sports injuries or we just, you know, slept, wrong, because that's what happens as you get older and you wake up and you got you know a little creak in your neck that you can't um ah you know heal from ah initially. But all that to say, we're going talk about you know kind of dealing with injuries 101 and just how that relates to getting older and things like that. I will say there are
00:01:21
Speaker
always going to be exceptions to every single rule.
Preventing and Managing Injuries
00:01:24
Speaker
okay We are humans. We are living, breathing beings. um Context is always going to matter. okay So this ah you know conversation, I'll say, is based on not only my experience in the past 10 years dealing with ah you know, working with people from all different walks of life, from all abilities, but a lot of limitations too, you know, hip replacements, knee replacements, rods in their back, you know, um ACL tears, things like that. ah um But also at the same time, um you know,
00:01:56
Speaker
When we are dealing with an injury, obviously it's important to make sure that depending on the severity of the injury, we're getting it checked out, okay? So absolutely make sure that you're getting it checked out. However, i just wanna kinda share from my experience in the coaching field for that time and also what the current science says as it relates to healing from injuries, okay? But definitely make sure that you're talking to your doctor if you feel like you're dealing with something that, you know, some of these modalities might not be applicable to you. But I think you're going to find, as you listen to this episode, a lot of these modalities are going to come down to a solutions-oriented mindset, right? So what can I do? Where is my opportunity? Where is the silver lining? if
00:02:38
Speaker
if i can't If I have bad knees, do I just lean into that or do I find options that I can do to strengthen my knees, right? It's a solutions-oriented mindset. So all that to say, check out you know get checked out by your doctor, but also at the same time, I think a lot of times when we are dealing with injuries, first and foremost, one of the worst things that we can do is not move that body part, not move that injured area, okay?
Understanding Pain and Movement
00:03:06
Speaker
And again, always exceptions to the rule. If you have a broken knee, I'm not going to go ahead and ask you to squat, right? Hello. Let's be honest, right? Let's use some common sense. However, it is very common that when we have bad knees or let's say a bad lower back, because those are two very common, I will say, injuries in our society that I've at least dealt with, um one of the worst things you can do is not use them. First of all, um knee issues, a lot of times, they are not they are not stemming from your knee, okay? Knee issues, a lot of times, are actually stemming from your hip, and we're we're feeling the knee ah you know inflamed. We're feeling the pain in our knee, our discomfort in our knee, because it's a secondary signal, okay? But the source, most of the time, unless it's something acute or something like that, most of the time is going to stem from your hip.
00:04:01
Speaker
Similarly speaking, low back is also going to stem from your hip, okay? Your hips, your pelvis, your glutes, that whole entire, um i will say, complexive structure Really is, i want you to think about it like a foundation. So if our foundation is rocky or if our foundation is weak, it is going to affect connected body parts. And we are part of one body, right? So if one area is affected, it's a good chance that other areas are going to be affected, right?
00:04:34
Speaker
all that to say, um arguably speaking, we as a society deal with a lot of low back issues because, and again, work injuries, things like that are a different conversation. But when we deal with low back issues, arguably speaking, we are dealing with them because of inactivity, because we are very sedentary as a lifestyle. We are sitting down way too often. okay We do not move. We do not go for walks. We do not It's not a matter of doing the right kind of activity. We just don't do enough activity, right? And arguably speaking, we have a lot of low back issues, right, that we might throw on our back if we are at work, if you especially if you work a very physical job, ah even if you're a plumber, if you are a roofer and you're, you know, bent over a lot of the times, um we deal with a lot of those issues from a secondary reason of inactivity because we haven't taken the time to strengthen that body part. So when we're overusing that body part that's already weak, yeah, we're going to go ahead and we're going to have a lot of issues with that body part, right? Similarly speaking with our knees, um in a different line of logic,
00:05:45
Speaker
It's very common, like I said, that the the major issue, or I should say the cause, is mostly in our hip. That's usually what we see, okay? Obviously, you know, if you have a sports-related injury and let's say you tore your ACL, like I have a client we're going to talk about who did tear his ACL um when he was playing flag football at a camp retreat.
00:06:05
Speaker
um And so obviously things like that, sure, that's localized, that's isolated, that's an acute injury to your knee. However, again, arguably speaking, Our foundation is rocky, right? Our foundation of our hip and pelvis and and joints and things like that, it's rocky. And so therefore, um we are a bit unstable, if you will. And that instability is showing up in knee pain, knee discomfort, things like that, right? um And so all of that to say, arguably speaking, a lot of those low back and knee issues are going
00:06:38
Speaker
are stemming from a sedentary lifestyle, right? And here is the thing. One of the worst things that you can do furthering that point when you have a bad back or bad knees is not move those knees and not exercise and get stronger or excuse me, or not exercise and not strengthen those knees or low back. Okay.
00:07:03
Speaker
We are not necessarily going to sit here and say, ok we'll ignore the issue and just push through. no no, no, no, no. Pain is a red flag. We need to listen to that, but there's a difference between pain and discomfort. Okay. And it's not necessarily the easiest thing to differentiate between those two things. um However, there is a difference between pain and discomfort. Okay. um If we are dealing with pain, obviously red flag, stop what you're doing. If we are dealing with discomfort, usually that is something that we can work through, right? We adapt, we um we modify, if you will. Okay. So for example, I'm not saying you have bad knees, you have a bad back. Let's ignore it and let's back squat 300 pounds. Nobody's saying that. But what I am saying is let's find a squat pattern, a squat variation that might not load your lumbar spine and that also might not load your knees with the weight being in front of you like a goblet squat or a front squat, right, with the barbell.
00:07:59
Speaker
Maybe we find a variation that is, hey, start from the ground up. How are we doing with body weight squats when we can handle enough body weight squats with proper form Let's, of course, add some weight. And maybe we're adding weight to the sides of our body, which is a suitcase squat, which is not loading your lumbar spine, first of all. Second of all, which is evenly distributing your weight on the sides of your body. So your body is counterbalancing, laterally speaking. It's in a very strong foundation.
00:08:28
Speaker
We're not holding our weight in front of us to put unnecessary stress on those knees. And we're strengthening those knees by moving those knees. We're strengthening that lower back by moving that lower back, right? Of course, form is important, but do you see what I'm saying? Are you picking up what I'm putting down? We don't want to do nothing because that's not going to get us stronger. We also don't want to ignore it. So where's that middle ground? How can we find a middle ground? Because motion is lotion. All right.
00:08:55
Speaker
And if we are not moving those body parts, we can't expect for those body parts to get stronger. And therefore, we can basically expect to continue living with limitations, to continue living with pain, right? Think about your bicep, for example, all right?
00:09:10
Speaker
If we were trying to strengthen your bicep specifically, and we never did bicep isolated exercises, right? How in the world do you expect that bicep to get stronger?
00:09:21
Speaker
It's not going to, right? We have to use that muscle group, okay? Similarly speaking, we have to use those joints. Those joints are connected to those connective tissues. That connective tissue is connected to your muscles, so on and so forth, right? It's a system. And so we it's in our best interest to not lean into, oh I just have bad back. Oh, I just have bad knees. No, we need to find ways and what we can do within our
Success Stories of Overcoming Injuries
00:09:50
Speaker
limitations, starting from where we're at and building on that, right?
00:09:54
Speaker
have... clients who I've worked with in the past who have had knee replacements, who have had meniscus surgeries, who have had, I mean, I've had many people who have had knee issues because it's a very common, i would say, injury or issue in our society, like I said, right? And when we're when I'm working with those clients, I promise you we are squatting. I promise you we are lunging. And I also promise you that those clients after months and after working with them closely to obviously ensure proper form and things like that have come back to me saying they no longer have knee pain, who who have come back to me saying their daily activities, such as going up and down the stairs or you know getting off the couch or what, ah you know, daily activities aren't as big of an issue. And I promise you, we didn't get there by avoiding using their knees. Okay. We are still squatting. We are building up from where they are. um Maybe that means, like I said, doing body weight stuff. Maybe that just means doing different variations. um
00:10:58
Speaker
Variation meaning A specific example of a lunge, okay? We talked about squats, but I want to talk about a lunge because this is going to show in it a different context. A lunge is arguably, it's a very basic exercise, but please don't mishear me.
00:11:15
Speaker
It can be pretty challenging if you already struggle with balance and stability and things like that because that's what it's challenging. Okay. Not only is it strengthening your lower body, right? It's a single leg squat. And so it's going to be, I would argue, a little bit more intense than a squat because you have all that body weight on one leg, right? However, you're also struggling to maintain your balance. You're also struggling to um you know maintain your stability and things like that. So you know Don't get it twisted. Just because it can be a basic exercise doesn't mean that it's not going to provide a challenge. And that's exactly why we do those exercises, guys, is because if we are horrible at lunges, if that is basically showing an underlying issue that we are struggling to maintain balance and stability to things that we need as we age, as we get older, we have to practice those movement patterns that challenge where we are struggling to get better at where we're struggling, right? It's the same idea. Um, and so in a variation of a lunge, for example,
00:12:17
Speaker
i A reverse lunge is going to be, I will say, and I'm air quoting if you can't see me, a reverse lunge is going to be the safest version of a lunge, okay? A forward lunge is going to be a little bit more quad dominant. It's also going to put a little bit more pressure on your knee, all right? So if we're dealing with knee issues, we don't want to start with a forward lunge. We don't want to start with a walking lunge, okay? I would argue that, hey, we need to start with a reverse lunge and A lot of times, too, holding on to something in a reverse lunge. So we are building up that strength, doing what we can. Eventually, we won't hold on.
00:12:53
Speaker
Eventually, we'll add weight and maybe hold on. And then eventually, we'll continue adding that weight and not holding on. See the progression, right? There's always something that we can try, right? See where we can start from. Anyways, reverse lunge.
00:13:08
Speaker
Because of how your body responds to that motion in a step back fashion, it's going to be a little bit safer um and therefore a great variation if we're trying to build up knee strength, okay? Here's the thing, though. It's a very common ah ah mistake that I see when I'm correcting form when we're taking that step back. That back leg is coming back, but that back leg is also coming in towards the same side as your front leg. okay And that's not great because it's putting unnecessary pressure on not only your hips, right? Because we're turning our hips and ah in an unnatural fashion, but also it's putting unnecessary pressure on your knee. And so you might say, i can't squat.
00:13:56
Speaker
Hey, let's find a variation. You can't. You might say, I can't lunge. Hey, let's pay attention to things like that, like your form. Are you taking a step back and in when we really just need to be taking a step back? Arguably, take a step back and out away from the the side that your front leg is down on, right? create a wider foundation a stronger foundation as a result. It will put less pressure on that front knee. It will put less pressure on your hips. And therefore, it will be a lot safer of a variation to start building strength in those knees to get you out of pain, right?
00:14:34
Speaker
um And so all that to say, those are things that I do with my clients who um have dealt with you know knee pain, knee surgeries, things like that. um And I will say, i walk the walk. I talk the talk. I've been dealing with a wrist injury. um I'm holding on to the wrong wrist. I've been dealing with a wrist injury for a long time. I honestly don't even know where it started. It's definitely an overuse injury because Number one, you know, I lift weights very regularly, but I also so do a lot of my own form videos for for my training clients, right? Whether it's my training subscription members or my individual clients. I, you know, record myself, edit them so that they can obviously see what they're doing. And so it's been an overuse injury that I've known, but I'm sure you've heard the analogy like doctors are their worst patients.
00:15:24
Speaker
Okay, well, I can tell someone to modify all I want, but like I just really enjoy working out. And so here we are. I've been dealing with a wrist injury that has truly just developed into this just iceberg of a problem in my life, but definitely in my lifts. I have had to adjust and adapt to my lifts completely.
00:15:43
Speaker
i have not really been able to work out at home because my home gym, i have you know barbells and dumbbells and a cable pulley, but I can't grab onto barbells. I can't grab onto dumbbells, even using lifting straps. um So it's also, you know, created problems with me grabbing onto weight to get my cable, right, my pulley system ready to go. And so I basically had to completely stop working out at home and move all of my workouts to the gym, right? Because I can use machines, machines that don't, you know, force me to hold onto weight.
00:16:16
Speaker
ah weight And it's helping. It's definitely helping. um You know, obviously, i I still have a long way to go because I just ignored things. I ignored the pain, like I said, you're not supposed to do. But here we are. um And so, you know, even with upper body exercises, I can't really grab onto anything. So I'm basically doing all upper body exercises on a cable machine and I'm using cuffs instead of handles. um And I've kind of been limited in what I can do in that regard, but we're doing it, right? We're doing the best that we can with what we have. We can't prevent all injuries from happening, especially if you are ignoring your warning signs from your body, but there's always something that we can do. And when we understand the massive role
00:17:01
Speaker
that an active lifestyle has on our overall quality of life, but also longevity of life, um it's important. And you're going to continue to find ways to be solutions oriented, like I said at the beginning, rather than I have bad knees, guess I can't work out. No, that's that's not where we are trying to go, right?
00:17:21
Speaker
And so I want to talk about a client of ah a client of mine who he tore his ACL um a few years ago. He was playing flag football with ah a few kids um from a camp and He was, you know, part of the group where, okay, that basically we had to take a pause on all lower body exercises, right? He had to go to PT. um He had to have surgery. It was a obviously a massive injury, right? If you've ever torn your ACL before, I can like visualize it. It's just, it's not pretty. And obviously it's a long road to recovery, especially if you're doing it the
Recovery Techniques and Misconceptions
00:17:57
Speaker
right way. Yeah. However, he, know, had to have surgery, ah went to PT, all of that stuff. And so we we drastically modified his workout programming, his entire structure. He couldn't do anything lower body. um And then also, even with his upper body exercises that we were focusing on primarily, he still couldn't bear weight. And so weight on his lower body, sorry. And so that obviously meant things like a lot of cable machines. um He could do pull downs to a certain degree, but he couldn't lift with maximum intensity because even a pull down machine, you know, where the the bar is that goes on top of your legs, wasn't comfortable ah hard for him to get into position. You know, just little things like that where you just like, man, you take just, you know, what your body can do for granted until you can't use it. Right. Or it's just like eye opening when you can't use something. Right.
00:18:47
Speaker
Uh, cable machine exercises, like even, uh, cable bicep curls. I mean, you're bracing, you're using your legs, you know? So a lot of these things were kind of out of the question, dumbbell exercises, um, anything, you know, even related to, um, you know, dumbbell lateral raises, if he was standing anyways, all that to say, We had to really modify his stuff, right? So we did upper body until he was cleared to do lower body. But when we were doing lower body, we were really careful because we needed to build from the ground up, essentially. Anytime you're dealing with an injury and and also coming back from a hiatus, you're not just like jumping back with both feet in. You know what i mean? Like you have to take a few steps back. You have to ah build back up to where you were, whether you're injured or not.
00:19:33
Speaker
um And so all of that to say, you know, we started with making sure that he was cleared, of course. We were incorporating his physical therapy exercises into his workouts. And with that, I was giving him some movement prep exercises, which were just basically a like two exercises that were priming his body.
00:19:52
Speaker
getting him ready to do his warm-up sets and then his working sets, right? If you're new to strength training, if you're new to progressive overload, you know, ah principles, a movement prep is really just what you might consider just a warm-up, right? But a lot of people put too much stock and a lot of emphasis on their warm-up. um And really, at the end of the day, your warm-up is...
00:20:16
Speaker
basically reserved for your warm-up sets, okay? Your warm-up set is the exact same exercise you're about to do with less weight. So let's say, for example, I was about to ask you to squat and your max squat five reps, let's say, was 100 pounds. Okay, well, you would do a few warm-up sets. Maybe you would start with body weight squats, five reps, rest a little bit. Then you would maybe build up to 25 pounds, five reps. Then you would build up to 50 pounds. You see what I'm saying? Like your warm-up set is the exact same exercise with less weight. Then eventually you get to your working sets, you're warmed up, you're primed, you're ready to go. You're not starting basically your engine from zero and pushing the pedal to the metal and you get a better result. You are able to handle more weight. You are also preventing injuries because you are giving yourself time to warm up. But anyways, all that to say, i gave him a couple of movement prep exercises, which basically just help prime your your joints and send signal to your body that, hey, we're about to use these muscle groups, promote some blood flow, things like that, right? Helps you get the most out of it. um But I noticed he was skipping his movement prep, okay? In addition to, I noticed that he was skipping a lot of his lower body exercises. Okay.
00:21:33
Speaker
And unlike the other clients that I had mentioned that have had knee problems in the past, even surgeries and things like that, you know, I know from not only my experience, but also what the science says um and also in alignment with his physical therapy, you know, rehab procedures.
00:21:50
Speaker
ah timeline, if you will, that we needed to start putting his body back under ah weight, right? We needed to start kind of stressing his body in that way in an effort to get stronger because again, he's not going to get stronger if we're not doing that, right? um And so all that to say,
00:22:06
Speaker
Lots of conversations with him about, hey, we need to make sure we're including your movement prep. It's crucial at this point, really making sure that that's happening because it's going to help protect you from future injury and also help you get the most out of your strength training, which, by the way, why are we not doing lower body? Why are we skipping our leg stuff, right?
00:22:25
Speaker
And a couple of things. Number one you know, he was mentally scared. He was scared to do Um, you know, even a lot of body weight stuff, right? A lot of body weight lunges once we got to that point and a lot of, you know, um, anyways, all that to say he was scared to do those things. And so of course, great coaching opportunity to kind of explain, listen, like we're not going to get stronger unless we are able to kind of burst through and put, um, some motion right onto your body. We need your joints to be able to handle weight over time. And that's not going to happen if we're just not using them. Right.
00:22:58
Speaker
Um, and And also at the end of the day, he kind of what we talked about a couple of episodes ago, he didn't really put a whole lot of stock in ah leg training, right? Lower body. He really wanted to focus on upper body, which I think is very common with with a lot of male clients. um And so it was a great opportunity for me to kind of reiterate what we talked about a couple of episodes ago on how important leg strength is for overall strength, right? So number one, and we are trying to get your body stronger. We can't get stronger if we're not using that muscle group, right? Or those joints and whatnot. And number two, your leg strength is directly going to impact the the area that you want to focus on the most, your bench, your overhead press, your bicep curls, things like that. And so it's in our best interest for a couple of different reasons to make sure, hey, we are strengthening that um that muscle group, right?
00:23:53
Speaker
It's also important to say your legs are some of the biggest muscle groups in our body, right? And so The more muscle that we have, the the faster we're going to heal from injuries, the faster we're going to heal from whether it's acute injuries like this ACL tear, and he atrophied a lot of muscle because he had to take so much time off, um or maybe it's age-related injuries, right? ah you know We lose muscle as we age, and so as we age, we start developing a lot of these age-related injuries um that
00:24:29
Speaker
arguably can be prevented by the choices that we make early on in life, right?
Aging, Protein, and Strength Training
00:24:33
Speaker
And so all of that to say, you know, we were able to kind of get around, listen, we're starting from the ground up. We're not going to do anything that you're not comfortable with understanding the difference between pain and discomfort. But the only way that we're going to get back to where you were is by using that muscle group and using those joints and also, um you know,
00:24:54
Speaker
With that in mind, we can't be skipping our lower body exercises because it's going to directly impact your upper body. It's directly going to impact a lot of different things, right?
00:25:05
Speaker
And so kind of shifting gears a little bit, um kind of like what I mentioned, you know, our Muscle, well, no, let me back up for a second. Protein is the number one resource that is used when we are sick and or injured, okay? And the thing is, is that if we do not eat enough protein, your body is going to take from the largest source of protein, which is your muscle, okay? And so we can't prevent all injuries from happening, right? Like in in this client situation, he i mean, sure, I'm sure he could have taken a different step, but like, let's be honest, right? You can't prevent all injuries. Sometimes people tear their ACL, right?
00:25:50
Speaker
However, the more muscle we have, the faster you will heal from those injuries because that muscle is the largest storage of protein in our body. And protein is the number one resource used when we're sick or we're injured, right? And also at the same time, the more muscle you have, the less injuries you can expect to have as you age, okay? As you get older in life. Um...
00:26:20
Speaker
And that kind of leads me to the the last thing that I wanted to kind of talk about is it's so common in our society that, ah like, I hear this a lot. I am, at the time that I'm recording this, I'm 37. And so obviously there are tons of people who are older than me, right? And anytime, you know, i make some kind of a joke like,
00:26:42
Speaker
oh, you know, I slept wrong and, you know, I pulled my neck or, you know, whatever, right? Oh, just wait until you're my age. Oh, you have no idea what's ahead of you. And it's like, guys, this is just nails on a chalkboard to me. Like, truly speaking, um it's it's so frustrating to me because it's like in my head, I'm genuinely thinking to myself, no, thanks.
00:27:05
Speaker
Like, Truly speaking, no thank you. That is why i lift heavy things. That is why I prioritize fueling my body. That is why I prioritize sleeping. And like, I'm not, I'm not trying to throw shade, so I'm hoping it's not coming off like that. But what I want to say is how you age directly is directly impacted by the choices you make such as strength training, right, to build and preserve muscle, because like I just said, the more muscle you have, the less injury you're going to have as you age and the faster you're going to heal from injuries, whether it's self-induced or age-related injuries. Um...
00:27:46
Speaker
And, you know, that kind of gives you permission to make sure that you are fueling your bodies, right? Not constantly living in a state of restriction, not constantly chasing fat loss, but spending some time really trying to prioritize your strongest self, right? And so it's just, it's frustrating to me because I think that we are so used to listening to the narrative that just assumes a lower quality of life as you age as normal. And that's not normal. It's common, but it's not normal. um It's frustrating because we assume that we should just be accepting living with pain and aches and things like that that can be prevented. um And, you know, depending on where you're at, you know, whether how old you are, what your life has looked like and what kind of injuries you have, You might not be able to get back to 100%, don't get me wrong, but isn't it worth trying to figure out what quality of life you can get back with the life that you have left? You know what i mean? And that's why it's related to what we're talking about, such as you might have bad knees from inactivity, from a sedentary lifestyle, from ah you know maybe being in in the trades, being a plumber, things like that. You know what i mean? That's just like degenerative over time. But that doesn't mean that we just like lean into that and we take that lower quality of life. There are things that we can do if we are willing to find solutions to help improve that quality of life, right? um Like, I don't know about you, but again, I'm 37 at the time that I'm recording this. And, you know, i've I've had gray hairs pop up.
00:29:25
Speaker
you know, over the last few years. And I have this one gray hair. And it's kind of sad, actually, because i call it my alfalfa. It is on the top of my head. And it's, you know, gray hair has different, you know, texture. it's It's a little thicker. It's a little bit more coarse. And so it just like stands up. It's got a mind of its own.
Muscle's Role in Aging Well
00:29:44
Speaker
And I love this thing, you guys. Like, I don't know why I am the way that I am, but I get a kick out of this thing. And I love it. And it's sad because it just started laying down. It's no longer loud and proud. It just started laying down, so it's blending in. But anyways, um I get gray hairs, and like I don't look at aging as this thing to like, oh, I'm 37. No, just kidding. I'm 30, and I'm going to be 30 for the rest of my life. I'm never going to tell people how old I am. And don't get me wrong. Obviously, I reserve the right to change my mind as I get older. However, what I'm trying to say is I don't fear getting older because, number one, that is a privilege. okay That is a privilege. Not everybody has the opportunity to age. all right Number two, i strongly disagree that getting older is simply accepting a life of you're breaking down and you're dealing with these constant aches and pains. That's why we strength train. That's why we eat the way that we eat. That's why we live the way that we live and focus on the habits that we focus on.
00:30:45
Speaker
Two, live a life of as few limitations as possible for as long as possible, okay? That means... Living a life of as few limitations means disruptions in life, things that reduce our quality of life, aches and pains, right? Injuries that can be prevented to a certain degree with how strong we are, right? um Limitations such as inability to do things, right? I don't want to have to ask somebody to help me put my baggage in the overhead bin. I don't want to... ah not be able to climb mountains when I'm getting older. I want to be able to do those things. I don't want to have limitations. And so the choices that I make now are to protect that, right?
00:31:30
Speaker
It's to protect living the life that I want to live um as much as I can, obviously. You can't predict the future, but as much as you can, right? um For as long as possible.
00:31:42
Speaker
the muscle is one of the greatest predictors of not only how you will age, right, your quality of life, but also how long you will live. um Your muscle has a direct impact on your cognitive health, okay? Your muscle has a direct impact on um allowing your body to function properly, okay? And so, It's not necessarily about trying to build muscle for purely aesthetic reasons, although that's a great byproduct and bonus. But, you know, trying to chase your strongest self and trying to build muscle is going to help you live a well-rounded, full quality of life, right? um
00:32:22
Speaker
Again, motion is lotion. And I'm sure you can think of some experiences where you've maybe heard from people who are older um in their later years who have said, you know kind of the secret is don't stop. The second that we stop moving is the second that we start seeing a lot of um issues pop up. and The more active that we can be, or I should say just the more consistent we can be in activity, I think we are going to find, if we can find that solutions-oriented mindset, wow, I not only have more energy, but the aches and the pains that I have, hey, they might still be there, but they're not limiting my quality of life anymore. They're not saying, they're not stopping me from doing what I want to do anymore, you know, or maybe they're completely going away, right? I don't, I'm not you. Um,
00:33:08
Speaker
Strength training, right, the older we get, especially as females. Osteoporosis, that is a thing that's going to happen to every single one of us. However, we can choose to fight back against that. We don't have to just like accept, um you know, living a frail life the older we get, right? Hip fractures have such a ah impact on our overall life.
00:33:34
Speaker
mortality, I will say, right? And so the stronger we can be, meaning even the strengthening of our bones through strength training, plyometrics, things like that, it's in our best interest. And we're not going to strengthen our bones like we talked about a few episodes ago by doing things like wearing weighted vests. We are going to strengthen our bones by strengthening um um or I'm sorry, by lifting weights, by strength training, right? And so all of these reasons, all of these reasons, if we focus on the basics, right, and focus on making choices that chase our strongest self, we are not only going to age a little bit more gracefully, i will say, but we're going to be able to prevent a lot of age-related issues. And that's why I... i
00:34:17
Speaker
It makes me so sad when people are just like accepting a lower quality of
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:34:21
Speaker
life. Like we don't have to, you know what i mean? Like that's that's not something we have to do. And I just, I'm hoping that at least one person that's listening to this episode might take that information and say, yeah, you know what? i still have a lot of life left, right? What can I do about it? But also the more active we are, the stronger we are, the faster we're gonna heal from injuries that are maybe outside of our control. Like my friend with the ACL, right? Like my clients who have had knee issues, for a long time, right? We can strengthen these things to improve our quality of life while also preventing these things from further reducing our quality of life. So um all of that to say, you know, dealing with injuries, it's obviously a complex thing, especially depending on your background and what type of injury you're dealing with. But
00:35:05
Speaker
I want to reiterate, one of the worst things you can do is lean into, oh I just can't use said body part. One of the best things you can do is fight back, right? And you might not be able to do everything, but there is always something you can do because you are a person and you have a body and every body was made to move. um And the more that we move, the healthier we're going to be as we age and the the full the more full our life will be as a result of being active, right?
00:35:34
Speaker
And so I hope that this was just really helpful for you just to kind of reframe how you ah might see injuries or maybe setbacks if you want to think about it like that. But, um you know, one day at a time, we we only have one life. Right. And we have a massive opportunity with every single day that we are here on this earth to make the most out of it. Right. So um I hope that this kind of inspired you to kind of shift your focus away from what's out of your control and what you can't do.
00:35:59
Speaker
And instead, try to find solutions in what you are able to do, whether that's within your ability or your limitation, right? And so, you know, if there was anything that I said on this show that you want to kind of like talk about a little bit further, if there's anyone listening who you might, you know, be a physical therapist or an orthopedic, you know, surgeon or anything like that who might want to, you know, shed more light on the topic, let's have a conversation. I would love to, you know, kind of keep this conversation going. Feel free to reach out if this sparked any other further questions or any other topics you want to hear on the show. But I hope this was helpful for you. Thanks for spending the last few minutes with me. And until next time, friends, keep moving. We'll talk to you later.