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112: Redefining What’s Possible – Lift for Longevity Alums Share Their Stories
4 Playsin 2 days
Welcome to Episode 112 of the Movement Logic Podcast! In this special episode, Laurel and Sarah talk to four women who recently completed Lift for Longevity about their experiences. Whether it’s overcoming fear of injury, finally finding a program that sticks, breaking free from perfectionism, or realizing barbells belong in their hands, each woman brings a unique and inspiring story.
In this episode, you’ll hear from:
Karen Klubertanz, an interior designer and yoga therapist who came to us after chronic back pain and years of yoga and kettlebells. Her story is about overcoming fear, learning to train with RPE, and discovering she could get stronger safely and sustainably.
Anna Grojec, a freelance writer and editor in New Jersey who found us through the podcast and has now completed the course twice, entirely asynchronously without ever taking a live class. Her story is about making strength training stick for the first time in her life through structure and community support.
Terry Littlefield, a longtime yoga teacher and old friend of Sarah’s who came in skeptical, took our free class, and realized she had to join. Her story is about shifting from perfectionism to consistency and finding confidence under the barbell.
Janai Leeb, a personal trainer in northern Los Angeles County who first got the impression in her PT cert that barbells weren’t for her. She joined to build her own barbell skills and now teaches them to her clients. Her story is about finding her lane with the barbell and showing others that anyone can lift, at any age.
If you’ve ever wondered if you’re too old, too inexperienced, or too "not a gym person" to lift barbells and get stronger, these conversations will change your mind.
SIGN UP for our FREE CLASS for Bone Density Course on October 17th WITH REPLAY
FOLLOW @MovementLogicTutorials on Instagram
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Goals
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm Laurel Biebersdorf, strength and conditioning coach. And I'm Dr. Sarah Court, physical therapist. With over 30 years of combined experience in fitness, movement, and physical therapy, we believe in strong opinions loosely held. Which means we're not here to hype outdated movement concepts.
00:00:15
Speaker
or to gatekeep or fearmonger strength training for women. For too long, women have been sidelined in strength training. Oh, you mean handed pink dumbbells and told to sculpt? Whatever that means, we're here to change that with tools, evidence, and ideas that center women's needs and voices.
00:00:32
Speaker
Let's dive in.
Overview of Bone Density Course
00:00:47
Speaker
Welcome to the Movement Logic Podcast. I'm Laurel Beversdorf and today's episode is one we've been looking forward to. We're joined today by four participants from the most recent round of our bone density course, Live for Longevity.
00:01:00
Speaker
They started with us back in May of this year and we are now in early October. a mere two to three weeks from wrapping up this round of Lift for Longevity.
00:01:15
Speaker
They are almost a full six months deep in strength training and impact training with us. So four of these participants have graciously agreed to come on and share their experiences with you, including the challenges, the wins, and what surprised them most along the way for this round.
00:01:37
Speaker
Before we dive in, a quick sidebar. We have a free class to offer you. You can get get signed up for the free class in the show notes.
00:01:48
Speaker
You will attend class live perhaps or get the replay. It'll be about an hour and we're basically going to teach you the very first workout of the course.
00:02:01
Speaker
No, you don't need barbells. You can bring a broomstick. You can bring whatever weights you have. You can just bring your body, show up, get a feel for what the class will be like.
00:02:15
Speaker
and what classes in the course will be like. Get to meet Sarah and I if you attend live. Get to feel what it's like to take a class like this on Zoom if you haven't yet. You want to get this free class because it's going to give you an idea of what this course is like in real time.
00:02:33
Speaker
It's going to give you that feel. And we want you to have the feel because we think you're going to like what you feel. So go ahead and head to the show notes now. Put your name and email down and you will be given everything you need to be able to get this free class.
00:02:49
Speaker
Now, for those of you planning to attend live, the free class is October seventeenth at 8 a.m m pacific 11 a.m m eastern so you can attend live on Friday October 17th.
00:03:01
Speaker
If you can't attend live you will get a replay probably that same day. All right so who are we going to be hearing from today?
Terry's Journey: From Skepticism to Confidence
00:03:10
Speaker
Let's see so first we're going to hear from Terry Littlefield a long time yoga teacher and an old friend of Sarah's was a little bit skeptical about this whole idea of taking a six month course all about lifting barbells. But then she took our free class and she realized she had to join.
00:03:29
Speaker
Her story is largely about shifting from perfectionism to consistency. And yes, those two things are incompatible.
00:03:40
Speaker
She talks a lot about how she found confidence to be the type of person who lifts a barbell and a heavy one occasionally. Next up is Karen Klubertans, an interior designer and yoga therapist who came to us after some chronic back pain.
00:03:57
Speaker
She gained some confidence doing some of my resistance band classes, yoga with resistance band, as well as kettlebells in my virtual studio. And then eventually she decided to take the deep dive into barbells with us in Lift for
Karen's Story: Overcoming Fear and Pain
00:04:12
Speaker
Longevity.
00:04:12
Speaker
Her story is largely about overcoming fear and learning to train using tools of auto regulation like RPE, e Rating of Perceived Exertion, which is a huge part of our course.
00:04:25
Speaker
and her process of discovering that she could, yes, get a lot stronger safely and sustainably. Next, we'll hear from Anna Groietz, a freelance writer and editor in New Jersey who found us through podcast and has now completed the course not once but twice.
00:04:44
Speaker
And not only that, entirely asynchronously. So she never took and never has taken a single live class.
Anna's Consistency and Community Support
00:04:52
Speaker
So her story is largely about how she made strength training a consistent part of her life for the first time and how the course helped her by providing structure and community support via our online community, which we used to have on Facebook. We've now moved over to Circle.
00:05:11
Speaker
And then finally, we're going to hear from Janae
Janae's Perspective as a Personal Trainer
00:05:13
Speaker
Lieb. Janae is a personal trainer in northern Los Angeles County who first got the impression in her personal trainer certification that barbells weren't for her.
00:05:23
Speaker
It seemed a little bit like a boys club from her perspective. But then she found Sarah and I. She decided to join up with Lift for Longevity and build barbell skills with us. She now teaches them to her clients.
00:05:36
Speaker
Her story is about how she took our course as a strength professional and used what she gleaned as a student in our course to introduce barbells to her clients, young and old.
00:05:50
Speaker
Okay, let's start by hearing from Terry Littlefield.
Terry's Background and Course Experience
00:05:55
Speaker
are
00:06:00
Speaker
All right. So I'm here. I'm actually physically here. This is unusual with Terry Littlefield, who was a participant in our last cohort of the bone density course lift for longevity.
00:06:11
Speaker
Terry, thank you so much for taking the time to come and talk to me about this. Thank you. So first of all, we have to let everybody know that you and I know each other. Like we already knew each other before you came into the course. Yes.
00:06:22
Speaker
How long ago? I'm thinking as you said that, it's like at least 10, 12 years. I want to say, because I met you through Rising Lotus Yoga. Yes.
00:06:33
Speaker
Before Yoga Tune Up, right? Yes. Oh, so that was like 2010. So 15 years. Like 15 years. So yeah, so we met a long time ago in the context of both being yoga teachers at that time. That was before I even went to PT school. So...
00:06:45
Speaker
You are a yoga teacher. You have been a yoga teacher for many years, right? Yes. So about 15 years. Okay. So before you joined us for the bone density course, what kind of exercise would you do like regularly? What would a week of exercise look like for you?
00:07:00
Speaker
I had many, many years where it was yoga, three, four, five, six times a week, and maybe, you know, a walk or meet a friend for a hike.
00:07:10
Speaker
Okay. And then there were also times where I was like, just yoga, nothing else. And then there were times where it was nothing. And then in 2017, we went to Argentina and I came back and I had plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis in both feet. Like the walking for hours a day did not work. And you were just walking so much more than you ordinarily would have been. Yeah, just ton walking all day and maybe not even in the best shoes for the time. And my wife started bugging me about strength training.
00:07:42
Speaker
Okay. So I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As one does. Sure. And then a year later, i started doing some strength training. Okay. Like with dumbbells and kettlebells kind of thing? I did dumbbells and I actually joined a gym, so I would use machines. Okay, great. Which was fine. yeah You know, I'll go once or twice a week. and And I liked it. And I stayed consistent with being in the gym or being in our garage, doing weight training,
00:08:09
Speaker
Consistent twice a week. Okay, great. That's great. We should mention as well that your wife has built out like the most decked out a garage gym. yeah It looks like a CrossFit in there. Yes, it's it's pretty amazing.
00:08:23
Speaker
I feel very lucky to have that because I really have enjoyed having my own space for the workouts. Yeah, yeah. I go out there every single time. I'm like, I can't believe I get to work out here. That's so cool. Yeah. It's so good.
00:08:34
Speaker
You too could have an amazing home. That's right. Just have Terry's wife come over and build it for you. ah So you stay pretty consistent with that. Then what happened that got you into our course?
00:08:47
Speaker
Well, this is just so random because I'm always watching and following you because you're one of my teachers. So I have learned from you for years and always paying attention to you and this course. And then one of my students.
00:09:03
Speaker
Did you, sorry, can I interrupt for Yes. Because we had run this course a few times. Did you sort of see it and be like, that's nice. That's not for me aha kind of thing. Okay. Absolutely. Yeah. I was like, oh, that's lovely. Isn't that nice that they're doing that? That's so good for them.
00:09:18
Speaker
Yay for them. And I'm not going to be doing that. Right. Yeah. i'm I'm good. It's not for me. It's not for me. Yeah. yeah And then this a student of mine asked, About me doing some training with her to help her. What had you been doing with her previously? She comes to my yoga classes. Okay. Okay. And so, so a yoga student of yours, say yoga student do you teach training? Yeah. She's like, I know that you've spent some time working out and, and could you help me because I'm not familiar with it. And I thought, well, sure. And then she, you know, she's shared some issues that she has. And I thought,
00:09:50
Speaker
Well, I've been seeing Sarah and Laurel again, coming up on the socials. So they're having this free class. We should take this free class. right And it said, I'll take it with you. It's all online. So I'll, you know, I'm going to be in my garage. You'll be at your house.
00:10:07
Speaker
And like moral support is what you were thinking. Let's do this because I think that you would really benefit from these people, yeah you know, and then we took the course. Well, you took the free class. We took the free class. Yeah.
00:10:20
Speaker
So just if you're not familiar, if you're listening, as part of our launch for each time we do the bone density course, we offer a totally free class. It's actually the first workout of the first one. It's the very first workout we do in the course.
00:10:34
Speaker
And we offer it for free for people to come and like have a taste and see what it's like. We do teach with barbells, but a lot of people don't have barbells yet. So people do the workout with kettlebells or with dumbbells, or you use a dowel instead of a barbell, kind of like that, right?
00:10:47
Speaker
Yeah. So what was your experience with the class? So I loved the class so much. And I was like, okay, I don't know how my student feels yet. I'm going to let her reach out to me afterward. I'm not going to pressure her. Right. But I am taking this course, whether or not she does. Amazing. I was like, okay, good for you if you don't want to.
00:11:08
Speaker
But I have to take this. So I was kind of mad, but also excited. Wait, what made you feel like I have to take this class? What was different about what we were doing from what you had been doing previously?
Building Confidence in the Gym
00:11:19
Speaker
Just the knowledge that you just are sharing. Like immediately I'm like, oh, I didn't know that. And I didn't understand RPEs and I didn't understand r i r and you know, these terms. yeah I heard of them, but I did not know them at all. And just the the feedback. I think the couple times I've had like a personal trainer,
00:11:40
Speaker
One was amazing, but I've had a few experiences where it's not amazing, right? And it's just push, push, push. If you're not dying, you're not working out, you're completely doing nothing.
00:11:52
Speaker
So this just felt right. I thought, I feel really good. Nice. And the languaging, you're going to get stronger. You're going to feel stronger. And I thought, well, yes. And I've been doing things, but this sounded different. Right.
00:12:07
Speaker
There was something very, very enticing. Nice. I like it. What were you mad about? Well, I was like, I don't want to join a program. Oh, right. i want to do my own thing. ah i don't want to be told what to do. And are you me? Yeah.
00:12:22
Speaker
Just, you know, I'm a 58 year old woman. i don't want be told what to do. Sure. Right. There's some of that. It's like, I know that they know good things and I'm doing fine over here on my own. Right.
00:12:33
Speaker
There's not enough good things. That's going to change anything that I'm already doing. Yeah, yeah i'm I'm good with what I'm doing. Right. Okay. And that that feeling of like, again, my wife was like, yeah, but you could be better and stronger. Not like better, different, but you you could improve your skills because she would mention barbells. And I'm like, I had maybe tried a deadlift or two. and i was like, no, no, no, no.
00:12:57
Speaker
Barbells, scary, scary barbells. A different piece of equipment. Right. Right. and And a piece of equipment that women are generally socialized to believe is not for them because it's dangerous.
00:13:09
Speaker
It's scary. You don't know what you're doing. You could hurt yourself right and on and on. I think it was Laurel who first said this and I was like, oh my God, you're so right. A barbell is just a big dumbbell. Right.
00:13:20
Speaker
Right. It's a dumbbell that you hold with two hands. Right. But it does seem like- But it's massive. It's massive. like But those are like the people on TV lifting 412 pounds. Right, well grunting and sweating and turning purple and basically crying. Yes.
00:13:36
Speaker
You think they that their eye is going to pop out of their head. Yeah, right. That's for them, not for me. Yeah. Well, let me ask you this. In the lifting that you were doing or the weight work that you were doing prior to the course, were you progressing your weight at all? Or was it were you basically lifting the same amount- week in week out i had gotten to the point where for example goblet squats i was doing a 35 pound dumbbell for goblet squats and i could be doing more but i couldn't figure out i couldn't hold two twenty five s right it was like it was awkward yes and then i i couldn't increase the weight and if i was doing dumbbell deadlifts i couldn't
00:14:17
Speaker
I couldn't get heavier. And I thought, well, maybe that's because this is it, right? This is as heavy as I need to go because i i can't do more. Right. This is my max. This is my max.
00:14:29
Speaker
And it's so funny that you said that because you hit on the problem that everybody runs into. which is at a certain point, for women in particular, I would say, at a certain point, your upper body strength is gonna run out before your lower body strength does. yeah So this issue of like, okay, well, if I'm gonna do a goblet squat, how do I hold two 20 pound dumbbells when I can't pick them up with my arms, but I need more than the 35 pound dumbbell, what do I do?
00:14:57
Speaker
right And i you just kind of have to stop unless... you go to a barbell, right? Because the barbell is then what allows you to go go beyond that. And was in my gym, the barbells were there staring at me.
00:15:10
Speaker
People have that experience too, where they're like, my partner or my husband has a home gym and I stick over here on the elliptical and I don't go over there where the barbells are. Yeah. So would it be fair to say like your maximum goblet squat, which would be the equivalent of doing like a front squat was 35 pounds. yes And then your deadlift was what roughly? 50. Okay.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yeah. Cause I could hold two 25 pound dumbbells, right but my hands were not happy about it either. And I ah i did go into like two 35 pound dumbbells. A couple times. was just my hands did not like that. Couldn't handle it. Yeah.
00:15:44
Speaker
Okay. So, all right. So begrudgingly, reluctantly, digging your heels in, you joined the course. I joined. Before the course started, what was your expectation around how it was going to be? Like, what did you think it was going to be like? or what did you think it was going to feel like?
00:16:03
Speaker
Did you have preconceptions? i I felt like I would probably be answering a lot of questions for my student that I would be helping her out.
00:16:16
Speaker
That she, but she decided she took the course. Yes. Because she's very smart and right away it was like, absolutely. And she was not resisting. Yeah. I thought I was going to be maybe answering questions for her.
00:16:30
Speaker
And I was also like, what is this going to be like committing to something for six months? when we like everything to be instant and happen yesterday was big and scary also for me. It was like six months of doing this.
00:16:47
Speaker
I have a big trip to Maine for my mom's 80th that was in July. And I thought, well, how, how am I going to do this? And you and Laurel were like, you don't have to keep up.
00:16:57
Speaker
You don't have to keep up. You can do it. and And I thought, but I have to keep up. I know myself. Right. You didn't want to get behind. i didn't want to get behind. And I was really nervous. And I'm sure about the commitment of the six months. Yeah.
00:17:09
Speaker
And a lot of people have that experience. and And we tell them like, look, you, of course you have your life. That's, you know, going to be happening. You have your two week trip to whatever you're going away for Christmas or things like that. And we're like, it's fine. Just either,
00:17:23
Speaker
miss the week and then be a week behind, or probably you could just catch up. Like the goal is not, you know, some sort of perfect attendance. Right. But for those of us that have perfectionist tendencies, it's very hard not to think that the goal is yeah perfect attendance. Right. Absolutely. Yeah.
00:17:39
Speaker
So you were concerned about like upcoming trips and things. yeah And you thought mostly what you were going to be doing was helping your student who was also now in the course. Yeah. And I thought, well, sure I'll get some benefit. Of course, I know you, so I know I'm going to learn. yeah And then I hadn't really studied under Laurel, but I have paid attention to her on social media. So I was like, I know I'm going to be learning really valuable information.
00:18:01
Speaker
So maybe in the future I could help another student that would ask me, Hey, can I do a little training with you? And I remember when you and I were discussing this, that we were talking about it really from that perspective that like you could take this course and then be better equipped to help your, your own students who want to start weight training. if We weren't really talking about what was it going to do for
Terry's Progress and Empowerment
00:18:22
Speaker
you? Right.
00:18:23
Speaker
I was thinking about how's it going to help everybody else? Right. Which is like classic instructor. You're like, well, I'm to this course, but it's so I can teach it. i'm not going to learn it. Yes. Do you have a certification? Exactly.
00:18:35
Speaker
P.S. We don't have a certification because this is just weightlifting. This is not a special TM program all around barbells. So that was your expectation. What was your experience like?
00:18:47
Speaker
So then my head exploded because I started and I was really overwhelmed in the beginning with the spreadsheets and with... just, it was amazing because there were videos for every single thing to learn. And I wanted to watch them all in one day, you know, I wanted to get it all right away. And did we, did we recommend that you? know No, no, no, I just wanted to get it all done in one week and be ready to go. A plus. A plus.
00:19:13
Speaker
Yes. Gold star. But there's no, none of that pressure. It's what you put on yourself, obviously. So I think for me, once I got started and I figured out how to do the charts and I also printed the charts. So now I fill it out online and the analog. oh And it just feels good to me to like see it and touch it. Totally.
00:19:33
Speaker
And I like to take notes when I'm working out. So I write things on the page, like where the J hook goes. And I'm like, how cool am I that I know what a J hook is now. Right. um But the big shift was the experience really changed because when I went to Maine, I joined gym while I was there. I have never ever done that. I go on vacation and I don't do anything because it's so nice.
00:19:57
Speaker
So you go to Maine often because that's where your mom lives. Yes. My whole family's there. right So it can be stressful as it is sometimes when you're seeing a lot of family yeah and for the 80th birthday and big plan. So my mom said, well, our town has this little community gym. And I thought, oh great. This will be nice. And so when I got there, I went and I loved it. I went in the weight room and I ah can't explain how it felt because I already knew what I was doing, right? I'm still learning, but I knew what I was doing to go in there because out of the three weeks that I was in Maine, I saw two other women in the gym.
00:20:39
Speaker
They were together, but they were in the weight room. nice Other than that, it was men every morning. I went early. So it was just men in there. And in the beginning, it was like a little bit of, you know, kind of let me show you how to do it. And then I was like, get out of my way. Like, but really nice and welcoming, but I felt comfortable in the space.
00:21:00
Speaker
That's so cool. And it was, and it felt so good to do those workouts for obviously for the physical, but for the mental part of it. Yeah. I loved it. That's amazing. so that So then did you find that you actually didn't lose ground at all?
00:21:15
Speaker
Yeah. I didn't lose any ground then. And then like three weeks back, because now I'm starting month five. Right. Three weeks back, I tweaked my back while I was warming up. It wasn't during the workout.
00:21:28
Speaker
I tend to dance hu and do normal, typical warmups, but I was dancing and I kind of flamed my body into like this twist whatever I did and my back said, oh, I don't think so. And so I, for a week was doing nothing, yeah barely moving. And, but then after that one week, I started to feel better. So now I'm back in, I did my workouts last week and the recovery now is going to be faster, right? Now I will tweak myself, which we're going to do forever in life. yes I've tweaked myself in yoga.
00:22:04
Speaker
I've tweaked myself walking. to Hello, Argentina. Right. So And now it feels like recuperation is going to be like on my side. Nice. Yeah. Once you have more of a reserve of that kind of resilience in your body, that strength that you've been building over the past five months, yes it takes a lot more to knock you all the way back down to zero, right? Because your body has to get all the way through that reserve.
00:22:31
Speaker
Yes. And... something like a week off is not going to suddenly reset all of your weight numbers to zero or whatever, right? It may not make even a dent. Right. So yeah, I can't stress enough because I see it in a lot of the older patients that I work with where they have not been working on their strength. And as a result, because of natural processes like sarcopenia, they are quite weak.
00:22:56
Speaker
And then something happens like they trip, they fall down, they hurt they bruise their knee, and now their knee hurts for two weeks. And then they can't do any more. It's, it's, you don't have as much money in the bank to spend on getting injured or other disease processes. Right. I'd like to think about it. Like every time you lift weights, you're adding to your savings account. Yes.
00:23:16
Speaker
For your body. Yes. It's like your retirement fund, right? we've We paid, some of us pay attention to things like, do I need money in retirement? You have a 401k and a Roth IRA and all that. Well, at least I'll be strong.
00:23:27
Speaker
Right. Exactly. I'm building that account. Yeah. Well, exactly. So you get another account called your strength savings account. And I think it's really, i think it's really important. May I ask, and we don't stress like who's lifting the heaviest and who's the number one or anything like that. No. But if you don't mind, just cause I'm curious in terms of your progress over the past five months, what is your front squad now? Do you know off the top of your head?
00:23:52
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's 55. fifty five Nice. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. I think that's what also happened when I had to pause for that week. I felt like, oh, I'm going to be doing this until I'm 99 years old. ye So you know what? There may be a week or two off.
00:24:11
Speaker
There may be 40 pounds and then 50 pounds and then 40 and then 55. had this kind of Yeah, it was a ah relaxation around it because I thought it's forever.
00:24:25
Speaker
That's amazing that you got that because it's taken me about three years to get to the relaxation part. Because I'm very, I'm not competitive like in a sport way, but I'm competitive with myself.
00:24:35
Speaker
And I set a ah goal, a PR, personal record goal for for my deadlift. And I hit it. But I was like dead set on that for for a while.
00:24:46
Speaker
And then after I hit it, I was like... That's all right. Right. You know, I don't have to get it back. I don't have to now be lifting that amount every day. like we know that moderate and heavier, are both beneficial, both for bones and for muscle building.
00:24:59
Speaker
Evidence around light is good for muscle building. It's mediocre for bone building, but I was like, oh, well I could, I could set myself another goal, like getting a pull up. Which is also on the list of things. I saw a woman, I think she said she was late fifties on Instagram doing her first ever chin up. I'm like, all right, so no rush. Right.
00:25:17
Speaker
I got time. There's always going to be a list of things that we want to do. I'm not a competitive person. So I think my wife would like to see me push a little harder, but that's her background as an athlete. Right. And I, and I'm like, I'm good.
00:25:30
Speaker
Right. I'm good right where I am. So. Totally. Yeah. I've been enjoying that. She's encouraging. She's so psyched that I am doing this. bet. I bet. Yeah. She's like, I want you to be around for a long time. Yes. And so then what is your deadlift at the moment? So it was what, 50 before you said? Yes. And that a couple times the 235 pounds, so 70. But yeah, I've done deadlifts at 90. Nice. Yes. And I really want to get to that 100. That's kind of an exciting number. Yes.
00:25:59
Speaker
Like a barrier, yeah guess. But this past week I did 80. Okay. Right. It felt good. And that's it. It's so you, you added between 20 to 40 pounds to your deadlift and you added 20 pounds to your front squat. both feel i will just say this, all the movements feel like you're such a badass.
00:26:22
Speaker
so I don't, I'm like, yeah, they they just feel good. Yes. I agree. Yeah. And also I have to say this when I've been able to watch the live classes that you're doing and someone asks a question so that they they show up because otherwise you don't see them. Right. For hello.
00:26:39
Speaker
That's good. Right. And, but they ask a question and I see them and I see their setup. And at 58, I see that they are me and older. And that is so That has been huge too. I'm like, all of us are getting stronger and and I can see that now for my future too. And that I can encourage other people to do that. Yeah.
00:27:01
Speaker
We have our two ways of taking class, which is you can take it live if the live time works for you or you watch the recording. And as you were saying in the recording, it's just me or Laurel demonstrating things or discussing things or pointing things out. But if somebody asks a question, then you see them pop up.
00:27:16
Speaker
And yeah, my gift is I get to the view of everybody. right So I get to see all of these women roughly between 40 and 70, I would say is our sort of general demo. They're just making it work.
00:27:28
Speaker
They're at home, they're at the gym, there's kids in the background, there's a random dog wandering through there.
Course Continuation Options
00:27:35
Speaker
And they're just, they're making it work. They're making the the setup work for them and they're getting stronger. I mean,
00:27:41
Speaker
Now that we're in the later part of the course, this is always the most fun for me and Laurel because we get to a little bit, we get to sit back. We're still giving, you know, corrections and things as needed, but for the most part, you guys have got it at this point. yeah Like, you know what you're doing.
00:27:53
Speaker
There is repetition of the exercises. So it's not like every month there's a whole new set of exercises you have to learn. Which is so good too. Yeah. So good. Well, and also like, how do you get better than anything if you don't repeat it? Right. And so it's such a joy and it feels like such a privilege to get to watch 10 women hauling ass on their deadlift, you know, and it's so much fun for us.
00:28:13
Speaker
So it's a six month course and there's options afterwards. You can rejoin the course. You can just go back to the beginning of the recordings and do all the recordings again for six months. What do you think you're going to do?
00:28:26
Speaker
What do you think you're going to do the rest of your life?
Unexpected Benefits of Strength Training
00:28:31
Speaker
But what what do you see happening? I feel like I will go back to month one. I'll just do it again. Nice. I think that's what I'll do. And I'll have everything is written down so you can see where you were. Like what I was doing in May to start that in November should be really...
00:28:49
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah. I mean, to get to do the same workout, but with now new weights, right? So whatever your deadlift was in May, now it's going to be whatever it is in November, right? So it's going to be a higher number.
00:29:01
Speaker
So that's going exciting to watch as well. I think so too. And then also probably still continuing to to learn and expand on the things that I never even thought I would attempt. Like the, is it called the pike pushup? Like you're in down dog and then your arms go out to the side.
00:29:17
Speaker
when When I saw that in the workout, I was like, yeah, that's not happening. That's ridiculous. You know, I'm not doing that. Why? Because I thought, and first, my elbows are kind of cranky. Okay. Just in general in my life, they're cranky elbows.
00:29:31
Speaker
but I thought, no, they're not going to like that at all. And then, so I was doing them from from a bench. And now I am on the floor. And I... really actually like the movement. Nice. And those leg assisted pull-ups. Yes. Okay, same thing. I was like, these are heinous.
00:29:48
Speaker
Why are they in here? This is rude. And then, I love them. Yeah. And they're so difficult for me. They're so challenging. Yeah. But there's this enjoyment of challenging myself. That's new too. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah. We usually find that people have, you know, the ones they hate. Were there ones that you did that weren't like fear-based? Then you were like, I really don't like this. Like the Copenhagen people typically hate. Right.
00:30:12
Speaker
Actually, I like that move. It's really difficult, but I do like it. And we're going to Copenhagen, I hope, next June. So i'm like, I'm going take a Copenhagen picture in Copenhagen. That'll be my goal. um I think the ab rollout.
00:30:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah. The side walking plank. Lateral plank walk. lateral plank walk with my hands on the barbell. That's yeah That's still extremely challenging. but Those are two tough moves for sure. I think it's just different.
00:30:43
Speaker
You know that saying in yoga, it's like, oh if you don't like it, that's what you need to be doing. it just feels like it will always be hard. And I'm like, that's okay. Right.
00:30:54
Speaker
Because guess what? Life is hard. So I'm like, okay, this is fine. yeah Like I am handling things differently outside. Oh, tell me about that. like I just feel it. And i see like in my reactions or I signed up for a hip hop class, hip hop dance class, which I have wanted to do for years and years.
00:31:13
Speaker
And then i was like, to hell with it. I'm going to sign up for a class. I'm like less fear around it. And also I feel like going and taking that class in the past, I don't know how my body would have reacted to it.
00:31:27
Speaker
Feet, ankles, that's a lot. And instead I feel good. I guess I'm just feeling like if something sounds scary or looks intimidating, it's still okay to try it. And you're still fine to be like, okay, no, it's not for me.
00:31:43
Speaker
but to have that feeling of, I'm willing like to just try. yeah Yeah, because you're not worried how your body's going to respond. Right. Right. You're not like... stronger. Yeah, that's so cool. I feel stronger.
00:31:54
Speaker
That's very cool. Is there anything that you would say to someone who is maybe thinking about the course, but they're having their own hesitations, especially if their hesitations were similar to yours?
00:32:06
Speaker
And that's sort of like, don't tell me what to
Endorsements and Course Quality
00:32:08
Speaker
do. Right.
00:32:11
Speaker
I don't want to get better by someone else telling me what to do. Right. I need to magically just do it to myself somehow. Yes. Yes. Well, yeah, without being like weird and sales bitchy, I would just be like, good luck finding another program that is like this with this kind of quality for the amount. It's ridiculous. Amazing quality that you're getting.
00:32:32
Speaker
These are two educated women that I'm sorry, most trainers out there are not putting out this kind of work. They're just not. And especially for women of a certain age in these times, I think.
00:32:47
Speaker
You should do it. And if you don't like it, you can call me and tell me. We'll definitely print Terry's phone number. Yes, put it in the show notes. so So you can give her a call if you end up not liking the program.
00:32:59
Speaker
Any last anything you wanted to say about it? About your experience? about Just thank you. I mean, I was like, if I didn't know you, like, yeah, I'm so grateful. ah I'm so grateful to know you and to feel good and grateful to Laurel and for all the learning. It's been a game changer for me, a life changer for Amazing.
00:33:16
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming and talking about Thank you. are
00:33:25
Speaker
All
Karen's Active Lifestyle and Transition to Strength
00:33:26
Speaker
right. i am here with Karen Klubertans, who just explained to me that her last name means what? Dancing in a beer hall? Yes. That's, that's a but club dance.
00:33:37
Speaker
What a great last name. That's amazing. Karen was our participant in our most recent cohort, and she's going to talk about her experience a little bit. So Karen, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.
00:33:50
Speaker
My pleasure, Sarah. So tell us a little bit about who you are, what your life has been up to this point, what you do for a living, all that kind of and good stuff. Sure. My life has been interesting, very active. I think you would describe me as a as a visual who's very kinesthetic.
00:34:13
Speaker
So a lot of my career back in the 70s, I was ah a female in a traditional male role. I would get these jobs like I worked on the restoration of the first bridge that was designed by the gentleman who designed the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, wow.
00:34:37
Speaker
Yeah, I taught water skiing, windsurfing, cross-country skiing, and waitress in combination with all of that stuff. I just liked being active. I never worked inside or in an office until, you know, much later in life.
00:34:55
Speaker
And I didn't do it for long because i I did it for a while, but I wasn't pursuing my creative side. So left, you know, I decided to go ahead and do that. I'm an interior designer and I'm also a yoga therapist.
00:35:12
Speaker
So I've had my own businesses doing those things for about 20 years. Amazing. Amazing. And yeah. what, first of all, I'm just like blown away by the, like I taught windsurfing and also i helped restore a bridge. Like that's such a wild combination, but it's, it's really cool. I mean, I kind of relate to the, like,
00:35:35
Speaker
what am I interested in right now? How do I pursue that? As opposed to like, what am I supposed to be doing? Or what what you know what's the traditional role that I'm supposed to be in kind of thing. So I love that.
00:35:47
Speaker
So what what got you interested in our course or how did you hear about it? Or what was your path to to taking the bone density course? Well, i I had, you know, I practiced yoga for a long time and i was experiencing lower back pain and which actually turned into chronic back pain because for like a year and a half, of course, I wouldn't go to a doctor because I didn't want to be shown x-rays of how broken my body was and this type of thing. So I tried to work it through on my own and I did a lot of restorative yoga, but that in turn just left me weak.
00:36:25
Speaker
And so I, you know, I went through process of understanding the pain and reframing that within my own mind. And through all of that, I found Laurel's class, Yoga with Resistance Bands, that she was doing at the time, I think maybe 2018 2019. did that, and really helped and i did that and it really helped me even out my body again and strengthen and those muscles surrounding that area that was painful and just getting me back to being active again and seeing myself as a whole person again. And so, you know, I wanted to pursue the strength some more. i had done some
00:37:15
Speaker
weight training in college when I was in sports, but not a lot. You know, we didn't do a lot. Mostly we just did our sport over and over and over and repeat, but I was interested. So I started taking her kettlebell training and I did that for ah few years. And then last year,
00:37:39
Speaker
When the sign up for the bone density course came up, I just felt like I couldn't go any further with the kettlebells. You know, I needed still even out both sides of my body. And I felt like the the bar would do that.
00:37:53
Speaker
And I also, you know, didn't want to keep buying all these kettlebells. And I knew chatted with Laurel about it a little bit. It's more cost effective to be buying plates instead of, you know, right.
00:38:08
Speaker
20 kettlebells. So that's how I came. And then I, you know, I followed your podcast and your videos for a while. And I knew that you were, you're a physical therapist. So I'm like, I can't go wrong. You know, I've worked with Laurel. I know her prowess as a trainer. I mean, she's really, i just, I think she's awesome. And yeah.
00:38:32
Speaker
And then you, And your skillset, I felt like i'm I'm in good hands. You know, I've completely, I'm all in. That's so cool. Yeah. You sort of did this like perfect pipeline into strength where you were like, well, let me add a little bit of resistance to my yoga. Okay. That's not quite enough. Okay. Let me pick up some weights that feel sort of like light-ish, but moderate-ish, it still feels like work because the idea of lifting weights, when you i mean when you start to do it, any amount feels like work, right?
00:39:01
Speaker
And then from there, you start to realize like, oh shoot, if I'm gonna keep building my strength, either I'm just gonna have like so many kettlebells living in my house, or to your point, I can buy a barbell and plates.
00:39:15
Speaker
And then you don't end up having to buy a whole bunch of plates more than once. And then you just buy, like I just recently, maybe six months ago, bought plates again, because I finally ran out of plates from my initial purchase, which was like, you know, three years ago at this point. Right. And also like the, the plates that you buy, you're using all of them all the time. It's not like you're like, well, there's the,
00:39:39
Speaker
15 pound kettlebell. It's a sitting there and gathering dust now, because now I can do this with a 20 pound kettlebell. And then next month it's a 25. And now the 20 is like, you know, sad and overlooked. So yeah, it is, it is a lot more cost-effective.
00:39:51
Speaker
I also think the barbell is a much easier tool. Kettlebells are are actually quite hard. in a lot of ways, you know, because they're asymmetrical, you hold it, you know, it's like, you gotta get used sometimes to that feeling of flipping it over and banging it on your wrist a little bit, like all of that kind of stuff. Whereas the bar, it's like, you just hold it with two. It's basically a giant dumbbell, right? So it's, it's a lot more, it's longer. It's a little unwieldy for that reason, but I think it's an easier, it's an easier tool to use.
00:40:17
Speaker
Did you have any like trepidation or concerns or worries or fears or anything like that going into the course? I will say I did a little bit, you know, because of that lower back injury.
00:40:30
Speaker
But at the same time, I knew that you guys were going to be checking me, watching me. And as we started to, as we went into the course, and then I started to feel comfortable adding, you know, rapidly adding weight for something like the deadlift, because I was way under, i went from, you know, I was what came in at my highest kettlebell weight.
00:40:57
Speaker
Yeah. And then I found like i could lift like 30 pounds more, you know, very rapidly.
Karen's Strength Progress and Independence
00:41:04
Speaker
Yeah. I found that everything that I did just made me stronger and more supported. And, you know, any trepidation that I did have dissolved very quickly because I could see that rapidly how the progression was and the ah support of
00:41:28
Speaker
my body being able to support itself. Right. That's very cool. So that cohort is currently over. Were there any like surprises for you or like wins that you weren't expecting or ways that you saw that the strength that you gained in the course positively impacted either maybe your yoga practice or other movement stuff that you'd like to do?
00:41:51
Speaker
Anything like that? Yeah, I mean, for one thing, my my arm, my shoulder area, shoulder strength has always been ah challenge. And I just had this memory of back to when I was training in sports and trying to do like, it wasn't a bench press, I guess it was a bench pull. The weight was on the floor and we were laying with our trunk down on the bench and then trying to pull the weight up. Like a rope.
00:42:19
Speaker
Yeah, like a rope. And, you know, I couldn't do it, like even the simplest, simplest weight. And so I just kind of it's funny how that just like stayed in my mind all these years. And so when we got to the bench press, the 35 pound bar was um little bit, you know, I mean, I could do it.
00:42:41
Speaker
And, but I was, I progressed. in that area. And so it's funny you ask, cause I was playing around in the yoga. And one thing I always struggled with was pushing myself up in wheel pose.
00:42:56
Speaker
And, you know, I've been practicing, I've been doing that. And so that for me is, i mean, that's something I lost along the way in my yoga practice and now it's back.
00:43:10
Speaker
So that's so cool. Yeah. Yeah. That's very cool. Yeah, I think it's really interesting how your strength can actually positively impact other types of exercises that you do.
00:43:21
Speaker
Like I like to go hiking a lot and I have noticed the stronger that I've become, the less gassed I get, you know, climbing up a crazy hill, right? and it There is there is overlap into just having that sort of more, having more strength in your body, having muscles that that work better.
00:43:42
Speaker
can make a lot of things feel a lot easier. yeah Yeah. I asked this question and then I always kind of hesitate because I'm like, don't be negative. Don't be negative. But pretty much everyone has like a lift or an exercise that they're just like their absolute least favorite. Very often it's the Copenhagen. People don't like that one a lot.
00:44:01
Speaker
I understand why. Did you have one when you saw it come up? You'd be like, oh, geez, here we go. I guess, I mean, i was kind of used to the Copenhagen because we did that in the kettlebell training. i mean, i was always challenge I'm always challenged with the lateral step-ups.
00:44:18
Speaker
For that's a challenge. And I think part of it was me just trying to do too much, maybe step too high or something like that. like not but So I've tried to embrace that and and not you know feel like,
00:44:36
Speaker
oh gosh, these things again. Yeah, but and so I've been practicing. you know One of my big question marks was, am I going to be able to continue doing this practice for myself when Laurel and Sarah aren't here? And I have been, and I've actually...
00:45:01
Speaker
not skip the lateral. I've been throwing that in with other things that strengthen the adductors and whatnot. So yeah.
00:45:13
Speaker
That's awesome. I'm glad you're not skipping. I tend to skip the things that I hate. And then I, and then I try them for like the first time in three months. And I'm like, why is this so hard? and things Maybe because you have not been doing it.
00:45:24
Speaker
I want to tell a little story from a live class that Happened where, you know, because I think some people are like, it's online. How can they see what's happening or how can they like help you necessarily? And, you know, and so there was one, it was towards, it was probably like month four or month five. I don't remember exactly when this happened. There was, there we were teaching class we were doing squats. We were doing back squats.
00:45:44
Speaker
And somebody else was asking me the question, but you know, I'm looking, I'm always looking at all of the little rectangles. So, and there's probably 12 people in the class. So I'm just kind of scanning while she's asking me questions and watching people doing their squats. And I see Karen go down into her squat.
00:46:02
Speaker
And then she just kind of stopped there and didn't come back up again for a second. The person talking to me was talking and I was listening, but I was like, I might have to intervene. So I, to the person that I was talking to, I was like, hang on one second.
00:46:14
Speaker
I was like, And I said something, i don't remember if you, I don't know if you remember. I remember I said something like, hey, Karen, just drop it back behind you. And you did. And then you were okay. Cause what had happened was you had gotten to the bottom of your squat and then you were stuck and you could not, could not get back up.
00:46:31
Speaker
And it was, you wouldn't, you didn't say, and like, you couldn't say anything. Like you were muted. So you couldn't yell out like, help me or anything. like but but But, but I could see, I was like, she's spending, like, you can pause at the bottom of your squat.
00:46:43
Speaker
for effect. But I was like, that is more than just a pause. That is some, something's up there. And so, yeah, you were able to like, just drop the bar backwards. just how you bail out of the squat, right? At the bottom of it. Yeah.
00:46:54
Speaker
It turned out, my recollection is you had, you were trying it with some like lifts under your heels and for the first time, but at the same weight at like a, like your regular lifting weight.
00:47:06
Speaker
And it had just kept kind of messed you up too much. And then you got stuck. Is that kind of what happened? Yeah, for some reason, I thought I had, well, I had always i bought this, you know, wedge for putting under your heels, and I never used it.
00:47:19
Speaker
So I thought, well, I'm going to try it. And I think the wedge, which was probably four inches high, and my squat depth was normally pretty low. And so it kind of had my heels tucked up by my butt. Yeah, you were all the way down. Yeah.
00:47:36
Speaker
And I couldn't, I was, and I couldn't, yeah, I couldn't get any strength. And I remember sitting there like, oh God, oh God, you know, okay, just, you know, try it again. And then heard you say, Karen, are you all
Learning from Mishaps and Staying Motivated
00:47:51
Speaker
right? And I'm like, right that's right.
00:47:56
Speaker
Shaking my head. now And I was like, oh, thank God. Yeah.
00:48:06
Speaker
No, because it's scary. I mean, I'm laughing now because it's like funny it's funny now. But at the time, it'ss but if you get stuck under a bar and you don't know how to get yourself out of it, it's scary. You're like, what am I going to do? I can't. I'm under this bar. How do I...
00:48:18
Speaker
Yeah. But then you were able to drop it backwards. And that was. Yeah. and When you said that, I was like, oh, yeah. And then I just like rolled back and it went down on the floor, which is no big deal because it was, you know, rubber plates and you right stuff. Right. And you were already pretty close to the floor. I mean, you were always.
00:48:36
Speaker
It was not like you were at they like overhead and you had to drop it backwards or something. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that, that turned out okay. And we do have in our recorded section of our course, we do have videos that show you how to bail out and stuff like that, but and none of them showed like exactly from that position.
00:48:52
Speaker
Like what happens if you're stuck all the way at the bottom. So yeah, I was, I, I was like, Oh wait, I can help her. Hang on. That's right. Freaking out. let me And I'm glad that that didn't like put you off the squad forever.
00:49:05
Speaker
No, not at all. No, I didn't. I think I backed off maybe five pounds the next time at the beginning, but by the end I was back to my normal weight. Nice.
00:49:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So you're going be taking our next cohort as well, which I'm very excited for because it's always fun to have you in class. ah what was What was your reasoning? Why did you decide to do that?
00:49:28
Speaker
My approach to Lifting weight and you know lifting heavy is that there's not a rush to get to an end goal or an end weight. like I know that I'm progressing to get to my body weight. and like For instance, in the deadlift, I am working towards that goal.
00:49:50
Speaker
working towards that goal In the squat, I have gotten more acclimated to a lower squat depth and am building that strength up I feel like slow and steady wins the race.
00:50:06
Speaker
And I just loved being in the class. I love the support. I feel as though i have learned a lot about technique and and you and Laurel were always, you know, giving input on spreading the hands further on the bench press or, you know, all these different things, which were super helpful.
00:50:30
Speaker
So I feel comfortable with that. i I think it's the community. It's showing up, you know, showing up at a certain time. Like even now, I'm keeping those certain times of my workouts just to be consistent and to tell myself you don't have to do it in the morning because I always like to generally work out in the morning. So now I'm actually on Tuesday night.
00:50:57
Speaker
I didn't get to my weights until... eight o'clock at night. And I was thinking, I wonder if Sarah ever works out this night. Well, that would be 11, 11 PM for me.
00:51:09
Speaker
And I don't know if you remember, there was a woman who would come to the the Tuesday afternoon class who was in, going to mess up. Someplace. Yeah, Norway or somewhere. yeah And it was like 11 o'clock at night for her. And half the time she was doing it.
00:51:22
Speaker
I mean, sometimes she was just watching and I was like, I'm impressed you're even here because 11 o'clock at night, I am asleep. but But yeah, and she would she would do it that late. was like, God bless you. We have the times set up so that we can catch the most people in various time zones. Like for me, that time, my time my time is at two so that like the West Coast and the East Coast can do it. But then also like Australia can do like an early morning, like a 7 a.m.
00:51:47
Speaker
on a Wednesday, right? Cause that's kind of their thing. And hers Laurel's class is in the morning. She's on central time, but it's it's in the morning so that like more of Europe could see, could, you know, do her class. Right. So, but the, so the fact that she showed up and just was, would be there all the time was amazing. But I love that you've kept your same days and sort of generally times. That's such a smart thing to do.
00:52:07
Speaker
We've never recommended that as a strategy, but now I'm like, we really should, because you've set in you've sort of baked these times in these days and times in already as like, these are the days that I lift. So,
00:52:20
Speaker
Yeah. Why not just continue that rather than trying to come up with a whole new day and time combination that works. That's that's really, really smart. Yeah. It's going to be super fun. and And to be clear to anyone who's listening, we offer like a pretty substantial discount to people to take the course again.
00:52:36
Speaker
So we do get quite a few retakes each each time we do it because we make it not you know financially impossible. And at that point also, you already have the equipment. The financial output has already the most of it's already happened.
00:52:50
Speaker
So if somebody was listening to this and they're sort of maybe with your background, more of a yoga background and maybe sort of understanding that they you know should get stronger or they're trying to get stronger and they're not really sure how, or they're not sure, maybe they're concerned about barbells. Like what would you say to somebody who's maybe considering the course, but has some of the same concerns that you did when you started it?
00:53:10
Speaker
You're in good hands. I would say you're, you are in very good hands. And you Laurel and Sarah are going to be there with you every step of the way. They're either going to, if you can't join the class, you send them your recordings and they will critique you after your videos that you send in. If you can join the class at real time, they will be there watching you talking.
00:53:42
Speaker
And you learn a lot from their the feedback that they give to the other people. that are there with you as well. And you do develop a community where you can have a buddy to work out with you. I consider doing that during this break, but I'm a very noncommittal person.
00:54:04
Speaker
I wanted to see if I could get myself on the, you know, In yoga, we say on the mat, but I guess I would say under the bar. Yeah. Nice.
00:54:16
Speaker
Yes, but i would I would say it's worth it. It is worth it because you will feel better. You will have more energy, more pride.
00:54:32
Speaker
That's the one thing I write down after each session that I do here on my own. I write hashtag proud. That is so cool.
00:54:43
Speaker
You'll have more just all around good feelings. So do it for yourself. Invest the time in yourself, the money in yourself. You're worth it.
00:54:54
Speaker
Just do it. Yeah. That's what I would say. I love that. I love that you're reminding yourself and paying attention to the fact that you're doing something hard and you're still doing it and you're proud of yourself. I mean, that's that's the goal, right?
00:55:08
Speaker
Yeah. I think often as women, were' we're so quick to spend time and money on other people, right? Whether it's your kids or your spouse or your partner or your parents, right? We're sort of like supposed to be paying the most of attention to them or whatever, right?
00:55:24
Speaker
And it can be challenging sometimes to convince women to spend money and spend time on themselves because we're not, we're kind of not trained to do that sometimes. Right.
00:55:36
Speaker
So, so thank you. I really appreciate that you, that you said that. Is there anything at all else that you wanted to say that I didn't ask you?
Adapting Workouts to Life's Demands
00:55:45
Speaker
i want to say that I appreciated getting permission as you will for the Those days when you feel off and you and Laurel both talked about that, you know, you might have a day where you feel off. And so it's so easy, right? Like the the brain just, it was trying to talk you out of it.
00:56:04
Speaker
Oh, you don't really want to do this now, you know, just go sit and relax. But that happened to me one time, you know, since the our first session ended,
00:56:18
Speaker
And I said, I'm just going to and do what feels feels right today. And it was interesting because um maybe, again, backed off like five pounds on something, but my body wanted it. As I started and got warmed up, my body was like, no, I want to i want to do this.
00:56:41
Speaker
But having that permission to say, well, maybe I won't go the whole distance was key. and And you, Laurel, both talked about that, like it's okay. And I think that was was really helpful too.
00:56:54
Speaker
Oh, good. Yeah. I mean, that also tracks with the idea of this is like a lifelong practice, right? So I have a woman that I work with who's lifting. We've been working with barbells for a little while now. She's now pregnant.
00:57:06
Speaker
She's some like 20, 21 weeks pregnant. dealing with a lot of changes in her body, you know, a lot of stuff going on. And she had something happen and she had to miss like a week.
00:57:17
Speaker
And then I just saw her today and she was like, really bummed out about having to miss a week. And I was like, listen, we're in this for the long haul. You're not just lifting like right now while you're pregnant, like you're be, this is lifelong.
00:57:28
Speaker
So one week, in your whole life is not going to, you're not going backslide so much that you can't come back from it. It's not going to mean the end of lifting for you. Right. But sometimes we can feel that way. It's like, well, I did her didn't do it last week. So I guess, I guess that's over and I'm never doing it again. Right.
00:57:47
Speaker
Yeah. You have to give your body permission to, and sometimes frankly, I give myself permission to not do it. You know, sometimes I'm like, you know what, you have been working out really hard this week. and today you're not feeling it, you don't have to do it today.
00:58:00
Speaker
So sometimes that's that's fair game as well. But the other thing I think is, because even for for everybody, I think, I don't think there's anyone that doesn't feel this way. There's days when it's like, you're like trying to drag yourself to do, it's like just pure force of will that gets you to do the exercise, right? Or just like massive discipline.
00:58:21
Speaker
But as soon as you start, you're on, right? And it's it's happening and it doesn't feel like such a big deal. But a lot of time it's like just getting over that hurdle of like, okay, go pull out the equipment.
00:58:33
Speaker
like Get up right now. Stop scrolling on Instagram. The workout you said you were gonna start half an hour ago, let's actually do it, you know?
00:58:44
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, I think everybody has that experience, you know? But again, with when it's when it's habitual like this, when you have it kind of like baked into your life a little bit, it's a lot easier to to kind of overcome that inertia, I think, just because you're like, here's what's happening. We're doing this now.
00:59:02
Speaker
But yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much. I don't want to take up any more of your time. You're welcome. I really appreciate you. Yeah. I really appreciate you talking to me. are
00:59:16
Speaker
Right. I'm here with Anna Groietz and i'm very excited to talk to Anna because of all the participants in Bone Density Course, she has been one of the most active participants as somebody who has taken the course predominantly asynchronously. So it's my treat to be able to hear your voice, see your face, Anna. It's very exciting.
00:59:36
Speaker
To start out, can you tell us a little bit about who you are, stuff like where you live, what you do for a living and how you found us? Sure. First of all, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to to be here talking with you. I'm a freelance writer and editor. I work for UN agencies and I live in North Bergen, New Jersey.
00:59:54
Speaker
So I found i program through the Movement Logic podcast, which my podcast app offered to me through its algorithm. Good to know. It doesn't often offer me really exciting things, but I saw it under Stuff You Might Like and it resonated. And actually the first episode I listened to was the one about how to learn about strength training. It was like maybe a month before the course started last fall.
01:00:22
Speaker
So I signed up. Yes, you are one of our takers who's gone the first time around and then signed up again the second time around. We give alums a 50% discount on all retakes.
01:00:33
Speaker
So you've been with us for a full year almost at this point. It's been great. And what's cool is I've never stuck with an exercise program for such a long time before.
01:00:44
Speaker
So it's made a real difference for me that way. Oh, so let's start there because I feel like that is a topic worth discussing because I think one of the hardest things about any form of exercise is the consistency part of it.
01:01:00
Speaker
So can you tell us what you... think helped you be so consistent. I think the structure and support made a big difference for me.
01:01:11
Speaker
First of all, like having the program outlined for me, having both the community and Sarah to to go to when I was having some kind of issue. So in the past, like I actually started strength training five years ago using a book and some videos and I would do it for a few months and then something would happen. Either life would get too busy or I'd get an injury or something just hurting a little bit and I would stop and then I would feel like I stopped I can't go back and then it would be months before I would start it again or also I would be uncertain where to go with the program because I didn't have that guidance so this time but like when I had a little injury like I would write a post and you or Sarah would would give me some advice as to how to modify it it was also like really great to have like a
01:02:01
Speaker
PT on board too, so that I felt secure that I was getting good advice. So I would, instead of stopping, like I would modify and also just having the support and and and the approach that and you have, that you and Sarah have where it's okay. The point is just to make this fit into your life.
01:02:20
Speaker
So if you have to do it a little bit differently, if you have to do it a little bit less, that's okay. Like as long as you keep doing it in some form. So that that was really helpful for me.
01:02:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think that it's probably that there was some coaching, right? So there was yeah coaching. Even though you didn't come to the live classes, did you come to any of the live classes? I didn't. The times didn't work out for me, but I would work out along with the recordings.
01:02:47
Speaker
Yeah, and you were super consistent with posting your form check videos in our community group, which we have since moved to Circle, but we used to have on Facebook.
01:02:58
Speaker
And I got to see you grow. I got to see you get stronger, literally lifting heavier weights. And I saw your form improve. And you were such an engaged student, even though you weren't in the live classes.
01:03:13
Speaker
You were also very engaged in the Facebook group, posting your questions, your concerns, your setbacks and your wins. And I think that that also on your end probably contributed to your ability to be consistent, which is that you took the actions that you needed to take to keep yourself engaged. And then you got something back, right? You got some coaching back. You got some communication back, some connection back. So the connection and the coaching, both of them. i think a lot about the things that I do, being able to put it out there and get something back, both solid advice, solid coaching on how I can improve or modify and just being with other people as I do this. Yeah, feeling like you're not alone in this and that other people are doing the exact same program that you are. They're coming up against the same struggles you are. They're also posting their questions in the community group online.
01:04:04
Speaker
They're also sharing their form check videos and you're seeing the feedback they're getting. Yeah, i imagine that makes a big difference and very different from maybe the other online programs or books you are following where it's literally just you yes and and a screen or a book. Yes.
01:04:24
Speaker
Strength and impact training are two of the most effective ways we have to improve bone density and reduce osteoporosis risk. Our six-month live online course, Live for Longevity, combines both. We use barbells to train progressive strength through all intensity levels And we teach a progressive introduction to impact training with options for what your body needs.
01:04:45
Speaker
With Lift for Longevity, you get a whole body program that doesn't just go through the motions, but actually teaches you how to strength train so that you gain a new skill for life. Over 200 women in their 30s to 80s have already taken the course, building strength, confidence, and resilience within the comfort of their homes.
01:05:05
Speaker
Want to try it out? Join us on October 17th at 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 a.m. Pacific for a free sample workout from the program. If you already have a barbell, bring it along.
01:05:15
Speaker
If not, bring your weights and a dowel or broomstick. You'll get live coaching and technique feedback if you'd like, or keep your camera off if you prefer. Can't make it live? We'll send you the replay. Click the link in our show notes to sign up.
01:05:30
Speaker
So this next question we might have already answered, but ah maybe apart from the consistency, what would you say has been one of your biggest wins from taking the course? What's been one of your biggest wins?
01:05:42
Speaker
Just really feeling like strength training has become a part of my life. Similar to saying I've been able to be consistent, but it's more than that. There was a period earlier this year, it was end of round one of the course, where um super busy at work and and i was also having trouble sleeping. And I started getting these little injuries and I was not really understanding what was going on because I'm just doing the same thing. i haven't like suddenly doubled my training load or whatever.
01:06:09
Speaker
And actually through writing for you guys to everyone, like just thinking it through like, oh, like, Everything in my life is a load, like yeah the lack of sleep, like my body just not recovering, even though it's the same training load, like it is heavier on me because I'm not getting that rest.
01:06:27
Speaker
ah stress The the hours at my computer are having an impact. Just learning like I can, I can modify it for these few weeks. I'll dial it back a little bit. And then later on, I can, I can start to do more.
01:06:41
Speaker
Yeah. So it sounds like you are now treating strength training like every other important, meaningful thing in your life that you stick to, given the ups and downs that are inevitable with life. Like you don't just quit your job when things get tough. Right.
01:06:57
Speaker
You don't just quit important relationships when things get tough. Right. And you figured out that strength training can be the same way where you don't just quit the program. When things get tough, you get help. You get yeah support from the community, from the coaches.
01:07:10
Speaker
And just like when you're not feeling 100% in your relationships or when you aren't feeling 100% at your job, you maybe give a little differently or you approach it a little differently.
01:07:23
Speaker
Or you take a step back, right? The same goes with strength training. It doesn't have to be, and I think this is so relatable, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing pressure that we put on ourselves to be perfect.
01:07:35
Speaker
As soon as we start to shift our mindset in that direction, the consistency becomes possible. okay And the transformation that takes place with consistency gets compounded, right? Because the longer you stick with the habit of strength training, the more benefits you get.
01:07:55
Speaker
Yes. But yeah until you can reframe your relationship to it, I think a lot of people have this relationship with exercise. They have this relationship with nutrition. They have this relationship where if it's not just this right one way, or if it doesn't meet all of your expectations, or if it gets a little tough,
01:08:12
Speaker
You're like, i I guess it's too hard or whatever. But it sounds like what you've done is you've overcome that mental block that I think so many of us have. And I know I still have with a lot of things in my life. But you've overcome that mental block. And thats that is enormous.
01:08:26
Speaker
Yeah. That is definitely huge for me. And I was thinking about what was the hardest thing. And this was exactly it, like getting over the perfectionism and being okay with it, being not perfect, maybe being uncertain, not trying to like have everything be optimal.
01:08:43
Speaker
That is huge. Yeah. Yeah. Optimization is sometimes a huge barrier. Yes. To consistency. You know, this this idea of it always has to be better, better, better. Done is often more than good enough, right?
01:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. Especially if you do it over and over again. Yep. Yep. Yep. What was the hardest thing that you didn't anticipate about taking this course? So for me, that was especially hard for me was learning to listen to my body.
01:09:11
Speaker
So the the exercise is we generally we do them with two or three reps in reserve. When I'd done ah strength training previously with the books, with the videos, it was very prescriptive. Do this many reps.
01:09:24
Speaker
And here, this course was asking me to gauge that for myself, like, okay, so there's a range like eight to 10 or five to seven or whatever, but it's up to me to learn what does two or three reps in reserve or seven to eight RPE, rate of perceived exertion. What is that? Like, how can I perceive, like accurately perceive my rate of exertion?
01:09:48
Speaker
So that was... I found that quite challenging at first. And I feel like I'm still like I'm getting better at it. But it's been an immensely valuable thing to learn to listen to my body better to figure out because then it helps me with this task of making it work for my life. Because some days I come in, I'm more tired, or i have a little pain somewhere or something. And what working hard will mean that day is different from what it will mean on another day. So I found that quite challenging and actually quite a satisfying challenge.
01:10:24
Speaker
Yes, it's how you make the workout fit your current state day to day how you tailor your own workout and how hard you work in that workout to how you're doing, given everything else going on in your life is that exertion rating. So it could be RIR, reps and reserve.
01:10:44
Speaker
It could be RPE, which is just another way of rating it on a scale one to 10. When I personal train for clients, ah sometimes I will prescribe them an amount of weight to lift.
01:10:56
Speaker
but I won't tell them how many reps to lift it for. But I'll tell them a rating of perceived exertion. So then they'll take that amount of weight and they'll lift it until they hit that rating of perceived exertion.
Understanding Exertion and Personal Calibration
01:11:08
Speaker
Sometimes I'll do the opposite. I'll give them a range of reps like eight to 10 reps, a rep range, but I won't tell them the load to lift, but I always give them that rating of perceived exertion because how hard it feels at the end of the set is actually the most important target to aim at.
01:11:26
Speaker
So if I gave all three, right? I wouldn't be allowing the student to auto-regulate. So if I said how much load, how many reps and the rating perceived exertion, that assumes that with that given load, they'd be able to do that amount of reps within that rate of perceived exertion.
01:11:43
Speaker
But how would I know that? Because I don't know how well they slept and I don't know how stressful work is. And I don't know if they have a little bit of lingering soreness from something they did yesterday. So in the course, we can't obviously tell people how much load to put on the bar.
01:11:57
Speaker
Right? Because everybody's coming from a different baseline of strength. You happen to arrive with already a pretty high baseline of strength, maybe because you'd already been strength training, maybe because genetically you're just kind of strong. Maybe it's because you're really active in your life.
01:12:11
Speaker
But for whatever reason, you were a little bit on the stronger end, I would say, of the group. But some people come having never strength trained or they're older or there's a number of reasons why they might lack upper body strength, for example.
01:12:25
Speaker
And so we can't say put 20 pounds on your 22 pound bar, because that's 42 pounds, and then lift that because that might be really inappropriately heavy for one person and feather light for another person.
01:12:41
Speaker
So we spend a lot of time in the course teaching students how to rate their exertion. And it's a lot of trial and error in the beginning. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. where you're like, ah let me try this amount of weight. How many reps could I do?
01:12:53
Speaker
I could do a lot more than what was written, so I need to put more weight on. But at the end of the day, you're always targeting that rating of exertion. And oftentimes that's given as a range, too. You could work to two reps in reserve or three reps in reserve, right?
01:13:08
Speaker
Or to a seven or an eight RPE. And those are very different levels of exertion once you start to pay attention. Yeah. Yeah. And that's actually also that's something I've come to use. When I'm more tired, I'll go to a seven definitely. adjust all the time.
01:13:24
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. This is partly what's so fun about this other than getting stronger, which has been like immensely fun. um want to hear about that. Okay. I started with deadlifting like 75 pounds for eight to 10 reps. And now I can do like 150.
01:13:40
Speaker
like for how many reps for five to seven holy cow can we just take a step back so you went from 75 pounds for eight to ten reps to 150 for five to seven it's my best it's my best lift the deadlift i just i love it it makes me feel so strong upper body i'm not nearly as strong that's been slow that's been really slow to to increase but i still love some of the upper body lifts what's your favorite upper body one The bench press for sure. Oh, yeah. I've also improved not nearly like I have in the deadlift, but I feel so much stronger. i you know, right I can see it on myself and, you know, and and I'm excited. I mean, strength training, like it it just feels like there's always somewhere to go. And it's not always up. Like sometimes it might be flat. Sometimes you might need to hold back a little bit. But like there's always...
01:14:32
Speaker
somewhere to go and and it's also really satisfying because it's a sort of a limited set of tools with so many different permutations and and so much that you can get out of it yeah i like to say minimal inventory maximal variety Yes.
01:14:49
Speaker
In other words, you can do a lot with a barbell and some plates. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. and something else you said, which is that you sometimes you need to step back and switch it up. How did you feel every four weeks when we would change out the exercises? There'd be like a different variation of the squat or the deadlift.
01:15:07
Speaker
Some of the accessories, right, we would just completely swap out. and How did you feel
Benefits of Exercise Variety and Goal Setting
01:15:12
Speaker
about that? With the accessories specifically concerned, I was glad to swap out. you know um and i mean i like the variety i i felt like it was good for me to get strong in like slightly different ways i think going forward i'm thinking of giving myself more time with certain things like like push-ups have been a plateau me and i'm thinking like after i finish this course like to work on those a bit more maybe add more sets during the week just
01:15:40
Speaker
I really want to get a push up. I know there are other ways to work on it. I can work on my bench press. That's the same motion. But but yeah, so sometimes I like the variety. i think going forward, some of them I might give myself more time. Absolutely. And now you have the ability to know that you need to do that, right? Like even that you can go.
01:16:00
Speaker
i think some of these exercises, if I want to see more progress, I want to stick with them for eight weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks until I stop making a change. yeah And that is exactly right.
01:16:13
Speaker
And it's a good idea to stay with something as long as you're making progress and you don't absolutely hate it because I don't think we need to do any exercises that we absolutely hate. We often will tell people who really don't like hip thrusts or really don't like the Copenhagen.
01:16:28
Speaker
And some some people love those exercises. Some people hate. They're like, it' so it's very much a matter of opinions. There are other options that you can do instead because you stayed with us for six months. And then an additional six months, you now have the experience to kind of be your own coach and go, I think I need to be doing pushups more frequently. And you are absolutely right.
01:16:46
Speaker
And, you know, if you're making progress, stay with them. Right. And keep it progressing the load and lowering your hands and getting closer to the floor. Yeah, absolutely. One of the reasons we decided to do an every four week swap out was to provide what's called high variation. So this can be particularly good for beginners.
01:17:08
Speaker
Yeah. But at the end of the day, your instincts are correct. You would want to stay with those exercises that are especially goal exercises. So that's a great observation. Yeah. Last question for you.
01:17:20
Speaker
Would you recommend the course to others? Oh, absolutely. And I have. I've talked to friends about it. I see ah a doctor who's like a menopause specialist and I told her about it. Fantastic.
01:17:31
Speaker
So, yeah, i I would absolutely recommend the course. Like you just learn so much and it's so supportive. Yeah, it's fantastic. and And like really good value in terms of if you're looking for good coaching.
01:17:43
Speaker
Thank you so much for saying that. Thank you for coming on the show and telling us about your experience. It's been my pleasure to watch you grow, to have you with us for an entire year almost, and to just see your strength skyrocket and your skill in movement.
01:18:01
Speaker
and your parent knowledge of strength training in general, the way that you're wielding these terms and having these insights, like, holy cow, you clearly know what the heck you're talking about.
01:18:13
Speaker
i have learned a lot and learned it in a way that it's it's sticking and really engaging. So thank you, Laurel. You and Sarah have really created something great here, and I'm so glad to have been a part of it.
01:18:25
Speaker
Thank you so much, Anna.
Janae's Dual Roles and Motivation
01:18:27
Speaker
Thanks for coming on the show and and telling us about your experience. Thank you are
01:18:36
Speaker
All right. Thank you for joining me on the podcast, Janae. This is very exciting. I'm excited to talk to a fellow personal trainer. I'm excited too. This is great. Thank you.
01:18:46
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So why don't we start by having you tell us who you are, um a little bit about yourself, where do you live, what do you do for a living? I kind of already gave that away. um And yeah, we'll start we'll start there.
01:19:00
Speaker
Okay, my name is Janae. I live in Castaic, California, so that's very northern Los Angeles County. i am a personal trainer, part-time. I split my time between my own studio.
01:19:14
Speaker
Then the other half of my time, I am an assisted stretch professional. but think that's the official title. Yeah. ah Do you work at a place called Stretch Lab? Because I see those everywhere now.
01:19:26
Speaker
I do. Awesome. So you... took bone density course. You're currently still taking it. And what brought you to the course? How did you find us? What made you want to take the program? Because obviously you're a personal trainer, so you already lift weights. So what made you sign up for, for bone density course?
01:19:46
Speaker
So I have been long time listener of the podcast. It's hard to say exactly when, but I got certified as a personal trainer in 2000.
01:19:56
Speaker
18, I believe it was. um At some point, I found the podcast just because I was always hungry for more information. And I kind of clicked with the message that you two ladies were putting out there. Nice.
01:20:08
Speaker
So the thing about the personal training aspect, I have plenty of experience heavy lifting, but I don't have much experience with barbell. Okay.
01:20:19
Speaker
When I was getting certified, I took a course that was about a year long and it was a structured class. So we were learning everything in the gym. um And I was hungry to learn barbell because that was the one skill that I feel like i wasn't the most confident in.
01:20:36
Speaker
Right. But what ended up happening is that every time, you know, we'd get with our groups or with partners and my perception, but it felt like the barbells were for the boys and it was just something, you know, I don't know if it was a lack of maybe confidence on my part, like if I'm going to just insert myself in there and go get this skill, but there was a lot of gatekeeping.
01:20:58
Speaker
And yeah. And you you said there was a lot of gatekeeping. you feel like that was coming from like the course or was it coming from just like a lot of you know, messaging around you that you were kind of taking in subliminally almost.
01:21:11
Speaker
It was it was mostly about the messaging. So the course was for anybody who wanted to take it um But I feel like. It was a lot of young men in the class. So I was in the class with mostly 20 year olds.
01:21:24
Speaker
Right. OK. And that's that's mainly what it was. It was sort of the messaging and and got the boys club over there. So um that was the one skill I did not walk away from with the course. And I was always, you know, sad about I got it. So this course did offer barbell education, but you kind of felt like it was not for you or you somehow were not part of the club.
01:21:49
Speaker
Absolutely. So then you hear about our program via the podcast. hu And what did you, what I you know thought did you have that made you go, you know what, I should take this course. Like what was your why?
01:22:03
Speaker
i think initially i was thinking, you know, I, You could probably figure it out on my own, but it was the the messaging specifically that you and Sarah had. This is for women.
01:22:15
Speaker
This is for women of a certain age, which I which i am. it's just perfect for me. it also fit my schedule. like I'm hopping back and forth from client to client, place to place, but I could definitely make...
01:22:29
Speaker
time in my schedule to meet on Zoom for an hour or so twice a week. That was definitely doable. I didn't have to leave home to do that. Right. You have a barbell set up in your home.
01:22:41
Speaker
I did not before the class. ah So how is how is home with a barbell set up in it now? So you you you got the equipment in prep for the course. I did. I bought my squat rack right along with everybody else. I was so excited. um You know, I had a trap bar set up. I had the plates. I had the barbell. I just, you know, was limited to landmine and using my plates with the trap bar.
01:23:06
Speaker
Got it. So you already had, you know, trap bar is not exactly what people think of usually when they think of a barbell. So if listeners don't a trap bar is it's a hexagonal shaped piece of metal that you stand inside of. And then there's two handles and you can load plates on the side.
01:23:23
Speaker
um So you had some of the equipment at home. So you were already kind of messing with the barbell, right? Like you were all kind kind of playing with like the landmine. um Listeners,
Setting Up a Home Gym and Client Diversity
01:23:34
Speaker
a landmine is ah basically you anchor the end of a barbell to an attachment and then it hinges from that attachment. You can do lots of cool stuff with it.
01:23:42
Speaker
So then you just had to purchase the rack. Yes. And now you have a full barbell set up in your home. do. I love it. I love it. Is there something about like the home workouts that are better for you?
01:23:57
Speaker
Absolutely. So I actually, I don't even work out at the gym. I have a studio at my house. That's where my clients come. I prefer to work out at my house. And the reason for that is I'm a big old introvert. Yay. You decided to come on the podcast and talk to me, which is amazing. Look at me getting out of my comfort zone.
01:24:16
Speaker
Look at you. So this is great. So actually now this equipment, your clients are probably learning how to use barbells on this equipment. Yes, they are. And i'm so proud of Fantastic. So talk to me about that. I know we're kind of going off of the plan here, but talk to me about how it's been introducing your clients to barbells.
01:24:39
Speaker
It's been absolutely wonderful because you know I get also women of a certain age and a bit like I'm pushing this message. but I'm like listen, if you just trust me and pick up these heavier weights, you're going to see the results that you're you're wanting to see.
01:24:55
Speaker
You're going to be stronger. you're going to be more vital. um It takes a while to get that that buy-in, but for at least two clients that I have, They're sold.
01:25:05
Speaker
they They are so happy with the progress they made. We're looking at their muscles in the mirror every time they come in here. It's been so rewarding to see. This is awesome. So, Janay, tell me, when you started the course, which is about five months ago, how long did it take you before you were like, you know what, I'm going to bring these barbells into my clients now because I've been doing this for enough time and I think I'm ready to show them what they can do with a barbell. Like, did you start right away? Did did you take a few months? Did you take a few weeks? How did that work?
01:25:37
Speaker
I took a few months. I want to say somewhere between two and three months. You know, i came in with already a skill set of knowledge. um So I was already sort of familiar with the barbell, but it took about, you know, somewhere between two and three months to say, okay, I think, you know, David is ready to pick up this barbell. He's going to love it.
01:25:55
Speaker
Nice. Nice. And when you say your clients are of a certain age, can you just give us a little in background or insight into who your clients generally are? Like what kind of type of people are you working with?
01:26:08
Speaker
Um, the majority of my clients are probably newcomers to weightlifting at all, or maybe did some when they played sports in high school age range. i think my, let's see, my oldest client is 65.
01:26:22
Speaker
sixty five um he's a golfer. He wants to get strong. He wants to be vital. The youngest client is about 17 and is trying to pass the fitness test in high school.
01:26:34
Speaker
Well, wait, so you have a huge spread of ages there. ah do That's very cool. That's very cool. So talk to me now about your learning curve in the course and share with us what was one of your biggest wins where you were like,
01:26:53
Speaker
yes, this is awesome that I'm learning this or this is awesome that I can do this? Biggest win was just learning the skill. There's also amount there's an amount of confidence that came with learning that skill. like I started out not feeling like I didn't know...
01:27:13
Speaker
Barbell. i didn't know this skill. Getting in there, working week to week, month to month, it became apparent that I did. like I know what I'm doing. I can handle this and just say, you know what? I got this now.
01:27:24
Speaker
Not so scary after all. Not at all. Not all. So you went from being in this personal trainer course for a year, feeling like an outsider, like feeling like you hadn't been invited to the barbell party, um you know, the boys club barbell party, right?
01:27:40
Speaker
And then you you stepped into this course and just acquiring these simple barbell skills, you started to build in your confidence enough to like start bringing it to your clients and your clients love it. So talk to me if you can about specifically, what do you mean by skills?
01:27:58
Speaker
Just it's a matter of just being comfortable knowing like I know where to grip this. I know how to make the adjustments. um Speaking specifically as a personal trainer, especially while I'm in the course, I'm
01:28:12
Speaker
You're giving several options. For instance, with the front squat, you can cross your hands in front. You can use the straps. ah Finding ways to make it work for you. And that's, for me personally, somebody who trains, like that was good information.
01:28:25
Speaker
But also seeing how you and Sarah will guide people in the course about where to place the hands or figure out what works for their body. Maybe your feet should be wider. Maybe you need to bend forward a little bit more with your torso. All those sorts of things.
01:28:39
Speaker
Right. All those tweaks that we can make to an exercise or all the different exercise variations that we can use for different individuals to have a better experience with the exercise or to make the exercise fit the person better. Right. um The front squat is a perfect example of a type of exercise that needs a lot of options. so this, because the front squat, you can do goblet squats, right? You can do dumbbell squats that are similar way of carrying the load as the barbell front squat. But the barbell front squat
01:29:18
Speaker
is i think uniquely challenging because of how you have to hold on to the bar. So what you described as those different ways of holding the bar, right? We taught three different ways of holding the bar.
01:29:30
Speaker
Some of the challenges that people often run into is the amount of wrist extension required or just the amount of upper back actually mobility you need to be able to get your elbows forward and get that bar on your arms.
01:29:44
Speaker
And so we teach ah three different ways of doing that. um I can imagine that is super helpful as a personal trainer. You know, you're seeing the instruction from a kind of behind the scenes perspective.
01:29:59
Speaker
right Because like when you see all these different variations that Sarah and I are teaching that are really, really just meeting the individual needs of the students in the live classes as we're responding to them, you're probably going you know into your like catalog of variations in your brain and like saying, yep, I think my client would benefit from that or yep, going to remember that for later, right?
01:30:21
Speaker
Exactly. Were there any other exercises where you felt like, oh, I'm going to make a note of that for you know myself or others? Pullover, the plate pullover.
Introducing Barbells to Clients
01:30:31
Speaker
know, shoulder mobility, I know, can be a challenge with many, many people.
01:30:35
Speaker
Yeah. Tell me what exercises are you doing with your clients using barbells at the moment? Right now, we've got ah deadlift. ah We've got back squat.
01:30:49
Speaker
I'm working my way up to front squat with them. Yeah. Well, I find that the front squat is... mean You don't have to do it if you don't want to. It's not always the best place for most people. And listen, and some some folks in the in the course, they don't do the front squat. They do the back squat instead.
01:31:07
Speaker
um Talk to me about the deadlift because the deadlift, it has this reputation. And I'm wondering, I don't know what kind of work you were doing with your clients before you started bringing barbells into it. um But were you doing deadlifts with your clients using other types of free weights before bringing the barbells in?
01:31:25
Speaker
And how... you know whether or not that was the case, how do your clients respond to this idea that they're now going to do a barbell deadlift? How does that land for them? I think initially there's always some trepidation with that one. So I was doing deadlifts with my clients before with...
01:31:44
Speaker
dumbbells and also the the trap bars, a little different with the trap bar, but we were doing those. um When I was ah fresh new trainer out of the gate, did shy away from the deadlift. You know, it's got a reputation for causing low back trouble, all those things.
01:32:01
Speaker
have one client in particular I'm thinking of, and she really does struggle with a lot of low back pain and hip issues. And she's the one that would complain the most about ah the deadlifts. And it was just a matter of of fear. She was worried about her back.
01:32:17
Speaker
oh But as I've grown... There's so much fear about the deadlift. There's a ton of fear. There's a ton of fear. And there was fear from my part as a trainer. And so I was shy away from it. As I've grown, I throw that in right at the beginning. Those are the skills we're working right from the beginning. We're working squat and we are working deadlift. We will build up and you're going to practice so many times so that by the time we get to the barbell, they've got the pattern. They know. oh and So, yeah.
01:32:40
Speaker
Yeah. Amazing. So so when you're working with someone who's afraid, this is very interesting to me, about ah an exercise like the deadlift or maybe it's the squat, how do you kind of walk them slowly toward ah trying it out? what What are some of your strategies? What do you say? How do you introduce the movement pattern to them typically?
01:33:04
Speaker
ah We're making sure that we're connected to the core. We're going to work on breathing. We're going to work on bracing before we even pick up a weight, before we pick up a dumbbell. I'll hand them maybe a rod or a dowel, and we're grooving the pattern that way. And we take our time. It could take a month before we even add weights to that movement so that I make sure that they they trust their bodies.
01:33:29
Speaker
They trust that i'm going to guide them through safely. Right. Right. Amazing. Yes. And so now when you're like, okay, now we're going to do a barbell deadlift. what They trust. Are they like, say yeah, let's go. Let's do this. but Some are. Okay.
01:33:44
Speaker
Some are gung-ho and they are ready to go straight out to the gate. Others are, um you know, a little apprehensive, but because we've been working on this and I'm right there guiding them through it. Even with the apprehension, they're still willing to pick up and try.
01:34:01
Speaker
then they get it. And I say, your form was perfect and don't overthink it. Just keep going. They're in. They're Yeah. And I feel like there's, I've noticed with people who are initially afraid of the deadlift just generally, then you kind of walk them toward, all right,
01:34:18
Speaker
kettlebell deadlift, dumbbell deadlift, right? Or even starting with the dowel, right? The dowel, the landmine. And then eventually you're like, I think you're ready for the barbell.
01:34:31
Speaker
And they're again kind of, they regress a little bit into that fear, but then you have them do it and they're by that time skilled enough in the movement pattern, strong enough in the movement pattern, and they're able to do it. Correct.
01:34:42
Speaker
There's this sense of like, oh, my gosh, I now do this exercise that I see people doing. And I'm like, that'll never be me. And I am now that person lifts a barbell. So tell me, Janae, what do you think are some of the advantages of a barbell?
Barbell Efficiency and Course Recommendation
01:35:01
Speaker
Like, why...
01:35:02
Speaker
If you're already teaching with the dumbbells and the kettlebells and movements like the squat and deadlift, why do why do you want to bring in a barbell? white why aren't Why not just stick with the dumbbells and the kettlebells?
01:35:13
Speaker
For me, like you look like a certified badass. Yeah, no, there's there's no denying the badassery of it. But the advantage is just economy of space.
01:35:27
Speaker
um You know, this is scalable. You don't need to take up a ton of room. Right. you know I have the space here, and so I have all the equipment because that's fun to me. I have all my toys.
01:35:39
Speaker
Right. Right. But, you know, it doesn't cost a whole lot to have a whole lot of weight that you can work with with the barbell. Right. And this whole lot of weight thing, right?
01:35:50
Speaker
Did you ever find yourself, I know you probably have a fully equipped setup there for your clients, but do you ever find yourself kind of running out of weights? Like now you've got. this golfer who wants to be really strong and you don't actually have heavy enough dumbbells to hand this person because there's only so many of those you can have, right? Right.
01:36:09
Speaker
Do you find that the leveling up to the barbell was important for that reason at all? Because now actually we have more than enough weight. Right. Absolutely. I mean, I've got dumb a dumbbell set, it's adjustable, and it goes up to 70 pounds, but we're running into issues of grip strength. When the dumbbells get that heavy, they get unwieldy, and it doesn't make a lot of sense at a certain point. and so yes At a certain point, I find that's true.
01:36:32
Speaker
Yeah. at a certain point i find that it is for some exercises like the squat and the deadlift, you hit a ceiling with those smaller free weights. Very cool.
01:36:43
Speaker
So now let's flip to what you found kind of maybe challenging about the course or the hardest part that you maybe didn't anticipate about taking this course.
01:36:54
Speaker
And you're still taking the course. I'm still taking the course. Not over yet. Well, what's been kind of challenging for you? Yeah.
01:37:03
Speaker
The thing that was highlighted the most for me is that sometimes I need to step back. I'm really good about pushing myself. Yeah. I work out. I love to work out, all those sorts of things. But I was humbled a few times where, you know, I'd get done with the workout and go, that was probably a little too heavy. may have pushed a little too much. You got to step it back.
01:37:25
Speaker
Yeah.
01:37:28
Speaker
Yeah. And so I feel like we are kindred spirits in that way. generic I'm a pusher. but i'm a pusher. And I feel like people who are professionals in the you know fitness industry who really have made exercise their job.
01:37:46
Speaker
hmm. I find tend to be these very kind of gung-ho, enthusiastic ah efforters. Yes.
01:37:59
Speaker
Did you have any, like, real setbacks in that regard? Did you find that you, you know, maybe pushed into pain or injury at all?
01:38:10
Speaker
Or was it just like, that was a close one? Or what do you mean by, that might have been too much? um So the other part of this is that so I have an autoimmune condition.
01:38:22
Speaker
It affects my muscles and joints. And sometimes, you know, I have if I'm pushing too hard when I exercise, that can set up a whole cascade of events where I have to maybe step back and not pick up weights for a week, maybe two weeks.
01:38:35
Speaker
Got it. So that did happen. A couple of times we're dealing with some swollen joints. Yeah. the most part, I was able to still attend classes, still do the workout, but make the adjustments for myself and make sure that I'm paying attention to my body and doing what I can do.
01:38:55
Speaker
what it Yeah. Did you use, I'm sure you did, but did you use the concept of RIR before taking the course Absolutely. RIR, listeners, is reps in reserve. We talk about it a lot on the show. But basically, every time you do ah set of multiple reps of an exercise, toward the end of the set, which is where the change-making is happening because it's where the set is getting tougher, right? Right.
01:39:26
Speaker
you are going to target something called RIR, which is reps in reserve, and then stop the set with a certain number of reps in the tank or reps in reserve so that you're not maybe going all the way to the point where you can't lift the weight one more time, which would be failure.
01:39:43
Speaker
You're keeping a buffer of maybe two reps in reserve, or depending on the exercise, it might be three or it might be one. So, Janae, when you found that you had overdone it, do you feel like it was an overdoing it in terms of not leaving enough reps in reserve?
01:40:02
Speaker
Or were you just like, yeah, I can put 15 more pounds on the bar this week and just see what happened? Like, how did that work for you to go? I pushed too hard. How do you know um um other than how you felt? Obviously, that's the real tell.
01:40:17
Speaker
But Where were you pushing? Were you pushing in terms of putting too much weight on the bar? Were you pushing in terms of just leaving too few reps in reserve, maybe doing too many sets? What what did that look like?
01:40:29
Speaker
I got really hungry to add plates to the bar. So that's exactly exactly what it was. Like, maybe that 15 pound plate looks really good and I want that on the bar. Yes. Yeah. you get a little Do you get a little competitive with yourself?
01:40:43
Speaker
Absolutely. it was like, you can do that. Come on. Yeah. we have this, obviously, ah continuum of people, right? And so when it comes to people who are in this course or just people exercising in general, there tend to be the people who hang back and are very conservative and are very careful and maybe, you know, in a sense, tend to maybe under load a little bit. And then we have people on the other end of the spectrum that are gung ho, that are maybe pushers, that maybe tend to put too much load on the bar, tend to do a little too much, and then everybody in between.
01:41:25
Speaker
And so, Janae, when you're working with your clients, Do you find that you tend to attract clients like yourself or clients opposite of yourself? Or do you have just a wide variety? Because I find that we, for me at least, and I've noticed this through all the things that I've taught, like I tend to attract people who are kind of like me.
01:41:44
Speaker
So if I'm a pusher, I'm probably attracting pushers. The good news about that is that I'm really good at talking to those people because I know them so well. Right, right. Who do you who do you tend to to attract?
01:41:57
Speaker
I think I've got a a mix of both, um both the pushers and maybe the ones who who you know are a little apprehensive. I'm thinking of one client in particular. She came in with a lot of fear in the beginning. And so you know I'm nudging her and pushing her along through.
01:42:14
Speaker
She's turned into a pusher now. Okay, you flint her. I flint her. But this is it's been fun to introduce the concept of reps in reserve to her specifically.
01:42:26
Speaker
um Because now that she's pushing, she's want to do more. and know I want this. But I'm like, look, I know the condition that you came in today. i know what's going on. Today is the day where you really want to pay attention to those reps and reserve.
01:42:38
Speaker
You don't have to kill yourself today. I'm glad you showed up. Keep showing up. We'll get there, but today's not the day. Keep some in the tank. Love that. so now you have to pull her back. I love that. So that's that's exactly, I think, reps and reserve is the best single parameter to teach the pushers about.
01:42:57
Speaker
because And I find I have to like you know really, really emphasize it with some of my clients from like, oh my gosh, you just love to go to failure. And like, that's fine some of the time. But then, you know, you're coming back and telling me like, this hurts and this hurts and this hurts. I'm like, the reps and reserve is your friend. yeah um Cool, cool.
01:43:17
Speaker
All right. So last question. Would you recommend this course to others? I would and I have. People are probably sick me talking about it.
01:43:29
Speaker
Who are you recommending it to out of curiosity? um my lot of my Stretch Lab clients because we have these discussions every day where we're talking you know about flexibility but also a matter of strength. We're talking about what menopause and perimenopause is doing to their bodies. and you know I've gotten people who have come to me who have bone density issues. Right.
01:43:52
Speaker
And they they want to be stretched, but you're like, I think you also want to be strong. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. And just, you know friends, neighbors, anybody who will listen and not tell me to shut up. I'm telling them about the course. Thank you for spreading the word.
01:44:10
Speaker
Yes, you're welcome. Thank you much. It's been really great having you in the class as fellow strength professional, fellow professional exerciser. And I was so excited to hear we had a personal trainer taking the course because felt like it was something that I would do.
01:44:36
Speaker
um you know i I think that my favorite way to learn how to teach is by being a student. And we often have people ask us, is this a certification?
01:44:47
Speaker
right Is this teaching me how to teach? And the honest answer is no, absolutely not. we are teaching you how to train. You came in already knowing that, right? But when you learn how to train, you don't necessarily know how to teach, but you have, I think, a lot more to go on than someone who doesn't know how to train who just gets a certification, right?
01:45:13
Speaker
And so um you came in having already background in personal training and not a lot of background in barbells. And you took the last five months learning how to train with barbells. And given your prior knowledge, I have no doubt that it was just a very smooth transition into now offering this this new tool to your clients. But I really applaud your approach in going, you know what?
01:45:46
Speaker
it's not a certification. I'm maybe not going to get CECs for my, I don't know which evaluating like certification you got for PT, but I'm maybe not going to get CCs, but I'm going to immerse myself in this learning curve.
01:46:00
Speaker
And i I have no doubt that you probably have a level of proficiency and confidence now in bringing barbells to your client that I definitely, and I don't think anyone gets in like a weekend certification where ah They're not already using barbells, but now they're taking a certification for a weekend on barbells. And it's like you leave those things having heard a lot of information, but it's not in your body.
01:46:25
Speaker
Correct. Correct. So amazing. Do you often approach your learning like that? Like, are you... Are you like a lifelong perpetual student?
01:46:37
Speaker
Oh yeah. Like wherever there's learning to be done, like I want, i want it all. I'll say like the big value of the course for me, a sort of think of you and Sarah as mentors in a way. Like I always wanted a mentor.
01:46:50
Speaker
Yay. So, you know, I'm learning right alongside with everyone in the class, but I'm also watching you and Sarah, how you answer questions. Those question and answer sessions were so valuable for me to know what kind of questions people have and then to see, you know, what the answer is. Like that was but tremendous amount of value.
01:47:09
Speaker
Yeah. Listeners, we have a Q&A session after every live class. It's very organic. And because everyone is on their Zoom, they can see everyone else. When we post the recording of the class, we don't post the recording of everyone's image to the class portal, but in the live classes, which I feel like if you take the course and you can take the live classes, you should absolutely take the live classes because that's where you get Janae's perspective that she's describing where you're literally in the class with you know, it's usually around eight to 12 other bodies.
01:47:42
Speaker
And if you are someone who wants to teach this someday, right, whether you have your personal trainer certification or not, it's the live class experience where i think you, Janae, you probably agree with me where the real like learning or slash mentorship takes place because you see how the cues that Sarah and I are giving or the ideas we're coming up with for people really map onto the person we're talking to. And that's really where that's where that's where personal training really happens, right? Isn't that one-to-one problem-solution interplay? so
01:48:18
Speaker
Yes. Oh, very cool. So thank you so much for coming on and talking to me. This is fun. ah Thank you. Tell people, because you are a personal trainer in California, in, in would you say, northern l LA, in the northern LA region?
01:48:32
Speaker
ah tell Tell people um how to how to how to find you. If we have any listeners who are near Janae and you want to work with her, how can how can people find you, Janae? That's a good question.
01:48:44
Speaker
You're so cute. You're so cute. You're like, um So wait, wait, wait. This makes me wonder. You get a lot of word of mouth clients, don't you? that's It's 100% word of mouth. You got to know somebody to get in. and If you find a way for people to to reach out to you, I'll pop it in the show notes of this episode. Thank you. Because we have we have a lot of listeners in California. We have a lot of listeners probably in your area.
01:49:09
Speaker
And they might want to know that they can just walk over to your house and get personal training sessions from you. Yeah. You know, find a way for them to reach you and hit me up and I'll put in the show notes, girl. Sound good as a plan. Thank you. Okay.
01:49:22
Speaker
Sweet. Okay. Listen, the word of mouth is the way to go though, right? So like who needs a website when you can just get it all word of mouth? Exactly. That's what I'm talking about. but All right. Well, thank you so much for joining me. And I hope to see you in a live class before we're done here in the next month or so.
01:49:39
Speaker
Yes, you absolutely will. Thank you so much for having me. um
01:49:48
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I am in awe of the stories that we just heard from these women. And I hope you found them as inspiring and encouraging as we do. Don't forget about the free c class, y'all.
01:50:01
Speaker
October 17th, you can sign up for the free class via the link in the show notes. Again, if you've been curious, you're like, what is it like really to take an hour long class with these two?
01:50:13
Speaker
And what is it like to be in a Zoom room with a bunch of other women lifting barbells? You got to try this class. You want to try it and you want to meet Sarah and I. If you think we're in our element on the podcast, we are really in our element when we're teaching barbells.
01:50:30
Speaker
So sign up for the free class. Come live. can't be there live, get the replay. And finally, if you've been enjoying the Moving Logic podcast, does make a bigger than you even realize difference when you rate and review the show.
01:50:42
Speaker
So if you could do us a solid, even if it's just to give us some stars, super easy. Click those stars. If you can write us a review, even better.
01:50:53
Speaker
We'll be back next week with another gigantic episode that lives squarely within our theme for this season, all about female physiology. Until then, thanks again for tuning in.
01:51:05
Speaker
We'll see you next week.