Transcript
Speaker: I'm Laurel Beversdorf, strength and conditioning coach. And I'm Dr. Sarah Court, physical therapist. For too long, women have been sidelined in strength training. Oh, you mean handed pink dumbbells and told to sculpt?
Speaker: Whatever that means. We're here to change that with tools, evidence, and ideas that center women's needs and voices. Welcome to the conversation.
Speaker: This episode is for anyone who's been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis, knows they should strength train, but feels intimidated by lifting weights or unsure about how to begin.
Speaker: It's also for anyone anxiously waiting for a follow-up DEXA and hoping one number will tell them whether all their work paid off. Before we tell you about our guests today, a reminder that the cart is open on our fall course, Lift for Longevity, but only for the next four days, and then that's it.
Speaker: You won't be able to join. We run this course one to two times per year, and we are not certain when the next one is going to start. So if you've been on the fence as a pod listener thinking that you too would like to do this fully guided, twice weekly, live class, fully coached strength and impact training course with us where you are going to make incredible changes to your body and what it can do,
Speaker: Then consider this your last call. The cart closes this Sunday, September 20th in 2026, the year of our bad bunny. Our first class is September 28th.
Speaker: Click the link in the show notes to learn more and enroll.
Speaker: We receive messages from Lyft for Longevity participants all the time about their follow-up DEXA scans. One participant, Angela, emailed us after her first uninterrupted year of lifting to say that although she remained in the osteoporosis range, her measurements had improved at her lumbar spine, hip, and femoral neck.
Speaker: Cindy, another course alum, shared that her femoral neck bone density had increased. Peggy told us that her lumbar spine, hip, and femoral neck measurements had all improved after eight months of lifting.
Speaker: And Kathy, One of our first participants to take the course reported that her lumbar T-score changed from negative 2.8 to negative 2.1 10 months after beginning the course.
Speaker: These reports are exciting. We get pretty worked up about them when we get them. But whenever we compare DEXA scans, pre and post, there are important questions to ask.
Speaker: For one, were both scans performed at the same facility and on the same machine? Are we comparing the same areas of the hip and spine?
Speaker: And did the bone density measurements themselves improve, not just the T scores or diagnostic labels? Was the change large enough to exceed the machine's expected measurement error?
Speaker: And things like, could arthritis, medications, supplements, weight changes, or other factors have affected the results? Even when a person's bone density truly improves, a before and after scan can show us that a change occurred, but it cannot tell us exactly what caused it.
Speaker: Establishing whether strength training causes bone density improvements requires randomized controlled trials comparing people who strength train and or impact train with similar people who do not.
Speaker: Which brings us to today's guest, Julie Wright, whose follow-up DEXA initially appeared to tell a similarly clear-cut success story. Her new T scores appear to show that she has moved from osteoporosis into osteopenia at every measured area except one.
Speaker: And that remaining score was right on the border. Julie has now taken Lift for Longevity with us three times and has trained consistently for nearly two years using our program.
Speaker: Before the course, she had never touched a barbell. She began with a deadlift of 28 pounds. Today, she deadlifts 100 pounds for reps. Her bench press increased from 20 to 53 pounds.
Speaker: She has also returned to jumping in ballet class, feels stronger and more powerful, has built visible muscle, and says she feels much more hopeful about aging and continuing to dance, travel, and do the things she loves.
Speaker: Julie's consistency is what's truly remarkable. In fact, her endocrinologist told her that she had never seen another patient work as hard as Julie had. But when her endocrinologist looked more closely at the scans, what first appeared to be a simple success story became a more interesting and much more useful lesson in what DEXA results can and cannot tell us.
Speaker: i'm going to go ahead and give you a spoiler in the lead up to this conversation because based on the title of this episode, you might be here for the results. Julie had her before and after scans done at different facilities and on different machines.
Speaker: Therefore, Julie's endocrinologist's best and conservative interpretation of improvements represented in the follow-up dexa is that her bone density has likely remained stable with possible slight improvements in parts of her spine.
Speaker: But this most recent scan now gives her a reliable baseline, so when she has her next DEXA on the same machine, her endocrinologist will be able to determine whether her bone density has truly changed.
Speaker: We are happy to report as well that Julie will be continuing with us in this fall's round of Lift for Longevity, so we'll get to witness more of her growth. We're go to talk to Julie now about starting strength training with us in her mid-60s.
Speaker: making room for a barbell in her New York City apartment, and becoming a stronger and more confident ballet dancer. She shares how her training progressed, why Lift for Longevity's live coaching and community kept her consistent, and why her follow-up DEXA was so difficult to interpret.
Speaker: Julie's story is about much more than whether a number on a scan went up. It's about what can happen when someone who has never considered herself a weightlifter becomes dramatically stronger and discovers that her body is still capable of so much learning and change.
Speaker: Listeners, you might also like to know that Julie is a psychotherapist, sleep specialist, and co-author of three books, The Happy Sleeper, Now Say This, and Generation Sleepless.
Speaker: She is the co-founder of The Happy Sleeper, where she helps families with babies, children, and teenagers sleep well, and the creator of The Right Mommy and Me, right spelled like her last name, W-R-I-G-H-T, The Right Mommy and Me Parenting Program.
Speaker: For those of you interested in Julie's books and services, we've linked them all in the show notes. And now let's hear from Julie Wright.
Speaker: Hey, Julie, thank you so much for joining us again on the Movement Logic podcast. We're super excited to talk to you. I'm excited. Well, let's jump right into our first question. So before your osteoporosis diagnosis, tell us a little bit about what your movement and exercise routines or habits look like.
Speaker: Yeah, so I was I was told by my doctor when I turned 65 to get a bone density. And right around that time, I also I also got Medicare and I got a free Pilates four times a month. with my Medicare supplement. So I had already, I was already taking ballet class cause I'm a ballet dancer. I've been dancing since I was about 10 years old. So at that point, I also, i started doing Pilates once a week.
Speaker: So that was almost a full year before I started the bone, the bone density course with you. Yeah. And so your doctor, when you turned 65 was like, you should probably get a DEXA scan, right?
Speaker: Yeah. And so before all of this, you're doing a lot of ballet dancing. You're doing Pilates once a week with the, with the insurance deal. Right. And I was just living in New York and walking a lot, taking lot of stairs and lots of physical activity in New York city just to live your life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. um And I felt like that was a lot like it already, that already honestly felt like a lot and I thought it was enough. Yeah.
Speaker: you know Yeah, I mean, I can understand why you would think that because I lived in new York City and so did Sarah for for a number of years. And like it is a it is in an Olympic event. Sometimes it feels like ah a huge physical feat to get like the basics of life done, like go grocery shopping, for example. So I can understand why you would think that that was already like a lot. um Back then, if you'd heard strength, the word strength, like what would you have thought that that meant? And like, would you have thought, you know, i kind of already have that?
Speaker: i completely thought I already had it because of my ballet. And i i knew that my upper body wasn't as strong as my lower body, but I also didn't think about it being important. I figured I was kind of covering all the bases. i did yoga for about 17 years, but I had stopped because my teacher moved away. i just, I kind of felt like I was covering all the bases and that I was I mean, relative to most people I know, people were always defining me as the fit one, you know? Yeah, I mean, it sounds like you were engaging in activities that required a high level of physical ability, like ballet. Like, I can't do ballet. If I tried to do ballet, I would look ridiculous. So you have this rich kinesthetic history and all of this practice for years and years and years. And so people just assume, like, you're just very physically capable, therefore you must be. quote, strong.
Speaker: Next question is, was the idea that engaging in exercise was for the purpose of longevity, bone health or strength or the prevention of decline at this point? You're 65, you're incredibly active, you've been told to get a DEXA scan. Are you thinking at all at this point about movement for longevity? Are you thinking of ballet that way? Are you thinking of plies that way? Or is it really just, I like doing this stuff?
Speaker: I mean, I think it was almost more like, how do I keep myself healthy and strong so that I can continue dancing? Because that's what makes me happy. You know what i mean? yeah yeah. almost like the other way around.
Speaker: Yeah. And Pilates is touted as being a form of exercise that a lot of dancers do, former dancers, current dancers. And so do you feel, in your opinion, that it is actually supportive of dance in various ways?
Speaker: The part of my body that I feel like is helped most by Pilates and why I keep doing it, well, one of the reasons I keep doing it is is core strength. I just, I really feel like it keeps my core stronger than it was before.
Speaker: i had done it many, many years ago after an injury. But um now i just I just go once a week, but I always feel like its it it gets to my core in a way that, of course, if I had the discipline to do certain things on my own, I could probably achieve the same thing. But as you know, I'm i'm much better with somebody telling me what just to do. and Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. As are most people. yeah Yeah. I mean, 100%. And so you you you appreciate the the group class experience of Pilates. You're doing Pilates. you're going to group classes or group dance classes, I'm assuming. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker: Yeah. So, so, so far, if we're sort of thinking about the chronology, this is your exercise history. And then your doctor had told you to get a DEXA scan. And so take us back to that first DEXA, which was April, 2024. that right? Yeah. So how did you, what were you told? Did you look at the information did someone describe it to you? How did it,
Speaker: feel or how did you react to learning that you had osteoporosis? Was it a surprise? It was a surprise for sure. And nobody spoke to me. It came up in my patient portal, like you have a message and, you know, here are the results and you know, that kind of thing.
Speaker: um Which now that you asked that question that I mean, it's such a big bit of news to get that way. Yeah. I mean, look, I think i think with the advent of like the patient portal, it's almost impossible.
Speaker: You know, the the the results of a test, you know speaking from my experience, but all of our experiences, like the results of a test are in that thing way faster than your doctor can call you about it. So it's very common that like you're going to see the results of something. before anyone has a chance to talk to you about it and put it in some sort of perspective. So like before you had a chance to talk to a doctor, were you freaked out? Like, what were you feeling? What was your thought process? Were you, but do you have questions? Where were you at that point?
Speaker: I mean, i was not happy about it, but I wasn't freaked out. Like I sort of,
Speaker: osteoporosis is weird. You don't feel anything. and i was like, I'm fine. I'm strong. and I just wanted to learn more about it. you know i just wanted to Initially, I wanted to meet with an endocrinologist, but as I started to talk to more people and read more about it and even though I i knew needed to go see the endocrinologist and talk to her, i I became more interested in discovering things I could try on my own before taking medication because I started reading about the medication. So, i mean, I definitely felt more ah hopeless then than I did once I learned more about, you know, the fact that we can turn turn it around or at least slow it down. Because i in that moment, I didn't know that.
Speaker: um But I also think I probably, like my mom probably osteoporosis and she never did anything about it. And she used to tumble all of the time. And so I think on some level, i maybe I thought, well, it's part of getting old, you know.
Speaker: But I wasn't that nonchalant about it. i you know, I wanted to do something about it. I just, my tendency in life is to not go right for medication, know,
Speaker: in a lot of things, like to see what I can do on my own or in a more natural way, even though I'm the child of two physicians, I'm i'm more interested in I just believe our bodies have a lot more potential than maybe sometimes we think they do. Cool. So you decide to postpone taking medication because you you did some research on the medication and you thought, you know what, I maybe can hold off on this.
Speaker: Well, I finally got an appointment. It took, it took until the fall. I mean, endocrinologists are really busy here in New York city. They're so booked up. And so I met with her the first time and she, she talked to me about the different medications, but to her credit, she wasn't pushing them on me or saying, you know, you have to start right away. um And she talked to me about, you know, making sure i get of calcium and vitamin D. And she, she, she like put her hand on my back and she goes like, Oh, I like this meaning like my, my posture.
Speaker: And she, she described me as very thin, which I just, I know that that's part of the characteristic of people who are prone to osteoporosis. But I'm not really that thin. I'm normal weight, you know, for my height.
Speaker: i think maybe it's all relative. Like maybe she's just not used to seeing people my age who are not but a little bit overweight. um Yeah. But i I just felt like there was Like she was kind of looking for maybe reasons. I'm guessing mine has a huge genetic factor um or it's just a part of natural aging as we lose, you know, lose bone mass over time and after menopause.
Speaker: But she did, to her credit again, I had already learned about your course through my physical therapist, who my friend, a good friend of mine, told me I should talk to because she knew he he had more information than I did about the effects of heavy lifting. And so i already knew about the class and I think I may maybe had already signed up and I told her I was going to do it.
Speaker: And she did tell me that I could wait, that I could wait to take medication. And then she said, she said, well, just don't hurt yourself. That's fair. That's fair.
Speaker: and I remember you. I remember you telling me that one time and I was just kind of like, wow, what a stunning endorsement from the medical field for like lifting weights. Don't hurt yourself. You know what i mean?
Speaker: I feel like it's things yeah it's a very common attitude that yeah many people have. And I can see from her perspective as your endocrinologist that like she considers that her primary duty is to do no harm and to make sure that you're safe. And so if she doesn't like on one hand, know very much about strength training, then she hears that it's heavy training. And then she knows that you've been diagnosed with osteoporosis, like that her maybe first go-to reaction would be that. um Yeah, so we're gonna talk more about your endocrinologist and how, you know, maybe her opinion of what you're doing changes. But when you decided to sign up for the course, what did you imagine it would be like?
Speaker: What concerns did you have? So this is when we used to call the course bone density course. We've since renamed it live for longevity, but it must've been the second, I think it was the second time we were running it because I think you were a part of the second cohort and not the first cohort. So you hear about this course, you're like, I'm going to sign up for this.
Speaker: um What did you think it would be like? I didn't have a lot of time because I had to get the equipment and sign up and be ready by like, October 15th or something. And I think I'd just gotten back from l LA. So I didn't have a lot of time, but I wasn't a was i afraid of hurting myself. um I might've been a little bit afraid, but I think i I also thought it was interesting. I was curious whether i would be able to do it. You know, it seemed so alien and to me to lift a barbell. I'd never touched a barbell in my life, but I was also curious, like, if if this is a course for people like me, then i so i just imagined that it would start easy and with lots of instructions. so Yeah, and when you when you say people like me, like paint me a picture of like who is this person like you generally?
Speaker: Like someone my age who's been diagnosed with osteoporosis, who's never touched a barbell before. But I will say when i put my... equipment together, i was very intimidated by just the weight of my bar and just moving things around. i was very like, how do you do this? Because I i didn't feel like i I could, or maybe I was worried that I would hurt myself. Just unpacking and putting it together was a bit intimidating to me at first.
Speaker: who Yeah. and It makes me laugh now. Yeah. I mean, it's ah it's a lot to bring into the home. Yeah. Especially in New York, did you have to figure out like where it was all going to go or had you sort of sorted it out in your head or?
Speaker: Well, this, well, you're very familiar with my, and it's my entryway and my window is over here. So what would you use that for? It's the darkt is the darkest part, you know, there's nothing really to do. i have a table there, but so it was an obvious place to to use. And I was happy to have that space. I don't really, that's where I stored my ballet bar during the pandemic, right? So i put I took my ballet bar apart, put it away, and put my rack up. Amazing. Amazing. Two different bars. i love that so much. That's so poetic. not that you have Not that you have to do away with the ballet bar to bring in the barbell, but it's it's very kind of a nice imagery for this transition in your life. well I can do that in the studio now, which is much better. Whereas this I can very well do at home, which is great. yeah I don't need to move across the room to do the weightlifting. So it's better, actually. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: So what were your first weeks of training during the course? What did that look like and feel like? I know for a lot of people, the first month in particular, because you're learning a lot, not just about what a barbell is and how to rack it and rack it, but also things like reps in reserve and trying to figure out exactly how tired you are. and Do you have more, you know, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker: were you I know a lot of people have said it feels a little bit like trying to drink from a fire hose in the beginning, just because there's so much coming at you and you're like, ah, and then everybody settles down and gets into the rhythm of it and understands what's happening. What was your experience like?
Speaker: Yeah, I don't remember feeling that overwhelmed, maybe because I'm a dancer, I'm able to take in the you know the information in a little bit calmer way. But i think I think the hardest thing for me was just feeling the weight and being unsure that I could hold it properly or balance it properly. Or, you know, I think I was under loading a lot, which I know is super normal. um Yeah, in the beginning, it's it's almost expected. and Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. So I think pretty quickly I i i didn't feel that intimidated, but I did kind of pick up early on. i I think that my weight was lower than a lot of the other women in the course. And I just focused, I listened to what you said about like getting to that point where you're really almost like grunting and gasping because it's so hard and you have to push to that point, you know? And I mean,
Speaker: Sarah knows because because you've danced ballet. I mean, ballet looks graceful and beautiful, but it's really hard. And you do have to be tough and you do have to, you know, kind of hide it. But you do have to work really hard. So I, I i was trying to find where that place was for weightlifting for me. And it's a different thing because you you can grunt, you can show it. So I and and also had that shoulder injury early on. And that kind of taught me that I needed to maybe be a little more careful than maybe the average person. But it also taught me, which I already knew, because I've had so many injuries in my life, like it taught me that my body will heal if I if i know how to move forward. And Sarah helped me with a little PT exercise and just modifications. But um I just think my journey has been, everybody's journey is gonna be what's right for their body. And because I feel like if I lift try to lift too heavy, I feel like my joints are gonna do something weird. you know i feel like I have to hold everything together really tight in order to not, depends on the movement, but in order to not overextend something, Um, but for me, what I learned from you is that the progression, knowing when to add weight made perfect sense to me mathematically, you know, and sort of like how, you know, like if you can do, you know, 12 or 14, then you could add weight and go back down to lower reps. Like that made sense to me.
Speaker: i think maybe I just progress progressed at a slightly more gradual pace. than maybe other people. I mean, that was my sense is that I'm on my own little journey and I am progressing and I just have to be happy with that because I felt like I was getting to that point and then adding weight and then going back down. i felt like I was doing it. So people people appear to make a lot of progress for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes someone is just an early adopter, which means that their body is highly sensitive to the stimulus and it's ready to make rapid change. Other people take a little longer, but ultimately might reach the same level of strength. It's just a different timeline. Another reason is that people often will sometimes begin vastly under loading and then learn about effort or learn about you know, their tolerance levels and start just making these massive jumps and reps all of a sudden because they finally went, oh, yeah, i could actually do like 10 more reps and I'm not doing that. So i'm going to go ahead and do those 10 more reps.
Speaker: um and And, you know, other reasons as well, like some people will start off and be just super consistent and and make more rapid progress that way where some people have to take a week off here, week off there, they'll they'll be setbacks, they'll get sick, things like that. So um I think you strike me, cause you've done this now so many times with us as being one of the most consistent yeah practitioners I can think of off the top of my head, who's gone through the course. um And so i i wonder if possibly your timeline is just a little bit longer with strength and that could be
Speaker: it um and And there is nothing wrong with that, right? Yeah, no rushing. I think as well, just from what I've seen with you, Julie, is that, you know, as you were describing, you have this natural toughness from ballet.
Speaker: um And it just made me laugh thinking about like tennis where women are allowed to grunt now, you know, and aren allowed, but you know what I mean? And I was like, wouldn't it be amazing to see ah a ballet where somebody does like a huge leap when they land, they go, ugh, because it was hard, you know? Like, yeah.
Speaker: But obviously that's not the aesthetic of ballet, but it would I would be very entertained by that. But I think to Laurel's point, your consistency, to your point, that kind of mental toughness that you had, you know um you know, I have a question to ask you about. Was there anything initially that felt difficult or intimidating or technically confusing? But I think as well, your kinesthesia, your natural ability from being a dancer, being able to hear an instruction and make it happen in your body. Absolutely. That's a really huge skill that you can learn, but it it really, it gives you a huge kind of like advantage if you already know how to do that from your past movement history. So I think that definitely held you and in in good stead for sure.
Speaker: Well, and watching you too, that's part of, I think what you learn is the dancer you watch and then you do. doo And watching you demonstrate, because I would always be like, where's my elbow starting? And then I would see or ask or whatever. And that would really, like, help me put it into my body is to see it. yeah That's one of the many things I like about the live class is just watching watching you do it. And I think... um
Speaker: i I'm still learning because I'm doing the class on my own now. And I'm still learning more because I i can't take it all in the first time or or even the second time. But I'm still learning from you from the recorded classes because there's so many little details. And maybe I didn't have time to watch a demonstration because that's the other thing about me. I always feel like no matter how how much I try to hurry, i always feel like I'm behind.
Speaker: um So watching the recordings over again has been really, i keep learning nuances and details that I i didn't catch on catch up on, you know, the first time.
Speaker: Yeah, it I've just immediately flew into my head that that old saying, like when the student is ready, the teacher appears. And the reason that that came into my mind is that the student is only able to absorb what they're ready to hear at whatever level they're at with ah an activity or a task or a thing like strength training. And so as you've been able to watch the recordings again, like you've become a more sophisticated practitioner.
Speaker: And so now there are details that are landing. Maybe they kind of washed over you in the beginning, the first time you heard them, or maybe you heard them multiple times and it didn't quite land. um but But now you you're able to absorb the information because of all of the experience that you've built up.
Speaker: Over the past, you know, you've taken this with us three times. Have you been strength training, would you say, consistently for two and a half years at this point or just two years? I started in October. ah So two years. it'll Two years. It'll be two years in October. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker: Each class is only, well, you know this, only six months. So Yeah. Yeah. And there's been breaks in between. so we're going to talk a little bit about that. But yeah, let's let's talk about how your training has progressed, actually. So you've taken Lyft for longevity now three times.
Speaker: Is that right? Yes. Has anything changed from your first time doing it with us to maybe this last time doing it with us? I don't know if my mindset changed. ined I definitely developed more confidence and um felt like I knew what to expect because I had done most of the exercises before.
Speaker: yeah What does confidence mean for how you approach training? I think it results in putting more energy and more volition and more power behind the moves and not being afraid of them. Just being more aware, not more aware, but more knowledgeable about what my body can do now. and then feeling like, okay, now i i don't have to be tentative anymore. I can, I can,
Speaker: put a little more oomph into it. Would you say that your understanding of what two reps in reserve really means has shifted at all? Like, do you feel like your tolerance for that only having two reps left in the tank or only having three like reps left in the tank, or maybe it's one, like, has that shifted at all for you? Cause it, for me, it has like, when I reflect on my history of strength training and the, where I would start, and I could even remember like kind of how the sets would feel in the beginning. even now with a new exercise, if I introduce a new exercise, it's like, it's always kind of wonky for the first couple of times I do it. And I'm like, I think I should just stop now. I'm not really sure if I have two or five reps left. And I'm just going to stop because that felt like enough. But then as I do the exercise more, ah I realized that like, I've got more to give. Is is that some, does that resonate with you? What I just said, or? or
Speaker: Definitely. I know that feeling of, I need to get a little more neurologically organized around this before I push it too hard. But I think for me, I feel like my indications that I perhaps only have two or three more in the tank have more to do with form breaking down or depth, not being able to hit my depth or... in bench press, not not being able to bring the bar all the way to my body.
Speaker: um Those are my indications because maybe I... Maybe I get in the reps that I plan to, but the last one or two, I'm not all the way to the bench on the spot or all the way down to my body on it. That's kind of how, or I start to feel like one side is pushing harder than the other. That's when i that's that's the main way I tell. Nice. Because don't honestly feel, well, I'm sure I do feel tired, but I don't feel that tired after
Speaker: lifting. I feel tired like 90 seconds after a hard set, but then i feel fine. You know, so I don't know. I feel like that's my main way of telling that it's time to stop is by form breaking down or, or the, the pathway starts to get wonky of the bar, the pathway, the bar.
Speaker: Does that make sense? Absolutely. So like technical failure would be form breakdown. um short changing the range of motion could be like a task failure, like you're no longer performing the task um to its completion. um Yeah, no, that's, that's great. And so, so your confidence level, it sounds like your confidence level is more like, you know, I feel like I can just get in there and go. And there's maybe not as much psychological stuff going on. Is that, is that what that means?
Speaker: Yeah. And it also kind of means like, in a funny way. It's funny to me, not, not just that I can do this now that I'm, you know, that but I can do barbell lift weightlifting now. It just, yeah it's still, I still kind of pinch myself and think like, oh, I know how to do this now, you know? Yeah. You were, you were telling us about a personal training experience you had in LA, or maybe it was before Sarah got on. You, you, you told me that the personal trainer you met with,
Speaker: What did she say about your bench press? Oh, so i I wanted to find a gym in l L.A. so that when I went to L.A. I could work out, I could lift. And i I did these one on one sessions at this little gym near the place that I stay. And the guy who was working with me one day um had me do a bench press. And he said that my form was that of a person who had been doing bench press for many, many years. And I was just like, I wanted to like call you up and say, you know, cause I, I didn't know how to do a bench press before I met you. So that was, um that was so cool. And I think the bench press of all the exercises we teach in the course is actually one of the most technically challenging. So that makes my heart sing to hear that. That's awesome. um
Speaker: When people sign up for Lift for Longevity, what are we actually giving them? Our six-month Lift for Longevity barbell course includes two live classes a week taught by Laurel and myself with recordings that you then are able to access forever after the six months as well. That's 48 live classes. There is also pre-recorded content where we talk about important strength training terminology that you're going to want to understand. We talk about osteoporosis, which is a big concern for women as we get older. And that has been shown in evidence to be
Speaker: something you can improve with resistance training. We have demo videos of all of the exercises that you're going to do in the course. So you can always refer back to those videos as well as receive all of the live coaching that you get in the class. We also have some warmup videos. We have some other special videos for things like if your ankles or your wrists need a little more attention,
Speaker: you also get to join our private group with the emphasis being on private which is where you access us you ask your questions of us you can submit video demonstration like short clips of you doing an exercise and we'll give you feedback on your form that's what you get if you join this course and the purpose of it being six months is we're really trying to establish publish this as a habit and the nice thing as well is once you're finished with the six-month course you could just start from the beginning again And because you're going to be stronger, if you've been lifting weights for six months, those numbers will increase and you could just keep doing the program on your own forever and ever.
Speaker: um All right. So you're planning to retake with us again, but we just took some time off. We did not do the course this past spring. So we weren't running the course for about six months. Our question is,
Speaker: is did you continue training? Did you continue training using the course? Did you kind of branch off and do other stuff? and And what did your training look like during during this time off? Yeah, so i I was deliberating about taking the course again only because of the schedule. The schedule's a little hard for me. 5 p.m.
Speaker: is a hard time for me to get get my mojo going. um But I just read that you've changed the course a little and now I'm so intrigued. And, and part of that is the answer to this question, which is that yes, I've continued. um But it's hard. It's really hard for me, i procrastinate and I don't start when I'm supposed to start and it kind of I don't enjoy it as much. I feel lonely. I feel like, oh, this is so hard to do on my own. And i i do all the compound lifts, but I i often sort of don't do you know, as many of the accessories as as I'm supposed to do So I just find myself a little bit um just not enjoying it.
Speaker: I just feel like It's so much more fun to do it with people than to do it live and to have you two watching and giving us corrections and, you know, seeing the other. ladies on the zoom squares and knowing that we're all doing it together. It just feels so different to me and knowing that it's going to stop and start at a set time. And yeah I just wake up on the days that I'm meant to do it. And I'm just kind of like, Oh, I've got to do it today. But I mean, i'm right I'm determined to keep doing it. If you told me you were never going to teach the live class again, I would keep doing it. Um,
Speaker: But I'm not sure I would do as well as doing the live class. you know Well, there's there's a there's a good amount of research showing that people make more progress with supervision. Supervision just being coaching, right? Whether it's like a physical therapist or a researcher or a coach, you know, um people tend to do, they tend to make more progress on their performance goals and strength or, or um you know, whatever it is they're working on in a resistance-based program. So it makes sense that that would feel fulfilling. But then also, you know, everybody has different motivators. This one sounds like it you have kept doing it. You have continued to be consistent, but it just feels mentally harder. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. i just think it's not a great fit for me. And i I do believe that we can build new habits. And perhaps over time, it would it would become an easier habit for me to do.
Speaker: So I'd be kind of curious about that. I'm sure I'll have other opportunities in the future. Yeah. I mean, well, I'm curious, have you, have you like gone out into the world and looked for live class opportunities that are resistance training based that you've, you've might feel competent enough to kind of jump into and and be a part of it all?
Speaker: You mean like a barbell class out in the world? Yeah. I mean, so they're all kind of like franchisee and CrossFit and this and Hyrox. there's all different ways that these are packaged and sold. But I'm just curious if you thought about maybe hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym or looking for something else like what we're doing.
Speaker: Has that crossed your mind? I mean, it's crossed my mind. But when I try to research it a little bit, it just feels... it just feels a little like it doesn't make a lot of sense in my life because I can, I've got my equipment right here and I don't have to go anywhere and I don't have to pay anything. And I just kind of get mad at myself. I'm like, just put your bigger throw pants on and just do it. And and i I try to pretend that it's live because I am, I am using the recording. Right, right. There is, there is like a feeling, right? Yeah. Oh my God. Now i'm just imagining you like waving. Hi, everybody. And like talking to what's everybody doing today? How's the weather? But I feel you about that camaraderie and community part. And, you know, I...
Speaker: I have enough discipline to do most of the work on my own, but on a day, if there's a day where I'm not really feeling it, 100%, am not doing my full workout that day if it's just up to me.
Speaker: But if if I have a day where I'm not feeling it and I was taking a class or you know something like that, I would just go and just do what I was told. So there's a lot of benefit to that instruction, like Laurel was saying, but there's also the, a lot of the time I work out, I go to the gym with my friend and it's so fun. And she's out of town for a couple months and I'm like, ugh.
Speaker: I don't have as much of a good time when I do it without her, you know, like just the enjoyment of it. It's nice to do it with with other people. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we are social creatures. I'm kind of an introvert, but i I mean, most of my friends I've met at my ballet class. One of the reasons I keep doing Pilates is that I have a bunch of little friends over there now. And we, and I like, I like my teacher. He's, I only, there's one teacher there that I think is amazing. And so I always take his class and, it it becomes somewhat social, you know, for children in a room doing it all together and being watched, you know? Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know. Maybe i should, I, then I say to myself, like, don't be so hard on yourself. Just do do it the way it feels good to you. You know? Yeah, exactly. Just be who you are know who you are and then just be who you are. And it sounds like you're the kind of person who really thrives when there is a class to show up for. Yeah. Yeah, cool. So reflecting back, we kind of want to get into some little details just for fun. um When you began, do you have your spreadsheet that you had at the the very first cohort? Yeah, I figured you would you strike me as the kind of person who would be very organized and like keep all that stuff. um I'm just curious, because i I like talking about this stuff. Were there any lifts that we did the first time around?
Speaker: that you saw some progress in by the third time around where like, I'm talking progress, like, wow, I started off at this weight and then I was able to do this weight for, for a given number of reps, like, but or were there lifts where you were like, this one just felt really, really hard and impossible. And then by the end, I was like, I love this lift.
Speaker: I mean, I, I made progress in all my lifts as far as, you know, adding weight over time. For sure. Some more than others, like my deadlift got way, way, way, way heavier over time.
Speaker: do you have numbers? Would you be comfortable sharing the numbers? Yeah. Yeah. I, I opened the tabs. I did everything digitally. So it's all in my, um,
Speaker: Google Docs. If I look at the beginning, so fall of 2024, my deadlift was pounds. many reps for 100? So seeing 10 reps.
Speaker: and now it's almost a hundred whoa
Speaker: how many reps for twenty eight and how many reps for a hundred um so i'm seeing ten 10 reps, 10 to 12. So that is something. And for a hundred, um and I'm not quite 200. I'm in the nineties right now.
Speaker: Um, So I'm doing about six. six six i just I just went up to seven. yeah I'd say you got you've gotten a lot stronger. yeah That's cool.
Speaker: A lot stronger. That's awesome. What else? When I first started, i couldn't even do certain things with my barbell alone. Like I couldn't do strict press with my barbell.
Speaker: So I had to use dumbbells. And now where am I with strict? with press now strict press is still not that high. I think I go up to about 38 pounds with strict press. That's, that's the one where the, the progress has been slower. Yeah. but I'm up to 53 pounds for bench press.
Speaker: My bench press was only 20 pounds for how many reps for those. So 20 pounds, at how many reps and then 53, how many reps? Okay. So 20 pounds, like eight 10. And then now my bench press. I did it this morning. So I, I need to add weight that I progressed since the last time I lifted, which was last Friday. um I was only doing six and today I did eight. And then the last set I did 10. I don't know what happened. All right. So you went from 20 to 53 pounds to 10 reps.
Speaker: That's a, that's, ah that's an insane, that's an insane amount of progress. That's yeah, that's been, that's fantastic. So Yeah. So it's definitely kind of like sort of similar for almost all, you know, the squats. I i mean, my squats are definitely not as heavy as some of the ladies. I'm back squatting 53, six reps, but I keep working on my depth too. And I, yeah if I can do like on the six one, I feel like I I'm not hitting the bench. So
Speaker: that's just where I am. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, you you've absorbed all of all of the teaching. Because we talked a lot about the depth the consistency of the depth. Yeah. um Cool, cool. ah How about let's expand out to activities of your life? Have you found dancing, walking around new York City schlepping?
Speaker: Have you found that these activities after two years of consistent strength training that they feel different? I definitely think my dancing is, has benefited from the strength, just overall strength, overall strength and balance has improved. And might've been a little bit before i started. the weightlifting class, I had had a foot injury, and I pretty much stopped jumping in ballet class. And then I was able to figure out how to rehab my foot.
Speaker: I didn't think I'd ever be able to jump again. It was it was really painful. And I figured it out. It's a long story. And I, I started jumping again, and I could barely get off the floor, i was jumping like so low. and then started the class and learned about impact training and learned about how important it was to jump. And I kind of wondered whether stopping jumping for several years contributed to my osteoporosis. But over the course of the last few years, i just worked gradually and now my jumping, it's not what it was when I was 30, but now I'm, you know, now I'm jumping a lot higher in ballet class. And I feel like I wouldn't have been able to do that without the strength that I got from the lift for longevity class.
Speaker: Right on. Did you, did you, sorry, what did you think contributed to your osteoporosis? The fact that I had stopped jumping ballet class. There's a lot of jumping the end of class. You do small jumps, then you do medium, and then you do big. So you do a lot of jumping at the end of class and, um you know, changing direction and one foot to one foot and this and that. So I wondered, you know, when I got the diagnosis, or maybe I didn't think about it until later and I learned about impact training, I wondered if the fact that I had stopped jumping because of my injury. Yeah.
Speaker: contributed. I know it's not the same as impact, but it's got to be better than not jumping. Yeah, I have a ah history of foot injuries from running. I feel like ballet is another one of those activities where the feet really take a lot.
Speaker: They have to put up with a lot Right. With the shoe and the position of the foot and the impact and the, you know, single leg work, like the feet actually are asked a lot in ballet. Would you say? no Yeah, definitely. mean, yeah, at some point. And I also think that it's very plausible that the jumping in ballet would be osteogenic.
Speaker: um especially since you're landing on a slippered foot. you're not It's not a soft surface. you know so Anyway, it's it's it's fascinating. I just wish there were so much more research than there is on more populations than there have been. and There's probably some research on belly dancers somewhere. the thing that strikes me as being interesting about ballet dancers as a population to study is that especially high level ballet dancers is that there also seems to be amongst ballet dancers, like a certain type of body composition and a a very lean, very lean, um thin often appearance. So that body composition might
Speaker: on one hand, lead to problems with bone density, but then on the other hand, the osteogenic activity of jumping might actually benefit the bone density. So it's probably impossible to figure out, but it's an interesting rabbit hole to go down mentally to wonder about. The the thing I was wondering about was, well, you tell me, you know more about this than I do, but I was wondering if the fact that very thin women are more prone
Speaker: osteoporosis is it because they spend a lifetime putting less weight into you know whenever they're moving around the world and doing anything weight-bearing it's just less weight or because I read something about people who just aren't getting enough nutrients yeah and I've never been i've never been that like that's any ballerina body where you just look and you think that's kind of painful to look at. And I've never, I've never missed a meal or i mean, like i eat a lot of food and I just don't think I've, I've always also been really interested in nutrition and I've always made sure that I get enough protein and get enough calcium from, from my twenties. I've always been aware of how important it is.
Speaker: so I'm just kind of curious which it is, you know, whether it's I don't think we can say it's one or the other. I think we're really looking at like a constellation of reasons that all of which might contribute, you know, so whether it's under eating, whether it's genetic for your body type, whether it's like this, the actual physical size of your bones being smaller because you are a leaner body naturally, you know, there's so many possible reasons. Way more than we have time for, but if you want to listen to all of the possible contributors, this is for listeners of this episode, listen to our interview with Dr. Laura John Gregorio in two episodes before this. She is a bone health researcher and we get into the nitty gritty of risk factors for osteoporosis. Yeah.
Speaker: All right. I think we should talk about your follow-up DEXA. So now that you've been you've been strength training for a couple of years, So your next DEXA that you got was in June, 2026. So the one before was April, 2024 and then June, 2026. So you got your second DEXA scan, Julie, and then you discuss that with your endocrinologist.
Speaker: Obviously the results were different and we want to talk about the the actual results, but ah did your understanding change of what the results are based on when you talked with your endocrinologist or what what was your understanding of the changes?
Speaker: I still don't understand because i feel like my doctor has kind of gone back and forth. She's gone from being very pleasantly surprised in a way that almost seemed like she had never seen anything like that before, to kind of looking for other reasons that might account for the changes, which i understand that's good science. yeah But the fact that she was initially so surprised as as if almost she had never seen anything like that before, kind of gives me hope that that there really is improvement there. Of course there could be other factors. She mentioned something about this element called that's in some calcium supplements called, what's it called? Strontium? Strontium, yeah.
Speaker: But I looked it up and the amount that's in mine is negligible. She's looking into it too. She even said it's probably not that. Can I ask, sorry, what is the brand of calcium supplement you take?
Speaker: The one that I take is from a company called New Chapter and it's an algae-based. um I had heard that algae-based was better absorbed then. I know that there's a very well-known brand, but I...
Speaker: I chose the new chapter. And it just has a tiny bit. And I don't take a ton because i I get a lot of calcium in my diet. Yeah. Which is a better way to get it Yeah. Yeah. I don't rely on it fully, but I just added a little bit. So the chances that that is affecting my results. Seems low.
Speaker: She seems very low. And she she ultimately agreed with that. And the other thing that she brought up was that um that I have some arthritis in my lumbar spine. And yes, I'm sure you know this too, like increases in arthritis can look like increased bone density. But my question would be, how much could that have changed in my spine in two years with that alone? account for it, and the other thing that i read is that that might be the case if you only saw improvement in that one area, but because I saw improvement in every area.
Speaker: it's less likely to be due to arthritic changes. So just a couple of things that I want to note about this for our listeners before we keep talking about it. So the first thing is, correct me if I'm wrong, Julie, but I believe these two DEXA scans were performed at two different facilities.
Speaker: Is that right? Yes. Yeah. So one of the things that DEXA machines are notorious for is their calibration and the fact that calibration can vary from machine to machine, even from person using the machine on the same machine.
Speaker: So now I have to look up what it's called. The International Society for Clinical Densitometry which is a thing. They actually recommend, actively recommend now that you should be getting your repeat DEXs on the same machine for that reason. But just just as a piece of information. So that that confounds the information a little bit.
Speaker: And then also your T-scores were better on the second report, but the actual raw bone mineral density values didn't consistently increase. So we can't confidently say,
Speaker: increased ts scores, uh, the shift from osteoporosis to osteopenia, we can't say it means you gained exactly this much bone. We're we're just not so clear. yeah Um, again, the, the strontium could have been a confounder. It's unlikely because it's so low and it doesn't mean, and none of this means that, you know, you didn't see improvement, Julie, none of this means that we haven't changed your bone density. It's just,
Speaker: It's challenging because when you get a repeat DEXA, then you're looking at all these like, well, there's this thing and this thing and this thing. It's not a clear apples to apples comparison as much as we would like it to be.
Speaker: But you know ultimately your results are are good is my understanding. Do you think that's true even with all the conversation with your endocrinologist about it? I think ultimately she does still feel like It's good. And she, she again said, you know, we can kick the can down the road and not do medication right away. She's with a different medical group than my first one. i had to go outside of my medical group just to find an endocrinologist that I could see. And that's why she said, I want you to get it done at you know, the facility that I'm familiar with. So, you know, to your point, it it won't be until my next one that she can compare the results on the machine that she's familiar with. um
Speaker: But, you know, i I described to her what I've been doing. And she said, I don't know anyone, any patient that has done what you've done, that has worked as hard as you. So I don't know. I just find that kind of hard to believe. But, yeah.
Speaker: i I don't. don't either, honestly. like I don't. Like the reality, I think for most people, not you, but at the reality for most people is... They, you know, a friend of mine, for example, was told she had osteopenia. She was like, I just started taking more calcium.
Speaker: I'm like, that's not, that's not nobody. That's not enough. But I think a lot of people are very happy to take the medication because it's the easier solution than doing the effort of strength training.
Speaker: I think that's pretty common. So it's not actually very surprising to me at all that, that you were like the hardest working patient she's ever seen. Hopefully she's going to start seeing more people like you who are actually putting in the effort But let's be fair as well. And this is also something we talked about with Dr. John Gregorio.
Speaker: For some people, regardless of how much strength training they do, they have a genetic predisposition to osteoporosis. It's maybe not going to move the needle. So there are people who try their hardest with strength training and still don't see any significant results for their bone density changes. So all in all, I think this is just like a huge success story, your story, frankly. I think also it is the case that when you don't see loss from one DEXA to the other, that that is progress. Because had you not trained, you might have seen levels that were below the first the first scan. um Again, we don't know because you had your your scan on two different machines, but it'll be interesting to see once you can get your next DEXA and compare apples to apples, what what that shows. But yeah, so given the results of
Speaker: These DEXA scans that happen on different machines, your endocrinologist, different takes on your progress, the skepticism, but also the surprise that she seemed to convey as well. um where Where does this leave you mentally regarding your training, regarding your your path forward, you know, that you're going to kick the can down the road with medication, your future scans, you know, are are are going to happen. Eventually we'll know more. but what where does this leave you with your plan for strength training and and maybe also your your plan for supplement use?
Speaker: Yeah, it makes me even more determined because I really want to, I want my next results to show at least, you know, steady, if not improvement. I also feel like I can always take the medication in the future and some of the newer are they called anabolic, the ones that will add bone? They're so new. When I met with her the first time, she was telling me all about them. And I said, well, how many of your patients are taking them? And she said, hardly any.
Speaker: I'm not going to be your guinea pig. right I just was like, no. And I was considering one. She was talking about one of them. And then she said that she wanted me to go have a calcium,
Speaker: MCT, like a heart scan. And I went and had it and i actually got a zero, which is the best score you could get, which is great, good to know, whatever. But I thought, I don't want to take a brand new drug where you have to have your heart checked before you take it because you're worried about side effects. So I'm grateful to have found strength training, because I understand that it's not only good for my bones, I understand that it's good for my muscles too. And also for my power, i do notice power in my life in my ballet class, I run up the stairs as as much as I can, I don't just plop up the stairs. And I try to notice power in my life. And I think that the strength training has helped with that too. Absolutely.
Speaker: I just feel like I have I have so many benefits from it that include power, that include balance, that include mobility. And banking muscle is important. And I know that i still i know that my arms still look really thin, but I definitely have more muscles in my arms than I ever Heck yeah, she's posing. Yeah.
Speaker: And this is a really like vanity one, but you know, your whole life when you're young, you're like, oh, I think my butt's too big. And you know, I'm from that generation, but then you get to a certain age and your butt starts getting really flat. And i was like, oh, that's not, that's not a good look. I don't like that. But now my my butt is a little rounded again.
Speaker: There's some vanity benefit. Oh yeah. yeah but I always tell my patients. Yeah. i tell my patients, you want a butt deadlift. yeah They're like, how do I get a rounder butt? i'm like, deadlift. They're like, really? Uh-huh. Yep. so i just I just feel like I totally buy into this whole idea that we've been sold the wrong bill of goods all this time. I 100% believe that that's true and that it's very important that we stay stronger. i I walk around this city and I see these women whose bodies are shrinking. And they're just so tiny. And I just, I know that we're all going to age, you know, we can't live forever. But I, I'm really excited about having a healthier aging process and being able to stay stronger and bigger. during my aging process. So I can't tell you how grateful I am to have found you because if it wasn't for my PT, I wouldn't have known i I was researching and I found, you know, osteo strong and I found buff bones. I've listened to all your podcasts. but i'm I'm a total believer in in it. And I'm just grateful because I i think it's very hard to
Speaker: to take on something new like this and keep doing it. Cause for me, it's not fun the way ballet classes, you know, I can't wait to go to ballet class. Weightlifting is only fun because you're there and the other ladies are there and there's, you are showing me Henry and, you know, a funny things. And, you know, so I'm just grateful cause I do think it's important. and I'm, I totally believe that, um,
Speaker: That, you know, I wish I'd known it earlier. I wish I had been told even when I was like 45, 50 that I should start lifting weights, you know, or even younger than that.
Speaker: Yeah. but Well, you are kicking ass and taking names, Julie. Like it's been such an honor and a privilege to get to work with you. over the years and we would be so fortunate for you to join us again. no pressure. like Last question. What would you tell another active post-menopausal woman who has recently learned she has been diagnosed with osteoporosis and is apprehensive about beginning strength training? What would you tell her?
Speaker: I mean, I feel like I said this the last time I would say if I could do it, you could do it because I felt like I started from absolute zero and you just, you make it so doable because you're starting with us from the very beginning. You're not assuming that we know anything. You say we can do it with a broomstick just to learn form. And it's just a matter of knowing that your body will learn a new way to move if you're you're patient and if you just keep trying, you know, and I think the benefits are myriad. I just think it's, it's an opportunity. I think getting the diagnosis is no fun, but it's an opportunity to give your body other benefits other than what we can do for our bones, which obviously there's research showing
Speaker: phone improvement. In fact, that's yeah, there there is. Yeah, but there's, there's, there's a lot more research showing the prevention of physical decline, because that's easier to study. And there's a lot more research showing that you're less likely to fall. There's more research showing that you're less likely to have a lot of different life shortening diseases if you if you strength train. There's there's quite a bit of longevity-esque benefits to it. And so I'm glad that, yeah, I'm glad that that that is something you're coming away with as well, that, that you know, bone density building aside, there's...
Speaker: kind of no reason not to do this, as long as you can find the way that works for you. Because there's almost all upsides, and almost no downsides, again, when you find the way that works for you. Yeah, a lot of women that I know, i try not to browbeat people with it. But I do.
Speaker: have a lot of friends, I talk to them. And I, a lot of them are like, Oh, I lift weights. And then of course, they're not, it's not even close, you know, and I try to find ways to just say, like, you're not really doing anything for yourself with the weights that you're using now or what you're what you're doing now. Like, it's a whole new world. It's a whole Yeah, some people just don't want to hear it. They don't want to do it. Would you say that the weights they're using are too small or would you say that they're doing it too infrequently? Or what makes you think that they're not benefiting in terms of strength?
Speaker: I think the weights are too light and maybe they're taking a class where you do things with like dumbbells in your hands or... You know, sometimes they have us hold dumbbells at Pilates, you know, when we're doing certain things. And I just know because of what I've learned from you that it's not enough. So whether they're taking a class or maybe they're, you know, they have dumbbells at home and they're doing exercises with their dumbbells, they're not buying new dumbbells, you know, they're not progressing. The weights are light and there's no progression. Same with kettlebells. And, you know, you talk about that too, like,
Speaker: yeah unless you're going to buy more kettlebells, you're going to hit a plateau at a certain point. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, that's pretty much required to make progress is like it has, that has to stay challenging. And so it's, it's a pretty big tell that if someone has it, you know, a collection of small weights at home and hasn't purchased anything bigger than that for a while, that they're probably benefiting in some ways from the physical activity and all exercise is beneficial. It's just that not all exercise is beneficial for all desired outcomes. And so stuff like increasing muscle size, increasing strength and increasing bone mineral density, we actually need to keep the work challenging and that's a moving target, right? Because if we apply resistance training correctly, we should get stronger, which means that what is challenging now is going to look different than what was challenging before. um And yeah, i I hear you on the not wanting to browbeat people.
Speaker: And if you personally find that challenging, i can relate. um But yeah, everyone starts where they are. And, you know, our our mission is to just reach more people and hopefully catch them at the right time, which it turns out we might have, you know, lucked out with you. Right.
Speaker: Yeah. You were ready. Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. i I couldn't be more thrilled that I found it and that I've benefited from it and that it's just added so much to my life. And i I feel so much more hopeful about getting older and being able to do the things that I love and travel and go to ballet class. And I traveled to Europe with my son this year and I hadn't been in a long time because we had been taking care of my mom who lived to be 94.
Speaker: And I was like, Oh, am I going to be okay, which is kind of silly, because I live in New York City. But but it was, it was so much fun. And I felt very strong. And nice my mom is another example. She she's a person for a woman of her generation, she exercised so much more than anybody she knew but she didn't do any weight lifting you know and she did lose a lot of muscle and i'm sure bone over time you know yeah and and that's so common with that generation um i want to thank you so so very much for for talking with us today julia you've been on the podcast before we did a shorter interview with you right after you completed your first
Speaker: Dr. Amy Quinton, round of what we used to call bone to the course now live for longevity Dr. Quinton, Ph.D.: We really wanted to sit down with you after these recent Texas scans and the fact that you've done the course with us three times and just been so consistent for two years, we had to hear from you as someone who has.
Speaker: gone through this process and really stuck with it and been just incredibly successful with the work you've put in. It's just so beneficial for us, for Sarah and I, the creators of this course, to hear your story. And it's also going to be, i think, super beneficial to everyone listening, those who've taken the course, who can relate to so much of what you're saying, those of you who have maybe not taken our course, but have undergone this process of starting to strengthen that can relate to what you're saying. The people who have patients or students or clients who, you know, are like you and they can relate. And then the people who are listening and who are on the fence about whether or not to start or what that would look like. So we just really, really thank you for so generously and honestly and transparently sharing everything.
Speaker: And there's Henry. Including Henry. I had to bring Henry in. Yeah. had to bring Henry back in so you could have a little hello to Henry. Henry, my favorite mascot. Oh, he's so adorable. He's the cutest. He is the cutest.
Speaker: So thank you. im pleasure sure i just feel I just feel incredibly grateful. And I feel lucky that that I found you and that it just has worked out so well and been such a good fit. I could have ended up spending thousands of dollars on one of these programs that doesn't really move the needle at all. So...
Speaker: I'm happy to tell my story. I hope it helps people. i I feel like more or women need to hear it and give it a try. Yeah. For sure. Well, thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker: Thank you. Thank you, Julie.
Speaker: You know, one thing I keep coming back to from that conversation with Julie is that She didn't begin strength training with us because she just loved lifting weights.
Speaker: She began because her osteoporosis diagnosis gave her a reason to try something completely new and unfamiliar. And then she went out of her way to find the coaching, the structure, and the community that helps her stick with it.
Speaker: I think this is such a great example of how to approach so much of our life that, you know, we know we need to make a change in and the change feels daunting.
Speaker: And so maybe we should all be a little bit more like Julie and seek out the support and help that will help us do the thing. Julie's DEXA doesn't give us the clear answer we hope for, at least not yet.
Speaker: But that uncertainty doesn't erase everything else that changed. She became dramatically stronger. She built muscle and power. She can jump again in ballet. She feels strong while traveling and she has become more hopeful about continuing to dance and do all of the things she loves as she gets older.
Speaker: So on one hand, yeah, DEXA results matter. We should pay attention to them. We should use them as information to spur us to action.
Speaker: when need be. But let's also not let one number become the only measure of whether our training is working. And we can maybe ask ourselves a better question, what can my body do now that it couldn't do before?
Speaker: And what do I want it to be able to keep doing for years to come?
Speaker: Thank you, Julie, for sharing your story with us. I personally have learned a lot from having you in the course and from hearing you relay your story to us. I'm looking forward to spending another season with you in the live classes.
Speaker: And thank you listeners for joining us yet again for another episode of Movement, Logic, Strong Opinions Loosely Held. This is your final reminder that the cart is closing in four days on Lyft for Longevity.
Speaker: the course that Julie is going to take for the fourth time. We, as of today, which is September 15th, the day before this episode is airing, yes, I'm kind of a last minute Laurel today, um we have 20 retakes. 20 people are retaking this course with us.
Speaker: 20 people feel that they want to do it again. I feel like that, if if we get no other people signed up for this course, like that right there feels like just a massive testament to what we've built, what Sarah and I have built, that we time and time again, every time we've run this course, we have we have so many people retaking it with us.
Speaker: And that's because people learn in our course that this is a lifelong habit. You're not done after six months. And they also find that they enjoy doing the work with us.
Speaker: That's just fucking awesome to me. I love that. I love that. I get to see. i love that I get to see people again, too. We are building long-term relationships with this course. And that is the thing that makes it probably the most meaningful of all.
Speaker: People, right? Okay, everyone. Thank you so much. ah You have four days to to sign up with us. You can click the link in our show notes to learn all the details, what you need, what days and times the live classes are.
Speaker: ah frequently asked questions. You can always also reach out to us via our website with any questions that you have. We are, I should say Sarah is exceptionally fast on email. I'm not very fast on email, which is why Sarah handles the inquiries of the site. um She is ah lightning fast. And actually, i don't want to say that because now she's gonna have to be lightning fast, but she just is lightning fast. Um,
Speaker: Maybe not always. Don't expect Sarah to always be lightning fast, okay? she Sometimes she's not, but she usually, yes, she actually, she usually is. She's pretty quick.
Speaker: She's especially quick during these times when we're launching a course. Head to the show notes and sign up. but At least learn more about the course, damn it. Aren't you fucking curious?
Speaker: You should be.
