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Strength Training After 40: A Midlife Fitness Mindset Rooted in Faith · Still Well Podcast

• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, my friends, and welcome back to another episode of Still Well Podcast.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Brooke, and I am so glad you're joining me here today for another great episode and a topic that I think is really important in this phase of life, in midlife.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: As moms, our kids are growing up.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Many of them have left the home, and we are here focusing on conversations that talk about being healthier, more physical capacity, strong, right, steady, emotionally balanced, and rooted, rooted in our faith.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have said this before, and I will continue to say this because this is sort of the motto of Still Well Mom, that you cannot neglect one for the other.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to live a vibrant and healthy life in the next phase and write a healthy next chapter and be there in a great way, in a present way for your kids, for God willing, your grandkids, and for whatever purpose that God has called you to, you have to have all three.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: You have to have strength, you have to have steadiness in emotions and thoughts and mind, and you have to be rooted in your faith.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: If you neglect one for the other, you will not live as purposefully and as healthily as you possibly could.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so this conversation today is going to focus on physical capacity and strength or physical health.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I just think this is such an important topic, and it's one that we can't neglect.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the last three podcasts, if you've been with me, this is still a new kind of baby podcast, but if you've listened to the last three, we focused on a lot of really heady topics and sort of ideas around faith and emotional health.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: We've touched on freedom from fear.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: We touched on an overview of all things midlife in the first podcast.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then last week we touched on loneliness and friendship and connection.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt like, to me anyway, it felt really weighted.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's because I was very raw and vulnerable with you and just shared a lot from my own experience.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: But so I thought today and this week we would kind of come back around and talk through some important information on physical health.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't go into this week planning on this topic.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, I was just on an accountability call with my friend Dr.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Ashley yesterday.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I was telling her that this week one of my goals was to get the next podcast recorded.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And she asked what I was going to talk about.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Did I have the topic?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, actually, no, I don't.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: I know that I have to do this tomorrow and I'm not sure what I'm talking about.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: But this summer has kind of been fly by the seat of my pants.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: As you can probably relate, as a mom of older kids, they're home from college, there's a lot happening, or they're out of high school and they're planning on getting back into school and you just want to be present and you're maybe doing some traveling, and life is all over the map.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been kind of flying by the seat of my pants and just doing this as I get a chance.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So as of yesterday, I wasn't entirely sure.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I mentioned to her in that phone call maybe I'm gonna talk about physical health.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you guys, this morning I woke up.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: So my brother was here and he actually got me the best gift ever.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I still can't believe he did it because it was so generous.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: But he got me the best birthday gift.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: He was here last week and he got me one of these.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you're watching, you can see it.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's a Garmin watch to kind of a sports watch that track, it's kind of like a whoop or an aura ring, but it's a watch.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And anyway, this morning when I woke up, go figure, like I guess not go figure because God works in so many different ways, but I checked my phone to see how I slept.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then a Bible verse popped up from my Bible app where I do my Bible recap.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it was this verse.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: I have it up on my iPad so I can read it word for word to you, but it was Romans 12, 1, which NIV is.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so holy and pleasing to God, and here's the end part that I missed.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is your true and proper worship.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, big picture with that verse, everything we do, every part of our life and everything that we're doing with our bodies should be holy and pleasing to God.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: But if we just drill that down some, to me, it was like, okay, I read that, that verse popped up on my watch.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Today I need to talk about physical health.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we need to keep this perspective.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: For some of us, we really need a reason why we should spend time working on our physical health, particularly, I think, when it comes to uh getting into the gym or just creating a workout space in your own home.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that we all maybe need a little bit of leverage or a reason to take the time to do that.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because let's face it, and we've said this before, every yes to one thing is a no to something else.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so it does require time and it does require commitment.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that for us, the number one reason to exercise and to move our bodies and to build physical strength and capacity is because the Bible calls us to do it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Our bodies are a living sacrifice, our bodies are a gift from God, and we need to be good stewards of those bodies.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's number one.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know how much more plainly the Bible can put that for us.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I have a couple other Bible verses here too that I just want to read through as we get into this conversation.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: This one is 1 Corinthians 6, 19.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the ESV version is: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: You are not your own.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit, and we need to be honoring them.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then the next one is 1 Corinthians 10, 31, ESV.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this one convicts me.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I have this as one of the verses in I think week two or three of the foundation, Strong Steady Rooted Foundation.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: That convicts me because it's like whatever you do.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: And he's also talking about what you eat and what you drink, which is to me like not only in our actions and our words, but also how are we treating our body?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: How are we living out our purpose?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that one's tricky for me.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean to laugh.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's just maybe because it makes me a little nervous.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I like to I like to indulge.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a I love to eat.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love to eat a lot of food.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have to watch myself because I think we're also caught called to be good stewards.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, self-control is a fruit of the spirit.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to be self-controlled in all aspects of our lives, including in how we move our body or how we don't move our body and in the things that we're eating.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I this is not to throw shame or place guilt on anyone who's listening and struggling, because I've struggled in these areas too.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it just can become like just too much thinking all the time about what I'm eating, what I should eat, and what I shouldn't, which gets ridiculous.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think that we need to keep the perspective that our bodies are, as I said, a gift from God and that we need to be watching the control and watching, you know, there is talk in the Bible of gluttony.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to be aware of that as well.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think aware of what we're eating.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's in particularly important in this phase of life because we are not getting any younger.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting older.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: We all know that our bodies are changing.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's important now more than ever to take care of the body that God gave us.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what I really want to hone in on because every step that we take today, every choice that we make, good or bad, for our physical health and for our bodies, is going to determine how we live 10, 15, 20, 30 years down the road.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's true.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I know, you know, I've heard, and my mom, I've had these conversations with my mom before, who said, you know, I don't want to worry about that anymore.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm older.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to enjoy my life.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: I want to enjoy what I eat and I want, I don't want to have to think about it.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I get that perspective too, because there is something to be said for just food being a comfort and just things that taste so good and enjoying, enjoying sitting down and having a great meal with a couple of friends or with your husband or even with your kids when they're home.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, no taking away from that because those things are important too.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the food that we have, everything that we have on earth is a blessing from God, and He means for us to enjoy it.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: But we have to be good stewards of it and we have to be responsible with it.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we can enjoy a great, fabulous meal and maybe indulge during a special occasion or when we're out to eat with family, friends, what have you.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't have to be a day-to-day lifestyle choice.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where I think we need to think about exercising more self-control.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if this is a struggle for you, A, I'm hoping that you have some leverage here, just opening up to what the Bible has to say about this.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then B, maybe you start with just praying to God and ask him to give you some wisdom into this and insight into how you should be living your life.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, I think these are this is an important topic.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And here I am, I'm going off about eating food, and that's not really even what I wanted to talk to about to you today.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, that's a very important topic as well.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we will touch on that, like healthy eating for this phase of life and how we set ourselves up for longevity.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: But what I really wanted to talk about today is hone in on more on moving our bodies because it looks different depending on what phase of life that you're in.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: But most of you listening, I'm guessing, are in midlife, you know, 40 or above.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so, because of that, the way we move our bodies is likely going to be very similar if we want to have longevity and be really healthy.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what we really need to focus on in this phase of life when we talk about movement and exercise, and let's preface this conversation with this is that we are not hitting the gym.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: We are not setting up workout spaces in our home.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: We are not making sure we get our steps in.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever that looks like with moving your body, we are not doing this.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I do not want to have this conversation with you.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And please keep this in mind for everything that I said earlier about eating.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a conversation about maintaining a certain weight or looking a certain way or comparing yourself to how you look to others, because all of our bodies are built differently.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: He knit us together in our mother's wombs, and some of us are just genetically different than others in sizing and shape and what have you.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so let's pull that out of the conversation.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: The focus in this phase of life should be when we talk about physical health and capacity and eating and moving and exercising, it should be.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: How do we do that in a way that is not striving or not pushing per for perfection or overworking, but in a way that is being a good steward, in a way that is being respectful of our bodies and setting us up for strength to complete the purpose that God has for us on earth?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: That I think is the most important thing.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: That while we have breath in our lungs and while we are here on this earth, every day you wake up and you have breath, God has something for you to do.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're on this earth to bring him glory, to fulfill his purpose in your life, to draw nearer to him, to love him with your whole heart and to love others.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are physically healthy and you have good energy and you are strong and you are balanced and you can move through your day in a healthy way, you will be able to fulfill those purposes far better.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where the conversation needs to go.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's, I believe, where our focus needs to be.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need leverage for beginning an exercise routine or for moving your body or for eating healthy in this phase of life, let it be not only number one, that we're called to do it in the Bible, but number two, that when we do these things, we set ourselves up to love God better, to love others better.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason I say that about God, you might go, well, how, how does that, you know, being physically strong and healthy, or how would that have anything to do with how much I love God?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But what I'm saying is that at least from my experience, when I feel better, when I have better energy, when I have slept well and I have moved my body and I can maintain more focus and I have mental clarity because I'm moving my body in healthy ways and eating properly, I feel like I can connect in a better and more productive way to God.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So please don't misinterpret me saying, like, oh, if you're unhealthy or you don't exercise, you don't do this, you're not loving God as much.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: That is absolutely not what I mean.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: All I'm saying is that, again, when we are physically healthier, when our emotions are more balanced, when we have more mental clarity and more mental energy, it becomes easier for us to take time to be more focused with God.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what I mean by that.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then loving others, which we're also called to do, we know that those are the two greatest commandments, right?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: To love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love others as ourselves.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: We need physical capacity for that.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: We need energy to be able to show up well for those that we love.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes showing up is with a phone call, but sometimes showing up is being boots on the ground, is helping someone.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they need help and moving, or maybe your grandkids are over for the day and you're babysitting them and you need the energy to take care of them or whatever that looks like.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be well and physically healthy, to show up well for the people that we love and to show up for our community and to serve well.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where I want this conversation to be.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: I want to have this talk with you about today in particular, in other episodes, we can get more into the nitty-gritty of like exactly how should we be moving our bodies and what does weight training look like, and what does heart zones look like at this age, and how can we set ourselves up for better sleep and what types of food should we be eating for hormone balance, better energy, muscle growth.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many ways that I can take this.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, because of my training, I'm a chiropractor, and and I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but because I have a chiropractic degree and a lot of training in nutrition and wellness, this is sort of my wheelhouse.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we can have all kinds of conversations.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: But for today, I want to just give this higher level overview of not only why, which I think we've already touched on, but what types of things we should be thinking about and building into moving our body and into those health habits that we create with our exercise.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I want to talk because when we start to think about moving our bodies for longevity and physical strength, that becomes a different conversation than just getting on a treadmill and running 30 minutes.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes a whole different conversation in this phase of life, especially once you're perimenopausal to post-menopausal.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start to get into that.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I just want to also let you know because I wanted to mention this at the start, and then I was just off and running.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I also am planning to, I think it's probably gonna look like once a month.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And because of the way this has worked out, that this is the last week of the month, I'll probably be doing the last week of the month and saving that week's episode for something about physical health or physical strength or in that strong section of strong, steady-rooted.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: So just keep that in mind that if this conversation is not for you and you're looking more for faith-based or emotional balance, that's okay.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about all of that.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: But again, we need all three areas of our lives to be really healthy and vibrant.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe as Christian women, we can't neglect our physical health.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like we have to be good stewards of that, just like we're good stewards with any other gift that God gives us.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so let's talk about how we move and what we have to be thinking about for longevity.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And number one, without a doubt, is weight training and strength building.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is just beyond important.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I will tell you that I have been pushing back against this for several years.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I have had friends that have told me like, you have to weight train, you have to be lifting heavier weights.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I was more of the mind of lifting like three pound weights with really high reps and a lot of them.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, that's okay too.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's something.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to put down on what anyone's doing, but I was doing a lot of mat work, a lot of body weight work, a lot of like, like I said, low weights, high reps.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I believe, and I've seen a difference in myself in the last even just three or four months, that it really is true for women our age, 40 and up, perimenopause or post-menopause, we have to focus on building our muscle.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a couple reasons for that.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, just common sense will tell you that if you want to be independent through your life, and if you want to be able to get up and down your stairs and carry your own grocery, your own laundry basket, your grandkids, all of those things, you have to have physical strength.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you might say, well, I can do all those things now, it's not a problem.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: But remember, what we are building now and what we are doing now is for what life will look like when we're in our 70s.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so everything we do now, the muscle that we build now, will play out and give us strength as we age.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so muscle strength and muscle building is important because of that.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Also, in this phase of life, because we're our estrogen is slowing down, right?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that we've hit menopause, our muscles, unfortunately, we begin to experience muscle loss.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's called sarcopenia.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so, because of that, we need to do even more now than we ever have before to build that muscle back.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you can actually build muscle and go on an upswing from your 50s and beyond.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not until 70 where we start to drop off and it becomes harder to maintain.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so I hope that is encouraging to you.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you have, if you've already been lifting or you have not lifted or started to weight train, there is always time and there's always room for growth.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so, step one is weight lifting and weight training.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Heavier weights should be a part of your routine.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that should look like three to four times a week.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, for me, I'm doing a four-day-a-week workout where I do two days of upper body and two days of lower body.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get into those types of things more later.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: But just for now, know that you should have some sort of a heavier weight training routine.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to start super heavy, obviously.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Use common sense, listen to your body because the last thing you want is an injury.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: But you can start lower and work your way up.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: But we need to be lifting heavier weights.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's not only good for muscle, uh, muscle improvement, muscle strength, muscle tone, but it's also good for your bone density and to stop osteoporosis and to protect yourself from things like hip fractures if you happen to fall.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's also very good for your metabolism.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: The more muscle you have and create, the more the more calories you will burn.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's important in menopause is.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then beyond that, there is a lot of research out right now showing how important muscle capacity and muscle building is in your muscle tone for your brain health.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if for no other reason, if you just want to keep your brain healthy and you want to think well as you age, you have to build your muscle.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: And in particular, I have seen some research showing that your leg strength and your muscle workouts have a huge correlation to your brain health.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, if you needed any more leverage, there it is.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Secondarily, when we're talking about longevity, we cannot miss talking about lifestyle movements and habits or exercises that we can do that are going to build things like balance.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is something that is so missed, but it is so important.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: We have to be able to have good balance so we don't end up with falls or a twist of the ankles or, you know, trouble getting in and out of a car, whatever that looks like.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And again, you might be saying, Oh, I don't want to talk about this now.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to be where I am.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we have to be planning for the future.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so balance is so important.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that you can do that will help with that is learning to balance or practicing balancing on one foot.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a simple thing you can do.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Do it in your bare feet.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Do it first by starting on just a flat surface in your home.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: You should be able to balance for up to a minute, a full minute on one foot with your eyes open and 30 seconds with your eyes closed.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Then once you get good at that, you can take it up and out and do it on a rebounder.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: You can get on a rebounder and bounce up and down on one foot.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: That will build ankle strength and leg strength and bone strength.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that on the ground as well, hopping on two feet or on one foot.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can also do that on isokinetic exercise disc, and I can link those in the show notes in case you don't know what I'm talking about.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: But building balance is so important.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's important for you, keeping you safe as you age.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's important for your proprioception, knowing where your body is in space.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's very important also for your brain health because the better balance you have, the more you're stimulating your brain.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: When you're doing balanced routines and exercises, you're also stimulating brain and you're strengthening your core.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: So all of these things are important, and I think it's something that's often neglected.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Things also like a sign of longevity is being able to squat all the way down into a full squat to where your butt touches almost the grass or the ground, but you're just hovering there, and then to be able to come back out of that.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's a sign of longevity, and that is something that can be practiced over time.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Squatting and sitting down on your couch and then standing back up from the scout couch and doing that several times in a row, that is a good marker for longevity and for helping you along if you're just getting started.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: So simple things like that that we really, really need to think about that I think many of us missed.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: There is so much talk currently, if if you're paying attention to social media and online forums, where we're talking about women needing to build muscle strength.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: But I really believe that what's getting missed is things like balance work, proprioceptive work, and then on top of that, flexibility.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we have to maintain our flexibility as we age.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't you want to be able to bend down and tie your own shoes like at the age of 70 and 80?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to be stretching.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: We have to be using things like, I believe, foam rollers to stretch out our muscles, to even to just kind of flesh out our lymph system with uh foam rolling exercises.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I have some videos online on my social media that you can see for foam rolling.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: I can do and maybe I will do a full episode just on foam rolling and talk through that, but foam rollers are so important for flexibility and to relieve muscle tension.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: I love a foam roller also, and and we need this is a second piece of this is working on our posture.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Our posture is so important as we age and it will not maintain itself.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: We do not want to be women that are hunched over and can barely stand up and our head is forward.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, I mean, okay, so it's aesthetically, we don't want to be that way, but again, we're putting that out.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to talk about how we look because that is not what's the most important focus here.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: But just from a health standpoint, an energy standpoint, the more hunched and rounded your shoulders are, the farther your head becomes from your neck, the more energy you expend to keep yourself upright.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so just from an energy standpoint, if we're doing things that can build more energy into our life, you know, there's so much talk about supplements that we can take for energy and eating properly for energy and sleeping well.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, those are all important, but one of the simplest things you can do is make sure that your head is upright and over your shoulders and you have good posture because believe.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: It or not, that is actually going to improve your energy through the day.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: It will also help relieve neck pain and headaches.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so posture is so important.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's another good reason to be doing weight training because anytime we're lifting weights with our shoulders, with our upper backs, in between our shoulder blades and down our spine and our backs, we are strengthening our posture and we're improving and maintaining our posture.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: But we can also do things for our posture, such as two fingers to your chin and then gently pushing your head back with the chin tucked, your eyes looking ahead, not up or down, and just pushing back and holding and then releasing and doing that for five to 10 seconds.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so those little things, wall angels, are so important to open your upper back.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't talk about this enough.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go back to uh flexibility because one of the most important things that you can be stretching are your hamstrings.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that can look like if you are capable of standing and doing a complete forward fold.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: That could look like you sitting on the ground with your legs straight out and bending as far as you can to touch your toes or get towards your toes.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because when your hamstrings are looser, it will decrease low back pain.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of us have tight hamstrings and we probably don't even know it.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a really important thing too.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it's just these are things that we just don't talk, I believe, enough about.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: So in case you needed more reason to exercise, there you have it.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: These are really important things.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's recap the weight training and building strength in your muscles.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: We also have balance work, which is so important.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we can be doing that on a rebounder.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: We can be doing that just balancing on one foot, on the ground, hopping up and down.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we can also use isokinetic discs.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: The flexibility training and the stretching, man, that is so important.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we can do that with just simple stretches and exercises.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: We can also do that with bands.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't mention that.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Exercise bands can be great for that.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, if I want to stretch my hamstrings, I'll lay on my back and take a flexible belt and use the belt loop to take the belt around the bottom of my foot and then pull it down as I extend my foot in the air to stretch my hamstrings and also my calves.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we can use things like that.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And foam rolling is very important to flush out the limp system, also to release fascia and for flexibility and muscle tension and tightness.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then again, it also helps with our posture and then postural exercises.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: And to circle back to that with the postural exercises, one of the most important things you can do for your posture is exercises that will keep your head up and over your shoulders.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just so these things are so important and they're just not talked about enough.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have to remember this and we have to work on another thing that I want to mention that just came to mind when it comes to like balancing on one foot or standing on an isokinetic disc or on an unleveled surface.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're training balance, but we're also strengthening the little muscles around our feet and our ankles and even in our knees to protect us against injury, um, knee injury, ankle injuries, and things of that nature.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: So even that's important as we want to stay active.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, some of us love pickleball or tennis or other things of that nature.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: We have to maintain our joint health and the little intricate muscle and soft tissues that protect those joints so that we can continue to be active with our friends and with our family.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of that stuff begins with the things that I've just mentioned.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we could talk a little bit too as we're having this conversation about how to eat for your exercise and for building strength in your body and for building longevity and vitality, because you know, the two cannot really be separated.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: We want to move our bodies well.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: We want to build our muscle.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's not gonna happen on its own.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: But on the other hand, keep in mind that most, the majority of your health comes from the things that you're eating and putting in your body, not the way you move your body.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: So they both come hand in hand, but you're looking at them both.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: The way you eat and the choices you make with your eating are gonna rank higher than the way you move your body, although you can't neglect one for the other.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, one of the most important things you can do to help you along the way when you're in the gym and working on lifting and working out is um eating enough protein.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so you wanna make sure that you're getting enough animal protein in particular.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know you not to upset any of you who are vegan or vegetarians, but just so you know, building muscle, the amino acids that you need specifically for building muscle are found in the highest amounts in animal protein.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you can work more of that into your diet and start your day with at least 30 grams of protein, you will be on your way to building more muscle.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: You can also add creatine.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: I just did a social media post about this: five grams a day.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: The powder is the best form that will help you with muscle strength and muscle building.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think one other thing that we could touch on just from an eating perspective and even a supplement since I went into creatine is magnesium.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I could do a whole podcast episode, you guys, on this, but I want to touch on magnesium.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of you might think about magnesium for sleep, and yes, it is great for sleep, but magnesium glycinate in particular is really good for muscle health and muscle tension.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're lifting weights, a magnesium supplement could be a great thing, especially if you're feeling sore after.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: And do not discount the effects of a magnesium salt bath or even magnesium salt lotion, that you can put it will go right into your system.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Also, it'll be like taking the supplement, but you can target it onto sore muscles.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so think of that when you are, if as you start to lift weights, and if you're doing muscle building and strength training to help with the recovery period.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: And this is probably something that I should touch on as well.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: As important as it is for you to build your muscles and to move your body, it is equally important for you to have days of rest and recovery.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so you need to listen to your body because if you, and this is one thing that I have really ignored for years, and it even just got me yesterday because I woke up and I was tired from family visiting and we had them in for like five or six days.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I was just tired.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of catch up work to do around the house and then with Stillwell mom.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I had had a hard workout on Monday.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: I woke up yesterday and I had a bit of a headache.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't sleep great, and I forced myself into another workout and then I paid for it that night because I felt a little worse.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: The good news is I slept great.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: I feel better today.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: But the point is listen to your body and our recovery and our rest, especially perimenopause and postmenopause for women of our age is just as important as those workouts.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: So this is the thing that I really need to hit home for you as I'm talking about these types of movements and exercises.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: You have to make sure you're resting and there's a fine balance of pushing it hard enough for growth without pushing it so hard that you stress yourself out completely because cortisol, your stress hormone, is all over the place in menopause.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: As our estrogen decrease, our cortisol can go up.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's your stress hormone.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: If it's already high and now you're making it even higher because you're working out too hard, that can lead to some problems.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: That can cause even more issues through menopause and perimenopause.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: So just be mindful of that.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Be mindful of giving yourself the rest after the workout, making sure you're eating properly and staying hydrated enough to recover from the time since you work out.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then make sure you're taking rest days.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then make sure you're taking rest days because rest days are just as important as your workout days.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so keep that in mind as well.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then one other aspect of this that I want to talk about because we've hit on the weight training, we've hit on the balance work, we've hit on flexibility and posture.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And now we've touched just a little bit on rest and recovery and eating properly to help your muscles and to help recovery and to build your muscles.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: But the other thing that I want to talk about that we have to hit on that I have been trying to also ignore for a long time is cardio work.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: And cardio work in this phase of life is important because we have to keep our heart strong.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your heart is a muscle, just like your leg muscle and your arm muscle, and it gets healthier and it gets stronger by being worked.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: The problem in this phase of life that some of us face is that we're doing nonstop cardio and nothing else.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is not good either because it will wear you out, as I just spoke about with the cortisol.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are just getting on and doing a low-grade cardio, like a run for 45 minutes to an hour, and you're doing that day in and day out, or a light jog, or maintaining like a zone three-ish workout to zone four, but on an ongoing basis, you are not doing your body as much of a service as you did when you were young.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: One, because our bodies just don't tolerate it as well.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna wear yourself out and you might actually end up tanking your metabolism because your body just can't keep up.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: And two, because of the wear and tear on your body.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so cardio is important, but you don't need as much heavy dose as we did when we were younger.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're doing a cardio workout, maybe walking and then doing a little sprint that could be on the treadmill or outside, or you're on a bike and you're pushing it really hard, you're increasing the resistance, and then you come back down and bring your heart rate down into a rest and recovery state, and then you go back up again into that harder work.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: That is the best way that you can be training right now, training your heart for health and longevity.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's the best way also to train your body for resilience and stress because you're teaching your body to get into a stressful state and then bring it back down and rest, and then bump into that stressful state again and then bring it back down and rest.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so cardio is important.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to be mindful of the way that you're doing it.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, again, I like the interval cardio where I'm on the treadmill, I'm running outside, I walk for two minutes, I might run and push it hard for a minute, then I go back down for two minutes, and I do the same thing on the bike.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really enjoying that.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: I will tell you that the bike, I have been a runner in the past.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: I should say, oh I call myself a runner.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Am I really a runner?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I barely I hated to run, like run the mile in high school.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: I hated it.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: I walked it.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't until I got older that I started running.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I did do a couple half marathons, but they were like run, walk, half marathons, although they were fun.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was in my 40s.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm not training that way anymore.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so I when I run, I think just because there's some muscle memory there and brain memory that that's what I've done in the past, it feels easier to me.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: But man, when I bike and I've been doing the Peloton more often, it kicks my butt.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: It really kicks my butt.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: Some of that is, I think, weak glutes.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: But that's a really good thing too.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you want, as we talked about, muscle building in your lower extremities is so important for your brain health.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Getting on a Peloton or an exercise bike and setting that tension is going to build your muscle as well.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a great way to work out because it takes a lot of that stress off of your ankles and your knees.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, so that's something to think about too.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, we need all of these.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: We need the cardio, we need that one to two days a week.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: We need a couple days a week of weight training and resistance.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then we need to build in there as well times of rest and recovery, working on some stretching and flexibility.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: You should always be doing that before and after exercising.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: I actually like to get up first thing in the morning and stretch and get on my rebounder and balance and jump on one foot and do some of the foam rolling.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: I do that first thing in the morning while I'm praying to just kind of get my body awake and stretched and less stiff from a night of sleep.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: But before and after workouts, or you just take one of your off days and do some gentle flex flexibility work.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then also remember to maintain your posture.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you would reach out and let me know within the physical piece of our health what you want to hear more of, that would be a huge help to me because I know me and what where I'm leaning and what's important to me.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: And some of these things need to be important to all of us, but some of you may want more instruction on certain things that I would have never even guessed.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: So reach out and let me know what you want to hear more about.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: And again, once a month, it will probably be the last week of the month.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be releasing episodes specifically on something that has to do with your physical health and capacity.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Please, if you take nothing else away, remember two things.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: These are the most important things that I want you to take from this episode.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that is number one, we are not moving in this phase of life to look a certain way, to be a certain weight, or to fit into a certain dress clothes or compare ourselves.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: We are moving to feel better in our bodies, to have more energy and to show up for our loved ones and to love others well and to fulfill our purpose in a more meaningful and healthy way.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: So please remember that.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then number two, remember that being a good steward of your body is biblical.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's important for us to honor the gift that God has given us.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the two take-home messages.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then we can get into the nitty-gritty of all the things and all the ways to do that.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just want to thank you so much for joining me again for another conversation here on Stillwell Podcast.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: Please reach out and let me know.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Give me feedback, let me know what you want to hear about.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that at brook at thestillwellmom.com.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: And please remember again that you do not have to do midlife alone.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can always choose stewardship over striving, and you can be strong in body, steady in mind, and rooted in faith.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time.