Latest / Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40 / 40. You Can't Out-Exercise a Day of Sitting

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40. You Can't Out-Exercise a Day of Sitting · Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start today with a question, and I want you to really think about your answer.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: How many hours did you sit yesterday?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Add it up.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe there's the commute, sitting at your desk for work, sitting down for lunch, coming home and sitting on the couch after dinner with your phone in your hand.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: For a lot of us, this lands somewhere between eight and 15 hours a day.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Most of our waking life is spent still.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: And your body is reading all of that stillness as a problem.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because for almost the entire history of humankind, sitting that much would have meant something had gone very wrong.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: For hundreds of thousands of years, being human meant moving, like hunting and gathering and walking miles a day and carrying things and bending down and standing up and foraging.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Movement wasn't exercise.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a thing that you had to schedule or feel guilty about skipping.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was just how you lived.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And your body is still running on that ancient software.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: So your muscles, your heart, your metabolism, all of it was designed around the assumption that you'd be up and moving around on and off all day long.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then basically, in the blink of an eye, or in the blink of evolutionary time, we redesigned the entire day around sitting still.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: We sit at work, we sit to commute, we sit to relax.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then the new part that we've added is we sit to scroll.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And our phone keeps us anchored to that chair or to the couch even longer than before.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got a body that was built to hunt and gather, and a life that is built around sitting and scrolling.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that mismatch is where the trouble starts.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So this really matters.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: This conversation is really important.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because our world has changed, but our biology has not.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that mismatch really creates a problem.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Midlife Glow Up Podcast, where we simplify fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits for women over 40.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Joan Dandano, your midlife health and wellness coach.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are ready to feel strong, consistent, and confident in this season of life, then you're in the right place, my friend.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to get specific about what all that sitting is actually doing, because this is the part that made me really pay attention.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers have pooled together big batches of studies and they have found that high sedentary behavior is linked to about a 34% higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to people who sit less.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so to break it down, cardiovascular disease is heart attack, heart failure, like serious stuff.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I really wanted to double check that number, but it is true.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: 34% higher risk of heart attack and heart failure just from sitting all the time.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't just impact your heart.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Long stretches of sitting are tied to higher blood sugar, higher cholesterol, a larger waistline.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: When you sit for hours and hours, the systems that are supposed to clear the sugar and the fat out of your blood basically turn off.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And your muscles switch off too.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So they stop doing their job of pulling that fuel out of circulation.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And for us in midlife, all of this lands on top of the hormonal shift that's already working against us.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So when our estrogen drops and perimetopause, we naturally lose muscle and bone faster and our metabolic risks climb.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: So for a woman in her 40s and 50s and 60s, a day spent sitting isn't harmless.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: It actually adds to a problem that your body is already dealing with.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Sitting is not just the opposite of exercising, it's actually doing its own damage that adds up day after day, year after year.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So here's where I might step on a few toes, including my own.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you might be thinking, okay, Joan, but I work out.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I did my class this morning and covered.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I can just sit all day after that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I thought the exact same thing for years.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: But here is what's actually happening.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: There is a name for this.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers call it the active couch potato.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a person who gets their work in, checks the box, feels good about it, and then sits for the other 10, 12, 14 hours of the day.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: That 30 or 45 minute workout, as good as it was, does not cancel out a full day of sitting.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Studies that tracked people's actual movement found that even among the people who were hitting their exercise guidelines, the ones who still sat after that had bigger waistlines and higher risk markers than the ones who sat less.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: One way the researchers put it really stuck with me.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you exercise but then sit the rest of the day, on some of these markers, it's almost as if you hadn't worked out at all.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, please don't hear that and decide to quit your workout.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is not the message.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: The workout still matters enormously.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: The point is that your workout was never meant to be the only movement in your day.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: You were made to move and move all day long.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: You were not made to just get one good workout and then sit still for the rest of the day.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: You don't make up for a whole day of sitting still with just one workout.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your workout absolutely helps, but moving little bits throughout the day is what really keeps you healthy.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: For women in midlife, the research keeps pointing back to the same simple combination: lift weights and walk.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Those two things done consistently will hit almost everything that we need right now.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with walking because walking is the all-day antidote to sitting.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's the closest thing we have to the gather part of hunt and gather.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's gentle on the joints, it gets your muscles switching back on, it helps clear your blood sugar, it supports your heart.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the best part is you can sprinkle it throughout your whole day instead of saving it all up for one big exercise block.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: So what if you just walked around the block after each of your meals or you took a short walk in the middle of the day to break up your workday, and then maybe a walk after dinner while you're on a phone call.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: That is how you can stop being a couch potato, active or otherwise.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And the other one is lifting weights, which I'm going to call the non-negotiable for our stage of life.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: When estrogen drops, we lose muscle and bone faster.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And lifting and prioritizing protein are the two things that we can do to fight back against that.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: When we lift weights, we preserve and we build our muscle.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what keeps our metabolism humming because muscle is the most metabolically active tissue that we have.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: It loads your bones, it signals them to stay strong, it helps protect you against osteoporosis down the road, and it improves those same cholesterol and blood sugar markers that sitting all day is actually damaging.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So when you put these two together, they cover everything that you need to focus on in midlife.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Walking handles that all day movement that your body is genuinely made for.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then lifting rebuilds the muscle and the bone that midlife is trying to take away from you.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you walk, you protect your heart and your everyday energy.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: And lifting protects your strength and your future.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it really covers all the bases.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: The general guideline right now lands around 150 minutes of moderate movement, like walking, each week, plus strength training at least two times per week, ideally closer to three times per week.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: But the headline here is even simpler than that.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Move more throughout your day and lift something heavy a few times a week.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to train like an athlete.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: You just need to move like the human being that you were made to be.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make this real for you because I don't want this to be one of those episodes that you nod along to and make a mental note of like, yeah, I should probably move more and then just go back to your normal routine.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I've got three small things for you, and they're all doable.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is to break up your sitting throughout the day.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you set a timer for every 30 or 60 minutes to just stand up and move for a couple minutes.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: I keep my little mini trampoline next to my work desk.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when I am here for a long session of recording podcasts or coaching in between my sessions, I will get up and just bounce a little bit on my trampoline.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: That works really, really well for me.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that works really well for me is my bladder does not let me go more than an hour or so without having to get up.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: So every time I need to get up and use the potty, I will also run and change over the laundry or run and put the dishes in the dishwasher.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like up and down and all around the house.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that is just like everyday movement and it really does count.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's the first one.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: First one is break up your sitting.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, you can grab a timer or you can just have a cue, like when your body says you need to go to the bathroom, then you get up and move around.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: The second one would be to walk after one meal every day, even if it's just 10 minutes, your blood sugar will absolutely thank you.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe it's after breakfast, you go for a quick loop around the block, or after lunchtime.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times on my walks, I will catch up with friends on my app called Marco Polo, where we just send little video messages to each other and it's so fun.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to my little breaks throughout the day to go walk and talk with my friends, even if they are virtual.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's after dinner and this is something that you do with your family, or maybe this is something that you do alone after the kitchen is all cleaned up.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Just go outside, get some fresh air, move your body.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I promise that you will feel a big difference in your mood regulation.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Blood sugar really impacts a lot of different systems in our body as well.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, number three is to pick up something heavy two to three times per week.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: This could be dumbbells, this could be resistance bands, it could even begin with just your body weight.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Start where you are today.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you are not currently lifting weights, I highly, highly, highly recommend.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Get it in.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: The two by five strong method is just two days a week, hitting those five major movement patterns: push, pull, squat, hinge, and then core.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it does not require gym membership and it doesn't even require that long.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like you could get it done in 20 minutes, but it is a non-negotiable to protect your muscles and your joints and your bones.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Remember that your body was built to move.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: So give it little chances to do that throughout the day.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the truth that I keep coming back to.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have so much control over this stuff.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our body in midlife is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: It just needs you to move the way that it was built to move.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the good news is that it's completely in your hands.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: The moment that you start lifting and walking, your body will respond faster than you think.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: You'll feel it in your joints, you'll have less aches and pains, you'll have more energy, you'll have more spunk.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to be strong and independent at age 80, still carrying your own groceries and getting up off the floor with ease, it starts with how you move today.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's super important for us to get intentional.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you would like help doing this instead of trying to figure it out on your own, that is exactly what we do together inside of FitZone.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: FitZone is my live virtual and on-demand strength-focused workout membership for women over 40 who are ready to build muscle, improve their bone health, and feel stronger inside of a supportive community.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: The last thing you need to do right now is add to your already full to-do list, go figure out how to lift weights.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let me do the figuring out for you.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let me guide you.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Join our community instead of trying some random YouTube workout meant for a 25-year-old and wondering, why does this not work or feel good in my body?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to invite you to come try a fits on class.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put the link in the show notes so that you can easily click and learn more about us.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like to come try a free class, I would love to welcome you inside.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: I promise your future self will thank you.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, my friend.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, progress over perfection and consistency over intensity.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep growing, keep glowing, and bye for now.