The Benefits of Functional Training After 40 with Barb Blanke (age 64)
CJ
Welcome to the Gymnazo podcast. I’ve got a wonderful, inspiring, empowering guest today, her name is Barb Blanke, you got it perfect. And I’ve worked on that for years now. I met Barb about four years ago, via my wife, who’s a teacher, and had the opportunity to see bar grow through movement and training in ways that I hadn’t seen before in an aging population, or been a part of personally. And I was immediately inspired when you had said, Give me goals, and I will, I will achieve them like that. Yeah, I’m a go getter. So set something for me to achieve. And ever since that day one, it’s been consistent. And that’s what’s inspired me in my own practice, is the consistency that you bring, literally every single day like we could go, you’d finished full 365 days in a row of Gymnazo workouts, even though we’re closed on Sundays, you still made something happen. And in one year got 665 sessions in which is like unheard of. And it’s less about how many sessions you got, but more about how consistent you are able to be in that year. And moving forward. I would love to dive deep into essentially your experience before Gymnazo in terms of your physicality, and training, and intentional movement practice, to now your experience with Gymnazo, and then how you see the future.
Michael Hughes
Welcome to the Gymnazo podcast where you get to peek behind the curtains of what it takes to create and run a seven figure fitness facility that ranks in the top 5% of boutique fitness studios for revenue. But to be honest, that’s the least important thing about us. Founded by me, Michael Hughes, Gymnazo has created an ecosystem of services that blend performance with restoration techniques, and attracts top coaches to its facility hosted by its owners, Paden, and myself and our top coaches, this podcast shares our best practices on everything, from how to build a sustainable fitness business, to how to program for maximum results, to how to build a hybrid training module that’s online. And in person. We have marketing secrets, movement, innovation, and breaking down trends in the industry. If you’re a fitness professional, or fitness business owner, this is where you learn how to sharpen your skills and to see maximum results.
CJ
So, essentially, my first question to you is, how did you happen to find Gymnazo and stick to a program?
Barb
Well, I was really, at a point in my life where I thought, oh, yoga is good to do in the evening, and wasn’t being as active as I used to be. And I thought classes weren’t all fitting in, I went to Cal Poly, and everyone’s so much younger than I am. And I thought, Oh, well, you know, I can’t do that. And I would compare myself and get kind of down on myself with that. And I had that fortunate opportunity to meet your wife and work with her. And she mentioned Oh, and my boyfriend at the time. And now husband is a coach, a personal coach, I said, I would love a personal coach. I don’t want to one in the garage or anything. But let me introduce you, so that we got to meet at her graduation. And that started I think it was three weeks later, I signed up for Gymnazo. And from day one, I was just so impressed with the idea that this was about movement, not necessarily losing weight, or being more fit all of a sudden, but just getting my body to be more functional and all the things that I love to do that I maybe wasn’t doing as much of
CJ
what was what did you love to do physically before you’d walk into Gymnazo’s doors.
Barb
So I love to kayak, I love hiking like big mountains and being outdoors and I had run half marathons and convinced myself that my body was done running that wasn’t going to really be the best thing for my joints is like a Trojan and found out that you know, so I just didn’t do it as often. I’d be really sore when I was done and think wow, I have to really have a day to recoup and and thinking about all those things I couldn’t carry my own kayak down to the water anymore I need two or three people and is a big kayak is not a little but still I used to be able to kind of get it there myself and so it was just feeling like Oh, I’m I’m getting older and I need more help.
CJ
Was there anything telling you these thoughts like was it just you going through the aging process and you were feeling differently? Or were there certain people in your life or or people your age that We’re also talking about aging in a certain way. What was your kind of perspective? As you were saying, Okay, I should probably stop running as much or doing it as often. Was it more of a body sensation? Was it words around you? Was it a combination of things?
Barb
I think it was a combination of things, I definitely could see people who could do it. And, and then my husband had some back surgery, and he was told not to run anymore. And even he’s learned since that he really can run if he works out correctly. And so I think that medical advice kind of set Oh, well, you know, he’s a few years older than I am, but not that much older. And, and I don’t know, maybe branding isn’t my thing, I just have to find something else that that I want to do. And hiking has always been my thing. And so I’ve always wanted to make sure I can hike and keep up with the group and you know, be fit for that. And I felt like I was losing some of my cardio some of my muscle tone, just being sore started, actually experienced a little bit of fear of you know, I’m gonna slip or fall, I don’t want to break my hair up. I don’t want to hurt myself. I always say, you know, kids who learn to ski and do those things, because their bones are rubber. And I just had that feeling that No, I, I’m older. And that’s not always what, what I can do. So
CJ
I’m gonna ask you the question that you’re not supposed to ask people, How old are you? I’m 64 64 years young to like you’ve like part of the reason we wanted to bring you on to this podcast is that you’ve, you’ve shifted this messaging or status quo of what aging is. And I think a lot of people view aging as a negative that like you go down, and essentially deteriorate. But all I’ve seen you do in the past four years is grow and get stronger and more capable of movement, and even enhance capacity to handle those movements that you can access. And it’s, that’s what’s really inspiring to me is that when I was initially starting to coach, I didn’t want to work with what we call it like geriatric or older people. And because this school taught me like, this is how you teach people who are over the age of 50, and over the age of 60, and it didn’t resonate with me really well, because I it’s, it’s not what I wanted to do, I was a hardcore athlete working out very intense. And I wanted to work out with people my age and training coach. And that’s what I was used to. And as I entered, Gymnazo, had the opportunity to essentially completely shift that everybody was older than I was. And it gave me a mind shift and different thoughts of like, seeing people not just on one day, but from day one, and then moving into their second week and third week, and then they’ve completed a year. And just to see the level of movement access, like being able to get up off the ground or feel comfortable getting down on your hands and knees or swinging around a weight or jumping onto a box at the age of 50 67 years old. It was like that’s not what I learned in school is the right thing to do. But seeing people continue to gain movement ability that they may have lost for 123 decades, and thought that they would never be able to do it again, to see people light up, you know, in their 60s and 70s. And say like, I feel like I did when I was 40 or I was 30. And it was just like so, so empowering to me, because people tell me, You know what, you know, when you’re my age, you’ll feel this, and I totally believe it. But I see that through consistent work that that’s not necessarily the same story that needs to be told it’s a different narrative. So where where’s your mind right now currently, with your training now that you’ve specially completed this full year, every single day, that’s consistency at its finest, not just even like for one hour a day, sometimes two, sometimes three? Not all performance, not all fitness, some restorative and some just exploration? What’s what’s kind of the narrative that you’re carrying yourself right now to to bring you to this state and in the future?
Barb
Well, I think one of the things is that I’ve always, I always remember my 33rd birthday. And that’s the last birthday I really remember. And my mother in law used to always say, I feel it in my brain that I’m 28 but I’m at something you know, and and I think that that’s really the mindset that I have developed over the last four years of it doesn’t matter what the years are, set a goal and and work towards it and do what you have to do to see if you can do that. I mean, the I can’t even remember what maybe what our first goal was working together. But I remember one was you’re going to run a 5k because I said I don’t think I couldn’t run anymore. And I ran a 5k and came in third. And I was like cool. I mean and and we just we set that goal and it changes my mindset too. wanting to learn more about how my body moves and, and also really reflect on the fact that I’d never really thought about movement, I thought about muscles or our cardio, you know, I’d run on the treadmill, I’d pump a few weights, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. And I didn’t have a focus for that. And through all the classes and things at Gymnazo that I’ve learned, and coaches and the amount of just immense amount of information and knowledge you have on all of the coaches here have, have made me really think differently about my body and how it moves and be able to talk about it too. And I think I was one of those who would go, I would go to a workout. And I just work really hard. And then I go home. And that’s all and I go home now. And I think oh, gosh, I’m gonna go hiking today, I want to do this warm up, I want to do a little rope flow, I want to look into something that keeps my body going. And that’s just been awesome. And these four years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be hiking, and I’ll do a slight slip, and I don’t fall and I’ll think thank you Gymnazo thank you because that’s, it’s given me the confidence to go back and do the things that I thought I couldn’t do because I was older.
CJ
Yeah, that’s and that’s I think what’s so inspiring too, is that you’re gaining more confidence and, and doing the work on your own. And that’s, I think, what’s most inspiring to me, like, yeah, there’s elite level athletes out there doing insane things they’re putting in the work. But general population, this is a fun population to work with, because there’s still so much magic to be shared, when most of us are part of the general population, we’re not playing those advanced level sports and working out for four or five hours a day getting paid for it, you know, the inspiration has to come from within. And that’s the empowering pieces that we see people outside doing some wild things, and think like, Okay, I could never do that. And we can get lost in like, I’m never gonna do that. And I’m never gonna do this never gonna do this and get stuck in that negative thought loop. But finding out where that success is for you, when you initially started, what did you feel that it was inhibiting to you or locking you away from your full potential and movement at the age that you’re you’re at?
Barb
Well, I think a little bit it was time thinking I don’t have time to really change the way my body is or the way that I function. Because it’s very busy. And workload is pretty heavy still still is, but in a different way. And I think just getting into that mindset, this, this is how it is as you get older, you you you don’t move as much you don’t go out and do everything you did when you were in your 20s and 30s. And so a lot of that I, as a teacher, I teach growth mindset to my students and talk about growth mindset. And I really realized that I had kind of a fixed mindset about who I was, and that this is just how it was going to be.
CJ
Yeah, and that’s an easy to get stuck in that it’s fixed. So it’s a path that you travel for years and years and years until something novel happens. Something clicks. When was it was the first minute was the first week like when did you feel that that was changing for you from like, I know where where I am now and where it’s going to kind of take me in my years and just have to accept it. When did something click?
Barb
Well, I think actually, in the first when you did a movement analysis, and opened my eyes to where my body couldn’t move. Where I didn’t really even know, I didn’t really even know that I couldn’t twist and turn my upper torso by itself, like I thought I used to be able to and so that started that kind of educational journey and then starting to go to classes and just learning about the different planes of motion the way that I can warm up to go before a hike or before I go hiking that sticks with me where I’m driving a car and think gosh, I’m just tired I’d get up get out of the car and do a couple more moves and and get back in and function in a different way. So I really think started with day one but starting with classes I always I was kind of not a class person I was other than yoga. Would you have your eyes closed for most of the time? I would cuz I compare myself to other people and which then puts a unrealistic competitiveness sometimes for me. And so I found that classes here were just so absolutely fun. First of all, and amazing and I learned something and every single one and being that lifelong learner kind of quest person, I think that that really made a difference for me in wanting to come to class every day of I’m going to learn something new about me just about life in general. And it’s going to better prepare me to do what I want to do.
CJ
So cool. Something else you do. So well that I think contributes to this, this new journey is that you take advantage of our our gymnasts ecosystem, as we call it, you know, we think of a lot of things in threes. And like a triad docs, it’s not just about fitness. It’s not just about performance, there’s also restorative elements to it. And there’s so many more dimensions as well. But you really take advantage of not just working out and working out hard, but sometimes you do multiple sessions a day. And tell me about your experience with the Junos ecosystem. You know, we have the restorative programs specific for group and fitness and performance. And then there’s more one on ones and semi private for more intentional programming based on your success and where you want to be, you’ve been talking about your experience with the ecosystem and how you see your schedule fit each week, because you are so consistent with it.
Barb
Sure. I think that’s part of the reason I can be so consistent is that I will schedule a workout but then get a melt, molded move of just rolling and stretching some mobility stick work, things that help relieve some of the tension from a hard workout helped my body move in different ways. So my workouts are more efficient as well. Super, that was super important at the beginning of those two classes really made a difference. And then I did start with semi privates, too. And having that coach with four people and having a plan. That’s where I really think I started setting my goals. And with the help of you and saying, Gosh, you know, I’d really like to do this. The other part of the ecosystem two is that you do quarterly fitness consults with us. So we can set goals and think about what do we want to do next, what is the next place, so I’m not just coming doing the same old thing, and having a social group to chit chat with I actually think, Okay, this is gonna really help me towards that goal. And, and it’s really made a huge difference. And then this past year’s goal, which is almost over a year, almost over a year, I’ve never been able to do a push up, tell everyone in the world that but I’ve never been able to do a push up. And I said, I just like to have strong shoulders and be able to do a push up. And so you and I have been working in my semi privates with that. And then I’ve been trying to every four to six weeks have an exclusive because that’s that soft tissue and movement combination. And I used to go have a massage once or twice a month, because my muscles would be sore and that kind of thing. And I’ve learned that that combination of of, you know, some table work and soft tissue and then getting up and moving it in the right way has really opened my shoulders up to a point where I may be able to do a push up someplace very soon. So and that’s, that’s super exciting. I could say at my age, but I don’t ever think about it that way. I just think it’s exciting because I’ve never been able to do it. It’s a new learning, it’s a new piece of movement for me.
CJ
Yeah, it’s an it’s so powerful to have to speak that into existence too. And that’s something you’ve done from day one that I’ve met you is I have to say it out loud, I’m gonna write it down, and then you go get it and you do the work outside of outside of the facility, you know, in real life and on on the front of your mind. And you breathe into that experience versus having it set you back. You know, it’s a tough enough challenge where you’re like, I literally cannot do this thing. And there’s things that I can do to step towards that, that it’s going to take time. And there’s really so much trust in the process, that I think so many people want that quick progression, they want to feel that heavier load and, you know, just keep pushing the weights, and especially as we’re getting into older age, we start to realize that, ooh, what I’ve been doing to my body may actually be harming it. Now, at what point you know, at what age do you didn’t say, I’m done pushing heavier weights. I think there should be never a time for that. It’s just what can I do for this and we’ve had conversations about other ways to progress and it’s through movement skills and is through capacity training, but it’s really about the availability of movement. So we’ve worked on like, getting up and down from the ground like being in a seated position. So much so like this is what really got me so stoked was built our outdoor arena. We have a garden area out there and we’ve been working on your deep end range was like just sitting comfortably with your hands touching the ground, knees bent and like heels off the ground. And I was coaching a session and you’d been doing some pulling some weeds in a deep squat, working your range of motion and something we’d progressing in a session. And now you’re doing it post session, and only pulling your weeds, but also working on progressing your squat. And then you like check it out, my heels can touch the ground, and it was like three or four weeks, not even that long later. And just those, those big wins that happen a little times that feed those things that do take a longer time, like building some foundational core strength and deeper shoulder strength to be able to do a push up. I encourage everybody to speak things into existence and to recognize those limitations and not be turned away by them. But to be pushed towards that goal. For your push up game, right now, where’s your mind at and I want you to be transparent and honest, because we’ve been working on it for a few months. And we’ve been working on shoulder strengthening and pulling and pushing motions. And we’re starting to progress now into like ground and box, push ups more from off the knees and getting into that full range push up where you you feel very satisfied with it not just like I got it done to get it done. But I feel like I know that push up. Where are you at right now at that experience?
Barb
I feel it’s feel like super close. I think it’s learning how to get the different parts of my body to move at the right time together. And I never really thought about that before I thought about oh, I just don’t have upper body strength. I know in in our initial meeting and movement analysis, I said I have no upper body strength. And so I know I have upper body strength effect guys out kayaking with one of my friends. Barbie. The last time she was here in October and and she because I tried to take a picture I can see definition as you’re as you’re growing in your shoulders. And she’s always been a good cheerleader for me. And I just thought Oh, really. And so I think that I trust that my body can do it. And I just have to be patient with getting it to move all at the same time and to build the strengthen in that core and get get that put together with the shoulder strength that I’m building and that you’ve helped me build. And that’s been absolutely amazing. Yeah, and even if I shouldn’t not say that, because, you know, I you know, that won’t happen. But even if I don’t ever do a push up, oh, come on. I mean, you got me to do box jumps. I was so fearful of box jumps, I remember and I’m still still takes me a little bit of get to jump my whole body off the ground and, and do them and, you know, but I did it. And I just really, really appreciate that process. For my mindset, especially too, because I think it’s kind of that fear that gets in the way sometimes of people saying that they can work out oh, I don’t feel really good right now. And I’m and I love it because I can say the shoulders just not doing the right thing today. And you’ll say well, let’s do this. And let’s get this going. And I’ll walk away an hour later thinking holy cow, I wish I hadn’t that knowledge. So I I love that. And that’s a really important part. I think another part too, that I didn’t mention is that I used until a year ago with the pandemic I traveled for my living and
CJ
100 days out of the year at least more Yeah.
Barb
on airplanes and hotel beds and that kind of thing. And that was another part of Jim nozzles ecosystem was that when I did meet with you, you would what the workouts we were doing in a semi private, you would videotape and I would take them with me and so I would work out on the road and I would make sure that that was happening. And I fit it into the day no matter what timezone I was on or whatever. I could do restorative or I could do a real hard workout and I brought two pieces of equipment and could do it in a hotel room. Gym. I usually I started with the roller and it took so much space in the ball in the suitcase. So I took a ball so a ball and sometimes an kneeling pad because sometimes I would be I don’t like to lay down and carpets of hotels and airports and air worthy Yeah, exactly. So those two things were huge. When I go back on the road, or if I do I have more equipment now that I would probably take with me and thinking about just even I well I had the two balls with their spring in the middle of them that
CJ
trigger point right right. I
Barb
would carry those on and every single time I get stopped to security, like, what is this thing in her suitcase? And finally, the airport, at least here would say, oh, yeah, it’s okay, let her go. It’s just an exercise thing. So, but that was great on airplanes, just to have that to sit and roll on and sit on top of and be able to work through and doing but I didn’t need a lot of equipment, I would probably find a broomstick or something if I’m now because the Moto mobility stick is amazing, and what it can do and thinking about it. But yeah, so those, those were the things that I took, and I could do my workouts because you, you know, programmed them in a way that you knew I would have a chair, you know, or whatever. But I wouldn’t have a whole lot of things. And it still keeps you moving. And it’s all about that. Because the weeks that I wouldn’t work out, there were weeks sometimes when I was running to airports and getting in at midnight and just had no energy and I would I can tell a difference, I can just tell a difference in how I feel my energy level, what I want to do that day. And I want to feel like that. I don’t want to feel like I just want to sit down on the chair and do nothing.
CJ
It reminded me of something you had shared with me a couple of years back that we’d started doing some more running motions and working on foot strength and stability. And you’d said I didn’t miss my flight. I had ran from one terminal to another and I got there and I was so stoked. Like that’s a huge win to celebrate. And I respect in admire your ability to just bring that up because most people may just hold that in like yeah, I just ran from one to another. But feeling like I want to share that, you know that that’s exciting. It’s I can trust my bodies to get me from A to B and get there quickly. And not to worry, you know, but kind of switching this now down to COVID. Since COVID You haven’t had to travel 200 plus days of the year now I’ve seen your home gym grow tremendously like you have equipment that every single person should have in their house honestly, you get your whole space and like the mats and everything tell me like what what you use it your house, because I know you’re doing work on your own. There’s no way you can be progressing the way you are by not doing other work than just taking classes. It’s definitely your personal practice and what you decide to do that’s contributing to your overall success.
Barb
Yeah, yeah, I have a mini gym and also gym, which is great. I now have a new item to I want to mace. But that will be maybe July. Let’s see. Oh, gosh, probably the thing that I use most routine, um, then I’ll list it all but is my RMT
CJ
my RMT road rotational movement training row. Oh,
Barb
my goodness, I I just I can barely get up in the morning and not feel like I should just swing it a little bit and get my shoulders open and you know, feel like I wasn’t laying in bed all night, which I did, which is good. Sleep is good. But I have two vipers. I have three different weighted sand bells. I have some old just dumbbells that I used to have. And I still use them occasionally. Especially on a lighter day, like this morning at 6am After seeing you for semi private 530 IV words a little bit lighter. So I have some choices with that. Roller the ball. Let’s see. I have a abdali I love the one thing I missed the most when Jim and I was, you know we had to do virtual is the abdali It was honestly the first thing I ordered because I actually like it. So, let’s see, gosh, oh, I have a Bosu ball. That’s and I’m finally learning to stand up side with an upside down on the flat side. deceivingly difficult. Oh, well. Well, it’s there’s a fear thing again to have that’s that get on? And are you going to fall, which I don’t have that fear nearly as much as I used to? And gosh, I’m sure there’s something Oh, I have I have a sledge hammer. That’s only it’s never been used in the yard. It was like the
CJ
old days of COVID was like grab your grab your yard tools, right? Yes. Make some fun. Yeah.
Barb
And then I have to will three different sizes of mobility sticks.
CJ
That’s so rad. What do you find yourself? I’m gonna go to parts of this. What do you find yourself using most most often currently, I mean, I know it probably switches based on what we’re doing in our one on one sessions and exploring what we’re doing. So just love the RMT rope. So firstly, start with that. What do you what do you love using and primarily stick with when you’re doing our virtual workouts at home? Even exploring?
Barb
Yeah, I think the RMT ropes obviously is it almost a daily thing for me? At least five minutes if not longer, just to open up the shoulders and all of that. And then I roll pretty much every day. I tried to do that right after dinner just as kind of like, okay, dinner’s done, days done, just to keep myself open. The mobility stick has absolutely changed my life from working at home, because everything I did on the road I do behind the computer on Zoom now. And sometimes for six, seven hours a day, I’m teaching teachers on Zoom, and I can get up during a break and grab that stick. And what’s really cool is that my library office that I zoom in is also my workout room. So everything’s right there. And so yeah, so. So the mobility stick for just a good stretch. Looking at that, and then well, I couldn’t do virtual workouts at home without a good Viper. I bought off shoot one first and it’s okay. But yeah, investing in the good one was was really great. And the only limitation is that I don’t have tall ceilings. So I have to be careful. I’ve only whacked the light twice, and nothing’s broken yet. So but yeah, so all of those things come in and Sam bells I use every day in our workouts together and I don’t as much on my own. So I think those are big keys. The BOSU. Oh, the bosu ball I use in between seeing you
CJ
all the time. So you’re probably on that thing often. Yeah, well, it’s just
Barb
if I’m working on my core, and I’m working on balance, and you know, being able to stretch and slip and not fall and all of that, that that’s an amazing tool. Yeah, really
CJ
about utilizing both sides. And I want to tap into why that’s important, especially for you in a moment. But also, how do you choose that you had mentioned, hey, we had a tough session yesterday night, you’re gonna work out in the morning, most people would say I’m just to sorta go work out. But we know there’s a different way to perceive working out and it can be more restorative of a workout in the same session, somebody’s working out for more performance, or more just fitness to get their heart rate up, or, you know, get a sweat going. How do you decide? What what weight to use? Or, you know, we give you a lot of options in our workout, and you’ve got a whole whole library of equipment, you know, so So how do you determine what you’re going to use? As your questions is that you ask yourself, yes, the coaches, because I’m not the only one that coaches you, right? So
Barb
the coaches are great, because they always say, you know, to let them know, even if we’re virtual, but in person or virtual, you know, in the chat box, if there’s anything and, and I don’t even chat box that I usually just say, you know, I’m my core is super, super sore from last night. And just is there a modification for this? For me, I think it’s a learn to really tune into my own body in the last four years, in a way different ways than I ever have before. Even even in what I eat, you know, get up in the morning. And I’ll say, oh, oatmeal is already made, it’s in the fridge, you can just I don’t feel like that today, my body’s saying it really wants some avocado and egg, or you know, something. So I am learning to just think, where am I at, like, this morning, I got up an hour before workout and I ate and I thought, okay, I can push myself. But I want to be really careful about how sore I was. From last night’s workout, and I wasn’t super sore. I just had one part of my body that I thought if we’re if we’re going to work that today, I’m going to use a little bit lighter weight on it. And then usually Mondays and Wednesdays I’m pushing, I want the heaviest weight, I can and stuff. And then by the end of the week, I sometimes will say I don’t I want to be able to laugh and, and reach and pick something up. So Right. Yeah.
CJ
But that’s wonderful to that’s what keeps you consistent is super to have that conversation with yourself. And I’ve seen your ability to communicate what’s going on with your body and what you sense with other coaches and with myself so much more effectively. It takes time, it’s like happens overnight, because you’ve got to learn what your body feels like. And many people don’t trust their feeling. And it makes sense because we don’t know what our bodies they’re not using sizing words. It’s using sensation. And, you know, we might feel something in our shoulder, in our neck or even in our head and our initial reaction. I think if we don’t have that three dimensional knowledge is that it’s that issue with that part of our body. You know, our head is our head or shoulders or shoulder, our low back is our low back and to want to communicate, this is what’s hurting on me. And then to hear feedback going let’s assess how your hips are moving or how your core is moving. Is there a dysfunction going on? We need to address in recent exercise or address an asymmetry and fix something that’s kind of a little off balance or is it more so that there’s soreness and your body may have just been working harder on one side than another. And something that I want to bring up, which is so cool, too, that people don’t know about you playing violin for 50 years, thinking, What 50 For now, I know a long time. And so you hold your violin on your left side and your arm is bent and you’re in a certain position, your right arm is moving a lot, but your left arm has got to be stable. And that immediately creates an asymmetry in terms of your body positioning. And it’s a position of value because you’re playing music and you’re part of a symphony. And if I’m saying that right Symphony Orchestra, right, and you play it for hours at a time, or practice for hours at a time, especially and throughout the week, like it puts your body in that position, your body thinks I gotta go back to that position subconsciously. So so that bosey was so effective is that it forces you to realize when you’re putting too much weight on a side, or you’re, you’re asymmetric, because you’ll keep tilting or falling or feeling one side working too hard. Tell me a little bit about about your experience with violin. And you know, what got you into that. I think it’s an inspiring art that many people have. And we don’t realize that that can put us into positions, especially guitar players or instrument players, you play it on one side. How has that influenced your training and how you look at it now? It’s kind of a open ended question. But I want you to talk about your violin. Oh, really?
Barb
Well, I started when I was nine, because I could, and my brother had played so there was a violin and the house, we have four kids. And so that was it. And band didn’t start for another year, I think I really wanted to play the flute. But I started with the violin. And I really, really liked it. And I thought it was a cool instrument. And I liked classes I like I’m not a solo violinist, by any means I love playing with a group of people. Once again, you learn when you play with other people than when you just play by yourself in a different different level in some ways. So yeah, I, I just it became a real big part of my middle school and high school. Career I got to go on a concert tour. My freshman year in college to Taiwan with a group and it was like, this is like what it is to be a roadie, you know in a band, or whatever, you get to go and play good see places. So I actually have a degree in music. But and I wanted to be a musical therapist. And so I think that that kind of puts my whole love of things together. I took anatomy and physiology because I wanted to be a therapist, I wanted to go into How can music be part of therapy, and it’s still something that completely enthralls me. I’m totally into singing bowls. I mean, just it’s amazing. I don’t know how to play them at all. But just listening to them changes my whole state of being playing music. But I, I have had several things I had nerve damage. And one of my fingers that they said was probably from playing the violin, you know, and the doctor said, Well, we could write that in the journal up in a journal, it’s so interesting, you know, I’ve been told they have some arthritis in my shoulder and neck, most likely from playing the violin. And being in that strange position for so many years and looking at that. But now when I go to rehearsal, one, I have a better seat, I take care of how I’m seated, I care about whether my chair is too high or too low and how that influences how I’m holding my violin. And and then I get up at breaks and I stretch and I do our warm up and I do the Gymnazo warm up and people are looking at me and I don’t care. Because then the next hour and a half is pleasant, and I can still move and work but it still is it’s a very unnatural position. And I’ve learned also to lessen my tension. When hole you’re not supposed to get tight, you get the whole idea. They put the chin rest there, but you’re not really supposed to grip down on there. And so I’ve learned it’s helped my plane actually, in being able to relax and have better movement.
CJ
It’s so cool, because I work with quite a few musicians that work out here that you wouldn’t know, but you start to address these asymmetries in a movement assessment just to just to get a feel for how somebody’s moving. And these stories come out about you know, been playing for years and especially playing for decades at a time and being consistent with that. Nothing wrong with the positions we get into we just realized we tend to not realize what it’s doing to to our body. And then over the years now, we develop some kind of arthritis or discomfort or pain that is associated with aging, when I think it’s sure it has to do with the years and you’re getting older, but more so it’s how much time spent cumulatively, in those positions, that we can start to change this conversation around, oh, I have shoulder pain because I’m getting to this age. And we can take more power over that and say, I’ve been I’ve been in a position for a lot of my life that holds me here for hours at a time. And there are things I can do to counteract that, or to re symmetry some exercise our body to where now it takes up less mental real estate of the pain that we’re in the discomfort that we’re in. And we tend to see those who don’t do much movement in stretching and mobilizing but staying in a position, it may not have been music, it might be you’re working your contractor and you always hold something up on your shoulder or you’re always swinging with one arm, but you’re at an elite level athlete and throwing it to your right hand. Like there’s all these things that we do consistently that pull us into a position. And we realize there are things we can do to negate that or to counteract it. Especially if you’re sitting at a desk for hours at a time over and over like that, your body will value that position and want to be seated when you’re standing, and then you get back pain. And it’s tough to tie those together and connect the dots of all this pain, started a little bit didn’t do anything about it. Now it’s been 10 years now it’s chronic. And that happens, especially musicians, especially with desk sitters. And there’s nothing wrong with those positions, you know, and we started to talk about, just here’s how to do the opposite, spend time in the opposite position. And now you can value your standing position and now you feel comfortable running not because you’re just trying to strength train, but because you balanced out the sides that were causing that discomfort. So just, it’s inspiring to see somebody go through that process and come out of it going, I feel like I’ve learned something, I feel better. And I’ve cleared up some space in my mind that now there’s more room for gratitude and joy and peace and all this enjoyment in life rather than festering over the pain and identifying what that discomfort. So anybody listening, just whatever position we’re in right now do try to do the exact opposite. Think about it. Right? We did the standing position, nothing rolling, seated, nothing when the rolling rolling forward. Just need to think about the opposite. Balance herself out. Yeah. Something else you do in, you’ve posted on social media, but more. So it’s just you bring this energy to Gymnazo you celebrate your movement, like you said, I don’t care what I look like when I’m doing these stretches, because you’ve now embodied this. And it’s once you’ve embodied a position or a motion or an intention. It doesn’t matter what other people say to you, because now you know why you’re doing it. And you can share with them that hopefully that it will resonate. How do you find time in your day to to celebrate movement or just to be mindful of your movement?
Barb
I think I actually schedule my workouts. And if someone calls and says can you know I’m booked at 6am, or I’m booked in I sometimes work at 11pm to 2am because I’m working internationally. So I have weird hours. And there’s certain things that just it’s like a doctor’s appointment or a haircut to me, like I booked it, and I want I want to be there and I want to be able to do that. When I get really excited when I have the opportunity to be out in nature or the beach or somewhere and I do something new and yeah, I’ll take a selfie and say yes. You know, I did couldn’t do this a year ago, I couldn’t do this. Three years ago, I maybe never did this in my life. I’m starting to get experiences at my age and my 60s of how I’ve never done this, Why have I never done this before. And so that gets me excited. And also, I really feel like everyone should get the experience that I’ve had for the last four years of understanding more about how my body works, how my brain works, how, you know, how it all functions together and creates, really who I want to be and, you know, in in the last year or so I just keep saying, you know, people say what’s your word? What’s your intention, you know, and I said, I just want to be more joyful. Because when when you hurt or you’re cranky, or you’re overworked or you’re stressed, you just lose the joy of the day to day life. And I think I just heard a quote. Last week I don’t I won’t quote it exactly right because I’m not good at that. But it’s like, if you live in the past you live in fear. And if you live live in the future, you live with anxiety and So that present moment is where I’m really focusing on being more present being more present in my workouts that I chose to take this hour and be here for myself. And I want to do everything I can do to the best of my ability during that time. And then just time to be out with dogs in my family. And you know, and nature, the President
CJ
is truly a gift. And you live that. One of my, my motto of this year was, you’ve heard is embodied Melara, which is like the pursuit or the path to better. And then the same, there’s always like, the grass is greener on the other side, but just keep watering your grass and making it greener and making it better. And you’re like, more embodying your entire experience. And you’ve done that through movement, you’ve done that their training, you’ve done that through celebrating your success, something we haven’t touched on is nutrition. And I think that’s something you’ve done more intentionally recently, you mind talking about stepping into nutritional programming and working with your diet and incorporating that into your training?
Barb
Sure. I don’t think I always struggled with weight a little bit for my entire life. And whether it’s working out whether it’s swimming, and just kind of thought, Oh, this is my body type, this is who I am, you know, I’m not my sister who’s tall and thin and size two and, and all of those great things. And I would compare myself and think about that, and I’ve always worked at eating really healthy. And actually two years ago, I did the nutrition with Michael, which was online and and kind of fine tuned, eating well, and thinking about what I was eating. But didn’t change my didn’t didn’t lose that weight. And I would always say, Well, I lost some I have to say I since I started gym now. So I’ve lost 30 pounds. Congrats. I know, I know. And 10 of it was before this year. And and that felt really good. And that gave me a lot more energy. And I felt like I was really focused on what I was eating. But then, this past year, I started working with Saara, who’s an amazing Nutritional Consultant and just brilliant woman. And we really looked at the emotional side of eating as well as what I was eating. Because when I would keep a food log, she’d say, well, you’re eating the right things. But we did simple, simple little things. Whereas I’d skip lunch, because I’m working, I’d sit at the computer and realize it’s five o’clock and not have eaten anything all day other than the water or maybe a handful of nuts that was you know, by and even when I used to travel on the road, I stood up and did seminars for six hours every day. And at lunchtime, I would check my email and I wouldn’t really eat and then I’d be really hungry for dinner and eat big dinners. And and so her background of just I haven’t counted a calorie for the last eight months, I haven’t thought about should I have that I think or can I have that or can’t I have that I thinking completely about do I want that. And there’s no no limiting in this but she really helped me understand that my what my metabolism was and and what my body needs and my personality needs. And I’d never considered what I ate in all those realms and those three realms. And so once again, it became a goal you know of well I’m going to really learn about this over these started as eight weeks and I really want to see if I can change my mindset and a lot of it is about mindset training that she does and thinking about it and I always have a big lunch now and I have smaller dinners and it makes a huge difference for my body and my personality type of having energy all day and and staying really focused and get it I get so much more done. And so that that has been huge for me just thinking about meditating every day keeping a gratitude journal every day. I would start them and never keep it you know and do it and that has really changed my focus of I have so many things to be grateful for wow, I got another two hours in me. I can do something else. So that’s been huge. It’s amazing
CJ
how nutrition is as much behavioral as it is biological as it is physical. You know what you see in what your what you sense and what you feel within yourself. And then what you think about it too and you It’s interesting that you didn’t talk much about food, you talked more about the mental side of it and motional side of it, which a lot of it is, you know, food is a very comfortable thing for for many people, especially as we age, we’re, we’re just continuing to refine that feedback loop of food makes me feel happy. And many times we’re disconnected with that, and we eat food that makes us unhappy. But for the time being, it makes us happy and satisfies a, an urge. That’s not necessarily a hunger, but it’s more of something mental that’s being unaddressed. Or it’s tough to find, like, sometimes it’s just deep in the shadows of trying to figure out why am I craving this thing when I don’t even really want it, and you look at it, I’m so happy I had that, and you’re like, I’m so mad, I ate that, you know,
Barb
and I also think that someone like me, at my age, I, I’ve done every diet out there, I’ve done the you know, and you lose any come back and I and and I love her philosophy of this is an anti diet program that we work for, and and there’s no drugs you’re taking or anything like that. It’s it’s, it’s a whole person approach to what you eat and how you eat it and what is right for your body. And I never, ever had that mindset before of thinking about what’s right for me, and what do I want. And, and once again, it was also getting to that point of, I never say I can’t have that I can have anything I want. I just can’t have it every day. And you know, and alright, and I don’t want it every day I have I other than trying to support local restaurants, I don’t eat out, because I’d rather cook. And I do love to cook. And I always have, but I be tired and throw together whatever it was quick and easy instead of what was healthy. So a little bit of planning in there.
CJ
So we love Sarah and her and her program. And really any nutritionist and somebody who’s looking at it from a 3d perspective, you know, it is behavioral, it is biological, it is physical. And it’s what we do with movement training, is you have to find what’s right for you. Like we can’t just put you into a box and say, Here’s your progressive overload and build strength, you will build strength being consistent, but you may never find that connection, that then brings you to another level and evolves you through your life. You know, same thing with nutrition, you you lose weight, and then you get it back, you lose it, you get it back or you lose it and you just don’t feel like you can be consistent with your practice. And really, I think what it comes down to is not about losing weight. And it’s not about getting stronger. It’s about building a more holistic connection with our body and with our environment and with our community. And I think aging is the same kind of thing. It’s, it is a mental process. It is a biological process. And it’s a physical process and how we see our environment and us in it. So before it close out, I want to know if you have any advice for those who are going through this aging process we all are. I haven’t I don’t know anybody who’s not aging.
Unknown Speaker
Alternative isn’t good.
CJ
Yeah, you’re alive, you’re living well. And there’s always ways to make change and transformation. So for those that are in their 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s, you’re you’re in the 60s right now and experience in this decade, and it’s a decade of growth. What would you say to those who are going through this aging process and may be struggling to find a connection with themselves that is more in the growth setting. I think
Barb
don’t let fear get in the way of what’s reality would be one of my big things is because I think that was part of it. And also don’t compare yourself to someone else. Only only work towards what you want and set goals that you can and I’ve even learned. I mean, as a teacher, I know about setting goals for learning and that kind of thing. And I’ve used those kinds of goals where it’s got to be measurable, it’s got to be attainable. It’s it can’t be you know, I can’t say oh, you know, I want to go do something I know that I can attain, but to set those simple goals and take that first step and I always call it dipping your big toe in the water. Don’t be afraid Don’t be afraid of other people being critical, especially at Gymnazo you know, I can’t tell you how many times I’ll shake my head and think I can’t believe I just put my right foot in front of my and I supposed to put my left foot there and and every single coach will say that’s why we’re here and don’t worry about it. It’s that’s that’s not the issue. You know, we just want to make sure you’re getting the best movement out of this so use your other foot or use your other arm and and I think the coaching style here too is so easy to become a part of the gym and also family or ecosystem because everyone’s everyone’s got your back always they’re always trying to help you be better and press you just a little bit in the direction you choose. Xen. So my biggest advice is, you know, don’t let your age tell you, you can’t get to the top of that mountain or do three of them in one day. And just choose your goals and start working at it a little at a time and find the right place where the coaches are as knowledgeable as you all are, and really press you into where you want to be pressed. And, and support you. And give you you know, last night you even said, you know, just take it a little easy tomorrow, you know, and you don’t say that very often. And so, take it to heart. And also don’t be afraid, I think at the very beginning to I’m one of those who I revere coaches, conductors, people who have knowledge that I don’t have, and I’ll be quiet. And I’ll just say, Okay, I’ll do what they say, and, and I’ll get better. And it really was the invitation from everyone here of tell us how you’re feeling. Don’t be afraid, you know, if something’s bothering you say it out loud, we can only help make it better. And if you know that, when you take that risk of saying, Gosh, my ankle really hurts today that you’re going to make it better, it’s not going to get worse. Whereas if I kept it to myself, I’ve just tried to make it better myself. So trusting experts, you know, and and finding that that right coach relationship.
CJ
Thanks for sharing that, you know, we’ve learned so much from you like, as much as we’re the teacher, and you’re the student, like, we’re also the student learning from you, and especially being younger, I want to give some advice to some coaches, because I never saw myself doing this. A decade ago, maybe even seven, eight years ago, I was working with younger, younger people. And there’s so much power we have as coaches, that it’s it’s easy to get lost in telling people what to do and following a protocol of what we’ve been taught. And there’s so much more to it than that. And it’s understanding where your client where athlete, where the person in front of you currently is in terms of their availability to move, and also what their goals are, like, many people come in not having a specific goal, they just want to look good, feel good and be stronger, which is fantastic. But where do we start with that, and we got to start with success, we also have to understand where those limitations are. So some kind of movement assessment that really looks at for 3d access, you know, in front of you, behind you to the sides of you rotationally. Because as we age, we tend to, we tend to currently avoid what’s behind us and rotationally. And we tend to focus on so much more what’s in front of us, and we’ve become more tunnel vision. But we know there’s so much more and the more you can expose your athletes or clients to novel experiences, but then also build consistency in those new experiences until it builds a whole new comfort level, you’re gonna find that it may be slow success, but by the time you get to that goal, or that threshold, or that mission that was for that month, or that year, getting out of pain, or maybe doing a 5k or doing a three peak hike in one day that you never thought of doing. Like those are the wins and the successes that keep us in it. And not only fulfills us as as coaches and trainers. But as human beings in building that connection and seeing each other help, you know, help each other we get smarter, you get smarter, you get stronger, we get stronger. And it really is that that collaboration. It’s not you telling the athlete what to do. It may be that for part of it, and for a lot of it, but it’s also about the communication, and the transparency between coach to athlete coaches, we don’t know everything, we really don’t know everything. And the more we know it, we tend to understand that we know so little. But there’s so much that we can do with what we know. We just need to be open to understanding on a deeper level. And it does come down to behavioral Biological and Physical Sciences, or the applied functional sciences to find that three dimensional success with where we’re at. So, Barb, thank you so much. Any last comments and things that come up?
Unknown Speaker
I think it’s great. I learned a lot. Yeah,
CJ
I learned a lot too. It was a blessing and honor to sit down with you and chat with you and they have this opportunity. So I hope you guys all enjoyed this conversation and looking forward to how you all perceive your aging. Now if you’re listening to this, enjoy
Michael Hughes
Hey all I hope you guys enjoyed today’s episode. And if you did, please share it with your fitness obsessed friends and peers who are also navigating this world of fitness and trying to succeed the trends and misinformation. As you guys can see this podcast is basically a masterclass for trainers wanting to level up in their coaching skills and their fitness business model. We launch this in 2020 because you and your fitness tribe deserve to see an unfiltered look at all the aspects of what it takes to stand out as a next generation coach. and build a successful fitness business sell, share far and wide. And please, when you do, do me a favor, take a screenshot of this screen and share it to your social media accounts and use the hashtag Gymnazo podcast, that’s hashtag Gymnazo podcast. That way we can see you and share your post with our audience. And finally, when you’re ready to go to the next level as a coach, or in your business, and to reach more people, please go check out gymnazoedu.com. We have put together the best 90 Day coaching program on the market for trainers wanting to become a masterful practitioner, and build a business that gives them the freedom and impact. So let us help you do just that. We have online training and one on one coaching to guide you through a full 90 Day certification. We even get you training our clients live because it’s always better to work out your kinks on someone else’s clients than yours. But we promise you this, your clients will be blown away by the transformation our program will help you make, you’ll be masterful at a whole new level and part of an incredible community of coaches worldwide, taking their skills to the next level. So if you thought so this episode had some fire to it, and inspired you to take action, wait until we see what we’ll deliver on this program. So just go to gymnazoedu.com. And we’ll see you on the other side. Remember that turning your passion for fitness into transformation and sustainable business is critical to reaching the people and lives you were put on earth to help it matters and truly can make an impact in other people’s lives. So, hope you do that. Keep sharing your passion and we’ll talk to you soon.
Leave a Reply