Category: Daily

This one’s from Paul at PainScience.com, sharing examples of appalling and harmful comments healthcare professionals have made to their patients. The comment section has plenty more.

Here’s one:

“You’re all out of alignment. We’ll need to schedule ten weekly sessions to try to get things back in place…”

Or how about this one:

“my first ultrasound (at 20 weeks) with my first child, the ultrasound tech gasped, then exclaimed, “You weren’t expecting twins were you! Cuz if you were, it looks like we’ve got a disappearing twin here!””

One more:

“Surgeon gleefully announced bone on bone. Also casually told me the meniscus was “shredded”. Was pretty demoralising. In spite of being aware of the power of words, its still affecting.”

Here’s the link for more. Only click and read it if you want to feel angry about the world. No joke. I had to lie down to stop hyperventilating.

-J

Things happen. Often randomly.

We make up the reason because we don’t like open loops.

-J

In my teens and 20s, all I cared about was my looks. That’s all I trained for. Well, that and my ego. Trying to punish myself to be the strongest and fittest person in the gym (I never was).

My early 30s were about the same. Although with less ego and a kinder approach towards myself.

Sometime in my mid-30s, the goals shifted towards health and general fitness for life. Some of it had to do with becoming a parent. It has a way of changing the perspective of how we see the world and ourselves in it.

But it was only in my late 30s that I started to seriously think about training and aging. Not to chase the glory days of my youth but to train in a way that supports me today and for the next however many decades.

Now, in my 40s, one thought illustrates my training. It goes through my head at the start of every workout: “I better do get-ups today to keep the hips and upper back loose.”

Obviously, I am still thinking about the looks. But compared to my 20s, it gets about 20% of the attention instead of 100%. And that focus mostly shows in my diet, and not in the way I train.

There are so many things I wish I could tell my 20-something self. Wisdom that would’ve saved me a bunch of injuries and a whole lot of misery. But then again, there’s no way I would’ve listened to some dinosaur in his 40s.

What about? How have your training goals evolved over the decades?

-J

I was at a fitness seminar years ago, and one of the speakers asked that question.

Being a room full of fitness professionals, about 99.9% of the hands went up. The 0.1%? He was eating a taco and couldn’t raise a hand.

The speaker saw the hands go up. “You realise what you do is not normal for most people?”

The fitness industry is terrible at meeting you, the client, where you are at.

“Eat this. Lift this. Sleep like this. Cut that. Add that. Don’t do that. You have the same 24 hours as everyone else. WHY ARE YOU NOT LISTENING TO ME?!”

The fitness industry needs a paradigm shift.

It’s about cultivating a dialogue, listening, and adapting. It’s about moving from an authoritarian model to a collaborative one where your voice and experience are central to the process.

Demand that from your coach.

-J

“I don’t want to squat because it fucking hurts.”

That’s about the first thing Julie said to me when we first spoke. She’d had a few knee reconstructions and now ambled away with about zero cartilage in both knees.

She was adamant that she would never squat again. And because she found the pain so demotivating, I agreed that we wouldn’t be squatting.

Six months later, she was doing goblet squats, lunges, and single-leg squats on a box. Pain-free.

Not because I provided some magic tricks to take away her pain. But because she gradually built up her strength and confidence with her lower body. Until one day, she felt confident enough to try how a squat might feel. And it felt good.

Your body is incredibly robust and adaptable.

-J

ps. She might’ve said “hurts” instead of “fucking hurts.” But let’s not allow little details to get in the way of an inspirational story.

There’s a good chance you need to change your daily routine.

Not overhaul your whole existence. But to reshuffle parts of your schedule schedule. Cancel a thing or two to make space for 30-45 minutes a couple of times a week.

There will never be enough time for everything.

You’ll likely have to put other, less urgent priorities on the back burner.

Even if they are things you enjoy.

-J

That’s a direct quote from a friend. I am not the one to give unsolicited advice when someone clearly isn’t interested in my opinion. So I just left it.

But you’ve signed up for my emails, and I take it as an agreement between the two of us that I can preach to you with a clean conscience.

First, lifting weights does way more than build muscle:

• Strengthens your bones
• Reduces the risk of falls
• Improves metabolism
• Reduces the risk of most chronic illnesses
• Improves brain health
• It makes you stronger so you can do more awesome stuff in life
• Increases life span and the quality of your years

 And second, building muscle is ridiculously hard.

Especially for women. And most men. Trust me, I’ve been trying for 25 years.

Thank you for giving me the permission to rant 🙂

-J

This recent study reduced patellofemoral pain in runners, but the adjustments are worth experimenting with if you’re dealing with knee pain in hiking.

The first intervention that reduced the knee pain was about lessening the impact. They used all kinds of tech-related cues to make that happen, but the two key low-tech cues were the instructions to run softer and make footfalls quieter.

The second intervention was about increasing cadence. “Cadence group participants received guidance regarding their cadence and ran with the help of a metronome with an adjusted cadence increased by 7.5 to 10%.” But hey, I’m sure there’s an app for that.

Both groups then ran with this new running pattern for the next six months and reported greater knee pain improvement than the control group (a group that did fuck all).

There is one caveat, though. The study group was only 30 people (13 women, 17 men). Still, if you’re currently dealing with knee pain while hiking, these strategies are worth trying in real life.

Practice softer stepping for the next few weeks to see if you notice any changes. And if not, increase your cadence by 7.5-10% (if you can) and see if that makes your knee smile.

-J

One of the most persistent fallacies of resistance training is that you must train four or five days a week to see significant progress in your strength.

It’s simply not true.

You can make incredible progress in just two 30-45min strength workouts a week.

As long as you do it right:

The weights, sets, and reps need to get progressively heavier.

Not in every workout or even every week, but the upward trend should be clear.

Challenge yourself, and find your limits.

Over the years of training women, I’ve noticed the lack of trust and belief in your strength and what your body can do*. Especially when starting out with strength training.

But you are stronger than you think. The next time you feel like you only have one rep left, see what happens if you try to do two more. Was the limit only in your head?

Focus on a couple of key movements. 

You don’t need dozens of exercises in your workouts. Sure, doing a lot of different things might be entertaining. But it’s holding you back.

Pick a few key exercises to get strong in and get after it. The big multijoint movements, such as squat and deadlift variations, upper body presses, and rows, are all great choices.

You can still do other movements. But only as long as it doesn’t diminish the effort you can put into the key lifts. The goal is to get strong in a chosen few.

You still want to do other physical activities during the week to maintain a well-rounded, healthy body.

But for strength, two days a week is plenty when following an intelligent plan.

Honestly, you’ll make more progress in two focused strength workouts than the folks who do five half-ass efforts a week.

-J

*This is in stark contrast with men. We are notorious for overestimating our ability. Both in strength training or fixing that plugged-in microwave in the bathtub.

With life’s never-ending demands from work, family, and the other dozen roles you juggle, setting ambitious fitness goals can feel like adding another pile of hay to an already full cart.

It’s easy to dream big – to imagine yourself reaching that summit or tackling a challenging hike. Yet, reality paints with a different brush.

Time, energy, and resources are finite, and your aspirations must align with what’s achievable in the current level of chaos you live in.

Recalibrating fitness goals isn’t a sign of defeat. It’s an act of wisdom. It’s about understanding and accepting that this journey is a path with no end instead of a race against the realities of your life.

It means setting goals that are not just ambitious but also adaptable. It’s about being proud of the progress you can make rather than frustrated with the progress you can’t.

After all, fitness is meant to add to your life: to bring strength, energy, and a healthy dose of swagger. Rather than it becoming yet another source of pressure.

If you’re ready to get strong but find it challenging to navigate those aspirations alone, it’s time to seek guidance.

It’s an opportunity to gain perspective, receive support, and, most importantly, find balance. It’s an opportunity to set ambitious goals and the actions that follow, with both wheels firmly planted in your reality.

-J