SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast
The SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast is a fun, entertaining, and enlightening look at health and wellness. It breaks down complex health topics and interviews experts in the wellness field to help participants live healthier lives.
SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast
Avoiding Quitter's Day
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Codie Crosby, who transitioned from collegiate rugby to becoming a powerlifting champion and a dedicated health educator. With Quitter's Day looming, Codie shares her journey and offers valuable insights on setting realistic, long-term exercise goals. Through her story, listeners will learn the importance of identifying a strong "why" to stay motivated through life's transitions. Whether it's for mental health, disease prevention, or family well-being, Codie emphasizes the power of consistency and dedication in creating sustainable movement habits.
We also address the common hurdles many face when maintaining an exercise routine. From feeling intimidated at the gym to juggling a busy schedule, this episode uncovers practical solutions like habit stacking from James Clear's "Atomic Habits." Discover strategies for incorporating exercise into your daily life and explore the wealth of support systems available, such as local recreation centers and employee wellness programs. Hear about the benefits of group activities and how they can offer camaraderie and motivation. Tune in to unlock the tools you need to transform your fitness journey and enhance your overall well-being.
Hello listeners. I'm Kirsten Philpott and I'm Cody Crosby, and you're listening to the Salt Lake County Employee Wellness Wellcast, the podcast that breaks down complex health topics and interviews experts in the wellness field to help participants live healthier lives. Today we will be talking about how to avoid Quitter's Day. So January is a month often filled with movement-based New Year's resolutions that, by mid-January, can fall to the wayside, and today we will be focusing on how we can avoid Quitter's Day and instead set realistic year-long exercise goals. And, lucky for us, we don't even need to have an outside expert join us today, because we have our very own Cody Crosby, one of our newest health educators, on our employee wellness team.
Speaker 1:Cody played collegiate rugby for Utah State and competed in powerlifting four years in a row, winning every meet she competed in At her best. Some of her lifts totaled over 400 pounds, putting her ahead of 50 other competitors. But, as with all of us, life takes twists and turns and her competing days are on a current hiatus, and she has had to learn how to go from competitor to everyday gym goer. So today we are here to learn from her and learn with her on how to create lasting movement habits that will carry us through the years, rather than waiting for another January to try again. So to start off, cody, I know that I, and I'm sure our listeners, would as well, love to hear the story of how you got involved in the powerlifting world.
Speaker 2:Great question. I grew up as an athlete. I played soccer year round, basketball in the winter and track and field in the spring. After I graduated high school, I took some time off from exercise. I think that after any life change, such as graduating high school or college, getting a new job or introducing kids into your family life, we often have to find new ways to engage in movement. This transition from high school to college was no different for me and I'm not going to lie, it was really hard. Going from a structured schedule exercise to total time freedom is intimidating. I decided to start going to a gym near my university and I wasn't consistent. I wasn't as consistent as I wanted to be. Just a few days here, one Saturday there, and I didn't have a lot of motivation. I have a larger body type and have always been really strong. That's one of my strengths with sports, because I have powerful muscles and that gives me some advantages on and off the field. So during this transition time from adolescence to adulthood, I decided to see how strong I could get, which introduces powerlifting. I decided to see how strong I could get, which introduces powerlifting.
Speaker 2:Powerlifting is a form of competitive weightlifting in which contestants attempt three types of lift in a set sequence, so you train three lifts that showcase your ultimate strength. This required more dedication, consistency, lifting weights and some humility while learning how to push my body. After about six months of training, I just googled local competitions in the Salt Lake area and signed up for an all-women's meet here in Murray. It was an incredible environment and I loved competing. Everyone there is going for their biggest lifts and personal records, and it's really exciting. I ended up winning this meet in my age category, weight class and an overall win for my squat. I started my weightlifting journey not being able to lift more than my body weight and reached the point of squatting and deadlifting double it. The satisfaction I gained from my hard work still motivates me when I go to the gym now, even though my competing days are on pause.
Speaker 1:That is such an inspiring story. I'm impressed with your ability to simply get up and start going to the gym, and I would imagine that most of our listeners, too, are as well. So it's officially a new year, and I know we probably have many listeners here who have set some wellness goals for themselves. We also know that many of those wellness goals include getting more movement in. As someone who has had several transitions in life, how do you continue to get yourself to the gym regularly?
Speaker 2:Great question. I think that comes down to identifying your why. Everyone can get a rush of adrenaline for a few days or even weeks that keeps them motivated. But there is a reason why the second Friday of January is called Quitter's Day, and that's because motivation always wears off. No one is motivated 100% of the time. But if we can identify why we can use movement and other tools to help us continue on and move our bodies, even on the days you really don't want to, that's where it's really important to help us achieve our wellness and movement goals.
Speaker 1:Love that and I think it's such an important point, right Is that no one is motivated 100% of the time.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I think it's also a reminder that we can have many different whys, right. We can have many different whys, right. Maybe our initial why that we set for our January goal is because we want to fit into that outfit that's in our closet, or be swimsuit ready for summer. But when we put all of our eggs in one basket, so to speak, sometimes that isn't enough to pull us out of our warm, cozy houses in the middle of January, and I think it's so important that we dig deep and find some additional whys. I know for me, during the dark winter months, one of my whys is my mental health right? We know that research has shown us over and over again that daily exercise is a huge protector in depression and anxiety, and I personally can definitely feel my mood and irritability affected more on those days that I don't make the time to move my body.
Speaker 2:Yes, me too on that one. There are so many amazing whys that we can have as our motivation. Maybe it's getting to a smaller number on the scale, but maybe it's also wanting to decrease our risk for diabetes or heart disease. Or maybe we have a hike we want to accomplish or a race we want to run. Maybe we have grandkids we want to be able to keep up with.
Speaker 1:Or maybe we want a better night's sleep or have less stress and anxiety through the days, or maybe simply right, like you, we just want to be stronger and see how strong and fit we can get, so that we have an easier time with day-to-day tasks.
Speaker 2:Exactly and when we spend time identifying our whys and ideally, identifying a few more whys, more than one we can rely on those when our motivation fails us.
Speaker 1:I think that's awesome. I think that's such a great point. Do you mind maybe getting a bit personal with us and sharing a few of your whys?
Speaker 2:Sure, I think, a few of my whys. One, like you mentioned, is mental health. I really think that daily movement and exercise boosts my mood and helps my brain feel a lot more healthy and productive. My productivity goes through the roof when I've had some movement before my work day. Another one of my whys is that I think I view exercise as a moment of gratitude. Some days I've had some injuries in my sports career and I am really grateful that my body's able to move how I want it to, without pains, aches, and I give credit to my movement habits. So that's a why for me to keep going, because I know the more, the older I get, that those aches and pains are only going to increase.
Speaker 1:I love that and it's such a good reminder, right, that once again, we can have many whys, and it doesn't always have to be an appearance-based goal Totally fine if it is, but if we can dig deep and find some other whys, like you said right, that's what keeps us going when our motivation fails. So thank you so much for sharing. Okay, so my next question for you is once we have our whys which, like we've said, they're great and they help us when it comes to remaining loyal to our goals and avoiding quitter days. But what about barriers? I can already think of a few barriers off my head that I know prevent me from getting exercise regularly. What about you? Obviously, with your collegiate athlete and powerlifting resume, you have a great track record of going to the gym and moving your body, but I'm sure, just like the rest of us, you've also experienced some barriers. So, if you don't mind sharing, what are some of those barriers and how did you overcome them?
Speaker 2:Oh, I've definitely experienced barriers Lots of them, I think everyone does and once you overcome one barrier, often another one creeps in. But to answer your question, when I think of barriers, there's three that come to mind. The first barrier is going to the gym alone. The second would probably be not knowing how to use gym equipment or how to have proper form, and that's still a frequent one for me. That's still a frequent one for me. And third, maybe the most difficult to navigate, is finding and making the time to move my body, whether that's at the gym or at home or outside.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, I definitely have felt and experienced all of those barriers myself. I think it could be helpful for our listeners if we spent some time to break down those barriers. Do you mind if we chat a little bit more about those strategies to overcome these three specific ones?
Speaker 2:Not at all. I can start with probably that last barrier and work backwards. So time, because that one is that one hits home with, I'm sure, most of us. How do we make time in our already busy schedules? I remember a quote that says something along the lines of we always make time for the things that are important to us, and while that can be tough to hear, I think it's important to remember as we discuss how to make time for exercise.
Speaker 1:I agree it is tough to hear, but it's true, right. We do make time for things like our relationships and our hobbies and things that we feel like add value to our life and they do. But sometimes we forget how much value or we choose to ignore how much value exercise can add to our life. And if we remember that, right, if we remember that exercise is valuable, it can become easier to make time. But what if you truly feel as if you have no time? I know that we have participants in many stages of life and with so many things that are going on, what would you say to them? How can they find time in their schedules that already are so jammed packed?
Speaker 2:That's a great point and it's a reality, right? Everyone is so busy. You ask someone how their weekend is busy? Automatic answer. But in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, he calls it habit stacking. So habit stacking is when we take a new habit we want or need to do and pair it with a habit we already have. For example, if you make coffee in the morning instead of putting it in the coffee maker and doing something else, for those five minutes it takes you could do five minutes of squats or five minutes of stretching. You're pairing something you want to do exercise with something you already do making coffee every morning.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that and I love habit stacking. If anyone has been around for a couple years, you know that I love atomic habits and I did spend two full workshops talking about it because I think it's such a great recommendation when it comes to finding time in our day. I actually tried this after I had my fourth baby. I found that he always woke up about 530 am to eat each morning, and I have a six-year-old who, unfortunately, has always been an early riser and so he is up by 6 am. So I was already in the habit of waking up at 530 and decided, instead of attempting to sleep for an additional 15 minutes before my six year old woke up, I would simply just take that 15 minutes to start exercising.
Speaker 1:And it took me a little bit to be OK with that short duration of just 15 minutes of exercise, because I think I've always had this all or nothing mentality right. If I can't work out for 45 minutes, why even bother? But by starting small and adding the habit into my day with just a short 15 minutes, it's allowed me to build it, and even though my baby no longer wakes up at that time, I still do, and now, instead of you know just those 15 minutes. I've been able to build it into a 30 or 45 minute exercise routine at home each morning, but it started with me just stacking right habit, stacking that 15 minutes of exercise into a 15 minute pocket of time that I already had. That was technically unaccounted for.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I love that and I think you bring up a great point when it comes to time. Sometimes we can't or don't have the ability to find an hour to go to the gym. So by starting off small, especially if it has been a long time since you haven't regularly moved your body, is the perfect thing. You can, you can and should 100. Give yourself permission to exercise for as much time as you actually have. If that means five minutes of squats in front of the coffee maker, great. If it means two minutes of push-ups while you microwave your lunch. If it means 20 minutes at the gym on some equipment or 30 minutes at home in your living room or a 10-minute walk with your dog outside, any and all time counts and over time we can make goals to increase to 30 or 45 minutes a day. But when we are starting out, I highly recommend we make the goal to simply intentionally move every day and build from there.
Speaker 1:I think that's such a wonderful point because oftentimes I know I am definitely have been a culprit of this myself, but, starting in January, I make these huge wellness goals for times and things that I just don't actually have right. Go to the gym for an hour or go for a walk for 30 minutes every day, and it's really hard to find those time, and so I love the idea of just starting small, especially when it comes to exercise right. The results really do speak for themselves. Once I felt the energy and mood stability from that 15 minutes of exercise every morning, it was easier not easy, but easier for me to choose to transition it to 30 and then to 45 minutes. But when we start out too hard and too fast, sometimes, right, we're super sore or we're really tired because we're trying to build something in that we don't actually have the time for or our body isn't prepared for.
Speaker 1:I also think that when we're talking about our January wellness goals, it's important to remember the resources that are available when it comes to finding time for the gym. Most county rec centers and a lot of gyms have childcare right, so if you're in the throes of parenthood and that makes it hard for finding time to move your body. You can go to the gym where there's childcare available, and then you don't have to try and figure out a sitter or attempt to work out around them in your home. So that's just one resource right that we can use that can help us with that time problem.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you bring up the important piece from the beginning that we make time for the things that matter to us. If we want to exercise and we want movement to be a part of our daily life, sometimes we just have to bite the bullet and carve out that time, and that's really hard. So if you can't fathom what that time would be, consider writing down your daily tasks each day. If you keep a journal every day for a week, you write down what time you woke up and everything you did between waking and sleeping, and you write what time you did it at and how long you did it. It seems really overwhelming, but by writing it down you'll be able to see where you have those pockets of time to add in some movement or where you can shuffle things around, so that you can see what activities are actually serving you a purpose and what activities are helping you reach the goals you've created.
Speaker 1:That is such great advice. Sometimes we think we are busier than we are or we're filling our time with things that, like you said, don't actually serve us, and I think that by, like you said, writing it down right, we can identify ways to make our movement and our exercise easier and more streamlined. And there are definitely things that we can also do to have it stack right. We can set our workout shoes by the door or put our workout clothes in the bathroom so they're the first thing we see in the morning. If we're working at home, we can pull our weights out so they're easily accessible and set up and don't take as much time. Or, if we're going to the gym, we can have our gym bag packed and in the car so we can go either before or after work. I think that sometimes having a visual representation of our day, like you suggested, can help us find more time and figure out what habits we can stack. Okay, love that. You're awesome. Those are some great ideas.
Speaker 1:The next barrier you mentioned was gym equipment and form. I personally am someone who works out from home, so when it comes to form, especially if I'm lifting weights, I usually just have my husband come and check me, since I work out in the living room with no mirrors. But I've always been intimidated by going to the gym because there are so many machines and I have no idea how they work. So what do you say to someone who is struggling to get to the gym because of what they feel like is a lack of knowledge?
Speaker 2:I would say you're not alone at all. This was definitely something I struggled with when I first transitioned from team sport to gym, going to powerlifting, etc. However, a couple of things to remember is number one no one is looking at you. I promise Most of us at the gym are too worried about our own form and what we are doing to be thinking and looking at you. Second, there is this wonderful thing called YouTube. I still YouTube how to use machines correctly, and often watch a video more than once and slow it down and rewind it to make sure I'm doing it correctly.
Speaker 2:There's nothing wrong with checking out a resource in the middle of your workout. Three, there are often stickers on each of the machines that you can use to help give you a better idea on how to use a machine and what part of the body that machine is supposed to be working. And fourth, you can always ask. There's someone who's using the machine. You can ask them or you can try to ask a staff member. Almost all county rec centers have personal trainers that can teach you how to use equipment and how to do it the right way to keep you injury-free.
Speaker 1:Yes, and the county rec centers are such a great resource. I said it before when I talked about child care, but they're just all over and all around a great resource. Salt Lake County has 21 recreation and ice centers, each with their own amenities and their own personalities. Right, Some have indoor pools, some have outdoor pools, some have indoor tracks, some have pickleball courts. Some have more equipment than others. Some have pickleball courts. Some have more equipment than others.
Speaker 1:But as a county employee, for $15 a month, you have the ability to access all of them.
Speaker 1:So, if you don't know this already, all you have to do is fill out the Employee Rec in our notes for you, because then it'll just make it easier. But once you have your pass, you have access to all the county rec centers, which includes all of their classes, all of their equipment, their pools, their child care. So it's a great resource one, because it's extremely discounted compared to other gyms, so definitely cost effective. But if you live in county boundaries, there's bound to be at least one recreation center within 20 minutes of you which can help with that time struggle and allow you to try a variety of movement activities, from equipment to classes, and they even have free online videos. So if you can't get yourself to the gym, right, you can access those online videos and work out at your house. So I highly recommend taking advantage of this amazing employee perk. Okay, so I would love to hear how you overcame that last barrier going alone. I think anytime anyone starts a wellness journey, it can be lonely, so what is your advice on this?
Speaker 2:First, I love that the county has so many options for different types of movements indoors and out. That is amazing. So that might help with this next barrier, too, of meeting some new people who have similar movement interests that you do. But loneliness is something we all combat and I think it's especially difficult anytime we're trying something new. When it comes to trying something new, we feel self-conscious and don't want somebody watching us or making mistakes, which can make it hard, especially when an accountability buddy can often help us achieve our goals and embed new habits.
Speaker 2:Using someone to go with you Great idea. If you don't have that option, that's totally OK. So when it comes to going to the gym alone or working out at home alone, I'd recommend you at least find one support person who doesn't even have to work out with you, but it would ideally be someone you can find, someone who is willing to go with you. But if that's not feasible or you're not interested, having a friend or family member who's aware of your goals and helping you set aside time and ensuring you reach your goals can make a huge difference in helping you get to the gym.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think we often underestimate the importance of a support person.
Speaker 1:Like you said, it doesn't necessarily have to be someone that comes with you, but having someone who knows our goals and is supportive of our goals can help us with getting us to the gym or working out at home right.
Speaker 1:It helps us address that barrier of time when we have someone who knows and supports it and can allow us to make that time that we wouldn't normally or otherwise make.
Speaker 1:So I agree, it's super important to find a support person and to voice our goals out loud and ask for their help. I think another way that we can address going to the gym or moving our body is finding a few people or a group right that have the same goals as us, and that's where, like you said right, the rec center can help us with that. There's people who are there with like-minded thoughts and goals, and so you can go there and you can join a class, or you can even bring your family right so we can add our family members to our rec center passes which allow you to go to the gym with your family. There are also other opportunities in our employee wellness program. So if the gym seems daunting or trying to work out at home seems daunting. We also have some amazing programs here at Salt Lake County Employee Wellness that can help support you and help you feel that camaraderie in a group setting.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love that you mentioned. Our own Employee Wellness program has lots of opportunities to work out and move with other people. So, speaking of that, we have our Walk with Ease class starting up in February, which we would love to have you join. We also have winter snowshoeing that we partner with Parks and Rec and we do each year, and come springtime we have March into May, which is one of our challenges, and then our guided hikes and walks start up also. So if you don't feel like there's anywhere to go, we have lots of opportunities for you to get out and move your body in any way you feel comfortable in. All skill levels are welcome, and if that means going to the gym solo, that's great too.
Speaker 2:A lot of people go to the gym alone I'm one of them which sometimes is really nice. It helps me sometimes that I use my time at the gym to fill some different cups in my life. Not only am I helping my body with exercise, but I can plug in my headphones and accomplish other tasks. Maybe there's a podcast that you love or a new music album you haven't made time for. Workout sessions are a great place for those things. You could listen to a podcast, maybe even one of our own wellcasts or one of our recorded workshops, and earn some points while you're working out if you want to multitask. But you can also download the Libby app and use your library card to listen to audiobooks. There's so many ways you can combat that barrier of feeling alone at the gym by again habit stacking and also incorporating a couple other things that help fill your cup while you're exercising. And you just need to remember that you're not the only one feeling that loneliness barrier. Most people who work out alone probably experienced that at one point or another.
Speaker 1:That's such a good reminder. We're all just out here trying our best right, and you have to do what works for you. We just want everyone to remember that one of the most important things we can do is move our body intentionally each and every day, and what that can and will look like looks different for each person, which is perfectly okay. So, whether you have a new goal to go to the gym or work out at home more often, or if you have an existing goal and you're just trying to excel at it, we want you to know that your barriers are real and that we see and that we recognize them, and that we here at Employee Wellness are here to help you work through those barriers and succeed at your goals. Cody, thank you so much for your time and thoughts today. Do you have any last minute advice for our participants to avoid that second Friday of January and avoid Quitters Day?
Speaker 2:I think my parting advice is just that after this Wellcast, we hope that you got some tools in your tool belt to push past that quitter's day and realize you can make your goals happen. Remember that we don't need exercise for hours each day to see results. You just need small, consistent habits that make a big difference over time.
Speaker 1:That is perfect. Thank you so much, Cody. Well, that is all we have for you listeners today, so we will catch you next month on our Employee Wellness Wellcast, the podcast that breaks down complex health topics and interviews experts in the wellness field to help participants live healthier lives. We hope you have a wonderful day and we'll see you next time. Bye.