Join our hosts and special guest, Bri Martey. They talk sports, mental health and the connection between the two.
Article Mentioned: International Women's Day Feature - Brianna Martey - University of Guelph Athletics (gryphons.ca)
Join our hosts and special guest, Bri Martey. They talk sports, mental health and the connection between the two.
Article Mentioned: International Women's Day Feature - Brianna Martey - University of Guelph Athletics (gryphons.ca)
Hey folks, welcome back to the Get with the Grove Podcast.
Maddie:I'm Maddie.
Gabby:And I'm Gabby. And for this week's episode, we're going to be talking about improving your mental health through sport and exercise.
Maddie:For today's podcast, we have a super special guest joining us. We have Bri Martey
Bri Martey:Hi
Maddie:Bri is a fourth year student at the University of Guelph studying psychology and biological science and she is a member of the varsity women's rugby team. Bree does a lot of work in the community and she has a member of the she's got game committee as well as the athletic EDI committee. Bri just recently completed an interview with the University of Guelph on how participation in sport has increased her self esteem and empowered her to be the best version of herself. Today, we are lucky enough to have Bry on our podcast to talk about how sport and exercise can help with mental health.
Gabby:Yay! Okay, to start off. Can you give everyone a little bit of background about how you got involved with rugby?
Bri Martey:Um, yeah, I mean, first of all, I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me. But yeah, I mean, with rugby, I started playing in grade nine. I was always a basketball player, and then somehow got good at rugby and it just took off from there. I started playing in grade nine. And then I played for Team Ontario. I play for Team Canada. I was very fortunate. And now I'm in university
Maddie:playing for the best team ever.
Bri Martey:Yeah. Let's go Gryphens Yeah, that's a basically my rugby journey.
Maddie:Awesome. So as a member of the rugby community, how do you think playing a sport and exercising has impacted your mental health?
Bri Martey:Oh, man, like, in so many
Gabby:360s?
Bri Martey:Yeah, in so many ways. I mean, Maddie, you probably know, like, we've known each other forever. And it's Yeah. And it's taken me so many places, but just in general, like being in sport has kept me occupied. I'm someone who, you know, like, I school wasn't my, my strong suit. I wasn't the best at it. Um, you know, I have a different, like, slew of mental health issues and stuff like that. One in particular, like ADHD, and you know, it's a learning disability and being in sport actually really helped me it was an outlet for me to, you know, go out and do that, and then come back into the classroom or, or be able to focus on homework or any other task, really. But yeah, I think sports is just really just, if we're not talking about the scientific side, just provided some sort of community for me in terms
Maddie:Thats what i was gonna say,
Bri Martey:yeah
Maddie:not just a physical sense, but the social and emotional wellness
Bri Martey:Yeah Exactly
Maddie:that they get that gets improved from having support systems from all different angles. Absolutely. So Gabby, I know you're pretty passionate about this. In terms of working out, do you want to share with everyone how going to the gym and exercising has improved your mental health and well being?
Gabby:Yeah, so I grew up not being very athletic. Like I played some sports like in elementary school, a little bit into high school, but never really saw myself as somebody that would start going to the gym. And I had mental health professionals pretty much my entire life encouraged me to incorporate exercise into my daily routine to help with some of my struggles, and I never listened to them. Until May of last year, when I really started taking exercise seriously. And going to the gym on a regular basis. It has completely turned my mental health around. Like it's something that I genuinely look forward to doing every day. I've made a lot of friends through connecting through our mutual passion for, for exercise and working out. And it's really just, like, helped with so many aspects of my life. Like I feel like I can focus better. I typically go in the morning, so
Maddie:It starts your day.
Gabby:Yeah, it's been such like a good start to my day. And I feel like I went from like knowing absolutely nothing about working out to like really like being a part of like a community of people who exercise and who are passionate about working out. Yeah
Maddie:Yeah. And I mean, you started from not knowing knowing nothing, and it kind of just proves that you anything, right? When you went to the gym, don't have to come to the gym and have a full, like, sense of what you're doing, what exercises you need to do. Like there's a starting point for everyone. And everyone can go to the gym and you get into a routine of some sort
Gabby:And everyone goes to the gym for different reasons. Like I feel like the standard is to go and like lose weight. Then like be healthy, but like, you don't have to go to the gym to do that, like you can really go for whatever reason that you want. Like, for me, I went for like my mental health and wellness. But there are other people that are like training the other people that like, want to stay fit. Like there's so many different reasons to go to the gym and everyone is like on their own path and on their own journey. So
Maddie:Yeah, ya know what? Now I'm just thinking about it. Bree had an injury, it was your shoulder, right?
Bri Martey:Yeah
Maddie:your shoulder. And even having a shoulder injury, Bri still came to Team lifts all the time. Bri was lifting more weight than I could with two arms with one arm and just seeing Bri in the gym and still working out like through an injury, I could tell from a secondary point of view the difference that it made.
Bri Martey:Yeah, honestly, that's like, that's a good point that you brought that up because I was thinking like, as Gabby you're speaking like, it was my mental health really like just being like not being on the field with all my teammates and stuff like that was draining. It's, it's not anything that people prepare you for, like, I had to have surgery, and I knew I was gonna have to sit out. But no one told me like how isolated I'd feel even being around the team. Just not playing but like, continuing to work on my body continuing to be active with something that like, you know, made me feel a bit more like myself. It made me feel a bit more, you know, human like. You know, how we function and stuff like that.
Maddie:Yeah. So we're gonna loop back to something that happened three years ago.
Gabby:So we're gonna talk a little bit about COVID. So it's interesting that you mentioned like, what your experience kind of was like thinking you might not what it were. I was gonna, like, you know.
Bri Martey:Yeah Yeah Yeah I know
Maddie:Right Babe
Gabby:No, like you continued, like, exercising.
Bri Martey:Yeah,
Gabby:like, despite having an injury.
Bri Martey:Yeah.
Gabby:Because you like knew what would happen if you like, did it?
Bri Martey:Yeah,
Gabby:right.
Bri Martey:Yeah.
Gabby:But then COVID. It's like, you were forced to like, there was no option. Yeah, it wasn't an option It wasn't voluntary. It was mandatory. Yeah. Like it wasn't an option. So like, all gyms and athletic facilities were closed. And they stayed closed for quite some time. So question for you both as an athlete, I'm wondering how you folks were impacted by this. Did you see changes in your mental health? Well, not being able to leave the house to exercise? And what did you do to work around the closures?
Maddie:Well, I'll start with this.
Bri Martey:Yeah.
Maddie:So I mean, obviously that was that was a tough time with gyms being closed. I mean, that's a whole other debate whether or not they should have been closed as like a health.
Bri Martey:Yeah
Maddie:area. Yeah, area of health. But when all gyms were closed, I knew and this was when we were all locked up. We were all doing school online. So we were like, I remember sitting in my kitchen, eyes on my computer screen for eight hours a day, and not really being able to like get out and do anything. So I decided to do some basement workouts. My boyfriend had provided me with like 215 pound dumbbells, a jump rope and elastic workout band. And my roommate Kennedy had a barbell with like two little 10 pound plates
Gabby:The essentials
Maddie:Literally the essentials. So I just remember thinking like, this is an opportunity to get creative. So I kind of had to shift my mindset and I'm like, Well, if the gyms were open I would never think of doing whatever squats with two dumbbells on top of each other and I just found that doing something that got my heart rate up that got my muscles sore I felt the release of what does that release? What's the chemical?
Bri Martey:What's the endorphins? Dopamine?
Maddie:Yes, one of them
Gabby:One of them we ain't scientists here
Maddie:Me in biological science Me in psychology,
Bri Martey:Literally
Maddie:And Gabby. Anyways, We are actually all scientists here, but having that release, and like I could feel physically better after every single session. Yeah, so I don't know Bree do you have a, what experience do you have.
Bri Martey:Oh man. I mean, so when the gyms close so my injury happened literally mid COVID I had surgery November 2020. So like that was like yeah, that was like right in it. And the gyms are closed and everything but also like being stuck in your house. Like actually stuck in your house on top of like having an injury like that. I had this massive cast like I had a big surgery. That was like a hard time for me like I had really bad depression at that time. And honestly, the only time that I did leave He was to go to my physio. And it wasn't something that I was used to because when I go to the gym or when I'm going to, like, do work or therapy, athletic therapy, it's like, because I'm going to do a big lift, or I'm gonna, you know, like, I'm going to be a lot more active. And literally, the only thing I would do at physio was like, move my arm 30 degrees out there. Yeah, there's literally it, yeah, like, Wouldn't even break a sweat? Well, I thought actually, and to be honest, that actually turned out to be one of the hardest things for me, because I had to learn how to like, literally use my body again, and be okay with that, like, I had a hard time accepting, okay, this is what your body can do for you right now. And I think a lot of people go through that, and especially with COVID, a lot of people's like, they're like, my body changed, or, you know, I gained weight, or I lost weight or something. And that's what happened to me. And I found out that it, there are times where you have to, like thank your body literally for just like, getting you up the next day. And you know, being able to walk down the street or being able to do anything, our bodies do incredible things. And that was something that I had to learn to be grateful for. Because I was so disappointed, I went from being this really high performing athlete to like static and not moving and wanting to move but being unable to. And it was slowly through sport, like you don't have to be like a marathon runner to get a release through sport or physical activity, it was slowly just going to my physio appointments, going for walks, doing my you know, like my therapy and stuff like that. And slowly but surely, like I was getting back. And I think that's a big thing that people kind of take for granted is just anything, any sort of like activity is helpful,
Maddie:kind of going with that idea for individuals who may not have the resources to go to a proper gym, or to get specific training, how can individuals still exercise and work out? I mean, like, for me, like during COVID, that's like, not really when I was into exercise, but I did I find myself like needing to like, move and like stay like sort of active. So I did a lot of yoga at home, which was like kind of like combining like mental Yeah, like mental and physical wellness. So like it was a way to keep my body moving. But it was also a way to like ease my mind. And it was as simple as like using YouTube and then just following like a routine on YouTube. And I would do that like on a daily basis, that fit what is my method as a YouTuber, and she has really, really great yoga videos and like mindfulness videos, so I'll plug that real quick. At mad fit, fit. But yeah, also, like meditation, like not obviously like not like physical but like meditating, like after doing yoga. And I always like describe meditating as like giving your brain a bath because I always say, I wish. I wish I could like scrub my brain sometimes I feel so like, not
Gabby:clean. The scrub daddy. Yeah. But one way to clean your brain is to meditate. That's, yeah,
Bri Martey:that's true. Yeah. Right. Like you just like taking everything that's just going on in your mind and stuff. And you're just like, I gotta clean this up. Yeah. I like that.
Gabby:So, Bree, I don't know why I rolled my 'r' like that Bree . So one final kind of question that we can build on? Do you have any suggestions for how folks can get into athletics and exercise as a way to improve mental health and well being?
Bri Martey:Oh, man, any suggestions? Um, well, first of all, I would say to start with, like, kind of figure out what your goal is. That's really that's, you know, really good. Yeah, I would say your own personal goal, like a lot of people. You see it popping up a lot now like fitness pages and stuff, and everyone has their own goal. But I would say like, find your own personal goal, like whether it's for my mental health for my you know, body, because all of those things do impact your mental health, but you want to make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons. And for yourself. Yes, you know, yeah. And then I would say to, like, be compassionate with yourself. Like, it is not easy to see results as soon as you want like, and then not notice them like it's, it's, it can be disappointing, right? But be compassionate and let yourself understand that. This is not something that's going to happen overnight, and find something that like you enjoy, I fell in love with biking the summer after COVID I would just explore my neighborhood I was like, these houses are NICE.
Maddie:What's this neighborhood?
Bri Martey:But I just explored and it was just something that was so, like, easy for me to be able to release. And I was doing exercise at that time I was, you know, being active at that time and it didn't feel like such a drag to like be outside and, you know, workout or like I was like, Oh God, I have to go to the gym, you know. So I would say that just find something, something as mundane as walking even around your block or something. And just make sure that it's for you for yourself. So you can fully feel that rewarding sensation.
Gabby:Oh, that's so true. I think also branch out and go beyond your comfort zone, find different ways of, of moving your body. I remember in COVID I was going for walks in the woods all the time, I didn't have a bike. So I was like, I really need to try something else. And my roommate had an extra pair of rollerblades. And my roommate used to be a speed skater. So she's got quads the size of three watermelons on each side. And she's, yeah, she's very strong. And I remember me on I literally looked like a flamingo with rollerblades on. But getting out there and just trying something new was a great way to move my body and I ended up really liking it. Have I done it since? No. But what I Yes.
Bri Martey:Go Flamingo
Gabby:go. Crazy. Nice. Well, I think that's gonna conclude this week's episode. Thank you everyone for tuning in. And thank you Bree for joining joining us
Bri Martey:Thanks for having me guys. Thank you.
Maddie:Do you want to say Outro?
Bri Martey:All right, well, be kind to your mind and we'll see you next time.
Gabby:Bye