Episode 26: Movement — Caring for Your Body Through Strength, Consistency & Joy

In this episode, Holly explores the topic of movement and how her relationship with exercise has transformed as she's gotten older. She shares how she shifted from exercising to change her appearance to moving her body out of care and self-investment. Holly walks through her current weekly routine — three days of incline treadmill walking and three days of simple strength training at home — and breaks down her three rotating workout plans covering lower body & core, upper body & core, and full body conditioning. She also talks about the importance of consistency over perfection, listening to your body, and finding movement you actually enjoy.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 – Welcome & intro: reframing movement as a gift
• 0:49 – Movement is about strength, not shrinking
• 1:13 – Holly's past relationship with exercise (dance & appearance)
• 1:54 – How her mindset shifted at 50: investing in future health
• 2:39 – All the workouts she's tried (CrossFit, Pilates, hot yoga, and more)
• 3:23 – Finding a realistic routine that fits her life
• 4:11 – Her weekly routine: 3 days cardio, 3 days strength
• 4:31 – Incline treadmill walking routine (details + Netflix trick)
• 6:22 – Strength training philosophy: build a body that carries you through life
• 7:06 – Why muscle matters as we age
• 8:02 – Workout 1: Lower body & core (goblet squats, deadlifts, glute bridges)
• 8:50 – Workout 2: Upper body & core (shoulder press, rows, push-ups)
• 9:33 – Workout 3: Full body conditioning (kettlebells, step ups, swings)
• 10:19 – Tips: choose challenging weights & slow down your reps
• 11:18 – Movement on off days: gardening, cleaning, walks after dinner
• 11:36 – Don't aim for perfection — just keep returning to it
• 12:22 – This week's challenge: find one movement you don't hate
• 13:11 – Closing thoughts: move with joy, bloom gently

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, friends, and welcome back to the NoraBloom Podcast. I'm Polly and I'm so happy you're here today. Recently, we've talked about nourishing ourselves through Whole Foods, intentional choices, and creating a deeper connection with how we can care for our bodies. And today I want to continue that conversation with another important piece of wellness. Movement. Not exercise as punishment, not exercise because we feel guilty, and not exercise because we ate something we think we shouldn't have. Movement because our bodies are amazing and they deserve to be cared for. I think somewhere along the way, many of us lost the joy of movement. Exercise became something we had to do, something we dreaded, or something connected to changing our appearance instead of appreciating what our bodies can do. And I want to shift that conversation a little bit because movement is a gift. Our bodies are designed to move, to walk, to lift, to stretch, to build strength, to explore, and to experience life. And the older I get, the more I realize that fitness isn't about becoming smaller, it's about becoming stronger. So my relationship with exercise has just completely changed. When I was younger, exercise was often about changing my body. I was in dance, I danced every day after school till 9 p.m. And it was pushed to the limits and it was different. It was something I had to do. I liked it, but it was still something I had to do. I had to look a certain way, I had to be fit, I had to be active, flexible, the whole thing. But it was always about how I looked. And it was always chasing a certain number on the scale. And if I was a few pounds over, I had to make big changes. And it was also about trying to fit into an area of what I thought I should be. But now my relationship with movement as a 50-year-old has completely changed. Today, exercise is about caring for myself, and I choose to do it because I want to. I want to have energy. I want to be strong. And I want to carry my groceries without struggling and asking for help. I want to garden, travel, hike, ride my bike, and enjoy my life. And I want a body that supports me. And that mindset shift has made movement feel completely different for me. Now you need to find a routine that you can actually maintain. And one thing I've learned is that the best workout is not necessarily the hardest workout. And look, I've tried everything. I've tried Orange Theory and I love these, all of these. I'm but I've tried them all. I've tried bar, I've tried yoga, I've tried hot yoga, I've tried CrossFit. I've tried every, well, probably not every online platform, but I have tried several online platforms for Pilates, ballet bar, um, weightlifting, strength training, you name it. I probably have tried it at least a few times. But I needed something realistic because my life is crazy and something it needed to fit in my crazy life. So something that I can still do next month or six months from now, years from now. And I have found a very simple routine, and this is where I am right now. Am I still working on getting it right? Yes. Do I skip days sometimes because life gets busy? Yes. However, I like it and I'm willing to do it because it makes me feel good. And right now, my schedule does not allow me to make a certain weekly class at a certain time. And it made me feel bad because I was always, I wasn't finishing anything or completing it or going weekly. So I needed to find something I could totally be in charge of. And even though I don't enjoy working out at home, I prefer a group. Working out from home has allowed me to continue it and not feel bad about it. It's literally walk down the steps to the basement. So here's my weekly movement routine. And right now I try to move my body six days a week. Three days are focused on cardiovascular health through walking. And that's either on a treadmill with an incline, or that is walking around the farm on the trails, or walking in the neighborhood with a friend, or a park. The other three days are focused on strength training. The goal is not exhaustion. The goal is consistent safe for me. So when I do my incline walking routine on the treadmill, I try to do this three days a week. I try to go for 45 minutes and I'll set the incline to 11 on the on the machine, and my pace is 2.8 miles per hour. I don't know. This just feels good. You need to adjust it. And sometimes I feel I can go a little faster. Um, it's just basically a steady walk uphill. I do not run, I do not sprint, I'm not looking to destroy myself. I'm 50. I just want consistent movement. And I'm gonna be honest, I put on Netflix and I watch a show. And right now it's I mean, anything, anything that keeps my mind off what I'm doing. And honestly, I kind of look forward to it. I try only to watch Netflix when I'm on the treadmill. So do you see that connection? I miss my Netflix, I go walk and then I can see them at the same time. I can do two things at once. So I look forward to it. And it's kind of become partially my quiet time also to reset. Um, I like to move my body and relax at the same time. I'm not gonna go until I can't breathe. So sometimes you make exercise so complicated, we forget it should actually feel good. Movement doesn't always have to be intense. Now, some people love this, but I think there's too much stuff going on in my life. So when I make space for something, I don't really want it to be intense right now. And maybe down the road this will change. And you need to ask yourself, do you like intensity or not? You got to do what's right for you. But right now, I don't want intense. I do not want like hard vinyasa yoga. I work all day. I do not want to hard work hard at yoga. I do not want to um go to a strength training class and and not be able to move after. Right now, this is where I'm at. But sometimes it can be simply showing up and just taking care of yourself. So the strength training that I'm doing, um, it just builds the body that can carry me through life, right? It's simple. Um, the three other days a week I try to strength train at home in my basement. I have three simple 30-minute workouts that I rotate and I don't spend time searching for a new workout every day. Eventually I'll get bored and change it, but I don't constantly change my routine. I can't handle like all that information. So I know what I'm doing, I show up, I get stronger, and I can see myself getting better at the repetitions instead of like struggling like I did in the beginning. So my strength training has become probably one of the most important parts of my wellness routine because muscle is something that we want to protect as we age. And strength helps us maintain independence. It supports our bones, improves balance, it helps us feel just capable. And I don't want to just look healthy, but I want to be healthy and I really want to feel strong in my everyday life. Now, I'll tell you about my three-day strength training plan, but I won't go into details. You can email me and I'll just send this to you. I'll send you my whole little Thrive plan. It's just on a Google document. It's nothing fancy, but I really find it simple. And if I can do it, you can definitely do it. And if you don't know what some of these movements are, just ask me for the email. And then all you have to do is Google it once or twice and you'll remember what it is because they have weird names. But um, and no, I didn't make up these names. So the first workout focuses. So the one I have three. Here's the first one. It's basically lower body and core. So the first workout focuses on building strength in my legs, glutes, and core. And these muscles support everything we do, right? From walking, climbing stairs to lifting and carrying. So most of these are three sets with either something like 10 to 12 reps. Okay. Again, details, just ask me for it, but I'll just give you the list in case you want to go off on your own. So it's goblet squats, Romanian deadlifts, reverse lunges, glute bridges are my favorite, plank I'm still working on, and dead bugs. So nothing flashy, but they work, okay? They're simple, foundational movements. And if you Google each of these, you'll get pictures, Instagram. There's so many people showing you perfect, the perfect way to do this. And you should look at those. So day two of my strength training, which is spread out through the week, is upper body and core. So the second workout focuses on building upper body strength and stability. Because as we get older, maintaining upper body strength becomes incredibly important. So being able to lift, carry, push, and pull is all part of living independently. So um dumbbell shoulder presses. And again, most of these are three sets, maybe 10 or 12 reps. So dumbbell shoulder press, bent over rows, push-ups, I'm terrible at this, I'm getting better. Bicep curls, tricep dips, rush and twists, those feel really good. Side plank, I'm getting better. And day three of my the rotation is full body conditioning. So the third workout brings everything together. It challenges strength, coordination, and endurance. And I love kettlebells. So I do probably three sets, 10 reps or 10 on each side or legs. So kettlebell deadlift to high pull, love those. Step ups, those are fine. Dumbbell chest presses, kettlebell swings, love those. And three rounds of squats, push-ups, and side planks. Side planks get me every time. But anyway, it's challenging enough to make me stronger. I certainly am not doing it perfectly. Sometimes I can't even do as many as I would like, but I'm doing them correctly and I'm building on top of that. But anyway, it's not overwhelming and I don't, I don't mind doing it. And I mean, that's what matters, right? You don't hate it. So here's some little things that make a difference. A few things that have helped me get more out of my strength workouts is first choosing weights that feel challenging. Don't make it easy. Make it harder and do less of them and then work your way up. So I pick things that are super heavy, but it's not impossible. So, you know, too light can feel like nothing, but you want the weight to require some effort. And the second is just slowing down, right? So instead of rushing through each movement, I try to focus on slow lowering phases for about like three seconds. And that small adjustment makes a huge difference. And sometimes we don't really need to do more. We just need um to be more present with what we're already doing. So movement on the days in between workouts. On my non-strength days, I still prioritize movement. Sometimes it's treadmill or walk outside, and sometimes it's just being active. Maybe it's just a really busy day and I'm all over the place. Gardening counts, look, cleaning counts. Sometimes I vacuum my house twice a day. And playing outside counts with my granddaughter, twirling, I count that. Taking a walk after dinner counts. Every little bit matters. Just move that body. The goal isn't perfection, okay? This is where many people get discouraged. First of all, don't look at Instagram. I I get so discouraged with Instagram. We can talk about that later. I won't get off on that tangent, but don't do things that discourage you. Things like you miss a workout, you get busy, you fall out of your routine, and then you think you failed. But look, wellness isn't about perfection, but just keep returning to it. Keep continuing, but just keep moving forward. It's about creating habits that support your life instead of taking over your life. And there'll always be seasons where routines change or you get bored. That's normal. The goal isn't uh to be perfect, it's to keep caring for yourself. So here's a simple challenge. This week, I want to encourage you to find one way to move your body that feels good that you don't hate, or something that you you don't feel pressured to do, but something that feels supportive. For example, take a walk, lift some weights, stretch a little bit, dance, garden, or um, try something new and just start small because the small things done consistently create bigger changes. Okay, so your body is the home where you live every single day. It carries you through your memories, your adventures, your relationships, your dreams. And you know what? It deserves care, patience, and movement. So don't think of exercise as something that you have to do for your body. Think of movement as something that you get to do for your body. And thank you so much for spending time with me today. This one was a little different. It was long and complicated, but I hope it encouraged you that you might want to share it with someone who might need the reminder that wellness doesn't have to be complicated. Remember, simple, steady, sustainable. Those are the habits that create a healthy life. Until next time, move with joy, care for yourself with kindness, and I was all and I'll see you in the next episode. And if you would like my rundown of exercises that is not fancy, just a Google document, just email me.