17: Men vs Women in the Gym: How Biology Changes Strength, Metabolism, Recovery & Longevity

Should men and women train differently?

The answer is more nuanced than most fitness advice makes it sound.

In this episode of The Ageless Woman Podcast, Dr. Cindy Grow sits down with Lauren Lindsay, Lead Movement and Wellness Specialist at My Venus Club, and Ted Dreaver, founder of Iron Legion Strength + Combat in Ocala, Florida, to explore how biological sex, hormones, age, recovery, metabolism, muscle mass, and life stage can influence the way we exercise.

This conversation breaks down what men and women have in common when it comes to movement—and where their training needs may differ.

Together, we discuss:

• Why men and women may respond differently to the same exercise program
• How hormones influence strength, energy, recovery, and metabolism
• Why women should not be afraid of lifting heavy weights
• How perimenopause and menopause can affect exercise tolerance, muscle, bone, and recovery
• Why men may need to adjust training as they age
• The role of testosterone, estrogen, sleep, stress, and nutrition in performance
• Why muscle is essential for longevity and metabolic health
• How resistance training supports bone density, balance, insulin sensitivity, and independence
• Why cardio alone is not enough for optimal healthspan
• How under-eating and overtraining can impair recovery in both women and men
• Why movement quality, mobility, core strength, and pelvic-floor health matter
• How couples can train together while following different prescriptions
• The difference between training hard and training intelligently
• Why soreness is not the best measure of an effective workout
• What people over 40, 50, and 60 should know about preserving strength and physical capacity

We also tackle some of the biggest fitness myths, including:

Do women need lighter weights and higher repetitions?
Do women need to cycle-sync every workout?
Does cardio prevent muscle gain?
Is walking enough to preserve muscle and bone?
Do men really need mobility work?
Is it too late to get stronger after 60?
Does a good workout have to leave you sore?

The answer to many of these questions comes back to one principle:

Train the person—not the stereotype.

Men and women share the same foundational needs for strength, cardiovascular health, mobility, nutrition, sleep, and recovery.

But the way those foundations are applied may need to change based on:

hormones...age...injury history...training experience...symptoms...goals...

and recovery capacity.

That individualized approach is exactly why movement is such an important part of the My Venus Club philosophy.

At My Venus Club, healthspan is not simply about living longer.

It is about maintaining the strength, energy, mobility, metabolic health, and physical independence needed to stay actively engaged in life.

Whether you are navigating perimenopause or menopause, trying to build muscle after 50, experiencing declining energy, starting strength training for the first time, or simply looking for a smarter way to exercise for longevity, this episode will help you understand how to train with greater purpose.

Because the goal is not simply to work harder.

The goal is to understand what your body needs—and train accordingly.

As Dr. Grow always says:

“You can’t optimize what you don’t understand.”

Listen & Learn More

🎙️ Listen to The Ageless Woman Podcast:
https://www.myvenusclub.com/podcast

🌐 Learn more about My Venus Club:
https://www.myvenusclub.com

🏋️ Learn more about Iron Legion Strength + Combat in Ocala, Florida:
https://ironlegionsc.com

Podcast Medical Disclaimer

Before we go, a quick reminder:

The information shared on The Ageless Woman Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Every person is different, and recommendations related to exercise, hormones, nutrition, supplements, medications, or wellness strategies should be discussed with a qualified healthcare professional who understands your personal medical history, current health status, medications, and individual goals.

Participation in any exercise or fitness program carries potential risks. If you have a medical condition, are experiencing pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, unusual fatigue, or other concerning symptoms, please seek appropriate medical evaluation before beginning or changing your exercise program.

The views expressed by podcast guests are their own and may not necessarily represent the views of My Venus Club.

Listening to this podcast does not establish a patient-provider relationship with Dr. Cindy Grow, My Venus Club, or any guest appearing on the program.

Always use good judgment, listen to your body, and seek professional guidance when needed.

Thank you for listening to The Ageless Woman Podcast.

 © My Venus Club. All rights reserved.
Learn more at www.myvenusclub.com | Follow The Ageless Woman Podcast for weekly conversations on women's hormones, menopause, longevity, metabolic health, and healthy aging. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Welcome to the Ageless Women Podcast, where modern science meets timeless self-care for limitless vitality. I'm Dr. Cindy Grow, a board certified nurse practitioner and the founder of My Venus Club. This is a space for women who are ready to understand what's actually happening in their bodies and finally get real answers. If you've been told your labs are normal that this is just a part of aging, or that you just need to try harder, and if you've sat through those 15-minute appointments, left with just another prescription to manage symptoms, or maybe feel like you've lost a part of yourself, you're in the right place. Before we begin, just a quick note this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to replace personalized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider regarding your individual health needs. Here we go deeper. We connect the dots between your hormones, your metabolism, your genetics, and your lifestyle so you can stop guessing and start feeling like yourself again. So let's get started. Welcome back to the Ageless Woman Podcast. Whether this is your first episode or you've been with me from the beginning, I'm so glad you're here. If you've been listening before, you already know that my mission isn't simply to tell you what to do. My mission is to help you understand why. Because when you understand your biology, you become an active participant in your health, not simply a passive recipient of health care. And like I always say, you can't optimize what you don't understand. So let's dive in. Today we're talking about movement, but this is not simply a conversation about burning calories or losing weight. We're going to talk about movement as medicine. Men and women share the same basic need to become stronger, improve heart health, preserve mobility, maintain muscle, protect bone. But men and women are biologically different. Different in hormones, muscle mass, body composition, reproductive physiology, metabolism, but at the same time, not every man is the same and not every woman is the same. So this episode is not about placing people in rigid pink or blue workout categories. It's about understanding biology while still training the individual. And I have two incredibly knowledgeable guests joining me to explore this topic. First, I'm excited to welcome back someone who is an important part of my Venus Club, our lead movement specialist, Lauren Lindsay. Lauren has nearly a decade of experience in Pilates, strength training, movement coaching, and corrective exercise. And at my Venus Club, she helps our members build strength, improve mobility, restore health movement patterns, and create exercise routines that feel sustainable and supportive rather than punishing. She helps women learn how to understand their bodies, trust their bodies, and build the strength required to live with greater confidence and independence. Lauren, welcome back to the Ageless Women Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Always an honor to be here.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Thanks for being here. And I'm also very excited to welcome Ted Drever, founder, owner, and coach extraordinaire at Iron Legion Strength and Combat here in Ocala. Ted founded Iron Legion in 2012 and has grown into a coaching and training community that works with both men and women across a wide range of ages, experience levels, and performance goals. Iron Legion's philosophy is about much more than completing a workout. It's built around strength, discipline, accountability, and community. And what Ted calls forging better humans. And I absolutely love that. What stood out to me is that Iron Legion doesn't begin by handing every new client the same generic program. Their coaches first try to understand the person, where they are, where they want to go, and what may be standing in their way. So, Ted, welcome to the Ageless Women Podcast.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Thank you. I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Me too. And for listeners who may not know about your story, can you give us a little background on your philosophy about forging better humans?

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Um, the way that we look at our programs at Iron Legion, um it's extremely niche in the sense that uh there's a lot of different ways to look at fitness, and no, I don't believe that there's really wrong ways to look at it. Skip people moving, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Um, but for me, the um when I look at the human body and the way that the human body's been designed, I feel like that pinnacle is or that ultimate piece is survival. Your body's designed to survive. A part of that is being mobile and actually being able to fight and defend yourself. Um the ultimate mobility is gonna be able to get on the ground, to grapple, to be able to move around, do things like that, that and you need to be able to do that to be able to survive, to be able to maintain your existence on this planet. Um to have those types of mobility habits, um, a lot of people in our modern era they don't really want to lay hands on people. So we try to find ways to get people mobile using a lot of those same disciplines that we would do in a fight culture, but in a more hands-off style culture, right? So mobility, strength, and all that type of stuff is what we're gonna focus on, but also the discipline and the commitment that it takes to understand why I would want to move like this, right? So it's just a uh it's a different look at fitness. Um, what's the apex human to us? Forging a better human is one that's extremely mobile, very strong, very confident, um, can command a pretty good setting, and can also defend themselves at any given time. And we try to actually push our members to get into a fight scenario if they can, not obviously get in fights, but in training fights.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Right training type scenarios.

SPEAKER_03 6:16

Um if they do. But they'll look most of our guys don't. You know, most of our women and our guys they're they're very um they're open to it, but they don't want to necessarily do the fight training. So it's for them, our scenario, what we've laid out training-wise, is is very palatable in that they don't have to actually put their hands on people, but the ones that do do very well with it.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

So I love and that's so good. Okay, so we're gonna dive into this, but I want to explain why movement is such an essential part of my Venus Club, which Ted so eloquently explained from a human perspective. But at My Venus Club, we don't just look at hormones, metabolism, nutrition, sleep stress. Exercise isn't isolated, it is part of everything. So if a person isn't moving, they're gonna lose muscle mass, they're gonna become weaker, and that's gonna affect all the things that Ted just said balance, um, their ability to think, be strong, move quickly, get up off the ground, which is so critically important. And health span, again, that's not just the number of years you're living, but that is living long and being healthy and feeling good. So let's jump in and get started. Let's talk about first how women and men are slightly different, the biological differences, of course. On average, men tend to have greater muscle mass, higher hemoglobin levels, stronger, more powerful output. Um, a lot of that's due to testosterone, as we know. And women may begin with lower muscle mass and maybe not as strong, but it doesn't mean women can't become extremely strong as well. So, Ted, I'll ask you first. When a man and a woman are performing the same basic movements, such as squats, deadlifts, presses, things like that, what remains the same and what variables do you see may need to be changed or how their workouts might be a little different?

SPEAKER_03 8:16

On the basic uh push-pull squat uh style movements, foundational movements. I don't know that the the points of performance change very much.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Um I would see obviously percentage of weight is gonna change significantly. Uh now that depends on how long you've been training too. There's some women over there that outlift our men. Wow. But um but that's not the that's very rare. You know, on your average, we usually look at you know about a 70-30 split on weight. Um, you know, there's a a female's probably lifting about, I'm sorry, 30% less than a male would, right? So that's sort of like a a weight split. Okay. Just a little math equation that we would typically do on something as basic as those foundational movements. But the their points of performance, how they squat, where they hold the bar, what type of tools they're gonna use is gonna be very similar. I just think the weight itself is what's gonna change it. But again, you know, and and again, environment comes into play too. It's how has that person treated their life more so than gender? Right. You know, I think there's those are some of the things that we're really looking for when people come into the gym too. Like how are you moving? Can you move properly? Can you hit those parts?

SPEAKER_00 9:21

What their health status is too, probably when they come in.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't say that gender is gonna definitely be the defining role or or what's gonna change anything there on those particular three movements, but environmental factors might, you know, how they've lived their life.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Okay. Makes sense. And Lauren, for you, when we're working with women or when you're seeing women um training them or members, um, what do you see in a woman? We often hear them being nervous about doing strength training because they don't want to become get bulky. How do you handle that? Because strength training is so incredibly important for women. It's like the number one thing, I think. Well, I just tell them they won't because they're not a man. That's that's a really good point.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

I also say the same thing. That is so good if you guys are. It's gonna be really hard for you to pull that off.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yeah, yeah. And then I hear, well, do I look like a man? And they say, Well, no. I love it when people interested in this.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

That's so important. I'm so glad. Because that's a huge concern for women. So um, let's move into a topic that's not often talked about in women's fitness, but it's important um for women that have menstrual cycles. So, Lauren, we'll start with you on this one. How can a woman become more aware of when she's having her menstrual cycle? It's okay to still continue to train and how she's going to um alter her energy level because her energy level will be different during that time of the month and her mood. So, what are some things that we can tell women to um expect and it's okay and why movement is still critical during that time? Maybe just a different type of movement.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, I would say that to really just honor yourself and your cycle where you are in your cycle, and if you're feeling drained, like your energy is drained because of your cycle, that to just maybe just go for a walk or do like a slower flow. Um, I wouldn't say to lift a lot heavier that day or anything. Maybe you're just maintaining uh a lighter weight just to get some movement in. I wouldn't make that your like heavy lifting day. Good. Yeah. Yeah. But important to continue that movement, get yourself up and get it. But also resting is good. So yes, you know, we need the rest to to build the muscle, the recovery.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

That's an important part of all of it. Yeah, we're gonna talk about recovery because I think that's thing uh something men and women both miss a lot of. And Ted, as a male coach, how do you navigate that with women when you're noticing stuff with women in a cycling age? Or do you notice differences in them? Like when you're coaching the high school girls' team where we were just talking about before we started the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

Funny story.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

I was gonna say, I can't wait to hear this.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

It was just that right before this, uh, one of my lifters, she's excellent. I've taken her to a lot of meets. When she's at the meet, she does very well. She's probably gonna break a lot of state records this year. Um, but today we're doing a mock meet, and she hits her first one and completely misses two easy ones right afterwards. Okay. And just after a third one, she's completely frustrated, and she lays back and throws her face back into the sky, and she's like, It's cussing on my period. And I'm like, That's funny. I'm about to have this conversation. I know I'm gonna have this conversation literally right now. Um, so yes, I do deal with it. I deal with it quite a bit, but the problem with being a man is like it's not as you don't have a lot of females say, Hey, today I'm on my period.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Typically, they just want to push through. I mean, I'm trying to push through. I've done that so much in my life. Like, oh, I'm just gonna keep running, I'm just gonna keep lifting.

SPEAKER_03 13:12

Yeah, and that's what I'm when you were talking a minute ago. I wanted to like interrupt and just ask a question because I really do want to know, like genuinely, is it is it fatigue? I mean, are you genuinely fatigued? Is it is it distraction? Is it just do I feel do you feel overwhelmed during that time? What are those feelings during that? You're just tired.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Yeah, I mean you have to think you like or like your iron is low. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

From a scientific perspective, a lot of women of that age become iron deficient and anemic. And so they just don't have the hemoglobin to carry the oxygen to get them to perform the way they're typically performing.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

And if they're like if they struggle with cramps or they have any kind of issues and their cramps are really bad, you know, they just don't feel good. Also, dehydration is another big one.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

But it has all the outliers of and it looks like this, it's it looks the same as stress.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

It does. You know, so when I've got a female that's potentially that's potentially going through a lot of shit in her life, right? A lot of stuff's going on, um they'll kind of react the same way on the floor. And it's I can't tell the difference between the two.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah, between a man does that and he's not on this period. No, but I'm not talking about a guy, like a girl, like talk about that.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Um we can get into that for me. I'm talking about we're talking about women specifically. Like, so like women, so I don't know how to broach the subject. I can't just look at a woman and go, you're probably on your period, right? I'm just gonna make the assumptions like it could just be a hard day, right? It could just be just a bad day, like that's and then then I'm doing that anyway, so I'm always looking for that. So whether you're on your period or you're not, as a coach, you're kind of kind of lean in and okay, so we're talking about hitting 70% percentages today. How about instead of doing 70% percentages, we go to uh RPE, um uh perceived exertion? How do we do something like that? Go to it feels like that's enough for you today, and then we'll worry about tomorrow. Let's work on that. So, like that's kind of what we what I try to do with any of mine, whether they're male or female, it doesn't matter. But I mean, but I do look for those types of things, and it's all I've always been curious is it really it's exhaustion? And I you clarified it. I guess like I could have asked, but you just feel tired and overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yes, and just to kind of give you an idea, Ted, from a science perspective. So day one, when a woman starts her period, that's day one when she starts bleeding. Her estrogen and testosterone start to climb. So when you get a woman training around day 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14, as she's moving into ovulation, her hormones are raging around that time, her testosterone and estrogen is very high. So she's gonna perform really well right around that time.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

14 days after.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yes. We're somewhere between 10 and 14 is the optimal time that she's gonna be. Yeah, that's like we're super social, we're typically like in the mood for sex, we're ready to go, we're gonna be able to do that. We're feeling great. Yes. So that's like the perfect time. Women feel amazing and strong and very social and ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Interesting. Yes, okay. I mean, I could probably get into all these things at some point, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

I mean, it really is interesting because like a woman is always cycling. Yes. Like she's always in that cycle, high and low, high and low, high and low. So it's never like, you know, it is true that women need more sleep because of that cycle, because our body is always working through that and like dumping and then replenishing and then dumping and replenishing. So when your wife says she needs more sleep, she really does.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Oh, I know she does. That's no question there. Yes. That's one of the hardest working women I've ever met in my life, my wife. Oh, I would love to see her get some more sleep.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

She is, she works so hard. Yeah, she really does. Okay, so we were talking about women in the age with menstrual cycles. Let's fast forward a little bit and talk about women that are perimenopausal or postmenopausal, so a little bit older, women in their 40s and 50s, still having all those hormonal changes. Um, but uh different.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Different.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Very different. So for Ted, when you are working with women that are a little bit older, do you find that you have to do make some of those changes as well? Do you notice differences between the men and women in their 40s, 50s, and even into their 60s with changes? Or I'm sure you have to evaluate everyone's different when they come in, their baseline health status is different.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

Um pretty much when you're working in a training environment like that, you're evaluating everybody every day. It's how they feel when they come in the door. And like I said, I mean, that sometimes it's not gonna be hitting set percentages and set numbers that day. You know, maybe that person didn't get enough sleep that night, or their parents died last week, or their kids are sick, or they any of these numbers or factors that go into play is really gonna take a huge toll on how they move. Um typically when I actually see, you know, when you get in your forties and fifties, your more of your life is settled, I'd say. Yes. Um, there's a lot less stress, there's a lot less just dumb shit, and you're not making up a lot of extra shit in your life to make it worse. When you're younger, you tend to do that anyway. But when you get into your 40s and 50s, I feel like your career's more set. Your kids are probably older and out of the house, they're not adding in extra stress to your life, and you're you're gonna find a lot calmer, more put together people at that age, I think. Um and they're more open in huh. Or you just don't get it. Or you just yeah, or you're just dead inside. Yeah, you can be dead inside because you've just gone through all of it. And I feel like they're a lot more open. I feel like they're more open to being coached. I feel like they're more open to uh a coach saying, Hey, Wayne, what are you going through? Can we work through you know I would like for you to make these adjustments and do these things. I think they're more pleasurable to coach when they're at that age um and more open to it because they know that you can see it, especially when you're around their age too.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

Um more miles, more wisdom.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

Yeah. I but again, you know, because we're moderating moderating every single person that comes through the door all the time when it comes to an ace thing, that's really the difference that I would see is demographically like they they're a little more open to coaching at that age than and which is great, I think.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Because there's more value to the hour you have with them, they're gonna listen more, versus a 20-year-old that's like, I gotta go, man. I got kids at home, I've got all this thing I gotta do. Uh I may have told you I'm gonna be here for an hour, but I really only got 25 minutes of real brain time to give you, you know, try to squeeze it all in. So I hope I answered your question. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Yep, that's good. Warren, what about you? Well, I was just gonna add to that. Also, I find that like when you when you get into that stage of life, you are like wanting to come back to yourself because you've been outputting for so long for everybody else that you're finally like, okay, it's my turn. And then you're really ready to just invest in yourself. Especially for women, yes, women a lot. I mean maybe your same for men feel like I believe so. Good.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

I think your peak athletic performance typically in men and female uh females probably 40s, men probably 45-ish, somewhere in there. Like you're probably at your peak of your athletic performance because of that, right? You're able to like you've probably got a little more time on your hands. You have more time to do things, you're a little bit more settled, right? Right? Your life is more settled, your house is probably settled, that type of stuff. And and then obviously 50s are gonna be better than that. So yeah, I think I agree with you.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Oftentimes you're giving so much to your family, your children, your spouse, that you're last on the list and you don't have that.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

They're in their 20s and 30s. Like it's okay to prioritize yourself.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

It is.

SPEAKER_03 20:59

If you as a mom or you as a dad would prioritize yourself first, your family's gonna get better, your job's gonna get better, everything's gonna get better, but you've got to take care of you first.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

You have to.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

You have to. And then everything else is.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

That's great advice.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

You can't take care of others if you're not taking care of yourself first. I tell that to students and patients all the time.

unknown 21:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

Self-care is so important.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

I I like to tell women that if they s if their children see them taking care of them, then their children will know that it's important to take care of them. But if their children do not see the mom taking care of mom, then the children will grow up not taking care of themselves. So I feel like it's the best example to because when I look at my children, I don't like I want them to know it's okay to take care of you. Like you need to take care of yourself. But if I'm not displaying that, I'm just taking care of everybody else all the time, all the time, all the time, then they're gonna think that's what they're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

So I feel like that is the best way for me to get across to moms. Because you can say you got to take care of yourself first, because then everybody else won't be okay if you're not okay. But that doesn't really hit home. It's when you say you are actually setting an example for how your child is gonna take care of themselves.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Yes. So important the same in relationships. So your children seeing healthy, affectionate, positive relationships between their parents. And so that's important too. Because you're right, you're an example for your child. Yeah. So important. They're gonna mimic you. They are, they are. Let's roll into talking about men because men age, men have the same types of changes going on. Ted, you're gonna have to tell us about that.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

I don't know. I in my brain I'm still 17, but in the mirror every morning, I'm 50.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

So you look 17.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

I'm trying to hold on to it.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

So that that's a great question for you then. So what happens when a man is in his 40s and 50s, which we store sort of touched on, and how do you train him and talk to him? Because I see oftentimes as men start to age, they still feel like, hey, I'm that 20-year-old athlete that I used to be, and they're pushing themselves like that. Do you see that? Do you have to talk to them, change it up, or how do you work with men in that regard? And what do you what changes do you see from a 20-something year old to a 40 to 50 something year old?

SPEAKER_03 23:25

I see it a lot. Um when you get to the 50s, you know, you're not gonna be, you're not gonna be pushing the weight or holding the intensity uh that a lot of these younger guys can do. You just can't. Um there's some anomalies out there for sure, but you know, trying to keep up with 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds in the gym or on sports floor is you know, once you get past your 50-year mark, it's it's really tough. Um, I come from a unique perspective in that I'm in my 50s. I'm still a high-level athlete. I'm uh uh I just won Strongman Nationals for U.S. this year. So um but I while that's said, I also try to explain to my guys on the floor that hey, I still have my own weight class in my age group.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Right.

SPEAKER_03 24:09

So if they would have dropped me in a 20-year-old age group, an open age group, the weights would have been significantly higher, right? The times would have been significantly faster. There would have been a lot of different pieces that are put in there. So you got to put that stuff into perspective, guys. And it's even in sport, they start adjusting for age. So keep an eye on that. You know, you're not um, you know, at 50 years old, pay attention to your peer group, right? Who are you around at 50 years old? You're here in the gym and you're banging it out with 20, 30 year old kids and you're keeping up and you're doing good, right? But there's no reason to get disgruntled because you don't win everything you do in here because you're not able to keep up. Right. At the end of the day, look who you're walking around. They're they look 10 times older than they already are. Most of them can't even get up and down without using their hands or some groaning factor to get out of a chair, right? So like there's just you're doing quite well. So, but that I think that takes consistency. I I do talk about that a lot. Um, I have guys in there will have conversations where won't we have conversations like that where it's like And consistency is key, like remember who you're around and being consistent. Yes, yeah. And don't get caught up in your when I'm training, right? Where we've got a group of people in the gym, I promise you, this small group does not look like outside four walls, right? When you go out to Walmart, compare yourself against the people you see at Walmart. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Oh my gosh, I love that you say I say that all the time. I'm like, when I need to feel better about myself. Go walk. Go to Walmart.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Go to the mall. Go to Walmart, go where people walk around.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

That's true. Go to a restaurant. It's so sad. And another place that I see it all the time is Disney. Go to Disney with the grandkids, and I just cannot believe it's glutening. Oh my gosh, it's awful. It's it's terrible. Yes. That's could be a whole podcast.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

That's just well, it's important for people too. They've got to remember that. Yeah. But that's a good thing. That's why you want to surround yourself with people like that. While they are a small group, um, we all want to hold each other accountable. We all want to get better, and we all want to make sure that we we can take care of ourselves and we can do all these things because outside no one cares.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

No, and hopefully, hopefully over time we'll be able to influence them, some of the people that aren't caring right now and get them to care. Because I know what's inevitable if they continue on that path and it's not a good path.

SPEAKER_03 26:24

They know too, that's the thing. I know.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Well, I was gonna say, do you find that um the men that you're saying in the 50s compared to 20s and 30s, do you find that they need to fuel themselves differently? Like with what they put in their bodies, like food, protein, like is it a different I think Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

I think I don't think they need near as much. You know, metabolism burning really fast in your 20s and 30s. Um, you know, you got you have to watch your macro splits, you probably have a lot higher macro need. Um but your you know, your 50s and 60s, you may not need as much. It's still gonna be quite a bit if you're training hard, obviously, don't get me wrong. But I think at that point, now it's time to start looking at rest. Like how are you sleeping? Where are you getting enough sleep? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

Um for both men and women.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Yeah, both. I would assume uh yeah, I would I would agree. So, you know, did you get a good night's rest? How many good nights rest do you get in a week? You know, these are indications of maybe overtraining, too much stress at home, things like that. That that how you feel when you wake up in the morning should be your your ongometer, right? Like how how is this thing turning over? Am I doing okay? Um, I have consistently restless nights of sleep. You're probably overtraining, you got too much anxiety in your life, maybe too much stress somewhere. Something's got to be adjusted.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Adrenalines.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

That's what I would be looking for in my 50s, I think. 20s can kind of counter that.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

I mean, your 20s and 30s, I guess, like earlier 30s, probably. Like, I feel like you're just resilient. Like it doesn't matter what you put in your body, your body is going to be. Yeah, it's just gonna go. But as you get older, it's I feel like the better the fuel, the better the performance and the recovery.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Yes. And from a science perspective, if you think about it when you're younger, your cellular health is better. You haven't had the environmental toxic exposure that you have when you're in your 40s and 50s. Your liver is healthier. You're not depleted. You're not, yes. All of those things. So when you are much more resilient from that age, and in that age because of that. And then men and women have differences too in how their body utilizes um energy and what they use for energy. Women use fat oxidation much more efficiently than men do. Men are much um more efficient with carbohydrate breakdown and utilization than women. Not to say nothing. And that doesn't mean women lose fat more or easier than men at all, that just their b biology works slightly different. So, and then again, when you're younger, your body is working much more efficiently from a science perspective. Usually, now there are some younger people that are unhealthy and not well because of many other factors, but typically that's how that works. Um, so from a men's perspective, Lauren, I wanted to ask you do you see what do you see men lacking in regards to exercise? What do you see is an area that men tend to not focus on as much that you think is an important focus they should look at?

SPEAKER_01 29:33

Mobility.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Okay. Okay. Same thing.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Yeah. Mobility for sure. Yeah. I mean, they just don't do it. I mean, I think it's just ego, but you know, they don't want to take the time to slow down and really focus on the functional movements and the rest, like we were talking about. They just want to focus on the superficial muscles, you know, which are great. They want to work on it.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

The rush oftentimes comes with that too.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

But there's a whole nother world to being well-rounded and fitness.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

So with mobility is key. And you do you see that a lot too, Ted? Do you have to bring men back to think about hey, flexibility and mobility are key to really being a good athlete and being healthy?

SPEAKER_03 30:20

Yes. Yeah. Mobility is something we ignore as as men, women do. Yeah. You know, especially when you're you're down to an hour of training time in the gym or 30 minutes of training time in the gym, what's the thing you're gonna cut? You're gonna cut the thing you don't want to do. It's gonna be mobility. And you're just gonna jump right to the weight. Yeah. And that's just a it's bad. Um so our training style, our program, the way that, like I said in the beginning, it's all designed on functional training. Um, I put it in there. So it's in there whether you don't know you're doing it. Um we have what we call get off your ass training. Um, being able to get off of the ground without your hands. So we call it get your get your hands, get your ass off the ground training. So um, you're on the ground, you have to find ways to get on and off the ground without your hands, whether we're doing rocket chairs, elevator setups, where we're doing Turkish get up style work, we're doing different things that you're being very mobile, and then we're gonna load you up. You've got to do things with that too, but you don't realize you are working with mobility doing that. Um, but another big factor is if you can't get on and off the ground, two big things that I watch for with anybody that comes in our gym.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

I'm high-fiving you in my head. Yeah, I am.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

You gotta be able to get on and off the ground without your hands, and you should also be able to hang, you should be able to hang your body weight. Grip strength, yes. Grip strength, just being able to hang off of a pull-up bar for a given period of time. I want you to be able to hang and you should be able to get your body up and down like that. Those are two things that'll tell you right away how is your body aging. If you're in your 30s and you're not able to hang off of that bar for more than 10 seconds, we've got an issue. We've got to start to address. Do you still get it? I do. Yeah. If I can't get you on and off the ground and you're in your late 20s, early 30s, you can't get on and off the ground without your hands. We've got something we need to address really quickly. And it's mobility. And we can address it relatively quickly. If we are in the program, you're gonna within the first two weeks, I've got you doing those movements. You'll be able to get that. Now we need to keep it. Right? You have to hold on to it. At some point, the problem with modern culture is you know, as soon as you learned how to walk, somebody threw a chair underneath your ass and told you to sit in it. Yeah, you never got on and off the ground again. We gotta put that back because that that is such an essential part of being able to defend yourself. Yeah. To be able to get off of the ground if you're hurt, all these types of things. You that's very, very important. So again, it's just an age thing.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

So No, it's super important. And from a provider perspective, as people continue to age, one of the biggest things is when I see an older person go to a cane or a walker, that's the kiss of death. Because now they're not using their core muscles anymore, they're not building their strength anymore because they're putting everything on their cane or their walker, and they lose it very quickly. So that's like a very last resort. I'm always trying to get people no, you don't want to stay on the cane forever. The cane might be there post-surgery, but the goal is to get off the cane, to get off the walker. Because once you lose that mobility and strength, yeah, it's not good.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

I do the same thing in my Pilates classes. Um every classroom transition from floor to standing series is you're gonna rock and roll yourself. Three rock and rolls all the way up to your feet, no hands if you can. That's what I say.

SPEAKER_03 33:28

Yeah, it's a rocket chair.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

And I say so because the most important thing to practice is getting up and down off of the floor. Because if you can't do that, then you're close to death.

SPEAKER_03 33:37

Yes, you are. You're I mean you're trending. You're trending the wrong way.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

It's true.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

But sometimes you have to say it that way because you got to cut through the noise.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

How important it is. It's critical. Another thing I think is really important that we should all touch on is breath work when we're exercising. And I I think it's such a huge part of exercising properly. You know, the proper mechanics, the proper breathing. It's so important. And again, it has impact on your health and wellness, how you perform and all that as well as you can't you can hurt yourself if you're not breathing properly. I've had a couple different patients that have had complete workups for having headaches when they're working out, everything came back normal. None of the providers talk to them about, hey, are you exercising? Take me through how you're breathing when you exercise. And it's because they're not breathing properly. So can you guys talk a little bit about breath work when you're exercising? Because I think that's so important. People don't know enough about it and don't think about it.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

Who wants to go first? Yes. I mean, it's a big part of everything that I teach.

SPEAKER_03 34:50

I mean, it is ours as well, but I mean I feel like it's kind of a really core tenant of Pilates, isn't it? Pacing your breathing and your breakfast.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

But also for me, I mean, straight strength training and kettlebell, everything that I teach, it's we always, you know, match the movement to the breath. It's always match your movement to your breath. I I probably I can't even tell you how many times that's all the time in my life. You're saying it all the time. Yeah, so and people do not know how to breathe. They literally don't know how to breathe. They'll breathe or they'll hold their breath when it's hard. And I think we learned that when we're young and we're little, like we just grit and hold, and when things get stressful, and then our body holds on to that tension. And so the breathing, when you want to get really deep into your core, that all starts with breath work. And we do that a lot in Pilates, but also in strength.

SPEAKER_03 35:40

We do too. Yeah. So I mean, I'm big on you're doing strength work, you know, one breath per rep is what I want to see. One breath per rep. If I'm going for a back squat and I'm doing a three rep max, I want one big solid breath per rep. And I want to fill those lungs with air. When I get to the top, I'm gonna exhale all of it. I'm gonna re-grape a breath and I'm gonna go back down. Beginners, when they first start out, they're trying to get all three done in that first breath. Well, they might not be able to get past the first one and they're out of exhaustion, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

They gotta learn that lesson. Like you gotta, you have to breathe. But then kettlebell works, kettlebell swings, trying to pace your breathing based on when are your lungs the longest, right? When you're in the low position, this is probably not the best place, but as you're coming up, right, your lungs are the longest, and we're back down. So it's like trying to pace and learn how your body's moving and how your lungs are working. So we'll work through those things. I have specific exercises that are set up to um only give you one opportunity to breathe. Now that sounds bad. Give me a second. So at the end, I will have um you're you're working a circuit. You get through the end of the circuit, and then I'm gonna have you hold your breath for 10 seconds, and then there's no rest afterwards. You're gonna go right back and start that circuit over. Right? But what I'm looking for is I don't, I'm not saying you can't breathe during your circuit. Breathe during your circuit, but learn how to breathe during that circuit so that when you hold your breath for those 10 seconds, you can it'll have more value when you begin your work on the other side of it. You'll start to find how and when to catch the breath and make the the oxygen last longer so that when you get to this, there's no other rest that you get outside of in between your reps. Not for transitions, no, none of those types of things. So we'll play with that a lot. We do that about once a month where I'm having you do breath holds based on your intensity work getting to it. So and you're teaching yourself. What you're doing in that is you're teaching yourself how far can I go into something like this without completely smoking myself. And I'll have people walk away at like the third round when six rounds are are desired, right? Okay, can't go any farther. But then the next time we do it, they go four, they go five, and then now they're increasing, they're learning how to breathe. Then we do big discussions on how to breathe, when to breathe, based on whatever movements we put in there, and then they train that type of stuff too. But yes, breathing is crucial on everything.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

Very, very crucial. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

I like how you said when your lungs are long. I I say it like inhale close. Or I'm sorry, inhale open, exhale, close. Correct. Inhale open, exhale, close. So I use that as a pattern to teach most people.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Same same for exertion. Kind of same terminology. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Same, same thing. You said so. Do you say short lungs?

SPEAKER_03 38:18

Uh well, you're collapsed. You're you're crushed, right? Like if you're doing a short lungs? You're at yes. Long and short. Yeah. You're in the bottom of a burpee, right? When you're in the bottom of this, like this is not the best time to take a breath.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

No.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

Yeah, when I meant the top, I'm at nice and long. I put my arms up over my head. I can't get a better opportunity for a breath. I'm up jumping on top of a box and I'm standing up. My lungs are as long as they can be. You might as well get the most valuable breath you're going to get out of that particular moment of that workout, you know, right there.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

So I feel like there's a little bit of back and forth about like exertion on the exhale. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_03 38:52

I like to hold until the until that particular piece is done. So let's say I'm coming out of the bottom of the squat, I'll hold all the way to the top and exhale. Now I see a lot of people who can do a controlled exhale on the way up and they do very well holding a brace. But they have to learn how to hold and develop the brace first, the core first. If you tease that too soon and they haven't learned the brace yet and they exhale at the bottom, they could completely cold.

SPEAKER_01 39:14

What about exhaling through the move?

SPEAKER_03 39:15

Through the wheel all the way up? Yeah. I mean, like I said, as long as you can hold and maintain a brace. Yeah. I can exhale and hold. I could talk to you right now and hold a brace, right? I'm keeping everything and I'm tight. I'm exhaling, but everything's being held.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 39:27

Yeah, you could do that. I don't, but I mean I see people that handle it very well. Um I would say as long as they're holding their brace, either way is fine, but you've got to hold a brace.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Yeah. By brace, he means underload. He means your center, your core core.

SPEAKER_03 39:41

Center of your core, yeah. Pulling your loads.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

I'm I'm just defining this for the Pilates group.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

Yes, we do that all the time in Pilates. So that's a big thing. Like I know, I mean, any kind of you know, squat, overhead press, or anything, I'm constantly core and breathing, exhaling the entire time I'm pushing or pulling or you've got to hold that brain. You have to hold your core, yeah. I mean, you feel it if you don't. Right. And it's dangerous.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

Also, people don't really know what your core most people do not know what the core actually is. They just think it's their front abs when really it's like a cylinder. You're it's the back, the front, the bottom, the top, and it's pressing everything and compacting it all together without movement through the breath. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

It does. I'm just remembering a sadistic coach when you said that.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

So I have to ask you.

SPEAKER_03 40:32

He had me holding a PVC pipe over ahead in a camp. And we're holding it, he walked around with a PVC pipe of his own and he went to tap you in the nuts with it. And the way that your core tightened up, he's like, that's what I want.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

He's like, now your core's engaged.

SPEAKER_03 40:43

Now your core's engaged. He's like, that's what I want. I'm like, I already knew that. Thanks. I knew what you wanted.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

I didn't need that punch.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

No, I didn't need that. But thank you.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

So I see that too. I mean the way I learned it in Pilates class is I learned a lot of that control through pelvic work because of the way you use your core in pelvic work and you learn how to move your core and press it all the way against the back of your spine. And once you start learning that and feeling that and see how your breath goes with it, it's easier to convert that when you're standing up too. Would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_01 41:21

Yes. It's just like um he was saying that you want to hold that brace. It's like I tell people, like, even when you're washing the dishes or driving the car, like you can engage. You can still have a full conversation, completely engaged, like I am right now. You wouldn't even know that I'm holding that in. But once you learn how to do that, everything else just works better and flows better. And then you'll really get that deep core strength that will push you through those things.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Yes. So what this brings us to a great question for both of you. So, do you guys think men and women can train together? Husbands, wives, friends, things like that, and be able to still train together, but have different um programs or performance, or is it would that be taboo? What do you guys think?

SPEAKER_01 42:12

I think it could be really great, like great for like their relationship, like a date night. But sometimes I see, you know, men coming into Pilates class and you know, they're just like doing it for their wife, you know. Um all the time, I'm I wouldn't say so because I don't think they could they really complement each other like like on a daily workout plane. What do you think?

SPEAKER_03 42:37

I it's rare. Okay. Um I agree with her. I think and I don't I don't think that they can't. I I think what's more often with with us is you don't see them too much in the same hour. So we have a lot of husband and wife, obviously that work at the gym, work out at the gym, but they'll do different times of the day. Like my husband, my wife and I do we can't work out next to each other. Um at home, she would always do her own thing. I would do my own thing. It was just it was kind of the I don't know what that is. But um there are some couples that work out very well together, they do really good jobs, but I think uh most of the time they just need different hours. I think they look to have that time apart for a second. Yeah, um, and there will be times when they were gonna want to work out together. So I I'm thinking of a a couple specifically that once in a while when they come in the gym and they work out together, they work out great, but they don't do it very often. I think that's why, right? Because those times they do work out, they work out very well together. Um, and I think if they did it every day, they probably hate each other. So I don't I don't know. So but I don't think they need different programs per se.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Um, you know, people enjoy what they enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 43:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

They're gonna find the things that they like and they're gonna get active with the things that they like, and there's really nothing wrong with that. I think that there can be a lot of problems in relationships when you got a guy that's like, you should only do what I'm doing, you need to come to the gym when I go, and that's a problem. You know, hey, maybe she doesn't like doing that. Or she doesn't like that hour, or vice versa. She's like, I want to keep an eyes on you, and you know, you need to be there when I'm there, or I need you to do this with me, or you know, those types of things are terrible. It's just I can't yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

Yeah, and that's not good. Everyone's gonna find their jam.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

You've got to find your thing. What works for you?

SPEAKER_00 44:17

What works for you and you've got to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

Yeah, and I've got you know a lot of guys that they work at different gyms and they you know different workout routines of different stuff and their their wives as well. So find the thing that you like, the thing that keeps you moving, keeps you happy. Your relationship will benefit from it.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

Aaron Powell And just encourage the other one to just do it because we need to do it for ourselves and for each other, the relationship, everything.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Yeah, no. Let's uh finish up with some myth busters to see if we can, and you guys can just both answer those and and let's give people some good information. Cardio prevents muscle growth, true, false, and what do you guys think?

SPEAKER_01 44:58

I don't think it prevents muscle growth, but it could delay it. Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, I can see especially if you're not um there's no resistance the right way, and also strength training. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:15

Yeah, I agree. I mean, you you have to have some cardio in there. I mean, you need heart health too. Um delaying like if you go full cardio with no string training, yeah, you're done, you're just it you're delaying everything. Yeah, yeah. Um but uh you'd need a pretty good blend.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

Yes. Again, it's a it's a whole world like balance, a good balance of everything.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Well, I think a lot of people just look at cardio and think run. Yeah, run long distances. Well, cardio can be a million different things, it doesn't have to just be that. No.

SPEAKER_00 45:44

No. Okay, there's another one. After age 60, is it too late to become stronger?

SPEAKER_03 45:50

No.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

No, if I have a 72-year-old uh female powerlifter athlete on training right now, and she is strong. That's awesome. And getting stronger.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

Again, it's what you put in your body. How are you fueling yourself? Yes and are you being consistent?

SPEAKER_00 46:04

Yes, food is is crucial, protein is crucial. Rest days are for people who aren't serious about fitness. I could not disagree with that more. I know. You gotta have I don't agree with that. Yes, you gotta have to.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

I don't agree with that either.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

Yeah, no, you gotta have to do that.

SPEAKER_03 46:20

Rest days are the days where you get strong, you get built. Like that's where everything, that's where the magic happens. That's when the magic happens. You're breaking everything down in the gym and you're building it up while you're eating and sleeping and resting.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

If you're not resting, you're not completing the cycle.

SPEAKER_03 46:32

Nope. Exactly. No, you're not.

SPEAKER_00 46:35

The workout that burns the most calories is automatically the best workout for weight loss. True, false. What do you guys think? The work say that again. So if you have a workout that's burning a lot of calories, that's the best workout for weight loss that's burning a lot of calories. No, no, no. I think I think strength is important in there. You know?

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Yeah. But exertion's gonna burn calories too.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

But I mean, I don't I don't really so it depends on, I guess, what they're doing. Yeah. Okay. And let's see.

SPEAKER_01 47:11

Like a slow pace walk, um, a consistent slow pace walk is gonna burn a lot of fat, but I don't think that it would necessarily burn as many calories. Correct me if you think I'm wrong, as like just a quick cardio hit. Like a slow walk is gonna burn longer than like a 30-minute hit. Um, what am I trying to say? Because that's gonna burn off the sugar that sits on top of the fat. If that makes sense, I'm trying to give you like a visual. You use that quick sugar first button. Yes. When you're doing that quick cardio hit, you're using that like what's available, available source of energy. Right. To where if you're doing like a long, slow walk consistently, that is going to burn more fat, but the hit might burn more calories.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

Right. Interesting. That's a good way to look at it. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 48:04

Better heart health, too, I think.

SPEAKER_00 48:06

Yes. And if you're not sore the next day, your workout was not good the day before. True or false? False. What do you all think? Yeah, false.

SPEAKER_03 48:16

That's false. There's so many factors that go into soreness.

SPEAKER_00 48:19

Yes, there is. Uh hydration is probably one of them. And nutrition.

SPEAKER_03 48:23

First and foremost, and very important. Sleep, and you know, how did you cool down and all the different things? It's not just not just being sore. I I gave people in the gym, I didn't get a good workout because I didn't sweat enough.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

Like, talent to come to the studio. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

It's not about the sweat that comes out of your body. So it feels good. Don't get me wrong. I like the sweat part. We had the air conditioner go out the other day. I was like, this is great. We're sweating good again today.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

No, we sweat all the time. Yeah. We sweat all the time because it's so hot. That's right. You guys did have the air out. Matt was complaining about that.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

The new guys don't remember the cold days.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

Oh, that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

No, our first few years were in a warehouse, so it was a lot. We didn't even need a heater to make it hot. So yeah, it was hot.

SPEAKER_01 49:10

I like a good warehouse workout though.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

Yeah, they're pretty they're pretty nasty. Yeah, they're fun.

SPEAKER_00 49:15

Okay, so before we go, let's tell the listeners one thing we that you guys think they should stop doing, one thing they should start doing, and one thing that you want them to remember when their motivation starts to go away to get them back on track with their movement. So one thing they should stop doing, start doing, and then how to stay motivated.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

Well, they should stop comparing themselves to everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

I was gonna say the same.

SPEAKER_03 49:45

When you get two trainers in a room, we get the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

Please stop. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 49:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:53

There's nothing more frustrating, right? It's like you're it's you against you. It's not you against that guy over there, or that person has nothing to do with you. So um, yeah, that's very frustrating.

SPEAKER_01 50:04

And social media makes it really hard.

SPEAKER_03 50:06

Very.

SPEAKER_01 50:06

Yeah. I can't. So it's they turn it off and just look in the mirror. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 50:12

And what should they start doing?

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Eating more protein.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

Yes. Eat more protein, drinking more water. Um, and yeah, turning off social media.

SPEAKER_01 50:22

Um stay consistent.

SPEAKER_03 50:23

Consistency huge. Consistency is very huge. That's the one thing. You know, like jujitsu practitioners and fight practitioners talk about it all the time. Just keep coming. Because I mean, you gotta think of the the difficulty factor when it goes to like a jiu-jitsu combat sport, like that's very hard. It's a lot of retention of information, it's a lot of stuff coming at you all the time, and then somebody's trying to kill you two the entire time. So, and all these instructors, the only thing that they can say is like, because you're you leave every day defeated, you feel defeated. The only way they get you coming back is like just one day at a time. That's their thing. Every day, one day at a time, take one time. Consistency, consistency. Before you know it, you're a blue belt, then you're a purple belt, then you're a black belt. Like these things happen based on consistency. So it applies to everything that we do. And yeah, it's so huge.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

And then, you know, the more consistent you are, the longer your results are gonna last. Like, you know, if you go in really hard and just put everything in for a short amount of time, you're gonna burn yourself out. But if slow and steady, it wins the race. So just be patient and stay consistent.

SPEAKER_00 51:28

Yeah, build those foundations, learn how to move correctly, right? All of those things, and just keep building on it and being consistent. So, Lauren, thank you for being here. I just I this is so wonderful. I loved it. Ted, did you have a good time? It was cool. Thank you for having me. Yes, this is so awesome. Like we have to do it again. I think next time we'll talk a little more about nutrition with movement, because that's one piece to the puzzle that I think is so important. I think men are a little bit better about the nutrition piece with protein than women. That's something we're always working with on women, I know. Um, but so important. So thank you both for being here. This was amazing. I loved it. Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_02 52:10

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 52:11

So much fun. So if there's one message I hope you all take away from today, it's this men and women don't necessarily need completely separate fitness worlds, they need the same essential foundations applied with good critical thinking because we all need strength, heart health, mobility, good nutrition, sleep, and excellent recovery when we're working hard. And we all need a reason to continue showing up for ourselves. But biology really matters hormones, age, your history, your symptoms, they all matter. Individualized medicine matters. Women should not be given lower expectations simply because they're women, and men should not be expected to ignore pain or recovery simply because they're men. Strength is not masculine, recovery is not weakness, mobility is not optional. Movement is definitely not punishment, movement is preparation, preparation for a life that you want to live to be strong and resilient. So if you'd like to learn more about TED and Iron Legion's strength in combat in Ocala, visit Iron Legion SC.com. And to learn more about Lauren, our multidisciplinary team, and our personalized wellness program for men and women, visit myvenusclub.com. And if this episode helps you think differently about movement, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. Because the goal is not simply to work harder, the goal is to understand what your body needs and then train with purpose. My mission is not simply to tell you what to do, my mission is to help you understand why. Because when you understand your biology, you become an active participant in your health, not simply a passive recipient of healthcare. And like I always say, you can't optimize what you don't understand. So until next time, keep learning, keep moving, keep building your strength, and keep choosing the vitality you want to carry forward in your life. Thank you for being here with me today. If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to share it with someone who may need to hear it also. And if you're ready to start understanding your body on a deeper level and getting the clarity you deserve, you can learn more about my Venus Club at myvenusclub.com. We offer a limited number of memberships for women who are ready to take a more personalized, in-depth approach to their health. So apply for membership. There's no pressure, just an opportunity to start a different kind of conversation, one that focuses on you, your body, and what you truly need. Because once you understand your body, everything changes. I'll see you in the next episode.