34. Moving Matters: Why Exercise Is Key at Every Age

Longevity fitness trainer Laz Josephides is back again with a topic that strongy resonates with our listeners- Training for longevity and health.

 In this episode we explore the profound impact of exercise on body and mind. We go on a journey through the preventative wonders of fitness, as we dig into ideas and insights that prove it's never too late to embrace a healthier you. From enhancing mental sharpness to fending off the natural decline of muscle mass, we cover a range of reasons why movement is essential at every stage of life.

You'll walk away with a fresh perspective on how to slow down the clock on aging and why building muscle isn't just for the young or the seasoned gym-goers but a cornerstone for well-being.

Laz shares how we can cultivate our own reservoir of motivation and mental toughness to tap into when the going gets tough. Balancing the excitement with science, he breaks down the theory of zone training and why our bodies craves recovery after pushing the limits. It's not just about the hustle; it's about tuning into our body's needs for a holistic approach to health.

 So, lace up those trainers, and let's get moving towards a fitter, sharper body and mind.

Episode Summary:

0:01-Long-Term Impact of Exercise
14:19-Struggles and Strategies in Fitness
24:38-Importance of Recovery and Zone Training
37:12-Benefits of Movement and Exercise
41:53-Cookie Jar Motivation Trick

If you enjoyed this content, you can get more Longevity tips on  Episode 23- Sustainable Fitness and Lifestyle-changes for Longevity

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Guests on Midweek Insights express their own opinions, which may not necessarily align with the views of the host. We encourage listeners to form their own opinions based on additional research and diverse perspectives.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

It's about focusing on improving the quality of life and long-term health and using exercise to do that. You will still get the short-term benefits from it. So, in terms of you finish a training session, you feel good, you get that endorphin rush and everything like that, you will still get the the short to medium term effects of looking better in the mirror summer beach ready, let's say. But the the main focus is the long-term effects that it will have on your physical and mental capabilities so you've explained the short term really well.

Speaker 2: 0:44

What could the long term be? You said physical, mental, but can you give examples of people that you've worked with?

Speaker 1: 0:50

Okay. So I mentioned in the previous podcast that exercise is the most effective intervention that you can do to improve your long-term health. So you can actually add years to your life by being physically fit in your earlier stages of life. So the best approach is kind of like, if you take it like, let's say, like an injury or a sickness, the best approach is prevention. Let the onset of whatever disease or issues that will arise later on don't let them pop up, because you are taking care of yourself at an earlier stage. So if your fitness levels are much higher when you're 30 and 40, it's going to stay higher as you age as well, because you're going to get a natural decline. You get a natural decline in muscle mass, which there's a condition called sarcopenia, where after the age of about 40, they say you lose about 1% of muscle every year. And that's everyone. If you stay the same, you will lose, and you will also lose about one percent per year.

Speaker 2: 2:08

It's about the same in terms of your cardiovascular fitness levels when you say the muscle mass you said you're losing that naturally after a certain age. That's already starting to with just turning a certain age just aging yep, even if you're already, you're working out at the gym. There's going to be a decline, right? If you're doing the same things you've been doing, this is inevitable right, it is inevitable.

Speaker 1: 2:29

But if you proactively do something, so you are actively trying to build your muscle mass, you can slow that process down and to some degree even reverse that okay, so now back.

Speaker 2: 2:44

You said building muscle mass. Now we all think gym and killing ourselves and working out with weights. Of course it's nutrition and exercise, so can you elaborate more on that?

Speaker 1: 2:55

yeah. So the this is specifically in terms of the exercise nutrition will have more effect on you know how much. If you want to build muscle mass, let's say you need to have a certain amount of protein, you need to have a certain amount of calories. It's quite difficult to be building muscle mass while also losing weight overall. So that's you know. Everyone's dream is to, you know, build muscle, lose fat. It can happen. It's quite difficult, especially if you are at a higher level of um exposure, let's say to to your training, or at a higher level on your fitness journey. But specifically in terms of of exercise, you will have this natural decline if you are exposing yourself to weight-bearing or resistance-style training. It doesn't even need to be that intense.

Speaker 2: 3:49

You will have a decline if you are exposing yourself to weight training.

Speaker 1: 3:53

That's what you said you will slow it down.

Speaker 2: 3:56

You will slow it down.

Speaker 1: 3:57

You will slow it down and to some degree you can reverse it.

Speaker 2: 4:01

And you can to some degree.

Speaker 1: 4:03

Yeah, I'll give you an example. If you have someone who is just turned 40 years old or 45 years old, they're already starting to get the natural decline, so they're losing some muscle mass that they already have. And they have basically never done any resistance training in their lives. They will still. They'll gain muscle straight up easier.

Speaker 2: 4:24

Would you say that would be easier for them that have never done anything, then someone it would be much easier for them to gain muscle in terms of the time frame.

Speaker 1: 4:33

It will be more difficult for them to mentally wrap their their head in their, their behavior changes around introducing this new habit that you know, your, your, your muscles are sore, your body's tired, and all that. But let's say that they actually do begin a training program. They go for 12 weeks. Whatever they go to the gym two, three times a week, they do some kind of strength training with a progressive overload. They will gain muscle. Okay, so in their case, they will actually be reversing the effect. Okay, so in their case they will actually be reversing the effect. If you get someone who is the same age 45 years old but they've been training their whole life, their muscle mass is already at a much higher level, so they're closer to their, let's say, potential ceiling. So for them it's going to be a little bit more difficult to gain new muscle.

Speaker 2: 5:26

Okay, why is that?

Speaker 1: 5:26

first of all, first question Because if it was so easy, everybody would look like a bodybuilder, and the truth is no one, or a very, very small percentage of people do, and a very, very small, even smaller percentage of people do, without the use of, you know, exogenous drugs and anabolic steroids.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Let's say so, to do it naturally, to gain muscle. It's actually quite a difficult process and if you've already gained, let's say, 10 kilos of muscle through resistance training over the past I don't know 8 to 10 years, it's a little bit more difficult for you to gain another 10. It's a lot more difficult. But for someone who has never done any resistance training in their lives, a little bit more difficult for you to gain another 10. It's a lot more difficult. But for someone who has never done any resistance training in their lives, um, their body is supposed to have a certain amount and the reason why they don't have so much muscle mass, let's say, is not because they haven't been training, but more because they've been doing nothing. So they should have had more muscle mass. But because they're probably sitting down for 10 hours a day, they're taking two to 3000 steps a day, they're not exposing themselves to any kind of muscular stress. They've already started losing muscle quicker than anyone else.

Speaker 2: 6:42

What things could they do even at home that don't require going to a gym, that could actually help them work on their muscle mass, that could start building it up, even if it's like around the house or they've got five minutes in the morning before they go to work, or you know where they can start putting it into their routine a little bit at a time so they can start working on those muscles.

Speaker 1: 7:02

Yeah, so yeah, your body will. If you look at it in terms of your major muscle groups, okay, and you need to think more in terms of compound exercises. So compound exercises, uh, exercises where you're producing force across more than one joint. So I'll give you an example when you're doing a squat, so you're going to sit down and stand up, your hip, your knee and your ankle, they're all bending and extending okay that's kind of um, so it's yeah, that's an example of a compound movement.

Speaker 1: 7:34

When you're doing a push-up, you're coming down, you're getting movement at the elbow joint and the shoulder joint okay, so they're going to use more muscle groups than, let's say, a isolated movement where, let's say, you're doing a bicep curl, so you've just got a dumbbell and you're going to lift that up and bring it back down. That's only at the elbow joints, only working one muscle group, which is the biceps. So if you're looking for, you know, in terms of the best bang for your buck, you want to be doing the big compound movements.

Speaker 2: 8:08

The big ones. So the push-ups.

Speaker 1: 8:10

So if you're going to choose three exercises let's say at home that you can do you will do something like a squat, which is more lower body distribution of the muscles being used, a push-up, where you're getting the chest, the triceps and the shoulders working, and you'll need some kind of a pulling exercise. So the best one would be a pull-up, but most people don't just have pull-up bars hanging around and even more people probably cannot do a full pull-up exactly so you could do it with a band to make it a little bit easier, but even then it could still be challenging and a little bit more complicated.

Speaker 1: 8:52

You could do something, let's say, like an inverted row, where you use I've got one here like the trx handle and people attach them to their, their door. You can get, you get the home version where you're attached to a door and you just kind of do like the TRX row, like a pull.

Speaker 2: 9:09

So you're pulling your back? Yeah, so if you're going to, break it down to three movements.

Speaker 1: 9:15

You want to have some form of a push, some form of a pull and some form of a lower body exercise like a squat or a lunge.

Speaker 2: 9:24

And how many? So so, okay, we don't want to injure ourselves as well because we haven't warmed up. So that's uh, there's always that danger.

Speaker 1: 9:30

So if you could advise on that, and then how many would be enough a little bit every day to start building this up and you know, for most people it's, it's not going to be that many, but it's all about the consistency of getting it in, and what the most important element of the training should be is the progressive overload. Progressive overload is basically you're only able to do 10 squats today, let's say you can only do 10 next week or in two weeks time, or let's say even maybe in three weeks time, but let's just say every one to two weeks you need to progressively increase the total load okay and that load can be in terms of you can add weight.

Speaker 1: 10:21

So let's say you do 10 again, but this time you're holding a one and a half liter bottle of water, let's say. Or you can increase the load by doing more reps. So last week you did 10, this week you will do 12.

Speaker 2: 10:38

Every time I hear about increasing a load, I always think, well, where's the limit then? When does it stop?

Speaker 1: 10:45

does that?

Speaker 2: 10:45

mean that this is my thought you know like when, so that you can keep getting results as well well, that's the thing.

Speaker 1: 10:51

So I think, for me personally, I think most people they should have quite a a high end goal expectation of themselves. You know, yes, maybe you are going to start at home and do it with just bodyweight exercises, but I think if you want to be considered healthy, you should have the capability to perform a squat with your bodyweight added to your own bodyweight. Let's say so like let's have a buy the ultimate goal.

Speaker 1: 11:28

The ultimate goal to get your body weight I think you should have the capability to do that. It doesn't mean you should be doing that, because some people will be able to do that through, you know, doing different exercises which can still build the same, let's say, muscular strength over time, but being able to to lift your body weight like as an external load on onto your body weight. So if you're 60 kilos, you should be able to squat 60 kilos okay, which is quite tough for most people. But if you, if you see someone who comes to the gym and they're going regularly, they can probably achieve that, I think for most people within six to 12 months pretty easily.

Speaker 2: 12:12

To achieve six to 12 months.

Speaker 1: 12:14

I would even say, some people could do it even quicker.

Speaker 2: 12:16

Depending on their time, of course, right and how much time they're giving to this.

Speaker 1: 12:21

They're going to dedicate to it, how much they're willing to push themselves and so on, but I think, and again, where their baseline is, because if someone is extremely weak and they're overweight, everything they've got so many other again. So if you're completely overweight, it's going to make that even more difficult, so it should be like an end goal target, I think, for strength.

Speaker 2: 12:43

If you want it strong, you should be able to squat your body weight so if, let's just say, someone's overweight and they're listening to this and they want to do something about it, what? What would you say to that person who's scared to come and start and has this worry about this and it's? They've tried so many things. How would you advise them?

Speaker 1: 13:02

okay. So first thing is identifying why they're worried about it, because a lot of people have different reasons. Some people will feel uncomfortable. Some people feel that everyone is watching them, everyone is looking at them and oh, who's this? You know untrained, overweight person coming to the gym, like if they feel like maybe they're out of their comfort zone and they just worry about other people's perception of them. So that could be one reason. The other reason could be, like you said, that they've tried different things and nothing really worked.

Speaker 1: 13:35

Well then you have to kind of see what did you try? Did you follow it all the way through and did it not work because you were not able to keep up to the standard that was being required of you? Or was it that you did everything that you were supposed to do but there was just no results? So it was a faulty program, let's say, which, in most cases, it's not going to be down to a faulty program. It's going to be a little bit more down to were you able to stick to the schedule and get everythingulty program. It's going to be a little bit more down to were you able to stick to the schedule and get everything done so there's a lot about mindset as well from what you're saying.

Speaker 2: 14:11

Are there any techniques or approaches you take with people that it is a big mindset problem more than physical?

Speaker 1: 14:19

I think most people try to do too much too quickly. So they think that, oh, I need to start going to the gym. You know, whatever, I need to start training and they try to go every day, or four times a week or whatever, and it's too much for them and what would you say to them now if they were listening to this? Just do as little as possible. That will give you a positive result and when they start to lose patience.

Speaker 2: 14:43

How could you get through to them again?

Speaker 1: 14:47

why would they be losing patience if okay? Yeah, because they want to see results quicker. Well, you accept the fact that they're not going to see results quicker. You know it took you probably 10-15 years to get to the unhealthy state you're in now. You cannot expect to reverse that within three weeks. Yeah yeah, how do they?

Speaker 2: 15:09

respond to that.

Speaker 1: 15:09

When you say that, I think, with a bit of shame and guilt, because a lot of people, you know they don't note, I think they don't notice how maybe unhealthy they are because they've been living in that stage for so long. And it creeps up, doesn't it tell you um, oh, you're not really healthy, you need to do something about your weight, or something like that. It could go in a way that that's offensive to me. You just, you know, yeah, yeah, like I don't want to hear that.

Speaker 1: 15:44

It could go in a way that that's offensive to me, you just, you know, yeah, yeah, like I don't want to hear that it could come away of um, you know, yeah, I know, but you know I, I just don't have time now and you know they'll think of an excuse and very rarely it will come down to them saying, oh um, actually maybe you're right, like I, like I need to actually do something because you're stuck in your habits. You're stuck in your spiral, your trap of the habits and behaviors that got you to where you are today.

Speaker 2: 16:17

Do you ever notice when you've had a client and you start to see the shift has actually happened for them? Can you actually identify at what point this has happened? I think it. Yeah, I see the shift has actually happened for them. Can you actually identify at what point this has happened?

Speaker 1: 16:25

I think it. Yeah, I think the shift happens when they start to see the first results, Like when they see oh okay, I've put a little bit of work in now and I just saw that I got stronger on this. I saw that I've lost a little bit of weight. I start to feel like I didn't notice it, but like I start to feel I've got a little bit of weight. I start to feel like I didn't notice it, but like I start to feel I've got a little bit more energy. When that ball starts rolling and they start to feel the positive effects, then they kind of you know, you see that change.

Speaker 2: 16:53

Yeah, and do you have the case where people start this road they're doing well and then they slip back into their old ways?

Speaker 1: 17:00

Always Do they come back or at that point, do they just give up? Look, I personally think the hardest step is to get back into your training routine after taking some time off. So it could be because of an injury, because you you were sick, because you had something, whatever it is. So you might have the consistency of about six, 10, 12 weeks. You take a couple of weeks off or whatever. For whatever reason it could be, you could have gone on holidays, anything Starting again is, I think, the hardest step, because now you're always comparing yourself.

Speaker 1: 17:42

So you're going to compare yourself in that stage of being off for six weeks. Get to that time when you had 12 weeks in a row and having that comparison, thinking, oh, I got weaker, oh, this feels more difficult, oh, my fitness levels have dropped, oh, I feel so much more tired, oh and, and you're comparing that to how you felt before. And that's really, really tough and I think, across all levels. It's even. That's even why you see a lot of athletes like they'll come back from an injury, like in a football, whatever, like professional football. They come back from an injury and they're not the same player what?

Speaker 2: 18:19

how does the group affect this? So do you think the people that have a team around them or that are working out together as part of a group have more of a motivation? So, if you like in a class maybe and then you're accountable to those people, and then those are the people that call you back and say where you've been, come and encourage you. How much is there to say for that kind of approach to helping?

Speaker 1: 18:39

I think yeah, I think yes and no okay so I've seen before where you know the group really pulls people along and people don't want to miss the session, not so much because they have to just tell their trainer or coach that they're not going to come in, that they're not going to come in and the other people are going to be there waiting for them, and the next time they come everyone's going to say where were you? Yeah, and it's that guilt of you know, they're waiting for me. And I think if you say to yourself I'm going to go out and run tomorrow and you don't run, you basically lie to yourself. But I think become so adapted to lying to ourselves that we don't really care anymore.

Speaker 1: 19:16

There's so many things going on. We'll find an excuse to to make you know some reason seem valid. But if you're going to say to your coach that you're going to go to the to run with your coach tomorrow and you don't show up, yes, there's going to be that guilt, but maybe you're hoping that they can kind of understand you. If you've got 10 people waiting for you and you don't show up, you need a good reason, or else you're going to feel that guilt of my reason really didn't validate why I didn't show up.

Speaker 2: 19:43

Yeah, so in what cases would it not help?

Speaker 1: 19:45

Yeah. So when it doesn't help, I think, is when sometimes the group is a little bit further ahead, so you might come in and feel I'm already miles behind these people. You know nobody wants to feel like they're the worst in the class or the worst in the group. For some people you know they're only focused on themselves and their journey and they're only comparing themselves to themselves and that's what they should be doing. But I think most people they have this feeling that they're being graded or rated by others and that can negatively affect.

Speaker 1: 20:28

So trying to find a group with very similar targets, intentions or level to where you are, I think is important or at least establish from the beginning that you know everyone's kind of in this. What I try to do is I try to let everyone know that you know everyone's kind of doing this individually and everyone's got their own battles and their own issues and you know you might have a problem with sleep and you might have a problem with having you know your stress levels and you might have a problem with eating way too much sugar and you might have a problem with drinking too much alcohol. But everyone's kind of got their own little issue but everyone's in their own boat, but also in the same boat, and as you can kind of establish that from the beginning and understand that everyone's fighting their own challenge but you're kind of in this together, I think that's the best approach.

Speaker 2: 21:09

Definitely depends on the people that are in the group. Yeah, like you said, how important is cortisol? We also get the cases where people really have changed their diet, they're doing the work and it's stuck. The weight is just not dropping or the shift is not happening. How does cortisol play a role in this? Caused by cortisol, we're hearing all sorts of stuff.

Speaker 1: 21:30

Cortisol is basically the stress hormone and it can have an effect on, let's say, locations of where the fat may be stored, and so on. At the end of the day.

Speaker 1: 21:41

if you are in a calorie deficit, which means you are eating less calories than you are expending throughout the day, you will continuously lose fat, even if your cortisol levels are high. Okay, but having said that, it's going to make it a lot more difficult Now. If your cortisol levels are high, it can be high for you know 101 different reasons. One common reason, I see, is that sometimes people will try too hard. They're causing too much stress to their body and cortisol levels. It's actually good to have small spikes in your cortisol levels because you're exposing yourself to some form of stress.

Speaker 1: 22:27

So, the problem is when it's chronically elevated. So let's say, when you finish a hard training session, your cortisol levels are going to be high. Absolutely they're going to spike, but then as long as you have good recovery, good nutrition and so on, it's going to come down. If you get a good sleep in, it's going to spike, but then they will live. As long as you have good recovery, good nutrition and so on, it's going to come down. If you get a good sleep in, it's going to lower it more. If your stress levels just generally throughout the day are lower, it's going to come back down. But if you are extremely stressed from life and work and all that, um, you're trying to force yourself into a calorie deficit, so you're not giving your body the right recovery in terms of nutrition. Your sleep is off and then you're going to the gym and you're training really hard. You're just in every way you're elevating your cortisol levels and then you're going to have that exposure to chronically high cortisol levels, which that's bad.

Speaker 2: 23:26

Yeah, so there's a huge importance on rest and recovery that we ignore a lot of the time because we just think the most important thing is just getting the exercise in and we forget that this is equally like important. We keep hearing about sleep, rest, you know, finding calming things to do, so it is that important.

Speaker 1: 23:44

It's actually equally important for weight loss and for fitness I think the the first thing I do when I start with a new client is I ask them how they're sleeping, um, and I try to get them to wear a, a smart watch or something that will track their sleep and just to see you know. If they're sleeping less than six hours regularly, which a lot of them are, I won't push them in the gym.

Speaker 2: 24:11

Wow.

Speaker 1: 24:12

The negative effects will outweigh the positive effects.

Speaker 2: 24:16

Interesting Wow.

Speaker 1: 24:17

Because even if you, I mean, there's studies as well showing that if you've slept six hours compared to if you've slept eight hours, you've got an increased risk of injury.

Speaker 2: 24:28

Increased risk of injury with two hours less, yeah, and that's not just at the gym right Injury generally Playing sports.

Speaker 1: 24:38

let's say, playing sports, and that's one day. If you're sleeping for less than six hours for five days straight and you're going to come into the gym and I'm going to push you, I'm going to create more mechanical stress to your body that you will not be able to recover from um and it might be too much load for your body to handle and there's a higher chance of you getting injured. If you get injured, you're going to take that time off, which which goes back to what I said before- yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:03

And then, when I start again, it makes it even more difficult.

Speaker 2: 25:07

It's actually something that every fitness trainer needs to ask the person who goes to them.

Speaker 1: 25:12

It sounds that it's that important If you go to your fitness trainer and you've said that you've slept four hours and they push you through one of the hardest training sessions you've done. Go find another fitness trainer.

Speaker 2: 25:22

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:29

The problem is most people just go to classes, right, and they just push themselves without knowing this. Well, I think that's the problem. People feel that that you know they need to release stress by going out, hitting a punching bag as hard as they can and sweating, and you know, getting on the bike and you know burning as many calories as they can, and, yeah, it feels good and you should be doing. You should be doing that occasionally and adding that kind of training into your, your routine. But if you're doing that and you're chronically underslept, your stress levels are so high you're you're just creating more damage. I mean, it's not, it's not sustainable. And it's all about finding a sustainable approach to your training because you should be adding that in as a behavior.

Speaker 1: 26:11

That's just part of your, your lifestyle, and you should look forward to it. You should enjoy it. You should have some sessions where they're a little bit light. You should have some sessions where they're really intense, um, and you should have some moderate sessions. You know you play around with it, but it has to match your lifestyle and the other things that you're doing. You know, if you've got three kids, you're working a full-time job. You've been sick the past, you know couple of weeks as well and you've only been sleeping five, six hours. You shouldn't be going to the gym or going for a super hard long run. Yes, you shouldn't. Sorry, you shouldn't be going to the gym and training really hard yes, you should.

Speaker 2: 26:55

What should you be doing in those cases? Because most people, I think, are in that boat. They don't have all the time in the world to spend like four or five times a week at the gym, and that's fine yeah I would say do not neglect your training in under any circumstances.

Speaker 1: 27:10

So if you're going to train tuesdays and thursdays at seven o'clock, you train tuesdays and thursdays at seven o'clock. Now, if you have all those you know, high levels of stress and whatever that I just mentioned there don't go in and try to do a new max on your squat or, you know, push yourself as hard as you can on the bike or something like that. But move. Movement is so important. It's going to help with your circulation, with blood flow, with recovery. Even so, you need in that you probably need a much lighter training session that you'll be able to recover from very easily and can actually help a recovery. You don't want to be having a super high, intense training session which will need, you know, 48 hours to recover from where you're already in. You know a negative of you know 48 hours from before because of everything else going on.

Speaker 2: 28:06

So when you say movement, what should they? What movement at the gym?

Speaker 1: 28:10

in that case, instead of Do everything, you normally do, just go lighter, just go, yeah, yeah. So in terms of your cardiovascular training, so your aerobic fitness levels, you know, a treadmill, a bike, a rower going for a run, that's where you will do your zone one, zone two style training and that kind of training anyway should be, you know, the majority can you say that again?

Speaker 2: 28:37

zone one two training yeah zone one, and that's where you should do your majority you've explained in our last episode about zone one and two.

Speaker 1: 28:44

Can you just quickly summarize that for someone who might not have heard that the zone one and two okay, if you have a fitness watch or or something like that, you will see that when it shows your heart rate it will show zone one, two, three, four, five, sometimes it goes to six. Some show seven zones, let's say, and basically your zone one and two are more, uh, light um intensities, on three and four, more moderate um, and then you know that edge of, and basically your zone one and two are more light intensity, zone three and four are more moderate and then that edge of actually four is quite intense. So four and five is like the high intensity training and that's regulated, let's say of your heart rate or beats per minute. What the zones actually are is based off your production of um lactate, probably heard before lactic acid but can you just explain it again?

Speaker 1: 29:32

so, uh, yeah. So what happens if you, for example, if you go on a bike and you start cycling really hard and then you feel your legs burning? That's the increased acidity in the, in the muscle. So that's basically your body's way of saying this is not sustainable. Um, stop or slow down, and it makes your legs feel very heavy, um, and you know, they kind of burn that's in the joints right.

Speaker 2: 30:03

The burn is in the joint, not in the muscle.

Speaker 1: 30:07

I think it's a bit more in the muscle, but you can feel the joint as well.

Speaker 2: 30:10

Okay, and that's a bad thing when you're producing too much lactate.

Speaker 1: 30:17

No, it's not a bad thing. It's actually to keep it simple it's actually a good thing, but it's just not sustainable. It's just your body's response of letting you know this cannot stay for so long.

Speaker 2: 30:33

And this is in zone four and five.

Speaker 1: 30:36

Yeah, so up to zone two, your limit, your threshold of zone two is where your body can remove or buffer the lactic acid, let's say as quickly as it's producing it.

Speaker 2: 30:50

So you're not feeling anything hectic there yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:53

So you're getting the build-up of lactic acid because you're exercising, but your body is able to clear that out as going on. When you go into a higher zone, what happens is the production of-training, because you're going to get buildup of that, let's say, lactic acid, and then the acidity in the muscle, which will cause more damage, which requires more time post-training to recover from. If you stay within that zone one to two you should be able to think that you can keep that intensity for the next two hours. So doing a lot more of that training will still elevate your fitness levels while not requiring much or any, let's say, recovery.

Speaker 2: 31:54

So that's why we can walk a lot more.

Speaker 1: 31:56

We can keep doing this like almost every day and we don't need to go exactly to recovery mode, but when it's the hectic stuff we need it okay and the thing is, the higher your fitness levels are, the more work you can complete at that level of zone one to two so your fitness levels are, the more work you can complete at zone one and two yeah, all across all zones.

Speaker 1: 32:21

But yeah, it is, but yeah, it's through zone one and two. So if you see a super fit athlete, they will be able to. You know, run probably at most people's fastest pace that they can run for 5k and they can hold that speed for, you know, a half marathon and that's their low training day but they've built up to that over time. For most people, you know, keeping within that zone one to two is a, is a quick walk, but that that's where you work from. You start it from there and what's quite good about the, the machines like the, the rower and the bike and the elliptical and treadmill and whatever, you can kind of actually see your power output. So it will show you the the number in watts, it'll show something w, so, rower, and you can see that. You know and you feel it. The best way to test is can, can I? There's two ways I like to test. One, can you maintain a conversation, you know, without any disruption? Yes, you want to feel like you're exercising, but can you sit and exercise for an hour?

Speaker 2: 33:31

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 33:34

Or another way you can do it is can you do the whole exercise with only breathing through your nose?

Speaker 2: 33:40

keep your mouth closed okay, can you do the whole exercise with only what? Okay, why is that?

Speaker 1: 33:46

because when you need more air and oxygen, you need to open your mouth to suck more. Some people they a lot of people, actually a lot of people now they put got blockages in their nose with their Sinuses and stuff yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:00

That might make it more difficult. But if you're able to breathe in and out easily through your nose, try to do the whole exercise only breathing through your nose. Once you feel that you need to breathe through your mouth, that's probably going to the next zone. So, yeah, in the end you will feel it to be quite light. But then again, what I about the the machines is that you can see the watts. So when you finish let's say you do 30 minutes on the bike or on the rower it will show you average power output. It might be 85 watts and then go next time.

Speaker 1: 34:32

Okay, so that's around about my zone two. What I'm going to do today is try, keep it at 85 watts and keep it there the whole time. And then then that's when about my zone two. What I'm going to do today is try to keep it at 85 watts and keep it there the whole time. And then that's when the progressive overload comes. You try the next week and you say, okay, last time was 85. I'm going to try, and do you know, 90. You know, don't go crazy and try to go to 100. Okay, you've got 90.

Speaker 2: 34:53

Little steps.

Speaker 1: 34:54

Yeah, you might feel okay. That was a little bit too intense. I'm going to keep it again next week at 90. I need a bit more time and then, once 90 feels okay again, then you can go to 95. So it's just slowly progressing.

Speaker 2: 35:11

And you can do this, varying your exercises and testing in different ways.

Speaker 1: 35:14

It doesn't always have to be the same threshold threshold you're breaking right, so it doesn't know exactly, but your power output on the bike and the row and everything will be different. So you can't say I did 95 watts on the row, I'm going to do 95 watts on the bike. That will because you're using different muscles and stuff will be different.

Speaker 2: 35:31

So for each specific uh mode of exercise you need to adapt to that so let's just say someone's just had an analysis of their their weight, their muscle mass, and they found their fat content percentage compared to their muscle right. And now they like okay, I need to do something. Yeah, I need to bring down the fat and start to build the muscle. Someone who doesn't train that much or has does a little bit of training what can they do today to start to change this balance a little bit?

Speaker 1: 35:59

Okay. So first thing, um, yeah, nutrition, if, if, in terms of weight loss, um, nutrition is the most important, so you need to get that fixed. Then you have to start thinking about your exercise. So let's say you understand how many calories you need to be eating in the day, the kind of foods you need to be eating in the day, the kind of foods you need to be eating, whatever, and you've got the plan for that. And then how do you implement your exercise protocol, considering you've got very low to little current experience in your training?

Speaker 1: 36:27

What I would suggest for most people is start walking 30 minutes every single day, move and get the consistency of moving and being active. And it might sound so easy and boring, but I think most people won't even do that. And if you're not able to find 30 minutes just to go for a walk, you're not going to find an hour to go to the gym and you can argue and say that, oh, the gym's more exciting, walking is boring. Trust me, there will be times where the gym and whatever will feel boring. So adapt, start working from now. Okay, maybe even not 30 minutes, go for 15. If you have a dog, go walk your dog. If you've got kids, go walk your kids. Walk the kids. Put them on the walk, walk, walk your kid you know, just walk just move, move your body got it.

Speaker 1: 37:27

Um, movement is is like one of the best forms of medicine. You know, and match match that with something else, so walk, get some sunlight, get some fresh air. You know, and match, match that with something else, so walk, get some sunlight, get some fresh air. You know you're doing three things in one. Now, to make it even more productive, put on a podcast you know, listen to this you'll be um. You know more knowledgeable and you've gained in you know 10 different things by doing half an hour.

Speaker 2: 37:59

Yeah, that's actually helped me a lot, listening to something Like I actually look forward to it, because you forget that you're actually walking. It's almost like that time that you're still doing the day to watch a program or to do the thing you want to do included in that. That's really helpful.

Speaker 1: 38:15

So that's the first step, and I think most people won't even do that, but I think they have to try to find a way in which they can implement something as basic as that. It could be boring, but, you know, try to make it seem. Or go with someone else, make it a social thing, make it a time, and you know what, when you finish your walk, go, sit down, have a coffee make. Make it something you kind of look forward towards. Uh, not as a chore, not as something that you know is you don't want to do but you have to do. Make it enjoy. And once you've done something like that, you can maybe begin by, you know, doing a couple of squats, a couple of push-ups, a couple of, you know, trx rows, some basic things. Just again, basic movement will help. And when you feel that you know you need something else, then you can consider maybe starting to join a gym.

Speaker 2: 39:17

Once you start moving and feeling better resistance training.

Speaker 1: 39:22

I don't think you need more than two times a week for most people does that include something like pilates with a few weights?

Speaker 2: 39:28

will that count as resistance training?

Speaker 1: 39:31

pilates absolutely will count as resistance training. Anything where your muscle is will count as resistance training. Anything where your muscle is um producing force against, uh, you know, an external um resistance.

Speaker 2: 39:46

So do you mean that it's?

Speaker 1: 39:48

yeah, yeah. So for example, in pilates you know it's not even with yoga when sometimes, when they're doing some kind of stretches and poses, whatever, you need a certain amount of muscular endurance to hold that pose or that stance or whatever. So that could even be considered.

Speaker 2: 40:10

So it doesn't have to be a gym with weights, right, let's clarify that.

Speaker 1: 40:14

That also puts people off the whole process and also the money sometimes yeah, the gym will definitely be the most effective at demanding the most muscular strength and neuromuscular strength or power output uh, pilates and um and yoga and and all these kind of things. They also demand, and they probably will demand more in terms of endurance. So it's not only getting to that position, it's holding that position for a longer time. So there is that exposed or extended time under tension of the muscle. But, yeah, anything like that will absolutely work.

Speaker 2: 40:56

Yeah, brilliant. And to end this session off, because we'll carry on talking after this, do you have a motivational quote or something that inspires you to keep going? When you're feeling tired, you don't feel like showing up, or that you tell your clients the people training with you to get them motivated and just to pick them up when they're feeling low and they can't do it?

Speaker 1: 41:17

anymore. There was one I just I told one of my clients the other day. It wasn't really a quote. It was more like a story so it was great it was from um david goggins, so he's you went hardcore it was very relevant in this case.

Speaker 1: 41:38

So he started having like a cookie jar and every time you you do something that maybe went beyond what you were expecting yourself to do. So let's say you you wake up in the morning, it's you can just hit snooze and roll over and go back to sleep. Or you get up and you go and you go do your 10-minute walk or something like that, and you basically do something that you didn't want to do add a cookie into your jar and then you fill up your jar with cookies and then that, when that comes, where you really you really need some help like you've got one more set or you've got, you know, a training session you just don't want to do put your hand in the cookie jar and take a cookie out. Remind yourself that you were able to get it done in that previous difficult time. You can do it again now.

Speaker 2: 42:43

And you can eat the cookie, right? You're not just dangling it in front of you, right?

Speaker 1: 42:46

No, it's not a real cookie, it's a secondary cookie.

Speaker 2: 42:51

I thought you were going to say reward yourself with a whole jar of cookies at the end.

Speaker 1: 42:55

Yeah, so like it's like an imagined.

Speaker 2: 42:57

It's a foreign cookie, let's make it cute, okay. All right, you just killed it. You killed the joy and the motivation. Thank you, so brilliant. Thank you, so remember that this is very, very helpful. Thank you for giving all these excellent tips and we will definitely meet up again for more and uh yeah, with more themed based topics.

Speaker 1: 43:23

So brilliant. Thank you guys. Great, all right.