Revive & Thrive

Tune in to my latest podcast episode where I dive into the world of my recovery methods like sauna sessions, red light therapy, and mobility exercises. Discover how these practices enhance my  recovery process, improve overall wellness, and optimize performance. Whether you’re an athlete looking to speed up recovery or simply aiming to enhance your daily routine, join me as we explore the  benefits behind these techniques. Get ready to elevate your recovery game and unlock your full potential!

Transcript

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You're at a point where you want to transform your life. You want to sculpt that awesome body that's in there. From never lifting a weight in her life, she started from the beginning at the age of 40. She knows what it's like to start something new. Welcome to Strength in Numbers. Unbreakable Mind. Unstoppable Strength. Inspiring listeners to lift heavy, push boundaries, and embrace the power within. We all have an unbreakable potential of our minds and bodies. We just need to find it. As a die hard tonal gym fan and advocate for training at home, Katie has witnessed first hand the incredible transformations that can occur when we commit to our fitness goals. She knows what it's like to get jacked. All with dedication and determination. Plus nutrition. It's so important. One word, tacos. Mmm. Together we'll embrace the mantra of being stronger, not smaller. This is strength in numbers, unbreakable mind, unstoppable strength. And now your host, Katie Dunford. Well, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. Whenever you're listening to this, first we're going to, of course, we always start off with some tunnel news, not tunnel, Katie, tonal, tonal, tonal, tonal, I know, I don't know what it is with me saying tunnel, but there's no you Katie, it's tonal, I'm working on it. first off we had a Akeem's birthday, coach Akeem's birthday. I was lucky enough to be a part of that little birthday video. I was so excited to, get the opportunity to wish him a happy birthday. And, that was, that, that was amazing. I, that like brought me so much joy that they asked me to do that. So that was cool. Casey, coach Casey posted about, she recorded some new mobility, so we will have lots of amazing gnarly. coming our way. So I am excited about that because I am almost done with all the mobility classes that tonal has. So I'm excited for more mobility with Casey and on that I'm also hoping I am, tonal does these, On their Facebook and the OTC where you can kind of give feedback on what kind of stuff you'd like to see on tonal What kind of programs and stuff and one of the things that I would like to see on tonal is Like the breath work that Casey has been working on Christina has been working on so that would be amazing if they brought Programs like that or eat just even a couple classes would be amazing because I'm intrigued by I am very interested in what she's doing with all this breathwork training that she's doing in New York. So that would be, that would be cool if they did that. Also the coaches posted pics and videos from a photo shoot. They are up, they are definitely up to something. I need to know. I need to know. I need the inside scoop. Like, what is going on? Whatever it is, I'm excited for it. so that looked like a lot of fun. And I have, I love seeing that. I love seeing all the coaches together when they're doing these video shoots and stuff like that. It's always fun. You know, the, behind the scenes, funny videos that the coaches post are always a good time. So I definitely enjoy that they share those with us. Also, Tonal set out t shirts and cards of, from the January challenge. I was definitely excited to get a Tonal shirt. so that was really cool. So I've gotten a couple of messages about how to get involved with these, like challenges and earning prizes and stuff like that. So you want to make sure that you're in the OTC in the group page, which is absolutely, I absolutely love the OTC. It is the official Tonal Facebook page. So make sure you join that. even if you're considering getting a Tonal, it is a great place to, you can kind of like feel out the community. You can see more about like the coaches interactions in there. You can see like the challenges that goes on in the community. So it's definitely a good place to go if you're even considering buying a tonal. so you want to make sure that you keep up Dia always post everything in that Facebook page about all the stuff going on with challenges, especially like with the prizes, just being OTC, that's what you got to do. And also don't miss out on the coaches live Q and a's. Don't miss out on those. Coach Ash has one this week. I believe, I believe it is on Thursday. I believe it is tomorrow. Cause I'm recording this on Wednesday. So I believe it is Thursday. so don't miss out on those Q and A's with the coaches. Those are so vital. Those give you an opportunity to get that one on one question with the coach, that one on one help with the move that you, are needing help with, program suggestion. It's just a great opportunity to pick their brain. I never miss a coach live because of that, because I always learn something new, whether that be, it's a Joe live, it's an Ash live, it's a coach T or Tim or Keem, all of them, Kristi, Casey, all of them. And it's a great opportunity to pick their brain. So, um, So, yeah. So also speaking of Q and A's, Akeem has one also for week two, which, there are still in that upper body gains. I'm so jealous. The pump pictures from the ladies, from the ladies has got me so fired up and so jealous, the flexes, the triceps. It's a tricep. amazing. So coach Akeem has his live also this week, I think it's this week. Yeah. for, his week two of the challenge. so I am excited to see all the feedback that people are having from this program. And, you know, honestly, I'm really excited to see at the end of this program because Akeem had everybody, measure their biceps and. I'm gonna be so jealous. It's fine because I will circle back and I will definitely get back into, when I do an accumulation phase, I will definitely try the arm gains. because right now I actually started back in power build. I am back in my power build. I am back at home base. So I started, this week back into power build and it is It has been amazing. It is just, that is just where it started for me. And it's just so funny how I've made like a complete circle, because I was actually in power build last year at this time. So I am excited to be back there. So it's going well. I'm excited. But today we are here to talk not so much about programs. Well, maybe a little bit about programming. We're going to talk about recovery. We're going to talk about deloading. We're going to talk about products that I use, that I have. that are, used on a daily basis or, when I'm doing deloads that help me recover faster. because we all want to do this for longer, right? Like we all want to be moving like we are now. Um, so we want to keep, you know, whether that be running, strength training, jumping, cycling, whatever your choice of movement is. You want to do that for the long game, right? You don't want, you want to do it pain free. Like I don't like feeling pain. so these are great ways that I use to, get myself recovered faster, ready for my next workout, and I'm not overtraining because ignoring a pain or a discomfort when you're working out and then continue to working out, it's not going to help the problem. It's just going to prolong it. Because trust me. I used to run with hip pain. I used to run with knee pain. I can remember lifting weights, having, you know, with my shoulder presses, cause I have, my left arm always gives me a problem. So I always have to give a little bit more TSC T TLC to my left arm to make sure that it is getting the tension that it needs so I can work out better and lift heavier and get stronger. So don't ignore it when you're feeling a little, Hmm, that doesn't feel right. That feels kind of like what coach Casey would say. It feels kind of gnarly. So address it, don't ignore it. So a couple of the products that I have here, I use, um, Hypervice. I use Normatec and I also use the Hypervulp gun. So for the Normatec, those are the leg compressions. I've used those when I used to run marathons. When I did a lot of cardio, I use them. but for me right now, the top one, believe it or not, is the hip attachment. If you have the Norma tech, machine, get yourself the hip attachment, the hip attachment, oh my word, it will make a grown girl cry. Okay. But it is so worth it. I think I, I know I neglected my hips and I know sometimes I still need to get in that mindset of, you need to train your hips, you need to work out your hips, so, because they do a lot for you, whether that be hinging, that you're jumping, you're running, your hips do a lot and you need them to feel good. So, the hip attachment for the Normatech, I highly recommend you add that if you have the, uh, Normatech system. the hypervolt gun we've always had. I love that. I mean, it's good for, you know, getting into the muscles. so I know a lot of you might have the Theragun, so it's kind of that percussion for the muscles. So it's, they're both pretty much the same. I know that Theragun came out with a new one. Uh, coach Ash actually went to, I think she went to the product release for that. So I'm interested to hear feedback from her about how she feels about the, about that, about the new one. I also have, cupping. I also do cupping for my back. Um, definitely helps release my lats. My lats get so tight. So that is something that I really try to make sure that I recover a lot better. And, Spend a little bit more TLC on my lats with stretching. Um, because you know, when we're, like Joe says, when you're doing compound moves, you're using a lot more just like doing a deadlift, you're not just using your legs. So, you know, my lats get very fatigued on leg days. So I really have to make sure that I am taking that TLC and use, you know, the cupping has been one thing that has definitely helped me. Uh, we also have a sauna in our gym. we have a red light therapy system also, and, we're going to get into those bigger things and talk a little bit more about the benefits that I have found, because right now I'm kind of, I've had a rough week. It's been a little, little over a week. I'm having some hormonal changes. Um, I literally was like almost in tears talking to Aaron about it because I don't know as women, it feels like we're always like trying to adjust, like you just need to adjust. And it's so, and it's like you, I hear that and I'm like, you don't understand how hard this is. Like I'm telling myself, you just need to adjust. That's me talking to myself. And my husband, Aaron, he's like trying to understand and I don't even understand. You know, when you're researching things about women's health and about women, all, hormones and stuff like that, it's so like, there's no studies, there's no answers for us. There's, Oh, well you can take this medication and this could help balance you out or, um, you know, and it's like, I don't want to take a pill. So for me, I don't want to go to the med. I don't want to take drugs. I don't want to take any medications. I'm just my brain. I'm just not there. I've been down that road before where I. I believe that medications and pharmaceutical was a fix all, whether that be for my anxiety, my depression, my, my PTSD, with everything. It's like for a long time, I was so into thinking I have to take a pill to make me feel better or I have to take this to make me feel better. So when Aaron and I started working out, we really started looking into making our lives better, making our, our health better. not being reliant on a pill to take. So we looked into this sauna. I personally did a lot of research on the sauna that we have. We have the, uh, sunlight and signature. It's three person. so I would say two comfortably. both my husband and I, we're pretty tall people. So I would say definitely. It's more for like two people, not so much three. You'd probably get a little claustrophobic with three people in there. all it took was a 20, um, 120 volt with the 20 circuit and designated and it's regular plug and you literally plug it in. so a sauna is, it kind of mimics an exercise. It will help improve your heart health and lower your blood pressure. I do the sauna about. three to five days a week for about 30 minutes and it gets up to about 150 degrees. Excuse me, I need to drink your water from the NGO. Excuse me. And Joe, we trust cup. it also, it improved, like I said, improves your heart health. It reduces the risks of infection like, helps your immune system. So if you use Asana four times a week, there's a 65 percent chance of, uh, cardiac issues, lowers your risk, 63 percent of heart disease, 48 percent for coronary artery disease, and 46 percent your risk of hypertension, which my mom was hypertensive and I've never had any issue with hypertension. So that's a way to go for me. I'm, I'm definitely don't want to have any issues with that. And one of the studies actually said 65 percent reduced. Of Alzheimer's and fewer, excuse me, fewer symptoms of depression. So that's amazing. Statistics about, cardiac health and stuff like that with the, sauna. So 30 minutes a session, it, it makes me feel like a million bucks. It helps me recover a lot faster and it's also might possibly help me with my hormonal issues. I didn't know until I've recently, done some reading and I've listened to some doctors on some podcast talking about it. So I was going to share some of the info that I have found. using Asana three times a week can actually stimulate your vital proteins and estrogen levels. So, for me, I believe that I'm going into pre metapause. so my hormones are kind of very unstable right now. so they also say that it can, um, also help reduce, hot flashes. It helps, it can actually help stabilize your menstrual for your monthly menstrual. Um, and it can also help with your cramps. And that has been a game changer for me is cramps, to help with using the sauna. So I definitely will find myself using it more now. since I, you know, hopefully this research that I've found is true and it will actually help me. so that's definitely something that I'm excited about because they're really, the studies on menopause, there's like hardly anything, which is, it makes me so sad because it's all, all we're doing is throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks, what can help us. especially when you don't want to go the pharmaceutical route or, you know, medication route. Um, I've also ordered, some vitamins from thorn. Like you guys know, I'm huge thorn fans. So, um, I've ordered some vitamins through there that they said that could help me. So we're going to try it. We're going to try it that way to kind of using the sauna and, you know, of course exercising and all this helps with, you know, your, hormonal and, sometimes with pre metapause and stuff like that, depression kind of kicks in a little bit harder. So all of that helps. so now after talking about the sauna for a little bit, we're going to talk a little bit more so about like red light and also the, I'll add this about the sauna, that how it helps with inflammation. So with recovery. hence the talk about today is that it actually helps to detox the body and that reduces the inflammation for your sore muscles and joints. So, hey, that's amazing. So now we're, now, like I said, we're going to talk about the red light. So we've had this red light that is, gosh, we've had it for almost a year now. It's a platinum led and it's a bio max 900. So it's actual a medical grade, red light therapy. So there's all kinds of different red lights on the market. this is the one that my husband did the most research on and, had the most studies done with it. And like I said, medical grade. So that's kind of like why we went with what we did. the red light helps with sleep, increased energy. Your over well being helps with back pain. That has been, I mean, back, because sometimes when we have cramps, you know, you think you want to put the heat on your belly, but sometimes by putting it on your back, it helps. I don't know why it just does. I'm not a doctor, but that's just what I've had found. it also helps with like skin issues, like eczema. muscle recovery, athletic performance. So I heard this analogy kind this, what, when I was talking with Aaron about like red light, cause I was getting feedback from him because he's the one that really did the research on the, red light is the red light is acting like a power plant for your body. So to, to re energize it, which I thought is a very cool analogy. So the red light is the power plant. For your body. Pretty cool. So, so now since we've talked about red light, we've talked about sauna and all about the, like leg compressions, hypervolt, hypervise, all the amazing tools that you can have that you can add to your arsenal to help you recover faster, to, uh, keep you in the long game. Now we're going to talk about mobility stretches. warmups. I haven't noticed how important a longer warmup is, especially on leg days until recently. I've noticed that I need an extra 10 to 15 minutes to warm up on leg days to help with my hips, with my hinging, um, and also to stretch out my lats. Um, so taking that extra 10 to 15 minutes to warm up for me has been a game changer. Now tonal has the warmups in the beginning of every class, but I've noticed I've needed longer than that, to, and I've seen a big difference in my volume. I've seen a big difference in PRS and, power PRS. So that has definitely been a game changer for me taking that extra time. So one thing that I learned when I started with tonal is there's two types of different stretches. So you have a dynamic stretch. And you have a static stretching, which I thought stretching was stretching. I thought there wasn't, I didn't know that there was some kind of stretches that you hold at a certain time in your, workout before after. So I didn't notice that there was two totally different things. So with dynamic stretches, you don't hold. So this is something that you do before your workout. Okay. So you're trying to get that full range of motion in a fluid manner. So you don't want to hold that stress for too long. You kind of want to make it like a flow, but the static stretching is something that you would do after a workout and you hold it in the stretch. So those two, like I literally thought stretching is stretching. And literally when I used to do warmups before, like not following a class or whatever, just kind of doing my own thing, I would hold the stretch. I didn't know that you're supposed to do one kind of stretch before class. And then one kind of stretch after class, beneficial wise. I didn't know that. So also when you're talking about stretching versus mobility, stretching is lengthening mobility is the range of motion. So you're stretching the muscle using strength to control the movement. Okay. Through the safe range of motion. So I didn't, I thought stretching was mobility. So there's like so many things that I've learned, especially through Casey, cause Casey is like the mobility guru. If you don't follow her on Instagram, even if you don't use tonal, give coach Casey a follow she coach Christina, she is so knowledgeable. She is an amazing runner. she knows so much about mobility. She knows so much about moving, um, about keeping, especially your hips. Like I've learned so much from her. So I am, like I said, I'm from the beginning, I'm definitely looking forward to, more mobility classes with her. Are, and I really hope that tonal gives more mobility or does the breath work with her, um, because her, her mobility classes are top notch. So when we talk about like mobility and stretching and all this, it kind of goes into what you're after you're doing your program. So you're adding all this mobility and stretching during your program, but what do you do after you're done with your program? So say you're done with your four weeks of your program that you're in. You're going to want to deload every four weeks. Some people think a week is fine. For me, I found, I found if I take an extra two days on that, so seven, eight, so I'll take like about eight or nine days in my deload and a deload for everybody can look different. Some people like to lift during their deload. Me personally, I have to take a break. Um, my grip gets very sore, from lifting. Um, even on my recovery weight, because when your weight goes up as you get stronger, your regular weight, as you get stronger, guess what else goes up? Your recovery weight. So sometimes my grip just can't, and it just needs a moment. And you know what? That's okay because there's other things you can do. You can walk, you can do yoga, you can add in those extra mobility and stretching classes. You can add in extra sauna, sessions during your, uh, deload. I know a lot of gyms have saunas that you can use, so definitely use that if those are available to you. Um, so don't skip the deloads. Deloads are so important. it helps you prepare for your next program. It helps, your body recover, your muscles recover. It just needs that time to As I say chillax, it definitely needs that time to chillax So definitely take your time with going into program to program because you're not going to lose Your momentum you're not going to lose Your discipline or all that other stuff because you've been working so hard Through the whole four weeks through the whole eight weeks through the whole year, because we're in the long game here You So if your body needs extra rest, take it. I actually had to take a whole month of deload workout all in recovery mode because my body was just like, I need a break. I need a moment. And you know what? It was the best thing I ever did for myself because now when I came out of it, I was raring. I was ready to Go. So please take the time to recover. Please take the time to rest. If your body needs it, nothing is going anywhere. The workouts will still be there. if you, um, for some reason can't work out and come down with an illness or something like that, slow, slow and steady wins the race. Always. Because nobody, nobody gets great results by going fast. You earn your way, you take your time and you listen to your body. So during those deload weeks, always look for little kinks that you have. Like I have, like I've said before about my left arm, I have to take that extra time to make sure that I get that mobility back in my left arm because sometimes it's just, I don't, it's the fun thing about getting old. It's that you gotta reassess, okay, what, what's not feeling great today and then look at it and realizing that, okay, I need to spend more time on this. Yes, the, the fun, the flashy stuff is always the heavier weight. The flashy stuff is always running the fastest. The flashy stuff is always the, you know, the hard things you're doing. You know, the glamorous things of mobility is kind of like, I really have to do this. Yes, we really have to do this. We really need to start talking more about recovery, more about mobility and realizing the difference and taking the time to do it. I have many friends, that hold me accountable, especially for mobility and yoga. and stretching and all this so that have support people around you that will hold you accountable to making sure that you are taking that time to do the extra work, taking the time to do the meditations, to do the mobility and you know, put people in check. I love it when people put me in check when they see that I haven't added a stretching or mobility or they'll ask like how my left is, my left arm is doing. And they say, well, Katie, you didn't do, you didn't do a mobility before that upper body class, or you didn't do a mobility after that upper body class. You didn't do that warmup before. So have people like that, that, keep you in line because I need it. I can't do this alone and we shouldn't do this alone. We do this together. We get stronger together and We get each other hyped up for the recovery, the mobility, just like we hype each other up for the programs and doing the hard things because sometimes the hardest thing we can do is slow down. So I really hope you enjoyed this chat about recovery and deload. And, like I've always said, if anybody has any questions, I am not. I'm not a medical professional. I was back in the day. But I am not now. but if any questions about, you know, mobility or, um, anything about recovery, I can point you to a direction to find answers for you. but just know that how important it truly is. And that we want to do this for the long game. We want to move like this for as long as we can. And, I want to be out push upping my daughter when she gets older. So, we, we, we really need to start focusing more on recovery. Because we spend so much, and this is one thing that we talked about. My husband is, you know, we have all this exercise, all these weights and exercise stuff and okay, well we have a lot of like stuff to be doing, but what's the recovering? And that's why we, when we looked into the sauna and the red light and making a yoga area in our gym, we found it was so important because if we buy it and we have it, we will use it. So slow down, give yourself some grace. take the time to recover and take these classes of mobility and stretching and yoga because the classes are there and we just need to get better. I know I'm still working at getting better at taking them. So like I said, I really hope you enjoyed this little chit chat about, recovery and, if you have any questions, you can always reach me on my Instagram. And I will see everyone next week. You've been listening to Strength in Numbers. Unbreakable mind, unstoppable strength. Your mind and your body can do anything and our passion is to show you the unbreakable potential. Katie is a diehard tonal gym fan and she's all about training at home. She's proven that anything is possible with dedication and determination. Thanks for listening to the show. Make sure to like, rate, and review. Find Katie on Instagram. Instagram at katie underscore H underscore Dunford and on tonal at strength underscore n underscore numbers questions or comments hit that email strength underscore n underscore numbers 82 at yahoo. com see you next time