GHUTV LIVE! Fitness, Wellness & Motivation

Well, hello everybody, and welcome into our Get Healthy You TV Q&A session. September 2026. It has been a hot minute. It has. I am here with the lovely Sam Cameronese.

How are you? New mommy. Yep. How are you? Good.

Good. Yeah. Yeah, so Sam, so we haven't done a Q&A in a couple of months. Mm-hmm. Things got really crazy.

Yep. Sam had a baby, who is now, tell us, okay. She, a little daughter. Yep. She's almost five months, so the- She is adorable the, the fun stage is now kick- kicking in.

Not that the first couple of months weren't, but it's the, it flies by, and now she's smiley and all the things, so. She's all the things. She's so cute, and you are doing great. Thank you. She is doing great as a new mom.

And so she's back at it. So we're sorry we missed a couple of months. If you are new around here, Get Healthy You TV is our streaming service for over 1,500 workouts. We have seven trainers. We are, we film every Monday and drop new workouts, so super fun.

If you're not a member, no big deal. This Q&A is for everybody. Mm-hmm. This is where we, talk about all subjects, health, wellness, Gen X, Boomer- women, menopause, perimenopause, anything is fair game. Yes.

And even fashion. We talk about different things. Yeah. And so bring us your questions. Sam has already accumulated a lot of pre-asked questions that came up through, I guess, our Facebook posts and stuff.

Yes, Facebook, and then people are hopping in already- Okay on, Get Healthy You TV and dropping their questions- Okay, and I- right now apologize. I have, like, a little bit of a hoarse voice, so I have to laugh. My mother, God bless my mother, used to say- when m- she used to come and stay with my kids, and she'd say, you know, she always got a cold or sick after she took care of the kids. Yep. And I'd be like, "Oh, for goodness sake, Mother." Well, every time I'm with my darling granddaughter, I get a hoarse voice.

Yep. And it must just be those little bit of germs. It's not, like, I'm not sick, but I, every time, so. It's the germs- And- that you're not around daily. I know, and guess what?

I'll take a hoarse voice any time if that means I get to spend time with her. That's fine with me. All right, let's get right into it, Sam. Today is AMA, ask me anything. Yep.

So you and I are just gonna have a fun discussion. Let's talk. Okay, let's talk. We had someone just drop in the chat now, "I tell myself every day I'm gonna get back at this working out thing. It's almost been a year since I've done much exercise.

Any suggestions to kick my butt into action?" So what motivates you? Is it positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement? Positive reinforcement maybe isn't working for you, because you probably, like you said, know, like, "Hey, you gotta do this. You gotta do this." So how about a little scare tactic? I don't know how old you are, but if you don't start m- exercising and doing some form of strength training, you are l- actively losing muscle, starting at about the age of 35, about a pound to a pound, to a half pound to a pound a, a year if you are not actively replacing it.

Muscle is the secret to metabolism. Muscle is the sponge for blood sugar, for glucose. Muscle is where insulin is regulated. Muscle keeps you able-bodied. As you lose muscle, your longevity and your d- you know, your s- lifestyle goes down.

So you gotta do it, and there's no pill. There's no potion. There's no shot. There's no nothing that puts muscle on your body besides doing the work. So you can start out sh- small.

I mean, you don't have to, we talk about, like, exercise snacking or 20-minute workouts. Mm-hmm. Like, you could start by lifting weights for 20 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever it is. You could start with one body part a week, or a day, I'm sorry- not a week. You could start by daily walking short amounts.

You can start slow. I always recommend that. But if you aren't doing anything, you are gonna be in a world of hurt. So there's a little scare- Scare tactic that's a little different than my usual motivation. But I really want people to know, like, this is life or death.

I mean, I seriously mean it. Yeah. When you get to be my age, I was talking with one of our other team members today who's in her 30s, and I said, "Listen, when I was in my 30s, I didn't give a crap about people who are 60 or 70." "It didn't really affect me. I didn't really..." People would say, "Oh, you know, you're losing your mobility." I'd be like, "Whatever." But now that I'm 60, I'm watching my own parents age. Yeah.

I'm watching other people's parents age. I'm hitting that reality point where I notice my body changing. It's like, oh, my goodness, I am so grateful that I have the h- the habit of lifting weights. I cannot do what I used to do when I was 30, but I'm still at it, and it makes such a difference. So there is no better time to start today.

You are never too late. You are, you're never too late. You are never too old. Just get started. It is going to be the difference between your quality of life in 10 years and today.

Love it. Um- That was my soapbox speech for today. I know. Like, mic drop, we're done. Like- Can we- Q&A over.

Is caffeine good or bad after or before a workout? I, I mean, there's all these controversies about caffeine. I'm not a registered dietician. You know, you hear too much caffeine can give you the jitters or keep you awake and ruin your sleep. I get that.

But caffeine in general, in moderate amounts, can be a stimulus and good for you. Personally, I drink it before and after my workout, so I really have no opinion what's- You do before, too? Oh, always. I mean, you work, you work out early, so. I work out at 5:30 in the morning, but I leave my house, when I'm teaching my live classes, at 5:00, and I always bring, like, a little cup of coffee with me, like a Yeti cup.

That's impressive. And I put some amino acids in it, and that's m- my fuel. I just leave enough time to roll out of bed and change and get out the door. But it's maybe this much coffee. I mean, it's literally But for me, it's the smell.

It's the taste. It's the warm. It's not necessarily that it's, like, my- It's not like it's giving you- It's not giving me- all the, yeah yeah. And then you have some after? Ugh.

Hello. A big, a bigger- A, a- cup after? Yes. After I have my big cup of coffee, I have my breakfast. I'm like, I literally live for my coffee.

So no good- good, bad, indifferent- No before or after a workout. I, I think caffeine can actually be very helpful and a stimulus, but too mu- well, it's like anything, a little bit is okay, too much is not. So much information out there. What is the best weekly schedule to follow, for strength training versus cardio? So here's the thing.

Again, I, I mean, I am type A, so I do love rules, believe me. But when it comes to strength training, people have to get away from feeling like they have to have a special plan, because then nobody does it. I'm telling you- 98% of people over 40 are not lifting weights. So I get so passionate about this, because you don't have to have a ton of rules. You need to strength train two to three times a week, that would be a protocol, and try to hit all the muscle groups twice a week.

So do bicep curls twice a week, do mid-back rows twice a week to get your back. Do squats, do lunges, do push-ups to get your chest, shoulders, and triceps. You know, do those things to get all those muscle groups activated. You wanna feel some sort of muscle fatigue or failure. That feeling is like, "Oh my gosh, I can only row one or two more times and then I'm gonna lose form, or I'm gonna drop the weight," or whatever it might be.

You wanna kinda get to that discomfort place. People hate that discomfort place. That's why they don't lift weights, 'cause they're like, "Ew, that's an icky feeling. I feel yucky." Yeah. Yes, it is yucky, it is tiring, it is hard, but that's where you have to get.

So just start slowly. Don't overdo it, because if you are my age, joint issues are real. So if you pick up weights that are way too heavy, and all of a sudden now your elbow hurts, and your wrist hurts, and whatever, you have to get your joints acclimated to the extra resistance. So I always do a lot of mobility work before my workout. Roll out my shoulders, roll out my wrists, roll out my hips, my ankles- Yep bend my knees, like, do all those kinds of things, and then get into it.

Start slow, build up. You'll feel so proud of yourself when you, like Let's say you're doing bicep curls with five-pound weights, and by week two, three, you're like, "I can go to eight-pound weights." Mm-hmm. Or, "I can go to 10-pound weights." It's, it's really satisfying. Yeah. I mean, th- working out, you can see the progress over time, right?

And we have so many strength training workouts at Get Healthy U TV. We have a whole bunch. Like, we have a beginner strength builders series- Mm-hmm that is really good. It's all basic exercises. We're using five and eight-pound weights.

We're making it really simple and understandable for you to ha- use good form. Yep. Then we have, like, more advanced strength training. We have a series called s- Slow and Strong. Mm-hmm.

That is near and dear to my heart. I started it, what'd you say? Almost a year and a half ago. Almost a year, yeah. Yeah.

Year and a half g- It'll be two years, like, in January. Yeah. And, it was because I started training differently due to my age. And I was like, "I wanna lift heavier. I wanna build a little more muscle, and I'm gonna have to go slower." And so we started the series.

We have nine of those workouts. Yep. They're really intense, really good for those of you who are, like, advanced weightlifters. So we have everything, but bottom line, like I said earlier, just get started. You are never too late.

You are never too old. But you better start doing something, or you are gonna be sorry. And do you feel like your split training, l- like strength cardio, has changed throughout the years? Yes. Like, what works best for your training schedule at that time?

First of all, split training, meaning I'm gonna do biceps today, triceps tomorrow, chest the next day, like, that's a really good protocol for those who are working out every day and really into their strength training routine. But for a lot of people, I This is a true story. Last night I was with a group of women, and this one woman said to me, you know, she goes, "I just, I'm strength training 'cause I know I need to do it, but I really like to do, like, a well-rounded workout." Mm-hmm. "Like, I like to do two times a week, all muscle groups, just feel like I got them all done in 30 minutes, and that is my go-to." She said, "I don't like the, like, we're just doing chest today shit." Yeah. You know?

So again, it's protocol. There's no one ri- or, or it's preference. It's, there's no one right way to do it. So, you know, pick what works for you. But a well-rounded, use a little bit of each muscle group.

We have tons of total body workouts. We also do have the split days. Yep, absolutely. So a lot of people do like those. But there is, I, I, and I just hate to say it, there's like, you don't have to stick to a rule.

The best thing you can do is do something. And I gotta tell you, people are so full of excuses. Like, this is my job, so everybody comes up to me and they just throw out their excuses. "Oh my God, I can't do it. Oh, I don't have time.

Oh, I'm just intimidated. Oh, I don't wanna join a gym. Oh, I just can't make myself go in my basement." Oh, this, oh, that. Like, let me tell you, you can come up with excuses all day long. It's easy.

The question is, when are you gonna, you know, draw the line in the sand? Yeah. Love it. What are your thoughts on smart scales, especially, I, I'm gonna probably pronounce this wrong, the Hume, H-U-M-E? Is that how you pronounce- Hume Hume?

Hume. H-U-M-E. Yeah. Hume. Yeah.

I think they're horrible. Love it. She, she's brutally honest today, people. I mean, I'm in a mood today. I was gonna say, watch out.

Okay, so I got one sent to me and they're like, "Do you want a partner? Do you wanna talk about it? Do you wanna..." And I'm like, "No. No, I don't. I will never sell you something I don't believe in." And here's the thing: those scales that give you your water in your body and your body fat every day, they're 100% wrong.

I mean, okay, I'm exaggerating. They're not 100% wrong, but they're never 100% accurate, and so many people hang their hat on that number. Yep. They get up and they're like, "Oh my God, I'm 32% body weight. I am just gonna cry all day." Yeah.

You know? And no, maybe you're really only 25% body weight. It can vary that much. The other thing is it varies day to day. So- Yeah my husband, he'll get mad at me, but he, we get this body fat scale, and he's like every day getting on there, and he'll be like, "Today I've got 2% less body fat." And I'm like, "Do you believe that?" Yeah.

"Do you believe that you lost 2% body fat from yesterday? Absolutely freaking not." "The scale is just telling you something different." The next day, "Oh, I'm up 4%." I'm like, "No." You're like, "Stop." "We're throwing that thing in the garbage. It is not right." Yeah. So if you wanna know what your body fat percentage is, go to, like, a physical therapist's office, a cari- a chiropractic office, your primary care provider. Yeah.

Go to a gym. Lifetime Fitness has body weight machines in every gym. They're called the Body Scan. They attach to an app. Okay.

You can do it on your app if you want. But, like, to have one of those at home, I just, I think that they're so inaccurate that they throw people off. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's like having a scale in your house. I don't have one. I'm like, "I don't need to step on that da-" You know what I mean?

Like- Well, I have a scale in my house, but if I move it from different parts of the room- It changes I weigh different. Exactly. So it's like literally it's just a mind game. Like, oh, when I weigh myself over near the bathtub, I'm a pound less. Like, how stupid is that?

We know how our clothes feel. We know- Yeah how, and as you are adding muscle to your body, you might, you know, not see the scale move as much. Right. But, like, your pants fit better or, like, differently, and you feel- Yeah you know, more energized throughout the day. So just always go off of that.

Yeah. "What are the best supplements for a woman at 65 doing strength training?" Well, I, I am a believer in a multivitamin. I think that, you know, even when we're eating healthy, there's just our food sources are just lacking a lot of nutrients, especially in the United States. And I just think it does you a good service because our bodies don't use things as, you know, efficiently. Like, we're a machine that's just getting older and not doing as well.

Yeah. So, you know, that's what's happening. I'm a big follower of Dr. Mark Hyman. I really believe in everything he has to say.

He's a true MD. He was, like, the head of, like, Cincinnati or the, What was it? Oh, well, okay, my brain is dead. But he was the head of, many large medical institutions, then he started his own medical institution, and now he runs Function Health, which is an online program for blood draws- Yeah where you can get your own blood draw. And then you have a app and a dashboard.

It tells you everything about your nutrients, your blood, your heart rate, your everything. I do the Function Health. I've been doing it for three years now. And if anyone's interested, I have a referral code and I can tell you more, but that's not the point. The point is that it tells you your nutrient levels, and so it's kind of important to get your blood drawn, find out where you're at.

Most women our age are low on vitamin D, especially if you live in a state where you're not in the sun every day. Mm-hmm. So I take vitamin D. Omega-3s are really important for bodily functions, muscle, everything as you age, and most of us are also lacking in true omega-3s. Yep.

The EPA and the DHA are found in fish- Fish and quality fish. Yep. And that's really hard, especially, like, in Minnesota, so I take an omega. The ALA, which is the thri- third of the omega-3s, is in, like, chia seeds and flaxseed and, you know, that kind of thing. But, you know, that is one of three.

You have to get the EPA and the DHA, so take an omega-3 supplement. So I take a multi. I do AG1, but there are good mul- multis out there. I take vitamin D plus K. You need to take it with K.

Mm-hmm. And then, omega-3. So those are kind of my mainstays. And then my blood work, my own personal blood work, has told me other things. I have a good bone mass, so I'm not taking a calcium supplement- Mm-hmm but I would recommend that for people.

I do take Dr. Mary Claire Haver's skin and, bone collagen, because I do think the collagen is good. Mm-hmm. You know, do I know if it's doing anything for me? No.

But do I, you know, listen to the science and think that that could be helpful? Yes. I take a fiber, a scoop of psyllium husk every day just to up my fiber load because I think our s- our systems, you know, our bowel systems, slow down. Mm-hmm. And I think that that's really helpful.

But then other people I started, I not- found out that I was really low on copper and iodine. That's really personal, TMI, and But I'm very, very cold all the time. You are cold all the time. Like, strangely cold. And I did the research on my Function Health app, and it said that those two nutrients can relate or can be related to always being cold and poor thyroid, function.

So I was like, I started taking the two supplements that Dr. Hyman- Start to up those you know, recommended. So, I mean, I think you have to really personalize it. Mm-hmm. But if you're just gonna take Like, you're like, "What are the most important things?" I would say the multi, the vitamin D plus K, the, omegas, and then perhaps, some sort of a collagen or a calcium.

Calcium, yeah. "Do you recommend creatine pre-workout?" Yes, I love creatine. I don't know, like So the s- science says it doesn't matter when you take it. You just have to consistently take it to get it into your system. System.

And then it floods the muscle belly, and it gives you more energy and more ability to hopefully maybe feel more energized in your workout. It's also good for cognitive health. So I take it, and I usually just take it with my breakfast. But lately- again, now every time my birthday's coming up, I always feel like, "Ugh." So it's gonna be my birthday month. I'm turning 61, and just literally, this is the truth, like, in the last two weeks, I've been like, "Maybe I should take my creatine before my workout." I'm just always I'm like you guys.

Like questioning. I'm just always searching that thing. Yeah. Like, I do I mean, everyone always says, "Oh, Chris, you're so energized," blah, blah, blah, but I do feel my body, like, being a little older. And so I was like- "Maybe I'll start taking my creat- " So I do take my creatine before my workout.

Before. Only for the last two weeks. Okay. And- Have you noticed a difference in the last- Not a huge difference. Okay.

So, the real key is just getting it in your body- Doing it on a consistent basis. I mean, you always talk about no matter whether it's food, whether it's, you know, your supplements, like consistency, whether it's working out, it's consistency keeps showing up in all of those things, so. I do, yeah. And I do, I did notice overall my body changing with creatine. Not that it made the workout that much better, but I did notice that I was able to perhaps lift a little more.

Now, it also could have been my own mental psyche saying, you know, "I want to do this." and I just felt like everything got a little bit better, and I, I'm taking it for the cognitive benefits also, so I really like it. After my workout, I do take amino acids. So I will sometimes put a little scoop of, like, an amino acid powder in my- Powder or a whey. Like, sometimes I just do, like, a whey, little bit of whey- Mm-hmm that can m- mix in, or sometimes I just drink it black. The coffee is the main point there.

Black coffee. But after my workout, I do drink amino acids because I do know that your muscles within a two-hour window are ready to accept the amino acids to help you repair and recover. And as you're getting, as I get older, most people, I just, it takes a little longer for me to repair and recover. Mm-hmm. So I really noticed that that was a big differentiator.

So I throw in my water bottle some amino acids. I love the taste. It's like a cherry taste. I throw it in my water, no calories. There's several different brands out there.

There's Perfect Aminos. There's C- I don't know how to say it, Kion, K-I-O-N. That's a brand. I take the Lifetime Fitness brand, sometimes the Perfect Aminos, and I just mix it in my water, get those amino acids into my muscles for recovery and repair- Mm-hmm right after. Is there a way to help control the food noise?

I'm not This, that, that's the blanket statement question. You know, there's just a lot out there. A lot of people talking about it. Yeah. Well, I do think, as you get older, there is food noise because perhaps your lifestyle's changed.

Mm-hmm. You're not quite as active. You're doing activities that might center around food, like maybe you have more time for meals out or whatever it might be, and I, I do get that. I mean, for my own self, when it comes to food noise, what I notice is I have to get my body moving. So when I'm sitting at my computer and just sitting there all the time, I'm like, "Maybe it's time for my bag of chips." You know what I mean?

Maybe it's time for whatever. So I've noticed, like, when I walk on my walking pad, when I start to get really, like, lethargic, I'll walk on my walking pad, which will stop me from- Mm-hmm you know, wanting a snack. The other thing I do is measure it out. If I open- Yeah a bag of chips and set it next to my computer- Game over game over. So I'll be like, "Okay, I'm gonna have, like, a cup of chips." Put it in a cup, measure it, you know, stick to that without allowing myself to have the whole container in front of myself.

It, it is hard. It, you know, they do say it is, it, it gets harder as you get older. But I think also if you keep your body fueled with good protein sources- Mm-hmm and good fat sources- And fat you aren't as hungry. And I know a lot of women my age don't eat. I mean- Yeah I just see a lot of, like, older women, they don't lift weights and they don't eat and they are, like, literally frail.

Like, I could go like this and knock them over. Like, I could break your bones- just by hitting you. And so, you know, those brittle bones, not eating, frail, it's a disaster for longevity. So I personally focus on three meals. Like- Yeah when someone says, "I forgot to eat today," I'm like, "What?" Like, who forgets to eat?

I am all about every meal. You know, I'm, like, saving recipes. I'm like Literally, I was like, "Ooh, I'm gonna make this pumpkin cheesecake." Of course, it's not pumpkin cheesecake. It's made with cottage cheese. Cottage cheese, yeah.

But like, I'm all about these, like, snacks and stuff, and I just keep my body keep equally fueled so that I don't hit that- Yeah like, I'm gonna shove everything in my face 'cause I'm starving. Well, or like I hope my mom's not watching. She's not, 'cause she's watching the baby. But- she's one where it's like, "I, I don't eat that unhealthy," but she'll go for, like, a handful and then, like, a couple minutes later, another handful, and those handfuls, like, add up, right? Right.

So you don't think you're doing a lot of it, but it's like you keep going back, so measure it out. And they're empty calories. Like, I'm not gonna get full. Even though, like, all the chips I eat are extremely healthy chips- Yeah I'm still not gonna get full off a bag of chips. Right.

Like, I know I'm gonna get way more full off a yogurt with some, like, nuts. Some good- Yeah yeah. Something good. So I have to be really mindful of that. Let's talk about Pilates.

So we have somebody asking, she just wants to know more about Pilates, "But Pilates and yoga seem to really help my body feel better and helps- Yes with my neck pain. When I lift heavy, I always strain my neck. So would weighted Pilates with five pounds help tone and lose weight too?" talk a little bit more about, like, Pilates and the benefits of that. Well, I mean, okay, tone. So tone is a weird word.

Yeah. To build muscle, you have to create force and, and resist- and s- and, and stretch the muscle belly. You gotta stretch the muscle belly with resistance and then you gotta, you know, shorten and lengthen with resistance. And if you're using a five-pound weight and going like this, you're not gonna really gain muscle because there's no, you're not breaking down those muscle fibers. So you don't necessarily have to lift the heaviest weights in the world, but you have to feel some sort of failure in those muscles.

That being said, you can, if you've never lifted weights, let, let me tell you, a five-pound weight for you would probably feel like a 20-pound weight to me. Yeah. So there's nothing wrong with starting there. Now, Pilates and yoga, they are amazing for your body. I'm obsessed.

And I've recently gotten back into Pilates more heavily, and I am so happy. I love Pilates so much. I believe in the benefits of the joint health, the ability to move through a range of motion, because one of the things that makes us look the oldest is being stiff and sore. Mm-hmm. And if some of you can relate to this, maybe you'll raise your hand, you know, where you're sitting, but it's like you get up in the morning, you're kind of hunched over and you're like, "Oh my God, my back, I gotta take a minute to straighten it out.

Oh, my hips don't quite take as long of a stride anymore. Oh, my arm doesn't quite reach." Lots of women are dealing with frozen shoulder when they're hitting menopause. Mm-hmm. So like, your joint health makes you look old if you're losing joint health. Pilates is all about joint health.

It's all about core strength, joint health, and, range of motion and balance, so all the things that, like, matter in longevity. I've been teaching again on the reformer. Yep. So I've been teaching reformer classes, and it brings me so much joy because the same people come every week, and they're noticing changes. They're like, "Oh my gosh, my upper back is getting stronger.

I can curl up better," which let me tell you, if your upper back is stronger, you can pull your shoulders back. You can sit up taller. You stand taller. You won't lose that height, you know, in your 70s. You will be able to do so many more things.

You'll be able to lift weights. Like, it's so great, and Pilates teaches you how to use all those back extensors. You get stronger in the core. Your range of motion is so much better. So, like, there are so many benefits to it, and you can get stronger.

You are doing some s- you know, planks and lunges and things like that. But if you're looking for muscle definition, like I really wanna get muscle definition, you're probably gonna need to pick up some heavier weights. But I'm a huge fan of Pilates and yoga for, your health. I mean- Yeah they're amazing. Yeah.

And earlier someone was asking about my difference in cardio and strength. Yeah, yep. I have really changed my cardio up. And so I used to go so hard. Like, I loved that feeling of, like, just beat the crap out of my body.

My heart rate's up high. I would go spin, spin, spin. I taught s- I used to teach, like, six spinning classes a week. Brr. Loved it.

And in your youth, I mean, that's good, but now, oh my God, all it does is cause me inflammation. If I've gone hard on cardio, my body is inflamed. If I were to step on a scale, I bet I'm five pounds heavier just from inflammation. So for me, and I just, my joints don't love it anymore. So I do daily walking.

I walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. I love to walk. Now, that's not raising my heart rate that high, and heart health matters, but when I lift weights, my heart rate gets up. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

So I'm adding in some jumping type, drills where I might jump on a step. I might do jump rope. I might do jumping jacks, that kind of thing, and I'm, so I'm driving force through my bones to build bone mass, and I'm also lifting weights, and I'm doing these things repetitively, and my heart rate does get up into an aerobic zone. And then the one kind of more taxing workout I do a week is kickboxing, and that gets my heart rate up kind of to, like, that, zone three- Zone, yeah middle of the zone. Yep, yep.

Now, that's not to say, like, if you were an athlete your whole life and you're still a runner and you're 70 years old and you're running, you know, like crazy and doing great, good for you. Like, everybody's body is different. Mm-hmm. Everyone wasn't made to be a swimmer or a dancer or a runner. Like, if you found your passion, it's working for you, keep going.

Yep. But for most of us, that really intense cardio, like people say, "You have to do it. You have to do it," well, you know, no, you don't. No. You have to do what works for your body.

Yeah. Speaking of Pilates, we have someone asking, "Do you think we will create a Pilates monthly calendar, or do we already have one created?" Oh, that's a really good question. We don't have one, do we? We don't. We have a yoga It's more, like, yoga and core-focused.

Yeah. So that has our Pilates. We don't, I mean, we have a lot of Pilates, workouts, but not, like, that's not our biggest- If you were a Gold member, we could make a really nice calendar. Yeah. We could make a Gold calendar because we have all these mat Pilates workouts in Gold.

Mm-hmm. We have a lot of them. Yeah, there's not as many in Premium. There's not- Only a couple probably enough in Premium. But we could do And y- you, you know, to me, Pilates is one of those things that you put with other things.

Yeah. It's not your only form of exercise. So, like, doing Pilates two to three days a week is more than enough. It's great, yeah. I currently do Pilates once a week myself, so it's not like I'm doing Pilates every day.

Right. But I do love it, and we did just film a really fun Was it a Gold workout or Premium? It was Premium, wasn't it, rhythmic? That one was Premium, yes. Yeah, so we do have a new Pilates workout coming for Premium members.

I was like, I was in that one. Like, next month, right? Premium. Yeah. Yeah, yep.

what is the best way to lose belly fat, diet or exercise? Both. But for sure, diet. I mean, diet is number one. Yeah.

And I mean, I've been doing this for a long time, and I have to say, like, most people are not 100% right on what they're eating. So, like, when, I mean, back in the day before there was an internet, yes, before there was an internet- I was a personal trainer. I used to have carbon copy sheets where I'd write people's workouts down, and then I'd pull it off and give them their sheet- Give it to them and I'd keep it. Oh my God. That makes me old.

But I used to talk to people all the time about their nutrition, and they'd be like, "Well, this is all I ate." And then when we really sat down and talked about it, they're, "Well, okay, maybe I had a little more of that. Oh, that's right. I forgot I had this snack. Oh, that's right. I had two cocktails.

Oh, that's right. I did this. I did that." So, like, people are usually off a little bit. In order to lose body fat, you do have to have a calorie deficit. Mm-hmm.

So, you know, if you're eating 2,500 calories a day and you go down to 2,000 calories a day, which would still be, you know, an adequate amount of calories, that would be deficiting 500 a day, which in theory would mean you'd lose, like, one pound a week- Mm-hmm which is fairly, decent. But then to really shape your body, so diet really helps shed the body weight, which then, you know, whether you're losing muscle or fat really becomes, a proponent of whether you're exercising or not. So if all you're doing is losing weight and you're not exercising, you're probably losing a combo of fat and muscle, and, muscle probably at a rapid rate, so that's scary. Yep. So for everybody taking the, weight loss drugs and who are doing nothing, they're putting themselves in a metabolic catastrophe 'cause you're losing your muscle while you're losing fat.

And then all of a sudden, great, you've lost all this weight, but if you go back to eating the way you were eating, you're gonna be in trouble. You, now your metabolism's all screwed up 'cause you lost muscle. So you have to be doing strength training. So the best advice for fat loss is eat healthy. Yep.

Deficit a little bit. Do some strength training. Strength training. And then you'll start to see changes in your body. People would like to know more about your rest, your rest days and your self-care routine, your recovery routine.

Do you do, go to a chiropractor? Do you do massage, sauna? Tell us about your recovery. Ah, my recovery. I will say, interestingly enough, as I've gotten older, I'm not quite as injured, and I do think that that's because I'm not quite as crazy.

I'm not doing as much. I mean, I used to just push, push, push, push, push And now I really Like, I do good, solid strength training. I walk every day. I do kickboxing once a week. I do Pilates once a week, and that's kind of my thing.

I used to run miles, miles, miles, and that used to just mess up my back and my hips. So but my rest and recovery days, I used to also feel guilty about, and now I feel zero guilt, like zero. I feel great on a recovery day. So my recovery days include walking. I always walk.

Yep. So whether it's walking two miles or five miles just depends on who I'm walking with, where I'm walking. Am I walking my dog? What's the weather? That kind of thing.

So I always walk. I try to do, like I said, I'm trying to do Pilates once a week. I have missed some weeks, but I'm trying to do that once a week. I wish I was doing yoga once a week. Me too.

And I could. I could add that in. It's just a matter of time. I do love what yoga does for your body. But mine is, I use infrared heat on my back every single day.

Mm-hmm. Not because I have pain, but more as, as preventative. So I put the infrared heat pad on my back. Infrared is a wavelength that penetrates deeper into the muscle, not just skin surface, so really good for anti-inflammatory. I use my trigger point therapy ball every single day.

So I put on my infrared heating pad thing, and then I lay down on the floor, and I just get all the trigger points on my back and hips, which feels really good. When I'm watching TV, I use my Theragun, and I just For me, my calves get so tight. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I'm always getting my calves, my quads, my feet.

And then I try to do mobility before my workouts and stretch after. But I, I'm, like, doing, like, five minutes of mobility on the front- Quick five minutes of stretching on the back, but at least I'm doing something. Something. If I skip it, I really, really notice it. Like, I'm in pain.

So rest days, I usually take at least two a week, two rest days a week. Mm-hmm. And they typically are the weekend for me, Saturday and Sunday. And I kind of do them in a row, 'cause that's just what works best for me. I was just telling Sam, though, like, this week, I'm just sore from Tuesday, Wednesday.

So today, I was teaching a strength class, and I'm like, "I'm not gonna push myself." Like, back in the day, I would push myself. Yeah. I would just push through it, and now I'm just smarter. I'm like, "If I push through it, I will probably end up with something-" Injured, yeah injured or- Or hurt. Sore just feel really gross and tired or get a headache or whatever it might be.

So I just don't overdo it. Kind of going off of that, we did have somebody asking, like, when they do upper or lower strength workouts, they're sore for a couple of days. Like, should soreness always be there? And then people have s- asked, like, do we still get sore as trainers? Yeah, I don't always get sore.

I really don't. No. I mean, when your body acclimates, a lot of times I'm not sore. I do get sore. Like, for instance, I took all of last week off of strength training, 'cause I was out of town, and I just took the whole week off.

I just was like, "I'm not gonna worry about going and finding weights." I was busy with my family. Yep. Like, I'm not gonna do that. And so then I come back at it and pick up those, so those same weights- Mm-hmm and I'm really sore right now. But on a normal daily basis, it just depends on what I'm doing.

I'm not necessarily super sore. And you don't have to be sore for it to be a good workout. No, no. Yeah. Um- How about you?

Do you get really sore every workout? No, not every workout, but again, it depends. Like, I did, I had to film two workouts back to back. I was a leader in one and then a backup in another, but, like, that was two 45-minute workouts, and I'm still currently sore- Yeah because of, like, what the trainers did. So that doesn't normally happen.

Right. And so sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. But the, again, that's not a sign of, like, oh, that was a really hard workout, or- Right that w- I really dogged it, because I'm not sore. Right. Right.

you had talked about, a little bit about massage ball, and people are asking, is the massage ball that you've talked about, is it softer than a lacrosse ball? They do your, your- Yes routine, but It's softer than a lacrosse ball and h- harder- Harder than a tennis ball than a tennis ball. A tennis ball just is not hard enough, but a lacrosse ball, like, when it hits a bony piece, ouch. Ouch, yep. It's too So investing in the trigger point therapy ball, it's, like, I wanna say it's under $20.

Yes. It's completely worth it. It, it's just completely worth it. You can tr- I have one in my suitcase at all times. Like, it's in my suitcase.

I have one in my gym bag, one in my suitcase, and one in my bathroom. I have three of them. And Chris, there are, there's, like, a red one, and then there is a green one. Is there a difference? Yeah, it's a, we're talking about a specific brand.

Yes. And it, it has to do with the diameter of the ball and then the hardness. So the red one is a little firmer. It's called the extra firm, versus the green one. Honest to goodness, they feel almost the same.

Okay. I have, like, for instance, I have a green one in my gym bag. I have a red one at home. Like, they're about the same. What you wanna make sure is you're getting the right diameter, and so you want the smaller of the two balls.

That is the, 2.5 inch. Yeah, you want the 2.5 inch. Okay. You don't want the fi- So think about a five-inch diameter. Some people have bought that.

Yeah. That's a ball this big. You want a 2.5, where it's about the size of the lacrosse ball. And if you're, like, wondering what we're talking about, we'll drop it in the chat- We'll drop a link in the chat so that you know. It's really worth having one.

I've showed so many people how to use that, and we have a video that shows how to use it. She was actually saying she does that, but she's like- Oh, good "With the lacrosse ball, it just is a little too hard." Oh. Holy you know what. Yeah. When you hit that lacrosse ball on a bone, it's like, ah.

Absolutely not. Okay, let's talk about, does working out hard keep your cortisol high, thus making weight loss hard post-menopause? So I mean, I'm not an exercise physiologist, so, like, I don't have all the studies of what happens with your cortisol. But I will say that as you get older and you're working out really hard, you can, I, I can tell my cortisol does go up. I can tell my cortisol goes up with my 3:00 AM wake-ups when I start to think about everything under the sun that I don't need to think about.

And I'm like, "Oh my God, now my cortisol is raising." I can feel it. So yeah, you wanna- You know, again, keep that cortisol down, be a little you know, do some things as you get older to help reduce stress and anxiety. It's not even just stress. I think for a lot of older people, it's anxiety. They, it, it, they create anxiety in their body, so deep breathing, meditating, yoga, things that can, like, slow you down and, and calm you down.

But over-exercising can increase cortisol. It can. I don't have all the st- stats, but it can. And post-menopause, it's just a principle of aging. We're just getting older, and it, everything gets harder.

But it doesn't mean it's the end of the world. You can totally work with it. Vibration plates. We've heard that they improve your balance, strengthen bones, circulation. Pros and cons of vibration plates.

I mean, I love a vibration plate. Here's the thing. It's not, like, any miracle. Mm-hmm. So it's like any fitness tool.

I'll get people You know, we get haters on Instagram. Mm-hmm. And people are just horrible, by the way. Like- when someone says something nasty on my Instagram, I want to respond and be like you know, make some snarky remark. But then I'm like, "No, I'm not even gonna give that person the time of day," because obviously they're, like, sitting in their basement unhappy or something.

Yeah. So I just let it go. But people will say, "Weighted vests are stupid. Vibration plates are stupid. You're stupid," you know?

And I'm like, "All right. Whatever." But the thing about a vibration plate is for a lot of older people, it is good for circulation. Like, it's harder to get circulation in the legs and get the blood pumped back up to the heart. It can help with that. It can help with balance.

It can help with lymphatic drainage if you have a lymphatic issue. Most of us have pretty decent lymphatic systems. Yep. It can help with, relaxation. So there are a lot of good things and reasons why a vibration plate might be a good thing.

I sold them on TV- at, QVC and Shop HQ for years, and I, I would have customers call in and be like, "Chris, thank you so much. Like, this is really, like, so helpful for me." So I'm a believer in it. Now, does everybody need one? No. Is it going to change your weight, or do you lose body fat 'cause you stand on it?

No. So you have to decide what the value of it is. I have one at my house. I like it. It's a small footprint.

It doesn't take a lot of space, and when I think I need some recovery, I do like it. Yeah. Like a weighted vest. Is it gonna change your life? No.

Are you gonna lose 10 pounds because you're wearing it? No. But does it drive more for- force through your bones, and that's something we need as we get older? Yes. So it's a tool that can be helpful.

So all of these little tools, everything in fitness is it's the little stuff that counts. Mm-hmm. People love a big splash. They want a quick fix. They You know, remember back to the show The Biggest Loser?

Yes. It was like these people would be like, "Okay, everybody do 100 burpees." I mean, like, really? Do 100 burpees? You've never exercised a day in your life. Yeah.

You don't think something's gonna happen to you? Right. Or, "Don't eat," you know, "for 10 days," or whatever it might be. Like, they were all extremes. Yeah.

And extreme weight loss and extreme this and extreme that. I just think those are dangerous tactics. Yeah, yeah. With recovery from surgery, I've noticed cellulite on my legs. Is there a way to correct this?

Any particular exercises? You know, cellulite is a principle of loose muscle fibers. So everybody has some fat on their legs, and the muscle fibers typically, especially, like, in the back of your legs, back of your arms, is like a, a web. And so as it gets loose, the fat can pillow through, which is what creates that, that look. So tightening the muscle fibers is a really big thing, getting circulation to those body parts.

So a lot of people believe in dry brushing, using a brush, massaging, using your Theragun just to create stimulation and circulation, but of course strength training, squats, lunges, hamstring exercises. All those good things are going to help. And me, I, as I've gotten older, the thing I've been doing lately is I put oil all over my body every day. You have said that. Every day.

Like, I literally am bathing in oil, because, I mean, good oils. I use, yaho- jojoba oil. Is that how you say it? I don't know how you say it, but yeah. I bought it off Amazon, and it's, like, a really good oil that soaks into your skin.

I also use the Womaness Fountain of Glow Vitamin C. Mm-hmm. We've talked about it. Yep. So this Woman of Glow, or Fountain of Glow.

Fountain of Glow. Sorry. Fountain of Glow. It is a vitamin C, serum that also has squalene in it, and it is really, really good vitamins for your skin, plus it's oily, and it's so affordable. It's not one of those, you know, face treatments that cost you 50 bucks, 100 bucks- just for this little vial.

So, like, I slather it on my arms. I put it on the tops of my legs all the time just to keep the skin supple, so. I mean, I will say, like, postpartum, like, you know, everyone says put the, the belly oil on or whatever, and I was doing that. And then after I was like, "I'm just gonna keep going with this," like. Yeah.

And my, I It feels so much better on my skin, so I'm using oil now too. Good. And was never, was never using it before. Not great for your sheets at night. No.

But recently watched a video by Dr. Mike, is I don't know how to s- pronounce the last name, where he said that women can do more reps and need less rest compared to men. Do you know anything about this? I reckon it's correct based on my experience. I don't know this guy.

I don't either. Dr. Mike something. Women can do more reps and need less rest. I don't know anything about that.

No. I don't know anything about that study. I, I mean, I don't know. I, I know the principles of strength training. I mean, to me, more reps- Oh is less- Shorter rest periods between sets is what they're clarifying.

Okay. Well, it could be, but if you're, if you're using light weights, you probably do need a shorter rest. Yeah. If you're using heavier weights, you need a little longer rest. I And why women?

I don't know. I don't know anything about that study. We'll have to check into it. Hair thinning, any insights, any success with HRT? Labs are good, so guessing it's the dang hormones.

It's the dang hormones. I don't know what to tell you. It is m- the thorn in my side. I have had horrible hair thinning. My ponytail used to be, like, a- Big and thick, and it's gotten so thin.

And it's hard for me to know, because they say, you know, look at your elders, right? So like my mom has so much hair on her head, it's ridiculous. Your mom has really thick hair. My mom always had a ponytail that was like a horse's, you know, tail. And my grandma, though, my dad's mom, was bald at 36.

So, but my mom's mom had tons of hair. So it's hard to know. Yeah. One of my sisters has just like thick, thick hair, and two of us are kind of thinning. So it's hard to know.

I've noticed a lot of just thinning. Not that I have bald spots, but a lot of thinning. I've tried every serum under the sun. What a pain in the butt those serums are. Yeah.

Yes, running them into your scalp, your hair gets all goofy. And like I'm so done with the serums. I hate the stupid Nutrafol. That's just me. I just don't like taking all those horse pills.

All the pills. I already take so many. So truth be told, I did just start minoc- Minoxidil. I haven't heard of that. It is an, ah, it's a pharmaceutical drug that it's like what men take to get- Okay hair back.

And so the big th- mystery is a lot of women say, "Well, aren't you afraid you're gonna grow a beard or something?" I'm like, "No, I'm not. I don't know." You're like, "I want that." I'm like, "My bad." So that was always my fear, 'cause my derm said like over two years ago, she's like, "Chris, you should take this." And I'm like, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid." Well, I have a couple girlfriends who have been taking it now for a year and a half. They do not have a beard. Ah, their hair has gotten a lot fuller.

And so that's what I'm doing right now. Just truth be told. Just- I wouldn't have said that, but since you asked. Yeah. Let us know.

Because I just It's really hard, and I It is the hormones, and it is, some of it is genetic. Yeah. And for me also, I'm just gonna say it's being blonde. Yeah, yeah. Because it's all the bleach I put on my hair.

I mean, I'm not a blonde, so, you know. And then do I wanna stop being a blonde? I'm not ready to become dark-haired or gray-haired, so. What's your natural color? Kinda dark.

Okay. Kinda, she said that with a very sad face. Dark hair over here. Dishwater. No, no, no.

Dishwater. Dishwater. Yeah. Okay. I'll report back, everybody.

I'm gonna keep going. I mean, you gotta take it for like six months to notice a difference. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah.

"I'm so tired of plateaus. Seems my weight won't budge no matter what I try. I know I can't extra, out exercise a bad diet, but my diet is pretty healthy, 80 fift- 85/15 anyway. I'm strength training more and working out five days a week. Any tips for me?" So I don't know anything about how you're strength training.

Are you lifting with, ah, muscle failure? Do you feel muscle failure? Are you doing full range of motion, not just I, I li- I like to use the bicep curl as an example, because this is like Yeah, I see people go like this. That's like a half range of motion. Going all the way down.

Now you're all the way down here. That muscle is long. C- curl it back up. Go slow all the way down. Like are you doing enough to break down your muscle fibers?

Are you getting enough amino acids into those muscles for repair and recovery to build them so that you build muscle onto your body? But yeah, people hit plateaus, so you have to kinda change up your food a little bit. Mm-hmm. I, like I, it's been now about a year and a half when I started changing the way I lift, and it was really because I noticed my own self slowing down, like I couldn't keep the fast pace of like, because I'm a group fitness person. I just started noticing this whole like pick up the weight, put it down, pick it up, put it down.

Like I couldn't do it anymore. So I'm like something has to give. And then I just started noticing my body changing a little bit, and I'm like, "I wanna add some muscle to my body," and that's just really hard to add the muscle. So I started lifting a lot slower and more weight. And I, and I started taking creatine, started doing my amino acids after my workout.

Started just really being mindful. And I didn't necessarily lose weight. My weight has stayed pretty steady, but I've definitely put on more muscle. Mm-hmm. So it's hard though.

It is hard. I get it. Like I understand the struggle is real, everybody. Just keep, you know, doing the best you can. But so whenever you're on a plateau, always think of that thing as the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Mm-hmm. Something has to change. Change one thing up. I love it. And like Ch- Chris just talked about kind of like her diet fitness, so there's people that are asking like, "What are you doing differently?

You look different and you look Like you look amazing." You look old. No, not at all. Um- I mean, I W- go ahead, finish what- No, go ahead. No, I was gonna say, I, I, you know, we're all our worst critics, so it's kind of you to say, "Oh, you look different. You're..." I don't know if that's a kind thought or not, but- No, they said you look amazing.

Okay. So. But I do, like when I see myself on camera, I feel like I look older. I mean, when people get older, their faces get a little more gaunt. I notice all the wrinkles in my neck.

This is my nemesis. People comment, rude people on internet, o- on Instagram always say, "Your neck is disgusting. Your feet are disgusting. Your legs are disgusting," because they're veiny. I mean, you see it.

Oh, yeah. People make the meanest comments, and I'm like, "Whatever. I don't care. I'm 60 fricking years old," and that's just- I always hope I get to 'em before she does, but, but, but we don't. I see 'em and I, I don't care.

Yeah. I mean, but so for me, I, I, I just like a year and a half ago, it was really like January No, it was March of, January to March of 2025. 2025. I started changing the way I was lifting, and then starting in about October, and then I started taking creatine in August of last year. So it's been o- over a year.

Yep. And I started changing my lifting pattern. I started doing less harsh car- I stopped all the harsh cardio. Like har- I still do cardio. I walk every day.

I get my steps. Yeah. I, you know, but I stopped all the harsh cardio. I started lifting heavier. I started really being mindful of my creatine and my amino acids, getting my protein.

And my body, I did gain some muscle. I feel like I've gained muscle. Mm-hmm. And but weight-wise, I'm probably like three pounds different. Yeah.

I'm not that much different, but definitely have felt like my body has shifted a little bit. So- But it, it also was a long process. Yeah. And you know, like last Christmas people were like, "Oh my gosh, you look so much stronger." And I'm like, "Yeah, but I've been doing this for eight months." Yeah. I, I didn't do it, you know, starting yesterday.

Overnight. And I think that's the biggest problem for fitness is you gotta hold on. Like, I get it. It's so hard, and I talk to people all the time who are like, "I lifted for a month and nothing happened." I know. You gotta lift for 10 months.

You have to do it for Like, just put it into your longevity plan. That's what I'm telling people now. Yeah. Put this into your longevity plan. Make it like, okay, I wanna live really good life in my 70s and 80s.

What do I have to do? It's kind of like your retirement plan with your money. Yeah. What do I have to do to make sure I have money to travel in my older age? Yeah, yeah.

Well, what do I have to do to make sure I'm mobile and strong in my older age? I mean, I had someone in one of my live classes, she was scared, to take my class on Friday, and I, and I hadn't seen her in a while. I've been gone, but I was like, "How have you been?" And she had a knee replacement, and she was like, "It is..." And she was coming to the gym, like all the time consistently, and she goes, "It is crazy how quickly mu- you lose muscle." But she was like, "I've been doing this for years, and how much longer it's gonna take to like gain it back." And I'm like, "It, it's so true." Like, we lose it kind of quickly, but it takes such a long time and consistency and that longevity to like keep it on. So I play in a pickleball group. I have a group of women.

I love it, and we have a gal who's 77 in our group, and she is freaking unbelievable. She's adorable. She dresses so cute. She plays pickleball with all of us in our 50s and 60s, and she's good. She is active.

She plays with her grandchildren. She does this, she does that, and I'm like, "I wanna be you. I wanna be as mobile as you are. I wanna..." You know, age is just a number, people. We can do this.

And things do change. Like, yes, I don't wear high heels. I do, but not super high. I will never wear a pointy high heel again in my life. I You know, certain things have changed, like I'm definitely into comfort more.

But like you still can feel good. You still can look good. You still can do things, like we just all have to stick together and help each other out. Absolutely. We have somebody saying that they love our new instructor Maddie.

Um- Yes so we'll be sure to tell her that, and she will be doing more workouts soon, so. And Maddie is really awesome. So Maddie's in her 30s. Maddie has done, like eight Ironmans, something crazy. Something close to that, yeah.

Like, you have to be slightly nuts to do Ironmans. Like, she's amazing. She's told her that in person too. Yes, yes. I mean, and you Well, you have to be mentally so strong.

Yeah. And, she has a little She and her, partner have a li- her husband, her boy- whatever, have a baby. Adorable. She's a great mom. She's a great trainer.

Yeah. She's just We're, we're really happy to have her as an- Yeah addition. And one of the things I wanna tell all of you guys is we have a slew of trainers who are all is super experienced. It has been my, my goal to pick trainers for Get Healthy UTV that are all super experienced, and we are so lucky that we all come from the same pool of, at Lifetime f- Lifetime Fitness and some other places in the Twin Cities where everybody's super qualified. Mm-hmm.

But everyone has a little different personality, so we love when we see in the group that some of you are like, "I love Maddie, the new instructor. I love her energy." And people are like, "I love Melissa. I love her workouts. I love her, the, you know, the way she does this. I love Shannon.

She's such a tough one," blah, blah, blah. Like, we really love that you guys get to experience all the different personalities and training styles, and- Yes it's really fun. Yes. Um- And if Maddie's listening, we love you. I know.

We- we'll be sure to tell her if she's not. So, I keep seeing a lot about adding taurine to your daily creatine. Your thoughts, hype or worth it? I don't know anything about taurine. I don't either.

I know, I believe, you know, amino acid and I don't know Like, I know the BCAAs, the branched-chain amino acids, are really the most important for muscle synthesis and recovery, and that would be the valine, the iso-lu- the i- ice- valine, iso Now I'm losing it. What? Iso leucine and leucine. Yeah, there you go. Good Lord, what's wrong with me?

Leucine is the most important of the amino acids for muscle, strength, recovery, repair, et cetera. I don't know anything about taurine. Are there any more in-person events in the works as an independent event or in combination with some other fitness weekend? Oh, gosh, you guys, it's so hard. We did two live events, for those of you who are G2TV people.

It was so much fun. Mm-hmm. We did them here in the Twin Cities. It is so fun to be with a group of people live. There is nothing like it.

But it's super expensive- To put on, yeah and that's just the reality of the world we live in now. By the time we rented the space and did things the way that we wanna do it, provide healthy food, provide swag, provide, you know, things that matter, it just, it Both times we lose money. I mean, I'm just- Yeah, yeah being super transparent today. Yep. Yes, she is.

I'm telling it like it is. And so- Watch out it's a really hard proposition for us to do. Yeah. And then, you know, the first year we had so many people sign up, and it was so great. And the second year people were like, "Well, I think I'll skip this year." And we had rented this huge big space.

Yeah. And then we weren't having as many people show up, and it's just, it's really hard. So as much as we'd love to. The one thing I would tell you, though, is that I love that so many of you guys have become friends. I th- I- Yeah I mean, we see in the group, like so-and-so's visiting so-and-so.

You guys are having meetups around the country. Mm-hmm. You guys are doing things together. You're I, I, I just love that. That's really cool.

I love that we can become friends through fitness. Yeah, and through, like a digital world, right? Yeah. Non-hormone menopause options. I know you're not a doctor, but she recalls that you've discussed before something about n- menopause options, non-hormone, specifically hot flashes and night sweats.

Yeah, I mean, that's really hard. Like- you know And, and by the way, just because you take HRT does not mean you're gonna solve those problems. But I think for a lot of people it's, being very smart about sleep. You just gotta really get good sleep. And sleep is so hard.

Like, I never dreamt- Pun intended. That I would be that person who wakes up at 3:00 in the morning. I'm like, "No, these people who do that, like, I'm a sound sleeper. That's not gonna happen to me." And then all of a sudden one day, I'm like, I wake up every day at 3:00 in the morning, and I start overthinking everything in my life. And I'm like, "Why is this happening to me, and I can't turn off my brain?" So, you know, maybe it's some sleep aids that are, you know, things that are good for sleep, not a drug.

But there is so many, like, Nighttime Sleeps. Mm-hmm. Magnesium. Some of the, other nighttime things, the Beam drink that has- Yep a little bit of melatonin in it. Mm-hmm.

Depends, like, I don't tolerate melatonin very well, but some people do. Some people do, yeah. So really trying to dial in that sleep and get a little bit more sleep. You know, night sweats, hot flashes, those are really hard to deal with. I mean, they I've heard people say that blue cohosh is great for night flashes, like taking that herb.

Again, you have to make sure that that doesn't interact with any of your medications. Mm-hmm. Herbs really Herbs, you know, they are just herbs, but you do need to- Yeah I don't know medications that you're taking. You know, I think getting exercise every day is very, very helpful for regulating some of the things like the menopause symptoms. It's really helpful.

You just become more resilient to it, too. Mm-hmm. But that's, that's hard, you know? Yeah, yeah. People are commenting on our, virtual ev- event that we did during COVID that they enjoyed, so just- The virtual?

Yes, the virtual one. Yeah, the virtual- Yeah is fun, and maybe we do another one of those. Those, those are Like, trainers, we love it. Yeah, I mean, it's- It was just a- it's a little bit easier for us to- It, it's like a weekend of workouts and workshops. Yeah.

And we just, we're sitting here in our studio. Film it in the studio. So you guys, we're right here in, like, this talking area, but over to this side is where our fitness studio is, where we film all of the workouts. So we did do a virtual in, n- in Ja- you know, we've done it in January before. Mm-hmm.

We'll have to see. We'll have to see, yeah. It is really fun, though. I do agree with you. It just depends on production and all the stuff.

All the things. We have people asking, "Is this recorded and available later?" This talk is available later. This is live right now, but if you wanna come back and listen to it or give it to a friend, family member, all the things, we're streaming this on Facebook, on Get Healthy U TV, our website, YouTube, and Instagram. You can find it on any of those platforms later, so, um- And when you go to gethealthyutv.com, you don't even have to be a member. You can click on Resources.

Yep. And then you can get to live Q&As, and you can watch all the old ones. Some of them are themed- Yes like where we talked about bone building, or we talked about- Just about, yeah you know, modifications for certain exercises, or where we talked about nutrition or something. So definitely go back and look at the Q&As. We touched on this, but we have people joining m- maybe a little late.

How often should you strength train every week, and is a 45-minute session sufficient? Yes. 45 minutes, are you kidding me? Most people don't even do 20 minutes. No.

It, that's great. I mean, strength training, the protocol for the CDC, which, you know, if you wanna follow CDC guidelines, is two strength training workouts a week. Full body, use all muscle groups twice a week. That's the only protocol they have. They're not telling you how many reps, what to do, but what I will tell you is go to muscle fatigue or failure.

You wanna feel that like, "Ugh, I can barely do another rep." You wanna get to that uncomfortable spot. It is an uncomfortable feeling that people have to get used to. You first have to a- acclimate your joints, though, so don't start too early, or you're gonna end up with wrist and elbow and shoulder and all those kinds of problems, so people need to start slow and build up. But a couple strength training sessions a week, 45 minutes is amazing. You can literally get your whole body in 45 minutes.

And then add in some daily steps. You know, that, now the weather's starting to get cold. And so now my walking pad's gonna come out of the closet, and I'm gonna start really using it a lot. Yeah. Because, that's Walking keeps me sane, too.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that, again, like you talk about in your 30s, you just go hard, hard, hard, and I think every season of life, you change things. And after being obviously postpartum, I couldn't go back to running right away, right? And walking was, like, my favorite thing. And I've listened to Chris a lot over the last couple of years, but, like, walking is I mean, I truly felt amazing just walking.

And so even now, like, yes, I can go back to my running, but, like, there are days where I'm like, "I just wanna walk," and I feel really good about it. Right. And you don't have to be a runner. No. I mean, you But if you are a runner, and it's good for your body, you should do it.

Yeah. And if you like I used to spin nonstop, but I just know my cortisol was so high, and my body was inflamed, and I was teaching way too many spinning classes, and I was like, "This is not working for me anymore." So there is a point where things can backfire. Absolutely. Cardio can backfire. I mean, I, again, I love running, but, like, I have found the real deal in walking, truthfully.

Like, I don't run as many days. I still do a couple, but I don't do- Sure as many as I used to. Yeah, and do it when you're young. Yeah. 'Cause when you get to be our age, things change.

Are you planning another live Thanksgiving workout? Oh, gosh. So I used to be home for Thanksgiving every year. I used to host it, 'cause my kids would come home. Now we're always gone on Thanksgiving, 'cause now my kids are hosting Thanksgiving- Love it.

I- which is really fun for them. So I'm gonna be gone for Thanksgiving this year, so I will not be doing a live workout. She'll be enjoying family time. Yeah. Sorry.

I mean, rightfully so. We have time for probably one more. One question, and then we're over. I've had a bad neck, and every time I lift heavy, there's so much pain and headaches. My chiropractor told me to lift lighter weights or just use bands.

My concern is, am I getting enough lifting lighter? Well, again, I don't know what heavy is to you and what light is to you. It's different to everybody. But one of the things, you're probably pulling up your trapezius and using your muscles through here. And so, yes, you should lighten up until your body acclimates, and slowly but surely increase the weights.

Slowly but surely. You should add Pilates into your routine, 'cause Pilates will teach you how to use your cervical spine and your upper back, your thoracic spine, and get those back extensors stronger so you don't use your neck. I have a str- a neck-stretching gadget that my sister called me the other day, and she's like, "Chris, do you really use that thing?" And I'm like, "Do you think I would show it to you if I didn't?" Like, who are you? You know, then, then she laughed about it. But anyway, it's just this thing I lay over on the floor, and I just stretch my neck out.

I swear to God, it is my favorite thing. I love it. Do you do it with, like, your back routine? I, well, you can't do it at the same time. Okay.

But I just lay on the floor and stretch my neck for, like, three minutes. It feels so good. So that might be good for you, too, because think about it. You're, like, using all these muscles back here. They also need to stretch.

Yeah. So we can give you a link to the It's just this silly little gadget. Yeah, but- Yeah a little neck stretcher. Anyway, okay, we're over time. Every time we start these Q&As, I say to Sam, "How are we gonna talk for an hour?

Do you think we have enough questions?" And then- And I always say, "I think we'll be okay." And then it's always so long. I'm sorry my voice has been so hoarse. This was fun. Loved chit-chatting with you guys. We will be back November, what?

She knows. We're not gonna be here in October. We'll be back in November. November- For the last one of 2026. Or tw- yeah, 2026.

Yep. No, yep, November 12th. We'll be back November 12th. And so we'll catch you guys then. We'll get all ready for the holidays.

We can talk holidays, and then we'll be back in January 2027 to start the year off right. Yep. Get everybody going. So thanks for watching, you guys. If you are interested in Get Healthy U TV, just go ahead and send us a message.

We'll send you some information on how to get a good deal for your first year of membership, and if you're already a member, we appreciate you so much. Have a great day.