Episode 47Mar 11, 2026· 12:07
Is Your Workout Actually Working Against You? A Nurse Practitioner's Take on Strength, Recovery, and Training Smarter
About this episode
A nurse practitioner who specializes in integrative medicine just made the case that strength training is literally medicine...not a bonus, not a nice-to-have, medicine. In this episode, Ashley shares a powerful voice note from Stephanie Baubie, NP, who breaks down why muscle mass is one of the strongest predictors of how well we age, and why the "more is always better" mentality could be quietly sabotaging your…
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Full transcript
00:00
Movement is medicine when it's done in balance.
00:10
What's up you guys, famous Ashley Grant here.
00:11
Welcome to More Movement Please, the podcast
00:13
where I hope to inspire you to move your body
00:15
more. Today I have another incredible voice note
00:18
to share with you and this one comes to us from
00:19
Stephanie Baubie. And y 'all, she said some things
00:22
I really needed to hear personally. Here's what
00:25
she had to say. Hi Ashley, my name is Stephanie
00:28
Baubie. I'm a nurse practitioner specializing
00:31
in integrative medicine. My work centers around
00:35
people trying to build long -term health through
00:38
simple foundational lifestyle practices. the
00:42
things that truly move the needle over time.
00:45
One of the most important of those foundations
00:47
is movement. When we talk about longevity, people
00:51
often jump to supplements or biohacking, but
00:55
one of the strongest predictors of how well we
00:58
age is actually muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically
01:02
active tissue. It supports blood sugar regulation,
01:05
hormone balance, bone density, and joint stability.
01:09
Higher muscle mass is associated with lower cardiovascular
01:12
risk, reduced frailty, and better long -term
01:16
health outcomes. And the way we build muscle
01:18
is through strength training. This doesn't mean...
01:22
living in the gym even 30 to 45 minutes of intentional
01:26
strength training three days per week is enough
01:29
to stimulate muscle growth support bone health
01:32
and improve insulin sensitivity it protects joints
01:36
improves posture and reduces fall risk as we
01:39
age strength training literally is medicine but
01:44
here's what doesn't get talked about enough more
01:48
is not always better. In our culture, especially
01:52
among high achieving people, we tend to equate
01:55
progress with intensity. We push harder, we add
01:59
more workouts, we chase exhaustion. But overtraining
02:03
can dysregulate cortisol, our primary stress
02:06
hormone. When cortisol stays elevated, it can
02:09
impair muscle recovery, disrupt sleep, increase
02:12
inflammation, and actually make it harder to
02:14
build strength. Your body doesn't get stronger
02:18
during the workout. It gets stronger during recovery.
02:22
That's why we have to balance strength with mobility
02:26
and rest. Mobility work improves flexibility,
02:30
joint integrity, and range of motion. Without
02:33
it, we can build strength on top of restriction,
02:36
which often leads to stiffness or injury. Mobility
02:39
doesn't have to be complicated. It can be 10
02:42
intentional minutes after your workout focusing
02:44
on hips, shoulders, and spine. And rest days
02:48
matter. Sleep matters. Light walking counts.
02:52
Strength overall builds resilience. Mobility
02:55
preserves fluidity. Recovery allows adaptation.
02:59
And I especially want to highlight this for people
03:02
in their 40s. This is a decade where we begin
03:05
to see hormonal shifts, especially for women
03:08
entering perimenopause. Estrogen fluctuations
03:11
can impact muscle mass, bone density, and recovery
03:15
capacity. We naturally lose muscle every decade
03:18
after our 30s unless we intentionally work to
03:21
maintain it. So strength training becomes even
03:25
more essential in your 40s, not for aesthetics,
03:28
but for metabolic health, bone protection, and
03:31
long -term vitality. But recovery capacity may
03:34
not be what it was in your 20s. In this season
03:38
of life, it's less about going hard every day.
03:42
more about intelligent balance. Stimulate the
03:45
muscle, then allow the body to recover. If cortisol
03:48
is chronically elevated from life stress, lack
03:51
of sleep, or excessive training, you may notice
03:54
slower recovery, more inflammation, or feeling
03:57
constantly depleted. The goal isn't burnout level
04:00
fitness. It's sustainable strength. If someone
04:04
listening feels overwhelmed, keep it simple.
04:07
Three days per week of strength training, a few
04:09
minutes of mobility after or before each session,
04:13
at least one true rest day, and protect your
04:17
sleep. You don't need extremes. You need consistency.
04:21
Movement is medicine when it's done in balance.
04:25
Okay, I need a moment. I genuinely need a moment.
04:29
First of all, can we just appreciate that a medical
04:32
professional, a nurse practitioner, just looked
04:35
us dead in the eye and said, Strength training
04:37
is literally medicine. Not kind of helpful, not
04:41
a nice bonus, medicine. And if you've been listening
04:44
to this podcast for any length of time, you know
04:47
that I came into this whole fitness journey as
04:49
someone who absolutely, positively did not want
04:53
to lift a weight. My instructor Rhonda will tell
04:55
you she did not think that she was ever going
04:58
to get me to pick up a dumbbell. And now here
05:00
I am working toward those 20 pound dumbbells
05:03
and genuinely excited about it. So hearing Stephanie
05:07
say something that we've heard from previous
05:08
voice notes before, say that with her whole chest
05:12
as a medical professional, it just continues
05:16
to reiterate that I finally am doing something
05:20
really right in my fitness journey. But here's
05:24
the part of this voice note that I have to be
05:25
honest with you guys about. That part about overtraining
05:28
and cortisol. I can't help it. I feel like she
05:31
was talking about me. In fact, it was almost
05:35
like she... heard my story and was talking about
05:38
me because I have openly admitted to you guys
05:40
that I am working out somewhere between 10 and
05:42
16 hours a week. I've said out loud that yes,
05:45
sometimes I know I'm overdoing it and I am. And
05:48
I've always kind of framed it like, well, at
05:50
least I'm taking active recovery days, so it's
05:52
fine. But Stephanie just kind of laid out exactly
05:56
what happens inside your body when you push it
05:58
too hard for too long. Elevated cortisol, impaired
06:01
recovery, disrupted sleep. Hell, more inflammation.
06:06
I felt every single word of that. And the thing
06:09
that really stopped me was when she said, your
06:12
body does not get stronger during the workout.
06:15
It gets stronger during recovery. And I think
06:19
somewhere in the back of my mind, I kind of knew
06:21
this, but hearing it stated that plainly by a
06:24
medical professional, I don't know, I guess it
06:27
just kind of hits different. Like all that work
06:29
I'm putting in. could actually be working against
06:31
me if I'm not protecting my recovery just as
06:34
fiercely as I'm protecting my workout schedule.
06:37
Y 'all, if this is a wake -up call for you, I
06:41
really want you to listen to it because I'm actually
06:43
in a position right now where I'm starting to
06:45
feel these feels, wondering if maybe I should
06:47
do more active recovery days because though I
06:50
am absolutely loving how much I'm moving my body
06:53
right now, I know... I really do. I know that
06:56
it's not sustainable. I know it's going to come
06:58
to a point where I am going to have to take more
06:59
time to really take care of my own body. And
07:02
so I guess I just am trying to say, I told you
07:07
guys from the beginning, I plan to be as transparent
07:10
as possible. I don't ever intend to stop working
07:14
out my body. I intend to move out every single
07:17
day, but I might not go as hard. That's kind
07:22
of hard to say out loud because I have enjoyed
07:25
this journey so much. I have enjoyed seeing just
07:28
how far I can go. But I also want to make sure
07:31
that I don't do it to the point that I hurt myself.
07:35
I don't want to do it to the point where it's
07:37
to my own detriment. I do believe that you can
07:40
keep doing more exercise and that you can keep
07:44
doing more cardio and doing more of all the things.
07:47
But maybe the weightlifting part, maybe that
07:50
is the part where I need to. restrict a little.
07:52
I'm not sure. I'm still thinking on it. But what
07:55
she said, it's got me thinking. And that's the
07:59
whole point of this, right? The whole reason
08:01
I wanted fitness experts and nutritionists and
08:03
registered dietitians and medical professionals
08:06
and all the things. The reason I wanted all of
08:08
them to start leaving voice notes is so that
08:10
we can keep opening this conversation. Because
08:12
whether Stephanie's right or wrong, I don't know
08:17
that yet. Because I still have more to learn.
08:19
I still have so much more to learn. I'll be the
08:21
very first to tell you that when it comes to
08:23
fitness, I'm one of the most ignorant people
08:24
you will ever meet. But I have a curious mind
08:28
and I'm open and I want to know more. Another
08:32
thing that Stephanie talked about is she specifically
08:34
talked about women in their 40s and perimenopause.
08:37
And I just want to make sure that every woman
08:39
who's listening to this really heard that part.
08:42
Because I feel like we are so often told to just
08:44
push harder and do more and be more disciplined.
08:48
But Stephanie's saying, actually, in this season
08:50
of life, your recovery capacity, it's different.
08:54
Your hormones, they're shifting. And maybe what
08:57
your body needs is intelligent balance, not just
09:00
more intensity. And this is such an important
09:03
message, and I don't think we hear it nearly
09:05
enough. Another thing that was really a good
09:08
reminder for me was her mobility piece, because
09:11
I will be real with y 'all. Mobility work is
09:13
probably the thing I'm most likely to skip when
09:16
I'm short on time. I have made a really big commitment
09:18
to trying to do more stretch classes. In fact,
09:21
I'm taking a stretch class almost every day at
09:24
this point, like over the past, like I'd say
09:26
a good three, four weeks. I've been trying to
09:28
do stretching every single day. I'm not good
09:30
at it yet, but I'm trying to make it a habit
09:32
because she made a really good point that if
09:35
you're building strength on top of restriction,
09:38
you're actually setting yourself up for stiffness
09:40
and injury down the road. Just 10 intentional
09:43
minutes after a workout, focusing on your hips
09:46
and your shoulders and your spine. That's it.
09:48
That's the ask. And I think I could do that.
09:51
I need to do that. And so do you. And I also
09:54
love that she ended with a simple framework for
09:57
anyone who feels overwhelmed. Three days a week
09:59
of strength training. A little mobility before
10:02
or after. At least one true rest day and protect
10:06
your sleep. No extremes. Just consistency. And
10:10
you know I love that word at this point. Consistency
10:13
makes me so happy. Because the whole point of
10:15
this podcast is just more movement. It's not
10:18
about perfect movement. It's not about extreme
10:21
movement. Just more movement, please. But done
10:25
in a way you can actually sustain. So that's
10:28
what I've got for you today, you guys. I hope
10:31
you enjoyed Stephanie's message. I hope it hit
10:33
you as hard as it hit me. And honestly... I think
10:37
I'm going to take a look at my own schedule with
10:38
fresh eyes after this one and just really think
10:41
about it more. And will it make me change how
10:44
much I'm working out right now? I don't think
10:46
so, not necessarily, but it is good food for
10:49
thought of a conversation that we need to continue
10:51
having about whether or not I am going too hard
10:56
or not. I'm not sure, but it was very... eye
11:02
-opening to hear what Stephanie had to say. And
11:04
if you too would like to leave a voice note for
11:06
a future episode, I would absolutely love to
11:08
hear from y 'all. Whether you're a fitness pro
11:10
or someone who's just like me, trying to get
11:13
in shape at whatever age, head over to famousashleygarant
11:16
.com backslash fitness. I love, love, love hearing
11:19
from you guys. Thank you so much for listening.
11:22
Thank you so much for everybody who has been
11:24
submitting voice notes. I want more. I'm getting
11:26
such a kick out of this, soaking in all the education,
11:29
soaking in all of the fitness expertise that
11:31
I can possibly get. Onwards and upwards, my friends.
11:34
Have you worked out today?
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