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