The Livy Method Podcast - Feel Strong in Your 60s, 70s, and Beyond

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

Most of us are working out but have no idea if it's actually doing anything. Are you lifting enough? Moving enough? Resting too much or not enough?In this episode, Odette sits down with fitness and longevity expert Andrew Blakey for a straight-talking conversation about what it really takes to get stronger, protect your bones, and feel capable in your body for the long haul. They break down progressive overload in plain language, bust the "no pain, no gain" myth, and get into real talk on walking, strength training, osteoporosis, impact training, rest days, and creatine, including what the latest science actually says.Where to Find Andrew:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewblakey/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Iamandrewblakey/Website: https://blakeybreakthrough.com/ This episode aligns with day 60 of our Spring 2026 maintenance program. You can find the full video hosted at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/ginalivymaintenanceandmindfulnessTo learn more about The Livy Method and our Maintenance & Mindfulness group, visit livymethod.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm going to be honest with you, this podcast is unapologetically a hot mess because that is what midlife feels like sometimes. Why, though? And how do we make it better? Do we all just need facelifts and gLP ones? I mean, let's talk about it. No bullshit, no wellness wankery here because we're trying to make real change and change is hard. But we're in this together. Welcome to the Living Method podcast.

Well, here we are. Andrew Blakey is in the house with us in fitness and aging. expert longevity. I think that's the word I like to use more. We're focusing on longevity long term. How do we want to feel 10, 20 years from now? So we're going to get into it. We're going to have some real talk. We all know, Andrew, that, you know, moving, our bodies are made to move. We're meant to get out there, move, feel strong, feel vibrant, feel energetic. But how do we know that we're even doing what we need to do? I mean, we're going to get right into it because I think there's so many terms that are thrown around out there, you know, like power lifting, overload, exhaustion,

this many reps over this many reps. I mean, we have so much to talk about and we have 30 minutes, so we've got to get rid of it. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I'm excited for this. I always, I always love any time we get to talk or chat, whether it's in the maintenance group or in the main group, you know, it's always, it's always nice to kind of get down into it and actually be talking about information that people can actually use. So I'm excited to to dive into this and get get deep because I love the nerdy stuff and I love diving into both the science, but also how we can actually apply it in everyday life. So I'm excited for this conversation and to see where we're going to end up. Yeah. And I think that's it. It's the everyday life. It's the real life.

I mean, we're so bombarded with, you know, social media and comparisons and, you know, one influencer is saying this. One influencer is saying that, you know, it's sometimes it's all or nothing. Sometimes it's just do what you can. So how do we know? How do we know that we are doing enough? What is our gauge? You know, we say like 10,000 steps a day. We say, you know, 150 minutes a week. What, what is the gauge there? How do we know that we're doing enough to make a difference? Oh, that's a good question. That's a big question. I feel like there's so many different directions we can go with it. I mean, I guess we'll, you know, because, you know, my realm of expertise is in the, it is in the fitness and the working out space. I guess I'll kind of, you know, go in that direction, talk about how do we know if we're

actually working out enough and doing enough to support change and to support adaptation. And I would say that the big answer for that. And people will have heard this word being, again, thrown around all the time, which is progressive overload, right? If we're doing, you know, the exact same thing for months and months and months. And I know people who, you know, they start going in the gym, they start working out. And they're doing the same workout for, you know, months and months and and months, same weight, same reps, same everything. And at the beginning, I mean, I think it's really exciting because when people are first starting out with fitness, when people are first getting into working out, almost anything

that we do is going to help get people stronger, right? When you go from zero to now doing something, you're going to be getting stronger. But when we are doing the same weights, we are doing the same reps, we are doing the same resistance. And there's no progressive overload, which I'll say what I'll explain what that means in just a second, when we do stick with the same thing all the time, how can we expect to continue to improve, right? Progressive overload, that's essentially this big fancy word, which basically just means that we're challenging ourselves a little bit more over time, right? And, you know,

as we do, as we, you know, do more workouts, as we, you know, we're more consistent with it, we should be challenging ourselves a little bit more, given that we are getting stronger. We are improving, right? Again, like I said, if we keep doing the same thing, then we're not going to, we're not going to keep improving like the way that we are. So that's one of the gauges is making sure that we are challenging ourselves a little bit more over time, right? Another one is what a lot of people, I think, mistakenly focus on, which is how sore am I after a workout?

You know, a lot of people think, you know what, if I'm not an excruciating pain, if I'm not beating up my body, then I'm not getting stronger, right? And they use that as a gauge of exercise or workout effectiveness. is the gauge of I, you know, am I super sore the next day? And I don't think that that's the right metric to use. Yes, you know what, we are going to, you know, be feeling a little bit tighter the day after a workout. We might get a little bit of some mild soreness.

But we're not beating up our bodies so much in a workout where, you know, you can't sit on the toilet the next day. You can't get up and down off the couch. I mean, you know, especially when somebody's new, if that's the approach and that's the gauge that we're using is how sore am I? Then, you know, how can somebody continue to want to, to work out if they're, you know, in excruciating pain all the time. It's going to be like, I tried it. You know what? That sucked. See you later. See you never. You know, I feel, I mean, I've heard that before too.

Like, you know, when I was younger and working out. And it's like, oh, it's a good kind of pain. It's a good kind of pain. That's the pain you want. Like I don't want any pain. I don't want to be able to walk up and down my stairs. Like you said, I want to be able to sit down on the toilet and be like, oh my gosh, I'm going to fall over. Right. So I'm so glad that you said that we don't have to, it really is the opposite of no pain, no gain. I mean, yeah, maybe there's a bit of discomfort there because, yeah, you did work your muscles. You did, you know, for lack of better word, damage them so they can get stronger. So there's going to be that, that maybe a bit of soreness.

But yeah, like just so refreshing to hear that don't think that, you know, this excruciating pain is doing you any better. And you're right. Like, I don't want to go back there. I do it once. I don't want to go back there. You're like, I'm good. No. And then you're out for like three or four days, right?

Because then you're like, okay, well, I'm sore. I'm going to lay on the couch now and just take care of myself. And I think you mentioned something really good there where it's like, you know, if in three and four days you're like, you know what, I'm still too sore. I can't go work out. Then again, we probably, probably overdid it. Right. Because if you need, you know, four days, you need a week to recover afterwards, then, you know,

that means that same thing. We probably did a little bit too much, right? And if we continue on that path, we continue working ourselves so hard where we need a week to recover every time. One, not only is that how do you build a routine off of that, how do you build the structure to support your goals, but also, you know, then we have to bring into the conversation, you know, overuse injuries and stuff like that, right? Not being able to fully recover, you know, hitting it again, again, hard two days later, even though we're not, you know, fully recovered or really even close and eventually cross them, something that we call

the injury threshold. And that's where those overuse injuries come. And, you know, we're not doing this to injure ourselves. We're doing this to support our bodies and make sure that we're able to continue living the life we love in our 70s, 80s and beyond, right? Exactly. That's exactly it. Okay, so we've got your progressive overload. You've got your soreness is not engaged. Do you have another one? Is there another one where we can? Yeah, it's more of the other things, right? I mean, yes, we've got our tangible numbers that we can look at, you know, how much resistance are we using, you know, our workout's getting easier, that kind of thing, the things that we can directly see when we are measuring them.

But there's also the other markers as well, right? You know, how are energy levels changing throughout the day? Are we, do we have more energy now? Is our sleep changing, right? Are we improving our sleep quality? And then we can go into more of the deeper stuff like, you know, how is our blood pressure changing? How is our resting heart rate changing over time, right?

And these ones are are ones that you're not gauging workout to workout. These are the ones that, you know, you're gauging and you're keeping eye on them, you know, over the course of weeks and months, right? These are more of kind of our longer term markers that we're kind of looking at. at. And I think that a good workout program, I think a good structure, a good routine, whether that is somebody going to the gym and working with a trainer, whether that is, you know, a program you found online, whatever it is, you know, it does need to have that gradual increase in intensity over time. Otherwise, same thing, you know, you're not going to continue to improve. But that's not to say,

if you are doing the same thing, you know, you've been doing it for months. You know, sometimes if, you know, the other thing is, you know, not getting worse is, is also a win for some people too, right? So even though I think probably most people, you know, when they are going to the gym, the goal is to get stronger, it is to get better. You know, I think it would also be amiss not to mention that for some people, they're doing it so that they don't get worse, right? Yeah. And, you know, showing up and getting to the gym, getting a workout in,

regardless of whether your weights are increasing or not, for a lot of people, that's also a win too, right? So it's two different, two different tracks there, I would say. Okay. So let's go back to this, this progressive overload and what that means exactly. So I'm, you know, I'm working out. I've got my seven pounders here and I've been using them for a while. How do I know it's time to level up? How do I know it's time to go up a few pounds? Like, you know, we hear, you know, some people say 12 reps is good. Some people say, you know, six reps is good. So how do we know what is good for us? Is there, is there a, you know, a blanket good for us. And then how do we know it's time to challenge? It's time to go up.

Is it like, is there an indicator for that? You know, I would go to the gym and I would just lift sevens for the rest of my life because they're, they're comfortable, they're easy. But yeah, how do I know it's time to move up so I can continue to get those benefits?

Right. So, I mean, I do like to use rep ranges. And, you know, before anybody kind of is like, oh, no, no, no, no.

The science says that, you know, the rep ranges, you know, everybody used to say, you know, rep ranges of six to eight. you know, or rep ranges of 10 to 15 for endurance, like that kind of thing. You know, more than more recent science is we look at more so of how many reps are left in reserve. Working to a point where, you know, what, you could probably only do two or three more reps comfortably. And when we work to that point, we are stimulating kind of the most muscle adaptations to get, be getting stronger, building more muscle and that kind of thing. So what I would say is that if somebody's going to the gym and they're like, you know what,

I like working, you know, in those higher rep ranges 10 to 12, 12 to 15. If you're able to go and do three sets of that higher rep range, it's probably time to, to challenge yourself a little bit more. Maybe, you know, the next peg down on a machine. And, and that's kind of how I would look at it. So if you're, you know, you're going to the gym or you're doing an exercise and you're doing, you know, 15 reps, 15 reps. And then on the last one, you're like, okay, I can only do 12 or 13 on this last set. You're probably working at an intensity that is good. That is a, a, a, a, a, acceptable level for those adaptations. But if you're going and you're like, I can do 15 reps, 15 reps, 15 reps. And then the next time you go to the gym, you're doing the same thing,

15 wraps, 15 reps, 15 reps, then it's probably time to up it or increase the challenge. Okay. Good, good point. So I have a member here, Heather. She wants to know how does progressive overload work with running? So I'm assuming this is maybe a distance thing. I'm not, I'm not sure, Heather, if you have more info, I want to post it. But you run, Andrew, so. Yeah, I love running questions. I've run two marathons. One was an ultra marathon, 58 kilometers that I just did on my own for some reason. It wasn't even as a part of a race. I just did it and looked up and did it. And I did the Berlin Marathon. We're cut from a different cloth. I did the Berlin Marathon two years. But in terms of progressive overload with that, you know, the important thing is same thing. It's knowing what it is that you're that you're wanting to work towards. Are you training for an event? Are you training to be able to run 15 kilometers? is are you training to hit a certain milestone?

Whatever that is, I think that influences how we go about using progressive overload in running. You know, we don't just go out and just start running more and more every single time, right? We do how I like to structure my running and how, you know, people that I work with, how I usually do it is, for me personally, this is, again, more of something that I like to use. I like to focus on doing a shorter, a little bit more quicker run. You know, for me personally, that might be in like the two to four kilometer range, two to three kilometer range, where I am working at a higher heart rate to kind of get

some of those benefits. And then I also like to do a medium run each week, which for, again, this is for how I use it, would be more of like a five to eight, maybe a five to nine kilometer. And then, you know, one longer run, which I typically structure that on the weekend, which would be, you know, I might be doing 10, might be doing 12 kilometers, but that's kind of the one where you could look at it and be like, you know what, I did, you know, 10 kilometers last weekend. maybe now I'm going to go, you know, 10 and a half or 11 kind of thing, right? So it's not like we're upping our distance every single time we go out running. It's kind of picking and choosing where it is that we are increasing it.

And for my own personal, you know, circumstance, that would be kind of on that longer, that longer run a little bit, but still making sure that we are giving ourselves time to recover, right? Yeah. Especially when we are, you know, you know, it is an impact, right? It is an impact doing running. So we need to make sure the same thing that we give ourselves time to adapt and, you know, recover so that we are promoting an environment where we can, you know, increase our distances

slowly and then and then kind of going from there. So I think that probably answers the question. That's kind of how I personally approach it with my running if somebody is a runner. Yeah, perfect. Okay. I want to just talk about these workouts again before we moved on. I also want to touch on what you just said there about impact and when impacts can be good. So we're going to get there. But I want to talk to you. about like duration of workouts and and cadence of workouts, you know, is it, is it something that it's like, is it, is it better to go three days a week longer? So let's say, you know, three days a week, 30 minutes in the gym. Is it better to go five to seven days a week, but only 15 minutes in the

gym or, you know, in the gym walking, whatever it might be? Is there a standard there that one is better than the other? Like what's the, is there a rule around that? Yeah, great question. For me, I look at things very practically, right? If we're going and, you know, we're going to a gym for 15 minutes, you know, five days a week or something,

you're probably spending five minutes during a warm up. You're probably doing a little bit of stretching. And I just don't think that, you know, you're going to have to drive there, you're going to have to walk there. So I feel like you're spending a lot of wasted time to get, you know, 10 or 15 minutes of working out in. That being said, same thing. One of the things that I always like to say, do it how you enjoy it because

the more important thing is that we're doing it, not making sure that we're perfect about it. What I will say is kind of how I like to kind of structure things. If somebody has got actually a really good structure with their workouts, if your exercises are organized in the right way, you can very much, very easily go and do a 30 to 45 minute workout and, you know, two or three days a week and have a very good strong routine that is point to provide those adaptations to be getting stronger. Unfortunately, I think the thing that I often, often see is people go and kind of just do random exercises.

They go to whatever machine is free. And there's not really much, I guess I would say, method to the madness. So, I mean, same thing. I mean, if you've got a well-rounded workout routine, you can get a really great workout in 30 to 45 minutes. And you can be doing a lot more compared to somebody who's going for an hour and a half and just doing random stuff. And it's not really, there's not really a plan behind the plan.

So that's what I would say is, you know, we don't need to be spending hours in the gym every day. I don't do that. That's not how I do it. I try to be in and out of the gym in 45 minutes to an hour, you know, three, four days a week for me. But same thing if somebody's getting into it, I would say, you know, twice a week minimum, twice a week minimum. That's going to allow us to be working the muscles enough and be providing the structure enough. You have a plan that's actually going to allow you to follow you. through on what it is that you're trying to do.

And then I guess one more comment with that. In terms of how much we need to work a muscle, we've got all these different muscle groups in our body, right? We've got our shoulders. We've got our pushing muscles, our pulling muscles. We've got hip hinges, you know, squat patterns. We've got a bunch of stuff. And I know I'm just throwing a lot of stuff out here.

And some people will be like, what's he talking about? But in terms of specific muscle groups, kind of the more, again, more recent literature would say that you want to work a muscle group between 20 or sorry, 10 and 20 sets a week. meaning that, you know, say if I was, for example, I'm just going to name a random exercise. If I were to, you know, I'll make it easy. If I were to do, you know, 10 pushups, you know, that's one set, right? So in order to hit that 10 to 20 sets, you need to be doing, you know, maybe three sets of a pushup on one day. Maybe you're pairing it with something else.

And then you're probably working in another day a week, too. But with somebody who's getting, just getting into it, being on that lower end of those sets. So you're working in a muscle group, maybe 10 sets a week. And I don't know if you want me to go deeper into that. I feel like that's a little bit more kind of higher level with that. But again, you know, the important thing is that we are getting in. We are challenging our body and working those muscles in a, and having a plan, having a plan for that.

Yeah, I think that's a big takeaway here is having that plan and that intention. You know, it's easy to go into this into the place. And like you said, a random machine is open. Oh, I'll just do that. And then, oh, that machine's open over there. I'll just do that. I think like you said, having that plan, having the intention, It's going to save you time, number one.

It's going to save you time. You're going to feel more organized. And then you're going to be able to, yeah, really ensure that you're hitting those, like you said, 10 sets or up to 20 sets. Yeah. Because you're going in with real intention. I mean, we're all about intentional and mindset and doing things on purpose here, right? Like, we all want to capitalize on our time. So I think that's a great takeaway is to know you're going to spend that time going to the gym.

You're going to spend that time. Maybe for some people, it's just picking your outfit and putting your shoes on that day. You're going to spend your time and your energy. and your energy doing that, make sure you have an intentional plan there. Yeah. What I want to talk to you to about, I'm going to have somebody, I'm writing notes as we go, have so many things I want to talk about. But I want to get into real talk about walking.

And, you know, again, like you're on social media. You hear some influencers say walking's not real exercise. And then you hear somebody say it's better than nothing. And then you hear, you know, you've got to walk 10,000 steps a day. Well, we had a member say, I can't walk 10,000 steps today. My knees don't allow that. So what is your take on walking? Like, do you, is it really exercise?

Do you have to level up to make it really exercise? Is it, what's your take? Let's have a real take on this. Right. No, it's not real. No, I'm just joking. I absolutely love walking. I think that to answer that question, we need to look at,

what are we trying to do with fitness, right? For a lot of us, we're doing it because we want to feel better. We want to feel better, right? We want to be moving better. And oftentimes, you know, we're walking a lot in a day. We need to be able to walk, right? But where I'm kind of going with this is just because it doesn't challenge the muscles the same way that resistance training does. I will say that it's not the same walking is not a replacement for weight training or doing resistance training.

That's a kind of a hard, that's kind of a hard opinion on that. What I will say is that I love walking. I know that when I go out walking, I feel better when I come back. I know that my mindset for the rest of the day is better. I know that I'm going to approach my work better. I'm going to approach my relationships better. I'm just going to feel better after a walk. And so when we're using an entire plan to, you know, whether it's resistance training or whatever,

we're doing this so that we can feel better. And when we go out walking, we come back, we feel better. So that's what I would say is that, you know what? if this is something that we know is going to make us feel better, it's got blood pressure benefits as well. There's other more physical benefits that come with that as well. But at the end of the day, that's how I look at it. If this is going to make me feel better, then do it, right?

And any movement is good movement, right? Breaking up your day with a walk, you're going to get the blood flowing. You're going to get those muscles activated. You're going to, you know, again, I feel like I keep saying feel better. Yeah, it's true. at the end of the day, you feel better after a walk, right? And there are a lot of different physical benefits that come with it. Like I said, kind of my hard opinion on that is it's not a replacement for working out and strength training.

But it brings its own whole handful of benefits with it as well, right? And if the difference is somebody who is, you know, actively walking and including that in their day, and maybe they haven't got to the part where they're doing resistance training yet, but they enjoy walking and they know it's good for them, then I don't think we should harp on that. We should be celebrating the fact that they're doing something and celebrating the fact that they're making a decision, which is what I call intentional movement.

And, you know, going to walk is intentional movement. I think we celebrate that. And I think we give them a really big pat on the back for doing something. And knowing that, you know, as they're building that, as they're doing that, you know,

they're probably also, you know, subconsciously getting a little bit closer to a place where they can be like, you know what, I think I'm ready to start doing some strength training now, right? I'm starting to build this routine. I think I can layer something else on top of that too, right? So I think it's about meeting someone where they're at, you know, celebrating what it is that they're, they are doing. And then same thing when they get to the point where they're like, you know what, I think I'm ready for something a little bit more, having a place where they can go to do that. Yeah, I think that's such an important point that it can be,

I've been using this word a lot with Gina this session. I don't know why Catalyst. It's like this, it's a catalyst to something else. The tweaks are a catalyst to a bigger focus. What we're doing is maybe a catalyst to associations that can come up or issues that can come up. And walking, I mean, as amazing and beneficial as it is on its owner, that's all you do, amazing. But maybe it is that catalyst to push you further to grow that belief in yourself that, yes, I can move my body. I can do this. Maybe I can take it to the next level.

Not that you have to, but if it's going to help you build that confidence or even bring that awareness. I'm like, oh, that's what it feels like when my, when my, you know, thighs are engaged and those, you know, quads are firing because you are walking, you know, maybe that will give you a bit of a spark. And yeah, and one more thing is, you know, I know that there's a couple ladies in the, in the Livy Method, who I see them posting on their Instagram stories, day 232 of walking. Yes. Day 300 of walking. Yes.

And there's one lady who I know quite well, actually, she was in our program in the first cohort. for the for the the the blakey breakthrough stuff um and she messaged me the other day and she was like you know what i've been walking for this long i think i'm ready to to try doing strength training again like what are your thoughts on it um and i always i always shoot people very straight like i'm never like you know what no you know join the program join the program you know i'm like what you know if you feel like you're there join if not then you know you'll you'll get there eventually right um and so she said what are your thoughts of then i said well you know what like i know you've been doing physio and stuff um you know talk to them and if they think that that that you're

ready for that, they know your body better than I'm going to know it, right? And just like you said, I think walking can be that catalyst for doing something more, you know, when you get to that point, right? Mm-hmm. Perfect. I love that. I'm a walker, so I'll take that. A couple of things I want to talk about. So we had a lot, we had a few questions in the group wanting to talk about osteoporosis. Okay. So osteoporosis, you know, a lot of us are in this age group where we have to start thinking about it. You know, we've heard that resistance training can be great for that. But I when reading a lot about this impact training, so jump training, which is, you know, not just gently jumping, but actually creating some impact.

So number one, I'm going to know what your thoughts are on that. And then maybe around osteoporosis. So if we already have it, what can be safe to do, what's maybe not so safe to do? or what can we do to help, you know, slow it down or prevent it? Can we do that with exercise and movement? So first of up, what are your thoughts on impact training or jump training? Have you seen this, I've been seeing this trend everywhere. Yeah, it is everywhere.

It is everywhere. And I kind of have a mixed opinion on it because on one hand, same thing, the science and the evidence does show that, you know, when we impact our bones, you know, it's going to help to, you know, create all the different stimulations that we need or stimuli that we need to, you know, build bone mineral density, all of that good stuff, heart in the bone, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yeah. So that's what it says, right? That's what we know. But, you know, and this is the but is I also think that a lot of people who are new to exercise, they look at this and they're like, yep, you know what, I'm going to start doing this. I'm going to start going from zero to 100.

Any sort of ply metric work, any sort of high impact movement work like that, it is very, very hard on the body. You know, and again, you know, it is that stimuli we need to, to get certain benefits and adaptations to it. So I am a fan of that. But I think it's very important that when somebody is starting with it, that you do have a program or a plan that you're following. Because if you just go into it blindly, you know, there's a very good chance that same thing you start doing it.

And, you know, we end up hurting ourselves or something like that because it is very hard on the body. And there's a lot of people that I know that if I were to tell them to go out and start jump sprints and they just started doing it on their own, they'd probably pull something and hurt themselves, right? And so I am a fan of that type of training as long as it done in the right way, right? You know, again, we're not doing this to hurt ourselves. And you know what?

It probably is safe. Again, if you go about it in the right way, you build up with it. And you don't just go from zero to now going out and sprinting 20 times at your local soccer field. And, you know, that's not to say. I bet there's a lot of people in this group who they could do that and they could handle it and they would be okay. But same thing. You know, I think it's too much of a generalization for me to say, yeah, everybody should be doing it when I know there's also a very big number of people who if they were to go start doing that they would hurt themselves and probably do more damage than good yeah good point good point so what what so somebody does have osteoprosis or you know they're thinking about their

even if they don't but they're thinking about their bones I mean none of us want to break a bone at any age let alone you know when we're a little bit further on an age what what can we do like is there is there anything that's foundational that we can start or anything that we should maybe start thinking about help prevent that. I feel like I'm biased, of course, but I'm going to say strength training. Yeah. Just because with strength training, it's really interesting because, you know, when we flex a muscle, when we flex a muscle, what happens? Yes, our muscle contracts, but there's also pulling that goes on a bone too, right? So there's pulling, there's pushing that kind of goes on in the bone, right?

You know, whenever we do that, it's kind of almost like our bone is bending a little bit on one side and it's kind of got more of like a torsion force on or tension force on on the other side, right? And both of those help to stimulate the conditions that we need to start, you know, again, you know, building some of that bone mass and all of that bone density, I should say. But the thing is, same thing when we look at it. We do know that, you know, lower rep, higher weight stuff does do it a little bit more compared to higher rep lower weight. But same thing, we need to start somewhere, right? So I would like to say, you know, somebody get involved with, with fitness training. Maybe you are doing more higher rep, lower weight, because that could be safer

for a lot of people, especially if you are getting into it and you're unsure about your form and stuff. But as you start to build your confidence, as you start to really dial in on your form, I do like to work at different rep ranges, you know, some lower rep stuff because you get different benefits from that. And then some higher rep stuff as well, right? So I think, I honestly think the best fitness plan is the one that is, is, takes a little bit of this. a little bit of that. It's not all just focused on on one thing all the time. It is trying different things. It is doing different activities. It is doing different weight training, you know, protocols and things like that. Because again, same thing. Each thing kind of gives you a little bit

different benefits. So there's not really one protocol where I'm like, this is what you need to do all the time. Because same thing, there's certain people that that's not going to respond well with. So it really is about having a plan in place that takes into consideration your age, your activity level, your experience with exercise and then meets meet you there and builds up. So that's what I would kind of say about that. But I mean, exercise and strength training is certainly one of those things that is going to help with bone density and osteoporosis when, again, the caveat I'm going to keep saying when it's done in the right way.

Right. When it's done the right way. I think that's that was an important point. A member was also asking, are there any modifications that I need to consider if I have osteoporosis? I think, number one, you have to listen to your body and be safe, right? Like you have to make sure that your form is good. I mean, I'm not talking as an expert here.

This is what I'm just. No, you're right. You're right. Right. Like your form is good. That, of course, if you're wanting to lift a bit heavier, you're doing it in a safer way, that maybe somebody's helped to walk you through it the first time. Yeah, just listen to your body, right?

And if you're feeling good, I mean, feel better seems to be the theme today. So if something's not feeling very good, then, you know, you might want to back off. But yeah, so what I'm taking from this is this may be a little bit heavier eventually might be a bit more effective, but you want to make sure you start in the right place. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And, you know, I think the other exciting thing is, too, is our bodies are incredible, incredible machines.

When we give them the right environment to adapt, they will adapt and they will get stronger. You know, they will get better. I always say that movement is 100% medicine, right? I think a lot of people, when they've got different aches and things, going on, their tendency is to do much, much less. Whereas oftentimes it's kind of the opposite. That's true. You know, you need to be doing the right things and the right movement to support yourself to hopefully get rid of some of those aches and pains instead of always doing less and sitting more, right? Yeah. So talking about that, about doing less, how important are rest days?

Let's be honest. How are they, how important are they? Yeah, that was a great transition. That was Very good. There's enough applause right there. They're hugely important. I mean, I think a lot of people say, you know what, the workouts are where we get their adaptations. And you know what? I see what they're saying.

But rest and making sure that we're recovering the right way, that's going to be really where these real adaptations actually come from, right? You know, yes, you know, like you mentioned earlier, training does create these, you know, micro damage to the muscle fibers and stuff. But there's also a lot of other mechanisms that go into muscle development as well. It's not just that. There's some other things as well. There's mechanical.

We won't get into it. It gets even nerdy. Yeah. I can see the eyes dropping already. You're like, what? But anyways, the repair process that happens during when we are, you know, resting, right? I'm getting proper sleep, you know, preferably around, you know, 48 to 72 hours between working the same muscle group.

Okay. You know, unless same thing you are spreading out, spreading out the volume, right? and there are certain programs that do that really, really well. But, you know, same thing. We're not, we're not doubling up when our legs are already really sore or tired. We're not kind of doubling up and hitting them again. Let them recover, right? And these rest days, what I actually like to say is I like something called active recovery.

Active recovery is, in my opinion, the way to go about it. Active recovery is essentially going out and doing some movement, whether that's walking, whether that's biking, whether that is, I don't know, some, you know, swimming. whatever it is. You know, it's getting out and getting movement. The reason for that is because that's also going to promote an increase in blood flow to these different muscles and areas that we've worked. And we know that same thing.

When we get more blood flow to an area, it's bringing more of the different nutrients and things that we need to repair that area even better. So that's why instead of saying a rest day, you know, a rest day is, you know, I think a lot of people, they just visualize it as, okay, I'm doing nothing today. I'm chilling out. I would challenge people to think about it as, well, you know what? Let's see if we can do an active recovery instead. Active recovery.

Yeah, walking, mobility work, stretching, things that are going to help to continue to allow you to progress. And it's the same thing. It's another one of those checks of your choosing something for you versus just being like, I don't need to do anything today. Yeah, perfect. That was actually a question that we, a member just came up different activities you can do on rest day. So just like you said, moving a little bit can actually be beneficial, not just flopping on the

couch and thinking of your doing yourself get that blood flow get your get some breathing in get some blood flow get some oxygen to those muscles too okay one more question it's more of an opinion question um but you are an expert we had a member just now ask about creatine what your thoughts are on creatine that has also been around for a while i just want to say we did do a post in the maintenance group all about creatine benefits of it um should you take it or not and what types to take so that is also in the group you can just search that um for the member that's And what are your thoughts on? Yeah.

I definitely have some thoughts for sure. So technically, as a personal train, I'm not allowed to say take a supplement or don't take a supplement. But what I can do is I can kind of give you a little bit of some education on it and kind of go from there. I mean, creatine is one of those supplements. And when I talk about creatine, I'm generally referencing something called creatine monohydrate. That's the version that there's a lot of a lot of studies out there about it.

That's one of kind of, I would say, probably a handful of supplements where we can say, you know what, there's enough evidence to support this. I think for the longest time, people really only ever talked about the muscle benefits of it. And how I like to talk about the muscle benefits of it is imagine you've got a battery in your muscle, right? Right. So imagine you got a battery, right? And as we do exercise, you deplete that battery, right?

So creatine, when you take creatine monohydrate, it's almost like we're making that battery just a little bit bigger, just a teeny, tiny bit bigger, which means that that way you've got, you know, might be able to get an extra rep or two out of a certain exercise. And that might not sound like a lot. But over the course of a year, you're talking hundreds, maybe even thousands of extra reps, right? Which means, same thing, you're going to be progressing even a little bit more because you're able to do a little bit more. So that's just one of the muscle benefits with that. But I think the really interesting thing is that people are talking a lot more now about the mental benefits of creatine as well. And so that's an area that I think is worth exploring. And so that's kind of my thoughts on creatine,

the same thing. There's enough enough evidence. But at the end of the day, it's kind of one of those things. Talk to a dietitian. See if it's right for you. That being said, actually after this, I made two videos about creatine on my Instagram, which is at I am Andrew Blakey. At I am Andrew Blakey. And so after this, I'll make sure I go on. I'll share those to my story so you can see that. And it's kind of like a myth-busting type of post. We love those. Yeah. So I'll make sure, because a lot of people, got concerns about about kidney health, you know, and that sort of thing with creatine. So I do, I do kind of break that down a little bit more in those videos, as well as some of the

other most common myths that I hear about it. So you can check that out there after after this. And I'll make sure I share that. Well, we love that. I think bottom line is, yeah, if you're, if you're looking for more info, talk to somebody that knows you, but maybe it's your healthcare practitioner, your dietitian, your doctor even, or oftentimes the experts in the supplement stores and, and health food stores can be some of your best friends. So speaking of checking out, you said, check you out on Instagram. I am Andrew Blakey.

I know you also have a program that you run about intentional movement, helping people get started. They can find, members can find information about that on blakeybreakthrough.com. And you have a new session starting up in September. Yeah, September 8th. It's a 12-week online guided group fitness program where we basically do everything we talked about today for you. I mean, at this point, I think we've had 150, 200, mostly women go through the program.

It's all at home using resistance bans using progressive overload, rest days, intentional movement, and a ton of mindset work. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how great a program is if we can't, if we can't stick with it, right? Yeah, and we have members here in the comment saying join Andrews program. If you can, it's so beneficial. I agree. Great programs.

This is my first. And I'm loving it and feeling more fit already. So check it out at the bakey blakey breakthrough.com. I'll make sure to link everything in the post with this live. I'll put it in the podcast as well. So Andrew, thank you. I mean, our time was so, it always goes by so fast. Yeah.

I know it's so fast. But thank you so much for being here and for just sharing everything that you know and even your opinions. I mean, we love those too. So thank you bringer. I'm sure we'll have you back in the fall to talk more fitness. so I'm sure there'll be some new trends to break down, some new myths to bust. But thank you, yeah, thank you for everybody that joined us live or who's listening after. And we hope you have a great rest of your day.

Thanks, Adai. Bye.