The Livy Method Podcast - Starting Exercise After 40? Do Less Than You Think with Andrew Blakey

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

Personal trainer Andrew Blakey specializes in resistance training for adults over 40. His first rule for beginners might surprise you: start small. Gina and Andrew talk about why getting back into exercise feels so hard, why so many people quit after the first sore week, and how the "go hard or go home" fitness culture of the '80s and '90s still shapes what we think a good workout looks like. They also cover joint-friendly strength training, why technique matters more than intensity, and why you work around pain, not through it. Andrew's message for anyone who has struggled before: you're not broken. You just started with a workout that wasn't built for where you are.Where to Find Andrew:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewblakey/Website: https://blakeybreakthrough.com/ This podcast aligns with Day 10 of our Fall Program, members can find video in our Livy Method app or Livy Method Community Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodThere is still time to join the Fall Program and there are two ways to join you can purchase the Fall Session for $99, or become a member for $20/month for year-round support, access to every session, Livy AI, member perks and more. The program is meant to fit into your life, not make your life the program. So start when you’re ready, make it work for you, and visit livymethod.com to join us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New season, new name, bigger conversations. Welcome to Live Lighter with Gina, because lightness isn't something you find. It's something you create in your body, your mind, your home, and in your life. Real conversations, no bullshit. So let's lighten things up for you. If you're looking to lose weight and you want to keep it off, you have got to check out the Living Method. Our next live session starts September 14th. better than ever, easy to follow.

We have the most incredible community, and it works. Head over to liby method.com to sign out today. I am ready for this conversation today. I did my workout, my movement this morning, and now I have my big ass coffee. Welcome to our LiveLiter podcast, Andrew. Hello. Hello, hello. Thanks for having me.

I feel like it's been a while since we've done this since I guess it's probably the spring was the last time. So I'm excited to, I'm excited to see what kind of fitness. tangents you and I can go on today. Okay. Well, with that said, let me introduce you for any of our new members or anyone watching. Andrew's a personal trainer, specializes in resistance training for adults over 40. But this conversation is going to be for anyone. But as young as he is, your gym is totally like longevity, mobility. You like to focus on strength, joint friendly movement, longevity.

You help members build muscle, improve energies, support healthy aging through simple, sustainable workouts that can be done at home. You also run the Blakey breakthrough an online resistance training program designed to complement the living method. So we'll get into that in a sec. What's what is the conversation? Like what, that's what, you know, I'm thinking about my conversation with you today. I'm just like, there is so much fitness stuff out there. Everyone is talking about this and that and the next thing. What are they not talking about? That's, that's where I want to start. What are people not talking about? Yeah, that's a great question because I think that oftentimes when it comes to to fitness. It is this really big topic. It's such a big topic. It can be overwhelming. It can be

intimidating. And I think for a lot of people, one of the things I hear is the thing of, I just want to be healthy. I just want to be healthy. I know it's important for me. I just want to be healthy. How do I actually get started with it? How do I actually do it without kind of changing everything in my entire life to make it happen, right? So I think that's where the big conversation is and probably where we're going to probably spend a lot of our time today, I'm assuming. But I'm I think that's the conversation that needs to be had is for the people who just want to be healthy. They just know they need to do it, but it's overwhelming and intimidating to start. I had someone this morning talk about, as you know, we're in week one of the weight loss program.

And she's like, you know, why can't I get back into this? Why is it so hard? Like, I know what I need to do. I know I can do it. Why am I having such a hard time? And my response is, this is kind of like everything. You can be a hardcore fitness person, work out every day for years. And then all of a sudden, you take a couple weeks off and you come, you trying to get back at it feels like starting all over again.

And same thing like after summer, right? Summer's chaos, we're off routine and then trying to get back into our normal routines. Also really difficult. So can you kind of normalize that for us? Yeah. Yeah. It's freaking hard to get back into doing the things, even though we, know we want to do them and they're good for us. It's hard. Let's start there. Why? What have you learned

about why it's so hard or what can we do to make it easier? Yeah. Well, you know what? I think the really, really big thing with this is, you know, a lot of people, they know what they need to do. They know that going to the gym, working out at home, they know what they know what to do, right? And so one of the things I talk a lot about is the inner mental work, right? There are so many mental barriers. You know, whether it's bad previous experiences, whether it is, you know, maybe it is not knowing what to do. But one of the things that I love about your program and one of the hypotheses of, you know, probably one of the reasons why it works so well is, is the accountability that comes, that comes with it, right?

You do your check-ins. You do, you know, you bring in different guest experts. And I think that having a touch point like that is very, very useful for people when they are just getting started with things, you know, knowing that, you know, even with the amount of people in the program, there is somebody there. There is a connection there. Right. And so when somebody is starting off with fitness on their own, you know, it can feel lonely. It can feel lonely.

It's like, I'm doing this on my own. Nobody knows if I'm doing it. Nobody's checking in on me. Nobody, it's just me, myself and I. And when I'm getting into fitness, it's so easy to be like, ah, you know what? I'm going to do it tomorrow. I'm going to do it on Thursday instead. You know, there's no kind of community aspect to it.

And so I always say to people, you know what, if you're getting started with fitness, find some sort of community. It doesn't have to be some who-hoo, rah, raw, hype squad or anything like that, you know. You know, the tight and bright and all of that, right? We love it. We love it. We love the tight and bright. I love everything that has to do with fitness.

Any sort of community is a good community. But finding the community that resonates with the type of person and the level they're at, I think, is really, really useful. Yeah, because, I mean, what we're seeing on social media is. is all the fit people, right? I mean, that's what we're seeing on social media. I'm going for inspiration and it's all the fit people. And yeah, okay, so I want to look at someone maybe who's fit and I aspire to look like

and do these exercises. But I think there's also a big disconnect where it's these unachievable, like, am I ever going to be buff and fit? Do I even want to be buffed and fit? And then, like, I remember we went and did work at with Sherry Perez. And it was like this dance class and all shapes and sizes and backgrounds and ages. And everyone was a little different. And you know what we were all doing?

Just having fun moving our bodies. And it was so great physically and also like equally amazing mentally. And, you know, I did my 20 minute workout this morning. I'm not even calling it a workout, 20 minute move. class. And it's not about the movement. It's about knowing that you did something that felt good for yourself, knowing that we're always harping on ourselves and ragging on ourselves. I need to work out and I need to do and I would whatever 20 minutes. I did it. I feel fantastic. I feel amazing. I also want to speak to how it's not normal. I don't, although I've been a personal trainer my entire

life, this type of go to a box gym have to do these concentrated movements are not normal. I mean, try to find a gym in Europe, right? Like, honestly, there are more and more popping up, but they're used to a lifestyle where you're walking a lot, you're gardening, you're moving, you're more just active throughout your day. No one would need to go to the gym if we were not sitting on our chairs for eight to 10 hours a day. So I think there's got to be something to said that it's not normal. So if it feels not normal, it's because it's not.

Do you agree? Do you have a different perspective on that? Yes and no. Yes and no. Because I agree with 99% of what you just said. I think if we were more active, we as a whole, as a society, we are going to feel better. There's going to be less hospital visits. We're overall just going to be healthier. Yeah. Yeah. And so I look at some of those isolated movements as, you know, accessory work. It's accessory to an active lifestyle, right? For example, you know, one of the things I like to say is, you know what? If we're over 40, if we're over 30, it doesn't really matter what age we are at. Yeah. We are all going to have imbalances from living our daily life, right? You know, right now you and I are seated, right?

There's a lot of people who are going to be seated for many, many hours today. All day, every day, yeah. And so I think that it's important to use fitness to also correct imbalances, correct different, you know, old injuries that we've had, right? You know, I know that even myself, I had a really, really bad high ankle sprain probably about 10 years ago. and even today, you know, there's still some days where I wake up in it. It is like, hey, you remember that ankle injury from 10 years ago? Yeah, yeah. You know, just make sure you remember that, you know.

And so I think overall as a whole, you know, when we are more active, when we are more moving, you know, similar to, you know, I think the perspective in Europe, right? Like, just like you said, you know, we are going to be feeling better. We're going to be moving better. We're going to have less illnesses and ailments. But also, you know, when we combine that with strength training, we can also correct some of those things that we can't quite plan for. right? Is it longevity? It's because we are living longer. Like I just read in China, like there's 100,000 people living past the age of 100. And we know this. I've had an opportunity to listen to this future as Zana Kaya talk about how people are going to be living to 125, 150 years. That's just how

it's going to go. And is this because like we used to like, you know, bail out at like 40, 50 and now we're living longer. So this is what we need to do in order to keep up our strength and mobility. Yeah, well, I know that you brought on a while back. I think it was Dr. Jason Fung, right? And he's got that book. I think it's called his health span, right? Health span? I think he's written a few books. He's written of one of those, right? Yeah. And in one of those, you know, health books, it talks about, you know, health span and lifespan. I might, I might be butchering who, which book it was. But in that, it talks about, you know, the difference between health span and lifespan, right?

Lifespan is the amount of years that we have for anybody listening and health span is the amount of quality years. Yeah. And so I think that with people living longer, I think that on paper, that is great. You know, we all want to live, you know, we all want to live a long life. We want to see our grandkids grow up. We want to, you know, for some of us, maybe even see our great grandkids grow up, right? Yeah, I plan on sticking around the longest amount of time I possibly can.

I want to be like surfing when I'm 100 years old. Like, I'm going to start skydiving at like 110. I believe that. Knowing you, I believe that. I see all your adventures on Instagram. I'm like, oh, she's going to be hiking, you know, Mount Fuji when she's like 95 years old. Absolutely. That's like, yes. So, you know, I'm listening to you talk and we always do this thing. Like imagine yourself having lost your weight. How does that version of you show up in your life? Like, what is the 90-year-old version of you? Right. Like, what is that? Like, do you want to be in a nursing home? or do you want to be completely independent?

Because we know also when you are physically strong, that helps you be mentally strong. And a lot of these, what they're calling lifestyle diseases, for example, Alzheimer's, dementia, a lot of that is based on inactivity. And there's a lot you can do to offset that by being more active in your life.

Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt it. No, no, no. You know what? I love this because I knew you and I were going to like, once we get into this stuff, you and I are both so passionate about it that we're just going to keep going on it. You know, you know what it is?

is like how do we really truly like again this conversation is happening so much i don't want to add more to the noise and if you can just like how do we fit it in how do we remain consistent how do we start how do we make it resonate that we prioritize exercise in our lives in understanding how important it is like that's the that's what i just want to like yeah you know Well, you know what? I think it's, it's, you know, I think we've talked a couple minutes about, you know, some of the benefits of it, right? We know that we're going to have a better quality of life if we are working out, you know, for me, you know, working out is a non-negotiable. I think everybody should be doing. There's nobody that is nobody that is nobody that is exempt from it. I think, you know, even if you are, you know, in a, you know, in a wheelchair or something, there are exercises that you can be doing your quality of life, right? Yes. And that goes for everybody. You know, there's benefits that everybody can get from it. And by not working out, you are doing your future self. a huge disservice. But I also think, going off of what you just said, you know, we also need to simplify it as much as we can, right? Because I think one of the problems with the fitness industry

as a whole, and this is a little bit of a generalization. No, go for it. What's the problem? What's the problem with the fitness industry? Talk to me. Talk to me. Give me the tea. You know what? I think one of the issues is, is that it is this, you know, who, who, raw, it is this intimidating space for a lot of people anyways. I'm not. saying everybody. I know that there's a very, very large number of people who do make fitness much more accessible, much more, you know, easy for people to get into. And so I think that that's a spot where the fitness industry, especially in the 80s, 90s, maybe even in the early 2000s was a lot more intimidating than it was today. Oh, fuck yeah. Because it was like go hard, go home.

Like, if you know we're not, if you were not showing up to an aerobics class with a thong way up your ass, like, what were you even doing? Like, oh, yeah, the 20 minute workout, like the Jane Fonda's. Like, it was all like, let's go. Also, every version that you saw was like, you know, skinny, mini and looked perfect in her little thong, right? Like, it was like, I had something the other day being like, how could you have been like 200 or 300 pounds and teaching aerobics? Like, that's impossible. What the fuck are you talking about? Like, what?

Just because you're carrying excess weight or living in a larger body doesn't mean that you're not capable of doing what everybody else does. What the actual F? But yeah, it was super hardcore. If you didn't leave my class feeling like you were going to vomit. Vombing, yeah. Then it wasn't good. Then it didn't work, right? And then like, and then like, I call it baby Matt rolling came out, like, pull,

lotis, right? Where it was like all like, you know, and we've come to understand the importance of, of, you know, working those core muscles and whatever. But it went from like hardcore to baby mat rolling, like just lying on a mat, what felt like doing nothing. And now we've, like, just like, there's like trends. Just like fashion. There's fitness trends. Not all of them are like good. Yeah. And so I think like, I think for a lot of people, you know, if they don't have a fitness background, they think that, oh, you know, I need to be. And I hear this all the time. You know, somebody comes to me. they're like, oh, how often should I work out? And they're like, should I work out, you know, four, five or like six days a week like starting out. And I'm just like, none, none of those.

Uh, please like don't go from not ever like working out to now working out five days a week. You're going to, you know, one, by the end of that first week, your body is going to be broken. You're going to be so sore. Yeah. Oh, you're going to be not even like sit down on the toilet or on the couch. You're going to be like, this sucks. Why am I doing this? Yeah, you hate it. You're starting off hating exercise. Exactly. And so, you know, I think that. I think that people do have a preconception of what fitness looks like and what a good routine looks like. And I think that oftentimes when they do get started in a safe and a sustainable way, in a way that actually supports their body, their schedule, their lifestyle, you know, the just being healthy, right?

Oftentimes they realize, you know what, if I can be intentional with my workouts two to three days a week, you know, 30 to 40 minutes, I can really actually make some really big difference in my life. I want to read this comment from Shirley. I'm 76 years old and I'm overweight and I hired a personal trainer. After two weeks, my back went out and it is taking me three months to feel better. I'm not sure what to do now, swimming, walking, right? And then here's Jude. I do aqua fit nearly every day, 45 to 60 minutes.

You can do so much more in the water and not hurt yourself. You know, I love aqua fit. I taught it for years. but there's also this personal trainer because, you know, there are good trainers and not so great trainers. And I find a lot of times with some trainers, they're just trying to work you hard like I was trying to make you barf before you left my class. Like that was my intention. I'm going to work these people so hard. They're going to leave needing to barf up their lunch or whatever. Right? Like that's and sometimes with when it comes to money, the expectation is like I want to be sore. I want to get my money's worth where if you were to come to me and you paid me some good money to train you. and all I'm doing with you is shoulders back, rib cage down, maybe some small arm movements,

you know, like really starting small to build your muscles up, you would be like, I fucking paid 80 bucks for that, right? And I'm not saying that's the case, but I think that's how sometimes personal trainers learn that they need to give you a hard workout because if you don't feel like it's hard, it's not worth your money. And that's where I'm doing these morning workouts. And I think this is also I want to be really transatlant. transparent here. What I'm doing is so super beginner. And what I love that you are offering as well,

also beginner, but almost to that kind of like next level. Like we are starting out and I'm committing to like if you if you need to sit in a chair, sit in a chair, right? If you can't do the movements, don't do the movements. But so many people start out at a level that is too much for them. out of ego maybe or out of like it needs to be harder and then we end up sore and that's a perfect example right like I think less is more when it's what's the biggest mistake people make let me just let me ask you that what's the biggest mistake people make when starting out exercising well you know what I think you actually just banged that one right on the head actually um I think it's exactly what you just said starting out way too hard way too fast um you know I love the fact that you're doing

you know these 15 20 minute workouts in the morning because there is there is a a very big number of people, not a large percentage, but there is a, you know, when you look at the population as a whole, there is a huge demographic that is just not being catered to and not getting the tools and the resources they need to actually, you know, make this a successful journey for them, right? You know, they want to get started with fitness. And again, you know, there is ego involved with that as well, right? You know, if I go to a fitness class, I'm going to, I need to, I need to keep up to everybody else. I need to keep up to them, right? Which, Same. I do that every time. And then I'm like, Shirley. I like, I have a bad back too. And that's why, like, I empathize with Shirley because you, rather than wanting, I want to do the work at my mind. I want to do it. But I really learned. I got to like, I got to go for what walks. I got to do the swimming. I got to, number one is like, strengthen that back. Right. But we, we all want to do that. We all, we all want to be like, I want to, I want to be fit, man. Yeah. Well, and you know what, actually next week, I'm having a conversation with, with the lady.

she's an orthopedic surgeon. And she talks about, you know, how people come to her, you know, for surgery, right? And oftentimes there is a lot of people who are having these, you know, these bad aches and pains who are like, I need surgery, I need surgery. But she actually promotes much more of a style of, yes, there are people who genuinely need surgery. And there are other people who are in, you know, pain every single day where if they were to get started with gentle movement similar to what your classes are like in the morning, a lot of these aches and pains are actually going to subsist. side as well, right? And it's, it's one of the things I always say, and you probably say the same thing. We don't work through pain, right? We work around it. And if that means not going quite as deep in certain exercises, if that means modifying certain exercises, you know, you do that stuff for long enough.

And eventually, I compare it to almost like a video game where it's like you might only have a certain range of motion to start. But as you start to get strong in that motion, you kind of unlock more movement, right? And next thing you know, you've been doing it for a year and you're able to do things that, you know, a year ago you would have never been thought that you'd be able to do. Yeah, because you have everyone, I love that Helen here. My shoulders are a bit sore after Andrew's class yesterday. It feels good, though. I used to feel like barfing after a trainer. This is so different. And this is also, I think, on us that, and everyone's asking, does he do classes? Yeah. We're going to talk about what Andrew offers. But at the same time,

I think it's about us taking on the responsibility of knowing our limitations. But if you, if you're, if you're not like a big exercise person, you might not know what those are. You have the best intentions you want to do it. And then you're trusting a trainer. Right. And that might be Shirley's case where she's like, yeah, I trusted my trainer to show me what to do. And I'm not saying the trainer did anything wrong because I can sneeze and throw at my back, you know. But I think a lot of a lot of the way we eat is tied into our past. And what was your connection or relationship to fitness when you were younger? might be somewhere that you actually want to start. To me, it was like everything was all or nothing. I've been like living a whole all in a nothing life and I'm trying to find this middle ground.

But when people came to my class, the first thing I would say is, hey, anyone have any limitations, bad backs, sore knees, can't do anything, need alternatives for stuff. And if someone showed up in my class and couldn't do what I was doing, I was so appreciative that they were there. Now, when they chose to stand right beside me and do something different, that's a little different. I'm like, okay, can you just back it up? Back it up. I love you that you're here. But, you know, I think there are exceptions. But this is where you have to do what's right for your body. I want to talk about technique because, oh my gosh, there's this whole thing. Women should be doing different exercises than men. There's like only one way to do a squat. Like, I don't know. You could say women's bodies are built

differently than men's. We should squat differently. But I think everybody's, body is built differently in the way someone might have bad hips, bad back, back knees, you know, a wider pelvis than someone else. And so can you talk a bit about technique? Because as much as we try to teach it, people need to kind of adjust to what feels good for them. Yeah, absolutely. You know, you know, first off, you know, technique is that that's always the biggest thing, right? You know, there's no point in doing an exercise and trying to push yourself to the hardest if you're going to hurt yourself doing it, right? And people that are new, there's things called movement patterns, right? Movement patterns. It's basically the way that we move our body, right?

And very much similar to that, that freeze, move it or you lose it. Our bodies are the same way, right? There's certain movement patterns that since we're not using them regularly, you know, we don't become as efficient in them as we necessarily should be in order to support, you know, good posture, you know, healthy muscles, bones, all of that good stuff. And so starting slow and starting by mastering that technique, that's, that's number one, right? And I think that, you know, with the demographic that I work with as well, you know, a lot of people over 40, there are a lot of common conditions that that I see, right? And so being cognizant of those and making sure that when you're doing exercise, you learn the right modifications to help these different people that are going through these different aches and pains is really, really important. And I think if somebody is in the spot where they are wanting to get started with fitness training,

they are wanting to do strength training, but they're afraid, you know what, I don't want to hurt myself. I'm, you know, I've got these aches and pains. I've got great intentions, but I don't want to do it the wrong way, right? I'm not trying to do this to hurt myself. You know, oftentimes I do think, you know, jumping into, you know, a local class at a, you know, a local gym. Same thing.

I love the intention there. but perhaps doing a couple sessions with the trainer to learn that right technique, learn how to do things and modify according to the way that your body needs. You can use those skills in that class if you ever decide that, you know what, I'm ready to do a class, I'm ready to do this. Once you know how your body moves in which ways that you need to modify to support those different aches and pains, it gives you a lot more empowerment to be in control of your health journey. Yeah, I love that. Because it's like, it's like, what are the considerations? Like, everyone just feels

this pressure they need to work out. Yeah. Right. Or move more. But what are the considerations? It would be, it'd be the same if I was like, okay, follow this food plan and, you know, eat this or that. But you couldn't. You had an allergy. Then you need to figure out, you know, if, you know, you are, you can't get in a snack because you are working and you have kind of job that you can't have snacks. And okay, let's make concessions for that. Right. Like it's, you again, with exercise. side. Yeah, you need to figure out. And you know, Andrew and I were just having a conversation. Yeah, right? Yeah. Yeah, because I think what it's so weird because when it comes to weight loss or exercise, we put them in these categories by themselves and not understanding it's like,

it's like it's a bigger conversation than that. It's like with anything else that you do, if you haven't done it for a while or you're new to it, it takes time. It's like if you wanted to learn how to horseback ride, I'm going to start horseback riding. Okay. you don't just jump on a horse and like away you go. And it's sometimes working out is not like riding a bike. So Andrew asked me how I was making out of my classes. So personal trainer my entire life. Like you used to be on stage.

Like I have a photo here when I was on stage at the old sky dome doing like an aerobics where I'm like back here. I was serious. Hardcore. Oh my gosh. It's like trying to get back and have my body move the same and combine talking and teaching. like I'm not waiting until I perfect it. So I'm, you know, I'm jumping on and I'm sharing what I've learned with people. But even for me, it was my entire life has been fitness.

After not being at it for a while, I'm like, I'm rusty at it, you know? So, so, yes, the expectations. Let's leave people really feeling hopeful. Yep. It's like the most hopeful thing you can say to somebody. I would say that the most hopeful thing I can say is that, you know what, for anybody listening to this, you're not broken. There's not something wrong with you.

There's not something, you know, wrong with your mindset for why you've struggled in the past. I think that perhaps you just went to a place or had a program that that wasn't made for where you're at. And the thing with that is that it's never too late to change your relationship with exercise. It's never too late to take control of your body, to strengthen your body, to put your body in a place where you can actually thrive for years and years and years to come. It might start slow. It might seem insignificant at first.

But same thing, just like a snowball. Once you get that thing moving, you are going to surprise yourself and empower yourself more than you thought that you ever could in even just a couple of months or even a year. You know, believe in yourself. I think people are stronger than they think. Yeah. There's this internal strength that happens when you start working. You know, I just had this moment where,

Hope said, how about thinking patterns that sabotage wanting to be active? Yeah, like we can feel the person that we want to be. And yet, as exciting as it is and we want it so bad, it could also be like, it's terrifying. And then there's like, I used to be fit and I just can't face the fact that I'm just not anymore. And you feel so far removed from actually being the fit person that you want to be. like that's a hard. That's hard. Yeah, very hard. And you know what? I think there's, there's certain mindsets where we need to be very gentle with it. We need to be very understanding and empathetic of it, right? I think there's, there's two layers to this where there's, yes, it is very hard. It is difficult. It is not something that is going to come overnight, you know, and I understand

that getting started with fitness is hard. You know, at one point I was 40 pounds overweight and I went through my own, you know, weight loss journey. And that was hard. That was difficult. But, you know, eventually I got to the point where I was like, you know what, nobody else is going to do this for me. Nobody else can do the work for me. Nobody else can make me work out. Right. And so at some point, you know, we need to kind of say, you know what, yes, it is going to be hard. Yes, it is going to be difficult. But all it starts is is with day one. And then next thing, you know, you know, I've got to put in the work to do that. And any little amount I do is better than nothing. Right. And so you don't need to have the perfect routine overnight.

You don't have to have the perfect workout overnight. But you need to start somewhere, right? You need to do something. And unfortunately, you know, we can be empathetic, but we can also and also, right? We can also say, and I also know that nobody else is going to do this for me. So I got to start somewhere. Well, even when I'm doing my workouts, I feel so like that pull to show more, do harder. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You know, as I'm doing my arm circles, I can feel it. my heart rate's getting up. And I can feel that. You know, I'm glad I asked that because I see Alicia here say, I've gone from being a very, very active as a former dancer to workplace concussions, to being followed by WSIB to PTSD to a sedentary life, life of hiding. I've lost all my muscle mass and strength. I'm in a territory I've never been in.

Starting at the beginning and suffering this huge loss of my identity has me so stuck. each time I try. I hate how far I've fallen. I see this a lot in men when I would take them on. They used to be a football player. They used to be whatever. And now they're clearly not. And I'm like, talk to me about your workout routine. Well, I used to be able to bench press. And I used to be, I'm like, okay, but you're not that anymore. And it's so hard. It's so hard to let go of that version. And that's me back to teaching. And I am not this. this person who was on stage and so fit. How do we, how do we reconcile this? Because this is like this, this is exactly why I asked you that question, right? Like I, each time I try,

I hate how far I've fallen. And then when we do try, we're sore as shit and reminded that we are out of shape. Uh-huh. And we've let ourselves go for lack of a better turn. Yeah. So it's, and her name was Alicia,

right? Alicia. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I think that that's a, that's a deep one. That's a tough one because, you know, I definitely, I empathize with that. I grew up being a baseball player. I trained Dominican for six months. I wanted to be a professional baseball player, played college baseball. And that was my everything. That was everything I wanted to do for a good, probably the first 15 to 18 years of my life. You know, that's the only thing I focused on on weekends in high school. I wasn't going out to a, you know, a party or something. I was at the gym working out. I left my friends and family for six months to live in diminutive. Identity. That was my entire identity.

That is everything I was with a baseball player. Yeah. And then eventually I realized that I'm not, I wasn't as good as I needed to be. Right. And yeah. Yeah. Right. Shot to the heart.

Right. Shut to the heart. And I was like, you know, I'm not going any further. But there was something I used to write on my hat. It was on the brim of my hat. And it was never have to ask what if, right? And it was never have to ask what if. And what that meant to me was, you know what, if I give it my all and I fail, I can live with that, right?

I'm not going to say, what if I had have worked harder? What if I had done something different, right? I can live with that. And where I'm going with this is where we're at now, I'm not a baseball player. I came out of baseball retirement this summer. I pitched one game. I hit, I think, eight batters. It was absolutely terrible.

I'm not a baseball player. Just terrible. It was horrendous. Somebody saw the stat line. They texted me and saying, saying, is this right? And I was like, yeah, yeah, that, yeah, that was right. I am not a baseball pitcher anymore. And I think what this comes down to is why are we trying to embrace a life that is the same as what we were?

We are not the same person that we were, you know, and that is okay, right? That is okay to not be that same person anymore, right? And so if that is the bar that we're trying to compare ourselves to that we're trying to reach, it makes it impossible to get there. And that very demotivating. It can be very, what's the point? What is the point in even trying? You know, that is so far off, I will never reach that.

Right. And for a lot of people, that is enough to say, I'm not even going to try, right? Yes. Or going back to old strategies for this new body and this new life you're living. I saw this quote today. I screenshot it actually because I have a million of these screenshots it said most people spend their lives avoiding discomfort, not realizing the brain rewires fastest when you experience discomfort and responds differently than you normally would. And so that's like exercise is kind of like stepping out of your comfort zone. Trying something new, pushing your

body, you know, working through the sorenness. like going to a gym, going to a class, like the only way you're going to move past that, there is a certain amount of discomfort, whether it's physically or mentally that you are going to feel when it comes to trying something new, which is why I think we revert back to what worked for us before or who we were before because that's familiar. Yeah, for sure. And there's these things that we do in the program called breakthrough sessions. Yeah, please talk about your thing because we, we,

got to go and I want to talk. So you, you saw a need for this and you created. There's a million things you could have done. And so can you talk to us about not only the breaky, Blakey breakthrough, the Blakey breakthrough. See that 10 times fast. But you also have your strong start after 40, free seven day mini course that you're offering as well. So can you share a little bit before we go? Yeah, absolutely. So the, the Blakey breakthrough program, that was basically a program that I made for people who are wanting to get started with fitness. They don't know where to start or it's been a long time for them. They don't have to go to the gym for it. It's all using resistant bands at home and it's all joint friendly movements that they can do. It's same thing. It's a

routine that is it's not easy, but it's simple. Where it's, you know, it's two full body workouts a week. There's different things that we layer in. I mean, there is also a lot of inspiration from, from what it is that you've built with the Livy Method. So I kind of, I don't want to compare it to the fitness version of it because, you know, I don't want to say that, even though I just did say that. You can say that. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. I've said it before, but you know what? You've inspired me a lot with what it is that this is. I wanted to make something that was approachable and something that could actually stick in people's lives. And so that's why I created this Blakey breakthrough.

And also affordable as well, Andrew, for the price of like one personal training session that someone would do as well. So I know our community appreciates that. So people can go to, can you pull up that website again, Drew? Thank you. Blakeybreakthrough.com to find out more information. But if people want to dip their toes in and feel it out, you are also offering your strong start after 40 free seven-day mini-course starting September 30th. Tony just wrote it on a piece of paper.

I love it. Yeah, yeah, love it. Can you just a little bit about that? Yeah, basically, you know what? Because same thing. You know what? It's, the Blakey breakthrough, it's a three-month program. So, you know, it doesn't start.

The next one doesn't start until January. But I know there's a lot of people who are like, you know what, I do want to still get started. I want to learn. So this is just a little seven-day mini course. There's seven or eight different videos in there. Yeah. So you give you the knowledge you need to actually have a solid starting point. It's not going to turn you into an expert.

You're not going to be an expert after seven days, but you will feel a little bit more confident to start and give you a little bit more of a starting spot. And there's two workouts that you can follow along. which are YouTube videos that people can do at home using just their body weight. I know this is kind of like a collab, but you and I should actually do a collab. You should join me for some workouts. We love that. We'd love that.

Yeah. Okay. Andrew and I are going to talk about that behind the scenes. I love that. Let's totally do that. We also do have some of your workouts. We're going to be building up our exercise guide and I know you're going to be back and you're going to be sharing all sorts of fun stuff with us within the Libby method itself as well.

So I appreciate you. I adore you. I always love our conversations. For anyone listening live and adding your comments or your questions, thank you for joining us. Anyone watching after the fact, I hope you enjoyed this conversation. One more time,

can you bring up that website, Drew, before you go. Sorry. Blakey breakthrough.com. You can also follow Andrew over on Instagram. I am Andrew. Blakey, Andrew, thank you so much. Always a pleasure.

Thank you. That was fun. That was awesome. Thanks, everyone.