Meaningful exercise when you are 55+

Those 10,000 steps? The arms curls on the machine? They are not nearly enough according to PJ Wren, fitness instructor of the year in Canada last year. Your goal is to be as fit as long as possible.

Every day doing the right types of workout programs keeps you more mobile (think of that great next trip) and independent.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Welcome to another episode of Retire Inspire Podcast, episode number three. I'm Scott Armstrong. In my journeys across the country, I talk to a lot of people who are leaving their work. You know that already. But one of the biggest things I see is fitness not being at the top priority of what they're trying to take care of when they leave their work behind. And today I'm joined by a fitness expert for particularly the 50 plus crowd, PJ Wren. PJ, before we get into your story, can you tell me from your perspective, why is fitness so important for those of us as we get 50, 60, and older?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Well, yeah, it's extremely important. When you're over 50, fitness isn't about vanity anymore. It's about protecting your brain, protecting your confidence, your independence. If you're a woman, protecting your bone. For instance, we know that strength training stimulates the growth factor that drives new neurons. We also increase blood flow to the brain when we work out, in particular the prefrontal cortex. So people who train consistently are going to show more improvement than those that don't in memory, focus, and processing space. Really important things that we need to pay attention to as we get older. So this is proving that you know lifting weights isn't just about building a muscle, it's about protecting your brain. Now, I also see with a lot of people starting out working out that the working out spills into their everyday life. So it shapes how they show up. You know, your everyday workout's going to deposit in that uh competence account. And that's going to pay dividends everywhere from your work or if you're retired, from your travels, your relationships, how you carry yourself. Physical competence bleeds into felt competence. And then strength is the single most powerful predictor of whether you're going to be living on your own terms when you're 75 or if you're blessed to get into 80s, or will you be traveling with no assistance or pushing a walker?

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Fair enough. We have a fair number of folks from that, you know, 55 to 65 range. And when we talk about fitness, now there's a good number of folks who, you know, will go to the gym or they have some recreational sport they do. But a lot of people, when they think about fitness and gym, they think back to high school days. They may not have been in a gym or a fitness class for 40 or 50 years. And the mindset is uh it's too late. Like, you know, I've already, I'm already carrying extra weight, uh, you know, and I've given up on that part of me. Why should they not give up?

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Well, if they pick up any newspaper, they're going to see headlines blaring all the time about it, doesn't matter what age we start. So that's what's really cool is we're seeing more and more research with older adults. And so we know that no matter what age, we've got studies of 85-year-olds starting to strength train, and now they can get out of a chair, right? Their independence is reclaimed. That's super important with that independence. Now comes the ability to go outside and socialize. And we now we know that socializing is huge for mental health. So we can start at any age, and whatever you start now will pay dividends for when you are older. So you're I always tell people your future self. You want to represent your future self and have them so damn proud that you started.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

So, PJ, when we talk about the fitness, and we'll get into some specific activities as we go. I I work with professional athletes, specifically hockey players and football players, and they're always talking about, you know, the PBs, you know, the personal bests and how much can they lift and how much can they press and how fast can they go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

And can't do that when you're older.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Yeah, you know, it's never and for a lot of people, that was always the uh the uh the prize at the end of the rainbow is that I can have this new personal best. From a mind switch perspective, that was unintentional, folks. That from a mind perspective and a mindset perspective, I got caught on that one. What do we have to do in terms of when we think about fitness in that plus 50 range? Are there any key differences we should be looking for as a way of measuring success?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

The PVs are is again that vanity. And if you trade up to it, then by all means, we can still have personal bests, but they are going to look different than they did in our 20s or 30s. And that's why I find a lot of people have a hard time. You need to reset your bar.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Okay. And so, you know, I've reset my bar. It seems like my body has a new compass and everything points south kind of stuff. I go to the gym and I almost have a muscle and I come home and it and it's disappeared. That's okay as long as I keep strengthening and be consistent in what I'm doing. Is that what I'm hearing from you?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Yeah, it's not perfection. Um, you know, a lot of people are looking for the perfection in their workout and they'll get discouraged if, for instance, they're not seeing results quickly, they get injured, or if they skip a week's worth workout. I would rather you do five minutes of mobility and keep going than trying to do a week's worth of perfect workouts that will never happen. So for us, as we get older, it's consistency. And that consistency can look like a walk, it can look like a full-on workout. It's just a simple movement forward so that we can continue going forward.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Now you've been involved in the fitness industry for some time. Can you give me a little bit of okay? You're you're you're not seeing her eyes glaze over here, folks. It's been a while, but just sort of give us some highlights of how did you get to be? Because right now you specialize in dealing with fitness and folks over 50. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Oh, yeah, yeah. I actually have a fitness app and platform called Over 50 Fitness. So, and there's um 20 trainers on the app, nutritionists, uh physiotherapists. Uh, we've got, yeah, we've got everything. But I started my journey 33 years ago in fitness. And I fell in love with it. I have owned multiple gyms, personal training studios. I've won trainer of the year in Canada, instructor of the year last year of Canada. I had the fortune of working at St. Paul's Hospital in their cardiac rehab program for five years, uh, YouTube channel, and then you know, COVID happened, and that really affected my industry. And we shut down our studio and I just did the you know, for lack of a better word, the pivot onto the online space. We had a small growing on YouTube, and it was for women over 40. And I shifted my whole focus to helping women over 40, but we got rid of the weight loss ideal. I used to sell multiple online programs for like weight loss. I I got tired of that. I wanted and I want women to focus on the numbers on their dumbbells, not the numbers on the scale. So we re-re rebranded and the YouTube channel just took off. And then from there, well, five years ago at recording now is when we launched Over 50 Fitness. And it's been a blast seeing women and a few good men, as I always like to say, connect all over the world to work out in their homes. You know, COVID taught many people over the age of 50, you know, technology that they necessarily maybe didn't use before, like how to do an app, how to work out or screencasts to their TVs, and they bought all the equipment. So gyms opened and they may go back for that social aspect, but I find a lot of them stay in their homes because they see how easy it is. They have got, you know, they can work out anytime. It doesn't matter if you shave your armpits, it doesn't matter if your socks match, right? You can you can get it done.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

I was I was gonna ask you about that too, because we probably grew up at a similar time. And you know, if you had shorts and a white t-shirt, that was what uh you know, fitness uh wardrobe was way back in the 70s and 80s when I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

It's different now, Scott. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

Well, maybe that's why I get a strange glare. So that's one of the good things, I guess, about working out at home in your privacy of your own home. You can be whoever you want to be and not uh because I go to the gym now and people are all made up. It's like they're going out to the prom or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Yeah. Probably a lot of influencers filming too, which can get very annoying.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

All right.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

We're gonna come back in a in a minute, and when we come back, we're gonna talk about three things that you would initially recommend people take a look at when they begin their fitness routine on the plus side of 50. My name's Scott Armstrong, and this is the Retire and Inspire Podcast. If you're looking for an inspired next phase of life, then MindSwitch may be for you. From retirement roadmaps, informative publications, complimentary webcasts to immersive masterminds and retreats, we've got you covered. Head on over to mindswitch.ca and sign up. There is no cost, and you will receive a work optional life blueprint to start you on your journey. Your next phase of life in MindSwitch, you know it, you're just getting started. All right, we're here with PJ Wren. And PJ, you were mentioning your website before with your fitness programs. We'll talk about it at the end of the program. But if people are curious while they're listening to the podcast, where can they find out? Find you?

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Uh, websites over 50fitness, 50spelk.co, and then Facebook and Instagram with the same handle.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Oh, and YouTube channel, Fitness with PJ. If you want to try some some free workouts, all right.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

I'm gonna do that. Uh my guess is PJ.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

I'm going to send you some workouts I want you to do. So I'll do that.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Okay, uh, don't do that. That this is a public commitment I'm making here on this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Yeah, okay. I'm getting a little bit and a little bit nervous now, but uh I will do it. I've I've always enjoyed going to the gym and sports, and uh, you know, I have modified my expectations of myself. And we're talking about as you get to be 50, 60, and 70, what role should fitness take uh in terms of focus in your life? Now, I've just retired, PJ. Hypothetically, I've just retired, entered work optional life. I haven't been to the gym much. I I know there's fitness shows. Uh, what would be some of the first few things you'd want me to start doing to better take care of myself at that age?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I would recommend following a program. Probably the biggest barrier to working out is the daily decision of what to do, as well as what to do safely and effectively. So when you walk into a gym or if you open your phone without a plan, you know, if in terms of of willpower, you're already burning willpower up before you've even done a single round. So a program's gonna remove all that. Uh, you don't think, you just execute. And decision fatigue is real and it kills consistency faster than you know, motivation does, which is the other thing I would love people to stop relying on is motivation. Um, it's a feeling. Feelings are fickle. Uh, you don't skip eating because you don't feel eat motivated to eat. So fitness needs to be that same non-negotiable status. And you want to get there by eliminating barriers that will give you the excuse to quit before you even start. And that's that program. And then if you are a member of a gym, perfect, or buy some equipment at home. And then finally, I tell my community to lower the box until it's almost embarrassing. I mentioned this earlier. We're not looking for the perfect workout. So a few minutes of stretching counts, a walk counts. And then I've got one tip that I tell everybody if you don't feel like getting the runners on and starting to work out, just give yourself 10 minutes. So yourself 10 minutes of working out. And if you still don't feel like it, walk away. Now I've been living that role myself for 35 years, and there's only once that I'm like, nope, I'm out, I'm tapping out. So usually it's just the starting that's the hardest. So lower your bar.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah. And that's uh that's an interesting one. I have uh I'm 5'10 on a good day in terms of height, and I play volleyball. Uh, and as you know, and uh most of the gentlemen are much younger, much taller than I am. So I actually took on a increase my vertical jump program last fall so that I could jump another two or three weeks. Perfect. And for me, when I was doing, say, the leg presses and all the other things that uh the program had me doing, you're right. They there's a set of exercises that I could just follow. I didn't have to think. And you know, within two or three weeks, you know, I was be able to get my hands above the net and then a little bit more above the net. And I can't tell you how good that felt. I I actually blocked a couple guys who were 6'1, 6'2, and pounding the ball, and anything else could have happened that night, but I was happy. So for me, this is where a question I want to ask you. It was a goal. I wanted to become more relevant in a in a volleyball game. That was why I wanted to do. Are goals important as people? You know, set out specific goals rather than just, you know, general health, or what would you suggest on goal setting?

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Definitely specific. That way you know how to get there. Um, I want to lose weight, doesn't really stick, right? I want to lose three inches off of my waist. That's going to give you a more attainable goal. And when you get there, a reason to celebrate. So again, it's not that perfection. It's just about consistently trying to do the right thing for your health and for your fitness.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

So let's say, you know, I'm I'm I'm listening to the podcast. This is interesting. It's intellectual knowledge. I like information, but I'm not around anybody else who really works out or has sport activities. And a matter of fact, you know, that's something I haven't done for a long time. And you get to have a minute with this person to help them perhaps see another point of view. And that's really what these things are points of view, not right or wrong for because the individual gets to make their own choice. And I still believe that. What you'd be telling this person uh who hasn't engaged in fitness in any meaningful way for for a decade or two, if not more.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

How do they want to show up next year, the year after? Because that's what we're doing right now, is we're depositing how we can move, feel, and show up for our lives in the next couple of years. Nobody wants to use a walker or be respected in their movement, not be able to travel, not be able to socialize. So I think if we I don't want to be putting the fear of God in them, but be realistic that this is what we're looking to do now, to put in those deposits just like a bank for later on. So it doesn't depend it doesn't matter what age you are. We see the reward no matter what, whether you start at 60 or 70.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

It's it's interesting too because I will present the argument when I talk to people that society doesn't know what to do with a healthy and vital 70 or 80 or 90 year old because they haven't been around for a lot of decades. And society is still trying to figure out what to do with somebody who has retired and has, you know, 20, 30, or 40 years of vital living left.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

But I want people to continue to challenge themselves, uh whether it be sport or whether it be in the gym or whether it be in their home workout. But I also want you to lower the bar on your expectations of yourself every day. If you can't get a workout in, don't throw the towel in. Please get a walk-in.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

If I'm just starting, though, with some exercises, I talked to you earlier. You said you're into tennis and you're actually stretching right now your tennis elbow.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

I'm working my forearm extensor, it's because it's another thing I do is have it stack.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

And those those kinds of things you you know, and I told you I would like to play tennis, and and you know, and you said, are you doing some stability drills and things like that? So if we haven't been working out for a while, I've I've heard the dumbbells and things like that, but are there any other areas of the body that people who have not worked out for a while are particularly vulnerable to? And we may be leading towards a discussion on stability and that type of thing as we age.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah, I find knees, low back, and shoulders, right? Those are the big three for older adults. Um knees, usually with my past sports people, right, that did a lot of high impact, monolateral movements, low backs, that just can be a chronic thing. And then shoulders, um, you know, it's a it's a really unstable joint to begin with. So if we don't strengthen that structure, and now we add shoulder presses or an overhead swing in tennis on a repeated basis, and we haven't built up that area, you're asking for for trouble. So I would love for anybody starting out to get two times a week strength training and work towards three times a week. And it doesn't have to be uh a long, intensive program. Most of our programs are 30 minutes, and that includes your warm-up as well as your cooldown. So you want to hit, you know, your squat patterns, your hinge patterns, your push and pull patterns. So those are your all of your big muscles, and whenever you work your large muscles, like for instance, in a squat, your quads and hip flex and hamstrings are all working in addition to hip stabilizers, in addition to your core. And again, if you're brand new to exercise twice a week, start with 10 minutes and build from there. Do one set of a squat, for instance, or a deadlift, a chest press, and then a row pattern. You basically hit every muscle in your body. 12 to 15 reps, a couple of sets, and you're golden. And then from there you're you'll start getting curious too. What it's like maybe if I had another set, or if I add a little heavier weight. And as I, yeah, I said it's just kind of beautiful progression that we see with people.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

For people who have not had uh in an active ongoing physical program there who are social, how important or unimportant is it to have a workout partner to keep you going, sort of an accountability buddy?

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Accountability buddies for everybody are great. Um, but yeah, if you are social, then that's going to keep you going. I know that I just ran into actually a woman locally. There's six of them that meet every morning to do one of my workouts. So it's a social aspect that they like to do. This is where I saw um Jim spance back quite quickly after COVID, was because there are quite a few people that like to be around other people. Um, I don't know about you, Scott, but I like that as well. Working from home, it's nice to see a human every so often. Like right now, I have three dogs. That's all I'll see. So you need to find what's going to work for you. Um, and then also find the right partner. So you don't want to find somebody whose goals don't align with yours because they could consistently cancel, and now that's going to drag you down.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Fair enough. And I've had a couple guys who want to, and I like to work out for about two hours and they're about 45 minutes, and we soon realized, you know, two hours?

SPEAKER_00 19:35

What are you doing for two hours?

SPEAKER_02 19:36

A lot of socializing.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Jeez.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Maybe I should take one of your courses just so I can be more time efficient on that. Have we missed anything that's really key that you think our listeners would be should be aware of, or you'd like them to be aware of?

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Strength training. Um, I really want you to be aware of strength training. I have made it my mission for the last 33 years to, especially women, to pick up some dumbbells. It protects your bone, it builds the muscle, connective tissue, and makes you show up stronger in life. So if you haven't investigated that, please do. And I recommend either taking a class or getting a program so that you do learn your form. Because obviously, if you're not doing something correctly, it will set you back a bit with an injury. So strength training, strength training, strength training.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Okay, teach. I got that one. Um, people were going to be very curious, PJ, because you're a wealth of knowledge. You've been generous with folks and you've got a worldwide following. I understand you went to England to meet a fan club of yours a few years ago. Yeah. Yeah. So we feel very fortunate to have you here. People want to find more about more about you. Um, how'd they best do that?

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Um, as I mentioned, my YouTube channel, which is fitness with PJ. And then you can grab a 14-day free trial at overfiftyfitness.co. And there's a great community there as well. They're very active, and I'm really proud of them. Really proud of them.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Not good. PJ, I can't thank you enough, but I want to ask you one more question. Muscle mass, we do lose on a regular basis. And I've heard all kinds of weird percentages. Are there anything that we can keep in mind that over 50 we lose so much per year or decade? Are there any sort of figures we've got?

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Up to 35, you'll lose the one percent. Yeah, if you start, we all peak at 35 for a lot, actually. Um, bone density, muscle. So you'll lose one to two percent every year if you don't do something. And then they've also found that we don't age linearly either. So our systems don't age like a clock. So we've got a big time in our two times in our age in our age spam where we age faster, and that's mid-40s and 60s. So that's where you'll also see a more rapid loss of muscle. So this is where we can we can train that. Anything that, you know, we can train muscular, metabolic, and cardiovascular, that can be trained.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

By the way, folks, I'm 63 and what she's saying. Yeah, it's true. 63 has been a really nasty year. PJ, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to join us. I greatly appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Thanks for having me, Scott.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

To find out more about the Mind Switch and the various programs we offer, or to get connected to PJ, please reach me at Scott at MindSwitch.ca. This is Scott Armstrong. Thanks so much for listening.