Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to Bounce Forward with me, Tiff Hall,
Speaker 1: I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
Speaker 1: on which I'm recording this podcast, the Wrendar people of
Speaker 1: the cooler Nation. I pay my respects to elders past
Speaker 1: and present. Catherine DMed me with a great question, Tiff.
Speaker 1: Joints cracking and popping during a workout.
Speaker 2: Does that mean you should stop that move? Should you
Speaker 2: modify it?
Speaker 1: If it's not hurting and just a bit of noise,
Speaker 1: is it okay to keep going or are you causing damage? Gosh, Catherine,
Speaker 1: this is such a great question and something I think
Speaker 1: about all the time because my husband always says that
Speaker 1: he can hear me coming before he sees me coming
Speaker 1: up the stairs because my knees crack so much going
Speaker 1: up the stairs. They pop and they crackle, and I
Speaker 1: actually have stage four osteoarthritis in my knees right, So
Speaker 1: they crack and they pop the whole time because it's
Speaker 1: bone on bone and there's no cut there, there's no
Speaker 1: lubricant against the bones, so they are really really noisy.
Speaker 1: But the bottom line is if there is no pain
Speaker 1: accompanied with the noise with it from the joints. Then
Speaker 1: it's absolutely harmless. Okay, So snapping and popping of your
Speaker 1: joints maybe you know, I love cracking my knuckles.
Speaker 2: Hang on, I wonder if I can do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: There, I just cracked my knuckles into the microphone.
Speaker 1: The sound you hear is caused by air bubbles in
Speaker 1: the synovial fluid, right, so the liquid that surrounds and
Speaker 1: lubricates your joints, and by the snapping of tightly stretched
Speaker 1: ligaments as they slide off one bony surface onto another.
Speaker 2: So it's really good. You can really picture that.
Speaker 1: And the sound is sometimes called crepitus, which especially you
Speaker 1: hear it in your knees going up and down the stairs.
Speaker 2: It's like that great creak sound.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't recommend forcing joints to snap or pop like
Speaker 1: I just did. I I can't help it, but it
Speaker 1: just feels so amazing. I crack my hips, you know.
Speaker 1: I pull one leg to the side and I crack,
Speaker 1: and then I crack, and it feels really great. Don't
Speaker 1: go doing that because when a joint cracking sometimes it
Speaker 1: can put a little bit of inflammation there, and especially
Speaker 1: when a joint cracking is accompanied by pain, or swelling.
Speaker 1: It usually indicates that there's some kind of mechanical problem
Speaker 1: or even disease activity within or around the joint, such
Speaker 1: as a torn of frey cartilage and arthritis, and you
Speaker 1: just really want to make sure that you go and
Speaker 1: see a doctor or a professional if you're having pain
Speaker 1: around that pop snapple crack, okay, But if the cracking
Speaker 1: is you know, you've got consistent pain and swelling, you've
Speaker 1: got to say, Yep, this is wrong. Definitely need to
Speaker 1: go see a doctor. But really it's just gas escaping
Speaker 1: from the synovial membrane. And you just got to remember
Speaker 1: that in the joint there two bones which are connected
Speaker 1: by capsule of membrane, and inside that capsule is that fluid.
Speaker 1: And that fluid is like a motor oil for our joints, okay,
Speaker 1: so it provides that lubrication and its slick and it
Speaker 1: moves really really nicely. The fluid also contains oxygen, nitrogen,
Speaker 1: and carbon dioxide. So a popping joints stretches a capsule
Speaker 1: and makes that cracking sound because you're creating a negative
Speaker 1: pressure inside that synovial joint space, which is kind of
Speaker 1: really really cool, And that's why I like to really
Speaker 1: crack my hips every now and then I just think
Speaker 1: about how cool it is and then I like to
Speaker 1: hear it.
Speaker 2: But it's not a good thing to do again.
Speaker 1: It can be that ligament or tendon passing over the bone,
Speaker 1: and it can also be you know, like I said
Speaker 1: that crepitas, which is the wear and tear on your joints.
Speaker 1: A simple solution can be to move more. Definitely, if
Speaker 1: you sit or stand a lot in one position or
Speaker 1: you are more sedentary, you get more stiff and those
Speaker 1: joints will crack more often.
Speaker 2: So you want to.
Speaker 1: Really take breaks at work and in life to move around.
Speaker 1: And it always comes back with I'm a personal trainer,
Speaker 1: so it does come back to movement all the time,
Speaker 1: but does come back to moving and gentle.
Speaker 2: Stretching some mobility.
Speaker 1: The dynamic and static stretches are really important here, and
Speaker 1: you know, just keeping yourself loose and mobile. So coming
Speaker 1: back to your question, Catherine, if it's not hurting, don't
Speaker 1: be afraid of the noise.
Speaker 2: You don't have to modify the movement. It is just
Speaker 2: your body being your body.
Speaker 1: Bodies are amazing and you are not causing any damage,
Speaker 1: So enjoy the noise. I find it quite cool and
Speaker 1: then just keep moving. Mackenzie came to me with a
Speaker 1: great question, Hey, tif, why do I still look soft
Speaker 1: and fluffy when I lift weights four to five times
Speaker 1: a week?
Speaker 2: I don't get it. I'm working my ass off over here, yeah, and.
Speaker 1: Not looking strong. I feel so deflated, like giving up?
Speaker 1: What am I doing wrong? How long will it take
Speaker 1: me to put on lean muscle mass and see some results? Okay,
Speaker 1: so there's a few things here, Mackenzie. Are you lifting
Speaker 1: weights or are you lifting weights with purpose?
Speaker 2: Intentionally?
Speaker 1: There is a huge difference between picking up the weights
Speaker 1: putting them down versus focusing on three important things like
Speaker 1: the mind to muscle connection, strong muscular contraction, and the
Speaker 1: range of motion. And you know, when you focus on
Speaker 1: these things, the mind to muscle connection, honing your mind
Speaker 1: in on that muscle you're working and squeezing and making
Speaker 1: sure your technique is on point and your form is good,
Speaker 1: you're working through a full range.
Speaker 2: You'll be blown away by the results.
Speaker 1: So it really you really do need to be ask
Speaker 1: yourself whether you are very focused in your workouts. You
Speaker 1: can just be moving around picking up the weights, putting
Speaker 1: it down, going through the motion or are you really
Speaker 1: present in that workout challenging yourself with the weights, you know,
Speaker 1: not just sitting at the same weights every week. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's really important to get that progressive overload and to
Speaker 1: have that progression. Then I need to ask you how's
Speaker 1: your cardio. If you're trying to recomposition the body and
Speaker 1: build lean muscle mass and get stronger, then I recommend
Speaker 1: weight training being the high frequency which you're doing, which
Speaker 1: is great, and your cardio training being just a little
Speaker 1: bit part of the plan, but it should.
Speaker 2: Be in there.
Speaker 1: You should have some aerobic activity. It's important for your
Speaker 1: heart health, so you need just a little bit of it.
Speaker 1: And just remember cardio does not keep muscle on your body.
Speaker 1: The weight training does, so you're doing all the right things.
Speaker 1: Weight training is all about the retention of muscle mass,
Speaker 1: really important.
Speaker 2: But if you have some.
Speaker 1: Body fat to lose and you're talking about being soft
Speaker 1: not that hard, look, then you might want to implement
Speaker 1: one to two times a week training some smart cardio
Speaker 1: focused on like tobata or hit training, which is great
Speaker 1: because it won't compromise your muscle mass at all, so
Speaker 1: that softness could just be a little bit of extra
Speaker 1: body fat or water retention, which you can easily fix
Speaker 1: with a bitter cardio, just a little bit on the
Speaker 1: side of that really important weight training. Then I need
Speaker 1: to ask you about your calorie intake, and I've got
Speaker 1: to ask are you under consuming your food one day
Speaker 1: and then over eating the next. The thing is, muscle
Speaker 1: is very expensive tissue. If you're eating too little calories
Speaker 1: for your body or insufficient protein, your body will want
Speaker 1: to sacrifice muscle before fat tissue. Meaning you can be
Speaker 1: lifting weights even with intention and being really really good
Speaker 1: with your weight training with those three factors in eating
Speaker 1: protein at most meals, but not eating sufficient or consistent protein,
Speaker 1: and the body just won't want to retain or keep
Speaker 1: that muscle tissue and it will still be soft and
Speaker 1: fluffy as you call it. It takes intention to make
Speaker 1: sure the body holds onto that muscle, and so maybe
Speaker 1: a protein powder supplement could be good to increase your
Speaker 1: protein intake. If you're putting your muscle through trauma in
Speaker 1: the gym without proper fuel and recovery outside the gym,
Speaker 1: then you won't be putting on that lean muscle mass
Speaker 1: and you will still look very soft. So rebuilding the
Speaker 1: muscle actually happens outside of the workout, in the recovery phase,
Speaker 1: not during the workout. So it's very important to ask
Speaker 1: yourself if your calories.
Speaker 2: Are good and your.
Speaker 1: Protein intake is adequate, and are you tracking and paying
Speaker 1: attention to your nutrient intake.
Speaker 2: That's another important point.
Speaker 1: So calories won't transform your body from soft to shredded,
Speaker 1: and they won't change your body composition, but nutrients will.
Speaker 1: So you've got to pay attention to the nutrients like
Speaker 1: your protein, carbohydrates, your fats, and you know, just toning
Speaker 1: up requires losing fat and maintaining muscles, so you've really
Speaker 1: got to look at those macros and make sure that
Speaker 1: you're hitting them adequately. Determining the best macro nutrient ratios
Speaker 1: for building muscle depends on your age, weight, your high
Speaker 1: your level of physical activity.
Speaker 2: Personal health goals.
Speaker 1: So for a forty year old woman like myself looking
Speaker 1: to build muscle, it's important to focus on balance intakes
Speaker 1: of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. And when you're looking at protein,
Speaker 1: you want an approximately two grams of protein per kilogrammar
Speaker 1: body weight.
Speaker 2: It's really important.
Speaker 1: Sources like lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy, plant based proteins
Speaker 1: like lentil, chips and quinoa all great things. Carbohydrates should
Speaker 1: be forty to sixty percent of your daily calories if
Speaker 1: you're looking to put on lean muscle mass, and they're
Speaker 1: the primary energy source fueling all forms of your activities,
Speaker 1: so you really want to make sure that they're in
Speaker 1: there because they also aid your post workout recovery. And
Speaker 1: then fat should be twenty to thirty five percent of
Speaker 1: your daily calories, okay, and they're essential for your hormone balance,
Speaker 1: which is crucial for muscle growth and overall health. So
Speaker 1: think of your good fats, your avocados, your nuts, your seeds,
Speaker 1: olive oils, fatty fish.
Speaker 2: These are all great stuff that you want to include.
Speaker 1: Just make sure that nutrients are there, that you're eating
Speaker 1: enough protein, that you're lifting those weights with intention, and
Speaker 1: maybe adding some protein powders to kind of get that
Speaker 1: protein intake, but also adding a little bit of cardio
Speaker 1: as well if you want to decrease the body fat.
Speaker 2: This will help to harden your overall look.
Speaker 1: And bring out the lean muscle mass a little bit
Speaker 1: more and you won't be as soft. It's not everyone's
Speaker 1: goal to look hard and you know have such definition.
Speaker 1: But if that is your goal, I hope that this
Speaker 1: answers your question. Thanks so much for listening to Bounce Forward.
Speaker 1: I love having your company, So please DM me on
Speaker 1: Instagram at tifhaul Underscore XO and let me know what
Speaker 1: topics you'd love me to cover. Don't forget to rate
Speaker 1: and review me on your podcast app Speak soon, Happy Days,