1 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 2 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 2: Guess what, Mango? What's that will? Are we going to 4 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 2: do a history lesson? I know you love going back 5 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 2: in time. We're going to nineteen sixty. We're talking about 6 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 2: John F. Kennedy. Now, this was just weeks before his inauguration. 7 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 2: He actually wrote an article for Sports Illustrated and the 8 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 2: headline was the soft American. Now. In this article, he 9 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 2: called physical vigor one of the country's most important resources, 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 2: and he actually lamented the decline of physical fitness among 11 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 2: all of America's youth. 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: First of all, I didn't know he wrote for magazines 13 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: that I didn't previously say. But I mean, what was 14 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: this like a splashy way of introducing new health policy 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: or was he just trying to check in on how 16 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: many chin ups every kid could do? 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: I mean it kind of was like he did talk 18 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 2: about plans to expand new physical education programs in schools, 19 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 2: which he later did, and that was through the President's 20 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 2: Council on Physical Fitness. I don't know if you remember 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 2: these tests. It was always the pull ups that just 22 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 2: killed me. I just I couldn't do it. And so 23 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 2: ultimately couldn't get whatever that ultimate star was when you 24 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 2: passed the test. But what JFK was really talking about 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: was the Cold War. He actually argued that in order 26 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 2: to take on the threat of communism, Americans needed to 27 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 2: get stronger. 28 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 3: I love it. 29 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: I did doing more push ups to save democracy. 30 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 2: I mean, that's what they're there for. And it is 31 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 2: funny in retrospect to to look at all this, but 32 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 2: it's also interesting to see how things like politics and 33 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 2: cultural attitudes, even media and celebrities, these can all influence 34 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 2: the way we think about physical strength, and believe it 35 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 2: or not, that's been the case of the United States 36 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 2: for hundreds of years. So today on the show, Maria 37 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 2: is speaking with author Casey Johnston got a new book 38 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 2: called A Physical Education. Now it's this blend of science, 39 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 2: reporting and memoir, you know, the kind of thing we 40 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 2: love around here, and I can't wait to hear what 41 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 2: she has to say about the history of strength training 42 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 2: and how to get stronger and how getting stronger changed 43 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 2: her life. So let's die down. 44 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,399 Speaker 4: So Casey, thank you so much for coming on. We're 45 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 4: very excited to have you on part time genius. I've 46 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 4: been reading your work for a long time. I am 47 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 4: an amateur jym goer, I would say, And at the 48 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 4: end of this interview, I think I'd like to do 49 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 4: a little bit of pep talking to people who don't 50 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 4: know or feel like they don't know what to do 51 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 4: in a gym. But I want to get started at 52 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 4: the beginning. And I'm talking chronologically because one of the 53 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 4: most fascinating parts of your book to me was how 54 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 4: weightlifting and gyms became a thing. 55 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 3: And I'd never even thought about this, but it actually. 56 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 4: Came from some very specific fields of thought that had 57 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 4: a lot of political and religious context. So let's go 58 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 4: back to the nineteenth century. Tell me about the Turner movement. 59 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 5: I mean, we can trace physical training in one form 60 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 5: another all the way back like humans have maybe always 61 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 5: done it, and a common starting point for our modern 62 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 5: training is like Greeks and Romans, you know. So it's 63 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 5: like it goes back. But the place that we can 64 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 5: situate the modern conception of a gym as a sort 65 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 5: of community center for exercise and physical fitness began with 66 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 5: the Turners, which were a sort of cultural group in 67 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 5: Germany in the early eighteen hundreds, started by one man 68 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 5: who ran a center. It's an outdoor plaza called it turnplots, 69 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 5: this turn terminology sort of referring broadly to gymnastics, but 70 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 5: they also use dumbells and weights to train with. And 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 5: some of the Turners immigrated to the United States and 72 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 5: they brought that with them. They started what were called 73 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 5: Turner halls or turnbarne and they pursued physical fitness, not 74 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 5: as like this sort of competitive elitist thing, but they 75 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 5: saw it as a public health contribution to sort of 76 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 5: help raise the floor of physical capability for their community. 77 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 5: They didn't like the sort of American conception of competition. 78 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 5: This was about this. It had a much more socialist approach. 79 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 4: But of course here in the United States, we don't 80 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 4: like socialism, but we do like Protestant work ethic. So 81 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 4: then it seems like once the Turners came here there 82 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 4: was this other kind of field of thought about why 83 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 4: working out and gaining strength was act actually sort of 84 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,039 Speaker 4: in line with Christian values, right, So how did that 85 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 4: get involved? 86 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 5: There was the YMCA associations. Young Men's Christian Association was 87 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 5: a concept that existed relatively early in the eighteen hundreds. 88 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 5: It did not initially have a gym component at all. 89 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 5: It was just sort of a gathering place for young 90 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,799 Speaker 5: Christian men and they saw what the turners were doing 91 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 5: and were like, we want that. We literally want this 92 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 5: concept of like a physical training center because there was 93 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 5: this growing assertion that Christians were not physically robust enough, 94 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 5: especially the men, so they wanted to buff them up 95 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 5: quote unquote in service to God. I mean, this all 96 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 5: becomes like a way of keeping them focused on their 97 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 5: physical perfectibility, keeping them at work in service of God. 98 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:52,919 Speaker 5: So they were like, this is a type of pressure 99 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 5: we can put on them to be physically fit. So 100 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,359 Speaker 5: that became the muscular Christianity movement, and. 101 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 4: That's an actual term. That was an actual term, was 102 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 4: muscular Christianity. 103 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 5: Yeah, it doesn't have it's I mean, there's not a 104 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 5: lot of really formal study about a lot of this stuff, 105 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 5: but it's like a it's conceptually doesn't have a strong 106 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 5: beginning or end or like a very particular leader. But 107 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 5: it became a sort of dovetail of these two cultures 108 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 5: and that sort of snowballed into Eventually we had physical 109 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 5: fitness tests and exams for military organizations, then paramilitary organizations, 110 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 5: fascists adopted these physical training programs that made them really 111 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 5: fall out of favor among socialists and that crowd, or 112 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 5: it became distasteful, sort of in the way it is 113 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 5: now where people maybe assume a conservatism or a fixation 114 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 5: on aesthetics if you participate in this thing. In a 115 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 5: similar way, they kind of assumed you were a fascist 116 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 5: of you if you trained physically in this way back 117 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 5: during the World Wars, because the Italian Army was doing it, 118 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 5: the German Army was doing it. I've started to say 119 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 5: these things are these are tools, neutral tools, but they 120 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 5: develop these associations based on who's using them and how 121 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 5: they're using them. 122 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 4: So when you step into a gym and pick up 123 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 4: a barbelle, you're actually engaging with this incredible history and 124 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 4: social political context that I think most people just don't 125 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 4: even think about. 126 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 3: We take it for granted. 127 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 4: But I guess my other question is, you know, there's 128 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 4: this idea of bodybuilding. We think about someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger, 129 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 4: who became such a cultural icon. 130 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 3: Where did bodybuilding come from? 131 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean an interesting thing is that bodybuilding the 132 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 5: YMCA sort of coined that term. They brought that into 133 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 5: the picture of physical training. But there's like a more 134 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 5: modern route of bodybuilding as like a pure esthetic pursuit. 135 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 5: The aesthetic version is the seventies. There are bodybuilders in 136 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 5: the fifties who are maybe a little bit more oriented 137 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 5: around these like feats of gymnastic might, throwing each other 138 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 5: in the air, tumbling and stuff. But they also had 139 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 5: a particular esthetic that was documented in magazines, and then 140 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 5: eventually it became more about just the look of these people. 141 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 5: I think that it's sort of ebbed and flowed over 142 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 5: the years. But if you go to a certain very 143 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 5: intense corner of TikTok, there are people who are intensely 144 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 5: pursuing bodybuilding. 145 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 4: Of course, of course, but it's so interesting to think 146 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 4: that over the years people have gone into this for 147 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 4: all of these different reasons and with all of these 148 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 4: different goals, whether it's esthetic or military. And yet here 149 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 4: we are trying to figure out, well, should I pick 150 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 4: up those dumbbells or not? And we'll talk more about that, 151 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 4: but first we have to take a quick break. We'll 152 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 4: be back with Casey Johnston in just a moment. Welcome 153 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 4: back to Part Time Genius. We're talking with Casey Johnston, 154 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 4: author of a physical education and. 155 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 3: I want to talk a little bit, Casey. 156 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 4: You did such a great job in the book of 157 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 4: breaking down some of the myths around the science of 158 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 4: weight training and muscle, and a lot of this is 159 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 4: stuff that I have seen perpetuated in the media for 160 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 4: years and years and years. Especially as a female bodied person, 161 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,439 Speaker 4: we are fed all of this. One of the main 162 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 4: myths that you broke down is that women cannot build 163 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 4: muscle in the same way as men and therefore should 164 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 4: maybe not exercise in the same way. And that's not 165 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 4: actually true, So tell us about that, right. 166 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 5: The sort of pseudoscience around this that I believed that 167 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 5: was circulated and popular magazines and media was that women 168 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 5: have more of this type of muscle fibers Type one 169 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 5: they're called, that are quote unquote more suited to cardioactivity. 170 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 5: They're long and lean, and so women should focus on 171 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 5: that stuff, whereas men have more type two fibers, which 172 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:06,319 Speaker 5: are used for more powerful, strength oriented movements. So men 173 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 5: should focus on lifting weights and never the twain shall meet. 174 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 5: In actual fact, it's not anywhere near as divided as 175 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 5: what I just said would make you think. On average, 176 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 5: women have I believe the number was seven to twelve 177 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 5: percent more type one muscle fibers than men by proportion, 178 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 5: So that's like a very small difference. I think I 179 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 5: compared it to a jar of jelly beans in the book, 180 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 5: where it's like, if you have one hundred jelly beans 181 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 5: and I have one hundred and seven jelly beans, I 182 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 5: have seven percent more jelly beans than you, But like 183 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 5: our two jars of jelly beans are probably virtually identical. 184 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 5: That is not anywhere near enough of a difference to 185 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 5: suggest that these two groups should train completely differently. And 186 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 5: then there's lots of science around the fact that women 187 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 5: who train the same as men might not gain as 188 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 5: much muscle in the absolute, but they will gain twenty 189 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 5: five percent just as men gain twenty five percent. So 190 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 5: they are not maybe ending up as big as men are, 191 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 5: but it's because their bodies are smaller. They might be 192 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 5: starting with smaller muscles. But that doesn't mean that they 193 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,199 Speaker 5: shouldn't train for strength just because they can't end up 194 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 5: as strong as a man. Just because a man can 195 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 5: lift six hundred pounds and a woman can lift four 196 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 5: hundred pounds at their absolute top of their ability, that 197 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 5: doesn't mean that it's meaningless by any stretch. For a 198 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 5: woman to learn to lift that weight. Because we still 199 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 5: get the same type of growth and building those relationship 200 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 5: with our bodies, building up her neurological responses to the stimulus, 201 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,719 Speaker 5: we get all of the same type of great results. 202 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 3: So to speak out of it. 203 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 4: Tell me a little bit more about this. You mentioned 204 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 4: it just now briefly the neurological benefits as well. And 205 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 4: I think this is again something that I have never 206 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 4: really thought about. When I go to the gym, I'm 207 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 4: dragging my muscles and my bones around and then I 208 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 4: haul them out again. But my brain is actually doing 209 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 4: something too. What is it doing? 210 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 3: Why is it good for me? Yeah? 211 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 5: I think that we have really underestimated the potential for this. 212 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 5: In all kinds of exercise, we sort of think almost 213 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,080 Speaker 5: as one directional, where it's like your brain sends a 214 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,199 Speaker 5: signal to your muscles, and your muscles do what your 215 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 5: brain says, but there is a response. There's sort of 216 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 5: a back and forth between your body and your muscles. 217 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 5: You're not just training this physical might of your muscles, 218 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 5: You're training them neurologically to work together. There's more communication 219 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 5: happening between your brain and your body in ways that 220 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 5: we don't even fully understand yet. We're so focused on 221 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 5: maintaining our brain function in the last maybe like twenty 222 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 5: years or so with pseudoku, crosswords, all of these things. 223 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 5: But it's like the stimulus of working out has a 224 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 5: similar effect. Your brain is getting used, your neurological system 225 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 5: is getting used when you exercise, and it's like a 226 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 5: contrasting kind of stimulus too to like the pure brain 227 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 5: activity of say doing a Pseudoka puzzle. 228 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 4: That's really fascinating. I did also learn from your book 229 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 4: recovery is important. Why shouldn't we just push to the max. 230 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 4: Why shouldn't we be lifting as much as we can 231 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 4: every single day? 232 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 5: This is something I was completely unaware of going into lifting, 233 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,959 Speaker 5: And when I was exercising for so long as a 234 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,319 Speaker 5: runner and my focus was entirely on doing as much 235 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 5: exercise as I could, my understanding at that time was 236 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 5: if I then ate too much food, I had just 237 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 5: spent all this time running, burning all these calories, and 238 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 5: it would be quote unquote wasting that workout in order 239 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,079 Speaker 5: to go then eat food. In learning about lifting, I 240 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 5: learned it's sort of the opposite, is true, And especially 241 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 5: in lifting, your muscles are actually built when you're resting, 242 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 5: when you work out, you're doing all of this. We 243 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 5: referred to it as muscle damage. You're shredding up the 244 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 5: fibers in your muscles, so to speak. And then when 245 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 5: you are not lifting, when you give yourself time to 246 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 5: rest and you give yourself food, especially protein, but also 247 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 5: you need carbs and fats, your body is repairing those 248 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 5: muscles to be a little bit stronger than they were before. 249 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 5: It's re fueling you and sort of restocking your muscles 250 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 5: with energy, and that's what allows you to lift a 251 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 5: little more weight the next time. And that's how you 252 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 5: create progress. That's how you build muscle and especially build 253 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,719 Speaker 5: it back if you've lost it from say, dieting too 254 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 5: much or too little activity for too long, that sort 255 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 5: of thing. 256 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 4: It makes so much sense when you say it right 257 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 4: the science. It's very logical, but it's also kind of 258 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 4: radical when you think about the messaging that especially women 259 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 4: and girls are given. It's kind of a way to 260 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 4: change how you see all of that and to question 261 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 4: some of that messaging. 262 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 3: Right. 263 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 5: I hadn't been aware when I was a runner how 264 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 5: destructive that cycle was of like exercising and then not 265 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 5: eating and trying to rest as little as possible. Those 266 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 5: are all things that are all fighting each other in 267 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 5: that circle where it's like the less you eat, the 268 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 5: less prepared you are to work out, the more you 269 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 5: work out, the less you're resting, the worse you're going 270 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 5: to work out. And then I'm left trying to fight 271 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 5: even more to try and keep doing what I think 272 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 5: I'm supposed to be doing. In lifting, all of those 273 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 5: things are oriented in a constructive cycle where the more 274 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 5: you eat the better, the more way you can lift, 275 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 5: the harder you can train. For me, with an adequate 276 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 5: dose of training, I sleep better, for instance, and all 277 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 5: of those things sort of feed off of each other 278 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 5: and become a virtuous cycle. I think in the book 279 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 5: I called it a reward reward reward, sort of like 280 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 5: there's no punishment reward system. It felt like it was 281 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 5: just all good stuff going in a circle. 282 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 4: I was so compelled by your personal story that unfolded 283 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 4: through this book. There was so much that I could 284 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 4: relate to. I think there's a lot that a lot 285 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 4: of people can relate to, And one of the things 286 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 4: that I found most relatable was simply stepping into a 287 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 4: gym and feeling. 288 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 3: A little bit out of place and overwhelmed. 289 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 4: I like that you actually let us go along with 290 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 4: you as you made a fool of yourself frankly a 291 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 4: few times, and had to learn the how to use 292 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 4: equipment and how to interact with people. You struggled, you 293 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 4: had a hard time. I think a lot of people do. 294 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 4: What do you say to someone who wants to try lifting, 295 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 4: wants to start going to the gym, but maybe feel 296 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 4: self conscious or anxious about it. 297 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 5: We're sort of encouraged to think of as, oh, it's simple, 298 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 5: like you just start going to the gym, But the 299 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 5: gym for somebody who is not great at dealing with 300 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 5: new environments or hasn't been sort of socialized in a 301 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 5: gym crowd in their whole life, it's a foreign environment 302 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 5: which takes some time getting used to. A lot of 303 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 5: times I find myself saying to people that when you 304 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 5: started a new job or a new school, or we've 305 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 5: had those experiences where it's not necessarily comfortable right away. 306 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 5: You don't know anybody and you're like, where is everything? 307 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 5: I don't know. You have to kind of allow yourself 308 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 5: to situate it in your mind like that, I think, 309 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 5: and give yourself time, and I like to say separate 310 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 5: the task of accomplishing a workout from getting used to 311 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 5: a new place. You are allowed to get your feet 312 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 5: wet first and just familiarize yourself. One of the pieces 313 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 5: of advice I give people is to give yourself a 314 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 5: session or two or as many as you want where 315 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,199 Speaker 5: you just sort of go to the gym and post 316 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 5: up on a low stakes cardio machine where you can 317 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 5: see the rest of the gym and just sort of 318 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 5: observe see how people use the equipment, how do they 319 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:20,880 Speaker 5: ask each other for things, where do they stand when 320 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 5: they do X, Y Z. That's not going to be 321 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 5: the total cure all, but it's good to let yourself 322 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 5: get familiar with, like where's the locker room? How do 323 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 5: you check in and feel like you know it a 324 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 5: little before you're trying to jump in and also complete 325 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 5: a workout. 326 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 3: You're allowed to take it a little. 327 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 5: Slowly, And we don't really think of it that way, 328 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 5: but I encourage thinking of it that way a little 329 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 5: bit more. 330 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, I love that you don't have to do everything 331 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 4: at once. That is really wonderful advice. Well, we have 332 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 4: to take one more quick break, but we have so 333 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 4: much more to talk about with Casey Johnston Don't Go Anywhere. 334 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 4: Welcome back to Part time Genius Now, Casey. Before the break, 335 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 4: we were talking about how people can kind of ease 336 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 4: their way into lifting, ease their way into going to 337 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 4: a gym because new environments can be intimidating. I think 338 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 4: the other thing that a lot of people hesitate about 339 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 4: is this fear of being judged or not being perceived 340 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 4: as worthy of being there. 341 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 3: And it's funny. 342 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,119 Speaker 4: I was at the gym last month and I was 343 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 4: standing there doing dumbell curls using fifteen pound dumbbells, which 344 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 4: for me was a lot. 345 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 3: I was struggling. 346 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 4: I got to like four reps and I could not 347 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 4: keep going, and I looked to my left and there 348 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 4: is a guy easily twice my size, super ripped. He's 349 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 4: got these like, I think, forty forty five pound dumbells 350 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 4: and he is just flipping them up and down like 351 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 4: their toothpicks while carrying on a conversation with someone next 352 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 4: to him. And I'm practically on the floor after doing 353 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 4: my four reps with the fifteens, and in that moment, 354 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 4: I felt so scrawny and weak and discouraged, and it 355 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 4: was while reading your book that it kind of hit me. 356 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 4: First of all, I was actually working hard that guy 357 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 4: was not. He was not pushing himself. I was pushing 358 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 4: myself to the breaking point. So who's tough now. But 359 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 4: also it's this idea that everybody is on their own 360 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 4: pathway you should not expect someone else's results. 361 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 3: Is that sort of what you found in your own 362 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 3: journey through all. 363 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,199 Speaker 5: Of this, yeah, one hundred percent. I mean you have 364 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,719 Speaker 5: to keep in mind that often who you're seeing at 365 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 5: the gym are people who love going to the gym 366 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 5: and go all of the time. You only live in 367 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,119 Speaker 5: that sort of beginner phase where you feel like you 368 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 5: don't know what you're doing and you feel like you 369 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 5: stick out like a sore thumb. Like that doesn't last 370 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 5: very long. Eventually you're going to be one of those 371 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 5: people where it's like your second living room. So that's 372 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 5: important to keep in mind. But there is also this 373 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 5: element of we're all working on what we need to 374 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 5: work on. I mean, even as somebody who has a 375 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 5: lot of experience, if you're going back after a long 376 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 5: time or you're rehabbing an injury, the ways you use 377 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 5: are going to be different than what you are capable 378 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 5: of at your strongest. This is true of everybody, so 379 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,199 Speaker 5: it's very important to not compare yourself on just a 380 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 5: sort of numbers point. There's also this element of when 381 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 5: you are experienced at the gym, when you're one of 382 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 5: these guys, you know, you can tell when somebody is 383 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 5: working hard, and they respect the working hard. I think 384 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 5: only jerks would really judge you based on how much 385 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:25,880 Speaker 5: weight you're lifting relative to how much they can lift. 386 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 5: Obviously those people exist, but I found there are way 387 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 5: more people at the gym who just loved the gym 388 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,479 Speaker 5: and wanted to share that, especially with somebody who they 389 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:40,199 Speaker 5: could tell was motivated and excited about it in my 390 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 5: own sort of reserved way, but also uncomfortable. They wanted 391 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 5: to help me feel comfortable, and that was really a 392 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 5: nice experience to have. 393 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 3: Yeah. 394 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,680 Speaker 4: I absolutely loved the scenes in the book at Richie's 395 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 4: the gym in Brooklyn, where you found this camaraderie with 396 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 4: some older guys, you know, people you probably didn't encounter 397 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 4: as much in your everyday life. 398 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's so great, and I feel like while I 399 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 5: did have these people who I ultimately felt were friendly 400 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 5: to me and looking out for me, they would sort of, 401 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 5: you know, if I asked to use the squat rack next, 402 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,640 Speaker 5: they would unload their weights and be so into it. 403 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 5: Really helpful because there's a cliche of guy who leaves 404 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 5: all his weights loaded on there, so you as somebody 405 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 5: who can't lift one forty five pound plate or like 406 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 5: trying to unload. 407 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:23,479 Speaker 3: All these plays yourself. 408 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 5: But also what was important to me was that after 409 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 5: having gone there for a few years and having some 410 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 5: conversations with guys just sort of in passing where they're like, 411 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 5: you have you been coming here for a few years, 412 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,880 Speaker 5: Like you look strong, You've changed, Like I can see 413 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 5: that you've made a lot of progress. And I had 414 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 5: the feeling at that point of one of the things 415 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 5: that I really needed as somebody who felt really sort 416 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 5: of hyper vigilant over people who are just waiting for 417 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 5: me to make a mistake and like Russian and make 418 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:57,959 Speaker 5: me feel like I didn't know what I was doing. 419 00:21:58,240 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 3: This gym was sort of. 420 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 5: Correc to that in a very healing way where I 421 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 5: could sense at that point that there were people there 422 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 5: who did recognize that I was new, that I didn't 423 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 5: know that I was doing, but they trusted me to 424 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 5: have my own experience to find my way without needing 425 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 5: to be like either coddled or have a lot of 426 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 5: pressure on me, or that they needed to force me 427 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 5: to have things happen a certain way. They ultimately gave 428 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 5: me room to like do my own thing. And that's 429 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 5: what I needed, was some room to find my own 430 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,959 Speaker 5: way and find my own relationship with this thing. And 431 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 5: that was just an incredible gift to that. I don't 432 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 5: even know if they were giving me or did it 433 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 5: on purpose, but that was how it happened. 434 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 4: I want to ask one last thing, which is injury. Right, 435 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,439 Speaker 4: People are fragile in some ways, people are fallible. What 436 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 4: are some things people can do if they're afraid of 437 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 4: getting hurt or injured? I mean, there's something a little 438 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,560 Speaker 4: more daunting about picking up a heavy piece of metal 439 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 4: versus just hanging out on the StairMaster. 440 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 3: For a while. 441 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,159 Speaker 5: I think the main thing that people don't know, and 442 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 5: what I didn't know about lifting when I started, is 443 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 5: that by design, the way that it is all structured 444 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 5: is that you are doing what is an appropriate challenge 445 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 5: for you where you are at right now. And as 446 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 5: we were just saying, that can go up and down 447 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 5: depending on did you take a long time off and 448 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 5: you're coming back, are you injured? If you've never done 449 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 5: it before, you start where you're comfortable and you build 450 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 5: up from there, and that pace can go as slow 451 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 5: as you want to. It can go pretty quickly if 452 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,239 Speaker 5: you're interested in progress, which I got really invested in 453 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 5: that like feedback loop where I was like, I can't 454 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 5: wait to get stronger. I can't believe that in like 455 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,879 Speaker 5: a couple of weeks I was able to add forty 456 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,399 Speaker 5: pounds to my squat or whatever like that was so 457 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 5: interesting to me. But if what's interesting to you is 458 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 5: that you add, you know, five pounds a week or 459 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,159 Speaker 5: five pounds a month, that's completely a fine way of 460 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 5: pursuing it. You are allowed to have your own pace 461 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 5: and your own relationship with it. We don't really say 462 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 5: that enough, I don't think. And you can make there's 463 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 5: a lot of low hanging fruit. It's almost like the 464 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,959 Speaker 5: less strong you are coming in, the more you stand 465 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,360 Speaker 5: to gain quickly. But yeah, I think fear of fear 466 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,160 Speaker 5: of injuries. You know, we get injured doing all kinds 467 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,439 Speaker 5: of things. I mean there's a sort of aphorism in 468 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 5: lifting that it goes along the lines of If you 469 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 5: think getting strong is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak 470 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 5: is dangerous. And by that they mean when you are 471 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 5: calcified from sitting all day and all of your muscles 472 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 5: are atrophied and you're not used to moving around, you 473 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 5: can get hurt just bending down to pick something up. 474 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 5: Like injury happens all around us. It's not reserved for 475 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 5: the gym. The gym can be very help Lifting weight specifically, 476 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,439 Speaker 5: can be very helpful in preventing injury from all of 477 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:48,959 Speaker 5: these little tasks that we have to do day in 478 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 5: and day out. And I think, I say in the book, 479 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:57,439 Speaker 5: I had underestimated how very much physical labor it is 480 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 5: being an adult in the world, like carrying big boxes 481 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 5: of cat litter or dog food, like all these kinds 482 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 5: of things that we have to do, picking up laundry 483 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 5: from the floor. Even just a modest amount of strength training, 484 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 5: not just in the sense of building strength, but building 485 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 5: that physical capability of moving your body in the safest 486 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 5: possible way, can be so helpful for preventing injury in 487 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 5: all of these other aspects of life. 488 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,159 Speaker 4: Yeah, that forty pound bag of cat litter that you 489 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 4: wrote about, I that was. 490 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:29,679 Speaker 3: One of the things that I related to. 491 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 4: Oh yeah, it really is motivating when you are trying 492 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 4: to haul that bag of litter back from the store, 493 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 4: or even just carrying it out of the closet down 494 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 4: the hall to the litter box. One of my many 495 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 4: million dollar ideas is a super lightweight cat litter for 496 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,439 Speaker 4: older people or people with disabilities, because it just seems 497 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,199 Speaker 4: crazy to me that we have like artificial intelligence and 498 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 4: we don't have hat litter. 499 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 5: See, there is like a light a light cat litter. 500 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 5: I forget what brand it is. Yeah, but it's sort 501 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 5: of like aerated in some way that it is lighter, 502 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,399 Speaker 5: but so much more expensive, which was my problem. I 503 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,360 Speaker 5: wanted the economy box of regular litter. I was never 504 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,919 Speaker 5: going to spend like ten dollars for fifteen pounds of 505 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,919 Speaker 5: write this fancy litter. I could not do that. I 506 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 5: had to do the heavy stuff. 507 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 4: So you had to go to the gym and get 508 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 4: super buffs so you could take care of your cats. 509 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 4: That you did it all for your cats. All right, Casey, 510 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 4: thank you so much for this conversation. Can you tell 511 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:25,479 Speaker 4: folks where they can find you on the internet if 512 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 4: they'd like to learn more about your work and buy 513 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 4: your fantastic book. 514 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 5: Sure, my book is available from all the booksellers you 515 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 5: can possibly think of. My newsletter is called She's a 516 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 5: Beast at She'sobeast dot Co. That is a nominally strength 517 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 5: themed newsletter, although it covers lots of health tech different 518 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 5: topics like that. I'm Casey Johnston on Blue Sky and 519 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 5: swoll Woman swol Woman on Instagram. 520 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 4: Fantastic and we'll have links to all of that in 521 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 4: the show notes so everyone can keep up with you 522 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,440 Speaker 4: and begin or continue their own strength training journey. 523 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 3: Casey, thank you so much. I really really enjoyed this. 524 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 5: Thank you for having me. 525 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: Casey is so fascinating, even for someone like me who 526 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 1: hates going to the gym. 527 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 2: I know, I know, I remember in college every time 528 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 2: you pretended you were going to work out and then 529 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 2: you played basketball instead, and you'd always say you were 530 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 2: going to start lifting on Monday, but it was never Monday, 531 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 2: and so so I don't think you ever had to. 532 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: I know, but you hearing Casey talk actually, you know, 533 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: makes me inspired. So look on gym on Monday. 534 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. 535 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: Well that does it for today's episode, A very big 536 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: thank you to Casey Johnston. You can find her new book, 537 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: a Physical Education at your local bookstores, library, or wherever 538 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: else you get books. And you can find us on 539 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: Instagram at parton Genius and right here in your podcast feeds, 540 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: so be sure to subscribe. We will be back next 541 00:27:58,280 --> 00:27:59,919 Speaker 1: week with the brand new episode and in the me 542 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: time from Will, Dylan, Gabe, Mary and myself, thank you 543 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 1: so much for listening. Part Time Genius is a production 544 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 1: of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. This show is hosted by Will 545 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: Pearson and Me Mongas Chatikler and research by our good 546 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode was engineered and produced 547 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: by the wonderful Dylan Fagan with support from Tyler Klang. 548 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: The show is executive produced for iHeart by Katrina Norvell 549 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: and Ali Perry, with social media support from Sasha Gay, 550 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: Trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shoory. For more podcasts from 551 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 1: Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 552 00:28:52,080 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.