Speaker 1: Hi everyone.
Speaker 2: I'm Holly Robinson, pete actor, author, advocate, do it all mom,
Speaker 2: and I'm also a caregiver. And this is care Walks,
Speaker 2: a podcast from iHeartRadio and Voltaian Arthritis Pain Gel. It's
Speaker 2: a show for family caregivers who give everything to everyone
Speaker 2: and need to make time for themselves through movement. Every
Speaker 2: episode is designed for you to walk as you listen,
Speaker 2: so just think of me and my guests as your
Speaker 2: weekly walking buddies. We'll hear stories from caregivers and gain
Speaker 2: tips and insights from health experts and advocates who know
Speaker 2: how important it is to take care of yourself and
Speaker 2: manage joint pain due to arthritis that often a companies
Speaker 2: being a caregiver. We'll discover a community ourselves and maybe
Speaker 2: even alleviate some joint pain due to arthritis in the
Speaker 2: process as we walk together and connect to the best
Speaker 2: parts of being a caregiver. Hey, there, so glad you
Speaker 2: could join us for another episode of care Walks. I
Speaker 2: cannot believe this is already our sixth episode. I hope
Speaker 2: you've learned as much as I have so far and
Speaker 2: are finding new ways to take care of yourself and
Speaker 2: refill that cup as you care for others. As a reminder,
Speaker 2: right now, you're listening to the abridged version of this episode,
Speaker 2: but if you're looking to get a little extra inspiration,
Speaker 2: don't miss a minute. Check out the full length version
Speaker 2: of this episode in your podcast feed now. Today's episode
Speaker 2: is all about building strength and strengthening our mobility in
Speaker 2: ways that will help us combat joint pain due to
Speaker 2: osteo arthritis and maybe give us a leg up as
Speaker 2: caregivers too. I've invited personal trainer Pete McCall to join
Speaker 2: our walk today. Pete has twenty years of experience teaching
Speaker 2: personal trainers all over the world to design workouts for
Speaker 2: their clients. He knows the importance of strength and mobility
Speaker 2: training for safe and smart practice. We've learned a lot
Speaker 2: about how just walking can be a really important practice
Speaker 2: to treating joint pain, but I'm curious about how strength
Speaker 2: conditioning can also play a role. I'm looking forward to
Speaker 2: hearing how Pete approaches training through this lens. But before
Speaker 2: we get to our conversation with Pete, let's get moving
Speaker 2: and start our walk with intention. Find a pace that
Speaker 2: feels good to you, ground yourself more with each step.
Speaker 2: Notice how each part of your body moves as you
Speaker 2: walk along your path. Where do you feel tightness in
Speaker 2: your body as you move? How can you actively release
Speaker 2: those areas of pressure and tension.
Speaker 1: As we walk?
Speaker 2: Consider those sensations and allow these feelings to keep you
Speaker 2: present in the moment, in this time you have set
Speaker 2: aside for yourself. Keep moving at a relaxed pace, and
Speaker 2: I'm going to share my conversation with personal trainer, fitness educator,
Speaker 2: and author Pete McCall. Pete, thank you so much for
Speaker 2: joining us on Cara Walks.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Holly. It really is an honor to
Speaker 3: be here and to be having this conversation with you.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to speak with you, so first of all,
Speaker 2: can you tell us what first sparked your interests in
Speaker 2: fitness and ultimately led to your great career in personal
Speaker 2: fitness and education.
Speaker 3: I'm a product of my generation, Holly. I am a
Speaker 3: diehard gen x er eighties kid, and I grew up
Speaker 3: and this is how I got into fitness, right. I
Speaker 3: grew up on eighties movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, John
Speaker 3: Clive on Dom and all those movies. The guy with
Speaker 3: the Biggest muscles always won and always got the girl right.
Speaker 3: And so as a fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year old, you
Speaker 3: see that and you know Arnold was everywhere. But in
Speaker 3: all seriousness, that's what got me into exercise in terms
Speaker 3: of changing physical appearance. But over the years, what I've
Speaker 3: really learned to love about exercise and what it can
Speaker 3: do for the body isn't just how you look, but
Speaker 3: it's how you feel. So that's really what I try
Speaker 3: to focus on when I do education for personal trainers,
Speaker 3: is it's really getting to understand that the biggest benefits
Speaker 3: come from how you feel and just the overall health
Speaker 3: benefits for your body.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, I want to dig into the physical benefits
Speaker 2: of movement. How can strang training help those who struggle
Speaker 2: with joint pain due to arthritis?
Speaker 3: Now, this is something it's kind of like, I played
Speaker 3: rugby for years, I played like competitive club rugby for years,
Speaker 3: and as somebody who's lifted ways for years, two, I
Speaker 3: deal with arthritis right, and arthritis is inflammation of the
Speaker 3: joint structure. Osteoarthritis is you're wearing down the tissues, the
Speaker 3: protective tissues that help protect the joints the bones themselves.
Speaker 3: So when you look at this, when you look at movement.
Speaker 3: Anytime you move, you're building more tissue that can either
Speaker 3: protect the joints, meaning muscle help protect and stabilize the joints,
Speaker 3: or that ultimately become the connective tissue, the tendons and
Speaker 3: what's called the fascia which surrounds each layer of muscle,
Speaker 3: which can ultimately help your body become stronger and more
Speaker 3: resilient against whatever you might be feeling.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and what's interesting is, you know, we know that
Speaker 2: the movement is helpful, but it's hard to get that
Speaker 2: motivation right. Which is more important to moving better, strength
Speaker 2: training or cardio which does more for joint pain.
Speaker 1: Are they both beneficial?
Speaker 3: I would say yes, but I mean it, And that's
Speaker 3: the thing with exercise. The hard part is with exercise,
Speaker 3: there really is no one right way to do it,
Speaker 3: and everybody's going to enjoy their favorite thing. And what's
Speaker 3: pretty consistent this point is a lack of regular exercise,
Speaker 3: meaning if you're not moving, and I'm going to qualify
Speaker 3: a little bit a lack of regular movement, not just exercise.
Speaker 3: And the challenging thing about arthritis, and I'm speaking about
Speaker 3: this from two points. One from the technical standpoint of
Speaker 3: having done the research, and two from a user standpoint
Speaker 3: of knowing what a body feels like with arthritis is
Speaker 3: that first few minutes of exercise can be somewhat uncomfortable,
Speaker 3: like my knee will be yelling at me saying, don't
Speaker 3: do this, don't do this. But what happens after the
Speaker 3: first like eight to ten minutes is your body will
Speaker 3: produce its own internal kind of painkillers, and your heart
Speaker 3: rate comes up and on all of a sudden, you
Speaker 3: feel great. So if it comes to strength and cardio,
Speaker 3: the answer is yes, do both so that way there's
Speaker 3: a good balance of different forces going into the body.
Speaker 1: Yes. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: On care walks, we talk a lot about finding movement
Speaker 2: that fits into a busy schedule, because Pete, we're all
Speaker 2: busy and we can always find some excuse not to
Speaker 2: get moving. So what are some of your favorite ways
Speaker 2: to add fitness into a very busy routine.
Speaker 3: The main thing is finding an activity that you enjoy
Speaker 3: and one of my favorite it's so funny to say
Speaker 3: this now, one of my favorite workouts is honestly going
Speaker 3: for a long walk because I can do that with
Speaker 3: my kids, I can do it with my parents. My
Speaker 3: parents are in their late seventies and so walking is
Speaker 3: one of those things that I can and do with
Speaker 3: all generations of my family. So I really want to
Speaker 3: give people for any advice. If you're just looking at
Speaker 3: starting a workout program, just start with what you got.
Speaker 1: It's so true.
Speaker 2: We love walking on care walks. That's our thing, and
Speaker 2: hopefully our listeners are on a walk right now with us.
Speaker 2: But what are the best types of strength building exercises
Speaker 2: for alleviating some of their symptoms? Is there one that
Speaker 2: you might be able to walk us through right now
Speaker 2: on the podcast.
Speaker 3: One of my favorite exercises to recommend for almost everybody
Speaker 3: is something called the glut bridge. And the glute bridge
Speaker 3: is when you lay down on the ground, your feet
Speaker 3: are flat on the floor, your knees are pointing up
Speaker 3: toward the ceiling, and you lift your hips up towards
Speaker 3: the ceiling, and you do that by pushing your heels down.
Speaker 3: So if you push your heels down while squeezing your
Speaker 3: glutes your butt muscles, and pushing your hips off, what
Speaker 3: you're going to do is activate those glute muscles, and
Speaker 3: the glutes protect your knees. The glutes protect your ankles
Speaker 3: and the glutes protect your low back. So with the
Speaker 3: glute bridge i'm describing, if you do fifteen to twenty
Speaker 3: repetitions of that, meaning move up, pause, and lower yourself
Speaker 3: down slowly. If you do that fifteen to twenty times,
Speaker 3: the major benefits are you're strengthening the glut muscles, which
Speaker 3: really help stabilize your body while you're walking. Strong glutes
Speaker 3: really allows you to be more active.
Speaker 2: Okay, I just learned that I always think about when
Speaker 2: I'm taking care of my body or looking to strengthen something.
Speaker 2: I'm always focusing on the core because I feel like
Speaker 2: the core, you know, obviously has a lot of benefits.
Speaker 2: But I did not know about the glue bridge. So
Speaker 2: I am putting that on my to do list. And
Speaker 2: if you're listening right now on care walks, maybe this
Speaker 2: is something you would you say to do this before
Speaker 2: you start walking or after.
Speaker 3: Actually it is a good question. I would do it
Speaker 3: before because if you're warming up and you're going to
Speaker 3: go out for a walk, then firing up your glutes
Speaker 3: will help you protect your knee. So every time your
Speaker 3: foot hits the ground, theoretically your glute should fire to
Speaker 3: help stabilize the knee, and so if you don't do
Speaker 3: glute bridges before you warm up, then you're not going
Speaker 3: to be as effective.
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's talk about discomfort, something we all have experienced.
Speaker 2: But because discomfort can be so prevalent for specifically caregivers
Speaker 2: with joint pain, how can you tell if aches and
Speaker 2: pains after a workout are good or bad?
Speaker 3: That I love that question. If you feel something sharp
Speaker 3: that's really that sharp, it's like, oh my goodness, where
Speaker 3: did this come from. That's pain that should be avoided.
Speaker 3: That's a signal from your muscles or a joint saying hey,
Speaker 3: this didn't feel good, don't through this again.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 3: We don't want to feel pain. That said, however, a
Speaker 3: little bit of discomfort. We want to feel a little
Speaker 3: bit of discomfort because that means our body has done
Speaker 3: more than it's used to doing, and that's how we
Speaker 3: stimulate growth. We want to be able to manage discomfort,
Speaker 3: like with arthritis with my right knee. When my right
Speaker 3: knee is a little uncomfortable, I'll slather on Voltaire before
Speaker 3: I go for a walk or before I do any
Speaker 3: type of hard workout that I know is going to
Speaker 3: beat up my knee. But I know that moving my
Speaker 3: knee through the discomfort makes my knee stronger in the
Speaker 3: long run.
Speaker 2: So thinking about more safe fitness practice, what are the
Speaker 2: best ways that you have to cool down after a
Speaker 2: walk or work out? Any favorite stretches?
Speaker 3: When I look at post workout, it's honestly just slower movement. Right.
Speaker 3: So when I come back from a long hike, what
Speaker 3: I'll do is I don't sit down right away. I
Speaker 3: just stay on my feet for another fifteen to twenty
Speaker 3: minutes and slow down my pace. You're allowing your heart
Speaker 3: rate to come down a little bit, You're allowing your
Speaker 3: circulation to come down a little bit. Personally, I wouldn't
Speaker 3: There's not much need to stretch really after a long walk,
Speaker 3: But a harder work out, like if you did a
Speaker 3: hard strength training workout, that's where you might want to
Speaker 3: stretch the quatter steps, the hamstrings, the larger muscles involved,
Speaker 3: just so you maintain joint motion as those tissues kind
Speaker 3: of cool as a tissue temperature comes back down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't skip the cool down. You got to slow
Speaker 2: it down and ease yourself out of working out any
Speaker 2: kind of movement. For those just starting a movement journey,
Speaker 2: and we talked earlier about how hard it is to
Speaker 2: just kick started. How do you stay consistent with an
Speaker 2: new workout routine and how can caregivers set themselves up
Speaker 2: for success when making new self care habits.
Speaker 3: Oh that's a huge question because you're looking at how
Speaker 3: does anybody create a habit? And one of my biggest,
Speaker 3: one of the biggest pieces of advice I have for people, Holly,
Speaker 3: is start with realistic expectations, start with realistic goals, and
Speaker 3: once you see some success, either add minutes I'm gonna
Speaker 3: walk for five more minutes, or add another day, and
Speaker 3: just begin with what you can do and just challenge
Speaker 3: yourself to do a little bit more than you think
Speaker 3: you can and just stay consistent with it and you
Speaker 3: feel better as a result.
Speaker 1: Yes, feeling better is the goal.
Speaker 2: You know. It's really clear to me, Pete, how passionate
Speaker 2: you are about what you do. What is your favorite
Speaker 2: part about being a fitness instructor.
Speaker 3: Is after a class is over, when somebody says that
Speaker 3: was the right workout for me today. Honestly, I mean
Speaker 3: it's like when somebody says that felt right today. I
Speaker 3: don't want to beat people up my goal as a
Speaker 3: trainers and instructors, I don't want to be in pain.
Speaker 3: And for any body out there, if you're listening and
Speaker 3: you take exercise classes on a regular basis, the best
Speaker 3: thing you can do for your instructor is at the
Speaker 3: end of class, give them a big smile and say
Speaker 3: thank you. That felt right today, because honestly, and what
Speaker 3: I love about what I do is you know you're
Speaker 3: having a direct impact on helping somebody have a better
Speaker 3: day because of some of what they did in your workout.
Speaker 1: Well, Pete, I have to tell you that felt right today.
Speaker 2: That felt right, and I really appreciate having this conversation
Speaker 2: with you on care Walks.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us and we'll see
Speaker 1: you soon.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you for the conversation and really thank you
Speaker 3: for inspiring people to be more active. And hey, the
Speaker 3: more active that you can be, the better you'll feel.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, thank you so much. Thank you Pete for joining
Speaker 2: me on care Walks. This conversation has really opened my
Speaker 2: eyes to ways that exercise and strength training can improve
Speaker 2: not only joint pain caused by osteoarthritis, but also us
Speaker 2: the tools for better care for our bodies as caregivers.
Speaker 1: I don't have to tell you what a physical.
Speaker 2: Job caregiving can be, but I don't think that I
Speaker 2: ever really realized or thought about the best ways to
Speaker 2: get stronger for the work of being a caregiver. That's
Speaker 2: all for this episode of Carewalks. Don't forget to come
Speaker 2: back next week when we talk about the wonderful parts
Speaker 2: of being a caregiver with our guests, fellow caregiver Rob Phobion.
Speaker 1: I'm really looking forward to that.
Speaker 2: Keep walking until then, and don't forget to take care
Speaker 2: of yourself too. Carewalks is produced by iHeartRadio in partnership
Speaker 2: with voltairean Arthritis pain Gel and hosted by me Holly
Speaker 2: Robinson Pete. Our executive producer is Molly Sosha. Our head
Speaker 2: engineer is Matt Stillo. This episode was written and produced
Speaker 2: by Sierra Kaiser, with special thanks to our partners at
Speaker 2: GSK Platform, GSK, Weber Shandwick and edel Man. M