Angie McGough, NP (00:01)

Hi guys, welcome to today's episode of Hormone Harmony. My name is Angie McGough. I am a Nurse Practitioner at Thrivelab and we have a special guest today. I'm super excited, Haley Babcock. She's a fitness coach and she specializes in strength training for women 40 and above. That's me, right there. We're going to get a deep dive into the importance of strength training and why, how it evolves as we age and how it can be so important for those of us who are 40, 50 and beyond. Hi Haley. So welcome.

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Hailey (00:29)

Hi.

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Angie McGough, NP (00:31)

Thank you for being here. So glad you can have us on your share your wealth of information with us. Can you tell us, how did you get started in strength training and then why did you decide to focus on women 40 and above?

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Hailey (00:33)

Yeah, thank you.

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Okay, so I was active all of my life and I kind of fell into, after I had, well, all of my kids. I was around 34 and I kind of went into the, well, I was a little younger, but early 30s and I went into the Ironman world and kind of got sucked into, I live in Boulder, Colorado, so I feel like you have to do a triathlon at least once.

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So I kind of got sucked into that world and I was super active and I was, you know, exercising X amount of hours a week, way more than one hour a day. And I loved it for that period of time in my life. And then we moved to, my family and I moved to New Jersey where my husband was working in Manhattan. And I was kind of finishing up a couple of Ironman races and I had a really big injury that occurred.

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that kind of put me out for about six to nine months and then had to end up having a massive knee surgery. And so I was kind of out, but as I was transitioning during that time of figuring out what was wrong, I started to really reevaluate and be like, can I keep up the pace of this kind of training? So it was endurance, obviously swim, bike, run. And I was doing about between nine and 12 hours a week depending on the race schedule. So I just started to realize that this wasn't something that I could do long term. And then once my surgeon was like, you know, you should probably dial it back if you don't wanna have another like a knee replacement. And so it kind of made me think, where do I wanna go here?

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And at that time I had also been teaching Pilates. So I was a Pilates instructor for 20 something years. And I started to see the whole in methods and exercise choices in those settings. And I have nothing bad, only good things to say about Pilates obviously, but it just wasn't making women as strong as they should be in this age group. So they were all, you know, mainly 40 plus, most of them in their 50s, and not one of them could do a proper pushup. You know, overhead pushing, pressing was maybe around like five or seven pounds. I mean, that's really all we had at the studio. And so I started to get curious about where I wanted to go. So I'd always been active and I decided once I was having surgery on my knee, I was going to be non-weight bearing for six weeks, which was like a death sentence for me. And so I was like, okay, I'm going to train my mind. Like that's something that I can do.

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I didn't watch a single TV show. All I did was read books and I got certified as a personal trainer. And then I just went down a rabbit hole of information and like catching up for all of these years, I felt like I had missed out on adding strength training. And I'd done like body weight stuff, some TRX. So I was doing a little bit, but not enough to keep up with this pace of this, you know, 10 to 12 hours a week. And it was always the first thing to go in my programming because you know, you have to do these four hour rides and then a run after and I just didn't have time for all of it. So I started strength training. This kind of came around to 2020. We moved back to Boulder and I started just like posting on my Instagram some workouts and everyone was home. Everyone was on Instagram and so it kind of just picked up some steam there.

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And I just started to notice that the over 40 market was really underserved. And I myself was in that age group and I was like, okay, if I want to do this and I'm getting some attention, you know, women and girls in their twenties aren't going to want a 40 something year old. Like there's plenty of other people their age that they would look to for advice and it was, you know, that kind of made me decide to forge into this over 40 crowd. And I just started taking courses and realized that women, didn't know what to do. And they were exercising every day. They were going to Pilates, they were going to barre, they were paying a lot of money for these things, but they weren't necessarily getting stronger. And couple that with all of the hormone changes that happen as we age and weight starts to come on, we start moving less. And so there's all these different components. There's a lot of stress that women in this age group face with troubled teens or aging parents or divorces, losing jobs. So all of these things kind of combine for this perfect storm to put on a little bit of weight and lose a lot of strength. And those two are both very dangerous if we don't, you know, attack them head on and have kind of a plan of how we want to age and have longevity be the goal and be able to fight off all of these potential diseases by having extra weight and losing muscle mass at the same time.

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Angie McGough, NP (06:10)

Absolutely. We at Thrivelab are big on thriving, not just surviving and really optimizing our functional health and strength training is so important for that. How does it impact overall health and wellness for women 40 and beyond strength training in particular?

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Hailey (06:28)

Well, we know that it increases mood. So there's that. I think that we also fight anxiety and depression at this age, a lot of women. And so it definitely helps with boosting mood. But also the main factors, a lot of women come into it because they want body composition changes and that shouldn't be discounted. But most of the women that I work with and I work with women all over the world are just like, Hailey, I have seen my parents age and I've seen them really struggle and have to go to nursing homes or have a nurse come and live with them. And they're like, I don't want to put that on my kids if possible. And I want to be able to be independent for decades to come. So that is almost more important as we age. And that requires lifting really heavy and you know, so that we have not only strong muscles, but we have strong bones and then it also helps with that body composition changes. That's kind of a plus. I mean, it's a big notch on there that women want, but it's kind of a bonus when we look at everything else that is not more important, but like that will really see us out through the end of time.

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Angie McGough, NP (07:43)

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's like you're speaking to me. So I'm 46 and I have five kids, teenage to early 20s, and my parents, aging parents live with me. So I am right there. I completely understand that. So you've mentioned some of these things, what are the common barriers these women are facing and how are we helping them overcome these barriers so they can really thrive?

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Hailey (08:05)

Yes. Okay. So number one, and this is, this is a big one I do, I do polls on my stories all the time on social media. And so I know everyone's answers and I run a bunch of courses and I ask this frequently because I get that the gym is intimidating. And I use myself for an example, when I started strength training back in 2019, I didn't even know how, like how to use the equipment. I mean, everyone knows kind of how to use dumbbells. But the equipment and a barbell, forget it. That is like a really big barrier and that's probably the biggest. And when we break that down, it's like, okay, how can we make it less intimidating? Well, we can gather a little bit of money and this is where this is an investment for our future to do maybe one to three personal training sessions with a good personal trainer. And I would say, maybe stay away from the young 19 year old boys that just get certified and try to find someone that knows how to handle women of your age. And that also might have like a physio background or be trained, you know, in certain certifications for using a barbell. So you're getting someone that's really qualified. Number one, if you can't do that path and that's just not financially in the cards for you, then you would look at finding a good online program. This is where I'll plug my fitness app. And I say that mainly because I have a free learn to lift program on there that's 12 weeks. It's detailed with videos that explain exactly how to do a movement from body weight to barbell, exactly how to progress. That timeline could be shorter, that timeline could be longer depending on the individual and their health. But it really is a good guide somebody can do because they know exactly what to do. It shows how to use the equipment. It walks you through it. So it's a really good guide and it's free. So that is something that's something else or to find something equivalent to that online because there's plenty of influencers and programs that are targeting every age group out there. 

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But then another intimidation barrier that we could take down is I would go to the gym at like 2:30pm in the afternoon when I knew that it wasn't gonna be busy. And then I would just pick my kids up from school, like tag it on, like I'd go there right before. But it was like me in the senior citizen hour, which I always say is just kind of funny. I was just like, I'm in with the grandpas, but like that gave me the courage to kind of try out some equipment. And then if I didn't know how it worked right away, it was not a big deal because, know, even though we never look at each other, like, everyone thinks everyone's looking at them at the gym and the reality is nobody really cares. Everyone's pretty much just into what they're doing. But we feel that and I still feel that when I go to a new gym and I'm like, I think I know how this piece works and then I'm jiggling it around for like five minutes and then finally figure it out and I'm like, hope nobody was watching. So it still happens there, but those are great ways to break down the barrier number one.

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Another barrier is, you know, finances and not being able to, like, just not enough time. So it's more convenient for women to work out at home. And if that's the case, great. Again, there's plenty of great online programs. There's a lot of free programs to start with, but just start doing something. Find somebody that you connect with and look at some of those. Everyone pretty much offers something at no cost. So you can really find something that at least gets you in the door and starts getting you moving and give you a little bit of confidence in the comfort of your own home.

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Angie McGough, NP (12:00)

Yeah, absolutely. That's great that you have a free resource out there. We'll talk more about that in a bit here. As we age from our 20s to 30s to 40s, our strength training routine should change as well. So if we have started earlier, what changes should we expect to do to approach to challenge fitness as we get older? What are challenges and how should we approach fitness as we age?

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Hailey (12:24)

Okay, so we don't recover as well. That's probably the most important in our 20s and 30s. And we also get more musculoskeletal injuries as our estrogen and our hormones start to decline. So that window of when we're in that perimenopause, which for most women is going to be five to seven years before menopause, which average age is 52.

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So somewhere in the mid 40s range can be earlier for a lot of women, can be a little bit longer for some women, shorter for others. But that fluctuation of hormones puts us at risk for injury, number one. So if we get injured at this age, it's much harder to recover from than when we were in our 20s. We also just can't recover. So we can't just like go out and be the weekend warrior and think that we can just like, you know, you've heard stories of, I don't know, where somebody just goes out and is like, I'm gonna run a marathon this weekend and I can walk in and half run it and who cares, it's just gonna be fun. And then they're paying the price for a week or so after, but that can work in your 20s, doesn't work as well in your 40s and your 50s and your 60s. So that's where good programming really comes into play. I would say I always tell my females to plan out and like, roughly plan out a calendar year. So look at when you're going to be traveling. Maybe your kids are, you know, out in the summer and so you're a little bit busier and you're doing more outside activities. I always say look at your year and then put it into blocks. And one of those blocks should always be a foundation phase of training. Something where you're building up weak links, you're increasing work capacity in the gym, which comes from cardiovascular fitness and adding that in, but then also working on muscle symmetry and movement literacy. So just getting the movement down so that you feel really comfortable, you're doing it right. And we, you know, we're trying to push off that risk of getting injured because it is much harder to recover from.

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Angie McGough, NP (14:42)

Absolutely. You mentioned it, that hormones play a big role in our ability to recover, and for those of you who don't know, estrogen is a precursor for collagen. And as we lose estrogen, we lose collagen, we lose our ability to repair and to even have that stability in those joints. Our bone density goes down, our muscle mass goes down. There's a lot of different reasons that hormones, and not just estrogen, but also testosterone for females, is super important.

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So speaking of which, what are your thoughts on how strength training complements bioidentical hormone replacement therapy in women 40, 50, and 60?

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Hailey (15:10)

Well, I'm glad that we're turning, we're kind of changing the conversation because we all know about the women's health initiative that scared everyone off of hormones for, know, which did a massive disservice for a lot of women for a really long time. And now we're kind of, you know, the pendulum is swinging back. And I love that testosterone is getting its time in the limelight because a lot of people, just women don't even know that testosterone plays such a role.

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As a strength coach, I see that in the ability to grow muscle. And so I look at my post-menopausal women, which is most of my clientele, and it's a big difference. It's a noticeable difference between women that are on hormone replacement therapy and can build muscle a little bit easier amongst other benefits and those that are not. So it's definitely a game changer and I'm always asked, well, are you on anything yet? I feel like I still have, I'm 46, I turned 47 actually tomorrow. So I'm creeping up there, same age for at least the rest of today. So I feel like I 100% will be using hormone replacement therapy for me.

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That's my personal choice, but for me right now, I haven't needed to start anything. I haven't had a lot of symptoms and I'm still able to build muscle pretty easily or at least maintain muscle. And so, you know, that's not a conversation I've had yet, but I have women in their 40s that are in perimenopause that it is appropriate to talk to a physician and talk to someone who can prescribe that if they are having symptoms. We want to get on it before we’re completely post-menopausal and going through all the symptoms then. There is a story, I guess, of starting early. And I think, I don't know what your approach is on that, but I definitely think that's a conversation that women need to have, that we don't have to wait until you're post-menopausal to begin any of these hormone treatments.

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Angie McGough, NP (17:39)

Absolutely. I'm a big proponent. I'm also 46. My birthday is not tomorrow, however, but I am on testosterone already. And for me, I've gone through a big weight loss. And so for people who are also losing weight, it for me, it's a great help in preserving the muscle mass that sometimes you lose when you're losing weight and just really being able to keep my muscle mass and even build my muscle mass. so I'm a big proponent in testosterone therapy for females and adding estrogen and progesterone for those who need it and not waiting like you said until your post-menopausal but starting the conversation now and really trying to mitigate some of the issues that can happen when your hormones are imbalanced for sure. Speaking of bone health, why is this strength training so important for bone health in women over the age of 40?

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Hailey (18:21)

All right, so we know we've all heard of osteoporosis and osteopenia. So we know that those happen at this age. As we start to age into our 50s and 60s, once we have that estrogen walks out the door, we have a lot of risk factors there. So strength training number one combats that. Specifically, very heavy lifting, which there is a progression to that. That's not something that someone should just go out and be like, I need to lift heavy, so I'm just going right for the good stuff. But also jump training to keep the bones nice and strong. Something that isn't as familiar, I would say, that maybe all women don't know from what I see as a strength coach. I will have my clients get some kind of DEXA scan. And a lot of them in their 40s will come back and be like, you know, I have osteopenia, but I've been lifting, I've been doing all of this. And then we look at their history and usually when we start to unwind that it comes down to someone that potentially was a lifelong dieter and was always undernourished and underfeeding and over exercising. And then we see that they were in this low energy availability which just means that our body is really fighting to keep everything functioning on limited calories and that pull, so when we lose weight, we lose not only muscle, we do lose some fat, but you also pull from bone and those are terrible. The muscle and bone, not acceptable and yet women don't know that they think that if they're gonna, you know, they wanna lose weight, they wanna, they're gonna take up running and they just won't eat. They'll exercise more and they'll eat less and it's a dangerous recipe because then these things come into play that, you know, problems or issues and decisions we made in our 20s and 30s are now catching up to us in our 50s and 60s.

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Angie McGough, NP (20:34)

Yeah, absolutely. And that is a dangerous combo. We all know those, that elderly person who fell and broke their hip, but now they end up in a nursing home for the rest of their lives. And that is definitely something that is not optimal and not thriving. And so really preventing that those issues, those bone density issues, muscle mass issues is really, really important to start thinking about really earlier in your life to do that. You did mention heavy lifting and I know that term especially for women can be quite intimidating. Can you talk about that a little more and what's the best approach so we don't just go out and injure ourselves by dropping a heavy barbell on our back?

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Hailey (21:10)

Yes. Okay. So like I said, there's a periodization. So there should be a buy-in period. And what that is, everyone wants to know a specific number and there's just not a number that you can give of weeks, months, however long it takes. But I always tell my females, do not rush it. We are getting the message that we need to lift heavy from lots of great female experts in the field. So I think that message is being received, but how we get there cannot be rushed. And so again, you have to earn the right by starting out with lighter loads and higher reps. So really just like getting into that 15, 20 rep range where you're doing a lot of volume but safely because we have to build up the tendons and the ligaments just as well. They don't grow at the same rate as muscle. And if we push too much weight too fast, then we get these tendinopathies that are, they take such a long time to heal. And I've had plenty of women come to me before they start working with me that have this exact issue. And I'm like, all right, I pretty much know it's usually the same story. So having a good foundation program, again, something that builds up those weak links and those smaller muscles like the stabilizers to the prime movers, the large muscles that that is balanced, that we have front to back balance, left to right balance, that's a good foundation program would cover that. And then from there, we start to periodize that training by starting with maybe the 15 to 20 rep range and then going down to the 12 to 15 rep range and then maybe down to the five to eight rep range and really letting the body adapt to those changes because we do have to progressively overload. We have to do more than we did last week, but that isn't going from A to Z. So we wanna be smart about our training and train safe. Nobody wants to be injured at this age. We have too much stuff to do amongst everything else. So it really is prioritizing and looking at the training and getting there. That's where again, a coach for even maybe one or two sessions just to go in and be like, okay, I need help. I want you to look at a deadlift. I want you to look at a squat. I want you to see where my mobility lacks and what my body is going to do to compensate for that lack of mobility. And those are the things that get us in trouble. And that is why it's just so crucial to at least work on that good form and that mobility and the flexibility as we age along with the balance to really put it into a nice package where we aren't setting ourselves back by going too fast.

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Angie McGough, NP (24:00)

Right, setting ourselves up for injury for sure. So now you've got us all convinced to do strength training and we're new to this. What advice are you gonna give those of us who are new to strength training and want to build confidence?

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Hailey (24:14)

So again, I would say just start, even if you're in your home and you only have dumbbells, I highly recommend a TRX because you can work with your own body weight there with really limited equipment. I, from my beginner courses of women that are working out from home, I require a Swiss ball, some resistance bands, and some dumbbells. And that's pretty much it. And you can, you wanna make sure that you're working

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each muscle group and doing some full body movements. But start there, start to get comfortable if that's what you need. And then when you go into a gym setting, maybe just pick one piece of equipment that, you know, every week that you're going to learn. Either teach yourself, watch a YouTube about it, pick one piece of equipment or ask the front desk, that's what they're there for, to show you exactly everything that how this piece of equipment moves.

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And that breaks down the barrier to just, I think the big message is just start. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect. And you're gonna have some setbacks with time, illness, or your children's illness, or traveling and all of these things. And if we get so focused on having this perfect program or I didn't get to the gym, so it's just, you know, I'm gonna start next month because I've already messed it up. It's kind of the same thing with nutrition too. Just start and give yourself grace and just begin and make a habit of going, even if it's just 15, 20 minutes, even if it's just learning one piece of equipment and then you go do whatever else you do in the gym for the rest of the time. But once we start to get there and get that confidence, then we can feel comfortable in taking up space as women should in the weights room.

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Angie McGough, NP (26:05)

So what would you say are the key components to a well-rounded strength training program for women over 40 and how do you really approach this with your clients?

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Hailey (26:15)

Well, I make everyone do again, I'm just gonna keep plugging the foundation phase. I make all of my clients from really advanced athletes to very, very beginner, someone who's never really exercised before, like my mom, for example. And I make them do a foundation program. What that program looks like could be very different for the advanced to the beginner, but it's still a foundation program. So we're working on all of those things that I have said, but also improving work capacity, which comes from cardio. So strength and cardio go hand in hand in my book. Most women are already doing cardio, some sort of cardio. So we wanna move them more towards the weights room and the strength training side, but they do go hand in hand. So the fitter, we are cardiovascularly, the fitter we're gonna be in the gym. The quicker we can recover in between sets, the more load we can lift.

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So all of those benefits to working on building muscle, keeping strong bones and improving body composition, as well as increasing our resting metabolic rate so that we can eat more. I mean, that's what putting muscle on our frame does. So you're burning more at rest and you don't have to be on this cabbage, carrot diet of just salads. We want that protein in there. We want to be able to recover and give our bodies the nourishment that it needs so that we can rebuild and repair.

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Angie McGough, NP (27:48)

Absolutely. So for these clients, how are you tracking progression for them and what are some realistic milestones women can expect to achieve?

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Hailey (27:56)

So everyone wants to, if we're looking at two different phases, most women come to me, I would say one out of 30 will say, I don't want any weight loss. Most women are like, well, I want the holy grail. Like I wanna lose body fat and I wanna increase muscle. Everyone does. I mean, that's what we would all have if it were super easy. So when we're looking at any kind of weight loss, the non-negotiables that are absolutes are high protein and strength training multiple times a week. Minimum of two up to four is probably realistic, but two to three is usually in that sweet spot. Those have to go hand in hand. So when we lose weight, it's a modest deficit so that we aren't pulling from bone and muscle. So that looks like a half of a pound to a pound a week. It's really slow. But what's even slower is building muscle. And that's about a half of a pound a month. Maybe a pound if you're a newbie, which I always say, this is the time you wanna be a newbie when it really works in your favor because you get those muscle gains so much quicker than someone who's been in the gym like myself for like five years of advanced lifting. So if I squeak out a quarter pound of muscle over two months, I'm super stoked because I'm pretty much close to my ceiling. But if you're not, you can build up to, you know, eight to 12 pounds of muscle potentially in a year. If you follow a good program and it has progressive overload and you're really working at effort.

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So that's, I would say I track those parameters by a DEXA scan or some kind of underwater weighing, even in body scale, some form of data. And then outside of that, we look at measurements, we look at progress photos. Scale weight is kind of one that's hard for a lot of women, but it's just one point of reference. So we try to find what works for someone.

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But then also we can see if they're getting personal records on their lifts or if their 30 second sprint time has improved. So there's different ways to test if we're getting fitter and stronger and if our body composition is changing.

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Angie McGough, NP (30:31)

Yeah, absolutely. Those are great, great tips. What about Pilates and yoga? Do those fit into a strength training regimen and they complement strength training? Or what do you think about those?

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Hailey (30:42)

Yes, I think that there has to be time for what I call soul food. That for me, it's really long bike rides with my friends where I don't have any pace that I have to hit. I'm not doing any intervals. It's just fun. Maybe we stop for lunch. I ride my bike in Europe for a week every year. And that's like my favorite time of the year. So whatever your favorite activity is, you should not give it up.

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It does not, again, go to the, I take a very balanced approach where take what you need. You need strength training. It's non-negotiable. And then pepper in and add in what you enjoy. So that could be barre, yoga, you know, Pilates. I mean, all of those have a place. We know that Pilates and yoga are great for that mindfulness connection as well as flexibility and core strength and mobility and there's camaraderie in the classes when you can work out with a bunch of other women. So there's a lot of reasons to keep that in there. It just has to be properly placed where you are adding in strength training, I would say whether you want to or not.

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Angie McGough, NP (31:59)

What about cardio, you mentioned cardio, what do think the optimal ratio is cardio to strength training for women over the age of 40?

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Hailey (32:06)

You know, this is where it gets really muddy and there's a lot of voices and a lot of opinions. And I work with different experts that actually have different opinions and that's okay. So when we look at it, we want to have some low intensity, steady state, which is like a zone two. It's like what I would say an easier bike ride is where I'm out with friends.

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You know, we're not really pushing the pace, but it's not like a stroll around the park. So adding in some of that cardio at that zone. And that, what that really does is it increases our mitochondria, number one, but it also does a lot for mood and we can recover from it really quickly. So it's not taxing on the body. It's not as taxing on the body. We want that form. And then we also want that high intensity interval training. And that can be in the HIIT and then we now have this subtype of high intensity interval training called SIT, which is sprint interval training and that's just shorter durations with longer rest. The HIIT is longer durations maybe with shorter rest. So there's different ways, but we want to be polarizing there where we're really hitting extremes to get what we need from that. So two different kinds of cardio, but they both blend together. And in my opinion, you should do both and I do both. What does that look like in a week? It depends on your goals. If someone's running, you know, there's a lot of women out there that wanna do 10Ks or half marathons. And how does that fit into your training? I would say as long as you have two days of strength training, you know, you can do cardio for the rest. It all depends on the number one question, which is what is your goal right now?

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What is your goal right now? And then what is your goal for longevity for the future? Where do you see yourself in 20, 30 years? So how do we get there while also reaching your goals here right now?

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Angie McGough, NP (34:07)

And how do you counsel women who, because life happens, get stuck in the middle of the muck of life and there's challenges that arise. How do you counsel them to stay motivated and keep on the fight and keep doing what they're doing?

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Hailey (34:21)

You know, I'm working with someone right now who is extremely busy and has a newborn at 51 via surrogate and has pretty much waited for this baby. I actually have a couple of clients that have younger babies via surrogate and I'm like, I'm so tired for you. But, you know, this is their stage of life. And so instead of again, being like, well, the baby woke up or the baby's only like, I have to be somewhere, give yourself 15 to 20 minutes and do something in your house. Whether that's jogging up the stairs, if you have a staircase and running back down, or, you know, getting some bands and doing something on YouTube or just, you know, doing step ups on, a higher stair and stepping back down, doing something so that your mind and your body get used to the habit, just like brushing our teeth. It's just a non-negotiable. It doesn't have to be an hour every day. It doesn't even have to start being every day, but maybe set your goal for three times a week, and that can be 15, 20 minutes. But once we start that habit, we can start building on that, and then it just becomes part of your day. And I tell my women to think, again this is what you told me. You told me you want to be independent at 85. So this is self care. This is a special time for you because as you know, being moms and women in general, we will give, give, give to everyone else, but then our bucket is empty. And if we don't have the strength to take care of ourselves, we're doing a disservice to, you know, not being around potentially as long for our children and our grandchildren.

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So I think the goal is usually the same of where everyone wants to end up, know, disease free and as healthy as possible. And we get there by creating these habits that are just non-negotiable. Schedule it in your calendar, just like you would a doctor's appointment. And you don't miss. And if you do, then you give yourself grace and you get back on track. But really try to make it a habit because I don't want to do it every day. But I do it because it's what I do. So I get up and I go down and a third of my workouts are amazing, a third are average and a third totally suck.

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Angie McGough, NP (36:56)

Well, I'm glad to hear that because now I don't feel so bad that I have sucky days too. You just got to get through the suck, that's it. You talked about working with clients across the world. So how are you ensuring your clients are lifting safely and what are some tips that women can use to avoid injuries?

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Hailey (36:58)

So again, going back to finding information and education online. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that has like some kind of Learn to Lift program that goes over technique and really walks you through how to safely do that. But I don't know if every program out there is free. And this was something that when I came on the scene, you know, a few years ago, it was like my dream to give something to women that didn't require a cost. I was like, this is always going to be available as a resource for women because I know that not everyone has the budget, but everyone should know how to lift properly.

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So, you know, with my clients that aren't with me, I do form checks with them online. I always touch base with them via Zoom each week and I'll have them send me videos over Marco Polo. You know, there's different ways that coaches can do that now that we live in this virtual world, which is amazing. So there's lots of different ways that you can do that. You just have to do a Google search, honestly, and see what's out there and see what identifies and really speaks to you.

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Angie McGough, NP (38:43)

Can you share a success story that you had with a woman over the age of 40 who's really had significant improvements in their health and their well-being working with you?

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Hailey (38:52)

Oh yes, I have tons. So I run a fat loss course and a nutrition course. And you know, the first time I did the first one in let's see, 2021. And so I do it a few times a year. And the stories that come out from the beginning to the end, and most of the time again, I really preach from day one that we are in this for the long haul. We're not in this for eight weeks. I don't care. I care what happens to you in a 10 week course, but I really care more about how you're gonna be at 18 months, at 24 months, at five years, and if you're still doing those things. I mean, that's really where we should be thinking about how we have the success.

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But one woman in particular that came to me and just was like, I have literally failed at every diet. I, you know, have a little bit of weight that I have, that I should lose to be healthy, but I feel really overwhelmed and I don't know where to start. So we started really slow and we had a very modest deficit that was safe and we would bring her out of that every week, at least one day a week so that she got, her body got to see some maintenance that she was not in starvation mode. We, you know, slowly, very carefully, but she was in it for the long haul. And it was really hard to tell over 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, but then all of a sudden I kept with this one specific client that hired me one-on-one after one of our courses and she just, her body composition change is night and day. And again, that's great for them because that's what they were seeking my help for. So they ended up learning how to eat and how to move and move properly and stay safe. And it really changed the trajectory of their life, of where they were headed. So that's one of many, many stories. And I have a lot on my website. You know, it's pretty hard to get a before and after for anyone over the age of 40. Even if they have this massive transformation, nobody wants to put their bikini pictures on the worldwide web, which I get.

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And so a lot of them are just testimonials that they share, you know, video testimonials or written testimonials. But I don't care about that. I care about what they've achieved and the habits and the behaviors that have changed. And that's a big part that I think is missing is a lot of women can do, you know, a four week challenge, half marathon. They can do this for a short period of time and they're super amped, they're super motivated but if the behavior and the habits don't change, we start right back where we were. And within three months, we all know that, you know, the yo-yo dieter that loses weight and then gains weight and then loses weight and then gains weight. And we prevent that by creating habits. So I always tell my clients, you know, whatever their name is, say it's Lisa. And I'm like, all right, you're Lisa 2.0 now. And Lisa 2.0 does this. These are the changes that she makes. These are the things that are in her day. These are the, foods that she eats. And this isn't about never eating sugar or all of these extremes. It's about living, finding a moderate way to eat that fuels your body for the demands of your training session, that supports recovery, but then also that 80-20 rule where 20% of the time you can have a little bit of alcohol, you can have some dessert. It's just how you look at it and a well-balanced approach, I would say. So that we're just taking out whatever those weaknesses are, and we all have them, vices of X, Y, Z, and taking one of those and being like, okay, well, how do I change that and change the behavior of that so that I get what I want long-term?

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Angie McGough, NP (43:08)

Yeah, and I think you said it really well. You're really actually reverse aging these people as they make these changes in their body composition and a lot of optimizing their health is what we don't see, right? We don't see the diabetes. We don't see the heart attack. We don't see the high cholesterol. And that is a huge win. And we have to celebrate that. And we have to realize that just a little bit of changes here can make a big difference down the road for these people, all of us as we incorporate that. And I think just celebrating what we don't see can be just as big of celebration as what we do see.

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Hailey (43:42)

Yes, and to take those small wins and saying, you know, I got to the gym 10 times this month, but last month I didn't get to the gym once. That's a win. You know, I chose to not have alcohol every night of the week, one glass, and I moved it to just the weekends. Anything can be a win. And after we kind of master one area that has been challenging for us, then we can layer on another.

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It's when women take on everything at once and they come in and this is, get this all the time. They'll come in, I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna do extra cardio and I'm gonna do this and I'm like, no, that's not in your plan. That's not what I told you to do. And that's where the burnout and the rebound come. So just like get into it and get comfortable with the idea of we're in this for a lifetime. I'm like, this is the long game. This is not the short game. We are making changes that will impact our lives for decades to come. And it starts now.

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Angie McGough, NP (44:49)

Yeah, that's incredible because so many of us are ready to change the world overnight, but it doesn't change overnight. And it's one tiny step forward at a time. Thank you so much for all of your expertise and insights. It's been so informative, so enjoyable learning all about all your expertise, all that you can implement and really integrate into women over the age of 40. We're such a group of people that there is a huge lack for strength training and how to learn how to take care of our bodies. For anyone interested in starting or enhancing their strength training journey, remember it's never too late to get started, but Haley, how can people find you and get started with the program?

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Hailey (45:28)

Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram at @HaileyHappensFitness and you can download my app there or you just go to the app store the easiest way and it's Hailey Happens Fitness. Once you download it in the group section right when you open the app at the bottom there is a free trial section and the Learn to Lift is in there. There's some at home programs, there's body weight exercises, so that you get, you can get something started right away. You can start in the comfort of your own home and for no price. And that really is something that everyone, one should do. But that's, I would say the easiest way. I mean, my website is haileyhappensfitness.com. So, you know, it's all the same. If you remember the name, you can find me at any of those places. 

Angie McGough, NP (46:27)

Hailey Happens Fitness. So you can find her anywhere. We will also include the links in our show notes so you can get started on her 12 week free Learn to Lift program. That's amazing. I think it's so important. We want to thank all of our listeners for joining in. If you enjoyed this episode, remember to subscribe, share and leave a review. Don't forget to check out Thrivelab's hormone replacement program for more information on how to balance your hormones in conjunction with optimizing your health in other ways. And remember, stay strong, stay confident, and we're here for you. Thanks for joining us.

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Hailey (47:05)

Thank you.

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