Training Strong Women

Speaker 1 0:00

Yeah , I remember when I first started training , it was like one brave female in the weight room section with 20 . And then , like now , like I go in the gym , sometimes it's like half and half , which is great , which is awesome . There was no reason they shouldn't be there in the first place . I think that's awesome . It's so good for everybody that , like the idea that like treadmills were for the women and that weights were for the men was just like it was an insane idea to begin with . It seems like we're moving away from that , which is awesome .

Speaker 2 0:30

Shift work can be brutal , but it doesn't have to be . Welcome to a healthy shift . My name is Roger Sutherland , certified nutritionist , veteran law enforcement officer and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades . Through this podcast , I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods , to not only survive the rigours of shift work , but thrive . My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love . Enjoy today's show . Energy to do the things they love . Enjoy today's show . And welcome to another episode of a Healthy Shift podcast . Our podcast , your podcast , the podcast where I give you evidence-based strategies around how to optimize your shift working life .

Speaker 2 1:21

Today is a little bit different . I've brought Mark Breeden onto the podcast today . Now , mark is the owner of Instagram Training Strong Women and he has a weight neutral approach to training . So what this actually means is that , instead of focusing on the weight on the scale or any body changes , mark focuses on what your body can actually do , as opposed to what it is supposed to look like . Now , if you are anyone that's followed me for any length of time , you will know and understand that I am someone who has a weight neutral approach .

Speaker 2 1:59

In my one-to-one coaching . I'm a very , very firm believer that we need to take the pressure off people these days on how they're meant to look and just understand that that is not what actually defines them as the person that they are . And when we take the pressure off people , as you will hear in the podcast today , it makes such a difference , when you change your focus into an area where you can shift and train , instead of training for how you look , that you actually end up training for strength and the byproduct of that is that you end up changing everything in your life around dieting and routine and structure and things like that . So , without much further ado , let's bring Mark onto the podcast and he can talk about it , because while I talk about the nutrition and health and wellbeing side of a weight neutral approach , mark is all about the weight neutral approach when it comes to actual training . And welcome to the show , mark Breeden . How are you today ?

Speaker 1 3:04

I'm great Thanks for having me Pretty excited for this conversation .

Speaker 2 3:07

Oh look , I'm really really keen . I think in today's world , what you offer , particularly to my shift work or our shift working community and our listeners , is going to be really , really valuable to help people to take the pressure off themselves around what we're going to talk about today , which I'm very , very keen in this area . Now , obviously , I studied with Jeff Ash and you've spoken to Jeff and you know that Jeff is an intuitive eating coach . But you come at it from a completely different angle as well around the training for people not tracking , and just getting to get in touch with their body and the benefits of that . So I'm really really excited to have a chat with you about that . So thank you very much for giving us your time today , mate .

Speaker 1 3:51

Oh yeah , no listen . Jeff's great . It was a pleasure being on his podcast as well . I think that's how we met as well . You saw me on his podcast and that was kind of the start of our Correct yeah . So I'm excited to talk about it . I think my style of training complements kind of the intuitive eating approach that I think you and Jeff are focused on . So , like , I'm happy to talk about what that looks like and kind of go from there .

Speaker 2 4:10

That is exactly what we want to talk about today , because it's one thing to eat intuitively , it's another thing to eat intuitively for your training as well , so that you can get the maximum benefit . It's almost like a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle , this one . So tell our listeners a bit about yourself , like you know , where you are , who you are . Obviously , people will hear the accent and they'll confuse it . We are Australian . We won't know whether you're American or Canadian , because we can't tell the difference , unfortunately , but you'll be able to explain .

Speaker 1 4:39

You know what ? That's totally fine . I actually have like longtime listeners that every now and then they discover I'm Canadian . But they'll listen to me for like a year , two years , and they'll say I think it's usually a word like about where I say it wrong , and then they're like , ah , he's Canadian . And then they found me .

Speaker 1 4:54

But yes , I live in like West Coast Canada . I've been training people for like eight plus years now , and when you're speaking of shift work , I'm actually engaged to my fiance , who is actually just a travel nurse right now , and so she does lots of overnight shifts and she does lots of all over the place , sometimes 40 , 50 , 60 hours a week , very sporadic sleep times , which I'm sure you guys can all relate to and we still train together and she still has her own goals that we focus on as well . But I've been training people for about eight years now . I've been online for about five , six , something along those lines , and I focus on what's called like a weight neutral approach to training , which I'm like how do we talk about now , if you want , because I think it's We'll get into that Pretty unique still , yeah , for sure .

Speaker 2 5:44

Because I really , really want to dive right into that and talk to people about what weight neutral is . So let's talk about that a bit later , but you've got a weight neutral approach to lifting which I think is amazing

Strength Training for Confidence and Fulfillment

Speaker 2 5:59

.

Speaker 1 5:59

Yeah , absolutely so . You know I live a pretty simple life . I'm getting married in August , so a lot of my life is planning that wedding . Pretty excited for that . Hang on , are you allowed to get involved in planning that , are you ? I would say I am not in charge , let's put it that way .

Speaker 2 6:10

At least you know your place .

Speaker 1 6:11

I'm more get told what I'm supposed to plan , as opposed to I'm not the creative director of the process . No , absolutely not . To be honest , she's the more creative one than I am . So you know , if I was to plan it all , it wouldn't be as nice as what it's going to be like . And she's just better at that stuff . She should be in charge .

Speaker 2 6:27

Very , very good . So the thing is , you understand what it's like to be a future husband to a shift worker , which is going to really add to this as well , because you will be able to talk to us about that and about how she has to make changes in what she's doing and how she's going about it , and how this actually works for her . So , mark , why do you do what you do now ? What led you into this stage to do exactly what it is that you're doing at the moment ?

Speaker 1 6:55

I think you know it wasn't just like a one day I decided to do this . It was definitely a process . When I got into my own training , it was in high school . My high school girlfriend of two years broke up with me at the time and at the time , as an 18 year old , I was like well , the solution to feeling better is to go to the gym and get big biceps and I'll have like a better life , was the you know kind of the idea , and I really focused on training for aesthetics for you know , four or five years Like it was a good amount of time that was really the main goal .

Speaker 1 7:24

I was training a lot when I was in university and I found that even with results it didn't really bring me the happiness and fulfillment that I wanted . You end up comparing yourself to new people . Training just for aesthetics can be very emotional and lots of comparison traps . We can go into that and you know , at one point my trainer that I had was like well , why don't you try like powerlifting , like just it was like a first competition , just by focusing more on the strength side of it .

Speaker 1 7:55

One . I enjoy training more , but I also enjoyed training beyond how it changed my body Like it was cool , on what I could do , like I was able to to lift things I didn't think I'd be able to lift before . Training was more fulfilling in a way that it just wasn't before , and I found that a lot of my own self-worth became more about what I could do as opposed to what I was supposed to look like . So that's really what got me to where I am now . Slowly , over time , I've become less and less about you know , body measurements , weight on the scale , and more about like I just want to be strong , I want to be healthy , I want to enjoy training , and that's kind of where I'm at now and kind of the style of training that I focus on with the people that I work with that there really does sum up the whole podcast .

Speaker 2 8:43

So thanks for joining us , yeah , yeah . No , I'm joking , but that is exactly right , and I think to flag that with people . A lot of people are training for their appearance , aren't they ? They're going into the gym and they are smashing themselves with cardio , doing resistance training to get toned that I do with my quotation marks and then diet like lick apples and chew on lettuce leaves just to look a certain way . But it's not about that , because you find that when you start to train because you enjoy training and you're enjoying to build the strength , the rest of it actually follows on . So I think that's a point that we're going to cash in on and talk about how people can really get themselves into that frame of mind a little bit later Now , on your socials , it's training strong women and I love this . So can you explain what it actually means and how that came about ?

Speaker 1 9:37

Yeah , for sure . So I think that's usually the number one question that I get often is like if you look at my socials , it is like very woman focused . Obviously , as a guy , there's not a lot of men who work primarily with women online , so it's super common question . Happy to answer it . So strength training for me really built up my own self confidence and self worth , and when I started taking clients I worked at a commercial gym at the time .

Speaker 1 10:02

You know you work with a variety of different people men , women , etc . All with different goals . And I noticed that the women that I worked with in general we're generalizing here went through a very similar journey where when the training was about changing their body , trying to look a certain way very emotional journey , not very fulfilling , lots of punishment , workouts , things like that . But when their goal was like I want to get my first chin up or I want to deadlift my body weight , things like that One they just like training more . They were excited to do the training sessions like . They were excited to train harder .

Speaker 1 10:36

You know it was more fulfilling because it wasn't about like do I have the right look now ? It was about like , look at this cool thing I can do and that each workout was more about celebrating that , going into the gym learning how to lift heavy weight , and so , for whatever reason , the journey that I had just related a lot to the women that I worked with in the gym , and so when I decided to do my own business online and I was thinking about who's the people I can help with the best , that just made the most sense because I just felt like I could relate more to that journey . But it is a very common and I have had some people who question where I come from , and it's a great question to ask . Yeah .

Speaker 2 12:07

Bottom line .

Speaker 2 12:08

That's fantastic , because the reason why I'm on the same page with you is all of my clients , bar one , are all female , and I do tend to gravitate towards the female shift workers .

Speaker 2 12:19

The reason why I do this and I know you'll understand this yourself is ever since females were around eight years of age and their bodies started changing and , hormonally , there's been an expectation that society has put on them as this is how I have to look , this is how I have to behave , this is how I have to dress . There's so many pressures that are actually put on females in society and then you've got boys chasing you around or partners chasing you around or things like that , and there's an awful lot of pressure , like when you're going out , a man puts a suit on and a tie and he looks the part and off he goes , whereas a female's got to choose the dress , the shoes , got to look a certain way , got to get the tan , the waxing , the hair done everything . So much pressure . So I think what you are saying there absolutely resonates with our listeners , because to just go into the gym with purpose and train gives you a confidence that you just don't care outside of that , do you ?

Speaker 1 13:12

Yeah , I think all of what you said absolutely makes sense and , honestly , it's crazy unfair . Unfair , like the expectations are one , unfair , but also they don't complement each other , where , like , no matter what choice you choose , like it's going to be the wrong choice . You know , if you're bigger , smaller , like , whatever your look is , it seems that there's someone out there telling you it's the wrong look and it's really just a lose-lose situation from the start . And I think , like this is why I noticed the strength training they really enjoyed , because this wasn't a place where I was telling them , hey , you're not thin enough or you don't have this thing . This is just a place where , like , hey , I don't care about that and the people that I worked with , there's no weigh-ins , there's no before and after photos , body measurements . I just want you to get stronger and enjoy the process . If your body changes , cool . If it doesn't , that's not really our focus anyways , and I think this is why weight neutral training works . It works well for everyone . But I think one of the reasons that it resonated with a lot of women that I worked with was like , okay , this gets to be a space where I'm not ridiculed for not being the right whatever .

Speaker 1 14:14

Whatever is the trend of 2024 . You look back in the 90s , the beauty standards were different then . They're different now . They're going to be different in 2035 . It's a bad time to focus on , and if you're going to train 2-3 times a week for an hour or whatever , the amount of time is only for the goalpost to change anyways , I don't know . I'd rather just make you stronger . It's how you're enjoying training , more confident in , like the lifting process , like let's just forget about all that .

Speaker 2 14:40

Spot on . Well done , mark . That's exactly how it should be in society walking into a gym with purpose and actually training because you enjoy it . Because , let's be honest , when you're actually in a gym and you're training , no one really cares what you look like . No one's looking around to see who's doing what and who looks like who when you're actually in the gym . And this is the paranoia that a lot of particularly females have . I suppose men they're the same as well . How many dumbbells is he lifting ? What weight ?

Speaker 1 15:09

is that .

Speaker 2 15:09

Oh , I can lift that as well , and so on and so forth , but resistance training is so important . Females go into a gym . They do a lot of cardio , but what I'm loving in today's society is how many females we see in the free weights area and in the squat rack , which we Way more than it used to be which is awesome .

Speaker 1 15:27

It is amazing . Yeah , I remember when I first started training , it was like one brave female in the weight room section with 20 . And then , like now I go in the gym , sometimes it's like half and half , which is great , which is awesome . There was no reason they shouldn't be there in the first place . I think that's awesome . It's so good for everybody that , like the idea that , like treadmills were for the women and that weights were for the men was just like it was an insane idea to begin with . It seems like we're moving away from that , which is awesome .

Speaker 2 15:53

It's not uncommon now to actually be on the bench doing some bench presses and have a woman come up and ask you how many more sets you've got left as well , is it ? And it's really cool . I think it's fantastic now that we've got so many females actually in the free weights area . Resistance training we talk about resistance training and a lot of women say , oh no , I don't want to get bulky . Can you just explain what is resistance training and what benefits are there for our clients ? You know physically and mentally . So what benefit is there for people to actually resistance training ? Can you explain what resistance training is ?

Speaker 1 16:27

Yeah , absolutely so , like resistance training . You know it's going to be a broader definition , but I'm happy to show what that looks like . But it's basically training to get better at moving weights or moving against a force . So that can be like body weight exercises , like training specific to make you better at pushups or pull-ups could be an example . This could also be like deadlifting , a lot of weight squatting , benching , like lots of free weight stuff , but pretty much would all be considered resistance training .

Speaker 1 16:53

And when I think of what strength training actually is and we can talk about like what isn't strength training that sometimes gets called strength training

Overcoming Gym Intimidation and Misconceptions

Speaker 1 17:00

is that the primary focus of the strength training is to get better at moving weights , where sometimes there's training . This can be common in things like classes , where the goal is not to get you from 10 pound weights to 20 pound weights . The goal is to get you doing 10 pound weights for even like forever and then like to break a sweat more than you did before . When I think of resistance training , I want the training specifically to bring you from 10 pound weights to 30 pound weights . We're like we are training with the idea of you getting better at moving weights , heavier and heavier over time , or more pushups or more pull-ups , but there's an improvement in that task . That's the one thing I want to focus on is , when I think of strength training generally , I think the bulky question is Every now and then I get that one as well .

Speaker 1 17:48

I think when women are worried about this , the first question I normally ask is like , when you say bulky , what do you have in mind specifically ? Sometimes it's like a crossfitter . When you say bulky , what do you have in mind specifically ? Sometimes it's like a crossfitter , sometimes it's like a bodybuilder , things like that . And when you learn what they were expecting and then you learn the journey of those people , how they got there , getting bulky quote unquote is unlikely to happen , especially accidentally . I know people who are trying to get bulky and they are training really hard and have like their nutrition really dialed in and they can't get bulky . So if that's like something that's holding you back again , as a weight neutral coach , like we don't really focus on that anyways , but like if that's what's holding you back , at a minimum it wouldn't happen accidentally and it probably won't happen at all .

Speaker 2 18:37

Yeah , Does that make sense ? It absolutely does , and I think this is the fear that a lot of females have If they're looking at some people on social media and they're going , oh , I don't want to end up bulky like that . Those people are not natural . So unless you're using what they're using and doing what they're doing , you aren't going to end up like that anyway . That is the fact . But going into a gym and feeling in control , going in and moving weight . Now just to explain too much , when we talk about resistance training , if you could , it's okay to walk in and pick up two and a half pound dumbbells as well and put one in each hand and do lateral raises as well . You don't have to put 140 kilos on your back and squat it , do you ? It's not about that at all .

Speaker 1 19:22

Social media has ruined us it really has and I think the expectation of what a gym atmosphere is like . If you haven't been there and all you've seen is TikTok , instagram , youtube , you'll misunderstand what a fitness atmosphere is in person . Two and a half pounds is totally fine . Wherever you want to start , no big deal whatsoever . If you want to start lighter , easier , I think that's fine . Whatever gets you in the weight room and no one's going to care .

Speaker 1 19:47

I think that's like an important thing as well is that if you go into gyms , 99.9% of the time people are really just focused on their own thing . Even if they notice you , they're not like doing a large critique . It can feel like that when you first start going to the gym , because weight rooms are very open spaces . So I think if you're new to the gym , it kind of looks like your athleticism is on display . But once you get into the gym three or four times , you kind of realize no one cares in a good way , where it's like really everyone's just kind of doing their own thing . They got their music on , no one's really staring at . Is he doing that wrong ? Or that lateral raise should be at like this angle . Like really , they're just kind of doing their own thing , and I actually think there's like way more people worried about being stared at than like actually being stared at , if anything .

Speaker 2 20:34

I totally , totally agree with that . Do you know how I really really resonated with that was when we came out of the lockdowns , out of COVID and I think , when people weren't allowed to go to the gym for whatever reason , like let's not go down that road , but people weren't allowed to go to the gym . But when people did get back into the gym , it was like getting back into a club and seeing those familiar faces again , wasn't it ? But even though you don't know that person , even though you don't know their name , you don't know who they are or whatever .

Speaker 2 21:05

When you go to the gym on a regular basis , you tend to bump into or see the same people around the gym and it is like a bit of a club . You don't communicate . Like , I go into the gym , I don't want to be talking to people , I just want to get in , I want to do my thing and I want to get out . That is how everybody is , it's the same . So no one's just going in the gym to walk around and look at other people exercising . And what I loved was when I , after COVID , going back in , I realized that I missed the club atmosphere of having just people that you might just smile at , or not at , just have an understanding in that environment Really resonated at that stage ? Do you feel that as well ?

Speaker 1 21:43

Yeah , definitely . I think you know it's nice to have that atmosphere . I think , like if you're a person who's wondering like , should I train at home or should I train at a gym , some people the homework's great , like it's convenient , you know , you get your setup , you don't need the atmosphere , and that's awesome for them . But some people get home equipment . They just can't get into the zone or they quit their workouts halfway . And some people need the travel and some people need the atmosphere of other people working out around them . So they feel like they should work out too and I think you should .

Speaker 1 22:14

If you're curious , should I train at , train at home ? You know , try it out , see if it works for you . But I don't want people not going to the gym because they think the gym is scary , because that is something that can be overcome , even if at first it seems like it's going to be a tough place to be comfortable in . We can work on that and most people I know who were afraid of the gym by like workout four or five are like totally fine .

Speaker 2 22:39

What is the secret to becoming confident in the gym ? Then , mark , if you talk about that by workout four or five , what is it that actually changes that makes a person freaking out when they first go in to by the time they're doing their third or fourth time walking into the gym . What's changed ?

Speaker 1 22:57

I think when you first walk into the gym , so one you have all these people that like seem to know what they're doing , and you're in this new space where , like you don't even know what the machines do , you're not even sure like , and that's intimidating .

Speaker 1 23:09

And again , like the gym is a very open space , so like you might be taking a bench lifting your two and a half , someone comes next to you , brings out the 60s , like that's intimidating , like , just like , intuitively , I think what changes ? One you learn strength training , you get better at the thing that you're going to go do , and so you feel more confident in that space , and that just comes with time and practice . The other one is is that you learn that , like no one cares about your workout , and this is great , this is like everyone's got their headphones in , like everyone's doing their own thing . You're not competing against anybody , you're basically just all sharing weights in the same room , and so I think that really , really helps . It does take some bravery for those first few sessions . I don't have a secret to make day one not intimidating ,

Overcoming Self-Doubt in Resistance Training

Speaker 1 23:52

other than to tell you it's going to be intimidating and will become less intimidating over time . So be brave , commit to four .

Speaker 2 23:59

By that time you should be fine , do you remember when you first were learning to drive your car and I use this analogy with clients all the time as well Like when you first got into the car and your dad or your mom or your driving instructor said to you okay , start the car . And you didn't even know how to do that . You had no idea where to put the key , you had no idea and you had to learn . And then you had to learn to push the accelerator and hit the brake and steer and indications and put your seatbelt on and drive and change lanes and indicate and look over your shoulders and check your mirrors again and lights and oh my God , oh my God , walking into the gym the first time . It's like that . And then over time , because I can guarantee , mark , when you get in your car and drive your car now you don't even think about it , it's just automatically done , subconsciously . You just get in because it's now a tool to get to where you want to get to .

Speaker 2 24:48

And this is exactly what I talk about with the gym as well . It literally is a fun place to go into . And I think the point that you make about people with their headphones on as well , listening to music or listening to their podcasts or whatever they're listening to . They really do not care that you're even there , but what they do love is that you are there . That's the thing that I think everybody loves . Everyone wants to go into a quiet gym , but if you're in a gym and you've got other people around you , they're secretly quite thrilled that you're in there doing something for yourself and in that environment it's a healthy environment to be in . If I can coin a phrase , it is . It's a healthy environment and everybody's on the same page . Would you rather do that or go and sit around watching TV when you're at home , because that's a lonely business ? I just think now mentally . How does resistance training help us mentally ? Because we're not exercising our brain , are we or are ?

Speaker 1 25:43

we . When we talk about mental benefits , I think one of the things that's really underrated is proving yourself wrong in a very positive and obvious way . When you go into the gym you are unsure of how strong you're going to be and your guess is probably wrong . I've talked to people who their one goal is actually their three to six month goal and they get way stronger than they expected to . And that's just like a huge confidence boost Because you kind of realize that , like , your expectations of yourself were just wrong and you're actually capable of a lot more than you thought .

Speaker 1 26:16

And what's nice about weight training specifically is I don't have to be the one to tell you that . You can tell if you started rowing 10 pounds and three months later now you're doing 30 pounds , 40 pounds . The weight's heavier , you're objectively better at that exercise . Now , a lot of things in life aren't as objective as this . Where , like , do I look better ? As very subjective , but like getting stronger is like no , the weights keep track . I could do one pushup before . Now I can do 10 . The mental benefit for me and for the people that I work with is really like proving yourself that like , oh , like , I'm actually capable of a lot more than I thought I could . I just had to , you know , be consistent and , you know , have like some kind of structure , just show up and get the work done and results happened . That's the place where I learned it for sure . That to me is like a huge , huge mental benefit that I don't think gets talked about enough .

Speaker 2 27:11

Yes , absolutely , and I think even I even say don't set yourself a goal of where you want to get to with the weight that you're lifting .

Speaker 2 27:21

Get it right with what you're doing and before you realize , you're actually grabbing the next set out on the rack and then you're grabbing the next set out or you're putting another plate on without even realizing .

Speaker 2 27:34

We should always keep record because we're tracking our progressive overload of what we're doing and , exactly right with what you've said , we are measuring it . So you just go in and you pick up your 10-pound dumbbells and you chest press those and you do that for two or three weeks and then suddenly it just doesn't feel like enough and you want to challenge yourself a bit more . So the next minute you're grabbing 12 and a half and you're doing 12 and a half pound and you're thinking , wow and you're progressing . And then , before you realize it , you're actually grabbing the 30 pounds and you're pushing those and you think when I first started this , I used to do three sets and really struggle with 10 pound . Now I'm doing 30 and I'm doing it quite easily , and then it becomes obsessive , doesn't it Mark ? The sky's the limit . You just want to keep going and keep going and you won't get bulkier to the stage where you look ugly bulky , You'll just get strong and feel amazing .

Speaker 1 28:29

Absolutely . Couldn't have said it better myself , I think like such a cool feeling and it's also like a very hard feeling to explain if you haven't experienced it already . Agreed Comes with a lot of self-doubt originally . But overcoming that self-doubt is great , where , like when I tell someone like hey , like you're probably going to deadlift your body weight in three to six months , they kind of look at me like okay , mark's , like overselling the program , and then , like it happens in like three to six months , and then they're like , oh , I didn't even know this day would come . That's just like a really cool feeling and physical success . Like you know , there's lots of successes in life , whether that's like business or relationships a success of , like that's physical .

Speaker 1 29:07

I did this really cool thing . I think it is really really underrated . Being able to move something heavy with ease has like its own special feeling to it that is hard to describe until you've actually done it , but you just kind of think like , wow , like I'm a badass , like that's kind of the feeling . This is why I fell in love with strength training and this is why I like I do what I do and my job is very fulfilling , because I kind of just get to show people this feeling over and over again , where I'm like it's awesome bringing like new lifters in and showing them what they're capable of . It's like it's a great job they're capable of . It's like it's a great job .

Speaker 2 29:42

I hope you're enjoying the show . If you are , please don't forget to rate and review once you've finished . This helps the show's reach enormously . And have you got my free ebook the Best Way to Eat on Night Shift ? Well , this is a comprehensive guide to the overnight fast , why we should fast and how to best go about it . I've even included a few recipes to help you . I've put a link to the ebook in the show notes .

Speaker 2 30:08

And are you really struggling with shift work and feel like you're just crawling from one shift to the next ? Well , I've got you . If you would like to work with me , I can coach you to thrive , not just survive , while undertaking the rigours of 24-7 shift work . I also conduct in-house live health and wellbeing seminars where I will come to your workplace and deliver evidence-based information to help your wellbeing team to reduce unplanned leave and increase productivity in your workplace . I've put the links in the show notes to everything mentioned . You can find me at ahealthyshiftcom or on Instagram at a underscore healthy , underscore shift .

Speaker 2 30:53

Now let's get back to the show .

Speaker 2 30:57

Yeah , absolutely acknowledge the celebration , because I know yourself when you hit a PB , a personal best in the gym , and you walk out of the gym and you scan out , or you walk out and you get in your car if you aren't a person that pounds the steering wheel and says , yes , well , you're not really trying hard enough and then you text your friend to say , oh my God , I've just benched you know a hundred kilos , or I've done this and I've just PB'd it or share it on your Insta story or whatever the type of person that you are . I think , as you've quite rightly pointed out , it isn't until you've experienced that that you realize just how freaking cool it is . It's really , really cool to go through that . Now we're mainly talking about time poor shift workers here , mark , and you know because because of your fiance as well how time poor they can be or their energy levels are down . So tell us how many times a week should we be resistance training and how long for to get some sort of benefit out of it .

Speaker 1 31:54

For people who are time poor , especially shift workers , you're going to want quality over quantity , which is totally fine . I think for people who are new to

Quality Over Quantity in Workouts

Speaker 1 32:01

lifting . They can see results twice a week like 30 to 45 minutes . You will get stronger if you have like a good plan . That also doesn't have to necessarily be back to back . That can be spread out . That can be like when your shifts if you're doing a 12 hour overnight shift , like the chances that you're going to hit 8am and then like time to work out like unlikely so really planning out your workouts on those off days that you have , when you're like as rested as can be , let's say , and you just want a quality over quantity workout , so not something that's like here's 10 exercises , you're going to be in the gym for two hours Like this is unrealistic , it's not even good training for regular people . Twice a week , week four to five exercises , like really choosing big compound exercises , I would say full body for twice a week . If you have the time for three to four , I think that's great .

Speaker 1 32:53

But for people like you can get good workouts twice a week , especially for new lifters , as you get more experience you might want to aim for three on average , but again , that's going to kind of be based on the schedule .

Speaker 1 33:05

Or is this a week where we're doing 70 hours or 40 hours and like being realistic with your time ? I think it's also important that if you're a person doesn't have a lot of time , to be okay with being flexible where , even if , like , you planned your workout for Thursday but you ended up picking up a shift or your shift changed or whatever , it might be being okay with moving that Thursday workout to Saturday or something along those lines . I think that's so , but definitely quality over quantity . I don't work out for two hours , so I don't know why they would work out , like you know not to name names , but I've seen like lifters I've worked with , they've talked about programs they found or purchased in the past that are like 14 exercises . I don't do that , no one I work with does that and it's honestly just like unnecessary at that point , especially for getting stronger . People can get stronger on four or five exercises for 45 minutes easily . Quality over quantity , like we're not doing work just to do work .

Speaker 2 34:05

What you've said exactly right . Being flexible is so important in a shift working environment as well , because I think we need to schedule it in . Let's be honest , mark , everyone's got two hours a week , an hour and I know people get very overwhelmed and very daunted by the fact of going to the gym means I've got to put gym gear on , and I know people get very overwhelmed and very daunted by the fact of going to the gym means I've got to put gym gear on , I've got to get my bag packed and ready to go , I've got to drive to the gym , I've got to go into the gym , I've got to train , then I've got to drive home , shower , do whatever I do afterwards . But I always say , if you set two days and enjoy two days a week and you nail those two days , you know as well as I do that it will obsessively become three and then it will obsessively become four . Right , and four is probably a really nice sweet spot to be in Once you've got the habit down .

Speaker 1 34:56

yeah , I would say like four is a good . 90% of people I work with are either three or four .

Speaker 2 35:01

Like and that seems to be Four times at 45 minutes is all it takes .

Speaker 1 35:06

Totally fine , more than enough .

Speaker 2 35:07

Yeah , yep , I would rather someone set a target for two sessions a week and then I feel like going to the gym today and hitting three than hitting three and not getting there and only doing two . I think that has a psychological impact on people as well . Even though you've set the three , you can feel like a failure for not actually getting that third session in . So don't try and overachieve . Just start small as we do that . 1% every single time , I think , is the most important thing . Now we've covered what was going to be my next question . So many people , and particularly women , really struggle walking into a gym and knowing what to do . One thing that I would like to comment on with this as well having a program that's properly structured for you , and walking into the gym with a program is imperative , isn't it Like that's what gives you the confidence to go to where you need to go .

Speaker 1 36:00

Yes , so one having a program . I'm going to try and use an analogy here or see if this works . Having a program is like using Google Maps to get to where you want to go , where you don't have to use a map to get to where you want to go , but it's going to take more effort , more time , more gas just to get to the same location . But if you have a program one just like , if you want to talk about results , having a program is just going to get you better results quicker , and it's going to give you the roadmap to get to where you want to go , as opposed to going into the gym and being like , what should I do today ? Or trying random stuff . Doing random workouts gets random results . Maybe it works at first , but it's definitely not going to be your best results . We're having some kind of structure , even if you're flexible with it , even if you change it every now and then you know , maybe there's an exercise you don't like or don't have time for . I would rather you have a structured program that you make slight adjustments do depending on your week , than no program at all , all where it's kind of just random stuff .

Speaker 1 37:04

It's hard to get stronger with random workouts because you're never really building the skill . Like , if I want to get better at deadlifting , as an example and sometimes I deadlift , sometimes I don't it's actually just hard for me to become a good deadlifter . But if I have programs that have deadlifting in them at least once a week , while I'm regularly building that skill , I'm going to get stronger , I'm going to see results and it's going to be more obvious that you're improving . Because if you do random workouts like am I getting stronger ? It's kind of hard to tell because you're always changing things . But if you have a program that has some repetition , some consistency to it , you can look at your week one programming and be like okay , I lifted 10 pounds in this exercise . And you can look at your week 12 programming and you're like okay , now I'm lifting 30 pounds for that exercise . Having a good structured program while allowing yourself to be flexible is going to be really , really important here .

Speaker 2 37:59

If your program to start off with is a squat , you just walk straight to the squat rack , you warm up and then you do your squats . You know that you don't just walk in and stand there and think , what am I going to do ? What do I feel like doing ? Today , you're actually going through a structured program which is definitely going to help you . Also , I find that if you go in and you do a structured program , it doesn't take as long to do as you just going in and playing in the gym , because you've got structure and purpose for where you're going and what you're doing next . I think that really really helps .

Speaker 2 38:33

I wanted to ask you as well , obviously , people starting out in resistance training . Resistance training is something that the way we get stronger with resistance training is by mastering the technique . That's how we get strong right doing what we're doing , we master the technique . Do you advise that someone starting out with resistance training actually has an actual PT , a coach , to stand over them to actually help them with the technique to start off with ? Because videos , I think , are quite dangerous because you're not feeling or you're not learning the actual cues . What do you think ?

Speaker 1 39:11

So I think it's going to really depend on the person . I think if you have access or like the means to have a PT for all of your workouts , I think that's great

Resistance Training for All Ages

Speaker 1 39:20

and like will be beneficial , especially if you find the right person . In my world there's not a lot of weight neutral trainers and so for people who want a weight neutral approach sometimes like you're going to a gym none of them are really about that , so it's not always like an option . I think you can still learn the basics online . If you're working with a trainer online , you need to communicate with them on a regular basis . You need to be very open . It's like hey , I'm not really feeling this exercise where I thought I would feel it , what's going on there ?

Speaker 1 39:49

I think videos , if the person is comfortable with it , can be a good tool , because not only does the PT see what's going on , but you also see , if I mentioned like hey , your back's doing this thing here , let's try and adjust . They can see it for themselves , as opposed to it being they don't really get it kind of thing . Both can work , but I think both still need to be a partnership and not just like here's a program , go , have fun , and I don't do that with the people that I work with , like I'll make their programming for them . I'm not here to just tell them to have a program . I'll see you in four weeks . I want to hear how each workout went . I want to hear if something felt off , if something felt uncomfortable or you decided to change the weights for whatever reason . You still have to work together .

Speaker 2 40:32

My personal opinion on this is I think that people should start out with a PT . It doesn't have to be a lifelong journey , but I think they should start out with a coach of some sort to learn and have someone stand over them . Like you said oh , you're arching your back here , or you're doing this or you're doing that , try this , or just touch for cues and things like that just to help you , just to get you to learn some of the exercises , and then off you go on your own , even if it's just one session a week . If you were training two sessions a week and in one week you it's just one session a week . If you were training two sessions a week and in one week you had them do workout one , and on the second week you had them do workout two , and you did that for a few weeks till you mastered it .

Speaker 2 41:12

I think that's enough . Personally , I think that's a really good investment for people as well , having someone stand over them . Now let's get into some nuts and bolts . You've spoken a number of times about a weight neutral approach , and yet we're talking about weight and we talk about adding weight and we're measuring that weight . What's the difference between a weight neutral approach and actually adding weight on the bar to the layman .

Speaker 1 41:35

Great question . So weight neutral can be a lot of different things . My version of weight neutral training is not focusing on your weight specifically . I don't care if you're 150 or 250 or 350 . So I'm going to use pounds because I'm Canadian .

Speaker 1 41:49

For a lot of people , when you tell them like , okay , don't focus on the weight on the scale and don't focus on body changes , they actually lose the reason they're in the gym in the first place and they go from training five , six times a week to not training at all , because now you've taken away that motivation . Now it's like why am I even here ? And so the reason that I replace weight loss training with a strength focus is because it gives people the new reason to be there . Now you're not doing this exercise to burn belly fat . Now you're doing this exercise to build a strong core . You know , now we're not doing dumbbell rows so we can have toned arms . Now we're doing dumbbell rows because we want a strong back . We want strong arms . It's going to translate well to help us with our deadlift . Things like that , like where the purpose changes , cause I think having broader goals can be good for some people , but there are a lot of people who need something to work on . And if someone's going to commit two , three , four times a week to the gym and their goal is like health asterisk vaguely speaking , what health is harder to stick with , harder to be motivated , harder to get excited to go to the gym , as opposed to like you know , because you don't leave the gym and you're like now my health is improved , but you can go to the gym and be like I lifted five pounds more than I lifted last week . Like gives a little bit more direction .

Speaker 1 43:09

So when I say weight neutral , I'm replacing the weight on the scale with like , the focus on getting stronger , whatever that means to them . I also think it's important as well as like . When I say getting stronger , I want the person to pick that for themselves . For some people that's like a super strong deadlift , like that would be cool . For some people it's being able to do 10 push-ups . For some people it's being strong in their everyday life , like it's not necessarily like they want to be able to go hiking with their kids . They want to be able to take all the groceries in at once . I've heard a couple of times not need help around the house . I don't have to ask anybody for something they can just do it themselves . I think those goals are more fulfilling as opposed to just having the goal of like not , weight loss is not a goal .

Speaker 2 43:55

You've got to shift the focus , don't you ? As I said , I use this with clients all the time , but it's about shifting it off how I look and training to how I look , because , I'll be honest with you , that doesn't work in most cases . Training to how you want to look doesn't work . I mean bodybuilders do , but they will tell you how disordered it actually is that whole world has got its own problems .

Speaker 1 44:16

Oh yeah , absolutely , it has are the most focused on aesthetics , like the studies that I've seen that even just choosing to compete in bodybuilding drastically increases your risk of like disordered eating , like well beyond the normal population . I had a friend who did like her master's on this and like just interviewing these people was like the emotional journey behind the scenes was unreal . And these are the people who only care about aesthetics and like . This is why I try to push people to like , if you're gonna have an aesthetics focused goal , at least bring some other stuff in . Like at least like do aesthetics and strength or something else , because , like , when it's just the weight or just aesthetics , like that's a hard training experience that is not as fulfilling as you would hope it would be .

Speaker 2 44:58

Could not agree more . It's a very , very disordered world that comes with many , many complicated problems other than pictures on social media . I can tell you now I'm a 50-year-old female . Majority of my clients are shift workers that have been shift workers for a while , but I'm a 50-year-old female and I'm overweight . Shift work's taken its toll . Is it too late for me to start resistance training , and what benefit would it actually have for me ?

Speaker 1 45:21

So definitely not too late .

Speaker 1 45:22

So a lot of people I've worked with some of my favorite lifters I've worked with started in their 50s and 60s . The cool thing about strength training is that you can get better at it even if you start super late . There's a lifter I've worked with . Her name is Jill . She started at 52 , never lifted in her life before . She's now 56 . She's doing pull-ups for reps . We're working on a 200 pound deadlift . She feels better , she feels stronger in everyday life , and this is a person who's training three or four times a week for 45 minutes , as an example .

Speaker 1 45:53

The benefits are huge . The quality of life , I think , is also really important where , generally speaking , I think when you're in your 20s , you get away with a lot . You can eat whatever , you can lift whatever , and look back at those times even the training I did as a young 21-year-old I'm like , wow , that was insane . It's amazing I didn't get hurt In your 50s . It's a lot more focused on quality of life . Yeah , you want to be stronger , healthier . Maybe you still want to look a certain way , but you also like , want to be able to play with your grandkids and you want to have , like , less life complications or go hiking or not have to say no to something because you don't have the health for it , and that's what a lot of the benefits of that training is , and that can still be improved upon in your fifties and sixties . Like it's not like you had to take care of that one in a perfect world . Would it have been great if you started at 18 ? Sure , but like , even if you start in your 50s and 60s , still get better , still improve , like your quality of life and you can still get stronger . Like there are very strong people in their 50s and 60s like that are lifting more weight than you would expect .

Speaker 1 46:53

Being overweight definitely not a concern . Again , as a weight neutral coach , like it's not even you know the people I work with are . I don't ask their weight , so I don't know exactly , but there are people of different sizes and enjoy training for themselves and because there's no weigh-ins or anything like that , it's not . Like being overweight doesn't really change the process . I just want to make you stronger and enjoy training . So definitely not too late to start and still a huge amount of benefits that you can see . Definitely not too late . I've worked with people who started in their 60s . One woman I worked with her name was Sue , on her 65th birthday , deadlifted 210 . This is like kind of an example . So yeah , great moment , so proud of her at that moment . I don't want people to think they're too old for strength training , like they feel like that's like a young person's game , and that definitely does not have to be the case .

Speaker 2 47:41

No , I totally agree , and the thing is as well . We have to be very careful with osteoporosis and sarcopenia as well , and I think we need to remind our muscles that they're actually needed . But the confidence that your client , that deadlifts 210 , and we're talking pounds , obviously , but deadlifts 210 .

Speaker 1 47:59

Yeah , yeah , yeah , sorry , like 105 kilos .

Speaker 2 48:02

You know it's 100 kilos , but someone's deadlifted 100 kilos at 65 years of age . That's just fantastic . Tell me that she didn't almost skip out of the gym that day with such an achievement and get in the car with the biggest smile on her face . It's just absolutely fantastic .

Speaker 1 48:17

She told everyone , I told everyone it was exciting .

Speaker 2 48:20

Amazing and such a credit . Now , this is where we talk about changing the focus . At no stage during that lift did she care about how

Navigating Strength Training and Self-Worth

Speaker 2 48:28

she looked or whether somebody else was going to accept her for how she looked . All she was worried about was getting that weight off the ground , pushing the floor away and the job was done , and then just putting the weight back down and going oh my God , I've done that . She never , ever thought oh , if I was a bit skinnier , I probably could have lifted a bit more .

Speaker 2 48:45

This is the thing . People don't care at all , mark . Majority of people know that they need to be doing some sort of exercise . They do , they know it , but they just don't't , and particularly shift workers , because they feel fatigued and I'm working with our shift working community about getting the timings of their circadian rhythms right and understanding the timing of nutrition not the tracking and that , but the timing of it , because this is what helps them more than anything else . If they don't know where to start because most people don't they sit there and they think , oh , I don't know where to start . Really , where should they start and how should they actually start ?

Speaker 1 49:19

So when you're talking about like a totally new lifter , I'm with you that if someone has access to a PT , I think that that is going to be really helpful . I think one of the cons of strength training is that if we compare it to something like running , if you want to get into running , you get on the treadmill or you run outside and you can kind of get started Whereas like strength training , there's all these different techniques you have to learn what a program actually looks like is going to be very different . So I think getting access to PT in some way whether that's someone online , in person , semi-private group training , whatever that might look like I think is going to be really valuable . It isn't something you have to do forever , like you don't need to have a PT forever , but I think because learning how to squat or deadlift or row , all those things there is a skill that needs to be learned at the beginning , I think goes a long way .

Speaker 1 50:08

You can look up videos . There's educational stuff . I've put out educational stuff to help with that , but I think just having someone help you out with that goes a long way . Some gyms do offer like a consultation where someone will go over exercises with you . That's not like technically a trainer , but they'll kind of show you around and how to do things . I do think for strength training specifically , that like getting some help at the beginning goes a long way .

Speaker 2 50:32

Now it's Monday and I'm starting all over again . As is typical , we have a blowout in the middle of the week and we think , oh , that's right , I'll start again on Monday . Now we've talked about lifting , but to be an effective lifter , you've got to fuel your body for the training . Do I have to strictly track my diet , track my macros and have food prep containers all over the kitchen bench and do cardio , squat huge weights and do 10,000 steps every day for it to work ?

Speaker 1 50:59

Absolutely not . Yeah , I think like that . So it's a great question . So one I think you need to be realistic about how much you can handle at once . This is just like a general rule where , like if you try to be perfect at everything , things fall apart , like , and then you end up not doing any of it . I think you have to be realistic about , like , what you can handle given your life situation . And that's totally fine for strength training , especially if you're at like that new slash beginner level .

Speaker 1 51:23

The things I really need from you are to be relatively consistent with the training and like that doesn't mean you can never miss a workout , but like you're getting to 80 plus percent of the workouts , you have some kind of structured plan that exists and you're improving your form over time . So I don't need you on day one to have like the perfect squat . What I want over time is just that the squat form improves as you go from session to session , which is like as you practice the movement , more you get better at it . If you do those three things , almost for sure you will get stronger . Even the fueling doesn't help Absolutely . Getting the right sleep helps . All of those things are going to be beneficial If you're new to training or you're a beginner at strength training , specifically doing those three things , you'll see benefits , whether those things are dialed in or not .

Speaker 1 52:16

You don't need to do macros . You probably should eat something before you train , but I don't need it to be the perfect protein to carb ratio or I don't need you to have like carbs during the workout or anything like that or the perfect post-workout you know , exactly 30 grams of protein , like for the advanced expert lifters , like there's like more of a conversation there , but like really for beginners just getting into the gym consistently with a program that's 80 90 percent of what you need to do . And you know the people that like I work with we don't really talk about nutrition , like if I have questions , like I'm happy to answer things like that , but like we just focus on the training and they're getting stronger anyways . So good nutrition is great , it will definitely help , but I think for that beginner level it is not necessarily mandatory for strength training .

Speaker 2 53:08

I also know for a fact that psychologically , when you start training and you resistance train and you start getting stronger , subconsciously you start taking better care of your diet . And we all know that that absolutely happens . No one goes into the gym , puts together a really nice session and then stops at the Golden Arches on the way home or Kentucky Fried . They tend to go oh , that felt good , and then they want to fuel themselves . Well , I think the more people that actually train and the better they feel in their training . It actually has the byproduct of their diet and I'm not talking about losing weight diet , I'm talking about diet . What they're putting into their body actually improves overall as a byproduct of what they're actually doing . So that's something that is really really good .

Speaker 2 53:50

We do have a problem for our shift working community and one of the biggest problems that we do have is majority of our shift workers actually wear a uniform , so they are constantly reminded of where they're at in the weight scale . So every day I get up , go to work and then have to put a uniform on and the uniform's tight . It's Monday morning and the uniform is tight . It causes a real mental challenge and it can ruin their whole day because they know that their scrubs are this size or their uniform pants are this size or whatever , and it reminds them how can they actually ?

Speaker 1 54:25

overcome this , mark , in my opinion , an easy answer to this , and I do have what I think is the best answer , and , as a weight neutral person , it's going to be probably a little different if you've asked other people on the podcast about this . But I think the overall goal is to learn how to move your self-worth away from what you look like or how much you weigh , and so a lot of people their value in themselves does really dictate on what their size is or how things fit or what they weigh , and that's totally fair . There's lots of reasons for that . I was that way for a long time . I think it's valuable to slowly bring your self-worth to be about other things , about yourself , who you are as a person , what is the value that you bring to friends , family , community , whatever that might be and to stop tying how you value yourself as a person to what you look like or what you're supposed to look like .

Speaker 1 55:20

This is not an easy . I don't have a quick motivational quote to help out people with that . We can talk about tips on how to start getting there , but I think understanding that you are more than what you look like goes a long way , and the more that when you look at people who really care their self-worth is really tied to like what size they are or what their appearance is Very unhappy people almost always . If there is fulfillment there , it tends to be temporary or only like at a certain part of life . We are more

Embracing Imperfections and Finding Strength

Speaker 1 55:53

than what we look like and I think we have to start treating ourselves like that . That's the answer I have for that . I wish I had like a quick , like five minute . This is what you can do . I don't think there is one . That's my answer to that question .

Speaker 2 56:05

Yeah , you could . You could easily talk at length for that . I've actually had Shannon Beer on the podcast talking about that exact point and she obviously articulates things extremely well around that . And there's a episode that I've got there if people want to look for it a quick chat with Shannon Beer , which was literally just a quick summary on that actual question . Her analogy is really good You're on exactly the same page as she is and I'm on exactly the same page as that .

Speaker 1 56:31

She's great . We've talked a few times . Fantastic Hard agree . Shannon Beer great follow . Everyone should listen to the episode . Follow her on all the things .

Speaker 2 56:38

Yeah , shannon's fantastic . Just articulates things so well . That makes you go . Yeah , that's right , that's really good , and you obviously are on the same page as her , because you've spoken to Jeff and friends with Jeff , and also you've been on your own podcast around all of this . You do all this sort of stuff , so it's fantastic . Now , mark , is there anything that we've not covered that you would like to add to our shift working community in relation to what we've talked about ? Is there anything that is burning in your brain that you'd like to get out ?

Speaker 1 57:05

One thing that I've seen hold people back is when they make mistakes . This especially happens with new people who haven't developed the habit yet . They make mistakes and then they give up on the whole thing . Making mistakes is not only fine , but expected and is part of the process where , if you miss a workout or if the workout doesn't go well , if you aren't doing exactly the right thing you're supposed to be doing , based on whatever YouTuber or influencer that you follow , you do not need to give up . Mistakes happen , missed workouts happen .

Speaker 1 57:39

Not every workout is going to be amazing , and that is just that's part of training . I would love to tell you that every workout you're going to go into is going to be a new personal best that you can tell all your friends about . It's just not the case , and it really is like on the longer game , be okay with being imperfect and making mistakes along the way . If you are okay with that , you're going to get so much stronger in the long run . You're going to be more consistent and you're going to enjoy training more . You don't need to beat yourself up for any mistakes you make along . I think that I've noticed people who are okay with making mistakes along the way just get way better results overall , just like yeah , totally agree .

Speaker 2 58:14

It fluctuates , doesn't it ? It's not a linear line . There are times when your training will plateau . Then you get to the stage where you've got to problem solve and work out how you can go about it . Do you need to deload ? Do you need to actually have a break ? What do we do ? But then , when you break through that plateau , it actually gives you such a much better sense of achievement as well . And I think you've got to be okay with all of that .

Speaker 2 58:38

And particularly when we talk about females as well , with hormonal fluctuations through the whole month , how things go up and down with strength , how they feel with their training and things like that , it's about learning about your body and working through that . There will be times when you absolutely feel like you could bend the bar , and then there's other times where you can't even lift it off the ground . So , yeah , fantastic chat , mark . I have thoroughly enjoyed it because you are the other side of what I do as well . I go down the line of the intuitive eating and just taking the pressure off yourself around all of those things with clients to help them . The byproduct of that is that their life improves full stop .

Speaker 2 59:21

And the other side of that when it comes to resistance training , teaching people resistance training and just getting strong without focusing on losing weight . But the byproduct , as a general rule , is that you feel better , you feel stronger . You've just got so much more confidence , which makes you more attractive . With more confidence , full stop , I think . Where can people find you , mark , to follow along ? I love your coffee chat too . I've got my coffee chat today .

Speaker 1 59:41

Oh , I didn't bring my mug . I should have brought that . I got a new mug Next time I know your coffee chat's good .

Speaker 2 59:47

You do that on a daily . You have a coffee chat and I think it's fantastic that people get just little insights . So where can they find you to learn all about you ?

Speaker 1 59:54

Yeah Well , listen , thanks for having me . I appreciate what you're doing as well with the shift workers and like , obviously , being engaged to a travel nurse . Like I'm aware of the struggle and that it's appreciate the podcast that you're putting out there . The best places to find me are probably gonna be my Instagram , which is at training strong women , and also the podcast which is called the bad-ass lifter podcast . So the coffee chats that he was talking about are like on Instagram , tiktok at Training Strong Women . It's the face of me , you'll see it .

Speaker 1 1:00:20

The Badass Lifter podcast . I think it's for people who want , like just like , a little bit more information than what I can give in , you know , 60 seconds . I've put out hundreds of episodes on basically every topic that I think like beginner lifters struggle with . Like if you have like an issue or a question about strength training , I've tried to put out like an at least a 10 minute episode or more on like how to overcome that problem . So that's called the Badass Lifter Podcast , which I think is where the best information is , in my opinion , because I can go a little more in depth than you know a 60 second chat .

Speaker 2 1:00:50

Awesome , and your website , which everything would be housed on as well , is what Badassliftercom , so that's where people can learn about .

Speaker 1 1:00:56

like . I have people I've worked with before . If people want to work with me one-on-one , that's like you can apply on there . Like normally . If people are curious about working with me , I always like to kind of meet first , because my training is different than a lot of people's , so I want to meet first , make sure we're a good fit . But if you are looking for training , that would be like the best place to find me Absolutely Fantastic .

Speaker 2 1:01:16

Now I know you are well-traveled because you are a backwards and forwards traveler because of your fiance there , and I know that through following you as well . But my closing question to everybody that I actually have on the podcast is , as an appreciation gift with the billions of dollars that I've actually just come into , I'm going to buy you or build you a holiday house anywhere in the world that you would like to live , but you have to live in it for six months . Now you can take your fiance or it can just be a bit of me time to read a book or do whatever you want to do , but you must live in it for six months . Where do you want me to build it ?

Speaker 1 1:01:53

Well , for starters , I don't think she'd be very happy if I got this new holiday house and didn't bring her along with me I think that would be and then just leave her for six months . I don't know how that would go If I had to pick anywhere in the world . There is this beautiful town in Iceland called Vik . Now Vik is like 500 people .

Speaker 1 1:02:12

When we drove into Vik I didn't believe it was like real . It is like a beautiful beach next to a beautiful mountainside of flowers , next to a beautiful mountain . Like it's just like the most magical place . That is just in the middle of nowhere in Iceland . It just seems like the place where you could be the most at peace , like no matter what's going on in the world . You could like be in this town and it just seems like everything will be fine . Like we just stopped by and we like we couldn't believe how beautiful this place was and for like a couple of days afterwards we were like should we move here ? And like that makes absolutely no sense because it's so far from where like all our friends and family are . But if I had to pick like the dream holiday house , I think like a nice holiday house at the top of the mountain of Vic , I think would be . Life is perfect , life is at peace . At that point , like just a beautiful place to be .

Speaker 2 1:03:02

I can't see that as any problem , and you'd obviously want to be there for the Northern Lights because you have a nice glass roof so you can see the Northern Lights and things like that . That'd be lovely , wouldn't it .

Speaker 1 1:03:11

I'd have to figure out do I want the 24-hour sunlight season or do I want the Northern Lights season ? Because when we went it was 24-hour sunlight , which was cool , but also it was like when do we go to bed ? Question mark was like we enjoyed it and I'm already used to the cold because I live in Canada . I'd have to figure out the months , but I'm sure we'll figure it out with your holiday house building .

Speaker 2 1:03:36

Wonderful . Thank you , Mark . I really appreciate it . Everyone . I will put the links to what Mark does into the show notes . I highly suggest you go across to badassliftercom . Have a look at what he does , who he is . Such important work that you're doing , Mark , and there should be more and more and more people that are actually doing that as well . I think empowering women with strength and training for strength without how they look is such an important side of this , and I want to say thank you so much for coming on to the podcast and I look forward to continuing to follow your journey with what you're doing .

Speaker 1 1:04:11

No , thanks for having me . I really appreciate the conversation and appreciate what you're doing here .

Speaker 2 1:04:15

And that's Mark Breeden . Now , mark , as you've learned , is just the sort of person that a lot of people need , and I'm a firm believer that Mark and his approach is evidence-based , literally the way we need to be going today in walking into a gym and training for strength and feeling really strong , because then that brings confidence , and on the back of that confidence , what happens is as well , and , as I discussed in the podcast myself , we tend to find that when we work hard on what our body can actually do and we train accordingly , the byproduct of that is that we literally start to clean up our own diet . We start to feel a lot better about ourselves , we get confident , and there's nothing better than being able to strip the bed and flip the mattress on your own without having to wait for someone else to be there to be able to do it . I highly suggest that you actually go over and give him a follow and understand what it is that he's actually all about . Great chat . Thanks for coming on , mark Really appreciate it , and everybody else .

Speaker 2 1:05:27

If you got any value out of the podcast , please don't hesitate to give us a rating or a review , because that is what helps to get evidence like this out in our podcasting world so that more people can learn all about us and make our life so much better . You can actually thrive in a shift working life , so stop crawling from one shift to the next and find a way to actually just get started . I'll catch you on the next one . Thank you for listening . If you enjoyed this episode , be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released . It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on . If you want to know more about me or work with me , you can go to ahealthyshiftcom . I'll catch you on the next one .