Ditch Back Pain, Stretch Away Stiffness + Unlock Midlife Mobility with Fitness Pro Meghan Dahlman
Show Snapshot:
Want to make 2024 the year you ditch pain, stretch away stiffness, and unlock midlife mobility? Jumpstart true functional fitness and create pain-free mobility with simple, doable (yes, really!) ideas from fitness pro and personal trainer Meghan Dahlman. Think delicious stretches, back-to-basics strength exercises, and a healthy dose of body confidence. Plus, three simple core exercises to combat back and hip pain and Megan’s surprising tip for weight-training newbies. More than 540 million adults experience back pain; make sure you are not one of them! Tune in and level up your 2024 fitness.
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Quotable:
540 million adults right now have back pain. It's a staggering number. And 40% of adults will experience sciatica at some point in their life, which is that deep throbbing nerve pain up in their hip socket. And most pain and injuries nearly always stem from these three things that I call it the PSF framework. So, “P”stands for posture, or alignment. “S” for strength. And “F” for flexibility, or mobility.
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty 0:03
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women are unafraid to age out loud. I'm your host, Katie Fogarty. Beauties, welcome to 2024. The buzz, buzz, buzz of the holidays are behind us. We've swept up the tinsel, the champagne is flat, and we are unwrapping a bright and shiny new year. And while we are not believers in 'New Year, new you' marketing, we are believers in continuously growing and going, trying new things, and investing in practices and pursuits that make us feel like our best, healthiest, glowiest, most vibrant midlife selves. So I'm thrilled to be kicking off our 2024 shows with a very special guest. Fitness trainer Megan Dahlman specializes in creating simple, sustainable exercise routines for women over 40 who are focused on being strong, pain free, and body confident in midlife and beyond. If you're looking to jumpstart a simpler, more effective fitness routine in 2024, stick around - this show is for you. Welcome, Megan.
Megan Dahlman 1:10
Hi, Katie. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm really excited about this conversation.
Katie Fogarty 1:14
I am as well, because you have so much great information to share. I know you have a degree in exercise science, you're a certified strength and conditioning specialist. We are going to explore how to get stronger, how to jumpstart our fitness routines at the beginning of the year, but I would love to open with some quick stage setting. I know you've been doing this work for 17 years, what made you get started? And why do you choose to focus specifically on women over 40?
Megan Dahlman 1:39
Well, it really was an evolution. You know, I didn't just jump into that. What's really funny, actually, is when I was getting my degree in exercise science way back when, early 2000s, I was really passionate about working with high level athletes. I thought that was the cool thing to do. You know, like, Oh, if I could put on my resume, like, Olympic trainer, how cool is that?
Katie Fogarty 2:01
Yes, it does have a nice ring.
Megan Dahlman 2:03
Yeah, right? And so right out of the gate, right out of college, that's what I did. I actually was an athletic performance specialist and I worked on, I specialized in performance level training. But somewhere along the way, all the athletes I was coaching, which were younger athletes, their moms were in the wings, watching. And they're like, Can we do that, too? Like that looks way more fun than our Zumba class or spinning class. And they're like, can you train us too? And I'm like, Heck, yeah, hop in here. And so I started working with a lot of the moms of these athletes. And in 2009, I started my own personal training company and that's when my focus really shifted towards women. Younger women in particular at the time, younger moms. And my message throughout all the years has always been focused on functional fitness, good performance, like getting your body to operate and move how always was designed to so that you're never limited in life at all. And that particular message sometimes does not ring with a younger age group. Younger women that are like, Can you just make me look good in my bathing suit?
Katie Fogarty 3:23
I totally get that because I think people, as you age, your interest shifts a little bit, right. You want to care for your body and make it work for the long haul. You're focused on stuff like longevity and health, and I love your emphasis on functional fitness, because that's what, you know, really resonates with me.
Megan Dahlman 3:41
Yeah. And it resonates with an age group that has a bigger, grander perspective. They're not looking at the here and now like, Can you help me lose 10 pounds in one week? They're like, Okay, I'm done with that, I'm over it, I'm moving on from that phase in my life. I really just want to not spend the last 10 years of my life on a hospital bed.
Katie Fogarty 4:03
Yeah.
Megan Dahlman 4:03
What can we do now to make sure that that happens? And so, just because of my own personal values and my passion for helping women feel really good in their body, it just started becoming this magnet for women in midlife. And I'm like, I am all for this. This is a wonderful age group to train. And I'm just right at the precipice of it. I'm 40, so I'm like entering that stage of life. But women are just resonating with my simple style and the approach of you know, let's not complicate things. We live in a world where there's so much health and fitness information right at your fingertips, and you can get overwhelmed real quick. And so my approach is always like, let's make it simple. Let's make it so you can actually do it and it actually feels good. And you feel like you'll be here 30, 40 years from now doing the same stuff.
Katie Fogarty 4:57
Yeah, I, this is why I'm so excited to talk to you because I've spent time with all your materials, I've been on your social sites, I've seen you in action, and I'm thrilled to be introducing you to my audience because I know there's an enormous reception for the work that you do and the approach that you take. Because midlife is about simplifying, we're like really focusing with laser intention on the things that we care about. And Megan, I do want to share with you that the number one most downloaded episode of A Certain Age in 2023, was on the musculoskeletal impacts of menopause on our bodies. I had a wonderful doctor who's an orthopedic surgeon come on, Dr. Vonda Wright.
Megan Dahlman 5:37
Yes, I know her.
Katie Fogarty 5:37
And she talks about, yeah, she's incredible. And she talked in that episode about how women are suffering from challenges and pain. You know, things like, across a range of symptoms, rotator cuff injuries, tight hips and back which I know you do a lot of work with, osteopenia, a whole host of other issues, that really impact women's musculoskeletal fitness. And I had so many comments and DMs from listeners sharing about their, their sort of pain and their challenges, and I myself ended 2023 with a piriformis muscle strain. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly.
Megan Dahlman 6:15
Yeah, yep, piriformis.
Katie Fogarty 6:16
You know, I went left when the ball went right on a paddle court and as I lunged for it, you know, it, I think I had a slight tear. And it really had, you know, shooting pain, and it impacted my ability to play paddle and do yoga and my peace of mind at the end of the year. And so, before we dive into sort of the simple solutions, how you work with women to kind of jumpstart fitness, I would love if we could start with, you know, what happens when, when people are experiencing injuries in midlife? What is the most common form of injury or pain that you see in your work, because a lot of your work addresses that.
Megan Dahlman 6:53
You know, back pain is at the top of the list. Back and often it's hip pain too, they're kind of going together. And many times it gets misdiagnosed, the hip pain. But 540 million adults right now have back pain to one degree or another. And it's just a staggering number, it absolutely boggles my mind. And 40% of adults will experience sciatica at some point in their life, which is that deep throbbing nerve pain up in their hip socket. And most pain and injuries nearly always stem from these three things, and I call it the PSF framework. So P stands for Posture, or alignment. S stands for Strength. And F stands for Flexibility, or mobility. So in any area on your body, whether it's your ankle, whether it's your hip, whether it's your shoulder, if the alignment is, is out of alignment, if it's incorrect alignment, if there's not adequate strength around that joint, and if you don't have adequate mobility around that joint, dysfunction is going to happen. The hip is not going to feel great, your ankle is not going to feel good, I don't care what joint it is, it always comes back to those three things. And so when we can look at those three things in a certain area of your body that you're experiencing pain, let's take, you know you mentioned your piriformis, that's kind of up in that deep hip socket. And that by the way, feels very similar to sciatica pain, the sciatic nerve runs right through your piriformis muscle, so they sometimes go hand in hand. But what you experienced there, was in that moment when you went right in your body went left, your muscle there or the surrounding tissues did not have adequate mobility or flexibility to lengthen enough for that zigzag. And the other areas that were supposed to be strong to stabilize you probably weren't strong enough to hold you steady.
Katie Fogarty 8:51
And what are those areas, Megan? I need to work on that.
Megan Dahlman 8:54
What's that?
Katie Fogarty 8:54
What are those areas?
Megan Dahlman 8:57
Yes, so your hip joint itself, your hip flexors, in particular, the ones on the front of your hip, the ones that get short from sitting a lot, and often as we get older, we sit more and more and more, we just aren't moving as much. And so those hip flexors start to get really, really tight. And so that's an area that could use more flexibility. Those deep hip socket muscles like your piriformis get a little bit tight too, but also hold a lot of tension. And the hamstrings get really tight too from sitting a lot actually. And then on the strength side of things, glute strength. I can't tell you how many back pain issues, hip socket issues, even knee issues could be completely resolved with greater strength in your glutes. And then the core is right there too, so a stronger core. So in your situation, Katie, I would say hey, let's get your glutes stronger. If your glutes aren't very strong, that little tiny piriformis muscle has to do a lot of work and when it's been traumatized it just doesn't want to. And then let's make sure that you've got some great hip mobility, especially out of those hip flexors. And that can really solve a lot of that issue. And believe it or not, that solution right there can solve a lot of low back pain issues, too. So you're feeling that pain deep up in your hip socket, the most common pain that people in midlife experience is kind of right at their low back. So everything I just described is a wonderful solution for low back pain, too.
Katie Fogarty 10:27
I cannot wait to dive into all this. We're heading into a quick break but when we come back, we're going to pick it up at glute exercises.
[AD BREAK]
Megan, we're back from the break. You outlined a bunch of things that sounded amazing to me as we headed into it. And the sort of strengthening the glute was something that really sort of popped out at me, how does one do that? Because I'm just going to be honest, I haven't really prioritized that. I do try to do hip openers, because I do that in yoga, because I do have tight hips and you flagged that so my head was nodding when you said that. But I, you know, I do more sitting on my glute than I do exercising it. So how can I, how can I change that equation? What do you recommend?
Megan Dahlman 11:07
Yeah, yeah, most people only really sit on 'em. We gotta get them stronger.
Katie Fogarty 11:13
Exactly.
Megan Dahlman 11:13
We gotta get 'em strong. Yeah, your glutes are the largest muscle on your body for a reason. The primary job of your glutes is to pull your leg back. If you think about when you're walking or running, your glutes, when they contract, when they engage, it pulls your leg behind the midline of your body like kind of backwards. And it also does another thing, you've got layers of glutes, that the moment your foot comes in contact with the ground, the moment you take a step those glutes engauge to stabilize your leg and prevent it from wobbling inward or outward. So they're also stabilizers, so we can train them in both ways. We can train them as an extensor, that helps to pull the leg back. We can also train them as stabilizers. So glute bridges, is like the best, go-to, glute exercise that exists. This is just where you're laying on the floor, you squeeze your tush and you push your hips up. Couple of ways that people do these wrong, by the way, A lot of people when they do a glute bridge is they push through the ball of their foot. And unfortunately, that actually makes your quads, like on the front of your thigh, makes your quads work more than your glutes. So if you think about pushing through your heel, when you lift up into a glute bridge, you're going to feel your glutes a little bit more. Another thing you can do when you're pushing up into that glute bridge is just a split second before you lift, just think about squeezing your buns, like squeeze your tush and then lift, that's gonna get a little bit extra action out of your glutes. So, glute bridges are an excellent, just beginner level, like glute strengthening exercise that everybody should do. And we can make them a little harder by doing them like one leg at a time, or doing them elevated where you have your heel up on a bench, lots of ways to kind of manipulate that.
And so Megan, your feet are flat to the floor, is that where you're saying? We're not pushed up on the ball of our foot, our feet are flat and we're pushing in with our heels and then tightening, tightening and lifting glutes.
Correct.
Katie Fogarty 13:07
Okay, great.
Megan Dahlman 13:08
Correct. And I sometimes when I'm working with women that really like to use their toes, I say just pick your toes up off the floor. Let's just get them out of the way so that we can really drive through the heel.
Katie Fogarty 13:20
That's hysterical.
Megan Dahlman 13:21
I know, I know. And that's a game changer, absolute game changer. I had one lady that I was working with just the other week. She's like, I just cannot feel my glutes working when I do a bridge. I'm like, Mm, just pick your toes up, let's see what happens. She's like, Holy cow, they just worked so hard. They just like cramped up, they were working hard. I'm like, Yep.
Katie Fogarty 13:41
All right, I'm trying that. I'm like, I'm gonna lay down on this recording studio and we're done. Dave's gonna be surprised to see me trying these.
Megan Dahlman 13:50
Yeah.
Katie Fogarty 13:50
I'm gonna put this into action. You've inspired me.
Megan Dahlman 13:53
I love it. Yeah, it's super easy to do. Everybody should be doing it in one form of another. And another excellent glute strengthening like exercise for the hinging or extending function of the hip is doing what are called hip hinges. A lot of people think of these as like a deadlift. But really what you're doing is just folding at the waist. And I like to think of a hip, so this is one where you're actually standing. You're up on your feet, you're standing and you're just like folding at the waist. It's not a squat, okay. This is not where you like squat down as if you're sitting onto a chair or low chair. This is where you like hinge over. Now, the most important thing with hinge, like hip hinges like this to really get your glutes to work, is we cannot let your back round. A lot of people are used to folding over and actually rounding at their low back. So I like to think of doing hip hinges, if you just place your fingertips on your hip bones and as you hinge forward or bring your shoulders forward and down, think about creating a really deep crease at your hip socket. And it's almost creating this really nice fold at your hip socket as you really push your booty back as hard as you can. So you're just pushing your hips back, creating that deep hip crease, and then you just think about standing straight back up vertical. That movement right there really works the glutes.
Katie Fogarty 15:15
And so when you're hinged over, okay, Megan, when you're hinged over is your neck hanging down, is your face like into your knees?
Megan Dahlman 15:22
Not that far over.
Katie Fogarty 15:23
Not that far over.
Megan Dahlman 15:23
It's a good question.
Katie Fogarty 15:24
Oh, okay.
Megan Dahlman 15:24
So we're really only coming to just above horizontal. Like, we don't even need to get to horizontal, most people actually don't have the hip mobility or the flexibility in their hamstrings in particular to fold over properly. Like, if you think about trying to touch your toes to the floor. Most people to try to touch your toes the floor, you're gonna have to round your spine a little bit.
Katie Fogarty 15:45
Gotcha. Okay, so we're becoming an L, like a capital L, is that correct?
Megan Dahlman 15:49
Exactly.
Katie Fogarty 15:50
Okay.
Megan Dahlman 15:50
Yes. Yep, yep, you're just folding at the waist, and your torso really is just going along for the ride and your head is not like shifting out of neutral from where your spine is. Everything is just staying neutral and just like folding at the waist, and then coming right back up. So we can make that harder by using a band, like having a band on the floor and kind of pulling the band up as you stand back up. We can also make it harder by having a dumbell, like a few dumbbells in your hands. And that movement right there is essential, absolutely essential, to human movement. And most people as they get older, they stop being able to fold at the waist properly, to hip hinge properly. And this is where we get a lot of back injuries is like you bend down to grab something and all of the action is happening at your lumbar spinal segments. And so learning how to hip hinge, practicing it every single day in some form or capacity is going to really transfer well.
Katie Fogarty 16:55
I love this.
Megan Dahlman 16:55
It's really important.
Katie Fogarty 16:56
First of all, I feel like I could do this. I feel like I could bend over into an L right now. I'm like, excited.
Megan Dahlman 17:01
Yeah!
Katie Fogarty 17:01
I'm excited about this. So when we're talking about hip hinges, and we're talking about glute bridges, is this a daily occurrence? How many reps do you recommend? What's your recommendation?
Megan Dahlman 17:13
A good rep range for building strength, because that's what we want to do here, we want to get these muscles stronger. To build strength, we want to stay in about the 8 to 12 repetition range. Okay so you want to be counting to about 8 to 12 reps at a time. If you can do 12 repetitions of it really well, with great technique, and you feel like okay, I'm getting the hang of this. And actually 12 is now easy, I probably could keep going indefinitely, I probably could keep counting to 20 or 25, that's a good indication that we got to start loading it up. We got to start making it a little bit harder. We got to add a band, add some weights, change something about the movement, so now it brings you back into that 8 to 12 rep range again. And that's where we know we're really truly building the muscle strength there.
Katie Fogarty 18:04
Great tip, great tip. Okay, so this is for glutes. Are there, you mentioned back pain and the stats you shared were pretty astonishing about how many people are sort of suffering from different forms of back pain or will in the future if they're not experiencing it yet. What are other exercises or other sort of core body parts that we need to pay attention to, to make sure we don't fall into that number?
Megan Dahlman 18:29
A lot of it is your entire core. Core strength in general. So glutes are part of your core, they are absolutely a major piece of your core structure. They help to stabilize your trunk. And they help to make your your entire trunk and spine work better. But that's not the only part of your core. Your core has so much to it. I know a lot of women, when they think about training their core, they'll do a lot of ab exercises. Things like crunches and situps and things that just kind of fold, fold you up and really target those abs. But your core is, of course those glutes like which we talked a lot about, but also your diaphragm is actually one of your largest core muscles. And it is a major aspect of your core, is a good big breathing muscle. And then on the opposite side of your core from that is your pelvic floor. And that, and I know a lot of women right now just listening they, their ears perked up the moment I said pelvic floor. So pelvic floor is a huge aspect of your core. And then we have everything that kind of wraps around, if you picture kind of the shape of like a big coffee can, if you've got your diaphragm at the top, your pelvic floor at the bottom, you've got your, you know, your your six pack muscles on the front and then you've got your obliques kind of on the side, then you have muscles along the back that got big, fancy names too, and then you've got layers of muscles on the inside. And so training your core, a lot of these deep core muscles connect directly to your lumbar spinal segments. And if we can get those stronger, then we have lumbar spinal segments, which were never designed to move a lot. So unfortunately, if you're doing a lot of training that has a lot of flexing, twisting, bending at the lumbar spine, you're probably going to, like get a lot of back pain. Your lumbar spine is meant to be very, very stable, steady and not move a lot. So building up your strength of your core muscles, helps to stabilize your lumbar spine. So that when you find yourself in movements, where you're bending over or picking something up, your deep core muscles, engage, hold steady, and make sure that those vertebrae don't slide or shift out of position. And that is huge for improving and preventing back injuries in general.
Katie Fogarty 20:55
You make it sound so simple, which I love. I love, I mean, you're, you have such a great way of describing the body parts. I am like, following along, I'm tracking, you've gotten me inspired. And you know, it does seem like, but it's hard in practice, at least it is for me, to do sort of these different core exercises. I love to exercise and I love to do things like racquet sports and yoga and I've been doing strength training. But what I don't love to do is anything around my midsection. Planks are kind of challenging. Walk us through, you know, for those of us who are committing in 2024, I mean I picked up weight training because I because I'm a podcaster. I've had enough guests come on the show to talk to me about the importance of weight training for muscle, you know, for muscle health, for the health of your bones, as a fat burning engine. And I listened. So I've been incorporating weightlifting in my life.
Megan Dahlman 21:54
Good good.
Katie Fogarty 21:54
But I'm ready now, I'm finally ready to do what I don't want to do, which is work on my core. And for all the listeners who are thinking, Yes, this is the year I'm going to work on it, where would you have us begin?
Megan Dahlman 22:09
Well, it definitely begins with understanding the importance of it. I think you're right, it's easy to gloss over and be like, well, you know, I don't really care about having a six pack anyway, that ship has sailed, I'm just not going to worry about it. I'll work on my shoulders, or I'll work on my calves, or those other body parts I care a little bit more about. And I think understanding that if you do not have a strong core, you will, like there's no getting around it, you will have issues. You just will. And so if you don't have issues now, you just will, and if you already have issues with your back, or your hips, or your pelvic floor, or even your shoulders, having a stronger core can resolve so many of those issues. So to keep it really, really, really simple, I'll give you three exercises. Just three.
Katie Fogarty 22:58
Yes, that sounds perfect.
Megan Dahlman 23:00
Okay, we already talked about one of them. That glute bridge. Okay, we already did that one, put that on your list, okay. The second one I would have you do is breathing exercises. And I know this sounds like so woowoo or just silly, like what would that do. But like I tried to tell you earlier, the diaphragm is absolutely connected to your deep abdominal muscles. In fact, most, like even your hip flexor attaches up through your diaphragm, which is bonkers to me. So even learning how to breathe properly, can release a lot of tension and issues at your hip flexors in your low back. So if all you did each day was practice some good deep belly breathing where you just placed your thumb on your bottom most rib. So you just kind of took your thumb and felt your bottom most rib and placed the rest of your fingers on your belly. Just think about as you inhale, think about bulging your belly, so you're kind of expanding your belly and then as you exhale and push the air out. Keep pushing the air out with your mouth like through your mouth, push, push, push, push, push until you feel your core muscles contract inward on themselves to get all of the air out. And now you suddenly have a really great connection to all of your deep, most important core muscles. Plus, in that moment, we can also do a good gentle pelvic floor Kegel contraction. It works better if you coordinate it with your diaphragm. So, great way to train those deep innermost core muscles. So breathing is a simple, easy thing that you can do. It obviously has tons, millions of other health benefits of lowering your stress and yatta yatta yatta, like so many other things. So add that to your list.
Katie Fogarty 24:47
Megan, I love this. First of all, you had me at easy because that's, you know, I'd like an easy button. And you're reminding me that I had a wonderful pelvic floor therapist on, Dr. Anne Collins Duch, who came on and she also talked about breathing exercises as as being so important for your pelvic canister, and I have not prioritized them. And, but this is my commitment to myself for 2024. My question for you is, are we sitting, standing, or laying down when we're doing these breathing exercises? Or does it not matter?
Megan Dahlman 25:16
All positions.
Katie Fogarty 25:17
Okay.
Megan Dahlman 25:17
It doesn't matter. It does, but it doesn't. I recommend all positions, because when you're laying down, you're going to feel it slightly different than when you're sitting down and you have pressure on your bottom, that's going to feel a little different versus when you're standing. So I do recommend practicing it in each position. Even sideline like lying on your side, that's going to feel a little funky too. So practice in each position, just do about 10 breaths, maybe eight to 10 breaths, and just start to get that sensation of inhaling and filling up a balloon and then exhaling and feeling that balloon kind of contract and push the air out. So that's the second exercise. So we've got our glute bridges, we've got 10 breaths. Third exercise, and this is what you're going to want to do laying on your back. And keeping it easy, right, we're actually in the same position as those bridges, we're just not lifted up. So feet are planted, you're on your back, I want you to think about doing a pelvic tuck. So this is all you're going to do here is just tuck your tailbone under. And what it does in that moment is it presses your low back against the floor. And you actually get a gentle core contraction in that moment. It's like a very mini crunch without actually crunching. We're not changing the shape of your torso here. We're just tucking your tailbone under, and then releasing, and then tucking your tailbone under, and then releasing. I just call these pelvic tucks. So we can coordinate that with the breath that you just were practicing. So the way I like to coordinate that, you can just think, okay, tuck my tailbone under, feel my back, like pressed against the floor, and it will feel like that little arch that you have at your low back just suddenly disappeared, and it went flat. So your back is flat against the floor. And then exhale, like do that breath, that push the air out, exhale in that position. Exhale, exhale, like keep push, push, push, push all the air out. And then release everything. Like release the tuck, release, inhale, and you're going to feel like Whoa, my core is suddenly like, alive. And it's, it's paying attention. What's genius about this, so if you were to do 10 of those and you just kind of cycle through, okay, glute bridges, breathwork, pelvic tucks, glute bridges, breathwork, pelvic tucks, the moment you go to do a plank, like you flip over, now you're on your elbows, you do a plank, your body's like, hello, we now know what to do. We know how to not sag, cause that's the biggest thing in the plank.
Katie Fogarty 25:17
Yes.
Megan Dahlman 27:48
By knowing how to tuck your pelvis, exhale and pull, as you exhale you're pulling your belly kind of up, compressing it inward almost like a corset is getting tightened around your belly, and your glutes know how to engage because actually with a plank, those glutes better be, they better be working, because if your glutes are not engaging, it's going to be a really ugly, sloppy plank. So now these three like simple basic core exercises are now going to transfer to pretty much every single other exercise you find yourself doing.
Katie Fogarty 28:20
I love this, and again, you make it seem so doable. And I hope that everyone who's listening, at the end of the show, I'm going to have you direct listeners to your Instagram. But Megan shares a lot of this on her social feeds. And it's so, you're describing it beautifully over audio, but it's so helpful to see you doing this in action. You've got a lot of great reels, and it makes it so easy. You shared at the top of the show that you really wanted to focus on functional fitness, you recognize that fitness should be something that's easy, that we can incorporate into our real life, you don't need to be necessarily at a gym. When I was on your Instagram, I noticed that you shared a reel about two stretches to do on walks. And this is what really makes me love the content that you share because I love to walk and these were great easy ideas that anyone can be incorporating. Can you walk our listeners through these simple stretches to do on an everyday walk?
Megan Dahlman 29:16
Yeah, the stretches that you're probably thinking of, I mean, there's a million things you could potentially do on a walk, but the ones that I find that seem to make your body just feel instantly good on a walk is a standing hamstring stretch. So what you're gonna do with this one is just stand up straight, take your right leg and kind of kick it out in front of you. So you touch that heel to the ground out in front of you. And then from that position, you're just going to push your booty back like kind of sit back into like an imaginary barstool. And that will pull, like from your heel cap all the way up to your sit bone, a really nice stretch all the way up the backside of your thigh. And even your calf if your calf is really tight, so that's really nice for kind of the back side of your leg as you're walking, because that's working pretty hard as you walk. And then for the front side, is a standing hip flexor stretch. So you kind of want to get yourself in a slightly staggered position. So you're going to have one foot slightly more forward than the other, that's going to be the back hip that we're we're trying to stretch here, the front of that back hip. So if it's your right leg that's slightly back, the best way to get the stretches is, once again, we're going to tuck that pelvis down. So a pelvic tilt, which you already know how to do from your good core training. You got to tuck that pelvis down, we're going to squeeze that right glute and it's actually going to push that hip flexor into a really nice stretch. And that releases those hip flexors that tend to get really overworked when you go for long walks. So those two right there, just doing that standing hamstring stretch, standing hip flexor stretch, can really ease a lot of tension you might feel when you're going on long walks.
Katie Fogarty 30:56
Yeah, I love that. And it looks so, when I was watching it on the reel, I'm like, I need to incorporate this into my life because it looks so delicious to sort of release those tight muscles. You also share ideas for releasing tight muscles when we're sitting at desks, you know, because that is -
Megan Dahlman 31:12
Yeah.
Katie Fogarty 31:13
- this is the modern life that we live. It's, our lives are somewhat sedentary compared to our ancestors. And we do spend a lot of time sitting and I know I do a lot of desk work myself. Can you walk us through a couple of simple stretches that listeners can be incorporating, that you can do in your office, that you don't need to be at a gym for?
Megan Dahlman 31:31
Yeah, definitely. I'll give you a couple that you can do while you're just sitting like without ever having to get up. So you can, I do these on Zoom calls. You know, when you're having to be in front of like a microphone, you can't like walk around the room. These are great you can do. One of my favorite ones is for your shoulders. And I like to call this a cactus stretch. So you're just going to create like a cactus shape with your arms, like arms like in a goalpost position, so your hands are pointing up to the sky and your elbows are bent to about 90 degree bend. And all you're going to do is just squeeze your elbows back. So it almost like pushes your chest forward as you squeeze your elbows back. And that just feels like magic.
Katie Fogarty 32:09
I'm doing it right now, Megan.
Megan Dahlman 32:10
Doesn't that feel good?
Katie Fogarty 32:11
It feels amazing. I'm doing it right now. It feels terrific.
Megan Dahlman 32:15
Yeah, and it draws some of that energy and blood flow into your upper back muscles, which tend to be like sloped and drooped forward so much when we sit. So it releases tension on the front, so we're getting the flexibility on the front, and we're strengthening the back side. So that kind of pulls us back to that PSF framework I told you earlier, okay, we got some flexibility work there, we've got some strength, and we're kind of correcting our posture. So cactus arms, add that to your desk list. The second one that you can do while you're sitting there is a figure four stretch. And if you have a torn piriformis right now this one might not feel very good for you. Because the piriformis is kind of the primary muscle that we're releasing tension on when we do a figure four stretch. So the way to get this one good though, is come to the front edge of your chair, you don't have to stand up but just come to the front edge of your chair and cross your ankle over your opposite knee. So kind of a classic like cross legged position, but with your knee kind of flopped open to the side. So you're kind of creating that shin bone is parallel with the floor. A lot of people are familiar with this. But often what it does when you instantly get into this position is your bum wants to really tuck under and you just don't get as good of a stretch. So find yourself in that position but then sit up really tall and almost arch your back out behind you. So kind of tip your tailbone out behind you, so the opposite of tucking under and whoosh like just that alone, you are going to feel that hip socket get pulled into a really nice easy stretch that does wonders for releasing especially those deep hip socket muscles that carry a lot of tension from sitting. So figure four stretch, cactus stretch.
Katie Fogarty 33:59
I'm doing all of these right now I'm saying it really feels wonderful. And it's, to me it's, you know, it's surprising to me how tough it is on your body to be sitting. You would think it's the opposite like sitting feels like the ultimate relaxation. But it's not, you know, it's tightening things up in ways that are causing pain. I'm doing your figure four thing right now and it feels amazing. I hope our listeners are giving it a try, unless you're driving a car in which case I want both your feet on the floor.
Megan Dahlman 34:31
Good. And you hit the nail on the head. I mean sitting for long periods of time and really being in any single position for a long period of time, it's all going to cause your body to just be cranky, no matter what. So it's not that sitting is so brutal for your body, it's just that doing it for so many hours a day, that's what becomes tough on your body. Same with if you were standing for long periods of time, that would be challenging on your body too. So it's really just being in one position for a long stretch of time. That's what can be so debilitating to your body.
Katie Fogarty 35:05
Absolutely. Megan, we're going to be heading into our speed round shortly. But I do want to ask you about weight training before we do.
Megan Dahlman 35:13
Okay.
Katie Fogarty 35:13
I just shared, you know, in this episode that I picked it up myself over the last few years because I've heard from so many people how important it is for musculoskeletal health and for people who are looking for that nudge to make 2024 the year that they prioritize it, you know, how do you get somebody, how do you help somebody jumpstart a weightlifting routine?
Megan Dahlman 35:35
Well, my answer is probably going to surprise you.
Katie Fogarty 35:38
We like surprises.
Megan Dahlman 35:40
Good, good. I actually don't recommend starting with weights. It's so distracting. So I recommend that if strength training and weightlifting in general is your ultimate goal. There are many ways to start doing strength training and resistance training in ways that are easier to step into. And not confusing. So do you ever watch that show America's Funniest Home Videos?
Katie Fogarty 36:08
Yes.
Megan Dahlman 36:08
My boys love it. Okay, AFV. There's always this segment on the show where there's like exercising mishaps. And it's almost always when there's equipment, you know, some band that someone accidentally lets go of and it snaps in their face, or they're on an exercise ball and it flips over, you know, something crazy like that. It's almost always because this is someone who's trying to understand how to move their body, they're learning how to hip hinge for the first time, when you also put a piece of equipment in their hands. Now we got a lot of things to try to think about. And you're going to do neither of the things very well. And this is where we end up with a lot of injuries, we get, you know, tennis elbow, because your death gripping that weight so hard, you're afraid to let it go. Because you're trying to think about other things, we get a lot of neck injuries. So my recommendation if you want to start strength training, which I, yes, you got to we have to move in that direction. Don't start with weights yet. Let's start with body weight only strength training. And everything I just mentioned today does not require any equipment whatsoever. The amount of exercises at your disposal that don't use any equipment yet, that you can start to learn how to move your body through full ranges of motion with strength with core control by adding that exhale, by engaging your core as you do that. There, we need to start there. So I recommend that you spend three months, like spend three months just learning how to strength train with your own bodyweight first before you ever put any equipment in your hands. And then once we get there, once I hand you a dumbbell, you're gonna be like, I got this. I know, I already know how to squat. I already know how to hip hinge. I already know how to do this exercise and this exercise. Now I can really think about how to hold a dumbbell well, I can I can move it well, I can hold a band, I can do the things and do them properly without feeling overwhelmed. So that's where I recommend people starting, is not with weights yet.
Katie Fogarty 38:09
I love that recommendation. I think that's so smart to sort of master the movements before you, you know, add weight. Super smart. I have a, I have a recommendation, which is that people should be following your Instagram account. Can you share that with our listeners before we move into our speed round?
Megan Dahlman 38:27
Yep, it's just @megandahlman. Yep, just go to search my name and everything I show on there does not use any equipment. And it shows you core stuff, it shows you stuff that you can do right now today. Everything I just described on the show right now is demonstrated there for you.
Katie Fogarty 38:45
It's a fantastic resource. Everyone needs to go check it out. There's just a wealth of information and great easy to follow videos on there. And I will be tagging Megan in the shownotes. And I will also be sharing her social account on my own social media over at @acertainagepod. So check it out there. All right, we're moving into our speed round. This is just a kind of one to two word answers to end on a high note and cover a little bit more material before we have to say goodbye. So let's do this. This do-not-miss exercise is a key part of my daily routine:
Megan Dahlman 39:18
Pelvic tilts.
Katie Fogarty 39:19
I like it. Okay, surprise, this simple activity or exercise is a true core strength superhero:
Megan Dahlman 39:28
Oh, can I say the same?
Katie Fogarty 39:30
Pelvic tilts?
Megan Dahlman 39:32
Yeah. Pelvic tilts plus exhale. Those two together, if you put them together that's like, that is the superhero right there.
Katie Fogarty 39:39
All right. Well, you've convinced me, I'm giving this a try. Okay, okay. Even trainers need to work on their fitness. What is an exercise or fitness routine you keep meaning to add to your own workout?
Megan Dahlman 39:52
You actually stumped me there.
Katie Fogarty 39:54
Well, good. That, it sounds like you've got a robust, good, what about swimming? Do you, are you a swimmer? Because I've had some swimmers on the show.
Megan Dahlman 40:04
I am not a swimmer. I've just, I'm not a fan of water. I tend to float, like to float in a tube maybe. Oh my gosh. I mean, I can't -
Katie Fogarty 40:19
Like a lazy river, right?
Megan Dahlman 40:21
Like a lazy river, yeah. And I mean, honestly, my favorite is doing a balance of weightlifting. I do weightlifting about three days a week, balancing that with good mobility work like a good yoga routine. And then I go for like 30 minute hikes every day. I think if I could hike -
Katie Fogarty 40:38
That's like the dream workout by the way, Megan, you don't need to add anything. You've covered all the bases. I would love, I love yoga, and I'm committed weight training, so I know it's so important. So you already have your routine. How about this one, maybe this one's easier. This muscle building super food is always in my grocery cart:
Megan Dahlman 40:49
Protein.
Katie Fogarty 40:49
Nice.
Megan Dahlman 40:51
I always, yeah. Any kind of protein, I'm not picky. Protein and vegetables are always on the list.
Katie Fogarty 41:07
Love it. How about this, sitting or standing desks? This is a recommendation.
Megan Dahlman 41:13
Both.
Katie Fogarty 41:13
Okay. At home weight training or the gym? I think I know the answer to this one.
Megan Dahlman 41:19
At home. At home, you're more likely to do it if you don't have to go anywhere.
Katie Fogarty 41:23
So true. As I said earlier, we love an easy button. Okay, finally your one word answer to complete this sentence, as I age I feel:
Megan Dahlman 41:32
Strong.
Katie Fogarty 41:33
Nice. This has been such a treat. I'm so excited to be kicking off 2024 with you. Listeners have probably heard me say this before, but one of the best things about having a podcast is getting to ask fascinating women questions that I want to know for myself. Thank you for helping me think through how to better care for my piriformis muscles in the future and how to take care of my glutes. I am adding those glute bridges to my routine and I will be practicing my pelvic tilts. This has been so terrific. Before we say goodbye, how can our listeners keep following you and your work?
Megan Dahlman 42:07
Definitely check out Instagram and then I've got a biweekly podcast too. So, Self Care Simplified. I release two episodes every week. So everybody listening is already a podcast listener, so you can check me out there. And then if anybody wants to do a free core routine that I have, just go to fivedaycore.com. You can grab my five day core tune up, so it's everything I just talked about.
Katie Fogarty 42:28
Phenomenal. Love it. All of that is going in the show notes. Thank you so much. This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. And before I say goodbye, a quick favor: I would love it if you could take five minutes to write an Apple podcast review. We are closing in on 200 reviews. I hope you can help us get there. Did you learn something on today's show that you plan to add to your own life? Do you feel more seen and supported? If so please take five minutes to rate a review over on Apple podcasts. Special thanks to Michael Mancini who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time and until then, age boldly beauties!