 Like it or not, a number of changes happen to our bodies as we age. They are a natural part of living life and include a combination of age-related structural, biochemical and physiological changes. Some of these changes are inevitable, however how we live our lives, including how much activity and exercise we do, has a huge influence on the speed and extent of these changes.
We all know exercise is good for us and has lots of benefits to our health. Perhaps less well known are the benefits of strength training (resistance training), which are fortunately now becoming more widely researched and promoted. Perhaps even less well known are the benefits of strength training specifically for older adults. Strength training has multiple health and lifestyle benefits for older adults. So much so that in our opinion, it should be a mandatory prescription from your doctor. Let’s explore why… What happens to our bodies when we age?
All of the changes above can have huge consequences. Some are inevitable with aging, others have environmental and genetic risk factors which also play a role. The changes in our muscles and bones cause slowing down, aches and pains, making performing our normal daily activities such as walking, climbing stairs and household tasks more difficult. It also puts you at an increased risk of falling over, and of serious injury such as fractures if you do. Ultimately, older adults with low muscle mass and bone density are at a higher risk of a poor quality of life, loss of independence and even an earlier death. The levels of muscle mass and strength loss varies in different people. Generally we are at our peak maximum physical capacity between 20-30 years old. Our muscle mass then starts to gradually decline until we are about 50 years old, after which the decline starts to happen more rapidly. Studies have shown that strength loss can occur as fast as 15% per decade after our 50s. Though, the level of loss and rate of decline varies in different people because of a variety of factors including lifestyle, genetics and the presence of other conditions or diseases. Hearing all of this can sound very scary. It can make the changes happening to our bodies in aging seem beyond our control. But that’s far from the truth. The power of strength training Not all of the changes listed above are inevitable with aging. There is evidence to show that a large amount of the decline in muscle strength seen in aging is due to inactivity and disuse. A number of other studies now show that these changes can actually be reversed too. We can slow these changes down, we can reduce the loss of muscle and bone density and even improve it as we age. We therefore can take ownership and control of our bodies in aging. Unfortunately, there is no magic medication, but there is something you can do in exercise and, more specifically, strength training. It just involves a little more effort than taking a pill every morning. That being said, strength training can also actually be more enjoyable and has many more benefits than just improving your muscle mass or bone density. What are the benefits of strength training for older adults?There is very clear evidence for the benefits of strength training in older adults to improve muscle strength, mass and functioning, as well as increase bone density. Strength training induces muscle growth, improves muscle mass and increases muscle strength. It makes your muscles stronger, more powerful and keeps them doing their very important job in allowing you to do all the functional things you want to do in your life. Whether that be walking around pain free to go to the shops and see friends, looking after your children and grandchildren, going on long bike rides and country walks, playing sports or even running marathons. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the significant benefits of strength training for all age groups (improved muscle and bone health, improved body composition and fat loss, prevention of a huge number of chronic and preventable diseases, improved energy levels and mood). These benefits are increasingly important as we age. Performed regularly, 2 or 3 times a week, strength training specifically in older adults has been shown to:
The list goes on and on… so the real question is, when are you going to get started? Starting strength training as an older adult can sound like a scary prospect, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need to do it at the gym with heavy weights (though you absolutely can do), it can be something carried out in your home with little or no equipment. Browse our website to learn more, or get in touch for personalized 1:1 coaching. - Coach Kayli
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Blog Post by Coach Julie**Please Note: This is my journey. The protocol that I am following is individualized to my situation. I am not a doctor nor am I offering medical advice. Should you wish to seek coaching for your individual situation please fill out the coaching call application and Coach Kayli or I would love to help you.  This is going to be the beginning of a blog series that will also have podcast episodes and social media posts to supplement it. This series will be a case study and a documentary of my journey to better gut health. I have been on a mission since 2008 to figure out what was wrong with my gut and fix it so that I could have a better quality of life. I had not been successful finding answers regarding what was wrong with my gut so that I could start the process of healing and getting better. Now, in 2022, 14 years later, I have the answers I need, the coach to guide me and support me and the protocol that will hopefully put me in the place of healing and a normal functioning quality of life. Through this series I will outline my journey. What we are doing, why we are doing it and how I am doing with the process. At this point, not even I know if the method I have in place will work, but I’m going to document each step and any changes we make along the way.
Let me start by giving you the backstory. In 2008, I started having severe diarrhea. It was so bad, I couldn’t control my bowels. I would have diarrhea as soon as I woke up and it would continue until almost dinner time. It didn’t matter what I ate. I was always sick. My doctor at the time ran a bunch of lab tests to try and diagnose an issue. All labs were normal. I was negative for Crohns’, Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac, etc. They couldn’t find anything abnormal. There was nothing they could do. I couldn’t function at a normal capacity. I couldn’t work and I had to do my college coursework via email. This persisted until around 2011. In 2011, after a procedure by my chiropractor to close my ileocecal valve, the diarrhea stopped. The ileocecal valve is a valve in your intestinal tract that can get stuck open and cause what’s called “dumping syndrome.” After the diarrhea stopped, I began feeling a little bit better, but I had started having nausea. I returned to the doctor. The doctor had previously run abdominal sonograms and ultrasounds but found nothing of note. At the time she had mentioned a test called a HIDA scan to check the function of the gallbladder. This test requires you to lay still on a bed for an extended period of time, which I knew I would not be able to do without getting sick. Now that the diarrhea had resolved, I asked if we could discuss the HIDA scan again. We decided that would be a good course of action. The test showed that my gallbladder was only working at 7%. The gallbladder is usually removed at 50%, it should have been removed a long time ago, but since I didn’t have gallstones and I wasn’t full of sludge and uninsured, I wasn’t an emergent case. I knew part of the key to feeling better would be removing the gallbladder. I borrowed money from my grandmother to pay for my surgery. In December 2011, I had my gallbladder removed and I asked for an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy at the same time to check for other issues. While they were removing my gallbladder, it actually ruptured. It was actually full of sludge. Coming out of surgery, I felt much better. I had to avoid certain foods but I felt much better than I had in a long time. I was able to proceed with a better quality of life than I had the 3 years prior to. I also used this as an opportunity to stop smoking. In 2015, I had a flare up of diarrhea again that wouldn’t stop. I was even hospitalized and given strong medications to help the condition, but instead of healing, I ended up with C. Diff, which is a horrible bacterial infection in your bowels. I sought help from a GI specialist. Without running any tests, the doctor handed me a prescription for a very high powered anti-diarrheal medication and told me to be careful. He said some people end up with obstructive bowels after using that medication. I decided I would start with half a tablet per day and slowly increase until I found the dose that worked for me. That seemed to work ok. But I wasn’t satisfied with using a pill to mask a symptom. Something had to be causing the diarrhea. I sought the help of another GI specialist in 2016. He completed a colonoscopy and found nothing of significance. He found a had a tortuous colon, which means that I have a sharper bend in my colon than most people so things sometimes don’t move through as smoothly as they should, which can cause pain. Again, an answer but not quite the answer. I finally was able to get into a specialist program at KU. I was pretty sure that would be my ticket to wellness. KU is supposed to be the gold standard of treatment. On the day of my appointment my doctor came in and said that I had IBS and I needed to continue to use the medication for the diarrhea but because it was causing a little bit of constipation, I needed to add a laxative to that as well. That was not an answer. Those medications counteract each other. I left very displeased. I have been able to manage my condition so far with diet and exercise, but I still have cramping, pain, bloating, constipation, fatigue and just overall feeling of malaise. I have been living this way since 2016. I struggle with anxiety and depression which could very much be caused by this constant ill feeling. Toward the end of 2020, I started pushing again to find the answers to my gut issues. My doctor and I ran so many tests. Finally a stool test showed that I had pancreatic insufficiency. I was elated. Finally an answer that wasn’t “it’s all in your head” or “it’s your anxiety.” They prescribed me a pancreatic enzyme to correct this issue. It seemed to work really well, I was feeling pretty good, but I started feeling more constipated than before. I decided to try and stop my anti-diarrhea medication. I was able to stop that and feel ok. No diarrhea returned and I was feeling ok, not quite great yet. I saw another gut health specialist at KU in December 2021. This doctor hadn’t looked over my medical records that he required before he would see me. He had to ask me what lab testing had been done and after telling him what my test showed and my diagnosis he told me “that is a trash can diagnosis.” He wanted to put me under anesthesia to prove the other doctor wrong and that my pancreas was fine. He said you have IBS and I am going to give you medication for constipation but it may cause diarrhea. This time I actually spoke up for myself. I told him I wasn’t interested in taking another medication and ending up back where I was. I have been chasing my tail for over a decade now. His solution was to take peppermint oil, which I wasn’t super happy with but at least it was natural. After this disappointing appointment, my wife and I decided to seek the help of a functional medicine doctor. I was getting nowhere so it was time to change the path. I saw the new doctor in January. She gave me a great plan of action but the testing was going to cost me around $700 out of pocket to figure out what was going on, but she thought I had a parasite. The issue is, the tests she wanted me to complete weren't for the gut. I wanted my gut addressed, I wasn’t in a place where I wanted to mess with everything else first. I mentioned all of this stress to my nutrition and fitness coach, who, like Coach Kayli and I, is a gut health speciailst. He stated that he thought that he and I could do this together for less money and less invasive. I agreed. This is where we are now. I ordered a GI MAP test online. The mail you the testing materials, you complete the stool test and mail it back to the lab. My results were back within 2 weeks. The results showed high inflammation, H.Pylori and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.) These are things that can be healed and treated. Brandon and I have come up with a protocol that we think will work. The protocol is coming from his experience and his wide network of other coaches and specialists that have completed this protocol before. The protocol I am following has also been reviewed by a functional medicine doctor and my primary medical provider. They approve of the protocol and are supervising me throughout this journey. This is very much a collaboration as everyone involved has been given the lab results and the protocol and knows where we are every step of the way. The first phase of this journey that is required is the diet. Before we can do anything, we have to prepare the gut for treatment. Temporarily changing my diet will help reduce inflammation which will not only help me feel better but also make my gut more susceptible to the treatment. The diet changes I am implementing are moving toward gluten free and low FODMAP diets. We are also cutting out caffeine and alcohol, although I don’t drink. I will need to eat 3 to 4 hours apart to allow the gut time to recover and digest each meal. I will also be reducing the amount of intensity and frequency of training. The body needs to dedicate the energy to healing the gut so I will be lifting 3 days per week and not exceeding 7 RPE/3 RIR. No high intensity cardio, only walks, yoga and mobility. I will also be taking 10 minute walks after meals to aid in digestion. I have also started peppermint oil to help soothe the GI tract and Saccharomyces Boulardii. S. Boulardii is a good bacteria that acts as a probiotic in the gut. This is used to help boost intestinal immunity and also helps with diarrhea. I will also be starting a colostrum supplement. This will be used to help repair the gut lining and make it stronger so that it can treat the H.Pylori infection. I have not received the colostrum supplement but I have received the S. Bouldarii. I started it on Saturday March 19th. I have tolerated it well. I am having some cramping but it isn’t terrible. No diarrhea or vomiting. My diet changes have started but I am not fully at gluten free or low FODMAP quite yet. It’s a gradual process and I had some groceries that I needed to finish so they didn’t go to waste. I seem to be doing well so far. I will start the colostrum as soon as I receive it. I will continue to move the diet toward gluten free and low FODMAP and will take the two supplements for 2 weeks. After two weeks, if I’ve handled the protocol well so far, we will progress to phase 2, but that phase will be dictated by my progress over these 2 weeks.  These photos were taken 1 year apart from each other. Since becoming a coach/trainer so many people have confessed their deepest and darkest struggles with me.
I feel extremely blessed knowing people feel comfortable enough to be honest & open with me about their current hardships with weight, self-confidence, anxiety, etc. because by doing so it has allowed me to help them reach far beyond their initial goals. Because of this I would like to share one of my own past struggles that still comes back to haunt me today. At 10 years old, I suffered from my first eating disorder. It all started when I had fallen ill with strep throat and my throat became very irritated and swollen. I remember that morning clear as day. I was getting ready to take a bath and was finishing my blueberry Pop-Tart on the side of the bathtub before getting in. Being a hyperactive kid, even while sick, I was rushing to finish my Pop-Tart when I began to choke. Terror set in immediately! I couldn’t breathe. I began to panic, jumping up from the side of the tub not knowing what to do. Thankfully my Grandmother was close by in the hallway and saw the look of terror and my hands at my throat and she knew immediately what was happening. My frail, 75 year old grandmother rushed over to me and saved my life. I wouldn’t be here today if she had not been there. Little did she or I know that this would be the catalyst to my eating disorder. From that day, I went close to 8 months without swallowing a single bite of solid food. Even the mere thought of attempting to swallow food would send me into a panic. Being 10 years old, a shy child, and a poor communicator, I struggled to get my parents to understand what I was going through. My mother blamed herself. I could see the look of sadness daily in my father’s eyes as my body began to waste away. For a short time, I was still allowed to go to school. I had to see our counselor at 10am daily to talk to him and drink a meal replacement shake. Next was lunch, where I would have to sit on a stool isolated from everyone to choke down another shake. This was due to me bribing kids with a candy bar my grandmother always packed to “accidentally” spill my shake at lunch so didn’t have to drink it. My grandmother thought I would eat the bar if I let it melt in my mouth, which I never did. These shakes would take me so long to drink I would never get time to go outside to play. Think about being 10 years old and how much recess meant to you?! As the months went on, I started to become weaker and weaker. My mood started to diminish and I had very little energy to do anything. I could no longer go to school most days. I spent most of my days under a big homemade quilt with my best friend Ricco (my border collie). Every two weeks, my parents and I would make the drive up to Menninger’s Mental Health Hospital in Topeka, KS to see a psychiatric specialist to try and figure out what was going on with me. They had already run all the physical tests, things like scopes and barium x-rays to make sure nothing physically was wrong with me. I swear I was radioactive that year from all the tests and x-rays I completed. From what I can remember of these sessions, they included lots of crying and arguing from my parents with me repeating the same thing I always did, “ I’m afraid to eat”, “No, I don’t think I’m fat”, “Yes I want to eat”. Let’s just say these visits didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Fast forward to about month seven. The only thing I was able to consume were liquid shakes, Carnation Instant Breakfast shakes, to be specific. To this day I have not and will never drink another one of those. These were not giving me the fuel or nutrition I needed to survive. I was about 5,5” in 5th grade and was now weighing in around 65 pounds. The doctors finally told my parents that soon, as soon as two weeks possibly, my body would begin to shut down. Their only option would be to admit me into a recovery program in Topeka where I would be monitored 24/7 and if they couldn’t get me to eat, I would then have a feeding tube inserted. The thought of trying to eat terrified me, but the thought of being taken away from my home and family terrified me even more. I was a complete disaster days before I was to be admitted, crying and trying to talk them out of taking me. My grandmother came to my rescue yet again. She talked my parents into letting her try something and if it worked they would hold off on admitting me into the hospital. My grandmother knew me better than anyone and knew how to get my attention. She explained very calmly, in a voice only a grandmother can have, that I only had two options from here. She told me in order for me to get better I would either have to be admitted into that hospital alone, with only the hospital staff around me, hooked up to different machines in order to keep me alive or I could trust her and attempt to eat and swallow just 1 little macaroni noodle with her right behind me just in case something happened. She told me she saved me once and she would do it again. She promised she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me and if I did this and then continued to add things little by little each day I wouldn’t have to go to the scary hospital. She convinced me, I opted to try to get that tiny noodle down. I remember my hand shaking as I lifted it to my mouth asking her if she was ready, just in case. I chewed, and chewed, and chewed, and then finally swallowed. The action felt so foreign to me. It had been so long since I had chewed anything. But I did it! I had finally gotten it down, no problem at all. Which I’m sure came as no surprise to my grandmother. I turned around to see a smile of pure joy on her face and as soon as the shock of actually swallowing something went away, I was just as happy! I slowly started to add different foods back into my diet again and continued to grow stronger and healthier day by day. By the time the next school year rolled around, it was almost like nothing had happened. To this day though I am extremely careful when eating and if you ever dine with me, I am always the last person finished. I eat very slowly, making sure to chew my food a set number of times. After experiencing everything I did though, I think I can handle a little OCD. Haha. I know my eating disorder is quite a unique one but I do hope I can help others feel safer sharing their own struggles. You will never receive judgement from me, we all have different hardships that we have had to overcome and that makes us who we are today. I know I am a stronger woman today because of this and of course from the quick actions of my beloved grandmother. If you need someone to listen to your story, I can be that person for you. I would be blessed to be part of your journey. |
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