70 & Strength Training a Priority

Sheree
And us today, I am interviewing one of our lovely clients. So Jeanine is joining us today. Jeanine, just tell us how old you are.

Janine
Or how young. Sixty-five in a couple of weeks.

Sheree
Yeah, it's a great age to be. And I know that you think it is.

Janine
Absolutely.

Sheree
So Janine, you'll have to excuse... Well, for you out there, have to excuse Jeanine. She's got a bit of sweat. She's just running on a hot day from doing all this work at her husband's workplace, I'm assuming. So she's just zipped in, and we're going to get straight into this. So Jeanine, I want to ask you, what first made you think about doing strength training?

Janine
Well, it all started three and a half, four years ago with my mother, who was... Dad was really losing mobility terribly, and mom was not much better. And I really wanted to help her get stronger and have a go at getting stronger myself. And I heard about Spice Fitness.

Sheree
So how did you hear about Spice Fitness?

Janine
That was actually word of mouth from people People who I worked with at the time in a school. And the key point for me was, apart from the fact that you were local, was that you're a nurse. And so bringing my 83-year-old mother at that stage, I think I could trust that you would be able to carefully help her get fitter.

Sheree
I like that. I'm just going to make sure your little microphone is yet. That all looks good. That is great because I think that is a bit like has So not on my plan to talk to you about this, but that's a big difference, I guess, Janine, between somebody who's young or not so much young, but has just done a six month online course and comes out and goes, I know it all, as compared to somebody that maybe knows a bit more about the body and how it functions and what to do with it.

Janine
Well, you were able to have the two of us doing things and change it between Mom and I so that it was appropriate for us both.

Sheree
Yeah, you're right. I can recall when your mom first came in. How old was she at the time?

Janine
Look, I think it was either 82 or 83. Yeah.

Sheree
And I know that she wasn't moving so well, and there were so quite a few issues that we had to deal with. And so that was the bonus we could work. But I made you work a lot harder. I think you would have had more weights, bigger weights, And we would have done a lot more with you because I remember at the end of a session, you were quite... Yeah, you'd worked hard.

Janine
I actually remember being... Oh, we're one of the early classes that I went to at Spice Fitness, not with mom, but following on. I I actually remember having to lie down before the finish.

Sheree
So there you go. So it's great, isn't it? When you can have an instructor not work you all the same way, but know that all of your bodies are different and we can adapt things. And I know that you've changed, but we'll talk more about that in a minute. So I guess going on from talking about that, what are some benefits that you have felt yourself from strength training?

Janine
Okay. Well, I've always been the person that Every new year, not officially, but unofficially, I've said, yes, I'm going to get fitter next year. Yes, I'm going to get fitter. It hasn't been about weight for me because I have a average build, but just about heart fitness and strength.

I think I started with Spice Fitness about a year before I retired. And this is now three years I've been with you. And in In that three years, I did lose about 10 kilos. So you didn't mean to, but you just didn't- No, that's right. It wasn't actually a goal. I think it just happened because once I retired, I could be more active.

So I expect it was about that as well. I don't have pain in any... Not that I did, but I do a lot of physical activity now because my husband's business is shifting clays and glazers and 25 kilo bags of powder, which are soft and floppy and difficult to move.

And so I do a lot of that stuff for him, do the deliveries to schools and so on. And I can lift and carry things without any problem. So far That's so good.

Sheree
That is so cool. And if you've seen Janine, we went to her workplace, their workplace at one stage, and just watched her unloading and loading stuff onto the back of the truck and get ready to go. And they are huge bags. And it's just one after the other after the other. And you seem to haul them well. And I guess maybe also knowing how to lift safely.

Janine
Yes, that helps. I try and remember to bend properly and those sorts of things. The bags of clay are 10 to 15 kilos. And I might be moving 30 of them at a time.

Sheree
So even someone half your age, Jeanine, you find that a struggle.

Janine
Yeah, and I don't. It doesn't slow me down. I'm able to keep going. So it's really good.

Sheree
That is so cool. And I guess it's It's a great workout for you because your heart rate will be flying at the same time. I guess that is one thing I would say to you out there. If you're wondering whether to choose strength training or cardio, and you're just doing cardio, it's not enough because that's not Training your body to actually pick things up, is it? Whereas you're getting both. You're getting your strength training and cardio, and it relates into everyday life. And Jeanine, also, you're the main carer for your mom for quite a while, too. Did this all come in handy for that?

Janine
I was. That's a really good question.

Sheree
Yeah, I just thought about that then.

Janine
I think looking after someone with dementia actually makes me realize how important you have to keep working on your balance and your strength. And balance is just such a big one because when your mind starts to go in dementia, it stops running all sorts of things in your body properly. And so people are having falls and not know how to get up off the floor and all that thing.

Sheree
So So did you need to get your mom up and down off the toilet? Would it have looked that you had extra strength and that you were fit and strong? Because it takes a lot of energy to look after somebody that's not moving so well anymore.

Janine
Yes. I feel mom was the benefit of me hooking her up without any problem. Yeah. Got you.

Sheree
It helps to hoink someone up the bed and up in the chair and all that. And maybe even at times to get her off the toilet.

Janine
Yes. Oh, yes. I had to do all that.

Sheree
Yeah. So good on you. So Janine, because there's people out there that will be hearing this little time, our chat today, what would you say to somebody out there that is getting into their 50, 60, 70s, even older than that? What would you say to them if they've been thinking for a while? Because I know for a fact that many of you out there think about doing strength training for a long time, and you don't actually decide to do it until your body is falling apart.

Janine
What would you say to them? Well, It's never too late to start. And it's actually really important to look around for the thing that's going to be okay for you. Because for me, I tried going to the gym. I tried being a runner. That was lousy. I got a bad knee almost immediately. I tried just walking, which I know brisk walking is really good for you. Those things didn't really raise my level of strength. And I honestly think you For me, strength training has been the thing that I really would miss when I can't do it, and I really want value. So I don't think age is a barrier. And in fact, it probably is really important Wouldn't start in your middle age because things are going downhill. Things are going downhill. As you get older, it's harder to make muscle and to keep muscle. You've actually got to work at it to actually keep it there so that when When you are old, you can get up out of a chair or get up off the floor or those things that actually just reduce your quality of life enormously. And in the end, we'll see you into residential care and worse.

Janine
So you've got to put all of that off for as long as possible by being strong.

Sheree
So true. And there are statistics out there and studies that show that if you can't move well and you're really limited with your mobility and lack of strength, then you are going to die earlier. It is just a fact. And so if you can keep your body moving as you get older, and I agree with you, Jeanine, like 30s, we should all be doing strength training and I'm beyond that. But if you haven't done it in your 30s, 40s, in your 50, or 60, or 70, and you think, Can I start now? Can I make a change now? Absolutely. I know you can. You absolutely can. It's never too late. I've seen some things put on Instagram and Facebook where people have started in their late '70s, early '80s, started to get strong, and that totally transformed their lives as well. Absolutely. I agree with you. Start earlier if you can, but if you haven't already started, it's never too late. Would you agree with that, Janine?

Janine
A hundred %. It is definitely never too late. In fact, anything you can do will benefit you.

Sheree
Okay. So that will lead on to the next question, but I think we've already answered it. I was going to say to Janine, is age any barrier?

[Janine
It's not a barrier, but I think you probably just have to be more careful when you Start. Just to build up carefully. For lots of people, retirement actually will give you the chance to put in the time that you've perhaps been lacking.

Sheree
That is so true because when you're... You've still got young kids at home, you're busy running them off to sport, and then you've probably got elderly parents who you're looking after as well. And you don't have time for yourself. But it's great when you maybe get a tiny bit older because you're right, you're normally retired. You've got a bit more time to spend. And why spending If you're sitting in a chair? Why not actually move your body around? And that's the thing I'd like to add to that. You can do something one time a day, but if you can be active a fair bit of the day as well. So I know you are, Janine. You've just been out to your husband's workplace. And she'll be going to the strength training class tonight. So Jeanine has an active life. It's not a sedentary life. Do you sometimes sit in the chair, though, and read a book and enjoy?

Janine
Absolutely. No, I still enjoy doing that, too. And now that the weather, especially in winter, it's harder to get outside to do things. So now that the weather is picking up, it's really lovely to go for a walk in the morning and do those other things.

Sheree
So it's good to get out and about. But as you said before, walking as we get older is not enough. And I don't know how many clients I have come through my door where they've been seen by their consultant. People have been walking every day for all of their lives and walking long periods, sometimes 10Ks a day. And they're asking their doctor why they're in such pain. And their consultants have said, I know you swim, I know you walk, but you need to do strength training. I think it's almost an essential. So if you're not doing it, it's not really a should I, shouldn't I? You should. There really should be no choice. And it's just great to hear your story.

Janine
Just makes you happy as well. It does. You're right. To feel good. Yes.

Sheree
And don't you feel empowered when you can go to your husband's place?

Janine
Absolutely.

Sheree
If he said to you, Janine, can you unload all those bags? You go, Well, I can't. Give me something else to do. But you can actually go there. I can do it. Yeah, and you can do it and you feel good for it.

Janine
And in fact, he gets really cross if I do too much because it's his workout to unload and shift the clay and everything as well. So we're fighting it off. No, let me do that.

Sheree
That is so good. Janine, I was just going to say, do you feel that we as a society, particularly in our Westernised societies, look at ageing very badly? Because you see quite a few people around the world in poorer countries and stuff, they just keep going. They carry big bundles of sticks on their head, and I'm sure that their body keeps staying strong into old age. Do you think we could change our mindset?

Janine
I think the whole of society could change its mindset about old people as our generation becomes old people. I don't think we're lucky, the baby boomers. We've had really fortunate lives, and I feel we've been free to do so many things that maybe previous generations weren't, and we're living long and happy lives. So it's up to us now to change how old age is lived in a more positive way so that it's not seen as a huge burden on society. And if you want to keep working part-time or full-time, you can. And if you want to retire and do a lot of Gray Nomad travel, you can. I like that. Yeah. So I do think I don't know whether you can put off some of the problems of old age indefinitely, but you should be doing what you can.

Sheree
I think as a nurse, so I look after older people on wards, and I know I can see so many people with type 2 diabetes. That is One area, you can stay that off forever if your diet and get getting... Because do you know as we strength train, I don't know if you know this, Jeanine, but as we strength train, muscle is a very active tissue, unlike fat. Fat doesn't do that Not much, but muscle is active. So the more muscle we have, it's more of a boost to get to pump those sugars. Absolutely. And so it actually can take away a whole pile of different things. When I also see people in bed as a nurse And they can't get out of bed or move off the bed. Sometimes it's a simple training mechanism of saying, this is how you do it, because we forget. We forget that once upon a time we craw as babies, and not that we need to crawl everywhere, but we should be able to get down on the floor We'll crawl, get ourselves up, and actually imitate some of those movements we did as kids. So there are some things that can be totally transformed.

Sheree
I think we can stave off a lot of things.

Janine
I certainly think there's plenty of studies to show that more active people are healthier and live longer without as many of the problems. So you can't see yourself as bilateral knee replacements and hip replacements in the next couple Oh, no, absolutely not. Not to say, though. Not to say, if I've been sitting down for a while, like driving for quite a while or something, when I first get up, I look like the hips just takes like 10 steps for the hips to work in. But that's all the more reason to get up and do it every now and then so that you find yourself able to keep going. So old-age things will happen, but I just don't want them to happen as much.

Sheree
No, absolutely. And I talked to an exercise physiologist the other day who said if he was given all the funding because our government does a lot of funding towards surgery. He said if he was given that funding, he would probably prevent about 70 to 80 % of people going for knee or hip replacements. So I think that just shows how important that is. So Jeanine, do you stretch as well? After a hard day where you've been working, sticking the cement bags in and out. Do you have a stretch or do you forget?

Janine
Rats, yes. Well, if I have a little sore hip or feel like there's a little bit of a twinge somewhere, yes, I always stretch. And after strength training class, I really enjoy the stretch. But I have to admit, after I've been working for Dennis, I'm usually rushing off to the next thing in life and I don't stretch. But I know which ones to do, just to make it sound better. I know which ones to do if I have a problem.

Sheree
And that is a good point. So we all have tight areas, and we don't all have the same tight areas. So it's really knowing where to stretch and to be able to stretch. Have you got a foam roller? Oh, yes. Yeah. I think I introduce foam rollers to everyone that I train because I love them, but they are great to get onto as well at the end of a long, hard day, even just before you go to bed. For me, Jeanine, I just love getting on my foam roller and stretching out my hips because my hips right at the top of my bum muscles, my glutes is when I get tired. And I love stretching them at the end of a long, hard day. So for me, that's where I'm tired.

Janine
My two-year-old granddaughter loves the roller, the blue roller. She probably uses it the most.

Sheree
I love it. And talking about grandkids, Jeanine, do you also find that this helps you to get down on the floor and play with your grandkids and do all sorts of stuff?

Janine
Yes. And to lift up the hefty two and a half-year-old.

Sheree
And they can be a good weight, can't they?

Janine
Yes, they can.

Sheree
So you get down the Can you go and play with them as well?

Janine
I have to. Yeah, I have to. And on the beach. So you just can be more active.

Sheree
And you've just arrived back from a what? Three-week trip away?

Janine
It was only a week. A week? Was it only a week? Only a week in New Zealand.

Sheree
Yes. You've been gone for a while, I thought. No. Maybe not so long then. Okay. So did that help you guys even to get to New Zealand, dragging your bags around? Did that make your trip a bit better? I know it was rushed there, but did that help you get from point A to point B because you're going to look around and do steps and wander around.

Janine
It takes a full day to travel there via Melbourne and across to New Zealand and drive across to the other side from Auckland. And we looked after a six-year-old, four-year-old, and two-year-old, and that was able to give our daughter a little bit of a break by running around and doing things with extremely active children. At the end of the time, we were pretty tired, but we did it and we enjoyed it.

Sheree
So good. And that would be hard if you weren't mobile, if you couldn't get yourself around.

Janine
It would be sad. It would be really sad.

Sheree
And so I know that there's quite a few out there with grandkids that you want to be able to get down on the floor and play with them. So this is a perfect time. It was time to actually start strength training. And Janine, I don't know if you can recall back to when you first started. Sorry, did you have something you wanted to say?

Janine
No, I can recall because another lady, Sara, who goes to your classes, she remembered exactly when and we laugh about it a bit. Okay.

Sheree
Because it didn't take long to feel some of the effects, did it? No. If you can recall back, I just know when I see clients, by the third or fourth time, they're going, well, already feeling stronger. Am I meant to feel that way?

Janine
What I was thinking about was, Sara remembers how when you had a range of weights at the beginning, that we'd be running to the lightest one, trying to beat everyone to the light weights, and how that's not the case now. Now we're looking for heavier weights. But I think rather than me remembering back and thinking after three or four times that I could feel the difference, what I noticed was that after three or four times, I really wanted to keep going, whereas I'm usually was especially busy towards the end of the year, let it slip if something you're doing. So No. No, it's that combination of lots of changes within a class and using different equipment and short, high intensity. It just is all so interesting as well as really working you. You don't have a chance to get bored. No, you don't get bored. Just doing repetitions in a gym would just...

Sheree
Boring on a- Boring. A treadmill where you know, I've got a half an hour. Boring. Well, save the glass. The other thing I was going to say, and it's true where Jeanine says all of the ladies I train now run to the big weights. I just had to go on a trip to the sports store the other day and get bigger balls and bigger kettlebells.

Janine
Wonderful.

Sheree
Four teens now, Jeanine. They really love them because they know when they get to a place where their body is adapted to the lighter ones, they want to go up. And you do feel empowered, don't you?

Janine
When you go to the next. Oh, absolutely.

Sheree
So Janine, before you started at Spice Fitness, had you ever been to a gym before?

Janine
Yes, I had joined a gym maybe twice, actually, over my life and tried to get it done. As one of my friends said, And I said, after a while, if you let things slip, you go along for a time at the gym that's probably $125 because you haven't been regularly. If you look at the cost of it. And it just became boring. And yeah, I quite like classes. But the classes in the gym, you actually don't get to know people as well as classes with your strength classes because you're generally lucky to... A spin class or something, you're all just doing the same thing at the same time, not moving around or interacting. So true.

Sheree
So She should come in, do your spin, and go out.

Janine
And go out again. Yeah, that's it. So you don't actually... Unless you go with a friend already, you don't actually make new friends, whereas I've made lots of new friends coming along to strength training.

Sheree
I think, too, when you get a bundle of women together, training together, we just love to have a bit of a laugh in between. I think it's important. I think we need to train our bodies, but it also has to be fun, don't you think, I mean? Absolutely. Because if it wasn't fun, no one would come along.

Janine
If it wasn't fun, after a while, you might come for a while, but then it would drift off the same as many other things.

Sheree
You're so right. So that's where it's nice to create a community. Like I guess, a tribe, a community. I don't really like that word tribe because it gets overused. But we are a tribe. We all want to be there because we want to get a stronger body. We love to say hello to everyone and see how their week's been. And it is It's a community, a tribe. We've all got a goal in mind, and we love getting together. So it's good. Wrapping this up, Jeanine, this is something else you think you'd like to add. Anything else that came up into your mind?

Janine
No, just when I was thinking about it's not like bodybuilding. No, that's a good point. That's one of the things. One of the strongest people in our class is Jen, who is just a normal-looking person, but can lift things way heavier than I'm currently lifting. She really can. She doesn't have bulging muscles. I'm actually quite amazed at the training is partly for your mind as well as for your body. You build it up gradually so you don't have the fear that you're going to hurt yourself. I just think it's really interesting. I think maybe women underestimate a lot what they're capable of. Yeah, it's so true. And you don't have to be a bulging bodybuilder to actually be really strong. So I suppose that's one thing I was just thinking of as we were talking. And the other thing is just that, yeah, thanks a lot, because I often I think, I often say you've saved my life because I have found the thing that will really help me and keep going with it, and I really enjoy it. So good. Thank you. So I do. I was going to just- I do.

Sheree
Thank you. Yeah, thank Thank you, Janine. I was just going to add to that. For those of you that don't know, there is a big difference between bodybuilding. Bodybuilders will train a specific muscle, so one muscle. So say I'm a bodybuilder, I'm doing arms today. So I'm doing biceps today, and I'm doing a range of biceps. I'll wear that bicep in all sorts of ways. We are not doing that. We are training the way that we move. So we're training a movement, not a specific muscle. So when you train the way you move, then it means as I get from the floor and lift a weight up overhead, I'm training legs, I'm training my glutes, I'm training my core, I'm training my arms. So we train a variety of muscles all in one go, Janine. So that's a big difference. A bodybuilder often doesn't function well when they have to do just normal everyday stuff because they'll be really tight in areas where they're trained a whole lot in one specific muscle group. But we're training a whole pile because when you get into a car or when you You have to get even down on a toilet, you're not just training one thing.

Sheree
You are working everything to get into a car. You're working your legs, you're working this core. You maybe need to put a hand down to support yourself. The leg has to often go on one leg. And how often do we do one leg and stuff and one arm stuff? Because we're relating to everyday life. And everyday life is about- It's about all of that. Yeah, all of that. Being able to balance one arm, one leg, being able to shift yourself from side to side. I even had my 87-year-old client this morning who's in a choir. She said, Shree, I struggled last week with a choir because I had to hold my choir book, and she got us up for one song, down for the next song, up, down, up, down, up, down. So that was a whole hour of up, down. And she said, The choir books weighs a lot. How can I do this? So we did a fair bit of training today, holding a weight and sitting down and up. So that was really cool because that's what life's all about. It is.

Janine
It is about being able to do anything you want to do without a problem. That's about it. Without a problem.

Sheree
So it's not about the way we look. But I'll tell you, when you do start strength training, like Jeanine, you said you weren't out to lose 10 kilos, but you shed 10 kilos because this becomes... So when we build up muscle, it becomes active. It boosts our whole metabolism up. So it means what you eat. I'm sorry to say, I had a whole cake of chocolate last night. I just felt like chocolate and I got a whole cake. But anyway, I ate that. But that will be burning off a lot faster if I didn't have a muscle. Not that I want to make that as an excuse all the time. And the other thing is you get shape in your body. You just get more toned, and you hold yourself up higher. So rather than doing the- The shuffle. The hunch forward, you're just holding your whole body up a lot more. But it's the things you can do in life, I think, is the main factor, isn't it? It is for me. Go to New Zealand. Look after three young kids, your three grandkids, active. They probably were running all over the place. Drop things on the floor.

Sheree
You had to pick it up off the floor. So well done, Janine. It's been great I like to interview today. I've been wanting to do it for a while. I know.

Janine
It's hard to stop you.

Sheree
It's everywhere. So it's hard to bring you to one place. But I'm really happy that we could just interview today, get a bit of a feel for your life and what you found strength training has done. And I just hope that what you've said today can help someone out there that is thinking of doing it as well.

Janine
I hope so, too. Yes.

Sheree
So thank you so much for joining us. Give it a go. Give it a go. Start somewhere. You don't need to start where Janine is. Start small and work your way along. Thanks for joining us today. And thanks as well, Janine. My pleasure.

Janine
Great.

Sheree
We'll see you tonight.

Janine
Thank you. Yes, you will.