52, Ripped & Thriving – Her Secrets to Aging Well | Won Dolegowski

Can you really build muscle, get stronger, and look incredible after 50? Won Dolegowski is living proof. At 52, this former pharmacist-turned-bikini bodybuilding champion shares her exact approach to staying lean, strong, and vibrant — even after undergoing major back surgery and experiencing chronic pain.

• In this episode of Youthful Aging Secrets, we cover:
• The biggest myths women over 40 still believe about lifting weights
• How to build strength and muscle after menopause
• The habits that actually move the needle for health, longevity, and vitality
• How Won transformed her body — and life — in her 50s

🎯 ABOUT THE PODCAST
Youthful Aging Secrets brings you the world’s leading experts in health, fitness, and longevity, plus real-life superagers who are living proof that age is just a number. Learn how to extend your healthspan and live better, longer — with strategies you can apply today.

📌 CONNECT WITH WON DOLEGOWSKI
📸https://www.instagram.com/stories/wondwellness/

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction And Guest Overview
• 0:45 Newsletter Invitation And Support
• 1:23 Early Morning Routines and Sleep Habits
• 5:04 Won's Background and Career Journey
• 10:17 Living with Scoliosis and Pain Management
• 16:31 Transition from Pharmacy to Fitness Coaching
• 23:15 Importance of Cardiovascular Health
• 29:01 Challenges and Myths in Women's Fitness
• 34:38 Building Sustainable Fitness Habits
• 38:13 Effective Habit Formation Strategies
• 39:37 Removing Friction for Consistency
• 40:30 Starting Small and Building Up
• 41:09 Strength Training for Midlife Women
• 42:33 Social Support and Peer Influence
• 44:30 Debunking the Myth of Bulking Up
• 46:51 Training Parents: A Family Journey
• 54:40 Building Healthy Habits
• 57:43 Hormone Replacement Therapy Discussion
• 1:01:42 Competing in Bikini: Lessons Learned
• 1:06:40 Final Thoughts and Encouragement
• 1:11:13 Help the podcast grow

Transcript

  Welcome to Youthful Aging Secrets podcast. I'm your host, Ricardo Vasquez.  Today's guest is Juan Del GSKi, a fitness and nutrition coach who proves age is just a number. She's over 50 and looks incredible, A former pharmacist and a bikini bodybuilding champion. After a major back surgery, she rebuilt her strength, transformed her health, and now helps women do the same. 

In this episode, you'll discover how to train smarter, even with injuries or health challenges. The biggest myth keeping women from building the body they want.  Why strength training is your secret weapon for aging well simple, sustainable habits that can change your health for decades and much more. 

Before we dive in, I want to invite you to join my free weekly newsletter, live better, longer. Every issue answers one important health question using the latest research plus my favorite finds of the week, and a chance to ask questions to upcoming guests.  It's short, actionable, and designed to help you live as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

Join free@youthfulagingsecrets.com slash subscribe. Finally, if this is important to you, if you find it useful, please consider following and leaving a review as it's the best way to help us grow. Thank you for your time and support. I appreciate you.  Okay, Juan, thank you so much for joining me on, uh, youthful Aging Secrets podcast.

I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. It's an, it's an honor. I appreciate it.  Absolutely. So we were just talking about your,  you're someone who likes to sleep in a lot and, uh, just kidding. So  what, you said 4:00 AM right? Yes. I set my alarm for four. Well, tech, technically 4 0 4. I know that sounds, that sounds very strange to have 4 0 4, but you know, I don't know.

I just said there 'cause it seems a little bit later than four o'clock. Because I know, like it takes me a while to kind of wake up and get moving. So, um, you know, like I said a little bit earlier.  Right. Do you, do you follow or are you familiar with Jocko Willink?  I know who he is. He's the former. I don't follow him though.

I know who he is. He extreme ownership? Yeah. Great book. Yes. I, yes, I read it. Yes. Did you like it? Uh, yes I did. And I think I, I mean, I did, I know that when I did see his post, he would take a picture of his watch. Right. That, that's what I was getting at. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I, I'm, I am familiar with that, but I don't follow him, so I guess he's an early riser as well.

Yeah. I mean, former Navy Seal's quite common in the military, right? They, most of them. I, I have, you know, people I know that they also, they kind of kept that habit of rising early. Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, he takes a picture of his watch every single morning, posts it like 4:30 AM on April 1st. He's like, oh, went back to bed.

I, I don't feel like it. And everybody was like, wow. It was obviously April Fool's. Oh, a joke. Yeah. Yeah.  So 4:00 AM That's awesome. I typically, nowadays I'm 6:00 AM. Um, just curious, what time do you go to bed usually? I aim to go to bed at nine. Nine. Okay. So you're still getting a good amount of sleep. Yes.

It's important. It's very important to me. Of course. I used to be one of those people that sacrificed for sleep  a lot. Um, and you know, there was a period like I would get only four or five hours of sleep and I, I realized that was a huge, uh, factor in just my overall health wellness. And I had, that was one of the first things I had to fix in order for me to get healthier.

So I definitely, I really try to preach the importance of prioritizing sleep.  Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I agree with that. And I think there are, there, I, I think there's a subset of the population who can go with very low. Amounts of sleep. They have some kind of a gene. It's incredibly rare, but apparently there is a, a set of the population that could do like four hours, five hours, sleep even less.

And they're still healthy. They still, but I'm not one of those people. Like, I, I feel like crap if I don't get at least six hours and even that, that's not optimal. So I try to get, like, for me the sweet spot is like seven, seven hours. Yeah. I, even if I don't have alarms or anything, I always wake up around seven, seven and a half.

I never go like nine, 10. I, I, meaning I'm the same way. I, I hear people who say, oh, I got nine to 10 hours of sleep. I can't even do that. Even if I tried, like my body just naturally wakes up around the seven, seven and a half hour mark as well.  I have people, my family and friends that can sleep 12 hours if they do not have an alarm.

Oh,  I can't even imagine. One of my best friends is like that. He, and he's in great shape and everything, but if he, if he says, I'm gonna go to sleep, he'll sleep like 14 hours. It's insane. Wow.  I mean, he knows what, he knows who it is. I'm not say good for, I mean, if he has, he can get the things that he needs to get done.

I'm just thinking about like, that's like what, six hours of stuff that I'm My day is already gone. Yeah. That he's still sleeping. Can't do it. Yeah.  So, uh, Juan, tell me a little bit about yourself. Let, maybe we could start from the beginning, your background all the way to perhaps childhood or how you kind of got into this,  you know, world of fitness and, and training people over 50.

And I'll, I'll let you take it away. Yeah. Well I was, I was born in Korea. I'll just start from the very beginning. I came to America when I was one. Um, grew up in Michigan and, um, you know, brought, brought up the typical Asian, you know, culture. Um, you know, I remember I was act, actually, someone just asked me this.

Someone said, if you weren't going to be a pharmacist, what would you be? And I actually said, I would, I would've gone into fitness because honestly that is, that was where my heart was when I first went to college. I, I was very interested in kinesiology and fitness and things like that. But, you know, I had the, the pressure of my parents and not to, I don't want them to feel bad.

It's just your typical, you know, cultural thing, expectation to go into a medical field. So I had the, the pressure of trying to, uh, you know, make them proud. And so I left fitness. I, I actually did take some courses and I, I decided I was not gonna do that. I ended up going to occupational therapy, which is not even pharmacy.

Um.  Went into occupational therapy, did that for a few years, and then I had to have back surgery 'cause I have scoliosis, so I actually had to have, um.  Uh, you know, a pretty big back surgery to correct my curvature. And I have, um, rods and screws all down my spine. So I have my T four to L four are fused, so like 13 vertebrae, I think that's 15 vertebrae are fused.

Um, and during that recovery time, I kind of rethought about my, my career. I did not want to go back into occupational therapy because, um, where I had worked, I worked in rehab, so there was a lot of heavy lifting working with patients who had strokes, traumatic brain injuries. I knew physically I could not handle that, and I also did not want to work in other areas that occupational therapists typically work in, which we, we could be like pediatrics or specializing in hand therapy.

Um, at that time I just did not, you know, I didn't have an interest in working with children and with hand therapy, it is very intimate. You are literally face to face with your patient. And the, I just wasn't interested in that. I wasn't interested in just working with only hands. So  I, uh, decided to take a different career path and at that time, I decided to go into pharmacy, uh, because my brothers were pharmacists, uh, at that time.

And they said, you know what? You have so many of the courses, you know, you should go into pharmacy. It's not physically demanding. They have great hours. And so that's what I did. I went back to school to become a pharmacist. And then I did that for a while, for many, many years until like, you know, there was a time in my life I, I felt significant dissatisfaction with my job and like, almost like I was, I felt like I was dying a slow death. 

You know, for me it wasn't enough to collect a paycheck for me, having a sense of purpose is very, very important. And during that time I was still very, I was very interested in fitness for my own life. You know, I was doing, uh, a lot of endurance sports, marathons, triathlons, things like that. Um, and just kind of, you know, stayed active and stayed.

Um, in my forties  I had noticed a change in my own body composition, typical of what a lot of women in perimenopause go through in the forties. Like, they all of a sudden look at their bodies and think, what, what is happening here? And I knew that what I was doing wasn't working. And at that time I was still doing excessive amounts of cardio, not prioritizing strength training, still afraid to eat carbs.

I had a lot of food rules and I, you know, set aside my ego and I realized I need help, you know, and.  That was a big step because I considered myself, you know, an an educated, intelligent woman and I thought like, why can't I figure this out myself? But I'm not an expert in nutrition, so I had to reach out for help.

And that was literally, that was the, probably the beginning of where I am now. Um, my decision to hire a coach was so transformative. My experience with this coach changed the trajectory of my life and it actually inspired me to become a coach myself because I thought, wow, if she had the power to change me the way she had and, and how it just changed me as a person transformed me just mentally more than anything.

Um, I wanted to have that ability to change other women's lives as well. 'cause it was just so powerful.  And so that's how I got into fitness coaching other women, uh, through my own experience of being coached. And, um, you know, I I, my specialty is working with women who are, you know, in perimenopause, uh, primarily like late thirties, forties, fifties and beyond.

And so, um, that's pretty much where it's at, like is in a nutshell how I got here.  So with the scoliosis, that's the curvature of the spine, and is that like a genetic thing or did something?  Yes, and most of it is idiopathic, meaning you don't know the cause. Of course there's a, you know, if someone in your family has it, you have a greater chance of getting it.

But, um, our family, we didn't know anyone who had it. Like I was literally the only person in the entire family that's ever had it that, that, that we know of. So, um, and, you know, I just pray that no one else got it. I, I pray that, you know, my daughter doesn't get it. Um.  Yeah, it's just, you know, that that has,  that has had a significant impact on my life.

Significant. But it hasn't stopped me from doing the things that I know that I need to be doing. I didn't use it as a crutch or as an excuse to not do the things that I knew that I had to be doing. I had to learn to work around my limitations and always practice gratitude because, you know, I, I'm still able to move my body in ways that so many people can't and wish that they could.

I have, you know, physical  deformation and physical limitations. You know, I can't do certain exercises. I can still do a lot. So it's really helped me appreciate my body and just appreciate my health even more. So, um, I consider it a blessing in disguise. Of course, I wish I didn't have it. You know, who wants to have  pain?

Can I still deal with chronic pain? Um, a lot of chronic pain.  Um, and I've just gotten used to it. So again, it just help, helps me have a, a positive attitude and, uh, appreciation for, uh, for my health.  Great. Do you take painkillers or for,  for the pain? No, never. There was a period of time, initially when I was trying to manage it, um, where doctors,  uh, want to throw pain medication at me.

They, they prescribe me everything you could possibly imagine.  And the thing with me and like narcotics, like more hydrocodone, um, when I take that medication, it makes me sick. Very sick, nauseous, very dizzy.  And I recall the doctor giving me Marinol, which is basically legalized form of marijuana to help deal with the nausea.

So it was just kind of weird, like they were prescribing a medication to help deal with the side effect of a medication. And I said, no, I'm, I, I didn't even, I didn't even fill it, you know, I'm just not, I, I don't like relying on medication. And also it didn't help. None of it, none of it helped. I would try it and it, it didn't help matters at all, and it made me feel worse.

So I've learned to manage the pain with, without medication, just a healthy lifestyle. And  I think staying active has definitely helped, um, tremendously. In fact, I did see a, a spinal specialist last year because my pain had gotten so bad. I, I was convinced that the hardware in my, my, my back, uh, the, the rods and screws were loose because it was, I was in so much pain.

So I had to get all these, you know, imaging tests done, x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and they confirmed like all the hardware is in place, everything looks good. And that's the confirmation I needed. I just needed to know that, that, that there was nothing wrong structurally. And I just wanted the doctor tell me, listen, there really is nothing that we can do, like surgery's not an option.

Um, you know, they did suggest like a, a steroid injection. I turned that down honestly because they said it was going to be temporary relief  and I did not want to do something that I would have to continue doing forever and ever.  And then there are risks associated with that as well. So it just kinda gave me a peace of mind.

Like the fact that they said, the fact that they said there was nothing wrong actually gave me a peace of mind knowing that  I am doing everything I can possibly do. And I remember the surgeon, the the specialist saying the fact that you are in good health, that you are a healthy body weight, that you are active, that has actually helped your situation like that you are in the best situation possible, even though it may not be great.

Um, because what they tell, they told me is one of the first recommendations they tell people who have back issues is they recommend that they lose weight. That is their, actually, their, their number one recommendation is to lose weight because carrying the excess body fat actually has, puts a lot of stress on your back.

So they said, obviously you're, you are not overweight. Um, you're doing everything great. Continue doing what you're doing. So I think staying active has definitely helped me.  Oh, without a, without a doubt.  Yeah. More, more than helped you for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I,  I, I'd be interested to see studies on people with scoliosis on long-term effects of resistance training.

And that I'm sure, I'm sure there's studies out there I'd be very interested in knowing about it.  Yeah. You know, what's interesting is, um, you know, I've, I've had several people reach out to me, uh, tell me that they're, they're, they have scoliosis or they have back issues, or they have, well, scoliosis specifically, and  a lot of them have discouraged their patients from resistance training, which I find interesting.

'cause I'm like, I, I, I would think that resistance training would  strengthen, strengthen everything, you know? So I think there's still some disconnect out there. I'm not sure where that, where that is, but um, yeah, that would be interesting to, to see if there were other people who have scoliosis and what kinda lifestyle that they live and you know, how they feel now. 

Yeah. Well, the data's pretty clear that resistance training.  It helps with pretty much almost every health body walker. Everything. Yeah. And with health span and longevity. And to not focus on strength, you know, strengthening your connective tissues and muscles and that, how, how could that not be part of your regimen if you have anything really?

I don't know either. That's just my, that's just my opinion. But no, that's my opinion too. That's the first thing that comes to my mind. There's so many benefits to this. I can't imagine not doing it. Uh,  yeah.  Yeah. And obviously you have to be intelligent. Um, listen to your body as well. Right. You don't want to push through excruciating pain, you've gotta, right.

You know.  But anyhow. Um, so you were a pharmacist as well, which is interesting because you mentioned you didn't want to go down the path of pharmacology. You know, as far as like the painkillers and that, and as a pharmacist, I  kind of like the job to prescribe the, well not prescribe, but to issue the, the medications in that, and I'm, I'm sure some of them are.

Can be life changing in a good way. Um, what, what made you come to that conclusion, especially with your history as a pharmacist of, of, oh, well, I became a pharmacist. Yeah. Oh, as far as like, my, my viewpoint on medication and things like that. Uh, yeah, specifically the painkillers, I guess. I guess. And just over in general, why, why not include some form of medication or if there is any anti-inflammatory, things like that.

Just curious how you Yeah. I don't know. I, I guess, um, I was able to separate the pharmacist side to me personally, like how I wanted to live my life. Yeah. And, you know, I, just  understanding how it didn't help me. If it didn't help me, it made me feel worse. Then I didn't see any benefit in taking it. I think there's, of course, medications are lifesaving for a lot of people.

I, I mean, people are able to manage their medical conditions because of medication. I also think that some of it is. Prescribed overprescribed and, um, incorrectly prescribed.  Um, I think there's a lot, there are lot of doctors who feel kind of trapped as well, because I know that many of them do recommend that the clients or the patients, uh, adopt a healthier lifestyle to help get off, let's say blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, um, diabetic medica medication.

But, you know, a lot of, a lot of patients, you know, they don't wanna change their lifestyle, so I know that doctor's hands are tied as well. Um, so yeah, I, I feel like a lot of things can be improved by a healthier lifestyle. And of course, other things you can't, there's some genetics that play that come into, uh, play as well, and we do need medication.

So, um, you know, I think when the, when they're prescribed properly is beneficial. Yeah, no, I definitely agree with that sentiment, especially overprescribed overused  and, uh. Most people, I, I don't know if it's most people, but a lot of people don't want to do the hard work. They just want the, the immediate result, the pill, and that's where the pill works.

Yeah,  yeah. Painkillers work, you know, but yeah, unfortunately, they, they come with their side effects. Yes.  So,  as a, as a pharmacist, um, that transitioned into, I guess, the coaching industry. Um, what, what would you say are some takeaways you got from the pharmacy side of things that you still use today, whether they were the good parts of that industry or the bad, what are, what are some takeaways you had from that in your experience? 

Well, actually, is it funny, I mean, I actually still do some contract work as a pharmacist,  uh, once or twice a week. Um, or maybe, you know, once or twice a month. Um.  And actually it helped me 'cause it, you know, I did not, I actually did not work in retail pharmacy, you know, so when people think of pharmacy, they automatically think of places like CVS, Walgreens, those big chain pharmacies where they're standing behind the counter accounting pills, things like that.

I actually worked in a compounding pharmacy. Uh, I managed a compounding pharmacy, so we compounded an injectable, uh, pellets, hormone, things like that, hormonal injection medications. Um, and so it was a different line of, different area of pharmacy. And I worked in, I was in management, so I did, I was work, working in production where I was doing the initial, the, the,  uh, prescription reviews by transitioned to management.

So I did a lot of regulatory compliance things. So, um,  that actually helped me when I got out of pharmacy and  purchased a business, a brick and mortar business where I did DEXA scans. Resting metabolic rate tests and VO two max test. So that actually did help me because it helped me be, feel confident that I could operate this business on my own.

Because as a pharmacy manager, I had a lot of responsibilities kinda like that, you know, making sure that we were in compliance. So that gave me the confidence to transition away and understood. Helped me understand that, you know, gimme confidence that I can do this. I I can do this. You know,  and, you know, because I have, when, when I was a pharmacist, I had a pressure of carrying the, the, the burden of the licenses of the entire pharmacy so that we could ship medications throughout the entire country.

So there's a lot of,  I would say, burden that comes with that pressure. Um, so I was able to carry that knowledge and experience to opening my own business and, um, you know, and then just understanding, you know.  You have to have a relationship with, with a patient. So my relationship with my clients is, is a give and take.

And you, you know, you can only do so much as a coach. Um, you can guide them. You know, you're not saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink. So same thing, you know, as a pharmacist you can give them the medication, but you can't, you can't force the the patient to be compliant and take it.

You can only do your best to educate and guide them. The same thing as a coach. You know, you wanna give them the support system, the skills, the encouragement, but you can't, you can't do the work for them. So that's been, that was the hardest part for me, I think as a coach is wanting, wanting it more than the client, you know, I wanting it so bad and just, just feeling like sometimes helpless.

Like I just know that if you implement the things I'm asking you to implement,  you are gonna see results. But you can't force, you can't force people to change their habits. They have to come internally.  That's the hardest part as a coach.  Yeah, no, I agree with that. I didn't know you had that, uh, that bus.

You still have it now? No, no. I sold that in 2021. That's so cool. Cool. When I, uh, when I decided to, uh, do coaching full-time, like as my full-time thing, 'cause up until then I was, you know, managing a business and coaching, kind of doing both. And I, I just kind of came to a, a point where I realized  I couldn't, I was, I couldn't do both and be successful with both.

You know, I was trying to do two things and, and not giving a hundred percent. And it was, they, both businesses were suffering as a result. So I had to go with the one that I felt more aligned with and more pulled toward. So  I sold the business and then even decided to go do coaching. A hundred percent.

Yeah. That, that's really cool because, um, I've learned a lot about VO two max.  Like specifically the three metrics that they say are associated with longevity and health span, which is VO two max, resting heart rate and heart rate vari variability. That, that's what a lot of people are saying now. I've looked into it too.

It seems to be pretty,  pretty interesting.  So yeah, the VO two max thing is a, I actually did a video on it too, how I learned a lot about, about how it's like, did you ever do a, an actual test? Have you ever done a test? I've never done, I've never done an actual test. I've done the, the other test where you kind of do it yourself, like, oh, there was that one.

There's like the Cooper, the Cooper test or whatever. You basically just do a, you can do a walk or a run and you time it, but it's not the same thing. There's never gonna be as accurate as the Oh yeah. The V two max, no. Yeah. Usually the V two max were the ones that I did  was hooked up to a medical grade.

Yeah. Cart. Absolutely.  You wear your wearing a mask, you hook, your heart rate is connected. It's very high tech. Um, but yeah, I actually am interested in doing a viewer two max test sometime in the future, but it requires running on a treadmill. And I don't run, it's, you know, I just don't run. I don't run. No, it doesn't, it doesn't require treadmill.

You could do it on a bike, you could do it on a station. Yes. Right. You can do it on a bike, but you have to find a facility that actually has a bike. That's correct. That's the issue. And a lot of 'em don't. Um, and I know that the, the facility that I sold, the business I sold, they only do it on a treadmill.

So  we'll see. It's in the horizon. 'cause I am interested in that because I think that your cardiovascular health is, is very important and it is definitely a very good predictor.  Oh, it's, it's a predictor of longevity and health span. Yeah. And the higher your, so the higher your VO O2 max Yes. The lower your risk from all cause mortality, which is insane.

Yes. And it's not a small increment. It's like drastic. Yes. Um, yeah, there's, there's a lot of data on it. I'm fascinated by it. I'm actually, uh, scheduling a couple of podcasts with people in that, in that area of expertise. So I'm that Oh, nice. For that. Just strictly about VO two max and Yeah. All these things.

It's exciting. Yeah, I, I was one of those guys that I've always done cardio, but I did it just as a result of the other thing I was doing. So I've, I've always been into martial arts,  um, you know, uh, sports, different things like that. So I was doing a lot of cardio. And so my VO two max is probably pretty de like, I've always been known to have like, pretty good, uh, endurance and cardiovascular endurance.

Like I kind of have a good, they call it like a, like, you know, good tank, you know, high, high conditioning or, well, you, you need to, if you want, be successful at  MMAI, I think it's a little genetic too. I think there is a genetic Oh, really? Yeah. Factor to it too. I think some people just have, uh, bigger gas tank, so to speak.

Yeah.  Um, but I, I just, I never really paid much attention to it. As a matter of fact, I used to make fun of like marathon runners. I'd be like, oh, they all look flat, like skinny, skinny fat, or whatever. And then I realized that when you combine it with resistance training, it's a game changer.  And they, they feed on each other, like for sure.

And that's, I've changed my stance on it in my probably late thirties. I'm 41 now, and now I prioritize my cardiovascular health. So I start, actually start, if I know, okay, I have an hour or 40 minutes, I will do cardio first. Even though that's like, they say, you know, oh, yeah, okay, yeah, I, interesting. It's not the best way, but if I know, okay, I only have a set amount of time, I, I have to prioritize.

I'll be like, Hey, I'm gonna just do my skipping or whatever I'm doing for 20, 30 minutes and then I'll hit the the wait because I can do super sets, I can switch it up. Whereas if I do it the other way around, I know that I'll take longer. So,  ah, this is just my, where I'm at right now in my mind. Hey, you know what I, and I tell people, you've gotta do what works for you and what will help you be consistent.

Because if it doesn't help you be consistent, it's not as, as doesn't matter how optimal the method is. Um, and so, yeah, I do it kind of like a considered a suboptimal way as well. So, because, um,  you know, that one, well, I don't do it before I lift. I, I always, I do always prioritize strength training, but I usually like to do it right after I lift.

And people say, you should space it apart. They say, ideally you should separate it by at least four hours because it will interfere with your strength gains. But for me personally, if I try to do it a different time, it's not going to get done. So instead of thinking about what's. Optimal. You gotta think about what's practical and what will help you be consistent to develop the habit.

So that's, that's what I do as well. I don't, I do it in a suboptimal way, according to some experts, but that's the only way I get it done.  Oh yeah, absolutely. The data's clear as far as hypertrophy. It does interfere. It's gonna reduce it, you know, I'm using up my glycogen stores and stuff like that, and then my resistance workouts aren't as good.

And I've measured, I'm a little bit weaker. I can't do as much volume. I get it. Yeah. But I'm still seeing results. I take pictures, measurements and weight and stuff, and I know I've gained muscle and I have a pretty low body fat, so I, I know I've just not optimized. Yeah. But I know in the grand scheme of things, it's, it's healthier for me right now.

Yes, yes. But in the summer or spring in, in Toronto, it's always cold here. Like nine months outta the year, eight months, you know, so when it, when the spring hits and the summer hits, then I can start going back for jogs and hill sprints, and I can separate the two.  Um, but yeah, so, so that's, that's kind of how, where I'm at now, I just, it's just a priority for me.

I feel like I've neglected that, that aspect.  Um, yeah. Okay. So you're, you're working primarily with females typically, like you said, perimenopausal or menopausal. Um,  do you, do you notice a difference when training a, a woman, for example, who is perimenopausal or menopausal versus let's say a woman who isn't?

Do you notice a difference in how they adapt, how they build muscle, how they burn fat, et cetera? Or do you, like what, what's your take on it from your experience? Well, I have not, I don't work with women like, let's say in their twenties, but I can kind of maybe, you know, think about what a woman in, in their twenties versus someone who's in perimenopause.

I do think it's more challenging. Simply because there's more life going on, more responsibilities of stress, of juggling a career, family,  kids, uh, multiple sports. There's just so much going on. Um, so the, the stress of the life, uh, that they're living is harder. And also when as you age, a lot of these women have a longer dieting history.

So, uh, they've, you know, gone through multiple periods of extreme dieting, their metabolism might be a little bit more suppressed. Um, and so, and also a lot of these women focus primarily, mostly on, um, cardio. They don't have a lot of muscle. So it just, all those kind of play into the role of just, you know, um, it's, it's a little bit harder, you know, it's harder to build muscle, um, you know, the longer you've been lifting.

Um,  and so not that you can't build muscle as you age, but it does get harder. It, it, it just simply does. Um, so, you know, I think, you know, when you're younger, you just, this is why I try to encourage women who are younger just capitalize on the fact that you, you know, you have more energy, um, you know, you're able to build muscle.

Um, just all those things and, and focus on fat loss later. I'm not saying be unhealthy, you know, I'm not saying carry an unhealthy amount of body fat and, and things like that. But focus, don't be so obsessed with fat loss. Focus on building the muscle because that takes, that's so much harder to build. It takes longer to build.

And that's, to me is like gold, precious gold, you know, that you, you really need to take advantage of as soon as possible. 'cause the more years pass by that, you don't, you, you don't prioritize it. The harder it is, you know? Again, I wanna emphasize it's not impossible to build muscle as you age, because I, I am proof that you can build muscle as you age.

And my clients are proof. I, I can, I've seen it, it's possible. Um, but it's just harder just simply because it's just. You have a lot of things kind of working against you. Yeah, no, I totally agree. I to, I totally agree. Uh, muscle is, is, uh, is, is critical in during aging and, and preserving that. Yes.  I'm a big, big proponent of it too.

Um, so what do you think is the, the biggest mistake or myth that women,  you know, fall, fall victim to when it comes to starting out a resistance training program or at all? Like when, when you meet a client, for example, and they decide, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get into this. What do you think is the biggest myth or mistake they're making?

And I'm talking about women plus 40  biggest Well, I, I would say two, those two different things. 'cause there are, there are biggest myths and there are biggest mistakes. Okay. So I'm, I'm not, I'll address the myth. The myth, sure. They, they think that resistance training is going to make them bulky,  manly, and bulky.

I think that's one of the biggest fears.  So they're afraid, they're afraid to lift heavy because they think it's gonna make them bulky. But I, I, I really wanna emphasize, I you don't wanna get hurt, right? We talked about this. You don't wanna get hurt. You don't, you don't wanna be unsafe, but you, you can't be afraid to lift heavy and push yourself because that is going to produce the look that you want.

'cause you, I know the look that they, these ladies want, they want that toned, you know, firm look. And you're not gonna do that if you're just going through the motions using only five pounds, afraid to look heavy. So I think the myth is that lifting heavy is going to make you bulky and manly. Um,  so the biggest mistake, uh, that women make is they, uh, they're, they're focused too much on, uh, fat loss and not eating enough.

Now, understand that you need to fuel your body properly. To build the muscle that you want. So that is, that is one of many mistakes that they're constantly chasing fat loss, focusing so much on fat loss, that they're not able to build a muscle that they, that, that their body needs to get the look that they want.

So there's a lot of education that needs to, uh, go on and helping these women like, make these shifts in mindset. 'cause that is the biggest obstacle mindset.  Yeah, I totally agree.  So when somebody, let's say most people or most women, you know, in your niche, for example, I would imagine most of 'em agree, okay, yes, I need to start, especially now.

It's, it's a new thing everybody wants to weightlift and I think it's fantastic,  but how do you, how do you get somebody to go from wanting to, to starting, but then more importantly, sticking to it because. A lot of people are getting, you know, the New Year's resolutions, you see how the gyms are packed and whatnot, but by March it's back to the same old faces, maybe one or two new ones.

How do you get them to take that next step and it become part of their routine or, and eventually their identity?  The first thing I have to do is make sure that we find an approach that's sustainable for them, because you have to be able to sustain something and make it, uh, you know, part of your lifestyle for you to be able to make it a habit for you to be consistent enough with it.

So a lot of these many women come to me saying, I wanna live five days a week.  Like, these are women who have like multiple children who have to show for their kids around their, their busy career woman. And I have to talk them out down from that. And I say, I always tell them, let's start with three. You are going from nothing, nothing to wanna do.

Five. And that is an easy way to burn out and then feeling like a failure because you're not able to be consistent. And then a lot of these women have an all or nothing mentality. Oh, I didn't go five days, I'm not gonna do it at all. And then they don't do anything at all. So I help them find, like establish I took three to four days.

I tell women three to four days of lifting. Waste is the sweet spot.  So a lot of what these women actually start them at three days and um, you know, and help them build a, um, like the habit of being consistent. And so just managing their expectations, kind of like helping them, you know, find something that's sustainable is super important in helping them build the consistency.

And then just habits like, okay, let's pencil in your schedule.  Which days do you think you can realistically go to the gym or set or even your home gym and set aside some time to prioritize this? Like I tell them, you need to schedule this like every other appointment that you schedule at work that you would never cancel, right?

People would never cancel their work meetings. They would never cancel their kids' doctor's appointments. Um, you have to treat your workouts a sacred time and prioritize them. 'cause it's very easy to, um, let those go and then not prioritize 'em. And I, I try to remind women  that it is not selfish to prioritize your health because you'll be a better mom, you'll be a better wife, you'll be a better coworker if you prioritize your health.

And you, you've heard the saying you can't pour from an empty cup. Uh, I truly believe that. So I'm not saying neglect your children, you know, and, and things like that. But you, you need to prioritize that and then also be okay with. Doing something instead of nothing at all. That is something I'm constantly preaching, doing something is better than nothing at all.

So a lot, a lot of times women will say,  I couldn't, I knew that I couldn't fit in the whole workout, so I didn't go,  okay, so next time be okay with just picking three out of the F five exercises and maybe just doing two sets. I mean, literally, you have to still get in the habit of going and prioritizing this, even if you're short on time.

So just kind of helping them shift that mindset is important as well. I think a combination of all those things help them develop the habit. Just, you know, something's better than nothing at all, and making it a sustainable routine. Yeah, no, I, I totally agree with that. Uh, I think the best routine is the one you'll stick with.

Yes. And, and it's better to start small and, and grow versus setting these huge expectations and then you, and that applies to anything. I've done that in, in different areas of my life, not fitness.  I think I've got that dialed in 'cause I've been doing it my whole life. But in other areas I've done that.

Like I'm trying to, I'm gonna redo this whole thing and it's like, just scale back a bit. Like start small. Yes. Um, one thing, I've talked about this before, and so there's two books I strongly recommend. You've probably heard of them. Uh, omic Habits.  Yes. Uh, and, and, uh, tiny Habits. Most people haven't heard of Tiny Habits.

I have not heard of Tiny Habits. You should check it out. Tiny Habits by BJ Fog. He's actually a behavioral scientist and he's, uh, one of the, the main guys that came up with a lot of the stuff you hear in the literature today, including Atomic Habits by James Clear.  He, he, they, they've done a lot of tests in his, uh, lab in Stanford.

A lot of different, uh, studies they've done about what works and what doesn't for habit creation and just behavior in general. And, and so the idea is, you know, starting tiny is very effective. That's just one component. Right. But for example.  When my mom got started in a fitness regimen,  she didn't want to do the weights thing, right?

And, and so she started off with by doing Zumba, but even then it was like she was kind of not sticking to it. So I, I told her like, start, start small. Like just put your, pack your bag or something, you know, your gym stuff and put it at the front of the door. And then in the morning, just put on your shoes and that's it.

Don't, I know it sounds stupid, or like even just go down to your, your gym,  walk in and walk out. And it's, it's, people are like, oh, that's stupid. But it's not because you're just building the habit, the loop of doing. Because most of the time when you get there, you're gonna say, okay, well I'm already here. 

Right? The hardest part is getting there a hundred percent. And people don't realize that like, pack your bag, then just packing your bag the night before, putting it in your car. Like I still do that. I pack my stuff. It's just part of, I don't always do it. I would say 90% of the time I have it ready. And that removes the friction.

Yes. So there, there's a lot of friction between all the little things and our brain will look for the excuse. Yes. So I, it's just something that for me, I, I noticed that has worked really well and I noticed that when I told other people and they actually follow it, they're like, man, that, that actually made a huge difference.

Like just packing my smoothie, doing this and that. Yes. Even planning my workout, even a very simple thing,  it removes the friction of having to think about it and, and that cognitive, you know, resistance.  So yeah, to your point, totally agree. Starting small, huge, huge, like, uh, people think they need to do.

Like, um, you don't start by running a marathon. You start by walking to the end of your driveway and coming back up.  Yes,  exactly. And then, you know, I make a compromise with them. I say, listen, uh, if you can be consistent with three days and you, you're feeling good and you can look at your schedule and realistic think, okay, I can add another day.

Then we can have a conversation. I'm open to that, but let's start with three days. And I find that most of 'em don't even bother moving up to four days or five days or whatever. Like  actually, I don't have any ladies that work five train five days a week. I, I'm firmly, firmly believe, especially in women, women who are in midlife  three to four days of strength training is the sweet spot because it is manageable, it's sustainable, it's that it allows for rest and recovery.

Um, and which is extremely important no matter what. But I feel like as you age, it becomes even more important to pay attention to recovery, honoring rest days, allowing your body to just recover properly so you can push yourself the next time you're in the gym. So  yeah, starting at small baby steps, it's all about baby steps.

Eat, eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Yes, exactly.  Yeah, no, a absolutely. And, and that whole thing about the sweet spot, the data seems to. To align with what you're saying in that yes, if you go from one to five, there's a jump as far as hypertrophy and bone density, whatever, but when you go from like three to four, it's not that much of a difference.

And four to five, it's, it's not that much of a difference. I think, like you said, two to three times even. Two to three, apparently the data shows an explosion in hypertrophy and all your other biomarkers. So for people out there who are like, I don't have 10 hours a week, or 20, you don't have to like Exactly.

Even 30 minutes, three times a week, you can He see huge benefits. Yes. Like, like life changing benefits. Yes. And it opens up other areas of your life too.  You know, just, just from a social aspect, like you can connect with people who are kind of on the same page. Now all of a sudden you're going out, they understand where you're like, no, I don't want to drink.

They're like, yeah, me either. You know, like you kind of support each other. Yeah. There's, there's a, a lot to say about your, your peer group, your environment, all those things will help you. For sure. Like, uh, the people in my circle nowadays, they get it. They, they understand. I don't have to explain myself, but when I go and hang out in certain groups, it's, it's a constant, you know, I, I don't need to explain myself, but it's like, you know, you get the little joke like, oh, Mr.

Fitness guy that's like,  Hey man, that's,  I do this 'cause I want to not 'cause I have to, you know? Yeah,  yeah. Exactly. And the results speak for themselves, right. So they can only say so much. 'cause obviously it's working. Whatever lifestyle you're living is working. So, you know, they can, I, you know, I think that's hard for a lot of people who are just starting out, the peer pressure that they experience.

Um, it's hard for them to manage that. Um, I'm at a point in my life where I, I don't care. Yeah. I don't care what you think. I'm, I'm gonna just do what I, I want, you know, probably it comes with age, of course. Yes. But just being confident in your lifestyle and confident in what you've achieved. That doesn't matter what people say or think because you know it's working so. 

And they, you know, they're,  they're probably in the back of their minds admiring you, you know, wishing they had the same type of discipline and habits because they, they wanna feel better. So, yeah.  Yeah. My biggest pet peeve is that like, oh, you're lucky the genetics. It's like, oh gosh. Yeah. So you have no idea, like, this is, this is a lifetime of saying no to things and saying yes to the right things.

It's like, it's not sure. I, I believe there may be an element of, of the luck of the draw with certain, you know, genetics or whatever, but for the most part it's the, it's the small habits for years and years that get you there. Right.  Um, okay, cool. So, so when, if somebody were to start out, like you said, in the, the forties or the fifties, you've, you've addressed the myth about muscle.

That, that's another one I want to touch on. I know you, you've talked about it, but it's, it's funny to me when women are like, and that's like the biggest thing you hear, it's like, oh no, I don't want to be bulky. It's like. First of all, men have about, I think 10 times more testosterone than you. Um, our bones, everything in general, we were, we're bigger and stronger.

And yet men struggle. Right. To pack, to pack on muscle. Yes. You men struggle. Men struggle. You know how difficult it is. Yes. Like I've been lifting for how long and I put on maybe two pounds of lean muscle in a year. It's like, it's so difficult and I look heavy. I sleep. Yes. And even guys who take exogenous, like they take steroids and even then it's not easy.

People think they take it and you just like, no, no, no, no. Those guys have to like kill themselves. Yes. It's, it's, it is very funny when, uh, it is like a, it it 10 pound girl, like, I don't want to be like that guy on the stage. It's like, it's like,  yeah, if only we were that easy. Right.  I know that. Yeah. We be, I I'm still waiting, I'm still waiting to, to get bulky.

I mean, it's just. It's just  like you said, women have a fraction of the testosterone that men do. Yeah. We just do not have the ability to build that kind of muscle. Um, and it people, people have no idea how hard it is to build muscle when you are doing everything right. And most of these women's are, they're not doing everything right and they're still afraid that they're gonna get bulky overnight.

It is. It requires such hard work and, and tension every single day to build muscle. You know, it doesn't happen by accident, so trust me, it is, you're not gonna get bulky. And when women think that, I always have to remind them. If you, if you feel like you're getting bulky, it's usually a fat issue, a nutrition issue, the fat that's still probably covering your muscles that make you feel a little bit bulky once you shed the fat, is, that's when you're gonna reveal the.

The, the muscle and the tone that you're looking for. So trying to educate women on that as well has, has been tough. It's hard, uh, but I think it's, the tides are shifting slowly but surely it's, it's happening. Um, but still a lot of education needs to be required.  Yeah. So just to pivot, I, I, originally I found you, I, I think I had saw a video about your parents,  and I was, I love that stuff.

You know, it, it really hits home for me, um, especially with my mom's journey right now. And I, I lost my father and, you know, I, I wish he, he had done more and, you know, he did his best. But when I see you with your parents, or I see your parents lifting, I'm like, this is,  this is really fucking awesome. Like,  I love it.

It's, yeah, it's been a, it's been a huge, huge blessing. Oh man, it's been such a wonderful blessing and I'm just, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be so grateful looking back that, that we had this time together. It's definitely brought us closer. Um, and just, you know, helped our relationship and it, you know, I just, I'm just so thankful that, that it's, it happened. 

Yeah. It's, it's admirable. It, it's, um, admirable and really cool to see. So how did that start? Have they always been active in general? And maybe, I know in the Asian community it's quite, well, I don't know about Korean, but I know Chinese people walk a lot  in our communities. They're walking all the time.

And I, I think it's a very Asian thing for to walk. But as far as resistance training, it's not quite common from my understanding. So how did you get them to kind of adopt the resistance side of things? Yeah, you know what I, I remember my dad when I was growing up. I remember my dad would have a routine.

He would wake up in the morning, he would read his Bible and I would see his dumbbells in his, in the room. But they were like little tiny dumbbells, like five pounds. And he would do his own calisthenics. Nothing really like,  nothing to build muscle. I think it's just to kind of stay active. So I, I grew up watching him stay active and my mom has always been active, not in an exercise way.

She never ex formally exercised, but she loved to garden. She loved to be active in the yard. Like that was her form of being active. So that's how I saw them being active. Now, you know, they lived in Pennsylvania and, um, moved to Las Vegas. Um, oh, when was it? 2015. Uh, and my, and my dad actually,  I don't wanna digress.

He, he was a workaholic. He did not want to retire. And my mom basically said, I'm not waiting for you. I'm gonna go to Las Vegas to be with Juan.  And so she actually came here first and my dad was so stubborn, he, he wanted to work a few more years. So he stayed back in Pennsylvania. But then after he finally retired, he, he did join my mom.

Uh, so they have an unconventional type of, um, marriage, but it's worked. They're still together. Maybe that's why it worked. Right. 'cause they spent so much time away from each other. Um, but uh, when they came to Las Vegas, they told me they joined Lifetime Fitness. Okay.  I'm not sure if you're familiar with Lifetime Fitness.

I've heard of it. Yeah. We have a lifetime. It's like a high end. Yes. Very high end. I'm like, oh, okay. That's good. I, I'm glad that 'cause it was literally right across the street from them and I didn't know that they. We're consistent. And the only reason my mom liked to go there is because she liked to use a sauna.

So she wasn't even working out. So I don't know how the subject even came up. 'cause all this time I thought they were going to the gym and they're like, they said, no, we're not. I'm like, what? I can't believe you're not lifting weights. This is so important. They said, well, we don't know what to do at the gym.

And we had some free sessions and, and, and it's just not helpful. We just don't like going there. We feel lost. We don't know what to do.  And then, so I said, well if I, if I trained you guys, would you be willing to work out? And they said yes. I said, okay, well let's do that. So I got them a bench dumbbells and we just started simple.

Like just really started slow because at that point they had stopped working out.  Um, and I noticed my dad's mobility, declining strength, declining, uh, range of motion, significantly like limited. And so we just had to start from the bottom, start really slow and, you know, two days a week, 30, 45 minutes tops, and that's all they've been doing. 

And so, um, yeah. So it was initially just finding out by accident that they weren't lifting weights and then being, uh, willing to work out 'cause they could have said no. Right, right. So that the willingness to even work out was, to me a, a huge part of the process. Um, because if they were willing to, I couldn't force them to, there's only so much I could do.

Um, aside from just encouraging them, so the fact that they wanted to, how could I say? No, you know, I mean, I was so happy that they, that they wanted to do that, so I'm like, let's just, let's do it. And I had no expectations whatsoever. I didn't know how long they would continue doing it. I didn't know if they were like, you know, after a few months, if they would, they would say, oh, we don't wanna do this anymore.

But they've been consistent with it, aside from like illnesses or medical procedures or maybe, you know, travel, uh, they've been consistent with it twice a week. So I, I'm really proud of the commitment.  That's awesome. Have you seen any changes in their, in their body composition? Like more muscle, obviously, I'm sure you've seen strength gain. 

Like, has your mom and dad built muscle? My, but my mom for sure, I've, I've caught like video. I, I would like to record them and I'll see her muscles popping and I'm like, mom, look at this. And I have to show her. And she's like, oh, that's muscle. Like, she doesn't even know really what muscle like, looks like in motion.

I to point it out to her. Yes. That's muscle. It's so cool. My dad's so mod modest. He always wears like shirts. Uh, uh, I, I don't know if he's built muscle, but I noticed that he's hiding the gun, but yeah.  Um,  but I've noticed like him being stronger, uh, you know, range of motion has gotten better. You know, before when we used to do shoulder presses, he literally could not press more than like, literally here.

Like that's all  I was so like sad to see that. Yeah, scary. Like his shoulder mobility had gone down so much, but now he can actually press it all the way up, which is, that's incredible. I mean, it's been so cool to see just seeing that range of motion and the mobility. Improving. Um, yeah. So it's been fun to watch. 

Yeah. Yeah. Even my, my mom, um, she, she walks a lot too, and she does her Zumba and she does her weights like three times a week. And just seeing just certain things. She's told me, like, she's like, oh, I walk from the mall home with like five bags of groceries, you know?  Whereas before just the walk was like, unbearable.

Now she's like, I'm walking. And I noticed I wasn't, my hands weren't tired. I'm like, mom, that's pretty damn good. Like, that's like 40, 30 pounds, whatever. Yeah. So just those little things. Absolutely. And you can, I can feel her strength. Like I messed around with her. I'll like, grab her hand or, and she'll grab me.

I'm like, damn, you get strong. Relax.  Yeah.  It's, and I see the gains. She's lost weight and I can see the triceps coming in. Yes.  And before it was this whole thing of, you know, I had to convince her and, and now I have to convince her not to go. Maybe  like she got a cold not too long ago. I was like, mom, you know, you're, you're coughing.

I, I think you need to take a few days. Just let your body focus on fighting. And she was like, no, I'm gonna go. I'm like, you're gonna make it worse. So she listened. Whereas, whereas before, I would've had to force her the other way, you know? Right. It's pretty cool. She's like addicted to it now. It is. Yeah.

Once you start doing it, it,  you know, once you start doing it, you can't imagine not doing it. And that's where people, I would love for people to get, to get to a point where initially it feels uncomfortable to build a habit, but then you wanna get to a point where it becomes uncomfortable to not do it right.

So when you get to that point, you, you know, that you've built it, built a habit out of it.  So that's a great place to be. Awesome. So what are some other habits that you have that support your, your health? I know you mentioned your sleep, uh, prioritizing your sleep and bedtime, obviously your, your fitness regimen and cardio.

Any, any other habits you'd like to talk about that you could share?  Uh, water getting, staying well hydrated. You know, I drink water first thing in the morning right when I get up. Um, no alcohol. Um, also walking every single day outside before there was a time where I could not even imagine. The thought of even taking a walk seemed weird. 

And then even the thought of taking a walk outside seemed weird. You know, it's interesting when you first start a habit, all these things kind of seem weird, but now it's such a habit. I walk in the morning every morning outside with my dogs, um, every single day. Like that is, that is a priority. So morning.

And then I do mobility stretches. That's something that I've been more consistent with, uh, the last few months. I have to. Um, I've been struggling with that for a long time because it's hard to find a routine that you can be consistent with. And I've shared with people, you know, the routine that I do is literally five minutes.

Five minutes. I do it in the morning after I drink my water.  I do a five minute mobility routine before I leave the bedroom, because I know that if I don't do it, then it's not gonna happen. Even though it's only five minutes, it's just weird. So I prioritize that and, and people have said it was only five minutes.

I said, listen, it, it is number one is better than nothing. And number two, I had to find something that I could stick with. Just kinda like how I was trying to help, you know, if you try to help clients develop a habit of lifting weights, for me, I, I had to find a routine that was bite size that I could memorize.

I could do it anywhere without equipment, and that required little space. So  that was absolutely key in helping me develop the habit. So mobility. Um, and then, um, you know, a quiet time. I, I spend some time in the morning, uh, reading the Bible. To me, it's been, it's been so impactful and, and just it quiets my mind and helps me kind of like focus on what's, what's important and it's reduced my anxiety.

So I do that. Um, prioritizing protein.  At every meal. Um, prioritizing fiber, uh, making sure I have fruits and vegetables. Um, I eat mostly whole food. Like it's, I rarely eat out. I get takeout. I, I can't remember the last time I got takeout. Well go out as a family, you know, just go to dinner. But I don't, it's not something I regularly go get takeout, so I prepare most of my meals from home.

Um, of course, strength training, walking, cardio. Um,  I think that covers it  all. I'm trying to think if, if I've missed anything. Um, yeah,  that's probably it.  I, I am I, I think I'm forgetting something, but I think I, I covered all the major, major ones, the big rocks now for women going through menopause. Uh, do you encourage  them to take, uh, like hormone replacement therapy, like bioidentical hormones or anything like that?

If.  Only if they're experiencing symptoms.  And I feel like if a lab, especially if lab work supports this, I don't blanket like, tell every woman that they need to do it.  'cause not everyone, not everyone needs it, and not everyone wants to do it, and not everyone is a candidate for it. You know, it's, uh, I find that HRT is extremely, extremely individualized and personalized experience and really needs to be catered toward that woman.

Um, even with HRT, there's different dosage forms that don't work. So it's just, it's just, uh, it's a hot topic. Um, I feel like women need to do what they, they feel is best for their bodies. And I think we should support them either way. Whether they, they do HRT or they don't do HRT, it's, it's, uh, a woman's decision to decide what's best for them.

Yeah, I agree with that. And I, I think the same thing with men. A lot of, there's this new thing, TRT, like every guy thinks they need it. They hit  40.  Like very small amount of population will need it. And even then it's like, have you optimized everything else? Right? We talk a lot of these guys, you know, they don't, you know, I have friends who are, who are asking me about supplements and this and that, and I'm like, dude, you go like at least once a week where you go 24 hours without sleep.

First of all, you need to like dial in your sleep. Yes. Train consistently. Stop eating junk. You know, figure out your stress situation and, and once you've been doing that for a few months, talk to me. You don't need to supplement anything. You're not even Yes, a hundred percent. Yeah. A lot of these issues that, I'm not saying everything, but many of the things that people are people in general, not just women only feel not, not feeling their best.

It comes down to lifestyle habits. And if they would just improve those things, they would probably feel so much better. So much better. And they'll realize that it wasn't, that they needed whatever it is that they, they're, they're, uh, substituting it with, you know, sleep. Whole foods, walking, uh, reducing alcohol have a significant impact.

And on just overall everything.  Yeah, I think sleep is one of the biggest ones. It definitely was for me. I've, I've, I agree, made a huge improvement. Yes. But I think a lot of it has to do with smartphones and social media. And of course,  you know, we're conditioned in, especially in North America, like when the Friday comes, it's all, what they call it, weekend jet lag.

It's a real thing. It's, it's literally like people go from, they maybe their bedtime's like 10, 11 or whatever, and then on the weekend they're going to bed at two, three. It's literally like a form of, of jet lag,  you know? And so trying to keep your bedtimes consistent, those things, for me, even on the weekend was a big paradigm shift,  realizing that  I agree.

I agree. I try to have a consistent bedtime every, every day, seven days a week. Now granted, some things might come up outta your control, but for the most part, I like to have a consistent bedtime routine. Can consist a wake up routine, even on the weekends. I think that's important. Yeah. The tough part is the social aspect because most people will, if you have like a party or a family gathering or whatever, especially if we're, you're hosting,  you know,  to be like, ah, you guys gotta get out at seven, a little bed, nine.

It's tough. It's a tough one. Right. So I make exceptions, but sometimes it's a little frustrating. Yeah.  You know, definitely  some people want to drink until like the 2:00 AM it's like not. Oh my gosh. It's not my life, you know? No,  not, not me either. So.  So is there, is there anything else that, um, we missed? 

I don't, I mean, I don't think, did you not talk about anything else specifically, uh, concerning health? I know you used to compete too, right? Is that right? Did you compete? I did, yeah. Physi, can we touch on that real quick?  Yeah, I competed in Bikini. That's awesome. Uh, I just, yeah, I have a small frame, so I couldn't even compete in physique even if I wanted to.

Those girls have a lot of muscle. Um, yeah, so I competed in Bikini. I did, uh, a total of five shows and it was, you know,  I don't regret it. I do wish I had done things differently. I think if I had done things differently, I would've been healthier overall and I maybe would've had, uh, more longevity in the sport.

But I was, I still was not very healthy in my habits of, you know, not prioritizing sleep. That was the biggest one. Hmm. And also, um, you know, when you compete there's, you know, a lot of body dysmorphia that comes from that. Yeah. And, you know, seeing yourself get lean, it's hard to see yourself gain back the weight, even if it's healthy weight, the kind of weight that you need to gain to be healthy.

Not even just be overweight just to regain your health. Um, you know, I had lost my menstrual cycle. I had gotten to very low levels of leanness and I tried to sustain that in the off quote unquote off season or the time between where competitors don't compete. They're supposed to like, you know, gain weight and, you know, things like that.

And I didn't. And that really, I suffered because of that, and  I was not able to build muscle. I looked the same every year or every show. And. That's, that's not what you wanna do as a bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, you wanna show that you're improving with each show, you know, and looking at pictures. I remember the head judge, I had been in communicating with the head judge, and she even took snapshots of pictures of me over the show.

She said, there's no change. There's, there's no change at all. And she was, it was, she was speaking the truth without Ellen, because she's a head judge. She knows what she's looking for. But I, I could clearly see there was no change. So I knew at that point, like, if I wanted to come back, if I wanted to stay in the sport, I need to take significant time away from the sport  to be able to build muscle and heal my body.

And during that time, I just realized, you know what? I'm done. I'm done going to extremes. I'm done pushing my body. Um, I just wanna be healthy again. I just wanna live a life. You know, feeling my best. I don't want to go to extreme levels. It's just hard on the mind and the body as well. Um, so yeah, I just, in 2019, that was the last time I competed and I haven't looked back.

I have no desire to step back on stage. You know, I don't, like I said, I, I learned so much from the experience. I just wish I had done things differently.  Yeah, yeah. That's, that's quite common in the sport with the whole body dysmorphia or even like,  you know, eating or disordered eating.  Typically in the fitness world, it's more common than people think.

Even for men, a lot of people Oh yeah. Equate it to women having like body dysmorphia, like it, men might have it worse in men have, yes.  Because men feel like they have to have this, like, impossible build that even guys on steroids can't get. And uh, they, they, they try to. Look like superheroes. 'cause that's how we're depicted in all the movies, right?

Yeah. Like, and it, those actors are all on enormous amounts of steroids and stuff to get to that physique in like three months.  People don't realize that, right? Yeah,  yeah, yeah. It's just so, it's just so hard in the body. It's unhealthy. It's where healthy becomes unhealthy. It's kind of like the opposite  extreme.

It, it's not the pinnacle of health. And what people need to understand that, you know, that look is really for one day, it's that day that you step on stage and it's not meant to be sustained all year round. It's not, it's not meant to be idolized and glamorized. And I think there's a huge misconception that people think that, oh, they, they're shred, they should be shredded all year round.

When in reality you should not be. It's really, it's, people think, oh, they, they, they're so fit. But it's really you're, you feel the worst. Ask any competitor who's stepped on stage. You feel the worst when you compete. 'cause you just low energy ly sleep, extreme food focus.  The worst, like just eating a meal and then not feeling satisfied and just being hungry 24 7.

Is it,  that's a, it's a tough feeling to deal with, you know? Um, it took me probably a year, I would think,  looking back a year for my hunger hormones to feel balanced again. Whereas like, I would eat a meal and I would be satisfied and not think about wanting to eat another meal for three hours, where before it was, even after months of competing, I would eat a meal and still be looking for food.

This is like, you, you, you hunger hormones are so out of whack. Um, so that was, that was hard. That and just the, the body dysmorphia tough  mentally. All right. Um, yeah, I think, I think we pretty much covered everything. I, I guess is, is there a message you wanna leave for people that are maybe on the fence or, you know, with respect to your journey and your experience?

And training with your parents. And you know, from the perspective, I think the message I always wanna convey is it's just never too late. It is never too late to become the be a best version of yourself. So wherever you are, you know, just start. And it is literally, it is the best investment in your future self.

Like, you've got to prioritize your health, uh, not only for yourself, for, but for your children. You know, you wanna leave a positive legacy behind. Um, I think that's one of the best gifts that you can give your children is the gift of your own health. So never too late. I'm just, you know,  prioritize your health. 

Absolutely.  I love that.  So Juan, where can people find you?  I am the most active on Instagram, Juan d Wellness. Um, I plan on coming out with the app pretty soon, so once that becomes available, I'll make sure to, you know, share that. But right now, basically you can find me on Instagram. That is where I am the most active.

So  it's WOND like dad wellness? That's correct. I'll have all the links in the descriptions and stuff, but, uh, yeah, everybody check her out. She's got some cool videos. Especially big. Shout out to your parents. Tell 'em I said hello.  I will. It'll be, thank you. I, I look forward to those videos. You should. It seems to be very popular.

People love that kind of stuff. They love, they love my parents. Yeah. They, they can't get enough of them. So I try to make sure that I sprinkle it in there, uh, regularly. 'cause it's been, it's been a huge part of the, my, the growth of my account as well. Um, it's, it just drawn in, uh, a lot of people, um, people in general love to see people, like people who are older chasing health and chasing strength because we don't see enough of it.

And it is just so heartwarming. You know, even when I see other videos of people in their seventies and eighties working out, it's like, oh.  You know, you love seeing videos like that, so I, I try to make sure to make that a regular part of my content.  Oh, yeah, absolutely. If, uh, you should check out the episode I did with, uh, a gentleman named, um, Frank Gil Feather, he's a boxing coach outta Scotland.

He's got a huge following too. And, um, he's, he's like in his seventies  and he's, he's incredible. He's still skipping and, and when you see him hit the punching bag, if you don't, you know, obviously he looks a little old. He is an older man, but if you see him from like the side or he is got a hoodie on it looks like a 20-year-old. 

Oh, I'm have to check out his account. I wrote it down, so I'll, I'll check it out. Frank, Frank, Gil Feather, Gil Feather. Go, go to mine and just look up on my followers. Or you can look up my reels. You'll see him there. He's, he's incredible, incredible. And he, I love that he's a big proponent of like telling kids from young, make this a lifelong habit.

This isn't just about when you fight, it's about health. And he's very big on health.  He's, he's an incredible dude. You remind me of him in that, that same spirit you guys do. I love it. Yeah. And I'm trying to convince my mom to come on this, uh, podcast with me and talk. 'cause I think she can offer a lot of wisdom.

Oh, that'd be great. You should. Yeah. If she do that, that's, I, from her perspective, she's still reluctant. But I, I'll get her, I'll get her eventually. Yeah. I think people would love that. And people, I love to hear people, their side of the story from their own mouth, you know? Yeah. The thoughts and things like that.

I think people would really, it would really resonate with a lot of people.  Yeah. You know, this shows about health, Ben, and longevity. And my mom losing my father, you know, her husband, they've worked together since, since kids.  So that, and then still being able to go and using fitness and these different routines to help her cope and Yeah.

Literally see her transform and, and the, the strength she has emotionally, I think, I think that will resonate with a lot of people. Yes. Yes. Because it's not just, you know, motivation, just, you know, everything's perfect and these will be motivated when everything's perfect. Right, right. When there's some challenges. 

So yeah, maybe, maybe one day coming soon.  That'd be nice. So Juan, it was, it was a, a great chat. I hope we could do it again and, um, I, I really appreciate it. I wish you the best of luck with your parents too. I, I, thank you. Keep killing it.  Your dad, your dad inspired me. Thank you. I appreciate it.  It's been an honor.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Juan.  Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Youthful Aging Secrets with Juan Del Gowski. If you enjoyed it, please follow the show and leave a, as it makes a huge difference in others helping discover the podcast. Remember to join my free weekly newsletter, live better longer, where I answer one important health question, tweak with the latest research, share my favorite finds, and give you a chance to submit your questions for future guests.

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