461 | Real Talk about Balance Training and Fall Prevention with Physical Therapist Kelsey Bahr

[00:00:05] Welcome to the Optimal Body Podcast. I'm Dr. Jen and I'm Dr. Dom and we are doctors of physical therapy bringing you the body tips and physical therapy pearls of wisdom to help you begin to understand your body, relieve your pains and restrictions and answer your questions. Along with expert guests, our goal of the Optimal Body Podcast is really to help you discover what optimal means within your own body. Let's dive in.

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[00:01:23] So if you're interested, head to the link in the show notes and use code OPTIMAL for an extra 20% off at checkout. You're already walking. Why not make those walks work harder for you? Welcoming to the podcast, we have another doctor of physical therapy, our favorite, Dr. Kelsey Bahr, who's a physical therapist in Tampa, Florida. She specializes in chronic pain physical therapy and fall prevention education.

[00:01:50] She has been working in the fitness industry for 15 years and grew a passion for fall prevention when working with patients who have Parkinson's disease during her clinical rotations. After losing a family member to a traumatic fall and working with hundreds of patients who have experienced falls, she felt like it was her calling to create an online fall prevention program to help educate as many people as possible in improving their safety and overall quality of life.

[00:02:14] Her program is for the aging population, caregivers, and anyone who wants to help their loved ones create a safe and healthy lifestyle. Fall prevention and fall risk is such an important topic, especially as we age, it becomes one of the highest predictors of mortality. So we're so excited to dive in with Kelsey. Kelsey, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. We love having our fellow physios on, especially when you're up to really cool work that I think is going to help people.

[00:02:45] And they need it more than they realize. So this is an important conversation. Well, thank you so much. I am honored and honestly so am to be here today. I listen to you guys all the time and I just have so much respect and admiration for all of the content that you put out there. Really just helping people improve their lifestyle and even their mental health. I think that's something that everybody could use a little bit more of. I couldn't agree more. And I mean, it's what we get into this field for is to help people. And this is such a cool medium to be able to do so.

[00:03:15] And I first want to talk a little bit about your calling and your passion. I mean, obviously, you're a physical therapist, but what drew you towards the falls prevention side? Because I know some of the recent work that you've been doing and the course that you put out has a bit more to do with fall prevention. What made that a passion of yours? So I started in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and I worked with youth swimmers, tennis players.

[00:03:44] And then I became a personal trainer at various gyms, group fitness instructor. And I was at one point working with bodybuilders. And I just realized I always have this feeling like I never know enough. So I'm always craving more education. What else can I know? How can I expand my knowledge? And so I was like, you know, I just need to go to PT school.

[00:04:04] So in PT school, I had this future picture painted that I was going to be working with athletes and high intensity this and that and getting people back in the game. And I got to my clinicals and I started working with the elderly population, started working with some of the patients that had Parkinson's disease.

[00:04:25] And, you know, watching them move and function, it was like, oh, my gosh, I really want to help these people get better, be more independent and be able to like spend time with their families and not feel like they have to miss out on things just because, you know, they can't walk as much or they have instability. So watching these people meet their goals and, you know, get better on their feet, I kind of felt more pulled that direction, which kind of shocked me working with bodybuilders. Right.

[00:04:54] So fast forward, I graduated from PT school and I'm like, I need to find a job. So I got hired at a hospital based outpatient ortho clinic and they're like, well, we specialize. First of all, this hospital doesn't hire new grads. And I was just at this point where I was like, pick me, pick me, please. I'll learn whatever you need me to. I just need a job. And they're like, well, it specializes in chronic pain. And I was like, OK, sign me up. And at first I was like, all right, what is this? Like, am I equipped for this?

[00:05:23] Because in PT school, we learn about, you know, pain science, nociceptors, all of that. But they don't really teach you exactly how to treat people with this stuff. So learning and kind of getting a grasp on how to communicate with people with chronic pain. Right. A lot of these people have, you know, I went to my doctor. My doctor said my pain's not real. And, you know, I'm making it up. And these people just live their life in pain and they're afraid.

[00:05:52] And so I come and I think you guys talked on this a little bit with chronic pain for the lower back. It's just listening to people talk about their stories. And all these people are so stressed out because they're in all this pain that that stress amplifies their pain. So it's just like this domino effect of cascading offense.

[00:06:12] And so just listening to them talk, listening to their stories, and then breaking things down for them and kind of getting them out of that fight or flight response into, okay, let's calm down the nervous system. Let's like break down these big major movements that you're having difficult doing that are causing pain. Let's start with the smaller muscle groups. Let's get those moving first. Right. And sometimes people spend so much time avoiding the movements that they actually need to be performing.

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[00:08:04] Well, and when it comes to understanding chronic pain, I think what's hard for people is just like, what does it matter if it's been a long time? Like, shouldn't I need just like this one specific exercise or I need to do just this one specific treatment? And that's going to help because wouldn't it be the same as any other pain? So what makes approaching patients who have chronic pain different than someone who comes in with new pain?

[00:08:32] Like, why is that treatment approach different? And what are people kind of missing? I think a major component is this fear and this long-term nervous system that is just stuck in fight or flight. Sometimes people come to me and they're like, I've tried PT. I've tried this. I've tried that. And again, it's like, okay, well, tell me your experience with physical therapy.

[00:08:59] Oh, I went in and they saw me and they were working with two, three other people at the same time. And they had me doing these exercises that made my pain worse. So I just quit. And I said, oh, okay. Well, that's not a very good experience. So now when they try to do any of these movements or they watch videos online, they're trying, but they're just so afraid that their body is so tense. And if you try to go through a range of motion when your body is tense, your muscles are like, nope, nope, don't do it. Right?

[00:09:25] So your brain is actually kind of preventing you from comfortably and confidently moving the way that your body needs to. So I often start people with, if they come into me and they're like, hey, I'm an eight or nine out of 10, which I hear 10 out of 10 pain all the time. And when I tell them 10 out of 10 is take me to the hospital, they're like, oh yes, it's a 10. And I'm like, okay, well, let's take a pause. Do you want to go to the hospital? And they're like, no, and I was like, well, maybe we're at a nine, right?

[00:09:52] Let's sometimes people hype themselves up because they think they're in this worst case scenario. And I'm like, you are in a clinic that is comfortable and safe. You are not in a dangerous environment. Why don't we take the moment to just take a deep breath? And oftentimes those people are at high levels of pain. I have them lay in a hot pack, close their eyes and take deep breaths for two minutes. And it basically changes their world because they're able to relax. I actually had this lady come in and she said, I'm in so much pain. I didn't sleep at all last night.

[00:10:22] I couldn't get comfortable. I'm so irritated. And I said, let's just lay down on a hot pack, focus on your breath. I want you to close your eyes, turn everything else out and just focus on your breathing. Within like a minute and a half, I heard snoring. And I was like, I felt so bad because I had to wake her up. I'm like, I can't, I can't bill for napping. So we got to do something. But ultimately it was, she was so hyped up and she just couldn't get herself to calm down. And then we start with gentle mobility. Hey, if you can't go through the full range of motion, let's move through what's tolerable.

[00:10:51] Let's train your body to understand that this movement is not causing damage. I think people confuse pain and damage and assume if I'm going to do this movement, it causes pain. It must be causing more damage. And that's not the case, right? There's a ton of imaging studies out there that show people who have back pain, they may have, you know, disc herniations without pain, right? So there's all these different things. But when people believe that they have damage or they believe all these things,

[00:11:18] it prevents them from going through the motions that might actually be really helpful for them and be more functional. So really kind of breaking things down for people and having them start with what they can tolerate makes a huge difference in the long run. And when I tell you, I've had people come in and this lady wanted to just put her hair in a ponytail. She's like, I've not been able to put my hair in a ponytail for years. Thank God I have a husband who is willing to do my hair. And then we just over time slowly moved her arm up the wall and, you know, kind of worked with the breath.

[00:11:47] Okay, if it starts to bother you, take a deep breath in. And then as you exhale, try to reach a little bit farther. And over time, she came in one day, she goes, I did this myself. And she points to her ponytail. And I was like, I was so happy for her. I'm like, see, you could do it. And I think building that confidence, once they accomplish one thing, they're like, what else can I do? Right. And so I think building confidence and trusting your body is one of the major things that actually helps with fall prevention.

[00:12:14] And it's one of the things that I instill in patients is, you know, confidence is key. Movement is medicine. If you are sitting all day, you're not using all of these muscles in the body that are designed to move. And they're just going to keep getting weaker and weaker. And then what? Right? So that's kind of where this program stemmed from is just, I work with people all the time who've had falls and that the fear of falling actually increases your risk for falls.

[00:12:41] So I talk a lot about building confidence and starting with, you know, making a checklist and going through all of that. And at the end of the day, it's like there's so much education on fall prevention that I can't spend 45 minutes with every single patient talking about it. So that's what kind of led me to building a course on it. But it has been very rewarding seeing people who have had all these injuries or, you know, experiences with falls build confidence and, you know, oh, I can get out of the chair by myself.

[00:13:11] I can leave my house and I can go up and down the stairs. I can go to Disney World with my family, like all these things that they were so afraid to do because either they had pain or they were afraid of falling. So it's been a very rewarding population to work with. Yeah. You bring up so many amazing points. I mean, just the reframe of how people come in focusing on what they can't do.

[00:13:38] I can't do that because it hurts or it's painful. I can't do that because I believe it's causing more damage versus what can we do? What is the ability that we can focus on right now to bring back that confidence? And we had someone on the podcast recently who was talking about chronic pain specifically. And I love the analogy she had, how it's a recipe. Everybody has the recipe. Everyone has the five or six things that they can focus on, that they can change in their

[00:14:07] body that might have an immediate impact on their pain. And other parts of the recipe might have that longer term impact on the pain. Like you bring up one that I think can be a part of everyone's recipe is breath. Jen and I both have experiences getting people on the mat or on the table breathing. And they're in tears because they're like, this is the first time in months that I haven't been focused on my back. And that story you had about the person who fell asleep on the mat.

[00:14:35] First off, I think you can bill for that. She was struggling sleeping. That is neuro re-education right there. If I ever knew it. She just said she didn't sleep. And in five minutes, you got her sleeping. Neuro re-ed, boom, eat it insurance companies. That's my short soapbox. But can you talk a little bit more about falls and why they're so impactful? I think people who are in their 30s or 40s and they think about falls, they think, oh, that's not something I need to worry about.

[00:15:06] And they might just see it as, oh, you fall, you might break a bone or something, but you'll heal and get back to doing what you're doing. Like, why is it more than that? I think, and this is not to sound so urgent, but as I'm 32 and I started working with this population at 30 and I said, I'm starting now. I am going to build up my bone density. I'm going to try to build as much muscle mass as humanly possible.

[00:15:33] And I know there's this stigma around females who are like, well, I don't want to lift weights because I don't eat bulky. I have been trying to be bulky and muscular for years. It's so hard to, I mean, obviously, if you're taking things that can enhance muscle hypertrophy. I don't know. But just generally, like gaining strength and gaining muscle mass is not something that just like happens right away. You have to work really hard at it. And as you age, the ability to gain strength and muscle mass declines, right?

[00:16:00] As we age, the collagen fibers in our body cross-length, they shorten. So we lose flexibility. We lose mobility, right? We have a harder time. If we don't start now, we're going to have a harder time with building and doing those things as we age. And I think, you know, I have aging parents and, you know, I'm on them every day. Are you doing your postural exercises? Are you doing your sit to stands? Are you drinking water? Are you eating protein?

[00:16:29] Are you taking your... I got them creatine for Christmas. They're like, what is this? Anywho, I think, you know, if we can start the awareness at a younger age, the prevention is going to be so much better. In PT school, they always said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure, which is so, so true. You know, oftentimes people, when they come to me, it's too late. They've already fallen.

[00:16:58] And yes, we can prevent them from falling in again. But once you fall, right, they always have this lingering fear of, oh my gosh, like, I can't do this because what if I fall again? Or what if it's worse? And sometimes it's not even them that experiences the fall. It's their neighbor who fractured their hip and had to have an emergency hip replacement. They hear these things. And then there are all this fear. And I have to, you know, kind of talk them down and say, hey, like, let's just get start off by getting stronger. Let's work on your reactive balance strategies.

[00:17:27] Let's kind of cross the T's and dot the I's. So that doesn't have to be you. And I don't want people to live in fear, but I want people to be educated and aware of all these little things that we can do to prevent falls. So I think building muscle mass and getting stronger not only helps you age gracefully and helps, I mean, muscle is metabolic gold, right? Like your metabolism is so much better off if you have more muscle mass on you.

[00:17:54] So not to mention the bone density, but I think it also is very empowering, right? Like there's this empowering feeling when you lift weights and you get done with a workout, you have all these endorphins, you're feeding your body all these nutrients, lots of good blood flow. And it's just a very empowering thing to do. So I, if people don't lift weights now, I talk about all the time. I think people are really annoyed by me and my, let's go to the gym. Let's go lift weights.

[00:18:20] But it truthfully stems from what I've experienced, what I know, the stories I've heard and how impactful what we do now has long-term effects, whether it's good or bad, right? If we're sitting all day on our phones and we're not moving, we're not utilizing the muscles in our body, right? And if we don't use it, we lose it, right? That's something I say probably every single day of my life. Um, but that's just the thing is getting people moving and doing as much as you can, as much

[00:18:49] as you can tolerate is going to be the best thing long-term. I mean, a thousand percent. And I love that you bring up like, oh, let's be the friends that are just like, let's go to the gym. Let's lift the weights. Like I just sent a reel to my workout buddy. I used to have every day. She moved back to Minnesota. So I don't get to see her all the time. But I was like, you were my happy hour workout buddy. Like instead of going to, you know, get grab a drink, we would work out together. And it was honestly the best, but we're the most boring people.

[00:19:19] No, you just went to a different type of bar, right? Yeah, exactly. I have zero interest in going to a bar with people. One, I don't drink and like, unless there's dancing, maybe I'll go out and dance, but Hey, that's cardio. Exactly. I know. But when it comes to fall prevention too, I think, you know, the reason it's talked about so late in life or really starting to be addressed was because, well, I don't, again, have to worry about the falls. And when it comes to it, I think a lot of people think of balance. Okay.

[00:19:47] So I'm just going to do single leg balance. Like, do I just stand on one foot? Like, is that how I prevent a fall? Can we talk about, like, you mentioned reactive training, you mentioned strength training. Like how do these other aspects of training play into fall prevention? And what should someone be adding into their workouts to help in terms, like, what does reactive training mean? What does this look like? You know, what aspects of training should we start to be adding in? All of them.

[00:20:16] I am not, I know that sounds crazy. And I always hated when in PT school, the professors would respond with, it depends, but it truly does. And I think it depends on what you're lacking, right? If you're always doing strength training, okay, how's your flexibility? How is your mobility, right? Your body is always going to use the things that you practice, right? It's like that neuroplasticity principle. It's okay. It's going to strengthen what's strong and weaken what's weak.

[00:20:42] So we need to create a better overall balance in our training protocols, our routines, our lifestyles. I tell people all the time, I'm like, if you sit from nine to five, get up every three hours, take a lap, do some sit to stands, do some scap squeezes, get your muscles moving, right? You need to do something. Um, I would never survive in a sedentary job just because I am like a golden retriever person. Like I'm like running around from A to B. I have to be moving and talking.

[00:21:10] Um, but I think kind of going through and setting yourself up for success by looking at your lifestyle. Okay. Do you go to the gym? What do you do? Do you lift weights? Do you only go to yoga? Do you only run, right? Um, those are things that you have to kind of create more time for the things that you don't do. And I, I don't love having people do exercises that they hate, right? Like people who hate broccoli, you don't have to eat broccoli. There's other vegetables that you can eat, but addressing the areas.

[00:21:40] And I think that's why PT should be like prescribed before there's an injury, right? Let's find these muscular imbalances. Um, let's find what's tight. Let's find what's weak. Let's point them out to you so that you're preventing injury and that you can have long term success in your function. Um, but the other part of fall prevention, right? Uh, the reactive balance. I remember in PT school, we learned about the perturbations and I always felt so bad because

[00:22:06] you're like pushing people and trying to knock them down, which sounds so terrible, but it is teaching their body to respond to that stimulus, right? Like, okay, I have, do I step, do I reach with my hands? Let's put them on an unstable surface so that their proprioception can improve. Like where, where is my body? Like, where are my feet? Um, so not only is there different types of training that people can do, but it's also lifestyle habits.

[00:22:31] And that's the one thing that I think I dive so deeply into in my program is there's, there's 15 modules and I could have probably had 70, but I was like, all right, let's just like keep it simple. Um, so I even talked about the senses of the body, right? Your vision plays a role. If you have blurry vision, you can't see where you're going. You're going to, what? You can't see the cord you tripped over, right? Or depth perception. Um, your hearing plays a huge role in balance, right?

[00:22:58] You've all these, um, auditory things that are in your ear that people don't think about, but they affect your balance. People have vertigo, right? There is environmental awareness. What does your home environment look like? Um, are you going to the doctors regularly and getting your blood work taken? Are there deficiencies that you have? Nutrition. I mean, there's nutrition is a big one too, right? Like if we don't get enough protein or we're not hydrated enough, or we don't have like

[00:23:26] we have electrolyte imbalances, all of these things can make a huge difference in our day to day. And I think the other variables that I touch on, I think they're all very important, um, are different types of diagnoses that people may not be super familiar with. So I talked about Parkinson's disease. Um, I also talk a little bit about, you know, stroke, people who had stroke, um, diabetes, people who have peripheral neuropathies. They can't feel their feet, right? That can heavily impact your balance or your stability.

[00:23:55] Um, people who have vertigo, right? The dizziness. Um, I talk a little bit about polypharmacy. You have all these people who are taking three, four, five plus medications. And if they all have a side effect of drowsiness, oh my goodness. Right. And I'm not telling anybody to discontinue their medications. Please talk to your doctor first before you make any rash decisions. But I think it is a conversation that needs to be had with other medical professionals to say, hey, I'm concerned about this. What can I do?

[00:24:25] Can I change my dosage? Can I, do I need all of these medications? Um, and I think a lot of people struggle with accountability. And I think this is awesome. Like for your app example of using your apps and following a program, the accountability is key and major because anybody can purchase something. But if you're not going through with it, right, it's, it's not just going to do the work for you.

[00:24:54] Um, I wish I could telepathically work out for people. That'd be awesome. But you have to go through and you have to complete each and every part. Um, so I think, you know, developing some form of accountability, whether it's all right, every Monday morning, you're going to go for a 30 minute walk with your neighbor or every Tuesday, you're going to go to yoga with, you know, you're just going to sign up for these classes. You're going to hold yourself accountable. I use my phone alarm all the time, which is super annoying for I'm sure everybody,

[00:25:23] but, um, calendar alerts. I, I think setting yourself up for success is just making that commitment to yourself. But then also if you're signing up for these things or doing these things with loved ones or friends and family, it's also building that community. Um, it's also a social thing. So that's really helpful for people too, with building confidence is you're not doing it alone and you have that buddy, like you said, your gym buddy that you no longer see. Right.

[00:25:48] So I think there's all these variables that we can change and we have control over that can help reduce our fall risk and help us get stronger and help us be more mobile and do the things we want to do. So we don't sit at home while the rest of the family went to Disney world. Right. Um, I don't want people to miss out on living. I don't want people to be afraid to live their life. So why don't we give them the tools to set themselves up for success and, and be stronger and be more confident on their feet? No.

[00:26:17] And I think that line that you said at the end there is what really hits home. Like, I don't want you to sit at home while the rest of your family goes to Disney world. And they're like, it's those types of things that make it, make it personal to people and make it purposeful for people to do this. And of course you, you, you said a lot of different components there and said that they're all important, which is okay. And I just want to speak to the person out there that might be listening and, and revert back to one thing you said is like, what is it that you're not doing?

[00:26:45] What is it that you're not focusing on? And generally the things that we're not focusing on are the things we're not very good at. And that's why we don't enjoy them. And there generally are variations of ways to work on those things that might be a little bit more enjoyable for us. And that's where getting with somebody, like you said, a physical therapist who can maybe help tease out ways of doing that, that are more enjoyable for you or help tease out the

[00:27:11] thing that you might not be as great or as skilled at that you can start working on. And I'm going to give people another strategy to get around their silly insurance companies, go to your doctor or most States allow a certain amount of PT visits without a prescription. So go straight to the PT, get that visit or go to your doctor. If you need a prescription, tell them you have shoulder pain and they'll write a script.

[00:27:39] And then once you get with your PT, say, I'm really here because I want you to help me figure out what I need to work on to prevent falls, figure what I need to work on to get stronger. And that's where you can focus those. And if you have a skilled PT, they can figure out the billing thing, I promise. But there's just giving, giving people some sneaky ways to get around and get insurance to still cover their sessions. One question I do have for you, which is something that I feel like I've seen more when people

[00:28:07] are talking about falls and fall risk is learning how to fall effectively so that you don't hurt yourself and being somebody who's in this space and has, you know, done a lot of research and work in it. What's your take on teaching people how to fall effectively? This is one of the things that I actually found kind of funny because it's like, are you preparing me to fall? Like, are you saying I'm going to fall?

[00:28:33] And that's not necessarily the case, but part of the, uh, one of the modules is, um, Florida stand transfers and, um, I break down how to go from standing to the floor, right? How to gracefully fall, um, and then how to help yourself back up. And I tried to give examples of, okay, if you don't have something next to you that you can push off of, if you, you know, if you have legs, like weakness in your legs where you have to use your arms, how can you crawl towards the wall and kind of use, you know,

[00:29:02] your body kind of help you up off of the wall. So there's all these different types of movements that we can do. I don't think anyone's going to want to hear this, but I think there's a preventative move that I like to do with some of my personal clients that is like a Turkish getup. So, and it's like the longest rep. And the first time I taught one of my clients, this move, he was like, that was one. Yeah. That was one rep. Are you kidding me?

[00:29:28] And I was like, well, sorry, but it is, it takes you through that floor to stand transfer. You know, unilaterally training, right? You're training one side. I always tried to train both sides, obviously, but kind of going through that total body movement because you're going to need all those muscles to get you off the floor. I remember one of my biomechanics teachers, even an undergrad, he said, if you could do one exercise the rest of your life, have it be a Turkish getup because it is

[00:29:57] exactly what you broke down. Being able to get down onto the floor and get up under load, essentially, if you can, you know, for the rest of your life, which is the key for everything. And I remember I added eight on each side when the end of one workout and I thought I was about to die. I was like, oh my gosh, that was, you don't, you like, I'm not talking about multiple sets. I'm talking about just eight on each side. And it was so hard.

[00:30:25] So I think, you know, especially when you start to break it down, like you're talking about and all these different components of what we should be focusing on, it kind of puts that back into perspective of what we're missing in the body and what our body can utilize and start. So when someone is just getting started and there's all these different components, whether it is like going on a different surface, like you said, and doing some balance work, or if it is, you know, starting to strength train, or if it is just getting walks and cardio in,

[00:30:55] like, can you kind of break down what can someone just start with throughout the week? Say they've only been doing yoga or they've only been doing walking. Like how can they start to add in some strength training components and some other reactive training components that, that help with fall prevention that you kind of recommend? I think the course, not only is it just like the education on, you know, environmental, like all the variables that I had discussed and more.

[00:31:24] There are some, I start with the basics and I start with different positions where you're laying down either on a bed or a mat. And then I give a variety of exercises to do there. And then I also do some in seated, some balance and seated. And I also do some stuff in standing. I also go over the gait cycle, which I is going to put people to sleep. I'm so sorry. It's so boring, but I think it's super important for fall prevention.

[00:31:51] But you, I think started, I have a non-negotiable 30 minutes of intentional movement a day. Um, it, I, no matter if it's a walk, if I, you know, I'm doing core for 30 minutes or stretching for 30 minutes, I have got to do 30 minutes of something intentional every day. And I think starting with something just as simple as 30 minutes of movement. Um, and you can do body weight. You don't need all this fancy equipment. Just do body weight stuff.

[00:32:18] And, and I tell people, if you have pain when doing an exercise or doing, um, or working a certain muscle group or moving a joint through a range of motion, just do what you can tolerate. Don't push through pain, move as much as you can tolerate. Starting with that is, is going to be key because I think once you start to get into the habit of doing that 30 minutes turns into 45 minutes, 45 minutes turns into an hour. And then you start to feel those benefits of the endorphins.

[00:32:46] You have more energy because you're getting more circulation, more oxygen through the body and you start to look good. And that just kind of takes off from there. So I think starting with just 30 minutes of intentional movement and switching it up so you don't get bored. Uh, so you could do one day of body weight. You could do the next day stretching. You could do the next day walking and kind of go from there. The internet has so many resources.

[00:33:12] Um, you guys have so many different apps that you can choose from Instagram, YouTube. There's so many resources for people out there. It really is just setting a timer or an alarm on your phone to get you moving for 30 minutes and make it an appointment, right? Like you said, your happy hour, like people look forward to their happy hour. They don't miss it. Make that workout, that 30 minutes, something to look forward to. Find your favorite songs. Put on your jams. I tell people, if you have a hard time going for a walk because you're bored, set a playlist.

[00:33:41] Pick five songs and just walk until the songs are over, right? That keeps you moving. Or like what I like to do is I like to listen to podcasts when I walk. So I'm not realizing how bored I am from just like simply walking. Um, I don't usually love to walk on treadmills. I like to walk outside with my dog. But listening to something that is really interesting to you, um, can be really beneficial. Um, so that, that's something that's where I would start.

[00:34:07] Um, I think there's, there's too many, there may be too many options out there for resources for people to find. But I think finding, um, someone that you trust and you feel knows, um, what they're doing. Like you guys are professionals in your field. So starting with, you know, Gen Health and starting with some of your apps or there's just too many reasons out there, resources out there for us to not have, um, a good option to turn to. Yeah. I'm glad you bring that up.

[00:34:36] And we try to, that's again, why we do a lot of what we do is to put free resources out there because we know not everyone has the means or the ability to buy a program or to be on a membership. But YouTube, like you go type anything into YouTube and you can find a specific 20, 30, 40 minute, whatever type of workout you want to follow along. And I think you bring up a great point that setting up the process, like motivation is fleeting.

[00:35:04] And if you get really motivated to go and do a 30 minute walk or have 30 minutes of activity, it might last for a week on motivation alone, but setting up the process, having your, having it scheduled in your phone, having somebody that you do it with, or that kind of social accountability, having your playlist, whatever that process is that you can set up. Like that is where you can start to get these habits to stick. And build on each other. And so I'm, I'm really happy that you brought that up.

[00:35:32] I mean, Kelsey, we could talk for so long about this because it's a passion obviously of ours too. Jen just brought, you mentioned Jen just put out a program with her mom, her 73 year old mom. I love, honestly, I was like clapping behind the scenes. I absolutely love that you did that. I had my mom do some of the testing in my program and she was like, what if I don't look good? I'm like, mom, you killed it. She did her five times sit to stands in like a split second.

[00:36:00] So I think having, having that is just like so amazing. And that's something that you guys are going to have those memories that you're going to have forever and ever. So it's so special. And I think people are able to connect, um, on a deeper level. Like you almost feel like you build friendships. Once you start watching people go through programs, fair warning. If anybody purchases my program, prepare for the absolute worst dad jokes. Um, I don't know. I don't have a filter when it comes to dad jokes.

[00:36:27] So there are some bad dad jokes in there, but I try to make it as fun as an entertaining as possible. And, and just try to connect with people. And I know that I may not be able to see them, but you know how it is. It's just like, you try to bring the trust, the personality and the confidence and say, Hey, like, this is what I want to help guide you to what you need and help you live a stronger, healthier lifestyle. Which with 15 modules, I think you're really bringing that to the surface and educating people,

[00:36:55] you know, through so many aspects that we're often neglecting and not even understanding or paying attention to. So if someone does want to dive in and join your program, prevent falls, which we all need to do, where can they find your program? So it's called safe and stable solutions.com. The acronym is SAS and you better believe that I have a t-shirt and I made it. And the back says, do you have SAS? Cute. Love it.

[00:37:25] Again. So I think going to this website, you can get all the information. It's not just for people who are 65 and up. I actually know that a couple of caregivers who have downloaded the program. And so they, you know, maybe their parents are stubborn and they don't want to change their ways, but they watch the program so they can help, you know, go to their parents' house and make sure that the cords are all put away or, you know, talk to the parents about their doctor's appointments

[00:37:54] and help them make them. So that way, you know, they're helping their parents age without, you know, telling them, Hey, mom, you got to go do this. It's more just, you know, being supportive and looking out for their safety. So if you have an aging parent or aging grandparent or a loved one that you, you know, they're, you're, they're looking a little unstable and you're worried about their safety and you just want them to live a happier, healthier, stronger lifestyle. This can definitely be very helpful for anyone. Amazing. Love that.

[00:38:24] Well, hopefully some people go out there and get a little more SAS in their lives or help bring some SAS to some of their loved ones lives. And thanks for the work that you're doing. And thanks for coming on to chat with us a bit today. Yeah, I think it's going to help a lot of people. I really appreciate being here. You guys have no idea. I've been like counting down the days telling all my friends and family, like I'm going to be on this really awesome podcast where these two people just like change lives through education. And I truly am blessed and grateful to be a part of this show.

[00:38:51] I'm looking forward to the more and more people that you're going to have on here and kind of listening to you guys and applauding from behind the scenes. Oh my gosh, that means so much. Honestly, so honored to have the support from colleagues. So thank you again, Kelsey. And I hope that people go check it out. Yes. And I'm open to feedback. So hopefully everybody enjoys my terrible jokes. Thank you so much for tuning into another episode.

[00:39:17] I hope that you really feel encouraged to have the tools to keep working on your body. Know that change is possible no matter what age you are. And don't forget, we have a completely free webinar coming up so soon on the feet. This is somewhere that you're going to learn about the latest research, the exercises, what's important, what's myths, what's true and not. All about plantar fasciitis, bunions, and just foot health in general. So I hope that you'll come. We're going to have that linked up in the show notes, but you can always head to

[00:39:46] docgenfit.com backslash foot webinar and sign up completely free.