Sustainable habits that add years of independence

Host: This is the SRC SeniorTalk Show on KRDO NewsRadio. Senior Resource Council is a professional association that provides education, information and networking opportunities to its members for the purpose of enhancing and enriching the lives of seniors.

Host: It’s another Saturday. Welcome to the SRC SeniorTalk Show. I’m Dan Cochell, along with my partner Nick Palarino. Today we are welcoming a very special guest into the studio.

Host: She is a member of the Senior Resource Council. I think we first met when we were both part of the Tri-Lakes Chamber up north, and I got to hear one of her presentations. Kristen Nielsen of TogetherWON, that’s Together, W-O-N, helps folks get back in shape. She goes to their houses and does physical training. Welcome, Kristen.

Kristen: Thank you, so good to be here.

Host: I love that we’re going to be talking about sustainable habits that add years of independence. How many habits have people started this new year and aren’t doing anymore? In my own weight-loss journey, I’ve lost over 140 pounds, and I didn’t do it with a fad diet. It’s a lifestyle change. No pill and no shot is going to do that for you on a long-term basis.

Host: You focus a lot on the senior community. Why do so many people quit? What makes them finally say, “OK, I’m done”?

Kristen: Any sort of change we try to make is always hard. We’re creatures of habit, so it’s hard to keep sustaining something new. I also see a lot of people bite off more than they can chew. They decide, “I’m all in, I’m going to do all of these things,” and it really isn’t sustainable. Helping people find something that is sustainable is what I love to do.

Host: So what inspired this message? Why bring it to the show today?

Kristen: At the beginning of the year a lot of people set goals, and by mid-January many have already given up on their resolutions. But things stack up over time, and that’s the good part. You change one small habit, and over years that makes a huge difference.

Host: Let’s get into TogetherWON. Give our listeners an overview of how you got involved in this.

Kristen: I started TogetherWON almost a decade ago. I’m a personal trainer, and at first I worked with people of all ages. I found that I really love working with adults over 60. One reason is that I focus on what’s called functional fitness: keeping up with the things you want to do in normal life so you can keep enjoying everyday activities. Older adults really resonate with that. They want to be able to get on and off the floor and play with their grandkids. For a lot of people, they just want to stand up from a chair easily. So I focus my training on their body, their brain and their balance.

Host: And what’s unique is that they don’t come to a facility. You go to their house, right?

Kristen: Yes. I now have a trainer who works with me, and we come to you. That’s so impactful because I can see your environment and what you need to be able to do to stay functional and independent in it. We train where you live.

Host: I’m over 60, and I lost the weight by changing my eating habits: protein, no processed sugar, no donuts, pizza or pasta while I was losing it. What makes it so difficult for seniors is that it’s harder to lose weight at our age, and a lot of people are set in their ways. It’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it?

Kristen: It is, and it can be more difficult at that age. One reason is that many people lose muscle as they get older, and muscle affects our metabolism. So losing muscle makes it harder from that angle too.

Host: Great transition. I’ve read that you say “muscle is insurance.” What does muscle really do for us beyond strength?

Kristen: It’s amazing what we’re learning about muscle. Strength is one of the key things: we need muscle to move our skeleton from one place to another. Beyond that, muscle gives us joint stability, so conditions like osteoarthritis can be helped by gaining muscle, because it provides the cushion the joint no longer has on its own. When we build muscle, we also increase our bone density. It affects our metabolic and cardiovascular health and our ability to balance.

Kristen: And the really interesting thing we’re learning now is that muscle affects our brain to a huge degree. Our ability to learn, our neuroplasticity, increases when we gain muscle. It’s linked to brain volume, executive function and memory. We even know now that more muscle is related to a reduced risk of dementia.

Host: If it took years to gain the weight, it’s going to take a while to lose it. A lot of people jump into intense workouts, head in the wrong direction and burn out. What’s wrong with jumping in as hard as you did in your 20s?

Kristen: When we’re older, our bodies take a lot longer to recover. If we do too much, our bodies don’t have the time to recover, and we can end up with injuries, feeling broken down, or even getting sick. We have to balance working hard, putting that demand on the body, with resting hard and really taking time to recover.

Host: When you talk about building muscle, I picture going to the gym and pumping iron. But someone like Dan can’t just go lift 200 pounds. What do you do with people around their house that builds muscle?

Kristen: That’s the fun part of what I do: showing people it doesn’t take a fancy gym membership or lots of long classes. You can do so much with a little. One of my favorite exercises is a simple sit-to-stand. Pull up a chair, sit down, and stand up from that position. If you do that repeatedly, you gain muscle in your legs.

Kristen: If that feels too easy, challenge it by sitting in a lower chair or on a stair step, or by holding something heavy, like a milk jug. It doesn’t have to be a weight. If it feels too hard and you need your hands, start by pushing up from the chair. The whole point is that you do it every day, consistently, and gradually increase it. Maybe it’s only a couple of times the first day, but over time you get stronger and stronger.

Host: Do people fight themselves? If I remembered bench-pressing 210 pounds in my 20s, I might wonder how a simple exercise like that is going to help me.

Kristen: We can find a challenge even with something like that. Take your 20-year-old body: if you tried to stand up from a very low step without using your hands, it would still be really hard. When we bring natural movements into training, people are often surprised that it’s a challenge. That’s the beauty of personal training at home. We find the exact level you’re at and challenge you there, and it becomes fun when you realize how much you’re getting out of something simple.

Host: Say Dan makes an appointment. What does that first visit look like when you walk through the door?

Kristen: I start with a free consultation for everyone. I want to share simple things with people whether or not they sign up to train with TogetherWON. We take about an hour to walk through what life looks like for them right now and find out what they need, and I do some simple assessments. The chair stand is one example: how easily can you get up?

Kristen: Once someone signs up, we do a deep dive into exactly what they need. We focus on the body, brain and balance together: what your strength looks like, how well you’re balancing and what to work on, and how well your brain is functioning and how we can challenge it.

Host: How does the pricing work? I’m sure that’s the first thing people ask. It’s personalized, so they assume it has to be expensive.

Kristen: Personal training is an investment in your independence, so it ends up saving a lot of money down the road. Our pricing depends on how often the trainer is with you. We start at $247, which includes the trainer coming to your house and setting up a workout with daily activities laid out for you. We’re so excited about our new app being developed for the program. It’s senior-friendly and very accessible.

Host: Do you also get into nutrition? What you put in your body matters no matter how much you work out.

Kristen: Absolutely. What we fuel our muscles with is huge. I’ve been training adults over 60 for about a decade, and over those years I’ve built a curriculum from all the questions I’ve been asked. I give it to clients as a packet, and we walk through it together. It covers things like nutrition and supplements that may help. Most of it is straightforward and easy to do, but a lot of times people just need a little guidance.

Host: Do you have a client success story you share with people who are just starting?

Kristen: There are lots of them. One of my favorites is a lady whose daughter introduced me to her. She knew she needed help strengthening her body, but she was scared. She told me several times, “I’ve never worked out. I don’t think I can do this.” We talked it through, she decided to try, and several weeks in she was elated. I constantly get texts from her thanking me, because she says, “I didn’t know I could do these things. I didn’t know I could get stronger.”

Host: What did you set up for her to do?

Kristen: She does a great job sticking with her at-home exercises on the days I’m not with her. We focus on a lot of strength building. She was struggling with balance in particular, so we work on balance one-on-one, and she also does balance work on her own. It’s been so fun to watch her go from being very scared of falling to having real confidence. She goes up and down bleachers like it’s nothing now.

Host: For anyone just joining us, Kristen Nielsen of TogetherWON is with us. How can people reach you?

Kristen: You can call me at (719) 286-9450 or visit our website, togetherwon.com.

Host: You often say the goal isn’t just to be fit. It’s to live your life without help. Can you expand on that?

Kristen: Fitness is a bit of an elusive goal. We all aspire to be fit, but when are we fit enough? It’s something you’re constantly chasing. When I work with people, we set SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. If someone’s goal is to stay independent in their home, we can break that down. To live independently, you need to be able to stand up out of a chair, do the dishes, clean the house and everything else that’s required. Then we build the program around that: how can we strengthen your legs so you can do those things? It’s measurable and achievable, and we can look back and say, “Now you can do the thing you couldn’t do before.” That’s a huge win.

Host: Setting up the exercise program in their house is half the battle, because people can’t always get to the gym. Would you agree?

Kristen: Yes, it’s a huge advantage. I have nothing against gyms, and I love going myself. But a lot of people either can’t go or don’t want to go.

Host: Or they can’t afford it, or it’s 10 degrees outside. What do you see in people who gave up before? What would help someone listening say, “I can push through that”?

Kristen: A lot of people need guidance. We’re all like that in every area of life. It’s wonderful to have a guide beside you saying, “This is how you do it,” and encouraging you. I love that we get to offer that camaraderie. We come alongside people and show them, “You can do it. You’re capable, and I’m going to help you along the way.”

Host: A lot of the movement you teach also involves the mind. What can people do at home to work on their body and their mind?

Kristen: A lot of older adults are interested in keeping up their brain capacity, and we’re told to do sudoku or read books. Those are wonderful. But science is showing us that combining a physical movement with a thinking task creates the most new connections in the brain. So we do simple, fun things in our sessions that you can do at home too. For example, go for a walk, but instead of just walking, count backward by fives starting at 52.

Host: Wow. That is challenging, but I can see the benefit.

Kristen: It strengthens the brain, and honestly, it makes the time go really fast. My clients often say, “Wow, we’re already done,” because we’ve kept the brain so engaged the whole session.

Host: How long is a session? You said an hour?

Kristen: Anywhere from 50 to 60 minutes, so around an hour.

Host: Other activities, like tossing a ball while naming categories, turning your head while walking, or learning a new dance step, are all really great. As we wrap up, what’s the big takeaway you want people to know?

Kristen: If you’d like guidance strengthening your body, strengthening your brain and improving your balance, we’re here to help. And I want to encourage people that this is something you can do, even without a guide. You can do simple things like the sit-to-stand every day in your home, and that will increase your strength. You can do the brain exercises we talked about. It doesn’t need to be hours and hours. You can make simple changes today that have a huge impact on your future.

Host: Thanks for coming in. We look forward to having you on the show many more times, because this is a topic a lot of people need. And if you have stairs at home, you can use those instead of the stair machine at the gym.

Kristen: Oh, absolutely. Ask my clients about that. Thanks for having me.