Dear Infertility _Season 5_Ep2_Jourdan Baldwin & Niccole Hendrickson: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Dear Infertility _Season 5_Ep2_Jourdan Baldwin & Niccole Hendrickson: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Hi, I'm Kristyn Hodgdon, an IVF mom, proud women's health advocate, and co-founder of Rescripted. Welcome to Dear (In)fertility. This season join me along with a variety of women's health experts as we explore holistic approaches to our reproductive, hormonal, sexual, mental, and overall health and wellness. From the practice of cycle syncing to the importance of pelvic floor therapy, we'll address some of the many questions women have about their bodies and share practical tips for improving your day-to-day life. Now, let's dive in and work towards ending the shame and stigma surrounding women's bodies once and for all, from first period to last period.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Dear Infertility. I'm your host, Kristyn, and I'm here today with Jordan Baldwin and Nicole Hendrickson. They're the founders of KALO Fitness. Hi, ladies.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Hello.

Jourdan Baldwin:
Hello.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
So I was going to dive into what KALO is, but I think you guys are the best people to do that because it's such a unique. Yes, it's a personal training studio, but it's so much more than that. So if you could just tell us a little bit more about you and what you guys do that would be amazing.

Niccole Hendrickson:
All right. I'll try to keep this brief for you guys. Jourdan and I co-founded KALO Fitness about three years ago, and we specialize in strength training for women and bridging the gap between fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle through helping each female harness their why and in turn be able to leave a legacy. And we truly believe that living life to your fullest is having a clearer understanding of your why and being able to truly trust the process and dialing in your strength training, that nutrition element, and most importantly, your lifestyle.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Amazing. And you all are located in Denver, correct?

Niccole Hendrickson:
We are. We're in the Wash Park neighborhood.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Amazing. My co-founder, Abby, is a big fan of KALO. She's in the Denver area, and she has it marked on her calendar every couple days and we know not to bother her during that time, it's sacred. So happy to have you both here to talk about movement and exercise and how it benefits women's health and even fertility. So, yeah, let's dive in. I work out, I would say 5 to 6 times a week, and I feel like I'm doing it all wrong. So they kind of, let's just dive into what my typical routine is. I was telling you a little bit before we started recording, but I love strength training. I dislike cardio. I know that you need it, but I'm not a huge fan. I feel like I think too much when I run. I like walking, but I tend to do strength training like 5 or 6 times a week and then take a rest day and then do it all over again. But I'm starting to realize through my own research and I have a regular periods, I have PCOS that you really need to listen to your body as a woman and maybe take it easy sometimes during that time of the month. So can you go into that a little bit? I know everyone's different, but what are your general recommendations for a woman in their childbearing years for exercise?

Niccole Hendrickson:
Open up the can of worms. No, it's such a good question and obviously really important to have an understanding of what structure looks like because we need structure to thrive. And we also want to make sure that what we're doing is going to be effective for our bodies and we're not just wasting our time or doing the wrong thing. So as far as movement prescription with our clients, we always do a one-on-one consultation before we give any workout prescriptions. There is not just a one size fits all for, for any type of person, nutrition, lifestyle, working out. For example, if you're going through a super stressful period of life, we're going to prescribe something very different for you than if you are not, right? Because our hormones shift because of stress. Stress can impact so many things. And in fact, if we're really stressed and we're doing really crazy workouts, sometimes that can be counterproductive. And so we want to always have all of the facts when it comes to figuring out how we prescribe a workout routine. As far though, as some clear cut, like what should we be doing, we definitely do have those two that we recommend for everyone, which number one, strength training, strength training is for women the most effective thing that we can do for our hormones, for our metabolism, for longevity, for our bone health, for lean muscle, all of it. You can wrap that up in strength training. So that is why we prioritize strength training over everything. And we typically recommend that you are at least getting three days a week of strength training and that is your structure. And then the other workouts you can program around that depending on where you're at in the week. And so again, just like you were talking about, maybe I should be a little bit kinder to my body, the answer is yes. Like we all should be kinder to our bodies and really asking ourselves, how am I doing? And so one of the things we recommend doing as far as having your structure. So let's say we've got the bread and butter, which is three days a week of strength training.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
And how long are around? Is it 30 minutes, is it 45 minutes for those three days?

Jourdan Baldwin:
Again, for a can of worms, right? Like how much you're lifting, how heavy you're going. So you can get an incredible strength workout in 30 minutes. I always like to joke that one of the most fit times of my life was, during Covid, when we were just filming HIIT workouts. But it fit right with the time that we were going through. And now when I do HIIT workouts, it's definitely not what I need for my body, right? It's always different, but it depends on so many different things. But let's just say for structure's sake, 45 minutes, three days a week of strength training.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Okay.

Jourdan Baldwin:
Since it's always nice to have that. And then these other days, right, we can tune in, we can have some structure. We all know that, yeah, yoga, probably a really good thing to add in, especially if you're a really stiff person, right? Or especially if you're really stressed. There's so many different ways we can use movement to, for our mental health as well. And other days, can you add in some cardio? Can you go for a walk or can you check in and ask yourself, what do I need? We do believe, though, foundationally, that we need movement every single day. That is a non-negotiable for what we preach and what we teach. We, our bodies are designed to move. And the sedentary lifestyle that we have is one of the main reasons why there are so many issues in our society with not only obesity, but just mental health is just move enough.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Does that include walking?

Jourdan Baldwin:
Yes! We love this question, too, because think about our history, right? That's all we did. We would just walk like everywhere as humans before we, you know, we lived in caves before we had workout routines that we abided by. We walked anywhere. And that was, that was good. And our body, the way that our metabolism responds to that as well, and how it trains our body to burn fat walking is one of the most amazing things that we can do.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Which I fell in love with my hot girl walks last summer, when I was going through IVF during the two-week wait you can't necessarily lift or do anything high intensity. So I would go on walks around my neighborhood and listen to podcasts and like really just, I don't know, it was meditative in a way for me. And now at least once or twice a week, I do a really long walk and I'm like, I wish I could do this every day, but I don't always let myself do it every day.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Or in that, right? There's so much power. And also being able to shift this idea of, it's something we talk about for our Wednesday team, our Wednesday meetings. For us, it's like, why can't we walk in ...? Like, why can't we turn some of our, and that's what we used to do, right? That's what we used to do. If you really take it back in, the times of walking is just a baseline necessity as it is of driving nowadays, right? So think about what your posture is doing, think about what your breath is doing when you're moving in that way. So it's really like a baseline rejuvenation, an awesome reset and something I wanted to piggyback with, Jourdan had said about, for baseline exercise prescription. Something important to know, at KALO, we run on a five-week dialed-in programming cycle. So when people ask a little bit more about our strength training, they ask, what is the ideal time frame that I'm strength training? And as Jourdan mentioned, it depends, like what are you doing for your workout? And when it comes to strength training, that's another question. What are you doing in that workout that is eliciting the response? So for us that KALO, with our five-week programming cycle, depending on the week that we're in, you might actually be in more of that strength training phase for insane 25, 30, 45, maybe closer to 60 minutes. It just depends on what programmed week. And that is truly one of the missing ingredients in most strength training workouts for women that is not talked about. It cannot be just the same repetitive. And again, I want to first preface that movement's medicine, right? So if you're moving, great. And that's what we tell women when we get them in a consult, you're moving, you're lifting, you're doing all this, great. Now, let's peel back the layers to get more specific. So I'm talking specifics right now. It depends on that programmed week, and depending on what you're doing in those strength training routines is going to dictate what that timeline works looks like. But to tell somebody like three days, five days, you're going to do X number of minutes, it's, it really is just going to depend. And it also is going to depend on playing around the variables, like what kind of exertion are we looking at from you? And those are all good questions to ask and something that we pack a lot of power like when we're traveling, it's like, all right, we've got 30 minutes or we have 20 minutes. We can still do an insanely beneficial strength training routine, we're just going to first decide what is the outcome we want of it, and then we're going to pick the exercises. Then we're going to pick what is the timelines that we're operating in each of those exercises to get the result that we're looking for. And so those are all like simple questions that each person can ask themself and checking in. But it comes back to one of the number one components in the KALO way, and that is mindfulness, that is turning within. And so, I'm sure we'll get to a little bit more of that in this podcast.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah! First, I just wanted to ask if someone doesn't have access to KALO, like what can they be doing to restructure their strength training routine.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Hit us up on our app.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Oh, you guys are virtual.

Niccole Hendrickson:
But I'll let Jourdan talk about it.

Jourdan Baldwin:
There are so many amazing fitness offerings nowadays, right? And to not overcomplicate it, number one, right? If you are just starting out, especially any strength training is actually going to be really effective because the body is going to be like, what is happening? And it's going to adapt. When Niccole, and I'll piggyback also on what she is talking about as far as once you create those foundations and you are consistent with your strength training routine and your body has adapted to, that's when it can be time to peel back those layers and be like, okay, I really want to make sure that I'm consistently creating challenges for my muscles to adapt to so that I can continue seeing results because our bodies are so smart and they adapt to the stimulus that we give them. So with our programming schedule, we're just building the weeks on itself. So we're constantly challenging the muscles, the different systems of the body, aerobic, anaerobic, all of that. So as far as if you're not here and you can't train a kilo, really just making sure that. There are some variables in your workouts and that you're not just doing strength training all the time. Maybe one day you add in a jump, a plyometric, a power exercise, maybe always go on walks. Guess what? Now today you're going to set a timer to go off every one minute and you're just going to do a little speed walk in between and you're adding an interval. So just getting the body constant new ways to adapt is really one of the easiest ways that you can continually see results and, and add that into your routine wherever you are.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Now, that's super helpful.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Really focusing, I was reading this great article the other day of the difference of like men and women strength training. And it's like the difference is between what men and women tend to gravitate towards, especially when they're doing a baseline workout is actually the same. And it's like very simple isolated exercises when in fact the common denominator should be multi-joint movements. So if you are new and you don't have access to a structure, something like squats, something like lunges, something like push ups, right? Like where you're not just, okay, we hear all the time for women want a really strong upper body and they're doing like just a ton of isolated exercise movements. No, you got to hit up multi-joint movement, right? So really hitting the system. And that's no different than just breaking up with this like headspace of this is the only way, like we hear all the time, I don't like cardio. Let's break down like some fun ways of doing cardio, because I'll be honest with you, I'm no distance runner either, girlfriend, and I don't want to go on like long challenging inclines hike or something like that. And so thinking helping people understand what is cardio, what can they be doing that is not only good for their mind and their like just overall, like emotional well-being, but also for strengthening their cardiovascular system so for their heart. And that's you can have different stimuluses in cardiovascular movements that aren't just going for a run, like they're not. And not that that's, if that's what you enjoy and that feels good on your body and that's right for you, do it for you, do it. But if it's not, I feel so, often times women put themselves in a pigeonhole of being like, I'm not a runner, I can't do cardio, or I'm never going to achieve this because I can't do that. And it's that's so not true. And there's so many different ways e love playing around with getting a more diverse cardio routine, whether it's jump roping, whether it's battle ropes, whether it's a skier, the rower. A lot of people have a peloton that like breaking up with the boring. If you're in Colorado and you can get somewhere like red rocks, like getting out in nature, like is just not only good for your soul, but what a great way to tackle a cardiovascular routine.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah, I noticed that I don't do a ton of cardio besides walking, but I noticed that when I do like a 30 minute kind of condense strength training routine, like I am incorporating some jumping jacks during breaks or and I do feel my heart rate going up, at least there's that. But so on top of the three days of strength training, do you recommend doing cardio outside of that or are you incorporating it within that?

Jourdan Baldwin:
We recommend 1 to 2 times per week of cardio. Honestly, two would be amazing just for heart health. And we always recommend two different types. So we want to always see some sort of aerobic cardio because aerobic cardio and staying in a more zone to kind of zone where, let's say on a scale of 1 to 10, you're one being sitting on the couch or ten being an all out sprint, that zone two is like that 5 to 6, where you could walk and talk with a friend, but you'd still notice if you were on the phone with someone like, oh, that person's a little bit breathless. And that zone two is so powerful for our metabolisms because it's actually teaching our bodies how to be more efficient at burning fat versus just burning carbs like when we do high-intensity stuff. So it's really critical to get in that zone two, aerobic training, very powerful. And we also want to say too, it does matter that you are continually making sure you're keeping that 5 to 6 pace versus the 3. Don't get me wrong, a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 is like great. Like you're still moving your body. But to get those metabolic benefits, you want to try to stay in that 5 to 6 range. And then the other day of cardio that we do recommend is something like Niccole was talking about, let's do some intervals. Let's get you on a rower, let's do some jump ropes, Let's get the heart rate really elevated and then bring it back down. And that is training our anaerobic capacity. So that is literally in think about it as like we're increasing our fitness level. So when we go back to doing our strength workout the next week, we're that much stronger as our heart rate gets elevated. Does that make sense?

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yes, absolutely.

Jourdan Baldwin:
Those would be the two things that we recommend for cardio and switching it up like some days for your zone two, maybe you are doing an incline walk. It's some, one day maybe you are talking with a friend and then those intervals can also just be all sorts of different things as well.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Absolutely. What about rest days? Those are super important, right?

Jourdan Baldwin:
So this is a disclaimer that we're going to put out there. We like to call rest days active rest days, because here's the deal. Like our bodies, like whether that's going to do a nice, gentle yoga class. Whether that's going to do a breathwork, maybe a Pilates, maybe and I know we can argue that there's okay, you haven't been to my Pilates and now we're talking like just an actual complimentary session to all of the other structured work that you're doing.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah.

Niccole Hendrickson:
At the end of the day, for our mental well-being and for our ability to just like really check in with our system, active rest is powerful. Maybe that's a day out on the lake that you're swimming. Maybe that's, maybe that's just something. Maybe it's a snowshoe day, there's just so many different versions of movement. And for whatever reason, in the American culture we have and you're speaking to somebody who loves structure unapologetically, so I want to preface my comments with that. But in our culture, for whatever reason, we feel like we have to have, everything has to be these like absolutes when it's like, again, walking is such a beneficial form of exercise, but it's just daily movement. It's no different than if you were just to go into the, you're going into your kitchen making breakfast or going to just do baseline things. Walking is a baseline thing that you can do that is restorative also. And it's really important for us to honestly like share with the world the power of movement and the power of on and what we like to put in an active rest day too is dial into some foam, really dial into some trigger point work, dial into structuring out, serving your mind and your body in that active rest day. So maybe it is that you go slow and you're taking it easy and you're just really taking an inventory from the insideout of how your body feels. So that way you're not just into that next week doing it again. And it's okay if we really were to slow down in that active resting, in that walk, in that swim, whatever it is that you're doing and tune back into your body, I promise you that when you go into that structure for the next week, you're going to get more out of it because you've actually gone inward and you've did a little inventory of what do you need? It's too often that we're just sitting on the couch doing nothing or I don't know, I can list out, but that's the easiest one for me, which is sitting in the couch doing nothing. We're just not really, and again, don't get us wrong, you can have those lounge days, but it's like we're not really truly turning, tuning into what our mind and body needs. If you have an animal, you're taking your dog out for a walk, like your dog needs to walk every day.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah.

Niccole Hendrickson:
It needs exercise every day for its spirit. It's the same thing for us as humans. Like we need that movement because mental fogginess.

Jourdan Baldwin:
Yes.

Niccole Hendrickson:
And some feelings of depression, frustration, stress. There is nothing better than just getting out for a walk or maybe a bike ride. And we tell our clients, especially our clients that are mothers, it's like, what if you rethought out this process of getting your kids on their bikes and you just went for a bike ride or you're walking while they're on your bike?

Kristyn Hodgdon:
We do that all the time.

Niccole Hendrickson:
It's like there's so much power in that moment and maybe that's your active rest day.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah.

Niccole Hendrickson:
And then you're not only modeling to your kids, but you're also modeling to yourself that you can. And it's so powerful. I think.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah, for moms or anyone with a super busy schedule, it can be easy to make the excuse that I don't have time. But I just did therapy on a walk. Like literally like FaceTimed and walk around the neighborhood because today was my rest day and I was like, if I don't get in movement now, I'm not going to be able to, yeah.

Jourdan Baldwin:
.... And but and we also always make jokes about if we could do a podcast or why aren't we doing therapy on walks like the amount of, the way that your brain is rewiring itself with that aerobic activity is makes it prime for really thinking differently and coming up with ideas. And in college, we even learn about that like we would. We both majored in health and exercise science, and one of the ways we learn from our textbooks is, oh, when you move your body, you actually are changing the structure of your brain, you're creating a molecule that literally rewires your brain and it makes it more apt to new ideas, new activity, but you can literally hijack that with you want to learn a new skill or you're coming up with new ideas, go for a walk. Your brain's ready for it. And so therapy and walking is, I'm surprised that is just not the norm.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
I also feel like strength training has taught me so much about, has made me feel so strong not just physically but mentally and emotionally. You think you can't do something, but then you end up doing it and it's like you can do anything for 30s you can do anything for a minute and it builds you up to be able to conquer. I don't know, it gives me such like a sense of control and just puts me in such a good mental place like my other form of therapy. Talk a little bit about that mental health component and stress component, because what you said earlier about tailoring your exercise routine to your stress levels, like how does that work? And can you go into that a little bit. ... About where to start with that.

Jourdan Baldwin:
There's so many things to be said. And so I'll just say a few things that are coming to my mind and hand it over to Niccole because we could talk about this all day. As far though as like the mental health component, exercise is hands down the number one thing that we have every single day within our control to help our mental health. And something that I want to say that I have personally learned is that we have to believe that we deserve that, too. We have to believe so deeply that we deserve to feel good and believe that the power of us showing up for ourselves does impact the world and impact the people that we interact with on a big scale. And when we have those two components, it's much easier to motivate ourselves. But hands down, the number one thing we can do is move our bodies. And then the other thing that comes to mind immediately is as women, we are consistently moving through cycles, right? We move through cycle every single month. We move through a cycle with seasons. We're very in tune with that. And the more that we can understand what's happening, the more we can also use exercise to really uplevel our mental health when our other hormones are dipping and when we're not getting that natural estrogen, progesterone, right, like cocktail that makes us feel really good. And so knowing that and the more the aware we are of what's happening within our bodies every month, we can really choose our exercise wisely and use that to enhance our mental health then. It's, we don't talk enough about this, but we've got to get like every one of us should be moving every single day to really shift this epidemic that we're going through, mental health.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Absolutely.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Yeah. I would say the tie with movement and we can probably jump into this one next, but I want to elaborate a little bit on what Jourdan said, that tie with that is when we move, we also sleep. And when we sleep, we regenerate. And when we regenerate, we refresh, we refresh, we're able to really show up eyes, ears, heart open, ready to not only be able to give in a more dynamic way, but receive. And when we don't follow in that cycle, then the mental health component is just like a spiral out of control. And as Jourdan started us off with saying is like, that's the number one thing we can do for ourselves. And not only do we have to find ourselves worthy of it, but we have to humble ourselves a bit in our busy, dynamic, demanding schedules of life and understand that we choose to have time or not have time for it. That is an act of choice that we make every single day. And I'm speaking as a mother of two. It's like you make that choice and you make that active choice every single day, whatever it looks like to not or to. And if you choose to, you also get the choice of what that can look like in that power and that will lives within you. And you just have got to show up for yourself before you can possibly show up for anybody else. And so another key factor of what has built the power in our brick and mortar is community. And the number one thing that fosters community is bringing women together over this common cause of showing up for yourself. And so that's why we have built KALO on small group training. And what small group training is carefully curated personal training session with the camaraderie of three other women. There's four women, one coach and our why behind that is every single one of our women, including ourselves, are dealing with all of those different little alligators in our life. And so if we can bring you together over the common denominator of movement and the next common denominator of accountability and then the next common denominator of pushing your bandwidth as far as what you said, what you think you can and cannot do, and then pushing just a little bit further, understanding that if you do fall back, there's somebody else there with you sharing in some capacity that same victory, that same struggle, that same hesitation, whatever that looks like. And that's truly our why behind what that community looks like in small group. Because the reality is everyday you're not going to want to show up to do that, your mental, something that's going on mentally, emotionally is going to prevent you. And for whatever reason, in the female spirit, we think we have to be perfect all the time in order to see something through. And the reality is we're imperfect every single day. And so if we continue to foster this concept of showing up in perfectly, so that way we can enhance not only our mental space, but our heart space, then those can always ride hand in hand together because we find ourselves worthy and then we see it through. And so, movement, at the end of the day, till I die is absolutely.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
For ... Think of it as or I used to say I, I don't like working out. And this was like a decade ago, but I would just be like and I cringe when I think about how I would be on the elliptical for 30 minutes, not even breaking a sweat or not even being out of breath at all, and zero strength training and be like, I worked out today and then this was college. And then I would just drink a bunch of beers and be like, I'm healthy because I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. But now, having done strength training, actually what really got me into it, blast from the past, but was P90x like right when those things came out, like the Beachbody stuff? Because it was a program that I had to follow and they say sometimes it takes 21 days to form a habit, but after whatever gets a month of doing it, say, five, six times a week, it just became a habit. And now it's like a non-negotiable, not necessarily P90x anymore, but like now it's just like a non-negotiable part of my day. And but some I think some people still think of it as like a negotiable part of their day where, oh, if I find the time, but if you bake it into your schedule, it's no, that's my workout time.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Or just, I want to first start by think about it while I feel sorry, I cringe because you're probably bored on the elliptical, at least you were showing up for yourself in that way in college, so.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah, I was so bored on the elliptical. Why? If there was another way? ....

Niccole Hendrickson:
... I would want to say good job for doing, showing up for yourself in that way even though you were bored all the things but and there's more dynamic ... Still good for you for doing that but no it's so true. I mean it's so true the consistency factor and just continually building out, I always say, Thanks, Jocko, the line of structure builds freedom, and when you build out that structure and you start to reward, feel the reward of fulfilling that structure, it's just like leaps and bounds. You can do anything right? Like, you know that you can do anything in life because you've experienced committing to that structure and it should be a non-negotiable because as Jourdan said, it should be something that you find yourself worthy of, worthy of the feeling of not only showing up for yourself, but just giving back to yourself. And that's how we look at movement, is it's giving back to ourselves.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
I love that. Yeah. And so much of our community is either struggling to conceive or going through even just trying to conceive in general or preparing to conceive. What do you what are your recommendations for people in that stage of life?

Jourdan Baldwin:
I'll say just to start that out, it's really important as we are learning about the female body, to understand that stress is stress and if our bodies are under stress, then it will be much harder for us to conceive. And there are so many things to say about that. We could again open up a huge can of worms. But when it comes to exercise in relation to trying to conceive and being in that stage, it's so important that movement feels energizing. Movement feels good. It doesn't feel like we're sore for days or we can't recover or we're maxing out. And a lot of those workouts, especially in that ovulatory period, we do not want to be pushing our max limits. Every single woman is different and that is one thing that we know for sure is it is important not just in, exercise is one of the greatest ways that you can reduce stress, let's just put that out there as well. It's just a matter of choosing exercise that feels really good in those stages.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah.

Niccole Hendrickson:
Yeah. I think that is spot on. And I think just to piggyback, that is like consistency is key, right? So showing up for yourself in a place of respect and love and being consistent in it. And we ..., we know from science that reproduction is the first thing to go when we're under immense stress.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Yeah.

Niccole Hendrickson:
One of our colleagues always says in her hormone courses, it's like your body doesn't know if it's under stress because of guns being held to your head or if you're stressed because you're trying to concede. I know that seems so insane as an example, but it's the reality of it. And until we're willing to face the reality of that, your body doesn't know how to compartmentalize what kind of stress it is. So really going into fueling your body and I'm sure your, your nutrition podcast is going to cover this, but fueling your body, hydrating, moving consistently and also having an understanding that you're doing it to serve yourself not as a punishment, not because you're like, oh, I've got to do it this way or nothing happens. It's like understanding that all of those things are gifts to your body and they're building blocks.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
And there are low impact options, correct? So you, because there's a time that you can't do full-blown strength training. You can always do something that's still, it doesn't have to necessarily be walking, but it can just be like lower impact strength training, right?

Niccole Hendrickson:
Each of your programs can be built upon that. And that's something that we really empower our women, right? There are guidelines, if you will, and this could be a topic that we could go down a big rabbit hole. And at the end of the day, there's guidelines depending on where you're at in your cycle. But once again, and Jourdan said this, that each of us are different. And so I might be having just absolute peaks in certain parts of my cycle where she, we might be on this, we've got our cycles timed out, we should do that. She might be in a different place mentally, emotionally, physically. And so that's just a prime example of we could be in the exact same spot of our cycle, but our vessels are different, and.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
I had this conversation with a friend the other day. She said that during her period she is so motivated, like for some reason she is let's start a new workout routine. And during ovulation she doesn't feel like herself. And I'm like, wow, that's so interesting compared to me and my other friend. So yeah, no, I could totally see how that happens and just how everyone experiences their cycles differently.

Niccole Hendrickson:
So with that, we really believe in putting all of these tools in your toolbox, right? So if you have the tools in your toolbox, you can still show up to your strength training workout and pivot. And there's so much power in the pivot, right? There's so much, so again, maybe impact. Maybe we're in power week for an example. Maybe we're in power week, we've got an insane amount of impacts and maybe those impacts are not for me today. And that's another great example of when we work with our women throughout their pregnancy, it's like, all right, me, personally, I was a pretty damn fit pregnant woman, but that doesn't mean I need to be doing box jumps because maybe that wasn't right for my body at that time. But could I still show up to that workout and could I still do something else that's extremely beneficial? Yes, the answer is always yes, that you can do something to add value to your mental, emotional, physical well-being and you can pivot. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Put the power in the pivot.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Love it. So lastly, before we wrap up, I always like to ask, what would you rescript about the way women understand movement and exercise?

Niccole Hendrickson:
Oh, everything.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Like going back to my silly elliptical comment? I think it was just like it used to be like women did cardio and that was it. And there was just no diversity and exercise routines. And I think Covid did a lot to change people's perspectives on that. But, I'm so happy to see it going in that direction. And congrats on everything you guys have created because it's amazing.

Niccole Hendrickson:
I think what's inside the tip of my tongue is having truly a clear understanding of moving. The human body is so dynamic and the female body is even that much more dynamic. And so giving your body permission to move in a dynamic way and you don't expire unless you choose to expire. Okay so like being a, both of us, being a previous collegiate athlete, it's like you can choose to continue to push your mind and body and hold it to that level if you so choose to. And instead of getting put into a box and instead of getting put into a label of movement, challenge that and show up for yourself in a dynamic way by first going within, asking yourself what it is that you need and how you need and get the tools in your toolbox and then go from there. And I think the biggest thing that love to rescript in the fitness industry is stop putting yourself in a box. Stop saying I do CrossFit, I do this, I do. It's like all of those can be great. You can do a blend of all of those if that's what's best of serving your body.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
So true. Yeah, I always preach that I'm like a YouTube workout fanatic because that's how I fit it into my schedule is like I do my 30 minutes or peloton, whatever, and that's how I fit it into my schedule. But I do feel like I sometimes put myself in a box because it doesn't have to be limited to just what I can get for free on YouTube.

Jourdan Baldwin:
At the end of the day, the base plan at KALO is strength because strength is empowering. Strength is good for our bone density. Strength is great for our mental, emotional, physical well-being. Strength is longevity. Strength gives us the power to show up for ourselves. And if we are a mom, for our children to be able to sustain and enjoy, like we can talk about joy one time on this podcast and it's, oh my gosh, joy is a brave choice. And in order for us to experience joy, we need to feel good and strong in a vessel and we can accomplish that by strength training. We can accomplish that by consistent movement, and we can accomplish it by really tuning within.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
Love it. Thank you, ladies, so much. This was so inspiring. And I'm going to go do a workout that feeds my soul now. Thank you for joining me, I really appreciate it.

Kristyn Hodgdon:
If this podcast means something to you, be sure to hit follow or subscribe. This helps you because you'll never miss an episode and it helps us because you'll never miss an episode. For everything you need to know about women's health and fertility, head to Rescripted.com or follow us on social at Fertility.Rescripted.

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