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Look, Feel, & Stay Young Forever: #1 Orthopedic Surgeon’s Proven Protocol | The Mel Robbins Podcast — Transcript

by Mel Robbins · 13,836 words · 1,911 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00today's episode is a profound wakeup
0:02call the expert you're about to meet is
0:04going to teach you things about your
0:05body that you have never heard before
0:08did you know that you don't have to get
0:10weaker as you get older you don't have
0:13to slow down whether you're 20 50 or
0:15even 80 years old you are designed to be
0:19strong what you're going to learn today
0:21will surprise you it may shock you and
0:23it will certainly open your eyes to a
0:24completely different possibility for how
0:27you experience your life and your future
0:30if you're not aware of the actual
0:32functional design of your body and
0:34you're not doing some simple things that
0:36our expert is going to talk about today
0:38you will not live a strong long and
0:41healthy life so get ready to have a
0:44whole new way to look at the intelligent
0:47miraculous design of your body and
0:50leverage it for the rest of your
0:55life this seriously blows my mind 56% of
1:00of you who listen to the Mel Robins
1:01podcast all the time haven't hit that
1:04subscribe button yet no judgment but if
1:06you're enjoying the show and you want to
1:08keep getting the good stuff do me a
1:09quick favor tap the Subscribe button
1:12it's free I promise to keep making the
1:14show better for you every single week
1:16I'm listening to your feedback bringing
1:18on guests you actually want to hear from
1:20and making sure we're showing up for you
1:23I love being together with you here on
1:25YouTube now let's get back to the Mel
1:27Robbins
1:28podcast hey it's your friend Mel Robbins
1:30welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast I am
1:32so thrilled that you're here you know
1:34it's always an honor to spend time with
1:36you and to be together and if you're a
1:38new listener I just want to take a
1:39moment and personally welcome you to the
1:41Mel Robins podcast family and because
1:44you made the time to hit play and listen
1:47to this particular episode I know that
1:50you're the kind of person who not only
1:51values your time you value your health
1:53and the quality of your life and you're
1:55going to love today's conversation with
1:57the extraordinary Dr Von to write and I
2:01also want to say this if you chose to
2:03listen to this right now because someone
2:04in your life shared this with you I just
2:07think that's really cool that somebody
2:09sent this to you because it means you
2:11have someone in your life that cares
2:13about you and they want you to learn how
2:15to leverage the intelligent miraculous
2:17design of your body and how to feel
2:20stronger and more energized in your life
2:22and that's exactly what you're going to
2:23learn to do today as you and I spend
2:26time together with Dr Vonda Wright now
2:29Dr Wright is a renowned double board
2:31certified orthopedic surgeon she
2:34specializes in Hip preservation musculos
2:37skeletal aging and sports medicine and
2:40she has treated over a 100,000 patients
2:43in her career at the University of
2:45Pittsburgh she was the medical director
2:47of the UPMC sports complex and the
2:50director of many of their biggest
2:52research groups including the
2:54performance and research Initiative for
2:56Master's athletes she's also an
2:59internationally recognized researcher
3:01and you're going to hear about some of
3:02her fascinating studies today you're
3:04also going to learn about her pioneering
3:06work in Mobility musculoskeletal aging
3:10and how it's changing the way we View
3:11and treat longevity mobility and the
3:14aging process she's also written five
3:16bestselling books including Fitness
3:18after 40 younger in 8 weeks guide to
3:21thrive and the upcoming book unbreakable
3:25aren't you so excited to learn how to
3:26unlock all of the natural strength and
3:29natural design of your body to make your
3:31life better I know I sure am so please
3:34help me welcome Dr vond Wright to the
3:36Mel Robbins podcast Dr vandri thank you
3:40thank you thank you for hopping on a
3:41plane and coming all the way to our
3:43Boston Studios I'm so thrilled that
3:45you're here it's my pleasure so I wanted
3:48to start by having you speak directly to
3:51the person who is listening and explain
3:55what they might experience that's going
3:57to be different about their life or a
3:59person that they love who they share
4:01this with if they take to heart
4:03everything that you're about to explain
4:04to us today by the end of the day I hope
4:07that I have changed your whole
4:09perspective on Aging to realize that you
4:12do not have to be the victim of the
4:14passage of time and become frail by the
4:17simple tools we're talking about today
4:19with mobility and all the other things
4:21that there is no age no matter where you
4:24find yourself today there is no age and
4:27skill level where where it is too late
4:31that your body will always respond to
4:34the positive stress you place on it I
4:38love that I can feel the fire it's a
4:41very hopeful message well I think it's a
4:45very important one because you're going
4:46to talk to us today about your
4:49experience as an orthopedic surgeon and
4:52how movement actually is medicine yes
4:55and you are changing the conversation
4:59about age
5:00MH in the world you are getting women to
5:04think in particular very differently
5:06about their health and the unbelievable
5:12design of the human body yeah and how
5:14you can leverage that in simple ways and
5:17so I am so excited to unpack all of this
5:19with you and I think maybe where we
5:20should start is what do people get wrong
5:23about aging there is a pervasive myth in
5:26this country that aging is an inevitable
5:29decline from the Vitality of Youth down
5:33some slippery slope to Frailty where we
5:37spend the last 20 years of Our Lives
5:41dying but the fact of the matter is we
5:44actually can be healthy vital active
5:47joyful but people think that they have
5:50to go down this slippery slope and that
5:52there's nothing they can do about it but
5:54the fact of the matter is there's so
5:56much we can do to pre-plan our future I
5:59am so excited for this conversation
6:01because already what you just
6:03said makes me think about getting older
6:06differently and it makes me think about
6:08my aging parents yes differently because
6:11you know I think we've all had that
6:12experience whether you see your
6:15grandparents or you see your parents and
6:18you have that feeling where you're like
6:19oh my God yeah they look so old how that
6:23how did that they seem so frail MH so I
6:27love this quote of yours we don't get
6:29old because we age we get old because we
6:31stop moving what does that mean so you
6:33know if we step back and and look at our
6:36bodies mhm I think nature is very
6:39conservative if we were designed to sit
6:42still night and day we would not be
6:44designed with our strongest muscles
6:46below our belly buttons we would be
6:48sessile like a mushroom with this giant
6:50stock and all the good stuff on top
6:53right but what ises cile mean so you
6:55know job of the Hut had this you
6:57remember from Star Wars this guy in the
7:01had this giant blubber appendage he kind
7:04of laid on yes mushrooms have this giant
7:08stock which doesn't go anywhere right so
7:11if we were meant to be immobile we would
7:15have been designed like one of those two
7:17beings but we were not we were designed
7:20with the strongest muscles below our
7:23belly buttons we have two legs what is
7:25the First Independent skill we ever
7:27learn walking
7:30it is human nature to move so what is
7:33unnatural Mel is not continuing to move
7:38what is unnatural is not moving so are
7:42you saying that one of the reasons why
7:45our parents and our grandparents and we
7:49start to age rapidly is because we're
7:52not moving I think that when you look at
7:54the statistics in our country and and
7:56somewhat around the world that 5 60 70%
8:00of people do no intentional movement a
8:02day so we get up we get dressed we get
8:06in our car we go sit at our desk for 8
8:0910 12 hours get in our car sit in
8:11traffic for 2 hours then if we're lucky
8:14we get eight hours of sleep if you add
8:16it up we are probably like a mushroom in
8:20one place 20 hours a
8:22day that is not what we're designed to
8:25do and so all of that sedentary living
8:27that we're doing because by
8:30Nature our organs work better when we're
8:34moving when we're flexing our muscles
8:36when our bones are being
8:38pounded we age due to lack of Mobility
8:42what I'm really excited about is we have
8:44so many
8:45conversations uh on this podcast that
8:49you know I'm 56 and I'm constantly
8:51sharing to the 20 year olds in my life I
8:53think this is one where if you're in
8:55your 20s or your 30s and you're
8:57listening to this you're going to be
8:58sending this to your parents and to your
9:00aunts and your uncles as this gigantic
9:03shift around how to think about aging
9:06and so Dr Wright that brings me to this
9:08other question that I have how does the
9:10way that you think about
9:13aging shape the way that you
9:16age I love that question because I think
9:19that what we do too often is and I
9:21always look over my left shoulder when I
9:23do this and say oh my God 25 was so
9:28amazing okay well 25 was easy right but
9:32let's think about that at 25 I don't
9:34know what you were doing but I was still
9:36going to school I had no money I was
9:39still going home in summers to live with
9:40my parents and we're worshiping that
9:44when I contend to anybody listening and
9:46I may have come to this late I admit I
9:49maybe I'm I'm I'm turning 58 on Saturday
9:52oh wow yeah so I may have come to this
9:54late but now I would say from 48 on
9:59I am the most authentic the most
10:03indefinable I get to choose and that
10:06comes from the confidence of experience
10:10that I could not possibly have had at 25
10:12so I'm not saying anything against my I
10:15have a 17-year-old I have all the way up
10:16to 36 year olds and uh children in our
10:18blended family it's a wonderful thing to
10:21be young but if we are so stuck on the
10:24past we will never Mel be able to Pivot
10:28literally pivot
10:29our
10:30brain and our bodies towards the next 50
10:34years because the reality is we're
10:37midlife for men is about 37 for women
10:40it's about 40 hold on a second midlife
10:43midlife for men is 37 yeah the the life
10:47expectancy for men in this country is
10:4976.4 so half of that you don't even
10:52think that you're aging yet right but if
10:55you really pay attention and how could
10:58life possibly be over at 37 how could it
11:01possibly be over at 40 and yet if we
11:03don't piot our mindsets that's
11:05essentially what we're saying well and
11:08there's so much that you're about to
11:10share and shift yeah in terms of the way
11:13that we think about this
11:15because if I am reading between the
11:17lines when you refer back to being 25
11:20when you don't have everything figured
11:22out it's a very challenging decade we as
11:24a society obsess over Youth and now the
11:30medical industry is obsessed with for
11:33women anyway anti-aging yeah and what
11:36we're talking about today is how to use
11:40all of the research and your experience
11:43as an orthopedic surgeon and as a doctor
11:48who has been seeing patients you're in a
11:50clinical practice yes how to actually
11:53change the way you think about aging so
11:55that it changes the way that you think
11:56about your health and what's possible in
11:58your life and and when should you start
12:00to think about this I want to backpedal
12:02for two seconds and pick up on something
12:04you just said four women in this country
12:08it's all about anti-aging if I do
12:11nothing else in the next year or so I
12:13want us to Pivot that narrative because
12:15it's part of n mindset when you think of
12:18in society men growing older yeah we
12:22assign the word longevity it's like
12:25legendary it's about Legacy building
12:28it's about reflecting on being
12:31distinguished for women we have assigned
12:34this word whether it is in literature
12:37whether it's in our conversations
12:38whether it is in the products we smear
12:40all over anti-aging as if Mel it's a
12:45problem aging is not a problem to solve
12:48aging is the most natural thing we do
12:51from the moment of
12:53conception to the very last minute of
12:56our death it is the most natural thing
12:58we it's how we age that matters and so I
13:02think to Circle back to your question in
13:04my career it is always been my goal to
13:08change the way we age in this country
13:10and we cannot do that if we don't
13:13believe it's possible if I am going
13:16through life thinking oh when's the next
13:18shoe going to drop I'm just getting
13:20older every day that is not a
13:24hopeful
13:26perspective I believe there's never an
13:28age or skill level when people cannot
13:31change the trajectory of their health
13:33well I think you know one one of the
13:35reasons why I want to talk to you is
13:36because you're an orthopedic surgeon yes
13:38and in 2022 only
13:427.4% of orthopedic
13:45surgeons were women oh that's so high
13:47when I trained it was only three can you
13:49imagine why is that the case I realize
13:53that there are bigger issues around
13:55sexism but why is it that there are so
13:58few women wom that are practicing as
14:01orthopedic surgeons there began this
14:03culture that you had to be strong as an
14:06ox and twice as smart which is a joke to
14:09say that surgeons orthopedic surgeons
14:11are just big Burly athletic men the fact
14:14of the matter is orthopedic surgeons is
14:15one of the most competitive disciplines
14:17to get into so it stands to reason that
14:20women would want to get into it yes so
14:24it has taken a long time for the culture
14:27to start accepting women into orthopedic
14:30surgery although we're doing a better
14:32job now obviously than we ever have but
14:34it's going to take us another 50 years
14:35to catch up what made you want to become
14:37an orthopedic surgeon I decided to go
14:39into orthopedic surgery because we get
14:42to take care of people from the moment
14:43of their births to the moment of their
14:45deaths and it's aspirational because if
14:49I harness the power of Mobility I can
14:52save you from the ravages of chronic
14:55disease so for me I mean I love the
14:58technical St side of putting metal in
15:00bones and I use metal I use needles now
15:03to do arthroscopy I don't even have to
15:05make incisions the technology is amazing
15:07but that would never be enough for me
15:10because of just who I am and the my
15:12mindset around taking care of the whole
15:14person so the fact that I can help
15:18people aspire to healthy vital active
15:21joyful that is uh good work well what I
15:25find interesting is that you're going to
15:29teach us about aging through the lens of
15:31being an orthopedic surgeon but I'm also
15:33curious because I know that prior to
15:37becoming an orthopedic surgeon your
15:40first career was as a cancer nurse yeah
15:43so what was it about being a nurse
15:47treating and caring for cancer
15:49patients that led you to want to go into
15:53Orthopedics and how does all of that
15:56inform the way that you think about
15:58aging
16:00I a much better doctor and I have a deep
16:03empathy and perspective on taking the
16:05whole care of the whole person and not
16:08just treating you like an ACL or
16:10treating and I'll give you examples of
16:12these because I was a cancer nurse so in
16:15the in the late 80s early 90s when I was
16:18doing this uh there was a tremendous
16:20shortage of nurses and so you get out of
16:22college they say come train as a nurse
16:24and in three years youthful vigor in
16:27three years I got another bachelor's deg
16:28degree and a master's degree and started
16:30working on 11 Kellogg which is a cancer
16:33floor at Rush University in Chicago you
16:37cannot be 23 years old pushing chemo in
16:41the middle of the night to women mostly
16:44in the struggle of their lives and not
16:47come out a changed person at the time
16:50most Cancer Care was done in the
16:51hospital now it's mostly out patient and
16:54at that time nursing was primary nursing
16:57meaning Mel if you're in the hospital
16:58every month for 6 months I would have
17:00been your nurse just me and you and so
17:03in the middle of the night chemo is
17:06given at night when I am there with you
17:09and you can imag you've seen hospitals
17:10it's darkh there's a light behind the
17:12bed there's ivys dripping with this
17:15beeping thing and it's me and you there
17:17and our entire goal was to give you this
17:20poison so that you could live another
17:23day another years right the gravity of
17:26that the hope of that was not lost on me
17:31the view of do you know what women and I
17:33would do all
17:35night I would come in and out and we
17:37would be shopping on the Home Shopping
17:40Network and I'm it only I only reflected
17:43later like what were we doing shopping
17:45on we were just trying to be normal
17:47women in the
17:49grips of the most abnormal situation you
17:53could ever be but you can imagine Mel
17:55how could I be 23 years old live through
17:58the the most vulnerable part of a
18:00woman's life in which she is fighting
18:02for her life and not come out a
18:04different person but I took that six
18:07years at the bedside of strong brilliant
18:12surviving women and it's flavored the
18:14rest of my life and there might not be a
18:16big correlation between pushing chemo
18:19and putting metal in bones but what it
18:21has done is provided for me a deep
18:23empathy to The Human Condition well it
18:26really strikes me that after six years
18:33of being
18:35bedside with women who are fighting for
18:39their lives battling
18:41cancer that if I had had to guess I
18:45would have thought you would have gone
18:46into
18:47oncology I think it's fascinating that
18:50the experience of being with people who
18:53could lose their life actually LED you
18:55to a medical
18:57discipline that
18:59allowed you to prolong life and that has
19:04now led you to being a world-renowned
19:08and respected voice about longevity and
19:13how you can age differently yeah so have
19:16you thought about how those two things
19:21connect you know what Mel I don't mean
19:23to cry in public
19:25but I am still a practicing surgeon
19:29I have looked into the eyes of more than
19:31a 100,000 people in my lifetime as a
19:36doctor and I started as a cancer nurse
19:40right but I see the future of people
19:42today every day when I take call and
19:44this is what it is and I've got to solve
19:47for this you and I have got to solve for
19:50this when your Aunt Mary breaks her hip
19:53and I'm called to the hospital bed to
19:55see
19:56her she is laying there in excruciating
20:00pain balled up at the bottom of the bed
20:03with that horrible blue gown on that we
20:05put people in and she doesn't want to be
20:07moved up because it hurts too much right
20:10from bones that she never even paid
20:12attention to never knew she had cuz we
20:15ignored it and now they're screaming
20:16that's number one number two what's
20:19happened to her is she is laying there
20:21in a pile of her own urine because she
20:24was not treated for the gyoo urinary
20:26syndrome of menopause or pelvic floor
20:28out week so many women do not talk about
20:31the fact that they become incontinent in
20:33late in life and have urinary tract
20:35infection so she's painful she is
20:38incontinent which if she even realizes
20:41it is pretty she feels ashamed about
20:43that I need to do a 45 minute surgery on
20:46her where because she's broken her hip I
20:48need to put a rod down that the size of
20:51my thumb
20:52actually I cannot do that if her heart
20:55is not healthy enough to withstand
20:56anesthesia and many times her heart is
20:59so unhealthy because she's taking care
21:01of everybody else in the world except
21:04herself that the hospitalists have a
21:06hard time clearing her heart and do you
21:08know what else she either has a touch of
21:10Dementia or she has full-blown
21:16Alzheimer's that is the state of women
21:19that I see every time I go to fix a hip
21:22on call and do you know in her Lucid
21:25moments what she is saying to me she is
21:27standing there with herg It's usually
21:29the eldest daughter at the bedside she
21:31say she's looking at me she's looking at
21:33her daughter and Time After Time Again
21:35she'll say something like I've not
21:38always been like this I don't know how I
21:41got here don't ever let this happen to
21:43you don't get
21:45old well I am not blaming her at all I
21:49see the future of women Mel I can't not
21:53not cry if we know we have within our
21:56hands to changes trajectory of our
21:59future and if we uh choose to not be the
22:02victims of the passage of time we don't
22:05have to end up like all those women I
22:09take care of 30% of whom after they
22:11break a hip will
22:13die we can choose another path but it
22:16takes conscious effort and a belief that
22:19we are worth it Dr right I am
22:24so happy that you went to the most most
22:28important and profound reason why this
22:30conversation today
22:32matters and you have this concept uh
22:36about health span versus lifespan that I
22:39think really encapsulates the fact that
22:41while we are all going to get older yeah
22:44we do not have to be frail there is a
22:46completely different future that's
22:48available to us as we age what is the
22:50difference between healthspan and
22:53lifespan so when we think about living
22:56longer we quantify that as how many
22:58years we're going to live the the the
23:00lifespan and for in the United States
23:03for women it's about 81 for men it's
23:0676.4 but what we know from our research
23:10is that life expectancy does not equal
23:13Health span those years in our lives
23:16when we are healthy active vital
23:18joyful what we see is people spend the
23:21last 20 years of their life going to a
23:23doctor's office three times a week in a
23:26steady decline but listen that is not
23:29the way it has to be and so what I spend
23:33every day doing now not only treating
23:36people for bones and Longevity and but I
23:40am teaching them to build this
23:41unbreakable lifestyle so that they are
23:44not the victims of the passage of time
23:47which we can all succumb to if we're non
23:49intentional I I would love to just stay
23:52right there because I think that is a
23:54extraordinarily powerful idea that as
23:57you imagine yourself getting older MH
24:01you do not have to imagine yourself
24:03becoming breakable and frail that there
24:06is this what you call the Medicine of
24:09Mobility yeah that you're going to talk
24:10about today that is important for all of
24:13us to understand and embrace I don't
24:15care how old or young you are and that
24:18there is a different way to age that
24:21creates a completely different life and
24:22that you do have control here well when
24:24I say things like movement is mobility
24:27is medicine movement is medicine it's
24:29because there is this phenomenon and I
24:31wish I had made this up called sedentary
24:33death syndrome it is the 33 chronic
24:36diseases that kill us in this country
24:38it's everything you've thought of heart
24:39disease brain disease stroke it is um
24:43diabetes all of those 33 chronic
24:46diseases that people die of are directly
24:49treated by moving because if you have
24:52high blood pressure you'll take a pill
24:53for that if you have cardiac disease
24:55you'll take a pill for that if you have
24:57dementia you could take a pill for that
24:59one pill moving your body is the
25:02medicine that positively affects them
25:04all so if we want to cure sedentary
25:07death syndrome it involves the medicine
25:09of Mobility now let's just take two
25:12steps back so that so that we
25:15acknowledge that we don't control
25:19everything in the future there are
25:21legitimately these time bombs of Aging
25:25uh that just happen at a cellular level
25:27but the thing is our lifestyle can
25:29control our mitochondria the energy of
25:32our cells they can control how many bad
25:35cells circulate around they're called
25:37senescent cells or zombie cells we can
25:39control that by the the lifestyle we
25:42live we can control inflammation in our
25:44body to a certain extent with the
25:46lifestyle we live and so all these time
25:49bombs that age US
25:51faster we are not the victims of the
25:54passage of time if you want to feel
25:57better now then that is an action step
26:01it is not reading more about what could
26:03happen to you and putting the book back
26:05on the Shelf it is learning how to take
26:10action to change the trajectory of the
26:12future or else you are a victim of the
26:14passage of time well one thing that I
26:17will say is that if you are somebody
26:19that listens to this podcast and you
26:21normally listen to it while you're
26:24sitting at work or you're sitting in
26:25your car like one change you could make
26:29is listen to this while you're walking
26:32absolutely and that way you're combining
26:35the advice with your interest in
26:38listening to something that's helping
26:39you improve your life you've said that
26:42our understanding of Aging is completely
26:44skewed because all of the studies that
26:47have been done on folks that are older
26:51are studies done on people who don't
26:52move much can you unpack this for us
26:54absolutely so when we look at aging
26:57study you will often find things like oh
27:00we slow down when we age we lose our
27:02muscle and and and some of that is true
27:04right it is true I'll concede that but
27:06in big population studies like there's a
27:09study that was going on when I was at
27:11the University of Pittsburgh called the
27:13health ABC they took a cohort a group of
27:1770 year olds and just followed them and
27:20to see what happens they all slowed down
27:23they developed a lot of body fat they
27:25all the things you think about of an
27:27aging well when you look at the US
27:30population and it's not that different
27:32around the world 70% of us don't do any
27:37form of Mobility or exercise a day it's
27:41like this thing I described to 20 hours
27:42sitting down right so what do we know
27:45from those population studies we know
27:47how we age if we don't move so my group
27:50and I I formed this group early in my
27:54career called Prima the performance and
27:56research Initiative for Master's
27:57athletes Masters just means people over
28:0035 or 40 got that doesn't sound that old
28:03but ceg okay yeah it's a category so all
28:07of my academic research has been
28:10investigating what happens if we take
28:13sedentary living out of the equation in
28:16terms of our aging and so I was the
28:19principal investigator on a number of
28:21studies that looked at bone health
28:23muscle Health brain health our stem
28:26cells with aging all looking at when do
28:29we slow down if we continue to be active
28:32our entire
28:34lives and we started studying people
28:38active people they were not professional
28:40athletes asking the question what are we
28:43capable of if we take the variable of
28:46sedentary living out of the equation can
28:50we maintain our muscle mass can we
28:53maintain our bone density can we
28:55maintain our brain function when do we
28:58really slow down and we found that in
29:03our active people 3540 and up all the
29:07way I think my oldest in these studies
29:09were 103 that yes indeed you can
29:12maintain your bone sensity yes indeed
29:14you can maintain your muscle mass yes
29:17indeed you can retain the cognitive
29:19function in the front of your brain yes
29:22indeed we can stimulate the production
29:25of longevity proteins all with something
29:28as simple as moving our
29:31legs walking around competing in a
29:34little Sports because remember we are
29:36designed to move you have with you these
29:41uh MRI results and we're going to put
29:44them up on the screen for those you know
29:47for you if you're watching on YouTube
29:49but I would love to have you walk us
29:52through yeah what we're looking at here
29:55and if you could just keep in mind that
29:57there's a person listening so we
29:58describe it for them yeah yeah so you
30:01know this the study that you're
30:03describing has been published since 2011
30:05and it was one of the first really the
30:07answer to the question can we maintain
30:09our lean muscle mass with simple daily
30:12activity so this series of three
30:15pictures has become iconic on the
30:18internet I should have named it cuz it
30:20is everywhere gym people put it up in
30:23their gyms but what it shows is this the
30:25study was looking at master age
30:28recreational athletes nobody was a pro
30:30athlete in this they were mere mortals
30:32like you and basically saying if you do
30:34a 5K and you're over 40 you're
30:37considered a master athlete yeah Masters
30:39just means that you're out of the
30:40Olympic pipeline you're just you're a
30:42normal human being you're a normal human
30:44being so my patients were all normal
30:46human beings so in the study that we're
30:48looking at there are three
30:50pictures I did this study using an MRI
30:54which if you've ever had an MRI you know
30:56you just lay really still you go into a
30:59tube and it's really loud in there and
31:02all that clanging and banging is we're
31:05taking pictures of your body with a
31:06magnet okay it's such cool technology so
31:10in the first
31:11picture we have slices as if you were
31:15slicing up a ham if you if you see this
31:17picture or if you're imagining it think
31:19of the Christmas ham there's a bone in
31:22the middle y there's a layer of muscle
31:24on top there's a layer of muscle on
31:26bottom and there's a very very thin rind
31:29of fat around the outside yeah it looks
31:31look it looks like a almost like a filet
31:34like if you order a filet and and I'm
31:36looking at this beautiful almost like
31:39like a solid piece of meat on a
31:4140-year-old athlete it looks exactly the
31:44same on the
31:4570-year-old who is who's active but talk
31:48to me about the one in the middle which
31:50is the 74y old who does nothing and sits
31:54around because that looks like a bowl of
31:56cottage cheese like that does not look
31:59healthy so if you look at the
32:0140-year-old slice I I call that exactly
32:04what you said the flank steak yep very
32:06lean no
32:08marbling Very Thin fat that you don't
32:11have to do anything with and when we
32:13tested the strength of these athletes
32:15they were strong okay then if you sit
32:17around for 35 or 40 years this is what
32:20happens the cottage cheese picture I
32:23call Kobe beef Kobe beef I don't even
32:25know what that is that is that that
32:27Japanese cow that they massage and all
32:30the all all the meat has all this fat in
32:33it so if we sit around for 30 years we
32:36lose all of our muscle architecture we
32:39become very weak and you're right it
32:43looks very disorganized and so this
32:45person in the middle picture can't get
32:47up from a
32:48chair and what you are saying to us
32:52today is that you're going to teach us
32:55that aging is inevitable
32:58but how you age is within your control
33:01and so you know for somebody that's
33:03listening in their 20s to 40s this
33:06message about look you have got to
33:09incorporate movement because it creates
33:12a road map for a long amazing life and I
33:16think the message to anybody that's
33:18listening that's 40 50 60 70 is it's not
33:21too late exactly so what are we doing in
33:24those last 20 years if we don't pre-plan
33:27that if we don't get in front of this I
33:29call 35 to 45 the critical decade why is
33:3335 to 45 the critical decade because if
33:36if I say oh 25 was easy by 35 most of us
33:40have figured out a little bit to what to
33:42do in our careers unless you're a
33:43surgeon like me and you're still
33:44training but figured out some things
33:46about
33:47life sometimes by that point people have
33:50made relationship commitments sometimes
33:52they've made raising other little people
33:55commitments but you are still young
33:58enough with youthful vigor with youngish
34:00stem
34:02cells to course correct so if 35 to 45
34:07is the time to develop the habits of
34:09Mobility to develop the habits of
34:11lifting weights to look at what you're
34:12eating your body is not a garbage can
34:15that we just shove whatever in right
34:17yeah I mean you can burn anything for
34:19fuel but should you be burning the
34:20noxious right because what happens at 45
34:24for women and even to some extent for
34:26men as we start going through car
34:27menopause and game different game it's
34:31not a continuation of the game for women
34:33it is a different game so if we can in
34:36the critical decade get these habits
34:38established it will not be such a shock
34:41as those people who come to my office at
34:4365 and say oh my God what do I do now
34:46well let's start there because I want to
34:48hear you explain what are the critical
34:51habits yeah for that decade of 35 to 45
34:54but I want to just tell the person
34:56that's with us right now who's either
34:59taking us on a walk or you're listening
35:01at home or we're in the car with you cuz
35:04you're probably thinking oh my God I
35:06blew that decade now I'm screwed and so
35:09we're gonna get to you and and and Dr
35:11Wright has very good news because well
35:14I'm just going to ask that right now
35:15what if you're over 45 like me yeah or
35:19your parents are over 45 and you're
35:21listening right now and you feel like is
35:23it too late for me to course correct is
35:26it too late for me to build strong
35:28muscle why the hell do I need strong
35:29muscle in order to have a better health
35:32span like what about the person who's
35:34listening or who got this forwarded
35:36who's over 45 yeah yeah aren't we all
35:38over all the cool kids are listen the
35:41short answer is no there is never an age
35:45or skill level when the Strategic stress
35:48you put on your body in the form of all
35:50the things Mobility that's strength
35:52training the smart nutrition will not
35:55dramatically change the trajectory of
35:56your health there is not an age I just
35:59want to make sure the person hears this
36:00yeah so Dr Wright you're sitting here as
36:04an expert in longevity and helping us
36:07age in a way that creates a better life
36:11yes there is never an age if if you're
36:14listening to to doct Wright right now
36:16and you're 92 years
36:18old you can still improve your health
36:21span you can still change the way you
36:23age you can still take
36:26steps to feel better every day even if
36:29you're sick and you don't feel great
36:31every day you can pick up the phone and
36:34talk to somebody in your life you know
36:36I'm thinking to myself maybe the only
36:38person I still know is the Barista if
36:40I'm 97 the only person I know is the
36:42Barista at a coffee shop then go say hi
36:45to that person every day it it's not
36:47rocket science but the basic thing is
36:50people don't invest every day in their
36:52health and Mobility so critical decade
36:55let's get our proverbial exp native
36:58together I don't know if I can cuss on
36:59your show you can say whatever you want
37:00let's get our together people can
37:02we please stop taking every day for
37:05granted because it's easy and you're
37:07young and can we please take a minute to
37:10notice ourselves try to figure out what
37:13your body saying to you because I'm
37:14going to tell you for sure your body
37:16speaks to you every day whether you're
37:17listening or
37:19not can we please stop abusing ourselves
37:22with quite so much alcohol because we
37:24can metabolize it when we're young and
37:26so what if you been sitting around for
37:2830 years and you're like is it too late
37:30for me am I the guy with the in the
37:32middle picture of that with the fat rind
37:35all over my uh leg listen remember your
37:39primary skill is walking so if you're
37:42doing nothing else right now you put on
37:45your headphones you get up and you take
37:48melani with you and you walk around the
37:50block because I am not telling you that
37:52the first day out the door you have to
37:54do five miles to be successful
37:57you just need to get up from your seated
37:59position and invest in yourself you
38:03should think of this as an investment in
38:05yourself well what I also love about
38:07what you said from the very beginning is
38:10reminding us of the obvious our bodies
38:13are designed to move yes like you're as
38:15an orthopedic surgeon been repairing
38:17people's bodies and joints and bones but
38:20your body is designed to move and one of
38:23the things to think about when you think
38:24about wellness and you think about your
38:27Health span and you think about aging in
38:29a very different way is that we expect
38:32to get frail because we expect to slow
38:36down and stop moving and if you actually
38:38flip it on its head and you say well
38:40actually I don't expect to stop moving
38:43yeah I certainly don't I want to be
38:44hiking like the week I die yes I want to
38:48be taking Five Mile walks every day when
38:50I'm retired I want to be swimming in the
38:52ocean I want to be going to yoga class I
38:55want to be out and about and when you
38:58realize wait a minute my body is
39:01actually designed in a certain way if I
39:04just work with it it will work with and
39:07for me that is absolutely the truth and
39:10if you if you Google you can find all
39:12kinds of examples of people that are
39:14seeming anomalies like mistakes that
39:17they're 92 lifting weights for the first
39:19time oh somebody's mother started
39:21lifting at 70 and now she's a
39:23bodybuilder that is our true capacity to
39:26build musle to take more steps to to
39:30develop relationships that is our
39:32capacity our capacity and our design is
39:35not sedentary living well this is like a
39:38really important point because I don't
39:41think I
39:44truly thought
39:46about the
39:49possibility of it looking completely
39:51different when you get old like I like
39:53just I want you to really Embrace what
39:55Dr Wright is saying imagine a world
39:57where
39:58mhm the 80 or 90y old who has muscles
40:04and is going to the gym yeah is not
40:06defying the odds noral they're actually
40:09the norm yeah and that's what you're
40:11saying that you're like I want you to
40:13embrace the idea that we've B bought
40:15into this lie that getting old means you
40:19have to be frail and what you're here to
40:21say is no actually the research is very
40:24clear on this your body is designed to
40:27build muscle to grow and to move and if
40:29that's what you do whether you're
40:31starting for the first time at the age
40:32of 70 or you're listening right now and
40:36you're 25 and you're like oh this makes
40:38a lot of sense I need to do this so that
40:41I can live a vibrant life like this is
40:44just a part of what I need to be doing
40:45it's it's what I am it's my lifestyle
40:48it's not a diet it is not a six- week
40:50exercise program it is my lifestyle
40:53because I think people can get
40:54overwhelmed with all the information
40:56that's out there what frequency do I
40:58have to get on the vibrating plate how
41:00many pounds in my weighted vest I mean
41:02can I jump can I jump on a trampoline
41:05listen people we get so caught up in the
41:0899% of minutia when we are not even
41:11taking the first step if we focused on
41:13the 1% that we know is true these things
41:15that I keep saying and we detail for you
41:19if we focus on that when that is your
41:22lifestyle then you can layer on the
41:25complicated stuff but I really Ste Mel
41:28that we get so caught up in the data
41:31overload that we get so paralyzed we do
41:34nothing yes and you're basically saying
41:37if you literally just get up out of the
41:39chair and you move the legs that you
41:42have or you wheel yourself in your
41:43wheelchair you are doing what your body
41:46is designed to do and your body will
41:48thank you by building muscle even if
41:49you're in pain listen talk to me about
41:52that let's talk about some pain because
41:53I am an orthopedic surgeon and people
41:55come to me in pain I get get it you
41:57don't want to get hurt by trying
42:00something new I get that a lot walking
42:02is not something new that's true let's
42:04be honest or it hurts when I walk or I
42:07don't have the time or listen I've been
42:10doing this so long I often say to people
42:12you cannot out excuse me I have hurt it
42:15all if your knees hurt when you walk on
42:18dry land well then let's go to the local
42:21Y which has a hot pool and a budget
42:24program and let's get in that water and
42:26walk right even if we have to walk
42:29around our kitchen table until we can
42:32walk outside or we have to get up and
42:34down from a chair until we can go to a
42:37gym you just have to make the effort
42:40because what happens if we don't you
42:43will end up frail and old you will be
42:46the statistic of somebody who breaks
42:48their bone and who dies in early death
42:51that's what's coming for you you're
42:54right and that is what I'm saying since
42:57you're an orthopedic surgeon I would
42:59love to have you educate us about joints
43:03and Bones yeah what is a joint joints
43:06are the mobile parts of our body they're
43:09comprised of at least two bones
43:11sometimes multiple bones surrounded by a
43:16capsule which is like an inside skin
43:19muscles attach around the
43:22joint to move it right so if we step
43:27back and think of the musculoskeletal
43:29system what is that that is muscles
43:31bones tendons ligaments fat actually
43:35muscle stem cells all of those
43:38tissues that we can't sometimes put in
43:40Little Boxes they belong in their own
43:42houses are actually cousins they are all
43:45derived from the same type of cell in
43:49the beginning so they all speak a
43:52similar language bone we think of okay
43:56there's on either of a joint we think of
43:58it as just the skeleton at Halloween
44:01right just these structural things
44:04they're hanging out that's all they do
44:06is structure they're like the strong
44:09silent type you never know what they're
44:11there until they say something profound
44:13in Bone's case it's a fracture the truth
44:16of the matter is
44:17bone is your body's Master communicator
44:21and think about it if we think about how
44:24we're formed there is bone from the top
44:25of our head to the bottom of our pinky
44:28toe why wouldn't we be designed that
44:31bone is not just structural it is
44:34releasing proteins hormones osteocalcin
44:38is one of them that communicate
44:40everywhere so when bones release their
44:44hormones I'll give you one example
44:47osteocalcin it goes to the
44:50brain and it stimulates the release of
44:53something in the brain called uh brain
44:55derived neurotropic Factor long long
44:57word and acronym which means we build
44:59neurons after stimulation from the bone
45:02we know that people with osteoporosis
45:04which means bad bone weak bone have more
45:08dementia there is a communication
45:10pathway going right it's like
45:12mind-blowing bone sends out osteocalcin
45:15to muscle it speaks back to muscle and
45:18helps it with metabolizing glucose bone
45:21sends out osteocalcin to our pancreas
45:25which is where our insulin comes comes
45:27from so between talking to our muscle
45:29and talking to our pancreas that is
45:32glucose equilibrium right it's it helps
45:35us not be diabetic if you're a man
45:38osteocalcin goes to your testes and
45:41helps you make
45:42testosterone so this intercommunication
45:45of muscle and bone gives a whole new
45:49perspective on just this skeleton in the
45:51closet that just makes muscle structural
45:55well what's interesting about and it's
45:56so exciting to hear how passionate you
45:59are about this because you know we're
46:02obviously talking about changing the way
46:04that you think about aging and
46:07understanding that getting older is
46:11inevitable feeling older is actually a
46:14choice yes and it is a choice that
46:17you're making every day based on how you
46:21take care of your muscles how you take
46:22care of your body and what I love about
46:25the way that you're explaining all this
46:27is because I don't really think much
46:29about my bones yeah who does I don't
46:31think about my joints unless they hurt
46:34yeah and so in addition to thinking
46:37about how you
46:40age is within your control and getting
46:43frail is not inevitable yes you actually
46:47have an option to live your life in a
46:49very different way but there's also
46:50immediate benefit because of the way the
46:53brains and Bones respond and how it
46:55improves your life
46:57however I also recognize despite the
46:59fact people you can't out excuse me I've
47:01heard them all um I realize that it is
47:05very difficult for people to invest in a
47:09future they can't
47:10see and
47:12so I learned this concept from the
47:15banking industry called temporal
47:17disconnect the bankers in this country
47:19are trying to get us to save 10 cents a
47:21day so that we have some money to retire
47:24on and that is difficult for them I find
47:28the same trouble trying to motivate
47:31people or have people motivate
47:33themselves to invest every day in their
47:35Mobility because everything we've talked
47:38about if you're 40 you can't imagine
47:40what you're going to be like when you're
47:4180 and so why do you care true CU today
47:44you're doing your thing so how about
47:48feeling amazing today I can tell you for
47:51sure Mel that when I hop off a treadmill
47:54where I have done Sprint intervals
47:57and not falling off the back of the
47:58treadmill or I have added five more
48:02pounds to my
48:03deadlift oh my God I am such a badass
48:07when I do that it's not only for my body
48:11it rejuvenates my brain and makes me
48:14have hope for the future cuz I'm going
48:16to be that cranky 90-year-old lifting my
48:19own suitcase to the top of the thing and
48:21if and if my old friends can't keep up
48:24with me then I'm going to travel with
48:26some young Snappers who can keep up with
48:28me but if I want to be like that then uh
48:33I want to feel great today so where do
48:36you start so like you just mentioned
48:38deadlifting you mentioned running on a
48:40treadmill neither are things that I do
48:44so do does Pilates or yoga count does a
48:47hit class count like if you're somebody
48:49like me where I work out at home yes if
48:53I walk into the hotel gym yeah I don't
48:56know what to do like I'll start that
48:58little Circuit of machines I'm not quite
49:00sure how to position the machine like
49:03where do you
49:04recommend you start if if you're
49:07thinking you know she's right I do need
49:08to move more walking I got it but I keep
49:11hearing about strength training and the
49:13importance of muscle mass how do you
49:15make this simple in a world where it's
49:17easy to get overwhelmed so uh I have an
49:21acronym that I use to help form the
49:24ideas of exercise for midlife people it
49:27works for everybody critical decade but
49:29I call it facing your future here are
49:31the four components we need to work into
49:33our life facing your future f a CE face
49:36your future number one
49:39flexibility and uh Mobility meaning if
49:43we do not move our joints through their
49:45full range of motion like an old car
49:48sitting in a junkyard we will become
49:50stiff because the Natural History
49:52meaning what happens in time with our
49:55tendons and ligaments
49:57is they become Tighter and Tighter
49:59tighter that is a natural that is the
50:01way nature happens if we don't invest in
50:03making it not so Pilates and yoga are
50:07amazing for maintaining
50:09flexibility mobility of the joints it's
50:12also great for core a solid
50:15core so that's number one number two
50:18aerobic we must invest in a healthy
50:21cardiovascular engine so how do we do
50:24that well we grew up in a Time where we
50:27were high intensity all the time
50:30yes we know now and you know my
50:34philosophy on this has changed over the
50:36years because I'm a curious evolving
50:38person that I want to work at the two
50:41extremes meaning most high-intensity
50:43interval training and I can name several
50:46Brands uh of gyms that do this work you
50:49out in a mid range where it's not light
50:53enough that you're not going to get hurt
50:55and it's not intens enough that it's
50:57going to stimulate real change in your
51:00body so these hit classes where you're
51:05working in the middle zones of your
51:07heart range are a good way to get
51:10injured and see me in my office on
51:11Mondays so when I prescribe aerobic
51:14exercise to people I say
51:17walk or slow biking or low heart rate
51:21any apparatus works I I say walk but
51:23hear me any apparatus works or the
51:25ground do
51:27that and then we're going to Sprint our
51:30guts out a couple times a week sprinting
51:32does not mean you're usan bolt on a
51:34track sprinting is a heart rate
51:36phenomenon so we're going to work as
51:38hard as we can go so that we're almost
51:41so working hard we're going to throw up
51:45a coup times we literally that sounds
51:47absolutely horrible Now list is this is
51:49what happens you're going as fast as you
51:51can your fast is probably faster than my
51:53fast I'm a short person unless
51:56somebody's chasing me I'm not running
51:57there is that there is that but the
51:59concept is low heart rate most of the
52:01week so I'm asking you to walk every day
52:04yep and then twice a week after you've
52:06done your walk I'm asking you just to go
52:09as fast as you can whether it's on a
52:11rower an Alpine a a treadmill but here's
52:15the kicker it's only 30 seconds you can
52:19do anything for 30 seconds so I'm going
52:22as fast I choose to do it on a treadmill
52:24so I'm just going to give your audience
52:25an example for my walking I'm at an
52:29incline of four to five okay and a speed
52:33of about four so I'm just going along
52:35I'm listening to your podcast I'm doing
52:36my I'm learning I use it as a multitask
52:39learning time when I am done with that
52:41for 45 minutes I take off all the
52:44apparatus because I need my brain to
52:46concentrate and I hit 11 on the tread
52:49the whatever I don't even know how any
52:50mouth it's fast as my legs can go and I
52:53go for 30 seconds and then I totally
52:56turn turn it off and I fully recover 30
53:00seconds with full
53:02recovery four times this is what happens
53:05it sounds daunting it is not it's only
53:0730 seconds that is going to stimulate
53:10more connections between our brain and
53:12our muscles to contract better together
53:16that is going to build a big cardiac
53:18muscle right so let's stop wasting our
53:21time in the middle we can take classes
53:23cuz they're fun but unless you get these
53:26two things in on the ends in midlife
53:29we're not stimulating ourselves enough
53:31so that's F
53:33flexibility a aerobic
53:35C carry a
53:38load notice I didn't call it
53:41weightlifting although it is
53:43weightlifting but you can do it in your
53:45house you can pick up the five gallon
53:47bucket and Farmers carry across the
53:49front
53:50yard we need to lift weights we need to
53:56lift heavy in midlife because for women
53:59in particular around 45 we enter per
54:02menopause where our regular
54:04Clic hormones go up go down go up go
54:08down become total chaos as our ovaries
54:12retire such that by the time we're 50
54:15and our ovaries have completely
54:18retired we do not have the stimulus of
54:21estrogen on our muscles anymore to
54:23stimulate our muscles to grow so that we
54:26do not become the one in three women who
54:28ends up frail in a nursing home or with
54:30a broken hip which I'm happy to give you
54:32the dire statistics on that we must
54:35build muscle
54:37mass I am all for Pilates for balance
54:43and
54:43flexibility I am not for anything except
54:47learning to lift heavy to build muscle
54:50so what if you've never done it there
54:52are great online programs we are not
54:55without resources these days this might
54:57be the time to invest in yourself by
55:00investing in an expert you take your car
55:03to an expert take yourself to an expert
55:06and have someone teach you the proper
55:08techniques so that you don't get hurt
55:11walk you around the gym so that you have
55:13a friendly face taking you around you
55:15don't need years and years of personal
55:18training or strength conditioning
55:19coaching to learn you need a few lessons
55:22and then you can build on
55:24that and so once once you're starting to
55:27lift weights we want to progressively
55:30load to lifting heavy no Mambi pambi
55:34pink weights for midlife women we can
55:36put down the little weights that in the
55:39attractive pastel colors that I know I'm
55:43being so patronizing that would lift 30
55:45times love it because we're because
55:47there's actually a really important
55:48reason around muscle mass can you break
55:51down why building muscle mass is
55:55actually important for your health well
55:58if we think about this from a purely
56:00structural standpoint
56:02yes muscle is what will help us get up
56:06and down from a chair right want to live
56:08alone when or have the opportunity to
56:10live alone you have to get up and down
56:12from a chair you have to be able to
56:14transport yourself to the bathroom you
56:16have to be able to lift add dis to the
56:18uh microwave but if you want to enjoy
56:21your life you need to be able to be
56:22strong enough to get out of your house
56:24right so from a very practical
56:25standpoint point but muscle like bone
56:29are not just structures they are
56:31metabolic organs that talk to each other
56:33in a community so when a muscle
56:36contracts skeletal muscle like your
56:38biceps
56:39contract it sends out all these
56:42communication uh factors one is called
56:44irisin it talks to the Bone and helps
56:48you lay down more bone it is critical
56:50for glucose metabolism which is our
56:53ability to process our food right it is
56:56critical for the brain it goes to the
56:58brain but that's not all muscle releases
57:01a protein when you contract it called
57:04cloo clo was the goddess of the thread
57:07of life right and it was first described
57:10in a journal called nature about 30
57:11years ago the simple Act of Contracting
57:15skle
57:16muscle causes our muscle to make this
57:19protein clo which is the longevity
57:22protein and goes to all of our organs
57:26and keeps them functioning in a healthy
57:29more youthful way and we know from
57:31animal studies that mice that can't make
57:35clo die old very young so do your
57:40muscles behave this way no matter how
57:43old you are or what shape you're in the
57:46potential to behave this way let me tell
57:49you about another study we did with this
57:50protein cloo so if I say to you contract
57:55your skeletal muscle it's going to keep
57:57you
57:59younger and you're like right well we
58:02did this study where we measur
58:04circulating levels of this protein clo
58:07in three groups of people clo the
58:10longevity protein I measured it in
58:14active people over 70 and I measured it
58:17in sedentary people about 35 well not
58:20surprising people in midlife who were
58:22active had the highest level of
58:24longevity protein
58:26but you would think 35 trumps all it
58:29does not the active people over 70
58:34produced more cloo longevity
58:37protein than 35-year-old sedentary
58:40people wow so there is not an age or a
58:43skill level when the positive stress of
58:45putting that we do with our bodies can't
58:47change our health and this is one simple
58:49example through a protein called clo so
58:52Dr wght you've talked about flexibility
58:54aerobics you've talked about care in
58:56which was what
58:58weightlifting carrying a load is
59:00weightlifting carrying a load what's e
59:02Oh e e is
59:04equilibrium and foot speed I'm so glad
59:07you brought us back to that equilibrium
59:09means can we balance every year from
59:12about 20 the neuromuscular Pathways that
59:15connect our brain to our muscles can
59:19degrade and that's why you reach over
59:20for something and fall over right or
59:23trip and can't catch yourself so in
59:26every exercise program I prescribe we
59:28not only have flexibility and Mobility
59:31aerobic carrying a load but I teach
59:34people foot speed meaning we're in my
59:36little we're in our I my office is in a
59:39a giant performance center and we're
59:41teaching people to rapidly move their
59:44feet because this is what I do I come
59:46into my office I throw my work bag next
59:49to my desk and if I'm not thinking when
59:50I get up from my desk I get up too soon
59:53and I will catch my foot on my bag well
59:55if I I didn't have the foot speed to hop
59:57over my bag I would land flat on my face
1:00:01Fallen we break when we fall so in my
1:00:07book we can build all the muscle we want
1:00:09but if we have no balance and can't stay
1:00:11upright we can still break and so I
1:00:13teach people that and you know something
1:00:16simple to regain balance that I ask
1:00:18people to do is brush their teeth on one
1:00:21foot like in tree
1:00:23pose because that's one foot it's
1:00:26usually on a carpet or a bath mat you're
1:00:29moving your body so if you alternate
1:00:32legs every day you will regain the core
1:00:35strength the muscle strength to stay
1:00:37upright with a little bit of imbalance
1:00:40so Dr Wright you just mentioned that you
1:00:42have this exercise routine that you
1:00:44prescribe yeah what is it on a weekly
1:00:47basis okay we need to be spending at
1:00:49least three hours a week walking okay
1:00:51broken up into 45 minute sessions so put
1:00:55on your face podcast go learn all week
1:00:58right so that's four go for a walk four
1:01:01times at least four times a week right
1:01:04at a Brisk Pace not so fast that you're
1:01:06out of breath but not so slow that you
1:01:08can solve world peace in your
1:01:09conversation a minimum of twice a week
1:01:12minimum of twice a week we must learn to
1:01:14lift heavy and listen how heavy yeah I
1:01:18know I don't expect you to power lift
1:01:20right out the door but what I do expect
1:01:23you to do is learn to lift your own body
1:01:25weight every woman should be able to do
1:01:2711 push-ups regular push-ups on the
1:01:30knees okay no oh my God but listen you
1:01:34can build up to that I used to teach
1:01:36classes at uh Pittsburgh called
1:01:39start and I did it for nine years my
1:01:42starters started out with 51% body fat
1:01:46they could not hold a plank and
1:01:48literally couldn't walk around the track
1:01:50over a 3-month period we met with them
1:01:52twice a week we did variety of
1:01:55weightbearing exercises they not only
1:01:57completed a 3.2 M walk run which was our
1:02:01goal they could hold a plank for 2
1:02:03minutes wow I know so 11 push-ups start
1:02:09on our knees but we got to be able to
1:02:10get to 11 push-ups able to get up upper
1:02:12body strength is critical for women got
1:02:14it so we've got walking four times a
1:02:16week at a bris Pace we have 11 push-ups
1:02:19you got to be able to lift your body
1:02:20weight we have to start by learning to
1:02:22lift our body weight and progress until
1:02:24we can lift heavy and what lift heavy is
1:02:27defined as that is the weight in an
1:02:30upper body Push Pull so something like a
1:02:33bench press something like a pullup
1:02:36lower body push pull something like a
1:02:38squat something like a
1:02:41deadlift heavy means what you can lift
1:02:43four to six times to keep it simple for
1:02:46my people I'm like four times which we
1:02:48want to lift to to fatigue listen you
1:02:52don't get there overnight if we're
1:02:54starting at at at just body weight it
1:02:57may take you six months maybe nine to
1:03:00learn the technique and to work up but
1:03:02it is so worth it and listen I have
1:03:05plenty of examples of women starting in
1:03:07their 60s there's no age limit on this
1:03:10so heavy is an individual thing and it
1:03:13just is something we work towards so
1:03:16walking lifting at least twice a week
1:03:20twice a week when you're comfortable
1:03:22with walking I want you to get your
1:03:23heart rate up really high and you had a
1:03:25very simple way of doing that 30 seconds
1:03:29complete recovery it takes me my example
1:03:32is I can get my heart rate up to about
1:03:34186 and then I two or three minutes I
1:03:36completely recover it's down to 130 140
1:03:40um and four times you do that four times
1:03:43and then that's it and then I work on
1:03:46balance every day when I brush my teeth
1:03:48and foot speed you can jump around you
1:03:51can skip rope but that's something else
1:03:56bones require impact you know I've heard
1:03:59a lot of people say that running's bad
1:04:00for your joints that weightlifting is
1:04:02bad for your joint what what as a
1:04:03orthopedic surgeon what's your opinion
1:04:06about this like it's bad for your joints
1:04:09what does that
1:04:09mean well that comes from the knowledge
1:04:13that on the end of every bone like for
1:04:16instance I don't know if we can see this
1:04:17on the end of this bone yeah you're hold
1:04:19why do you this what the hell you're
1:04:20hold I brought I brought you like a
1:04:22dinosaur I it kind of is except it's a
1:04:24it's a femur it's the the longest bone
1:04:26in your body it goes from your hip to
1:04:29your knee okay right and so when people
1:04:33break their hip this is what we're
1:04:35breaking so if your Aunt Mary fell down
1:04:38and broke her hip this is the bone that
1:04:40she's breaking okay but if we're talking
1:04:42about this question you ask about why
1:04:45people think that running and exercising
1:04:48and lifting is bad for your joints it's
1:04:52it comes from the knowledge that you
1:04:54know when I had a stem cell and we
1:04:56wanted to damage cartilage which is the
1:04:58smoother than ice glistening end of a
1:05:01bone all we really had to do is drop a
1:05:03marble on it as it's very pressure
1:05:06sensitive that being said our joints
1:05:09themselves require Mobility to be
1:05:12healthy because the way we feed our
1:05:14joints is through the pressure of of the
1:05:19fluid in the joints it's like so it's
1:05:20almost like a rubber if you've ever seen
1:05:21an old rubber band that gets brittle
1:05:23that's like a tendon that gets brittle
1:05:25right so like stretching the rubber band
1:05:27actually keeps it healthy it does moving
1:05:30muscle moving joints uh lubricating
1:05:33cartilage with Mobility keeps everything
1:05:35healthy one thing that I want to um just
1:05:39reflect on yeah because I think it's a
1:05:42very empowering thing to
1:05:45consider that we have gotten to a
1:05:49point in evolution or in history where
1:05:53so many of us are not taking care of
1:05:56ourselves because we're optimizing for
1:05:58working more or being at school more or
1:06:00being online more that we're not
1:06:03spending time doing the things that our
1:06:05bodies are designed to do and when I
1:06:08listen to you talk about the medicine of
1:06:12Mobility or that movement is medicine
1:06:14and then I hear you as an orthopedic
1:06:17surgeon and a renowned expert in
1:06:21longevity and in Aging in a way that is
1:06:25vital and joyful and powerful and strong
1:06:29and that that's an option for all of us
1:06:32uhuh what I also am hearing is that so
1:06:35many of us buy into the lie that getting
1:06:40frail and slowing down is inevitable
1:06:43yeah and then you'll take a pill and
1:06:45then the pill is meant to address
1:06:48symptoms that you feel and what I think
1:06:51is very exciting is is putting the power
1:06:54back in
1:06:56our hands and as you're listening to Dr
1:06:58Wright she's basically saying your body
1:07:00is actually designed in this
1:07:02extraordinary glorious way to work for
1:07:06you to make you feel better to build
1:07:08muscle to help you live a full and
1:07:12amazing life and if you really just
1:07:14consider all the science that you're
1:07:16sharing and the common sense that we'd
1:07:18be built like a mushroom if we were
1:07:20meant to say yeah and that your biggest
1:07:23muscles are from the belly button down
1:07:26and you've got legs to move them or if
1:07:27you're in a wheelchair and you can't
1:07:29move like you got arms to roll yourself
1:07:32absolutely that when you work with the
1:07:36intelligent design The intelligent
1:07:39design works with you oh my gosh I
1:07:41couldn't have said it better and so to
1:07:43me that's a very inspiring thing to be
1:07:46told you're not broken you're just not
1:07:49using your body the way it was designed
1:07:52and if everything aches and you feel
1:07:56like okay I've got all this pain that
1:08:00this is something you can overcome so if
1:08:02the person
1:08:03listening is thinking okay I I get this
1:08:07like this is exciting and I do have a
1:08:10lot of joint pain yeah I do have
1:08:12arthritis yes what do I do where do I
1:08:15start let's talk about arthritis and I'm
1:08:17going to give you an example from
1:08:18yesterday of a of a girlfriend of mine
1:08:20in link Nona who was a professional
1:08:23tennis player but it could be anybody it
1:08:24doesn't have to be a professional but
1:08:27through the pounding that she did over
1:08:30her life she she did wear out her
1:08:32cartilage and so I see this vibrant
1:08:35woman at the peak of her career in what
1:08:38exactly what you're saying she has knee
1:08:39pain and arthritis and she's not even at
1:08:42as old as us so I could have taken a
1:08:44purely medical route with her I could
1:08:47have said okay I'm going to shoot you up
1:08:48with steroids every few weeks which I
1:08:50don't do but I mean just I've choose not
1:08:52to treat my patients with that remedy
1:08:54only I could have said okay when you're
1:08:57ready for a total joint let me know but
1:09:00knowing that the body will respond with
1:09:03strength to the positive
1:09:05stimuli we cut out all the inflammatory
1:09:09foods in her life
1:09:11because pain is an inflammatory process
1:09:15and if we want to be in less pain then
1:09:17we have to quit junky our diet primary
1:09:21of which is the added sugar that the
1:09:23American food system has to the tuna 16
1:09:26pounds if I remember correctly of added
1:09:29sugar a month that we don't even know
1:09:31does that mean you don't put sugar in
1:09:32your coffee I don't but no no no but
1:09:34what does it mean when you say I cut out
1:09:35sugar because I'm like what the hell
1:09:36does that even mean does it mean so I'm
1:09:38not anti- carb I'm not saying everybody
1:09:40only has to eat protein I'm saying if
1:09:42when you eat carbs your body responds in
1:09:46a least inflammatory Way by eating
1:09:49fiber at and complex carbs so this
1:09:52morning here in this studio I had eggs
1:09:56which is protein and some of the most
1:09:58gorgeous complex carb multi-grain
1:10:01sprouted this in that bread that just
1:10:03came from your local place which is so
1:10:06much slower
1:10:08digesting full of fiber than a piece of
1:10:11white bread or an English muffin that's
1:10:13going to spike my sugar and it's going
1:10:15to make me inflamed all day long got it
1:10:17so as a doctor when you hear somebody
1:10:19talking about joint pain arthritis
1:10:22chronic pain you go inflammation
1:10:26obviously there are those conditions
1:10:28that are bone related from pounding the
1:10:30bones over years you get Artis at any
1:10:33age but simply changing the way that you
1:10:36eat can go be a big change so and when I
1:10:40say just to clarify that question added
1:10:42sugar turn over any label on a packaged
1:10:45food it's going to say six grams of
1:10:47added sugar 10 15 gram what why so
1:10:51anyway so number one let's anti-inflam
1:10:53our diet and that's what I told her to
1:10:54do we really focused on feeding the
1:10:57muscle I was going to ask her to build
1:11:00with protein and fiber right so that was
1:11:04number one number two people are always
1:11:06interested when they come into me with
1:11:07arthritis sometimes we are in pain in
1:11:10our joints because our joints are
1:11:12pounding together because we don't have
1:11:15enough muscle surrounding our joints to
1:11:17act as shock absorbers so every step is
1:11:20a pounding loud motion instead of
1:11:23engaging our butt core and hips our our
1:11:26muscles on the front and back of our
1:11:27legs to shock absorb every step so the
1:11:31second thing I did for her was to get
1:11:34her back to lifting well that's
1:11:36counterintuitive because if you have
1:11:38joint pain the last thing you think you
1:11:40should do is actually go to the gym or
1:11:43build muscle but it makes a lot of sense
1:11:46because so many women in particular are
1:11:49so focused on being thin yes that often
1:11:52times that means you're trying to be
1:11:55thin or Slender at the expense of
1:11:58building muscle and that then makes you
1:12:01weaker so do you know I think women want
1:12:03to be slim so they look good in their
1:12:05clothes right yes I do I know I I know
1:12:09me too but I don't want to be slim I
1:12:11want to be lean be and do you know what
1:12:14nature Spanx is no
1:12:17muscle so if you have your same size
1:12:20four size six whatever your people are
1:12:23wearing 8 10 12 whatever but I don't
1:12:25care what the number is and we're
1:12:29thin we could be 40% fat and thin and
1:12:32you still got this bulgy stuff coming
1:12:34out the side of your bra but if you are
1:12:37lean you are spaned up without having to
1:12:41put on all that elastic so anyway this
1:12:43just my funny way of saying muscle is
1:12:45muscle is more than you know it can be
1:12:47cosmetic sure so the for this woman
1:12:49we're talking about her arthritis we
1:12:52anti-inflam her diet we fed her muscle
1:12:55with protein we got her lifting again so
1:12:58her joints aren't pounding I put her in
1:13:00a pool we're in Florida but everywhere
1:13:03in the country there's indoor not that
1:13:06expensive pools and she does her
1:13:08mobility in a pool sh several days a
1:13:11week she's just there moving all her
1:13:12joints she was describing to me she's
1:13:14lunging she's high kneeing but doing
1:13:18that getting the mobility in every joint
1:13:20in her body is without pounding and you
1:13:23know she was in the hall yesterday
1:13:25showing me how she's like V I haven't
1:13:27been able to lift my knee up to my chest
1:13:29in years and there she was balancing on
1:13:32one so
1:13:34listen that is the whole person approach
1:13:37to arthritis not just I'm going to stick
1:13:40some cortisone in you and hope for the
1:13:41best when we do does cortisone work oh
1:13:44you know what because like tons of
1:13:46people just go get their cortisone shot
1:13:48and I I'm not saying that in a judgy way
1:13:50I'm just saying No it's it's it's a
1:13:51pretty standard thing and it works for a
1:13:53couple weeks but it solves no problem it
1:13:56is not get at the root cause it it
1:13:58decreases inflammation in the
1:14:00moment but it doesn't make you strong it
1:14:03doesn't anti-inflam you research shows
1:14:06cortisone lasts about 3 weeks that is
1:14:08not enough because you can't give it
1:14:09every 3 weeks I I mean I I don't not
1:14:13medicalize arthritis and joint pain I
1:14:16give people their own biology back I use
1:14:18something miraculous called platelet
1:14:20rich plasma which takes blood out of
1:14:23your own arm it's your blood it's you we
1:14:26spin off 10 billion of the platelets
1:14:29blood separates in a centrifuge spinning
1:14:32by weight and I pull off the platelet
1:14:34portion we have great research and
1:14:37multiple studies that show you can
1:14:39profoundly decrease inflammation by
1:14:41giving you back your own platelets
1:14:43because they're not just little sacks
1:14:45that make you stop
1:14:47bleeding but they are sacks of your own
1:14:49growth factors and so when I want to
1:14:52treat someone in a natural whole way I
1:14:56give them back what their body is
1:14:58already making to heal themselves and I
1:15:00would imagine those platelets are better
1:15:03if you're following some of the advice
1:15:04you've been telling us all day
1:15:06absolutely absolutely could you speak
1:15:09directly to the person who's been
1:15:12listening to you Dr Wright and
1:15:14thinking I haven't taken care of
1:15:18myself like my entire life I mean is it
1:15:22too late for me I would love for you to
1:15:25just talk directly to them you know what
1:15:27I think sometimes when enough time has
1:15:29passed you can end up feeling pretty
1:15:31hopeless I mean maybe you don't even you
1:15:34don't even know how the extra 50 pounds
1:15:36creeped up because no one no one sets
1:15:39out as a goal in life to be immobile and
1:15:42to feel terrible and to be in pain all
1:15:44the time or have to have three closets
1:15:46of different size clo that is nobody's
1:15:48goal but I
1:15:50completely understand how time and
1:15:54circumstances can creep up on you
1:15:55especially listen uh I'm a midlife woman
1:15:59I went through menopause I gained the 30
1:16:01lbs that I then had to get control of
1:16:04and reverse and do all the hard things
1:16:06it took to get back to feeling like
1:16:09myself again listening nothing is
1:16:12free but if you
1:16:14believe anything I've said today is that
1:16:17you know just believe me on Blind Faith
1:16:19that your body will respond
1:16:25just right now get up put on your
1:16:28headphones and go for a walk even if
1:16:30it's around your kitchen table if you're
1:16:32feeling like that like it's just too
1:16:34late for me I'm whatever age old it's
1:16:37just too
1:16:39late take the first step and do that
1:16:43today and tomorrow and if you're worried
1:16:47about the work you have to do at home
1:16:48listen there is no such thing as dishes
1:16:51police if you get done with your dinner
1:16:54and you push back and you're like I'm
1:16:56going to go invest in myself I
1:16:59promise nobody's going to come to your
1:17:01house and arrest you for leaving the
1:17:02dishes on the table you are more
1:17:04important than the menial tasks that you
1:17:06prioritize over your own health so if
1:17:09you're just starting out and you're like
1:17:11yeah I want to do something just start
1:17:13by going back to your basic skill and
1:17:15taking a walk every day for seven days I
1:17:18don't care how long it is once you've
1:17:20done something for 7 days it's a streak
1:17:23and you don't want to break your streak
1:17:25you've done it for seven days right what
1:17:28if you're traveling well you know you're
1:17:30going to sit there for 2 hours walk
1:17:32around these giant terminals in the
1:17:34airport just push that suitcase that
1:17:37counts well you've done an incredible
1:17:39job Dr right like really connecting the
1:17:42dots from this being a directive to lose
1:17:45weight oh or to look better to
1:17:49a just treasure that's inside your body
1:17:52that is waiting for you to activate it
1:17:54and I think you know particularly for so
1:17:56many people that listen to this show and
1:18:02are at stages in their life where
1:18:03they're either consumed by school yeah
1:18:06or they're consumed by caregiving or
1:18:09they are going through a major change in
1:18:12their life or their career or you know
1:18:15what's happening in their family that it
1:18:18is so easy to find yourself in these
1:18:20phases of your life that can last years
1:18:23where you just let yourself go M and
1:18:26simply being
1:18:28reminded that your body is
1:18:31designed no matter how young or old you
1:18:34are no matter how out of shape or far
1:18:37gone you are or how much pain you may be
1:18:39in your body is actually designed to
1:18:42move yeah it is designed to respond to
1:18:46everything that you're prescribing to
1:18:48your patients and explaining to us and
1:18:51that it's something that even just
1:18:53adding a Walkin every day right now will
1:18:57make a big
1:18:59difference so if the person listening
1:19:02takes just one action today Dr Wright
1:19:05based on absolutely everything that you
1:19:07have taught us what is the most
1:19:09important thing to do so you know what
1:19:12Mel if there are 300 million people in
1:19:14this country and we know that 51% of
1:19:16them are
1:19:17women if we share this with 31 million
1:19:21women and they share this with five of
1:19:24their best friends we will save the
1:19:26lives of 50% of people in this whole
1:19:28country and everybody they love
1:19:31I absolutely agree with you and so as
1:19:36you're listening to this I want you to
1:19:37take the time and think of five women in
1:19:39your life yeah I don't care how old they
1:19:41are I don't care how young they are
1:19:43share doctor rights information with
1:19:47them share this conversation with them
1:19:49it is something that you can do that
1:19:51could absolutely change the trajectory
1:19:54of their life
1:19:55what are your parting
1:19:56words I think we've had a lot of
1:19:58instructions today and a lot of things
1:20:00people can take Little Steps up but
1:20:02here's what's not going to happen if
1:20:04this if what I'm going to say next
1:20:06doesn't
1:20:07occur you can read anything you
1:20:10want you can listen to me talk all day
1:20:13and give you instructions but until you
1:20:17believe that you are worth the daily
1:20:20investment in your health the nothing
1:20:23else matters
1:20:25you will not take care of yourself until
1:20:28you believe that you are worth it and so
1:20:30if I could change one
1:20:33thing from people like you who are
1:20:35experts at helping people believe in
1:20:37themselves I want people to believe in
1:20:39love of themselves
1:20:41because self-care is really loving
1:20:43yourself to take care of yourself so if
1:20:47nothing else please know that you are
1:20:49worth the daily investment in your
1:20:50health thank you thank you thank you Dr
1:20:53Wright I love how you framed all this I
1:20:56love how many people are going to share
1:20:58this I appreciate the
1:21:02heart and what I deeply appreciate about
1:21:06you and the work that you're doing and
1:21:08what you did today for me and the person
1:21:12listening is that you actually gave us a
1:21:15achievable road map to follow so that
1:21:18aging is
1:21:20inevitable but being frail and broken
1:21:23and weak and putting yourself last isn't
1:21:26correct and so thank you thank you thank
1:21:28you for everything oh it's my pleasure
1:21:32oh my gosh and I also want to thank you
1:21:34thank you for taking the time to listen
1:21:36to something that will change your life
1:21:39for the better thank you for taking the
1:21:40time to share this with everybody in
1:21:43your life that you're worried about or
1:21:44that you would wish that they would take
1:21:47better care of themselves I think this
1:21:49is life-changing information and in case
1:21:52no one else tells you I wanted to be
1:21:54sure to tell you that I love you I
1:21:56believe in you I believe in your ability
1:21:58to take Dr Wright's advice and get
1:22:01moving I believe in your ability to
1:22:04follow the things that she suggested
1:22:05today even if it's just take me on a
1:22:08walk start listening to this podcast on
1:22:11a walk get moving again and I think you
1:22:13will be startled by how your body is
1:22:16actually designed that muscle and
1:22:18movement or medicine it is designed to
1:22:22feel better and when you feel better
1:22:24you're going to do do better all righty
1:22:25I will see you in a few days I'll be
1:22:27waiting to welcome you in to the very
1:22:29next episode the second you hit play
1:22:31I'll see you there you're definitely
1:22:33going to love this one and I'm going to
1:22:34be waiting to welcome you into it the
1:22:36moment you hit play I'll see you there

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