Mindful Strength

This episode from Kathryn and Chris is a recap of what they have been doing in their training lately, changes they have made, silly little mistakes and evolving goals. Hint - it's not always about progressing in every season! Chris is moving through our Strength & Conditioning program, Kathryn is taking her running programming into her own hands and training for hiking season. Both are always working on finding the right balance of challenge and enjoyment and asking themselves "how strong do I want and need to be?" _____________________ If you are newer to lifting and want a program you can do 1-2 days a week, with full recorded videos to watch and train along with, click here to learn more about the Mindful Strength Membership and start a 7-day free trial. If you have some lifting experience and you are ready to train 3-4 days a week, building up lifting and cardio in our self paced app program, click here to learn more about Strength & Conditioning.

In this episode Kathryn talks about her 10km race at the St Lawerence Marathon, what it was like to do this race for a second time and what she learned about herself in the process. She talks about the weeks leading up to the race being a struggle and although training and performance were fine, the experience of the race was not what she expected. Kathryn and Chris also share a conversation about training enjoyment, the pressure people put on themselves to be seen as a particular type of athlete, stress and recovery. *** If you are loving the podcast this season please leave us a review on Apple podcasts, we REALLY appreciate reviews!! *** To learn more about our Strength & Conditioning program and start building both your cardio and lifting click here.

Today Kathryn and Kyle are talking about their approach to meal prep. Meal prep has been a big part of their lives over the last two years especially as two very active people. When people imagine meal prep they might think of perfectly crafted meals or eating the same thing every day, and that's not what we are suggesting you do. Kathryn talks about things she preps daily, weekly and even bi-weekly or monthly to make sure they have delicious options available on hand. Because days and weeks go much more smoothly when we aren't stressing about cooking everything after work. Meal prep for Kathryn and Kyle is about setting themselves up for success and figuring out what they really enjoy eating, and making those things. It's not about following a rigid plan. ____________________ To start Kathryn's Strength & Conditioning Program click here to learn more! If you are newer to training click here to learn more about our Membership platform which includes classes to follow, a monthly program and tutorials to get you started.

In this episode Kathryn and Kyle are talking about their Strength & Conditioning program. If you have been curious about this system and wondering why Kathryn has created a multi-block program this is for you. Topics they cover… - Why Kathryn created this program in the first place - The importance of doing BOTH progressive lifting and cardio - Why cardio isn't so bad when it's in the right dosage - Lifting isn't about adding more weight every single week - How using an app has changed the way we can train and offer this program - Why Kathryn decided to create this long term program, instead of another 6 week program - Beginning a program with a deadlift test Strength & Conditioning Block 1 is available now, to learn more about it and get started click here.

Today we are hear from Kyle (Kathryn's husband) about balancing his carpentry work with training to support and revitalize his body. Kyle has a long history in strength and conditioning, which gave him a great base for construction. Initially he felt like training on top of his job would be a bit much, but after his first year in the new field his body start telling him otherwise. With everyone pointing to age as the main factor, Kyle knew there was something missing and that's our topic for this week. Today he shares about the lifestyle habits he made to create time for a quick morning workout, his programming, and why he is feeling better than ever. To learn more about Mindful Strength click here

In this episode Kathryn and Adam talk about what corrective exercise is, why we see some movements as faults and others as safe, and how to assess whether something actually needs to be corrected. Take this as an example... a client walks into the gym and they stand with their feet turned out. We might have been trained to look at that as an imbalance, a movement fault, something that should be corrected. But is that person's natural position actually a problem, or does their body just not conform to the alignment we were taught in our textbooks? This podcast is for the movement teachers, anatomy nerds, trainers and coaches who want to challenge the way they think about exercise. Adam is a pilates teacher, teacher trainer, physical therapist and business owner who is passionate about bringing better evidence into the studio and gym. To learn more about Adam's work click here. To listen to Adam's podcast click here. To listen to Episode 222 with Adam on motor learning and teaching, click here. _____________ If you want to start strength training our Mindful Strength Membership is an incredible place to begin! We have tutorials, classes you can work out along with, and a monthly program that takes the guess work out of strength training. Click here to learn more and try the Mindful Strength Membership! We currently have a 3-month special, $99 for 3-months of training!

Kathryn recently participated in the Fat Ass Trail Race in Bay of Quinte, Ontario as a 16.5 (which was really 17km) runner. Listen to hear why she chose this race, how she trained for it and how she found it on the day of. This is a great story of trying something new and realizing how much of your life can shift before your eyes. You start running 30 sec intervals and two years later you are running up big hills with an incredibly athletic group of people! To learn more about Mindful Strength and join our email list click here. Our next Strength and Conditioning program begins in the coming weeks, if you want to be on the waitlist for that, click here! To reach out to us or say hello email support@mindfulstrength.ca

We do so many podcasts on pain because pain is a part of human life, which means it's bound to come up in training at some point or another (or all the time). Most of what we have been taught about pain is that pain = damage, pain is not normal, pain shouldn't be happening. Avoiding anything painful can really hold people back, limit movement and keep us stuck in sedentary patterns which arguably makes everything worse. In this episode Kathryn and PT Joe Lavacca talk about helping people keep moving and training, while managing pain. They talk about pain medication, where cardio fits into the picture, and of course strength training in the gym as rehab. To learn more about Joe and his Strength in Motion rehab practice click here. ___________________ Want to get into some progressive strength training this summer? Our Mindful Strength Membership includes a monthly program that will teach you the basics of progressing to heavier weights. Follow along with our recorded class, fill out your PDF program and feel the benefits. Click here to learn more about our Membership.

Today we welcome Jules Mitchell back to the podcast for a 5th or 6th time, we have lost count! Jules and Kathryn have been colleagues and friends for a number of years, and today they are talking about stability and proprioception training. The big question they keep coming back to is why do some exercises get labelled in research as stabilizing, or for proprioception, while others don't? What is a deadbug giving you for stability that a deadlift isn't? This podcast gets into the weeds of language, philosophy, and will have you questioning the common narrative on stabilization. We hope you enjoy listening! To learn more about Jules Mitchell, her mentorship, classes and YTT click here. ____ Our annual Membership sale is on now!! If you want to start strength training with Kathryn and the Mindful Strength team, get signed up for an entire year of strength programs. Click here to learn more about our Membership and All-Access Sale!

We welcome back Dr. Stephanie Carter Kelley for a third time! In this episode Kathryn asks all about pain, and why it can be so complex and about more than just mechanics. Stephanie sheds light on how the brain creates pain as a protection response and how the immune system get's involved as well. They talk about stepping back to look at the whole ecosystem of the body, not just the joints or muscles affected. Kathryn asks about menopause and why pain can become so intense at this time in life. Stephanie shares about her own personal journey through menopause and how stress management is often sidelined. Click the links below to listen to Stephanie's previous interviews on our website... Ep 243 on back pain specifically Ep 214 on osteoporosis, lifting and impact training To learn more about Dr. Stephanie Carter Kelley and her work click here *** To learn more about Mindful Strength and our online platform where you can follow programs and build your strength click here!

Today we are talking about our 10km race last weekend. Kathryn and Kyle talk a little bit about the lead up, balancing training and recovery, and a break down of the run itself. They talk about pacing, why they kept their start pace even when everyone was blowing past them, pre-race carb loading, the taper week and how to challenge what's possible in a really sustainable way. We hope you enjoy listening! To sign up for our upcoming Squat Stronger 6-week program click here.

Welcome to our third solo episode of 2025. Today Kathryn is talking about rest intervals, and why we need them between heavy compound exercises. She also talks about super sets and which exercises you can link together with less rest. We hope these episodes help you understand strength training in more detail and help you become more successful with your training. Episode addition: in this episode Kathryn talks about CNS activation being a main reason why we need rest intervals, but there's more. The energy systems that fuel lifting also need time to recover, and recovery is aided by the cardiovascular system. More on this in an upcoming episode! If you have not yet listened to the previous two episodes, definitely catch up on them soon. *** To start strength training with us from wherever you are, join the Mindful Strength Membership click here to learn more. Each month we release a new strength program for you to follow, to build up with consistency. In addition to a monthly program you can browse our other classes i.e. mobility, plyometrics, cardio, stretching and choose a few to round out your training week. Members also get access to our mobile app. Click here to learn more about the Mindful Strength Membership.

Welcome to our second solo episode of 2025! If you have not already listened to episode 255 we suggest you start there. In todays segment Kathryn is talking about the value of writing down your lifts and keeping track of your numbers over the long term. When you write down your lifts you collect valuable data about yourself, your patterns, and you gain a lot of context. If training isn't going well or feeling great, you have a log to look back through which will help you make strategic changes. Tracking your lifts over time also shows gaps in the training, shows where you might need more consistency, more or less volume etc... Listen to this episode to learn more about writing down your lifts and why it's so useful. To join our next strength program in January, Pull-Up Club click here! If you are newer to strength training and want to browse our many classes and equipment tutorials, click here to check out the Mindful Strength Membership Thanks for listening!! If you are loving this podcast and listening on Apple, scroll down and leave us a review. We appreciate you being here.

Welcome to Kathryn's first solo episode of 2025! In this segment Kathryn talks about the big mistake a lot of people make when it comes to strength training, which is rotating the exercises too frequently. Building strength means repeating the same exercises over long periods of time. There is a lot patience involved with strength training. Kathryn talks about certain exercises she plans to train forever, and how to make those decisions based on your goals. She also talks about how most people underestimate how much they are capable of lifting, what to do when you can lift your goal weight, and why you won't be able to add more weight to your lifts forever. To learn about Kathryn's upcoming Pull-Up Program click here. To learn about the Mindful Strength Membership and how you can take a range of our different strength, mobility, and relaxation classes click here. Thanks for listening everyone, if you are loving this podcast and listening on Apple, please scroll down and leave a review!!

In this episode Kathryn and Laurel talk about how they both got into running and what they have learned about cardiovascular exercise. We want to emphasize that you do not need to begin running, there are many ways to build up your cardio including the bike, rower, elliptical machine. In this episode you will learn why strength training and cardio are the perfect match and why it's essential to have both in your weekly routine. They talk about how adding cardio has changed their lifting routine, their relationship to carbohydrates, and the practical elements of doing varied training consistently. Both Kathryn and Laurel do running and lifting, but they each excel in different areas which makes this conversation even more interesting. To learn more about Laurel click here. To follow Laurel on Instagram click here *** To learn more about the Mindful Strength classes and programs click here. To follow Mindful Strength on Instagram click here

Today we welcome dietician and body image coach Deb Benfield for a conversation about finding strength and joy in midlife. Deb talks about the main times in many women's lives that their bodies change quickly, puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. She speaks about how these are moments when we are at higher risk for developing disordered eating behaviours as a means to control our naturally changing bodies. Kathryn and Deb also touch on internalized agism, the longevity movement, the importance of strength and nutrition for muscle and bone strength, and our culture's strong emphasis on macro and calorie tracking. Deb mentions the following resources in this podcast... Briefly Imperfectly Human By: Alua Arthur Ashton Applewhite Ted Talk: Let's End Ageism To learn more about Deb Benfield click here to follow her on Instagram and click here for her website *** To check out our library of classes and strength programs click here! To follow Kathryn on Instagram, click here

Today we welcome Chantal Lalonde for a conversation about exercise in general. So many people fall into the trap of hyper specialized exercise, correcting movement patterns or setting lofty unattainable goals. In this episode we unpack the physical activity guidelines and how to focus on more consistency and less on doing things perfectly all the time. Learn about the balance of cardiovascular exercise and strength training that are recommended for all adults. Chantal and Kathryn also talk about fitness trackers, mindset around training, and what it's like to be very average, but highly passionate athletes. Chantal is a passionate and innovative public health professional with over 15 years of experience in health promotion, physical activity and chronic disease and injury prevention. She holds a B.Sc. Human Kinetics, B.Ed., and a Master of Health Studies. She currently work as a program manager at a local public health agency overseeing the chronic disease prevention and wellbeing, injury prevention, and health equity programs. To learn more about our upcoming Strength & Conditioning 2.0 Program Click Here! *** To follow Chantal on Instagram click here To follow Kathryn and Mindful Strength on Instagram click here

In this episode we welcome exercise physiologist Raphael Bender for a conversation about a few popular topics where we often see mixed messages and sometimes even misinformation. If you are a person who loves to learn about how muscles fire, how strength is built, and what current research is saying about certain topics, this is for you! Kathryn and Raphael talk about how muscles fire and whether or not we need activations in our warm-ups. They also discus the idea of feeling a muscle working and how many people who can't feel muscles working get told they are doing things wrong. They talk about the difference between building muscle and building strength, and why building the strength to lift heavy things is a coordinative skill. They finish the conversation with the topic of pelvic instability, if a pelvis can really be unstable, how this research is conducted and the problems with manual assessment of an area like the S.I. joint. To listen to Raphael's podcast click here. To follow Raphael on Instagram click here. *** To learn more about Mindful Strength and our upcoming classes and programs click here! For inquiries email support@mindfulstrength.ca

Today we welcome award winning journalist and life long athlete Christine Yu to talk about the menstrual cycle tracking craze that we have seen in recent years. Christine will walk you through the different phases of the menstrual cycle, some of the physiological changes that happen week to week and why these fluctuations can effect our exercise. She also dives into some myths about cycle tracking and why it's not as simple as giving general guidelines like, high intensity around ovulation and stretching during luteal . At the heart of this episode is the importance of cycle tracking as a way to get to your own own body, your unique rhythms, symptoms, strengths and challenges so you can better support yourself through your ever changing menstrual cycle. To learn more about Christine Yu and her book Up to Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes click here. *** To learn more about Mindful Strength and our online programs click here. Make sure to join our email list to get all our updates! To follow Mindful Strength on YouTube click here.

Today we welcome dietician, coach and strength athlete, Em Palmerton for a conversation about nutrition and why carbs are so important for strength. We hear so much about protein intake, but what about carbs? Em talks about fitness trends, how carbs have been demonized in many circles, and why healthy exercise is about more than just being lean. Kathryn and Em talk about why carbs are specifically important for strength training, how to navigate blood sugar information, and why macro tracking can be useful in certain advanced situations, but isn't always helpful. To learn more about Em click here *** To learn more about Kathryn's work and Mindful Strength classes and programs click here! To watch our FREE barbell classes click here.