A quick note before we dive in that this post does mention ob*sity, in the context of people who were not included in the research on resistance training that was referenced for the new guidelines (ugh). But otherwise, they surprisingly and encouragingly do not discuss weight, body composition, or even metabolic health.

Before you freak out, no, I’m not suddenly fangirling over our jeans-wearing, cold-plunging Secretary of Health and Human Services. The new guidelines I’m psyched about are coming not from the government but from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), which is a respected private, non-profit exercise science organization. This week, they published the first updates to their resistance training guidelines in 17 years — and it’s about damn time, because official strength training guidelines have historically been vague at best, and confusing, overwhelming, and discouraging at worst.

The new guidelines were published in the ACSM’s peer-reviewed journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise as a “Position Stand,” and structured as an “overview of reviews” — aka a very deep dive into more than 130 systematic reviews (and data from more than 30,000 people), which is great because we’ve had an explosion of research in this field in the past 15 years. And the best part, IMO, is that the guidelines encourage consistency and sustainability over optimization. I love this quote from Stuart Phillips, distinguished professor in McMaster University’s Department of Kinesiology and an author of the new guidelines, from the press release:

“The best resistance training program is the one you’ll actually stick with[…] Training all major muscle groups at least twice a week matters far more than chasing the idea of a ‘perfect’ or complex training plan. Whether it’s barbells, bands, or bodyweight, consistency and effort drive results.”

YES! As we’ve talked about often around here, there’s so much noise around “optimal” exercise that many of us get discouraged before we even begin. But these guidelines emphasize figuring out the approach and goals that work best for the individual, and focusing on long-term adherence.

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So let’s discuss a few things we can learn from the new guidelines:

1. Resistance training really is effective. Resistance training in all forms improved muscle size, strength, power, endurance, speed, balance, gait speed, activities of daily living, and more. It basically didn’t matter what folks were doing, as long as they were doing some kind of resistance exercise: They experienced all these benefits.

2. Consistency and long-term adherence matter most. More than time under tension, more than the type of resistance you’re using (machines, free weights, bodyweight, bands), even more than training to failure. The most important thing is that you keep showing up and working hard.

3. Using a progressive overload approach can be great. Remember that progressive overload basically means starting with lower volume work, repeating the same exercises, and increasing training volume over time, whether by adding weight, reps, or sets (like in our own strength programming here at How to Move). The guidelines find that progression is not necessary to achieve beneficial outcomes (which may be a relief for those who don’t love repeating workouts). But: If you’re looking to keep growing your strength over the long term — or if you are a beginner who truly needs to start with a very low training volume — progressive overload is important.

   1. This may seem confusing, and I’m still working through it a bit myself. My understanding is basically, if you do resistance training at all, you’re better off than if you weren’t doing it. If you are very new to it (or coming back to it after a long break), it’s important to start small — more accessible ranges of motion, lighter weights, maybe fewer total reps/sets — because your body will feel better if you ease in and give it time to adjust to the new stimulus. You’ll likely start to gain strength pretty quickly, and you’ll need to increase training volume to keep improving. AND: If you’re already active and regularly resistance training, and you have that baseline of improvements over a total lack of resistance training, you’ll also need to add volume to keep progressing and experiencing more of the benefits.

   2. So: I’d still suggest taking a progressive overload approach if you can. But know that you’re still getting some great benefits of strength training even if you don’t.

4. “Close to failure” is still a good goal. Completing sets of an exercise to muscle failure — aka being completely unable to do another rep — didn’t seem to affect strength, hypertrophy, or power. The authors instead advise lifting to “near-failure,” where you feel you have 2-3 “repetitions in reserve” (aka you could do 2 or 3 more reps if you had to). This is the approach I always recommend here on HTM, so I’m very relieved that it still seems to hold water! Phew.

5. If you’re an athlete and/or training for a specific goal, certain variables do matter. For example, for strength, heavier loads are important. For muscle hypertrophy, total volume is important (and the structure of the work you’re doing is a lot less critical than the amount you’re doing across the week). If your goal is just to get all the amazing benefits of resistance training, the most important thing is — again — figuring out the approach that helps you stick with it long-term. Experimenting with these variables, if you have the time and interest, can be fun, but it isn’t necessary for most of the rewards of strength training.

6. Resistance training is safe. The research finds that exercise does not increase the risk of serious adverse events; cardiovascular complications during exercise nearly always happen during aerobic training and not resistance training; and musculoskeletal complications that occur during resistance training are nearly always caused by preexisting conditions and are resolved by changing the intensity or position of the resistance training exercise.

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The bottom line, the guidelines say, is that healthy* adults should perform resistance training with “high effort” (so yes, you do need to work hard!) at least twice a week, with all major muscle groups being engaged.

*Okay, here’s where I do have questions, because the randomized trials included here were focused on “healthy” adults — defined as folks with no diseases, including, yes, “ob*sity, sarcopenia, and physical frailty.” Given that some 40% of adults have ob*sity (problematic as that categorization is generally, and problematic as it is to consider it a “disease”), and 10-20 percent of older adults have sarcopenia and/or physical frailty (not to mention the myriad other conditions that also weren’t represented in the research), that’s a large number of people left out by these guidelines. On this, the Position Stand notes, “Provided sufficient evidence, future guidelines can be developed for additional subpopulations (e.g., older adults and clinical populations).” So let’s hope those guidelines show up before too long — and that they aren’t the fatphobic and ableist nightmare we might brace ourselves for.

But honestly, I’ve seen little evidence that the guidelines should differ based on body size, or on whether you have sarcopenia or frailty. Certainly some folks may make different choices than others in terms of free weights versus bodyweight or bands, sets and reps, etc., but again: it would surprise me a lot if there were any reason that at least two sessions a week, hitting all the muscle groups, working with high effort, wouldn’t apply across the board. We’ll see! Maybe!

Still, the big shift in these guidelines — from in-the-weeds optimization to zoomed-out, otherwise inclusive reality (just start lifting!) — is an encouraging step.

The best workout continues to be the one you’ll actually do.

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Here are some ideas:

xo
Anna

Morning, friends!

We’ve almost made it through January — I hope you weathered this week’s literal storms safely, and that you’ve been finding ways to show up for those going through the intense figurative storms happening in the Minneapolis area (and in so many other places). The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee is on Instagram and frequently shares ways to show up for immigrants and activists, and the Minneapolis Mutual Aid linktree has a ton of links to both organizations and mutual aid funds (after all, so many people can’t leave their homes to work or to purchase essentials). Minneapolis friends, we’re thinking of you, we’d love to hear from you, and please share if you have any additional ways to help! And please, please call your reps. NOW IS THE TIME. Like, literally right now would be great. Go do it.

All that said: I’m going to keep things a little light and brief today and share a few links to stories and posts I’ve been involved with lately.

• First, I was interviewed for Self.com about how to stick with your New Year’s resolution. If you started working on one and have fallen off the bandwagon, don’t worry: It’s not too late to get back on! I hope this advice helps. (This one’s especially fun for me because I was a health editor at SELF — the print version, RIP! — from early 2011 to late 2013.)

• The wonderful , a new How to Mover (welcome!!), wrote this beautiful piece for her newsletter highlighting how the concept of working close to failure (one of our favorite concepts around here) applies not just to weight lifting but to creative pursuits as well.

“Annoyingly—and mercifully—when I’m able to stop myself before getting to the point of exhaustion, when I put a project away for a bit before letting myself get undone by it, when I allow myself the space to just come back to it later, I return with creative muscles that really do feel a little stronger, a little more capable of the challenge, a little bit more bulked up.”

• I’ve been a subscriber for many years now and have learned so many great techniques and go-to recipes from . (And shoutout to the extremely kind and generous , who edits WTC, for her support in figuring out some tricky tech issues with the HTM workout index!) I was so excited to see that my quote about how I’ve been managing to get dinner on the table lately was included in this great roundup. Isn’t it fascinating to get a peek into other people’s home routines?

• I was psyched when of asked for my perspective on how dads can start and sustain a good fitness routine for this smart story. We don’t have a ton of dads around here on How to Move (although I know mine is here; hi, David!), but I’m a big fan of dads and you’re all very welcome to join us anytime.

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• I wrote a story and workout for The New York Times earlier this month about the power of isometric exercises to help beginners build baseline strength and get more comfortable in challenging positions. The workout requires zero equipment and is hard. Not to spoil anything, but we’ll be doing it together in a WOW coming up in the next few weeks! Buckle up!

• Oh, and for my runners! I did a piece for the Times last month about mobility exercises that can support your running. Both experts I spoke to said that strength training is even more important, so make sure to check that box first, but a few mobility movements can really help, too.

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• I mentioned this in Sunday’s WOW and in the Substack chat, but wanted to share here as well: In case you follow the WOWs at home and wish there were an easy way to watch them on your TV, now there is! If you have an Apple TV or Google TV, you can download the Substack TV app, sign in, and access WOWs right there on your television. (They’ll still be available on the Substack app and in the browser as usual; this is just an additional option!) If you’ve tried it, please report back: I’d love to know how it goes! (This new TV app is not actually something I’m personally involved in, ha ha, but I wanted to make sure you were aware.)

• Finally, not exactly a “fun” link, but I keep thinking of this piece I wrote back in October, which feels somehow even more relevant now. I hope it’s helpful as you figure out how to juggle both showing up for yourself and showing up for the world:

Okay, that’s it. Stay warm and safe, and see you on Sunday for the February strength workout.

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xo
Anna

I recently had a really interesting Zoom session with a violinist and movement specialist named Kiyoe Matsuura, who herself experienced such debilitating neck and shoulder pain while studying violin in college that she actually came close to quitting for good. She’s gone on quite a journey to uncover a better, more comfortable way to play, and I gained a lot of super helpful tips from our conversation that I’ll be incorporating into my own approach to violin going forward.

But one small tip she shared was an exercise I’ve used many times before but had kind of forgotten about: cervical isometrics. This exercise is a great way to strengthen the neck muscles (it’s commonly used in neck physical therapy), and it’s a form of progressive muscle relaxation — intentionally tensing muscles as a way to get them to release unnecessary tension.

It’s easy and can be immediately effective, if you’re dealing with neck tension. Here’s how to do it:

Sit or stand up tall. Place one or both hands on your forehead and gently press against it as you press your forehead into your hands. Hold for a moment or two, then release. Now, place one or both hands on the back of your head, and do the same — hands and head press against each other. Next, place one hand on the side of your head, and repeat. Then, place the other hand on the other side of your head, and repeat.

A few notes here:

• This can be gentle pressure. No need to press as hard as you can. (In fact, that could backfire.) Find a pressure that allows you to feel the tension without straining.

• You don’t have to do this for very long — even just 5 to 10 seconds (or less) in each position can make a difference. And just one or two sets is fine.

• If you feel sudden pain or discomfort while doing this exercise, stop immediately and check with a medical provider for guidance.

• And of course, if you’re dealing with pain or an injury, you should always check with a medical provider. This post is not meant to diagnose or treat your condition.

I hope this helps you find a bit of relief. Talk soon!

xo
Anna

Happy New Year!

I learned something recently that made me feel a little embarrassed: Our cultural definition of what “habits” are — a definition I’ve assumed repeatedly in my own work — is way off from the behavioral science definition.

Especially this time of year, when we’re hoping our New Year’s resolutions will be successful long-term, we often talk about things like drinking more water, getting more sleep, eating more vegetables, or exercising regularly as “building healthy habits.” What we mean is, basically, we want this stuff to be stuff we do regularly.

In reality, actual habits are automatic behaviors triggered by a cue: The cue happens, and you perform the behavior without any thought or consideration. Think, I sit down in my car and immediately buckle my seatbelt. Or, I finish peeing and then wipe, stand, and flush. Obviously buckling and flushing aren’t universal (yikes/ew) — few habits probably are — but for the vast majority of people who do buckle and flush, they do so with zero conscious thought. They don’t hesitate, don’t experience resistance. They just do it, and move on.

But behavior changes like those involved in our wellbeing routines are different. They’re complicated! We not only have to set our intentions to make a positive change, we have to plan ahead: We might need some gear or materials (sneakers, dumbbells, groceries, a water bottle); we probably need to rearrange our schedule a little to make time for a workout or get into bed earlier. And, crucially, we often feel some resistance to engaging in the behavior we want — maybe at first we’re excited to try the new workouts or cook the new recipes, but before long most of us will start to drag our feet a bit. We’ll get busy, or tired, or just kind of bored with the once-shiny new routine, and it’ll take a lot more mental effort to get ourselves to engage in it.

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I learned this important distinction thanks to my favorite behavior change specialist, Karin Nordin, PhD, who you may remember from some of my New Year’s pieces last year. Here’s her post about it:

Why does it matter that these behaviors can’t technically become habits? As Dr. Nordin points out, expecting a complex health-related behavior to become an actual habit is bound to lead to disappointment. It’s just not realistic for things like exercise to become automatic. There isn’t really a cue, although you can sort of artificially build them (like sleeping in your workout clothes so you remember to jump right into your workout when you wake up) — but they aren’t usually as powerful as the cues for *actual* habits. Even as a fitness professional, I often have to drag myself to the gym, and there are certainly many days when I simply don’t make it (or I do, but I can only muster the bare minimum). That’s okay! It’s life. It’s reality. The important thing is knowing that missed or half-assed days don’t mean failure: They mean you’ll try again next time, because you’re playing the long game.

The other reason it matters that behaviors like exercise aren’t automatic habits is that treating them accordingly gives you the chance to plan ahead, adjust your mindset, and set yourself up for a higher likelihood of success. As Dr. Nordin suggested in our interview a year ago, it’s helpful to anticipate and plan for your likely mental objections. You can even prepare little scripts for yourself:

“If your brain says, ‘I’m too tired,’ you say, ‘I’m tired, and I can do hard things while I’m tired.’”

Unpacking your all-or-nothing thinking (aka redefining what “counts”) can be a big help here, too.

But there’s another big secret to making your desired health-related behaviors a sustainable reality: Find ways to make them craveable. (A bunch of the Optimization Bros who write about “habits” are big into this, which makes me raise an eyebrow, but I actually do think it’s true.)

In an ideal world, your health-promoting behaviors (trying sooo hard not to call them habits!) would be intrinsically motivated — you nourish yourself, prioritize sleep, and exercise regularly because they all feel so good and you enjoy them. But in the real world, these behaviors can be difficult to stick with, for the aforementioned reasons and more, long enough for us to start to notice those intrinsic rewards. Creating little external rewards can be a great way to stay motivated, and, research suggests, may actually help build a bridge to intrinsic motivation. As the authors of this research review from last year put it, “[E]xtrinsic rewards can help set in motion the positive feedback loop of internally rewarding learning processes.” (The review, from the journal Learning and Instruction, specifically looked at studies about motivating students in educational settings, but I don’t think it’s a huge leap to extrapolate a bit here.)

So: How can we tap into the power of rewards that make us crave behaviors like exercise, even if we aren’t feeling the positive, intrinsic benefits (or at least not yet)?

I have ideas! I think the real key here is that the reward can be something kind of big (like finding a workout buddy or investing in really cute, comfy workout gear), but it absolutely doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be a matter of simply engaging in a tiny bit of mindfulness and noticing the parts of your movement routine that feel especially delightful.

• Find a smoothie recipe you absolutely love, and make one for yourself after every workout. (Here’s mine: oat milk; frozen blueberries, bananas, and spinach; peanut butter; cacao nibs; ground ginger; protein powder.)

• Get a really nice mat to use with your workouts. I finally upgraded from my ancient, gross freebie mat last year and it felt so good to have a high-quality mat under me while I exercised! (It’s from Manduka — I think it’s the GRP Adapt — and I almost can’t believe how expensive it is, but just so nice.)

• Or, get a really lovely mat spray to clean your mat before you exercise. The scent itself can feel centering and motivating. (I love this one — my colleagues at Refinery29 and I used to spray it around our desk area when we needed a vibe reset. Not an affiliate link!)

• Find an extremely addictive podcast or TV show and only let yourself listen or watch while you lift or use the treadmill. (Favorites? Share them in the comments!)

• Is there a specific stretch, exercise, or activity that you really effing love to do? Tack it on to the end of every workout (a 5-minute cardio burst; a delicious mermaid stretch) and savor how good it feels.

• Use a body scrub during (or dry brush just before) your post-workout shower. IDK why, but sweating followed by exfoliation is soooo invigorating for me.

• Do a little mindfulness exercise and notice what’s great about your workout space at home, or the studio or gym you go to: Maybe you love the way the sunlight streams in, the calming paint color, the fancy soap in the bathroom, or the amusingly weird soundtrack. (I swear my gym was playing a club remix of Barber’s Adagio for Strings the other day, which was both disturbing and extremely intriguing. My Spotify algorithm would never!) Notice it, savor it, and look forward to experiencing it next time.

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This post by the wonderful is a master class in noticing and appreciating all the little great things about an exercise routine:

"home again" (2017) dir. nancy meyers' daughter

everything i've gotten from doing pilates for almost two years

i was introduced to the concept of pilates as a thing people actually enjoyed by gay pop singer reneé rapp (i know) in a phone interview we did for vogue in 2022. i’m not generally in the habit of doing a new type of exercise because a celebrity recommended it—i mostly stick to swimming laps, walking my dog around the silver lake reservoir and occasiona…

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4 months ago · 60 likes · 3 comments · emma specter

The room is clean and nicely lit! The people are pleasant! The parking is easy! The water tastes great!

These may seem like small things, but they’re absolutely huge if you take the time to observe and enjoy them.

So: Exercise (and other healthy behaviors) may not become automatic habits. But we can get pretty close.

I’d love to know: What do you crave about your workout? What do you notice about your movement routine that might feel rewarding if you more mindfully observe and appreciate it? What might you try adding that could make movement more craveable?

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Speaking of creating a rewarding, craveable routine: This is officially your LAST CALL to register for the 30-day winter strength challenge! Sign up here. You can find a discount code for paid subscribers at the end of this post all about the challenge. We begin this coming Sunday, January 4. Hope to see you there!

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xoxo
Anna

Also, a quick reminder that there’s still time to register for the 30-day winter strength challenge that kicks off January 4! Info here (including a discount code for paid subscribers at the very end) and registration link here.

Enjoy, breathe, and have a lovely week.

Over the course of a stressful day (not that I’m necessarily suggesting anyone is stressed right now! I’m sure we’re all fine!), I can often feel my shoulders start to creep up toward my ears: I tend to hold a lot of tension in my trapezius muscles (they’re also always full of knots on the rare occasions when I treat myself to a massage). I sometimes notice this sneaky-shoulder trend in my personal training clients, too: When they’re working hard, their shoulders start to shrug up, up, up.

It’s always good to remind yourself to relax your shoulders, or let your shoulder blades glide down the back, but sometimes you need something a little stronger to get those trapezius muscles to let go. I’ve got just the move: a shoulder shrug with a forceful, strong release/drop. It may feel a little strange intentionally shrugging your shoulders when they’re already tense, but taking the muscle into full tension and then full relaxation will help train your body to notice when tension is sneaking in, and make it easier to release the tension in the future. All of this can even reduce the feeling of stress by mitigating one of the physical symptoms. (It’s sort of like very targeted progressive muscle relaxation.)

Shoulder shrug and release

Start standing, sitting, or kneeling tall. Hold a proud chest, with your shoulders back and down.

• Inhale and shrug your shoulders as far up toward your ears as you can.

• Exhale and allow your shoulders to drop forcefully back into place. I recommend letting the air out of your lungs with an audible sigh — a really forceful, strong exhale.

• Perform a few shrugs and releases until you’re ready to move on.

No real modifications needed for this move, although if you have a shoulder or neck injury, please check with your health care provider before trying it.

If you need more movement ideas for managing tension and stress, I have a bunch of great ones here:

And if you’re craving a full workout, I invite you to try one of my Workouts of the Week, like this one from Sunday. You can get it done in 15, 20, or 25ish minutes:

Hang in, friends! And feel free to share this with someone who might need it today.

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Note: A version of this post, and the accompanying image, originally appeared on Medium when I was writing for Better Humans.

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xo
Anna

You already know I’m a big fan of strength training with weights: Few things can get us close to fatigue — the key to building muscle — more efficiently than picking up heavy items. But dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells aren’t always available, or they may just not feel like the right fit for where you’re at with movement right now. Resistance bands can be a great (and packable!) substitute, but it isn’t always easy to figure out how to use them.

That’s why I created this guide: It’ll show you how to substitute resistance bands for weights in many of the most common exercises we use in strength training. It isn’t exhaustive, by any means, but it should be a good starting point and reference.

A few notes before we jump in:

• Most of the exercises here are shown with flat or “ribbon”-style resistance bands, which work well for most movements, and a few use these big loop bands (sometimes called “megabands” or pull-up bands), which I love because you can really easily anchor them on something like the leg of a sofa. However, you can always tie a ribbon band in a knot if you need anchor it to something and arrange it around your body in a closed loop (like for the split squat below). The long tubing bands with handles can be really good, too.

• There are some awesome exercises we can do with smaller loop bands, too, but those aren’t covered here. (Let me know if you’d like a guide to those!)

• Truth time: It’s pretty hard to use a resistance band to truly match the level of resistance of heavier weights for exercises like squats and deadlifts — the versions here are reasonable but nowhere near as challenging as using weights. If you want to make the exercises harder, you’ll need to change the stimulus in another way, like significantly increasing the number of reps, or slowing the tempo wayyy down. For split squats, we’re using the band as more of an enhancement than a source of resistance. Bands are amazing for upper body strength but a bit trickier for lower body.

• You can change the resistance by using a thicker or thinner band, or by holding the band farther away from or closer to the anchor point. (Or by standing on the band with only one foot instead of both feet.) Experiment a little and find the best resistance for you.

• If you need to use a door to anchor the band, notice which direction the door opens and closes. You want to be on the side of the door where you have to pull the door toward you to close it. Open the door, wrap the band around the doorknob or handle on the other side, then pull the door closed on the band, with the ends of the band on the side where you’re standing. (Again, the door should be closed TOWARD you. Does this make sense? Ha!) This video also shows a trick using a sock that allows you to anchor a band pretty much anywhere on a door, in case doorknob height isn’t what you need.

• Adjust these exercises as needed! You can do many of them one side at a time instead of bilaterally, for example. Maybe the positioning needs to change a bit depending on what you’re working on. Use your intuition — just make sure you’re confident the band is always anchored safely. Feel free to ask questions in the comments!

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Here we go!

Overhead press

Stand or sit on the band, and hold the ends in your hands just in front of your shoulders, palms facing forward. (It’s less awkward if the band is exiting your hand on the thumb side and not the pinky side, if that makes sense.) Press your arms up overhead, stretching the band, then lower with control.

Rear delt fly

Stand on the band with the ends in your hands, then hinge forward so your torso is angled toward the floor, with a long and neutral spine and your abdominals engaged. Start with your arms hanging straight down, then lift your arms up into a T shape — keep your elbows straight and your shoulders away from your ears. Lower with control.

Row

Stand on the band with the ends in your hands (you may need to hold the band closer to the anchor point to get the right resistance), then hinge forward so your torso is angled toward the floor, with a long and neutral spine and your abdominals engaged. Begin with your arms long, palms facing each other, then pull on the band to bring your hands toward your pockets, bending your elbows. Keep your arms close to your sides. Lower with control.

You can also anchor your band on a doorknob (see safety note in the introduction above) or some other anchor point at around hip/stomach height, and do your rows in an upright position. Or anchor it to the leg of a sofa and sit on the floor for your rows.

Curl

Stand or sit on the band with the ends in your hands, elbows by your sides. Bend your elbows to lift your hands toward your shoulders, keeping your upper arms still. Then lower with control. (You can adjust your hands here as needed: Palms facing in is a hammer curl, palms facing forward is more of a traditional bicep curl.)

Squat

Stand on the band with the ends in your hands, hands by your shoulders. Sit back and down into a squat, then stand tall. (The band will provide some resistance but probably not a ton. Do your best!)

Another option here is to place a small looped band just above your knees and squat: This doesn’t add resistance to the squat but will help you engage your outer hips to keep your knees tracking over your middle toes. It can be a game changer for folks with sensitive knees!

Deadlift

Stand on the band, then hinge forward with a flat back. Grab one end of the band in each hand (probably pretty close to the floor). Hold the band as you stand tall, then hinge at the hips to return to the start. If you’re doing a kickstand deadlift, the band should be under your front foot.

Another option here is to anchor the band around hip height (around a doorknob is a good option) and loop it around you. Stand facing away from the anchor with the band in your hip crease, and step away so there’s resistance on the band. Then hinge, feeling the band pull your hips back, and stand, stretching the band. This is a great option for practicing the hinge pattern: It really helps you send your butt back and feel the hinge.

Chest press

Lie down with the band on the floor just below your shoulder blades. Hold the ends in your hands, with your elbows on the floor at a 45-degree angle to your torso. Press your hands toward the ceiling, stretching the band, then lower with control.

You could also do this seated or standing, with the band behind your back. Or anchor the band somewhere that’s about the height of the bottom of your ribcage, and face away from the anchor.

Tricep extension

Stand or sit with the band in one hand. Reach your arm up overhead with the band dangling below, and grab the other end of the band in your opposite hand. Keep your bottom hand steady as you press your top hand up overhead, stretching the band, then lower with control.

Lat pulldown

Anchor the band to a high point. If you don’t have an easy way to do this (like the handy Swedish ladder below), here’s a video explaining how to use a sock to anchor a band anywhere you want to on a door. Face the anchor and hold the ends in your hands, then step back and hinge forward at the hips. You want to find a sweet spot where your hips, shoulders, and the anchor point of the band are all in a straight line. Pull your elbows down by your sides, stretching the band, then extend your arms with control to return to the start.

Split squat

Anchor the band to a spot at about knee height. Step into the band, and loop it just above the knee of your front leg. The inside of your knee should be facing the anchor point. (Move away from the anchor until you feel a moderate amount of resistance.) Step your other leg behind you into a split stance, then lower into a split squat, and stand with control.

This doesn’t really add resistance, but it is a great way to work on your split squats if you tend to experience knee valgus, aka your front knee caving inward, because it forces you to engage your outer hip and thigh.

If you have the opposite issue and your knee tends to track more toward the outside, stand in the band the other way, with the outside of your knee facing the anchor. This will require you to use more inner thigh muscles to keep your knee tracking where you want it.

Pallof press

Anchor the band low toward the floor, like around the leg of a heavy sofa. Come to a half-kneeling position with the side of your body facing the anchor. The farther knee should be forward and the closer knee should be on the floor (cushion your knee if needed). Hold the band with both hands near your chest, then press your hands straight forward, engaging your core and your hips to keep your torso steady. Avoid letting your shoulders round or shrug. Pull back to the start position with control.

I hope this helps! Let me know what other band questions you have, or if you have special requests for other guides like this one in the future. Remember that you can access the whole archive of How to Move workouts right here — use your newfound band knowledge to modify as needed!

xo
Anna

In some ways, I hesitate to call myself an expert on prenatal and postpartum exercise — though I have two prenatal and two postpartum exercise certifications, I’ve worked with a handful of incredibly brilliant pelvic floor therapists on perinatal exercise guidance content, I’ve coached clients through pregnancies and postpartum recoveries, and I’ve exercised my way through two of my own. (I was also the editorial director, the fitness director, and an advisory board member for Nike’s (M)ove Like a Mother program. I feel like a broken record plugging this thing but it’s really an excellent program and still available, for free! It’s under “Programs” in the Nike Training Club app.)

Anyway, sheesh: That hesitation is of course partly impostor syndrome but mostly because things in the world of prenatal and postpartum exercise are seemingly always moving: Even 10 years ago we didn’t have a ton of solid research and knowledge about what kind of movement is most supportive of both the birthing person’s and the baby’s wellbeing, but new research is (finally!) coming out all the time. And it’s a lot to keep up with.

In fact, one of the reasons I have more than one certification in this space is that I realized a few years ago that my initial certs — only a handful of years old at that point — were already outdated! (Lots more about that in this post.) Very Bill and Ted/So-crates vibes:

But I do know some things — certainly more than random influencers online who tell you not to do any abdominal exercises while pregnant, ever — and I’d like to share a few FAQs with you today.

If you’re pregnant or postpartum and would like to get some more 1:1 guidance, a reminder that you can schedule an “office hours” session with me, either for a one-off fee or for upgrading to a Founding Membership.

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Can you do abdominal exercises while pregnant?

In a word, yes! Our abdominal muscles are incredibly important: They help us coordinate movement throughout our body and support our spine and pelvis, all of which is arguably even trickier when we’re carrying around an ever-growing weight on our torso. Keeping them strong and functional during pregnancy can help us keep moving comfortably and even reduce some of our aches and pains. (Some folks will tell you that a strong core during pregnancy will improve delivery outcomes, but research on this front is mixed to “meh”. HOWEVER: staying active in general during pregnancy is associated with reduced risk for gestational diabetes, C-sections, perinatal depression, and operative vaginal births, aka those that require forceps or a vacuum for delivery.)

So, keeping your abs strong is good. Does this mean you should be doing a million crunches and sit-ups? No, probably not, at least not without modifications. Exercises like these that require a lot of engagement of your rectus abdominus (the “six-pack” muscles) can put excess pressure on your linea alba, and may over time increase the likelihood that you’ll have a more significant diastasis recti — aka the separation of the rectus. Now, DR happens to almost everyone to some degree in pregnancy. The linea alba is meant to soften and spread to accommodate the growing baby (it’s actually very cool! and often heals pretty well on its own after delivery). But we don’t want to overdo it and cause more separation than is necessary. What we’re mainly hoping to do is strengthen and improve mobility in the deep core: the transverse abdominus, the multifidus, the pelvic floor, and the diaphragm.

So, what kinds of abdominal exercises can you do? Everyone is different, but with pregnant clients I like to try farmer’s carries, deadbugs, bird dogs, side planks, windmills, and the half rollback from Pilates (ideally with a pillow or squishy ball under the lower back and a reduced range of motion). Depending on the person, planks can work — adding a sawing/back-and-forth motion can help — as can beast pose/bear pose. There are tons of adjustments and modifications for all of these, which might be appropriate depending on the individual.

The most important abdominal exercise to do right now is, arguably, breath work. Practicing deep inhales that allow your ribcage and belly to expand and soften, then slow exhales that knit the ribs together and lift your belly in and up (“hug” the baby), a few times a day is a great way to center yourself, maintain ribcage mobility and abdominal stability, and move your pelvic floor through a helpful range of motion. (These can be done seated, lying on your back if you feel comfortable, or even on all fours.) When you’re done, take a big breath in and let everything relax — then stay relaxed as you exhale.

How do you know if an exercise is good for you or not?

First of all, if you are exercising (or not!) and experience any of the following, it’s important to stop and call your doctor:

• Vaginal bleeding or leaking amniotic fluid

• Dizziness or unexplained shortness of breath

• Chest pain or sudden headache

• Calf pain or swelling

These are rare, but important to pay attention to and take seriously.

But there’s also another group of signs your body can send when an exercise might just not be serving you well in this period of time. They aren’t red-alert, call the authorities warnings, but they are signals that an exercise is introducing more intra-abdominal pressure than you can currently manage — and that can, over time, worsen a diastasis recti and/or bring on some symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction. My coach and mentor Jessie Mundell calls them the four Ps:

• Pain: anywhere, but especially in the pelvis

• Pressure: especially downward pressure on the pelvic floor or outward pressure on the linea alba

• Peeing: leaking a lot or even a tiny bit of pee

• Peaking: a doming, coning, or other funny shape down the middle of your belly. Photo below! In exercise, this is seen most often during spinal flexion, pull-ups, overhead presses, and planks. In everyday life, it’s most common when hoisting yourself up out of bed, or getting up from the couch or a car. Or lying or sitting down in bed or a couch/car!

Again, these signs don’t mean you’re doing something horrible or that you’ve damaged your body — they just mean that the approach you’re using to manage this particular load or movement isn’t quite doing the job. Here’s what to do if you notice it happening:

• First, take a break and a deep breath, and reset.

• Try the movement again with a long, slow exhale — feel your abdominals pulling in and up, wrapping around like a corset, to support you.

• If it’s still happening, try a modified version of the movement: things like a smaller range of motion, bending an elbow or knee instead of keeping it straight, a lighter weight, or doing it in a more supported position.

• And if it’s still happening, try something different entirely. If you usually do pull-ups but you’re noticing coning, maybe it’s time to switch to a moderate lat pull-down. If you’re trying to get out of bed, off the couch, or out of a car and feeling a lot of downward pressure on your pelvic floor, it may be that you need to turn to the side and use your hands to press yourself up, for example.

Finally, a note on decreased fetal movement: Babies often settle and move less in utero when you are moving more. (Hence all the bouncing and pacing around you’ll probably be doing postpartum. They love to chill when you move!) But if you’re concerned about what feels like an unusual decrease in movement during exercise, take a break, rest for a while, and drink something cold (and ideally sweet, if your babies are anything like mine!). If you still notice an unusual reduction in movement, call your provider.

Can you exercise on your back during pregnancy?

We used to think no one should exercise (or even sleep!) on their back while pregnant — but now we know that if it’s an issue for you, you will know. The problem with lying on your back arises because of inferior vena cava compression: basically, a supine position can, for some folks, compress an important vein which can cause minor to serious problems for the pregnant person and the baby. But it isn’t sneaky. If it’s happening, you’ll notice: You’ll start to feel dizzy, sweaty, and/or nauseous, and your heart rate may increase. It will feel pretty awful! If it happens, just turn onto your left side and let the symptoms subside before you return to any activity (and do that activity in a different position). You can modify some supine exercises using an adjustable exercise bench — set the bench to an incline so that your torso is propped more upright. Or stack up pillows and yoga blocks or prop your upper body against a sofa or ottoman if you’re exercising at home. You may need to experiment a bit to find the right level of incline that keeps those symptoms at bay, so take your time and make sure you feel comfortable and supported. And of course, talk to your medical provider about any concerns here.

What does a good workout look like for a pregnant person?

This really depends on you. How are you feeling? Have you slept? Can you eat? What feels good to you? I love pregnancy as the ultimate opportunity for functional fitness: We are building strength and stamina to prepare for one of life’s biggest physical challenges. But at the same time, pregnancy can throw us some real surprises, and it’s a huge lesson in flexibility, rolling with the punches, and understanding how little in life (and parenthood) is fully in our control.

It may be that you stick with your current routine — with appropriate modifications as your body changes — all the way until the end. It may be that this is a great time to experiment with shorter workouts than you’re used to to help manage your energy levels. (This will come in handy once there’s a baby in your house!) Or it may be that something completely different is calling to you right now: I know so many people who discovered a love for swimming during pregnancy, for example. (Such a beautiful way to feel strong and supported, and just take the pressure off those achey joints.)

Or: You may just need to rest a whole lot more than you’re used to, and that’s perfectly okay too.

If you’re continuing with strength training during your pregnancy, you’ll want to hit a variety of movement patterns, and it’s really nice to put some extra emphasis on posterior chain strength (aka the back of your body: hamstrings, glutes, back, etc.). Progressive overload may look a little different — you may not have the energy to go so close to failure, and it may not feel great to move up very much in weight, but remember that your growing belly itself is providing progressive overload to your day to day life: You’re already doing a ton, so just staying active to the extent that feels good is likely plenty.

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Pregnancy is not always an easy time, but I really encourage you to seek out movement that feels good, supports your mental health, and reminds you of your deep inner strength and resilience.

And if you’re having pelvic floor symptoms or just tricky aches and pains, I can’t recommend enough reaching out to a pelvic floor therapist.

More on the pelvic floor (both in and outside of pregnancy) in my two-part series below:

I’m happy to answer more questions about all of this in the future (maybe a postpartum-specific post would be good?) so keep them coming.

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xo
Anna

As I said in Sunday’s WOW, if you’re fortunate enough to have enough right now, this week would be a wonderful time to make a donation to an organization like Feeding America, or your favorite local food bank. (Mine are CHiPS and Camp Friendship!)

On a (mostly) less earnest note, I thought it’d be fun to revisit my Thanksgiving-week post from last year. A lightly edited version is below.

Enjoy, and have a great holiday.

xo
Anna

Turkey Trots are fine and fart walks are great, actually

Plus: The greatest Thanksgiving leftover recipe on this entire planet

There’s a category of joke or meme that goes around social media every year around this time about the nightmare of marrying into a family that has a Turkey Trot tradition. And I get it: If Thanksgiving is, for you, primarily a day for relaxing, eating, and trying to avoid awkward conversations with loved ones, the idea of waking up at the crack of dawn to strap on your sneakers and run a 5K before the festivities begin sounds pretty unappealing.

And while Turkey Trots (content warning: some calorie bullshit in that article, toward the end!) are, from what I can tell, primarily intended to give families something fun to do together on a day off, often while raising money for charity, they’ve of course been infused and entangled with diet culture, promoting the idea that you need to either earn or burn the food you’ll eat at Thanksgiving dinner. This idea sucks! And I don’t need to go into the reasons why it’s problematic and worth tossing out.

I should maybe tell you now that I’ve never done a Turkey Trot. I probably never will. I hate getting up early (I pre-scheduled this 6:00am email, obviously). I’m not really into running.

But also!!! If you’re someone who loves to run and enjoys a Turkey Trot tradition, I say…go ahead? It truly doesn’t have to be that big of a deal. You’re probably going to hear some stupid calorie references and discussions of “overindulging.” It’s going to be annoying. You can ignore it and go for a little family jog anyway. Or (my personal fave) a little family walk after dinner. Or (when my introverted, borderline–highly-sensitive self is completely exhausted) a little solo walk at truly any point in the day. And if a family member is making annoying diety comments at you, has some excellent suggestions for how to respond (so do her readers, in the comments):

Body Type

💬Discussion post: Body talk at the holidays

Hi hi! Currently writing a draft of this post while on a plane, on a Microsoft Word doc (lol), because I shan’t be paying for the $24 (!!!) WiFi — a sucker was not born this minute! I’m visiting family for the Thanks…

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a year ago · 19 likes · 1 comment · Mikala Jamison

And furthermore: I feel like it’s almost become taboo to say things like this, but sometimes when we eat a bigger meal than we’re used to, we feel physically uncomfortable: bloated, gassy, headachey, fatigued. Movement, like a walk, can help! This is truly not about repenting for “bad” behavior — food (especially lovely, celebratory holiday food) serves many purposes beyond just fueling your body (the piece linked here from is worth a close read today, btw), one meal out of the year isn’t going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for you healthwise, and of course health is morally neutral so the idea that eating a delicious meal is “bad” is ludicrous. I’m talking about noticing how your body feels while you’re eating and after you eat, and using a pleasant and healthy tool (just walking!) to help yourself feel a little better if you need to. I am not a dietitian or an intuitive eating expert, but based on what I’ve read, this is a pretty intuitive eating–aligned approach (anti-diet RDs, I’d love to hear what you think!). Research backs up the benefits too (another weight loss/calorie-burn content warning for this link; it’s a minefield out there). Postprandial walks can help:

• Improve symptoms of gas and bloating (we’ve all seen the fart walk thing, right?)  

• Prevent major blood sugar spikes

• Regulate blood pressure

YOU DON’T HAVE TO, okay? You really do not! If you’d rather take a nap, or have another helping of pie, or watch a terrible Hallmark Christmas movie on the couch, that all sounds truly amazing. (You can also do any combination of the above!) If you hate taking walks, can’t walk, or it’s not really safe to walk in your area, I get it. If the idea of exercising after you eat feels unhealthy to you mentally or emotionally, that’s also a great reason not to, especially if you’ve dealt or are still dealing with a disordered relationship with food or exercise — this holiday is fraught; take good care. It’s also possible that you simply do not have the chance: You’re overloaded with caregiving responsibility or family stress or other personal burdens, and it doesn’t feel possible to take any time for yourself during the chaos of the holiday. And maybe this all sounds really nice to have the luxury to even worry about, because for one reason or another you aren’t part of a big family event this Thanksgiving. I’m thinking of all of you, too, and hope you find a moment of comfort and joy this season despite it all.

Let’s take what works for us, ignore the nonsense, and make choices that support our own wellbeing to the extent possible. Yeah?

Happy Thanksgiving!

xo
Anna

PS: If Thanksgiving is hard for you and if this stuff is feeling really triggering, please seek help from a qualified professional. MEDA has a list of free support services here. Christy Harrison has a great list of experts (anti-diet/HAES-informed RDs, therapists, and doctors) on her website here.

Oh, one more thing:

My Thanksgiving gift to you is the gift of delicious culinary knowledge: Did you know you can put a mound of leftover stuffing on a waffle iron?!?! I call it a stuffle, and it’s quite possibly my favorite thing I’ve ever eaten. (I just googled it and realized I didn’t actually invent this, but I swear I had never heard of the concept when I was inspired to try it a few years ago after acquiring a waffle iron.)

I recommend heating the stuffing a little bit in a microwave first, and spraying it a tiny bit with cooking spray before waffling it. While it’s crisping up on the waffle iron, reheat some leftover gravy and turkey, and then plop it all on top when the stuffle is done. If you’re feeling really wild, add a little plop of cranberry sauce for sweetness and acidity. Knife and fork it and feel simply amazing about your excellent choice to follow my advice.

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I’ve been on a mission for the past few months to figure out why in the world I still struggle so much with squats, after many, many years of working on them. Though I firmly believe that all squats count — including quarter-squats (seen above) and chair squats — there isn’t any obvious reason why I shouldn’t consistently be able to do a confident, stable squat that involves my hips moving lower than my knees.

What’s gotten in the way? Many things. Super-tight hip flexors. Patellofemoral pain syndrome. Awkwardly long limbs. And, honestly, fear: The heavier I go, and the deeper I try to squat, the less confident I feel, which is kryptonite for good squatting.

It’s like driving a stick shift car. I know how. But that doesn’t mean I can actually do it. (Between us, I haven’t actually driven literally any kind of car in about a decade, so this isn’t the best analogy, but you get what I mean.)

As I’ve chatted about a bit in a few recent workout videos, I’ve been seeing a PT for some weird hip flexor pain and mobility issues for the past few weeks, and have taken advantage of the opportunity to dig into all these little problems that seem to be holding back my squats. (It’s Jenny Maher at Windsor PT in Brooklyn — she is wonderful!)

And yes, my hip flexors are pretty restricted, which plays a big role in my squats. But the real root of the issue seems to be much farther down the kinetic chain.

I certainly knew that ankle mobility, and specifically dorsiflexion (the ankle movement where the top of your foot and your shin move toward each other) played a big role in squat mechanics — after all, to keep you balanced over your feet, your shins need to move forward as your hips and knees bend. And if you’ve ever squatted with your heels elevated, you’ve probably experienced how much easier it is: You may have been able to go much deeper with relatively little trouble from your ankles (thanks to the elevation, they have to bend a lot less). But I had no idea just how limited my own dorsiflexion was. It turns out, I have tight calves and achilles tendons, and some restrictions/impingement along the fronts of my ankles. Jenny has done a lot of manual work to ease these restrictions and given me some calf and ankle stretches to do on my own, and they’ve all made a major difference in how I move.

also recently posted about some ankle and calf work that helps her prep for squats — take a look:

Women's Barbell Club

Post-surgery ankle mobility for squatting & the eternal recovery timeline

The last couple months have been the most frustrating in my surgical recovery journey. I thought I’d be done with physical therapy and back to some form of running by the end of September, but instead — after pushing myself too far on a six-mile hike in early September — I found myself with worsening pain. I had …

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6 months ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · Meredith Sell

But that’s not all! A few weeks ago, Jenny had me try something that felt a little odd at first: a “doming” exercise for my midfoot. It goes like this: With your foot flat on the floor, you try to keep your toes long and the ball of your foot down as you imagine pulling the ball of your foot toward your heel, exaggerating the arch of your foot.

Here’s a little gif I made to show you:

Now, I’m not a physical therapist, and I can’t say across the board that everyone on earth should be practicing this exercise — there are some folks out there with overly high/strong arches, which could pose their own issues, and presumably if you’re currently in a really bad flare of a condition like plantar fasciitis it might not feel good. (Always ask a PT or sports medicine doc to be sure!) But my understanding is that it’s relatively common for folks to overpronate (meaning the inner part of their midfoot tends to roll toward the ground as they stand or walk), and strengthening the muscles that help counteract this overpronation can be really helpful.

Also, it should be noted that if you’ve heard the term “doming,” you probably think of it in a very different context: the protrusion of the middle of your belly that can happen when there’s excess pressure on your linea alba and/or when you’re dealing with diastasis recti. This is not the same thing! And we can (and should, probably) talk about that type of doming (slash coning, slash peaking) some other time.

So, foot doming! You can do this as a foot-strengthening exercise on its own (it’s especially helpful for folks with flat feet, those recovering from plantar fasciitis — though again, probably not in an active flare of it — or foot and ankle injuries, and those working on balance, though lots of folks can benefit). But you can also do it as part of an exercise that requires foot and ankle stability and mobility, like a squat, lunge, or balancing exercise. Basically, you dome your foot, and keep it domed as you do the exercise.

The first time Jenny had me try doming my feet for a squat, I truly couldn’t believe the difference. I immediately felt new muscles firing in my feet and ankles, and was able to squat so much more smoothly, confidently, and deeply.

I’m really living the doming lifestyle now: I pretty much dome both feet before any squat or lunge, and certainly when I’m in a single-leg stance (whether for balance work or something like a single leg deadlift).

Give it a try, if you like, and let me know what you think. It may feel really hard at first not to scrunch your toes — work on it and it may be easier over time to keep them long and flat.

Squats still kind of suck for me, but with this helpful trick, they suck a lot less.

On another note! I’m working on migrating my website for Pilates for Abortion Funds from Wix to Github — it was already pricey but starting this month the cost was increasing to more than $500 per year, yeesh — and I’m hoping that by the time you get this, it’ll be done. But just in case: My next PFAF class is next Tuesday 11/18 at 8:00pm on Zoom (with video to follow). If you’re interested in joining, make a donation of any amount to your favorite state or local abortion fund, Care for All, or the National Network of Abortion Funds, send me the donation receipt — you can do so by replying to this email, if you are indeed reading this via email, or by DMing me on Substack (I’ll accept your message and then you can share a screenshot) — and I’ll add you to the calendar event. If you make a recurring donation, I’ll add you to all future events.

Hope to see you there!

One final thing: Speaking of doming/coning/peaking — I am way overdue to write a post about prenatal and postpartum exercise. This is a huge topic, and I’d love to know what you’d like to learn about it! Please share your questions in the comments or via DM. We can talk about what “safe” exercise means during these times, WTF intra-abdominal pressure is, your pelvic floor, and anything else you’d like.

xo
Anna

Among other things, I edited stories about health, parenting, fashion, interior design, and cleaning and organizing. You might think those last two would be really boring, but we made it fun! Among other things, I became a real pro at folding fitted sheets. And it was fascinating to learn from our organizing experts, whose practical advice incorporated so much wisdom around psychology and behavior change. After all, dealing with your home and your stuff — much like exercise! — involves so many emotions, societal pressures, and preconceived notions about what’s good, what’s bad, and what “counts.”

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We’d sometimes run stories about big organizing projects, and the “before” scenarios could be pretty overwhelming: a scary garage full of old stuff; a playroom stacked wall-to-wall with toys your kids never play with anymore; your recently departed great-aunt’s entire house full of garage sale and thrift store deals she’d been stashing for decades that now had to be cleared out. It might have felt like the only way to handle it all would be to quit your job, spend your life savings at the Container Store, and pray.

But often, our experts would give the advice to resist the urge to dive in whole-hog, and instead start with just one drawer.

It’s a small bite of a very large pie, yes, but that one drawer is often easier and quicker to tackle than you think it’ll be. It’s not too draining, and the results are so satisfying: If you take a moment to admire your handiwork, you feel genuinely great about what you’ve accomplished, and you can use that little boost as fuel to keep going on the next drawer…then a shelf…then maybe a closet. Before you know it, you’ve dealt with most, if not all, of the room.

(It doesn’t just have to be a drawer, by the way. Any bite-sized task counts, whether it’s walking through the house with a garbage bag and gathering everything that obviously needs to be tossed out; folding and putting away the laundry; or just setting a timer for 30 minutes and speed-tidying.)

You probably know where I’m going with this: Exercise is pretty much exactly like this. We decide we need to exercise, and we get incredibly overwhelmed by the big stuff:

• Our health is at stake! And we haven’t been exercising as much as we should, or at all, and we’ve basically already failed. Or, if we haven’t, we’d have to exercise so much to make up for the lost time that it’s completely unrealistic.

• The American Heart Association says we need to get 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week! But we’re currently getting zero. That jump — from 0 to 150 — feels insurmountable.

• The fitness influencers on our timeline basically live at the gym! We could never do that, because we have jobs and caregiving responsibilities and lives, and/or we just don’t really want to, and so it’s just not possible.

• We’re supposed to be lifting heavy weights! That means barbells! But we don’t even really understand how to do a squat or a deadlift with dumbbells or our own body weight, and if we do, it maybe feels really uncomfortable, and it’s just not worth doing if it isn’t heavy.

• We’re supposed to be doing cardio! That means running! But when we try to go for a run, we get super out of breath, our knees hurt, and we can barely make it down the block. We’ll simply never get there.

When people talk about the “all or nothing” mindset, this is what they mean: If you aren’t doing something to the fullest extent possible, it isn’t worth doing at all. But in exercise, as in organizing, diving straight into the “all” side of things often backfires — and there is absolutely a middle ground.

It’s the single drawer.

You do something small. You step back and notice how you feel, and let yourself feel proud of what you got done. And then you use that to motivate you to do it again — or to try something else.

I talked about this in a note a couple of weeks ago:

So yes, your single drawer could be a one-lap walk around the block. It could be learning to do one exercise you haven’t tried before. It could be returning to a five-minute yoga video you liked on YouTube a few years ago and might feel good to try again.

You simply do not have to jump straight from inactivity into an intense, hourlong, several-sessions-a-week routine, and in fact, you’re probably better off not doing that. Even if you can somehow fit that amount of movement into your weekly routine, you’re going to get really sore, and completely exhausted, and you may be ready to quit after a week or two. (Sort of like if you tried to reorganize your entire house in one day! Get it??) I’ve written before about the concept of “minimum effective dose,” and I really do think it’s the secret to sticking with movement long-term:

Instead of choosing a lofty, overwhelming, audacious goal, you go for a bite-sized amount; the bare minimum exercise you can do to help you feel the way you want to feel. You let yourself feel proud! You notice any positive little side effects: Maybe your back feels better, your wonky hip isn’t quite as tight as it normally is, you get a little mood boost. And that feeling helps you repeat it (or try something new) in a day or two.

Over time, maybe you gradually work your way into a slightly more involved or regimented routine. But maybe you don’t! Maybe you just find a little movement every day or two, feel a little better, and let that be enough.

This is a big reason why my Workouts of the Week are relatively short to begin with (usually around 25 or 30 minutes), and easy to trim: I always say you can skip the warmup or the cooldown, or a round or two of the strength circuit. I want them to work for your actual life, and your actual energy level.

Any movement you’re able to squeeze in, no matter how small, is still far better for you than the fancy, long workout you think you should be doing but can’t or won’t.

Organizing a single drawer in a messy room is better than getting overwhelmed and not organizing anything at all. It’s still progress! It’ll still feel really good. And it’s worth doing.

xo
Anna

PS The brilliant has even more thoughts on this, both on her newsletter and in her upcoming book (!!). Check this recent one out:

Body Type

Why you don't exercise as much as you want to

Body Type is a place for helpful guides to feeling better in and about your body + body culture essays like this one with over 83,000 views. If you throw me 96 cents a week for an annual subscription, you’ll get access to everything. Thanks…

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6 months ago · 51 likes · 4 comments · Mikala Jamison

And covered similar ground last week too. It’s in the air!:

What moves you

The absolute worst advice to the question, "how do people find time to exercise?"

I know there are a lot of things you could be doing with your time and energy. Thanks for being here and spending some of it with me. I really hope you enjoy this piece. It’s the product of 20 years as a movement professional and 12 years studying habit change, as well as working one-on-one with people in a movement coaching capacity…

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6 months ago · 51 likes · 21 comments · Naomi Gottlieb-Miller

To finish out my fall habit reset series (part one, part two, and part three ICYMI!), I asked you and a few favorite writers and experts for any other little tips and tricks — wellbeing habits that have felt especially good to you. I love these, and many of them double as ways to support additional positive habits for more movement, more healthful eating, and the like.

Enjoy!

“Noticing when I have felt well and writing it down helps encourage me that positive habits are worthwhile to build. If I’m not acknowledging the positive change, it’s easy to quit.” — ,

“Time blocking is helpful for me. If I create an hour in my Google calendar called ‘Move,” I’m more likely to follow through with my plans. The calendar event helps me to visualize that a workout actually does fit in my day. And calling it ‘Move’ means I don’t feel pressured to run or lift if I don’t feel like it that day. Any moving is fine! Long runs, dog walks, bike rides with kids, or yoga classes all count.” — Kate

“I have a Marco Polo conversation running with a friend in a very similar small-children life stage, and we have a policy that we heavily brag on ourselves to one another but mostly about stupid shit. Sometimes she’ll vamp for like 20 minutes in her sports bra about how she did it! She put on her workout clothes! And now she MIGHT work out! It’s hilarious and I laugh, but then I think, ‘Maybe I can put on a sports bra and contemplate movement.’ It’s very dear and busts the illusion that exercise has to be serious or intense or even dignified. Love her!” — SJC

“My husband got a smoothie blender at a work thing a few months ago, and we’ve gotten really into making smoothies as a post-workout snack. I LOVE the one I make: It’s got oat milk, frozen bananas and berries, a bunch of greens, some peanut butter, cacao nibs, ground ginger, and protein powder. So delicious, satisfying, and a great way to make sure I actually get some nutrients into me — it feels like it takes a little pressure off of lunch to be full of beautiful produce or whatever, if all I really have ingredients and time for is, like, a quesadilla.” — Me

“Using the Freedom App to break my doomscrolling and internet procrastination habit has been very helpful. I still struggle, but it’s nice to have this tool supporting me versus trying to white knuckle it — my willpower is no match for an algorithm designed specifically to hook me! Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire!” — ,

“Walking and listening to my favorite podcast. I have a mandated and unpaid 1-hour lunch break, plus two 15-minute breaks. I always prioritize not being at my desk for those times. I used to run but it hasn’t appealed to me recently, so I downloaded a walking app that has been really motivating!” — Anne Weaver, LCSW

“Opt out of the perfectionistic urge to do everything all at once. All-or-nothing thinking doesn’t build a sustainable lifestyle. It’s okay to let little habits stack up over time.” — ,

“There’s this adorable app called Finch that could be described as a self care neopet. I swear it’s changed my life across the board — exercise, mental health, healthy eating. I really and truly cannot recommend it enough and the most meaningful features are free, $50 or so for annual subscription for more cute/fun things.” — Eliza

“This one is a little strange, but I encourage my clients and myself to feel annoyed and do it anyway. Go ahead, have a small tantrum about doing the thing you don’t want to do! And, then go do it anyway! Reminding myself that I don’t have to turn every new habit into an Instagrammable, perfectly aesthetic experience is really important for turning down the comparison noise that everyone else ‘has it together.’” — Maria Sylvester Terry, MS, RDN, LDN

“Doing the physical activities I enjoy has helped create some structure for exercises that I find tedious. If I want to feel good on my bike (which I LOVE), I will absolutely be working on my hip mobility. Leaning into acceptance of body change has also helped me to transition into different modes of training — recognizing that there is strength in adaptation, and I am not broken just because I am aging.” — Francesca Piccioni, personal trainer

“I don’t really drink anymore, which has forced me to find ways to socialize that aren’t going to the pub. Now I often meet a friend for a long walk, or a Pilates class followed by coffee, and feel so so good afterwards.” — ,

Hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I have. Talk soon!

xo
Anna

Y’all know I’m reluctant to dole out nutrition advice. Eating is incredibly complex: We all have our own unique body chemistries, genetics, cultures, preferences, histories, and digestive systems. An eating routine that works for me might feel horrible to you, and vice versa. I’m also not a nutrition professional, and I don’t believe anyone other than those with RDs, RDNs, or PhDs in nutrition science have much business providing personalized nutrition guidance. And of course, so much eating advice out there takes a left turn awfully quickly into diet territory — and I want you to nurture and fuel yourself, not deprive or shrink yourself.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t helpful, supportive, layperson-friendly ways to improve your relationship with food and even the nutritional quality of what and how you’re eating. As part of my back-to-school habit reset series (previous posts here and here!), I asked friends, favorite writers and experts, and you for your favorite tips on adjusting eating habits to be more supportive of your wellbeing — and you all really came through on this one. (I threw one of my own in as well!) I love this empathetic, realistic, nourishing, heartfelt advice, and I hope you do, too.

Take the time to plan and cook

“I have a go-to mindset shift for incorporating eating habits that support my well-being. It's a simple phrase: ‘I am worth the _____ [insert time here] it takes to prep _____ [insert food task here.’ For example, I am worth the 13 seconds it takes to slice a tomato for my sandwich. I'm worth the 45 seconds it takes to rinse blueberries and add them to my yogurt bowl. I am worth the 12 minutes it takes to stop what I'm doing and eat my lunch away from my desk. This completely flips the 'habit' headspace on its head. Instead of feeling pressured, I feel supported and reminded that nutrition is self-care.” —Maria Sylvester Terry, MS, RDN, LDN

“Most helpful thing for me was learning to love to cook. Blue Apron taught me and while I don’t use them anymore, I took away how to cook veggies better and that cooking doesn’t have to take long.” —Leigh

“I know it doesn't work for everyone, but planning out a week's worth of dinners ahead of time (and writing them on a little board in my kitchen) has been so helpful. We started doing this for all meals out of necessity when I was helping a child recover from an eating disorder, and then we rolled that right into the early pandemic grocery shopping when going for big shops less frequently was the only way to go. We've continued this approach, and it helps a lot. No more 5:00pm hangry decision stress spiral! And I should note that we usually leave room for at least one ‘scrounge night’ and one restaurant or takeout/delivery night into the plan each week." —Oona Hanson, Parenting Without Diet Culture

Break the rules

“For some reason I thought it was CORRECT to eat three square meals morning-noon-and-night until well into my thirties. I can eat whenever I’m hungry! I hate before-work breakfast! I love a meal at 10am! Two dinners, hooray! And tomorrow gets to be different from the day before.” —SJC

“For lunch, I was putting so much pressure on it being a MEAL. But I make the best snack boxes for my son, and I was like 'why aren't I making this for me too?'. It was such an AH-HA moment! So now I just cobble together 'bits' — some prosciutto, feta cubes, a chopped pepper, a handful of tomatoes, leftovers from the night before and a jammy egg or two if I can be bothered to cook something. Not only do I end up with less food waste, it takes five minutes to prep.” — Anna Newton, The Wardrobe Edit

Add, don’t subtract

“Think of nutrition as a game of addition, not subtraction. Where can you add in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fiber, or other nutrients? You don't have to give up the things you love to add nutrition to your diet.” — Gretchen Wallace, The Full Life

“Focusing on addition, not subtraction when it comes to nutrition—and making things taste delicious (whatever that means to you). Contrary to the ‘80s/’90s diet culture messages, adding butter/oil or dressing/sauce to your food doesn't "negate" the nutritional content of the vegetables or whatever it is!” — Oona

“I worked with an RD on some stomach issues a few years ago and realized I was going too long between meals — I wasn’t really snacking, so there would be a gap of four to six hours between some of my meals, and I’d be absolutely ravenous by the time the next meal rolled around; then, I’d inhale my food without taking the time to listen to my hunger and fullness cues, and end up completely uncomfortable and miserable. Adding in snacks between meals to shorten that gap to more like 2-3 hours has made a huge difference in both my energy levels and my digestive system: I just feel more even keel and never get way too hungry or way too full.” — Me!

Make it delicious

“Simple, but I like keeping things on hand that would make otherwise boring greens into a tasty little side salad. Feta, olive oil, vinegars, cherry tomatoes or olives if I have them. Big Night makes a great mix of pistachios, seeds, and spices that I love to throw on top of arugula or spinach. It makes adding a side of greens to lunch or dinner WAY more appealing.” — Priyanka Aribindi, Shit I Bought And Liked

“I’ve replaced my restrictive questions about food with curiosity. What can I add to this meal to improve the texture, taste, or nutrient density?” —Ashantis Jones, weight-inclusive personal trainer and mental health provider

“Food should taste good. If eating ‘healthy’ feels boring and monotonous, it's time to switch it up and find some recipes to make food enjoyable again. Scroll through Pinterest, find a food blogger you love, or check out some chefs on Instagram to get inspiration for fun ways to make delicious and nutritious food. Sauce, seasonings, and herbs are your friends.” —Gretchen

Reconnect with your cues and eliminate self-judgment

“Get to know your body. If you've been in a cycle of dieting, your hunger and fullness might be a little out of whack. See what it feels like to eat consistently three or more times per day. Be curious about how your body feels and reacts to regular nourishment. Over time, your body might catch on and you'll start getting reliable hunger and fullness cues throughout the day. My biggest tip: if you feel hungry, it's because you're hungry! Eat when your body tells you it's time to eat.” —Gretchen

“My only rule is to eat when I'm hungry. I also like to eat to celebrate, when I'm sad, when I'm bored — food is both nutrition and pleasure. I have worked to eliminate judgment around cravings, and decided to get curious instead. I don't see foods as good and bad. This process has helped me to be more in tune with what my body needs. No foods are off limits. I readily have a chip and cookie option available — they aren't special anymore. And I eat them in balance with everything else.” —Francesca Piccioni, personal trainer

xo
Anna

We have a great group already, and it’s going to be such a blast.

In case you HAVEN’T heard about it yet, and don’t feel like watching the video above, don’t worry. Here’s the deal with the challenge: In just 30 days, we’ll work together to build a sustainable 3x/week strength habit, and we’ll incorporate cardio, Pilates, and mobility to help our bodies feel energized and supported.

It’s just $99 (or $49 for paid How to Move subscribers!*)

SIGN UP HERE!

What you’ll get (on Sunday, Sept. 21):

• A four-week strength plan: three strength and conditioning workouts, a weekly Pilates sequence, and ideas for making the most of each day

• Video library: quick demos of every exercise + warmup and cooldown routines + 30-minute Pilates workout

• Habit tracker: a printable to check off your wins and track your progress

• Weekly motivation emails: tips and accountability in your inbox

• Support and connection: A private Slack workspace with 1:1 access to me, and optional group chat for mutual encouragement and community

You’ll have access to all the materials for as long as you need them (though the Slack workspace will close on November 1).

Why it works: This 30-day challenge gives you clear guidance for exactly what to do if you want to build a long-term strength habit. It’s designed to be efficient, realistic, and repeatable: and the combination of strength with Pilates, cardio, and conditioning will help you feel strong, energetic, and well-rounded. All through a body-neutral, anti-diet lens.

Register now!

The challenge kicks off on Sunday, September 21 (but it’s flexible if you can’t start right away!). Register by Saturday, September 20 right here!

Start fresh this fall. Build a foundation of strength, consistency, and self-confidence in just 30 days.

*Paid subscribers to How to Move can find a discount code in the Substack chat and after the paywall in the most recent few paid issues of the newsletter. If you can’t find it, please reply to a recent HTM email or DM me on Substack, and I’ll send it ASAP!

If you aren’t already a paid subscriber but decide to become one to get this huge ($50!) discount on the 30-day strength challenge, do it here!:

Okay, that’s it! I promise I will leave you alone about this thing now! I love you all! Share this with a friend you want to join you!

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xo
Anna

I probably don’t need to give you a big lecture on the importance of sleep. It helps us learn, it’s good for our health, it helps us restore and recover so we don’t feel like garbage during the day. And as the great wrote in her Take Your Body Back Initiative earlier this year, exercise can be dangerous and often even pointless without good sleep — in her piece, she linked to this excellent article by another Fitness Substack pal, , which goes into lots of detail about the exercise/sleep connection.

So yeah, it’s a big deal, and more than a third of us don’t get enough of it. Personally, I’ve had insomnia to some degree for as long as I can remember, and it suuuucks. I generally hate sleep advice because I feel like I’ve heard it all, and none of it seems to do much. And truthfully, if you’re having major trouble sleeping, you should probably turn to some sort of board-certified sleep specialist for individualized guidance.

But also, real talk: A lot of the advice actually does work, I just am not doing it, or at least not doing it consistently enough. (Because often I’ll try something once, I don’t sleep well, and then I’ll give up on it.) And of course, adjusting your lifestyle habits doesn’t lead to miraculous overnight changes: It’s about making small tweaks and sticking with them over time.

Speaking of small tweaks to set up a sustainable routine: registration for my 30-day fall strength challenge closes this Saturday! You can learn more about it here, and if you’re a paid subscriber, you can find a discount code (for a sweet, sweet $50 off!) in the Substack chat or past the paywall on a recent WOW.

So anyway, this week, for my fall habit reset series (first post here ICYMI!) I'm sharing advice about sleep from pals, readers, and some of my favorite writers and experts: getting more of it, improving sleep hygiene, all the good stuff.

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On consistency and schedules:

"Don't change your bedtime too dramatically. Shift it by half an hour every couple of days to help your circadian rhythm reacclimate to your new schedule. The same is true for the morning — don't try to go from waking up at 10 am to 7 am overnight. Try to give yourself a grace period to slowly move your wake time earlier. [And] try to keep your weekend bedtime and wake-up time within an hour of your week's schedule. I hate to tell you this, but your body likes a schedule, even if you don't. As often as you can, try to keep your schedules similar when transitioning from the week to the weekend.” — ,

“Going to bed as early as possible. I start lying down around 8 pm. HA! I love being horizontal. It's the highlight of my day. I scroll and read Substack and watch shows, then around 9:30 it's lights off and Kindle's out. How do people fall asleep without reading? It's the only thing that sends me off, but I find doing it pre-10 pm gives me the best chance of getting a full 7-8 hours in.” — ,

“When I was newly postpartum, the midwives told me — to maximize my rest — to be in bed for 12 hours overnight, even if I wasn’t actually asleep that whole time. My kids aren’t babies anymore but I’ll still put myself to bed at like 7pm if I notice I’ve gotten exhausted. No phone, no screens. Just lay down and read a book and get some forced rest.” —SJC

On wind-down rituals:

“Keep a journal by your bed to write down any racing or anxious thoughts that are keeping you awake. Once they're written down, they are tomorrow's problem!" —Gretchen Wallace

“Reminding myself that I’m worth the time to create a more restful sleeping routine. This included a wind-down routine for a bit, but now I can fall asleep fairly easily.” —Ashantis Jones, weight-inclusive personal trainer and mental health provider

“I always leave time for reading before bed. It helps me relax, and I also look forward to getting back into my book each night, so I'm less drawn toward another final phone scroll or whatever that might suck me into a device. I also do a spritz of lavender linen spray from World Market. It's probably more about the ritual than any actual essential oil effectiveness, but I guess that's the broader takeaway — finding a routine that has something pleasurable in it.

I tend to be very sensitive to light, so it's been helpful for me to use an eye pillow called NodPod, which feels relaxing (it's slightly weighted) and keeps things nice and dark for me. Sometimes I get a little sweaty and hot (thanks, perimenopause!), but I still use it." — ,

“The tricky thing with reprioritizing sleep is that when you overthink it, you can feel too anxious to sleep! I've taken the approach of a firm, loving parent with myself. I set boundaries on screen time, cajole myself to start winding down, and start prepping my brain for sleep by turning down the lights, lowering the AC, and doing my nightly skincare. It helps a lot to have a firm boundary on when my work ends [difficult for a business owner!] so that I have enough time to disconnect instead of going straight from work to bed.” —Maria Sylvester Terry, MS, RDN, LDN

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On fully resetting habits:

“To be honest, I had to do a full reset here. Strict bedtime, supplemented with melatonin and magnesium, no scrolling, working, online shopping for at least an hour before said bedtime (I allowed myself TV because I never felt like that activated my brain like working or shopping did), journaling to brain dump my thoughts so they didn't just swirl around in my head when I wanted to sleep, limiting drinking on weeknights, keeping a consistent wake-up time, etc. I used my Oura Ring to help me monitor this/my progress and sleep quality, but you don't have to. Spending a month or so with a fairly rigid structure showed me that it is possible for someone who was never great at falling asleep to improve their sleep hygiene and to really feel good about my habits. My sleep isn't perfect now, but I know what to go back to if I feel like I need a reset.” — ,

On cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia:

“Sleep has been a struggle throughout my adult life. My issue is that I can fall asleep fine, but wake up around 2 or 3 every morning and am not able to go back to sleep until (of course) right before I have to be up. The early parenting years were especially brutal, and if that's where you are, sleep advice is almost too frustrating to be helpful. There are factors outside your control that will prevent you from implementing anything and there's not a lot you can do about it. I feel like I'm still recovering and my youngest is seven! I've tried almost everything: sleep masks, ear plugs, blackout curtains (all three of which I still use), magnesium, melatonin, Ambien (back in the day), Benadryl (unfortunately for my brain), different pillows, regular bed and wake times, and I don't drink caffeine. I even had a sleep study and tried a CPAP machine. Nothing helped. The only thing that has ever helped, and that I only tried in the last year, was CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and specifically sleep restriction). You can find most of the protocol laid out for therapists using it for treatment online and do a DIY version like I did. However, nothing works forever, and I did have it shift a few months ago, and at the moment I'm taking a very low dose of Trazodone on nights I think I'll have an issue. I still believe CBT-I is the best and will get back to it at some point. Here’s an unhinged video I made while starting it last year 🤣

— , (Dacy, you remain THE REALEST)

On tech and stimulus boundaries:

“All the screen time limits and physical phone boundaries! I use an app that locks me out of all distracting apps (which for me is basically the whole phone) an hour before my goal bedtime (and it stays locked until an hour after my ideal wake up time!). I also put my phone "to bed" on its charger near the kitchen — it does not come to the bedroom. I have also had to restrict myself from reading romance novels (or anything else I'm particularly sucked into) right before bed because I will have a hard time putting the book down. This is trickier because I don't like reading boring books? I've recently started reading on the couch before bed and when I move to the bedroom it's simply to turn out the lights and go to sleep.” — ,

“It's so boring but not eating too late is really important for me, and not staring at a bright screen until just before bed (although still working on that one). I also find that having a bath or shower before bed helps — I think I just sleep better when I'm clean!” — ,

Next week, we’ll dive into advice on adjusting your food-related habits to be more supportive of your wellbeing. See you then and please don’t forget to register for the fall strength challenge if you’re interested!

xo
Anna

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You’ve probably heard me wax poetic about how much I love the new energy and back-to-school vibes of autumn for a habit reset. Behavioral scientists have a term for this feeling: the fresh start effect. The jist is, when we feel like we’re entering a new era — whether it’s January 1, the first day of a new job or school year, or a new season like fall — we get a strong sensation of new possibilities, and new opportunities to tackle life the way we want to.

I think autumn is an especially powerful time for this for a few reasons:

• We’re coming off summer, which can be a time when good habits go a little sideways. And we love it! But later nights and more rosé over the course of several weeks don’t always leave us feeling great. To be clear: This isn’t about “making up” for “bad behavior,” okay? Just saying that the slightly more buttoned-up structure of autumn lends itself well to re-buttoning some of our wellness-related routines, too.

• We tend to have more energy to keep up helpful habits. I don’t know about you, but Januaries are rough for me. I feel like I barely survived this past one! Getting through the day was enough of a challenge without adding lofty goals on top of it.

• We also have the benefits of reasonable weather and reasonable sunlight — without the intense heat of summer. So if your goals include things like taking a daily walk or jog, that’s going to feel so much better than if you were freezing (or sweating your brains out), or trying to squeeze it into the precious few hours of sunlight of a February day.

All this is why I’m so excited about the 30-day strength challenge I’ll be kicking off on September 21. You can learn more about it here, and if you’re a paid subscriber, you can find a discount code (for a sweet, sweet $50 off!) in the Substack chat or past the paywall on a recent WOW. I’m putting the finishing touches on the program now and it’s going to be soooo goooood!

Anyway, to celebrate these great fall vibes, I’ll be doing a series of posts this month with great advice — from you, and from some of my favorite writers and experts — about resetting your habits. The tips I got have been GOLDEN so far, and I’m very excited to share them with you.

To start things off, some of my favorite advice for starting (or restarting) a new habit of any kind, in general. You may notice that some of these perspectives are a bit different from each other (some people love making a detailed plan, others like to just dive in). That’s okay! We’re all individuals, and what works for one person may not work for you.

Think small:

“Starting small and building until the routine has become a habit has been the most successful, in my personal experience!” —Ashantis Jones, weight-inclusive personal trainer and mental health provider

“Little and often. Being the triple-threat eldest daughter/Type A/Virgo that I am, I have a tendency to want to go ALL IN. I want perfection, and if it's anything less than that, I give up. I'm a classic 'It starts on Monday' type. But what actually works for me are habits that are easy to implement and relatively small. Prepping all my supplements into pots and pill cases at the beginning of the week, or buying a desk for my treadmill so that I can walk and answer emails at the same time. Small habits that don't eat up hours of my day, but all but all stack up into something bigger.” —, author of

“Mostly just get started. For me if I have too much of a plan I’ll find a way that I’ve failed early on. I have to start and give it space to fit in. This may take longer but seems to lead to longer lasting effect and good state of mind.” —Jennie

Think practical:

“[Know] exactly when it fits into your day. If someone is a very routine based person like I am and you have an intention but no specific time for it, it won’t happen. It helps me to pair it with other items in my routine: ‘If my run is 30 minutes I’ll have 20 minutes for strength before I shower’ or ‘I’ll always take my pill when I make my coffee.’” —Leigh

“In starting new routines, I suggest focusing on 3 things: 1. Realistic scheduling (‘When can I ACTUALLY do this?’), 2. Starting with short time brackets (5m/10m/15m), and 3. Replacing judgment with compassion. Negative self-talk will never allow new habits to form. Being inconsistent is part of establishing consistency!” —Francesca Piccioni, personal trainer

“Human beings refuse to accept the fact that we're ridiculously easily led, but the best way to stick to a new routine is to make it convenient. If your weights or mat are even slightly annoying to get out (eg. from under your bed) then you won't do the workout. Keep them out where you can see them — I leave mine literally in the middle of the floor so that I trip over them in the morning, then I can't forget to use them.” —, author of

“Put SYSTEMS in place. If focusing on meal prep, put GROCERY SHOPPING into your calendar, put RECIPE RESEARCH, MEAL PREP, and even SITTING DOWN TO ENJOY FOOD into your calendar. These things take time and energy and won't happen magically if they are not already one of your strengths.” —Ana Costa, personal trainer and owner of Esquina, the incredible studio where I teach Pilates (come check out a class sometime!)

Be flexible:

“Honestly, I've always had a rough time with routines. I love hearing about them, so I'll get really ambitious and plan one out, do it for a few days, crash from the effort, and then beat myself up for not sticking to it. This is actually the first fall that I have something that's semi-working. I set up morning and night routines in an app called Routinery. The app allows you to set up the tasks consecutively and once you check one off, you move to the next. That works as far as remembering what I should do without much effort, but I noticed it was making me stressed out to have a timer running and that I wasn't always able to do the tasks in the same order depending on which kid was up when, etc. I started using the list of tasks without the timer and now it just acts as a checklist. I don't put any pressure on myself to complete every task in order, but check off the ones I can when I can. Some days I check off 40% of the tasks, some days 70%, but now I see it as an accomplishment to check off anything, rather than a failure if I don't get 100%.” —, author of

Find your purpose:

“Drill down to the why — if you can get clear with yourself on why this new routine matters, it will be easier to remind yourself why you're choosing to push through the hard days of building a new habit. I have to constantly review what matters to me in any particular season and draw direct connections between my habits and routines to those values. If a particular routine isn't connected to something that really matters, why am I holding onto it? I'm asking myself questions like this nearly all the time as life ebbs and flows from week to week.” —, author of

“Keep your ‘why’ in mind and make sure your ‘why’ is rooted in your values (and not just some fad you saw online). When you fall out of the routine, you'll have a great reason to get back into it rather than feeling stuck in the shame/guilt of not doing it perfectly.” — , MS, RD, author of

Make it rewarding:

“Low expectations! We all buy into that myth of transformation (‘This beautiful planner will be the one that changes my life!’) but it's not usually realistic or sustainable. I'm also a fan of little rewards — whether that's stickers on a calendar (which I used for drafting my manuscript — shout-out to the #AmWriting podcast) or planning a little treat of some kind. I guess the best thing is to make the behavior rewarding in itself — like meeting a friend for a walk (or whatever the new activity is) — but sometimes the things we need to do (like physical therapy exercises) aren't inherently pleasurable, but tying them to something enjoyable can help. For instance, I do my essential stretches and various PT things while watching sports or other TV in the evening." —, author of

“Start small and stay positive. Does it sound bland and unsexy? Absolutely it does! And that's why it works. While it may seem cringe or even useless to cheer yourself on for putting your clothes out the night before, cleaning your water bottle, or going for a short walk, this helps your brain feel good and say, ‘Hey... let's maybe try it again??’ In the past, I've asked for help by finding an accountability partner and used sticker charts. I love both!” —Maria Sylvester Terry, MS, RDN, LDN

“Tell someone else about it!” —Kate

Next week, we’ll talk about great tips for reprioritizing sleep! Stay tuned.

xo
Anna

I’m taking a quick break from my usual second post this week, because it’s Hell Week for New York City public school parents — aka the awkward, stressful gap between camp ending and school starting — and I have to triage my to-do list a bit. (I was really hoping to run part two of my interview with the incredible anti-diet sports nutrition RD Maria Terry, but audio editing takes me forever and I don’t currently have forever!) But: I have a handful of new subscribers (hi!!!), and I thought it might be fun to revisit some old-favorite posts, both workouts and guidance-driven, in case you didn’t see them the first time.

Before we get into it, I’m planning a fun mini-series for the fall with YOUR brilliant advice on starting a new healthy habit. If you’d like to contribute, you can use this form.

And last but not least, a reminder that I’m hosting a 30-day fall strength challenge starting on Sunday, Sept. 21! Lots of information here, and if you’re a paid subscriber, you can find a discount code (for $50 off!) in the Substack chat, after the paywall of the next paid issue, or by replying to this email or sending me a DM.

OK, on to the links!

Workouts I love

I feel like when I talk about this mobility sequence, it probably sounds like I’m full of hot air and just making up how good it is. But it really feels amazing. Great one if your knees, hips, or really anything else have been cranky lately, or if you’re just looking for some new mobility exercises to try.

This is the actual workout I do when I cannot make myself do anything else.

A more recent one, but I got great feedback on this Pilates-based stability workout!

Hard to pick a favorite strength workout but this one from April shows that you don’t have to do a ton of exercises to get a ton of value, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

Advice I love from great experts and pals

Extremely helpful guidance on feet, shoes, and exercise from the PT Julia Rosenthal.

Great advice on rebuilding a relationship with exercise after recovering from a toxic one from my pal Ashantis Jones.

This interview with running coach Marci Braithwaite, AKA The Fat Athlete, is so helpful for reframing what it even means to run. I recently re-downloaded Couch to 5K, and her advice has been running through my mind as I’ve been experimenting with running again.

I feel like everything the behavior change expert Karin Nordin, PhD, told me about goal-setting back in January is simply golden.

Very helpful thoughts from my friend about finding a yoga practice that actually serves you.

Just loved hearing all about ’s powerlifting journey. If this doesn’t make you want to find the nearest barbell I don’t know what will.

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My own two cents

I should probably link to this one in every workout post — it’s all about how heavy you need to lift, and what it means to get “close to failure.”

This is a really simple reframe, but a powerful one. Worth considering if you’re trying to get into a new exercise habit, or back into a routine you’ll actually stick with.

In case you’ve been wondering what Pilates — regular, classical Pilates — is actually for, and what it’s not that helpful for. (The version of Pilates that involves 30 people paying $65 and wearing expensive matching sets and being yelled at, I honestly don’t know much about.)

If you do my workouts, you know that push-ups and I are NOT FRIENDS. But I still think they’re worth doing. AND we also need to reframe what “counts” as a push-up. This post has four great variations — I bet you’ll find one that works for you.

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Pelvic floor stuff

Part one of a two-part series about the pelvic floor (with audio).

And part two!

An interview between me and my pelvic floor therapist Substack pal about where fitness and pelvic health overlap.

An exploration of “illegal kegels” (LOLLLL) (also with !)

Okay, friends! Thanks for joining me for this fun dive into the archives. If you’re also a NYC parent, godspeed, and see you on the other side.

xo
Anna

When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I threw my neck out — a lot.

Once, it happened when I’d just finished watching TV and was reaching my arms overhead to stretch.

Another time, it happened after a particularly vigorous sneeze.

Whatever the cause, I’d suddenly be unable to move without absolutely screaming. I’d be stuck in bed or on the couch for days, cuddled up with a heating pad and a bottle of ibuprofen. It was excruciating.

Believe it or not, this is actually a huge part of the origin story of how I became an active person and, later, a trainer. I happened to start exercising after college, and noticed that my neck and upper back were suddenly behaving. If I took a break from exercising, they’d act up again.

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(In fact, as much of a — sorry — pain in the neck as it was, I’m sort of grateful for all of that, because my introduction to fitness was purely functional. Move, don’t hurt. Don’t move, hurt. That was good enough motivation for me.)

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Anyway, I can say from experience that, while no pain is all that fun, neck and upper back pain can be particularly horrible. They make it hard to concentrate, hard to even sit comfortably, and certainly hard to exercise.

While I don’t necessarily attribute my former neck issues primarily to my use of technology (this stuff was happening well before I ever got my first smartphone), it’s quite possible that the strain of laptop work in college and grad school, and my first couple of years of desk jobs, contributed. Nowadays I understand that pain is multifactorial, and it’s likely that my frequent neck strains had something to do with inactivity, stress, and even central sensitization: basically, getting stuck in a cycle of pain, overprotectiveness and hypersensitivity, and more pain as a result.

But that posture certainly played a role. Which was why I was particularly intrigued when my editor at The New York Times asked if I’d be willing to dig into “tech neck,” that hunched-forward, chin-lifted posture we often find ourselves in after hours of computer work or phone scrolling; and, of course, what to do about it.

I interviewed a brilliant physical therapist I’ve worked with in the past named Claire Hsing, and a wonderful physical therapy professor named Brad Callan, and learned so much from them. Here’s a gift link to the article, which is mostly focused on seven super-helpful exercises to combat tech neck. And ahead, a few things I learned from Drs. Hsing and Callan, as well as a few tips from me — both as a trainer and a former (!!) neck pain sufferer.

• We’re all obsessed with “good posture,” but it’s not that well defined. As Dr. Hsing told me, our bodies are generally really well set up to move through a variety of postures, whether we’re sitting at a desk, standing and reaching overhead, or hunching over to pick something up. It’s not that certain postures are good and others are bad — it’s that we’re meant to move. Problems arise when we’re stuck in the same position for a really long time instead of moving (even a little bit). I asked her about things like cooking, which can involve standing relatively still and leaning forward; she replied that even in that context, we’re often turning, reaching, picking things up and putting them down, and even those small movements make a difference to our ability to feel comfortable and have less pain. So…

• Take breaks and change your position when you can. Getting up and walking around is ideal, but even switching from left leg crossed over right to right leg crossed over left can help. Or both feet down. Or sit cross legged in your chair. Or elevate one foot on a stool. Or move to the couch for a few minutes. Or sit on the floor for a while. Or stand at a tall counter. Vary your position, and your back and neck will thank you.

• Use this little trick to check your seated posture: Dr. Callan suggests sitting in your chair and then slouching forward like a bored teenager; notice that your pelvis rocks backward and your lower back rounds. Now, sit bolt upright like a Marine, and notice your pelvis rocking forward on your sits bones. Somewhere in between is the happy medium you’re looking for most of the time: a neutral pelvis, with your ribcage stacked on top.

• Try the exercises in the article if you can. They’ll help you release tension and build some strength so that your neck and upper back can weather the storms of those awkward postures modern life gets them stuck in. I wasn’t surprised when Dr. Hsing suggested heavy bent-over rows: I really credit this exercise primarily with finally breaking my cycle of neck and upper back pain, and it’s a staple in both my own routine and in the Workouts of the Week here on How to Move.

• If you have a sudden, major pain in the neck, stay calm. If you’re like me (15–20 years ago, anyway) and one wrong move can send you into frozen, excruciating pain, it’s really hard not to freak out. But even in the face of a sudden spasm, teaching your brain to cool down the pain and panic response can be so helpful. Find as comfortable a position as you can, and take slow, deep, calming breaths. In your head or out loud, say calming things like, “It’s okay. I’m going to be okay. I’m safe. My body can recover from this.” When pain arises, our bodies can really seize up and go into self-protection mode, which makes total sense, but it can sometimes be overkill. Staying calm and positive, and repeating to yourself the idea that you’ll be okay, can go a long way toward helping those muscles relax and recover.

If you want to learn more about the neuroscience of pain, I highly recommend this interview with my former colleague Dylan Peterson:

xo
Anna

Before I get into the post today, a quick note: I’ve heard from a subscriber or two who are having trouble playing my videos in the Substack app. Eek! I’m really sorry to hear that and will be working with Substack to try to fix this ASAP. In the meantime, if you can navigate in your web browser to howtomove.substack.com (you may need to login to Substack within the browser as well, argh), you should be able to watch those videos in the browser. Huge apologies for any inconvenience and hope to have this sorted out very soon!

My earliest memories of being in a weight room are not happy ones. In junior high gym class (already a nightmare) we had a weight lifting unit (double nightmare) that took place in a weight room used primarily, I think, by the boys’ football team (infinite nightmare). It was poorly lit and humid, it smelled disgusting, every movement we tried was hard and uncomfortable for me, and even as an already-firmly-established unathletic kid, I felt somehow more embarrassed and awkward than usual. It just wasn’t a place where I was meant to be.

The next time I touched a barbell was probably 15 years later, when I joined my neighborhood CrossFit gym. And in case you think I’m going to tell you I sailed in there feeling breezy and confident, do not worry: I was terrified! Not to go into too much TMI, but I had what I’ll gently call “tummy trouble” every single time I walked into that gym for the first at least six weeks.

Luckily, the owner and coach, (who is — spoiler! — now a dear friend of mine) was very kind and thoughtful and started us at the very beginning, learning the basic movements using a PVC pipe and, when we were ready, an empty bar.

(You might remember Maillard from this great conversation about lunges:)

Then, for a few years, I loved using barbells. I felt incredibly badass. I got incredibly strong. I even did Olympic weightlifting for about a year and learned to move a barbell from the floor up over my head, which was terrifying and exhilarating. I was not good at it, but I loved it. I was spending hours a week in, yes, a smelly gym filled with intimidatingly athletic people, and actually having an amazing time doing it. This was my place.

And then life happened, and I fell off the barbell wagon.

It’s now been a very long time, and I’ve really missed the weight room. But at the same time, those old feelings of intimidation have creeped back in. In my local gym, the big weights are downstairs, and every so often I’ll find myself craning my neck to peek into the space and see who’s down there and what they’re doing. But I haven’t felt confident enough to try it on my own.

Then, my best friend decided to join my gym (we live two blocks away from each other, so it’s also her neighborhood gym!), and she asked if I’d like to brave the weight room together. I was so excited — I just knew having a buddy would be the ticket. We did our first barbell workout last week, and Lauren kindly agreed to let me interview her about it the next day, in case our experience and advice might be helpful to you. Maybe you’re already hanging out in there and don’t really need this, but maybe you’re like us and just need a little push to give it a try (or get back to it). Or maybe you’ve never even considered it, but you’re starting to feel barbell-curious. The TLDR: I know it can be intimidating, but the space IS for you. Use it!

Here’s our conversation, which we conducted via Slack. Also, here’s a cute picture of us hanging out in our friend’s ridiculously large bathtub. No weight room selfies, we were already nervous enough as it was!

Me: I loved when you mentioned a couple months ago that you were joining my gym and wanted to go into the big-kid weight room together. I know we both used to do CrossFit and use barbells and we really miss it! But I feel like we both got off that wagon, maybe for different reasons. My breakup with barbells sort of intersected with trying to conceive and then getting pregnant, and then for a long time just not having a lot of time — when you're lifting heavy you need longer rest times, you can't gamble with the possibility that you'll have to wait for a platform to free up, etc. I needed to get in, throw some dumbbells around, and get out. But I've really been missing it.

Do you want to share a little about why you wanted to get back to it? (And maybe what took you away from barbells in the first place?)

Lauren: What took me out of barbell lifting was mainly just lack of access + a healthy dose of nerves/impostor syndrome. I moved away from the Upper East Side, where I did CrossFit, and out of my corporate office job, where I had a gym membership, at the same time that I got pregnant and moved to Brooklyn. (I signed my first Brooklyn lease the same day I saw those two pink lines!) I was so sick those first months of pregnancy, and then had a baby and then life! I honestly talked myself out of lifting really heavy things, assuming that because I'd been away for so long, and my body had changed too much, that it would be too hard/embarrassing/I'd hurt myself if I tried.

I also think that barbell lifting can feel really hard to get into — if you want to take a class, it is usually CrossFit, which can be WAY too intense for some people/comes with a lot of preconceived (often negative) notions. Personal training is always an option, but it can be hard to find a trainer, especially one who will train with barbells (especially as a woman), not to mention that the cost can feel like a barrier.

Covid plays a role too, as it always does. I remember thinking that after my second kid, I’d get back to heavy lifting, but well before I was healed enough to step foot in a gym, the world shut down. This is when I really resumed my workout journey in earnest, for the first time since I was pregnant with my first, but it was all at home! I really think working out at home helped me develop some confidence and feel strong again, something that would have felt much scarier to do out in public, but I think it took my latest milestone birthday to really push me to get back to barbells.

I’ve been really wanting to get back into it for a while now, for a few reasons. I feel like more than ever, I am getting the message that as women age, we should lift heavy stuff. I also feel like as I age, I become more self confident, or perhaps just care less about what other people think (likely a healthy combination of the two), and I am happy to take up space — especially in traditionally male-dominated areas like the free weight section of the gym.

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Me: Covid totally played a role. I have loved getting back into the IRL gym after years of at-home workouts, but something about taking up that space in a male-dominated environment definitely has felt daunting. It's been nice to peek downstairs and see more diversity in the weight room the last couple of years, though. Made me feel a little less nervous, though still nervous. That messaging is really getting out there, which I love!

I think one of the things that can feel daunting is just the logistics of the weights. I theoretically know my way around a barbell, but the rigs they have in our gym are slightly different from the ones I was used to, so it took me a second to figure out how to adjust the rack thingies so they were the right height for us (luckily we're about the same height!). Those little things are totally normal to have to troubleshoot a little but I felt like, if there were too many of those things where I was fumbling around, I'd just be really embarrassed and out of place. It was so helpful to have you there!

How did you feel walking in yesterday?

Lauren: I felt ok yesterday because you were there! Partially because I know you know what you are doing, but also because having a buddy makes me care so much less if someone is looking at me/judging me. Strength (ha) in numbers, I think.

Also I do see badass women down there a lot. They are intimidating in a different way, but at least I don’t feel judged in a gross way. I really think this was a benefit of that women’s only gym from the ‘80s/’90s. (Curves, maybe? What a TERRIBLE name.) I'm not even sure they had weights, which is sad (they may have, though), and I don't want to gender spaces at all, but I do get the draw!

The other day I was doing a bent over row, and looked up and realized you could see all the way down my shirt, and there were men on either side of me and I felt SO GROSS. And I have tiny boobs! I can't imagine how women with larger boobs feel! This is another whole post for sure, and probably one that would be very difficult to tackle, but feels like walking home at night with you vs. alone — just feels better!

Are you sore today? I am, but not a ton, just the good sore feeling!

Me: I was seriously so glad you were with me. Even just showing up downstairs and seeing that all the squat racks were taken — if I'd been alone I would have just been like WELP, I guess it's back to the dumbbell area for me. But we just waited around for a few minutes and chatted and it was no big deal. Also, I didn't feel like anyone was really looking at us or judging us even though they all seemed a lot more serious than we were. (That's partly because we were together and being our goofy-ass selves and partly because I always think everyone else is more serious in the gym than I am.)

I am sore today! Which is not something I usually feel these days. Just to recap, we did squats, deadlifts, overhead press, and bench press (though we used dumbbells for bench press — both because there were no bench press spots available and because I personally can't yet press the empty bar lol!). And we started the squats with an empty bar, then added some plates. I really noticed my little gut instinct to add MORE weight and push myself as far as possible and was like nooooope! I had to overrule that and stick with the starting point we chose, which really was plenty heavy! If we'd added more weight than that I think I would have that outrageous, wrecked, feel-like-I-have-the-flu kind of soreness, so I'm proud of us for resisting that pressure to go higher. [Edited to add: I got even more sore a day or two later, so I was extra-glad we’d kept the weight reasonable.]

The first place I felt sore yesterday was my hands and wrists. This is part of what I love about lifting heavy, is your grip gets such a serious challenge. I took a pic of my little calluses, haha. I think we both agreed that the grip was the limiting factor for our deadlifts!

Was there anything that surprised you about the experience, or how you're feeling today?

Lauren: I know, I probably would have given up if I'd been alone and saw that the area was full too!

I definitely felt my grip going first yesterday too, which was surprising at first, because I feel like I am usually ok with dumbbells and was ok with my grip back when I was lifting 10 years ago, but it makes total sense!

I am the level of sore that I love, just enough to notice it when I move, and it makes me feel strong! Not so sore I feel like I need medicine or can't sit down on/get up from the toilet . I do think if we’d gone harder on the weight, I’d have been a mess.

It brings to mind a few points you have made before: it is good enough, you don't need to max out every time, it is a process — all those helpful things that we should keep in mind, but so often don’t!

Me: Yes! Especially for the first time. Honestly just walking into that space on its own is a huge first step and would have been enough progress for one day. Or like… exercising nearby and kind of watching what people are doing (in a non-creepy way).

We're excited to lift super heavy shit and we will get there if we stick with it! But it doesn't have to happen immediately, and really shouldn't. So much better to ease in and not get wrecked.

What advice do you have for people who are navigating a weight room for the first time? I have a bunch of thoughts but I'm sure you have others.

• Scope it out and figure out how it works to get a squat rack/platform. I'm sure some gyms have some kind of reservation system. (Ours doesn't, you just sometimes have to wait for one.)

• Learn how to put plates on and take them off, especially for deadlifts and other lifts from the ground.

• When you're setting up the rig for squats, place the little rack thingies at about chest height or just below shoulder height. To get under it for a back squat, face the rack, put your hands on the bar a bit past shoulder-width apart, then duck underneath the bar and put it on your back. (Kinda press your elbows back to get a bit more fleshiness up at the top of your shoulders/upper back to rest the bar on.) Then stand and lift the bar off the rack, and take a big step back for your squats. When you're done lifting, smack the rig! Step forward and feel the bar bump into the rack on both sides, then duck down slightly to set it into the little racks.

• For front squats, same idea, just place your hands on the bar, get underneath it, stand, and take a big step back to squat. When you’re done, smack the rig, dip down until you feel the rack catch the bar, and then exit.

• There may be more than one type of barbell available. The bigger bars are 45 pounds; the smaller bars (aka "women's bars" ughhhh) are 33 pounds. There are sometimes also "training bars" that are around 15 pounds. Start with whatever you feel most comfortable with, and do not hesitate to do your lifts with an empty bar (AKA without adding any weight). Just getting used to how it feels to hold a bar, etc.|

• If you're working out with a friend, just be a little conscious of where you're standing between lifts to make sure you aren't in someone else's way, especially if the lifting area of your gym is small. You don't have to be nervous about taking up space — you deserve to be there — just be a good citizen.

Anything to add?

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Lauren: Bringing a buddy is huge, but I know not always an option for folks.

In theory, the gym staff should be able to show you around the space, including specifics about this area. I thought about asking, but I was definitely hesitant. I'm not sure this is a helpful tip for someone who is already anxious about all of this, but I can see it helping some people to know that the gym staff are (should be) there to help you!

Have a plan before you go — just in general, but especially if you are lifting heavy things.

Maybe practice with one of those PVC pipes if they have them, or even a broom! I feel like some of the lifts feel so awkward, and if you are doing them with any weight for the first time, it can be scary!

Me: That’s a good point about bringing a buddy; it's an easy thing to recommend but even if you have lots of buddies schedules and location and stuff can be really hard to work out!

I should also mention our other gym plan which I think is brilliant and I truly hope we execute, which is walking on treadmills next to each other while watching RHONY, which we kept meaning to watch together this season but couldn't because we'd just talk and hang out instead of watching.

Lauren: This winter we will definitely be walking! I was thinking today about how much walking I've been doing lately, and how I won't do it at all in the winter, so I will need to get on a treadmill!

Me: Let's do it and keep lifting! Thank you for being my buddy for all this!

***

Thank you, Lauren, for being the best! And speaking of which, you guys know I like to brag about how cool my friends are, and Lauren is no exception: She is an incredibly talented, thoughtful, and organized travel advisor — she has such amazing taste and really understands how to put together a trip that works for everyone involved, whether it’s a couples thing, friends’ getaway, a vacation with kids, or an intergenerational trip. Cannot recommend her services enough! (She did not ask me to say this and I bet she’ll be sorta embarrassed about it; sorry not sorry, girl!) Learn more about her work here!

Let us know what other questions you have about the weight room, and if you’re already on the barbell train, please feel free to share what’s been most helpful to you!

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xo
Anna

I was out for drinks and tater tots with friends on Wednesday night, and talk turned to perimenopause. Talk always seems to turn to perimenopause lately, and that was actually exactly what we were discussing. “It feels like I haven’t had a single conversation with other women lately where it didn’t come up,” my friend Mollie said. And, sure, we’re all closer to the life stage in question than we were a few years ago, but you have to admit, it’s really in the air right now. This is, in many ways, a good thing! We now have more research that shows HRT can be a safe and effective treatment for many people; it’s way, way, way more acceptable to talk about the experience (which we all know makes things more manageable); and there are lots more resources out there to learn about perimenopause and how to care for yourself through this period of life.

But: It’s also very much an industry, and given the explosion in interest, and the sudden willingness everyone has to talk about it, we’re also being inundated with products and services supposedly designed to address peri–related issues (or issues that are ostensibly related to perimenopause, anyway). I’m sure plenty of these products are great! But man, there’s a lot of noise. ’s recent interview with Cole Kazdin went into some of this in depth:

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And I can only imagine that this — the cha-ching factor; those sweet, sweet affiliate bucks — is a big part of where the current weighted vest trend came from. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about these lately, so let’s talk about ‘em.

Weighted vests have been around for a long time; they’ve been used in military training and in certain CrossFit workouts. Murph, the CrossFit workout traditionally done on Memorial Day in memory of a U.S. Navy SEAL who died in Afghanistan, is probably the most famous one: you run and do about a trillion pull-ups, push-ups, and squats, all while wearing a weighted vest. (I’ve done Murph, but only sans weighted vest, and heavily scaled back, and it’s still absolute hell!!!!! But also weirdly fun!) The idea is that training while carrying additional weight on your person helps improve endurance and stamina, which may be true, depending on the training conditions. (A lot of the research around this is pretty old, but you can find some reasonable studies cited in this study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.)

What’s less clear is whether the current hype around weighted vests and the musculoskeletal effects of aging — namely, a decline in muscle mass and bone mineral density — actually holds water. (And, for what it’s worth, I am saying “aging” here and not menopause: There is some debate over whether these declines are actually linked to the hormonal changes of menopause or if they’re simply the natural result of aging. That feels like a whole other post!) The muscle physiology researcher Lauren Colenso-Semple, PhD, who is great on Instagram (though, fair warning, does talk about weight and fat loss — though from a scientific, evidence-focused perspective, not a promotional perspective) recently did a couple of great posts debunking the popular claims about weighted vests and menopause, so let’s take a look at this one, about bone density:

Basically: People like to cite a study that supposedly suggests walking with a weighted vest can improve bone mineral density. But in reality, a study comparing women who walked with a weighted vest three times a week and those who walked without a weighted vest found no difference in bone remodeling between the two groups. Another weighted vest study did find that the vest group maintained bone density while the other group did not — but the vest group was wearing them while doing squats, lunges, and jumping! The other group wasn’t doing this special programming.

Dr. Colenso-Semple was also interviewed in this helpful New York Times article about weighted vests, and on the “do weighted vests help you build muscle mass” point, succinctly said, “It’s not a trade for traditional full-body resistance training.”

So what’s the bottom line? There are a lot of people out there right now who are looking to sell you menopause-related products. And as these things go, weighted vests are relatively low-risk! If you start too heavy (or use a pack that doesn’t fit you well), you’ll probably end up with a pretty sore neck and back, so do take it slow if you want to try it. If you enjoy it and feel great wearing it, you absolutely don’t need to stop. You may notice that your daily activities feel a little easier when you take it off because you’ve built a bit more stamina and endurance from wearing it around. (If you’ve ever done babywearing, you know the drill here. You take that heavy-ass baby off and feel utterly lighter than air!) Maybe your cardiovascular health improves a little, too. Another interesting study found that while walking with a weighted vest didn’t appear to improve bone mineral density compared to walking sans vest, the vest group experienced improved balance, which is great.

But is wearing a weighted vest while walking around or exercising the secret to preventing musculoskeletal aging? Probably not. We know what helps: Staying active. Resistance training, and specifically progressive overload and lifting close to failure on a regular basis. Weight-bearing exercise, like walking, running, or dancing. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D. Not smoking, and not drinking too much. You can do all of these things with a weighted vest on if you want to! But you don’t need to, and it may not make all that much of a difference.

(And of course, your evergreen reminder that health is not a moral obligation. If you have osteoporosis or another MSK condition, or if you aren’t engaging or can’t engage in the lifestyle habits that are good for your bones and muscles, it’s okay! You’re still a worthy person. Don’t let all this optimization stuff get you down, please.)

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Here’s one thing I will say for the weighted vest hype crew: I personally haven’t seen a ton about its powers as a tool for weight loss or fat loss. The hype is really mostly around the functional musculoskeletal issues that do legitimately merit some of our focus as we age. It kind of feels like a teeny bit of progress that, even if a product won’t do exactly what it says it will, it isn’t being sold primarily as a weight loss tool. (Though, for what it’s worth, there apparently are claims out there about fat loss, which are also pretty handily debunkable.) But still, wildly overhyped and misinterpreted data being used to sell you a product you don’t need is not great, no matter the supposed reasoning.

Anyway: I’m definitely not here to rain on anyone’s weighted vest parade. Again, if you love it, and it motivates you to be active and feel great, please don’t let me stop you — it’s probably not harming you and may even be helping improve your athleticism in certain ways. But as far as I can tell, if you aren’t already marching in that particular parade, you don’t need to feel any pressure to join in on account of any worries about aging, bone density, and muscle mass.

Let me know what questions or thoughts you have. Do you have a weighted vest and love it? I’d love to know!

xo
Anna

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Hey friends: You’re getting this on Tuesday, but I’m writing it on Monday. I had to rush my daughter to urgent care last night, where (after a lot of vomiting and crying and a semi-traumatic chest x-ray) she was diagnosed with pneumonia*. Of course the pharmacy was closed by the time we finished up, so I had to wait until this morning to go pick up her antibiotics. I also had to pop into the grocery store for some cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream to help the medicine go down (and for context, I live in Brooklyn, where I walk almost everywhere and do not have a car). The temperature was “only” 89 degrees while I was out and about, almost 10 degrees below where we’re supposed to be later today, and I was sipping ice water and staying in the shade, but still: By the time I got home, I was overheated and completely exhausted.

I also passed my gym while I was running errands, and saw a lot of regulars filing in and out. And I’m happy for them, I really am. But between the sick kid and the dangerously high temperatures (to which I’m pretty sensitive), I know this is not a week when I’m likely to head in there at all — and if I do, I’ll be doing the absolute bare minimum.

This is the exact kind of week when I tap into a concept I call “checking the box.” (Or phoning it in!) There are certain times of life when expecting ourselves to exercise at our usual intensity and volume — whatever it may be — is simply not reasonable. Even if exercise is important to us, we need to lower our expectations significantly, whether to protect our sanity or our health. I’m talking about situations like:

• Caring for sick loved ones

• Deadline overload at work

• Recovering from an illness (think the handful of weeks — or more — after a Covid infection or other serious illness)

• Adjusting to a new schedule or routine (more on that ahead)

• Dealing with depression, grief, and the like

• Extreme weather (like a heat wave!) that makes challenging exercise physically dangerous

I’m not talking about when you are actively ill or it’s otherwise completely impossible or unwise to move (take a break, please!). I’m talking about when it’s possible but really hard, and you just don’t have much in the tank, whether for a week or a year. In these situations, I’d like to encourage you to think of it like this: You aren’t in fitness mode, you’re in habit maintenance mode. In other words, you can exercise, but you aren’t exercising to get stronger or healthier. You’re moving simply to stay moving and avoid getting too far out of the habit. Maybe you score a little energy or mood boost; maybe you even do enough to help manage your back or knee pain and help make this moment a little more bearable. But maybe you’re just checking the box, phoning it in. Or, as put it in this piece from 2022, “be OK with half-assing some things.”

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We have to be OK with half-assing 'wellness' sometimes

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This could look like:

• Taking a 10–minute walk. (Or if it’s hot as hell outside, strolling around your house for 10 minutes while you listen to a podcast or talk on the phone or whatever.)

• Stretching before bed.

• Finding a really short exercise video and squeezing it in when you have time.

• Doing a How to Move workout but skipping some of it to make it fit the time and energy you have.

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When I went back to work after having my first baby, I knew my whole routine was going to have to change drastically. Pre-kids, I’d been an after-work exerciser, but now, after work was one of the two hours of the day I could spend with my baby during the work week, and once he went to bed there was no way I could muster the energy for a workout. But I also am not an early riser (and especially not when a tiny being requires my body for sustenance one to three times in the middle of the night). So what I’d do was this: Drop him off at daycare (down the block), run across the street to the gym, work out for literally fifteen minutes, then go home, get dressed, and hop on the subway to work.

Was I at my strongest? No. Was I getting the recommended 150 minutes, or whatever, per week? No. But I was staying in the game, maintaining the habit. When life changed again and I had time for longer workouts, I already had a routine and a baseline level of strength and conditioning, so I wasn’t starting from scratch in terms of fitness or habit formation. I checked the box and phoned it in until I was capable of more, and when I was, it was really easy to just go ahead and do it.

I’m not alone in being a fan of tiny, bite-sized installments to start or maintain a habit. BJ Fogg, the founder and director of the Stanford Behavior Design lab, wrote a whole book about it (Tiny Habits!) and shared in this interview that he got into the habit of flossing by making himself floss just one tooth a day (lol) until it was automatic.

Anyway: I wanted to share this in case you’re having to be out and about in this extreme heat and just feel totally wrung out and unable to do a “real” workout — or you’re just dealing with other stuff that makes your normal exercise routine really hard and maybe even unhelpful. Check the box! Floss one tooth! Do a stretch! You’ll get back to bigger workouts when you can, and it’ll be a lot easier than if you’d totally stopped moving.

Is exercise (or health, for that matter) a moral obligation? Absolutely not. And if you simply do not want to exercise or cannot exercise, that’s your right and I respect it. But if you do want to exercise, or keep exercising, think small and check a box. And hopefully before too long you’ll be ready for more.

Some related reading and a potentially helpful workout:

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One more thing before we go, and speaking of checking a box: If you live in NYC, today is primary day! If you didn’t vote early, please hie thee to your polling place and DON’T RANK CUOMO. I personally ranked Zohran #1 and Brad #2, and am holding out hope that we’ll have a mayor soon who actually lives in New York and cares about New Yorkers and doesn’t kill senior citizens or sexually harass women or use taxpayer money to promote his stupid book. The bar is very, very low, and yet we actually have viable candidates to be excited about, so please don’t miss this chance to bring positive change to our city.

Thanks for reading. Stay cool!

xo
Anna

*PS she seems totally fine today, thank goodness! But it was pretty scary at first.