We discuss in this interview:

• Teresa’s experience with strength training
• How at 62 she’s stronger and fitter than ever
• The benefits of pull-ups
• Upper body strengthening
• Grip strength as an indicator for longevity
• Setting goals
• Calisthenics exercises
• The power of the right mindset
• Silver is the new strong!

Clint – If you want to remain strong into later years or you just want to gain strength or you have problems with your shoulders, you have rotator cuff issues, you’ve got pain in the upper back. If you have very poor grip strength, if your forearms are weak, if you’ve got tendonitis in the elbows, if you’re worried about getting old and want to slow down the aging process the best you can, then today’s guest is going to help you with all of the above. Her name is Teresa, and she is in Ohio. She’s 62 years old, and she came to my attention on Instagram, where after I posted a video of myself doing pull-ups, she commented underneath and said because I made a joke about my gray hair and my pull-ups. She said gray, hair, and pull-ups of my two favorite things in the world. So we have connected on Instagram, and today we’re going to have a discussion about how to improve your life through a physical exercise that can be done at home for free. So it’s a pleasure to welcome Teresa. Good day!

Teresa – Hi, thank you for having me.

Clint – Yes. I’ve been really looking forward to this because it’s this is a great passion of mine, which is going to an overhead bar, and it’s just U-verse the bar and it’s basically getting up there. It’s like golf, there’s no one else to blame, it’s just you on your own against an obstacle or of having an objective. How did you get into this and why did you get into doing pull ups?

Teresa – Well, I started strength training a little over 10 years ago, so it’s been a progression. And really until last year, I found a pull up challenge on Instagram for Christmas, 25 pull-ups every day for 25 days until Christmas. In a really good day, I could probably do 8to 10 pull-ups, but I couldn’t imagine doing 25. Anyway, so I decided to commit to that challenge, and before I knew what I was doing 20 consecutive pretty strict pull-ups. That’s kind of how it all focuses on pull-ups, I guess I threw him in occasionally on my workouts and stuff, I’d go to the park and on the swing set and do a few or on the tree. But I really just I guess just got really focused on them. And then I did it again this year, I did another little challenge. For whatever reason, and like you said, it’s there’s something about being on a pull-up bar, it’s just you and you can just really almost engage with every muscle in your body and feel it and make that mind-muscle connection.

Clint – Absolutely, it’s become a real favorite of mine in terms of anti-arthritic exercise. One of the reasons for that is it’s because it’s distractionary, isn’t it? In a workout phrase, what we’re talking about here is here is all of the bones from the fingers to the shoulder are being pulled apart by gravity. So we haven’t got a loading down through the connective joint or connective points of the bones with other joints. We’ve got a distraction mechanism or a pulling mechanism, and we’re working against that. So it’s not like through the knee where gravity pulls us down and bone on bone. We’re working, you know, to avoid the compression through the joint here. We’ve got gravity stretching us apart, and this is wonderful to improve joints that are grinding together and have that bone-on-bone situation. I’ve got very damaged elbows, but boy, do they love overhead exercises, chin-ups, and pull-ups. And before we lose everyone and they think, Oh my goodness, this woman is doing 20 pull-ups in a session or set. This is like something I could never do. Let’s go right back to the start and say, what’s the starting point here Let’s say even the thought of raising our even the thought of taking the bodyweight through our hands with on a bar, let’s say that’s even a challenge for people. Where should we begin?

Teresa – Well, I know what worked for me, don’t be up to the pull-ups, I would say, strengthening my upper body. Chest presses, the body rose, lat pulldowns, push-ups. Everyone could do a push-up, a lot of women especially don’t think they can. You can start on the wall, do a push-up, work down to maybe the countertop in the kitchen, down to the floor on your knees. So anyway, I think just building up my upper body strength was really helpful. And when I used to go to a public gym, I have my own home gym now. But you know, I would play around on the assisted pull-up machine which was really helpful. You can use bands to help you assist, so wrap them around the bar. A lot of its just kind of once you make that connection like, Oh, that’s how I should feel it. I tell a lot of clients and things to imagine, like the lat pulldown machine, imagine when you’re pulling yourself up, to me, that’s how I visualize it. It’s the same feeling, you know, you’re just contracting all those muscles and away you go. Even just hanging, dead hanging, literally just hanging on that’s great like you said, it kind of like the release of pressure in your spine. It’s really good for you, good for grip strength. And so all of that and then being consistent, you know, doing something constantly on the bar, because it’s pretty intimidating at first. But the more you play around with it and you find different, like I said, you know, band or whatever that works for you.

Clint – Yes, and I’m just bringing up now a book that I quote whenever on the topic of shoulder and upper back pain. I’ll bring that up in a moment because it’ll take me a moment, so I’ll get you talking. So then I can find that while we’re on the flight. Talk about grip strength, which I think is hilarious and I just made this connection. I might be pronouncing this wrong because I’ve only read it never said it, but it’s calisthenics, isn’t it? The way that what we’re describing here, it’s using, it’s the word that describes using your body weight to build muscle. Correct?

Teresa – Right. I think that’s that would be a good definition, I think.

Clint – And what reason I say it’s hilarious is because when you hang from an overhead bar, you tend to develop calluses and it’s calisthenics. And I just think that that connection is quiet.

Teresa – I Never thought of that. But yes, you definitely do. It’s good, it’s good to not wear gloves, I wear gloves sometimes, but the chalk. I wear my calluses proudly and that’s I’ll have to remember that.

Clint – I do too, my kids and my wife get a little bit put off when I try to rub their back or just, I don’t know, just basically be affectionate with a hand on the shoulder or something if they’ve got, like if they’ve got their swimmers on. Because my Callus is particularly on the right-hand side, actually is quite sharp, and they’re like. But I wear them with pride as well, and I just think that it just comes with the territory, doesn’t it? And we shouldn’t shy away from that. This book that I wanted to mention again, for those who haven’t heard me talk about this topic of shoulder pain, in particular, the author is John M. Kirsch. I highly recommend you read this book if you’ve got shoulder pain. The title is shoulder pain? The solution and prevention. The exercise that heals the shoulder and relieves back pain. And guess what it is? It’s hanging from an overhead bar with palms facing forward, what we call an overhand grip. Just taking as much bodyweight as we can each day until we can hang and hang from an overhead bar. I can’t fault it. Obviously, the general disclaimers apply, which is to check with your doctor before making any changes to your diet, lifestyle, exercise. But having said that, this guy is a shoulder Surgeon, and if you read his book, I think it’ll give you a lot of motivation to give this a try. How do you do it when it’s raining? How do you do it when it’s snowing? How do you do it when the elements are against you?

Teresa – Well, my husband was nice enough to put a bullet bar in my basement, so there are no excuses. Another good thing you can use rings, the rings of calisthenics rings, I guess I do have a couple of sets of those. And those are helpful if you do have shoulder issues because it allows you to have little range of motion. So I play around a lot with those two. And like doing body rows where you hang on and just lift your body back and forth. But yes, and I have been really getting into the dead hangs lately, hanging there, and I’ve been putting timers and seeing how long I can hang. Recently, I heard which you probably already know this, but I heard grip strength is a kind of, I guess, a test for longevity.

Clint – An indicator.

Teresa – Yeah. Have you heard that?

Clint – I know that yes, absolutely. In fact, it first came to my attention by one of the rheumatologists that we have on our live calls each month for the members of our support group, and he was talking about it in one of those live Q&A sessions. Yes, it’s been shown that those with greater grip strength live longer. So it’s really important that we work on this, especially with our audience today mostly have problems with fingers and sore fingers. Let’s talk about this because, clearly I’ve had that challenge over the years and this is still the exercise of choice for me. And so I think that goes a long way to reassuring people to give it a try. So, yes, talk about the grip strength.

Teresa – Well, as I said, I just recently started literally hanging on the bar was set a timer. Even if you can’t, even if you’re not to the place where you can let go, get your feet off, just start hanging, but keep your feet down. Then once you’re ready maybe lift your feet up slightly. But I have been hanging. I think I was just shy of two minutes, and then I decided I’m going to see how long I can hang with one arm. And I made it 30 seconds on each arm, so now I have. And that’s another thing I’m a big believer in setting goals, so maybe your goal would just be I’m going to start trying to hang on the bar, you know, whatever your goal might be and then work towards. For me, if I don’t say, all right, I did 30 seconds. My new goal is a minute, I would probably just always believe I can only do 30 seconds. So I don’t know if it’s a mind thing, but for me, I just have to keep pushing myself. And I think we’re all a lot stronger than we think we are. Do you know what I mean? And like I said, I can’t even remember where I read it, but you’ve heard it obviously a lot that grip strength is a test for longevity. I hopefully will be on this planet for a long time, but I want to be healthy and strong, and I think we can be.

Clint – What benefits have you noticed in your body from going down this path by doing not just the pull-ups, not just the chin-ups that we’ve talked about, but the calisthenics across the board? I’ve seen on your Instagram again it’s at home body training, a trainer, it’s at home body trainer is your Instagram account. What I see there is you also do things where you lift your knees up to the sky, you’re doing some push-ups and things. So this complete body workout approach, what benefits to mind and body have you observed?

Teresa – I guess I would just say I’m stronger and fitter than I’ve ever been in my life. At 62, a lot stronger, which is interesting because you kind of think you’re going to lose muscle and you can lose muscle mass, but you can definitely build and maintain your muscle mass, but you have to work at it. Now, I feel like if I want to play with my grandkids or something I don’t even think about, oh, I can’t get up off the floor, you know, it’s just second nature to me and that’s how I want to live my life. So I don’t know if I answered your question.

Clint – Have you always had a degree of good physical strength and ability? Have you always been fit and strong? And this is just a whole new level or has training this way been the first time that you’ve felt fit and strong in your life?

Teresa – I think I told you earlier on, I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, but I’ve started strength training roughly 10 years ago. Before that, I did just a lot of cardio, you know, just treadmill, tiny little weights, 2 and 3-pound weights. Different classes to like step aerobics and things like that, but through the years, 10 years ago, as I said, I was had just turned, I think 52 and I did my first figure competition. I knew nothing about it and learned a lot about lifting heavyweight. I thought I lifted weights, but I just lifted 2 and 3-pound weights. That was kind of my journey to getting stronger, and obviously, I think, through those 10 years, I’ve developed a lot of upper body strength so I can do pull-ups a lot easier than I could have 10 years ago. But I’m trying to think.

Clint – So you used to do a lot of cardiovascular stuff and trying to stay aerobically fit, and then the day came, they’re like, I’m going to start lifting some heavyweights, and this led to strength training. Now you’re at a level and I don’t know anyone in my life, not just female, not just of any age who I’ve seen to do. Did you say 19 consecutive pull-ups?

Teresa – Mm hmm.

Clint – That’s like not just 1% of the general population, that’s like 0.01% of the population, that is extraordinary. If you want to see this, head over to Theresa’s Instagram account and I follow you and I watch everything that you do, it’s extraordinary. And when I first saw your stuff, I said that said to my wife, Melissa there’s a woman online, she’s 62 years old and she’s cranking out more pull-ups than I am, it’s unbelievable, and it really is, it’s extraordinary. So let’s delve into why I mean, what motivates you? What do you think you’re offering to the community in terms of what’s possible? What are you hoping that people take away from seeing what you’re doing?

Teresa – I think I would hope that people would realize that strength training is probably the closest thing to the fountain of youth there is. And I think especially women are really afraid to lift weights. Definitely, you would want to check with your doctor. Everybody’s at a different fitness level. But you got to find and make sure it’s OK with your doctor. Get with a good trainer to learn form, a good proper form. What exercises are best for you? To me I would love to see everybody’s strength training. because I am not big and bulky, my bones are strong. To me, strength training does it all, it strengthens your bones, it’s great for flexibility, balance, your skin. Down in a cellular, I am not a doctor, but I know on a cellular level things are happening that I just don’t think you can take a pill for it or anything. To me, it’s definitely the way to go. So I would encourage everybody, and that’s my hope is I just want people to see, you can start at any age, you’re never too old, it’s never too late. Just start moving your body, start lifting heavy things, working with a trainer, learn the proper form because that is important because if you hurt yourself, you’re going to get discouraged. That’s my advice, and that’s my motive or my purpose in putting myself out on Instagram, doing all these. If you follow me, you see, I do some silly, funny things trying to put on a shirt out, hanging on a pull-up bar because I think it’s also fun to keep it creative and just fun instead of it just being, well, I got to work out. It’s like, what a privilege, I’m out here, I get to work out, I get to move my body and I can, so that’s kind of my attitude with it all and.

Clint – I love it, and you’ve got the catchphrase, silver is the new strong. Tell us where that came from.

Teresa – Ok, well, I stopped coloring my hair probably almost 2 years ago now. I started thinking about that because when I was younger, the thought of becoming an old woman was not very appealing to me. I just thought, Oh man, that’s terrible. Getting old, and gray hair, and wrinkles and weak. I find that to not be true, I think silver hair is beautiful, I think we’ve earned our wrinkles, and you can have a strong, healthy body. Stand up nice and tall and have healthy skin. So the silver is the new strong, my son actually created this little logo for me.

Clint – It’s fantastic.

Teresa – Yes. And I’m just want to spread that all over the world that silver is the new strong. Your silver years do not have to mean, Oh boy, you got to start taking all these drugs, it’s a whole new life. I am honestly stronger and fitter than I have ever been. I know everybody out there can be stronger, so it’s a good thing.

Clint – I agree.

Teresa – You want to be here as healthy as you can. You know, like I said, everybody is at different levels.

Clint – Regardless of where we’re all at right now in this moment and for my audience, I speak now. No matter how much pain someone’s in, no matter how many joints are afflicted by inflammatory arthritis, no matter how limite the range of motion is, there’s always another 1% of opportunity. If not 30, 40, 50%. There’s always something that’s not to say it’s easy, and it’s not to underestimate the challenges involved. It’s to say that what if? What if you went and bought a $50 pull-up bar that you can put in your doorway, that just hooks over nicely and fits into every regular home doorway? What if you were to do that and just each day, just try and take a little bodyweight through your hands? And what if you were to just get a small resistance band and work out that arm each day? There’s opportunity there always, and if we don’t feel we have that opportunity, then where does that leave us in life? It doesn’t really create a compelling future for us, it doesn’t leave us working towards anything, it doesn’t put us into a position of growth. And so silver is the new stronger, I love it. My kids are on to me about coloring my hair as well. It’s a weird one. You think, Oh gosh, you know, you do contemplate these things, but really, like you, Teresa, I couldn’t do a pull up until probably 18 months ago. Now, I just did my consecutive pull-ups, I’m at 9 1/2 consecutive.

Teresa – That’s great. And.

Clint – Yeah, and I can say it is great. As I said, I wasn’t able to do one, even when I was 23 years old, training with all my friends at the gym as a 23 year old, perfectly fit and healthy, no disease guy, so pull-ups aren’t easy. Back to you again. Now tell me, how do you feel? And we talk about them while we haven’t, but I find these exercises addictive. Do you get a deep, wonderful sense of challenge, but joy in doing these exercises?

Teresa – I do I think I get fascinated at what my body will. I just keep thinking, if I try to eat healthily and it’s fascinating to me. If I take care of my body, it’s going to serve me well. You’re right, you get a little like high off of, Oh my gosh, I just. I Set this goal and I did it, whatever it is. To me, it’s pretty exciting to see. And what I’ve noticed is I really like just kind of being down here doing my qwn thing. I don’t have anyone going, Oh no, you better not try that. I use caution, I honor my body if it hurts, I don’t do something. But. I’m really happy that I don’t have somebody telling me, Oh, no, you’re too old don’t try that. Yeah, it’s fun, and you probably feel the same way, it’s like, Oh my gosh, I almost got 10.

Clint – Absolutely. I’ve got friends who are younger than me, who are stronger than me, and who have no auto-immune disease that’s ruined some of the joints in their bodies. And I’m comfortably doing more of these sorts of workout of these sorts of exercises than them. Admittedly, to be fair. I’m focusing on these. They’re doing different things and mixing it up. So I’m just like as though a sprint trainer was only training sprints, right? That’s to be fair to that comment. Have you found that you are at 62 Years old still getting stronger?

Teresa – How do I feel about it, is that the question?

Clint – Would you say that even now at 62, you are still getting stronger? Is that true?

Teresa – Truly, yes. I am truly getting stronger. It’s amazing, to me, it’s the sky is the limit, and I don’t take any prescription drugs. I don’t take any performance-enhancing drugs. I just eat good and healthy. I do things like before I come down to my gym, I do always do a little guided meditation and try to clear my mind. And I do a nice recovery, you know, I respect my body and we have a hot tub and things like that afterward. A lot of times I will look at myself in the mirror and think, you know, Oh, man, I know I could have lifted that. Oh, because this little quote here is one of my favorites. I truly think you have to believe it in your mind before your body will follow. Do you know what I mean? You believe it, you can achieve it If you believe it, that’s half of the battle. There have been so many days. It’s funny I’ll tell my kids, I’m like, I just looked at myself in the mirror and told myself, talk to myself, like I would talk to a friend or somebody else. And you know, you can do this. Before I know it, I enlisted an extra 20 pounds that I didn’t think I could have done. So yeah, a lot of it is just believing it and working towards it. But yes, to answer your question, I definitely am stronger, and I think that’s another thing. That’s another I guess motive of mine is I want to set a good example for my kids, my grandkids, that you take care of your body now and love it and honor it, and it’s going to serve you really well. You don’t have to be old, we’re all going to age, but you don’t have to be weak. You can be strong and fit. So that’s yes. Come on 70, I’m ready for 70. I’m not quite ready for that yet, but it doesn’t scare me. It’s almost like, I’m really, really, truly happy. Like I said years ago, the thought of getting old was like, Oh, I don’t want to get old. Age is just a number.

Clint – There was a study that was published, I think only within the last 12 months. And I did a podcast about it and spoke about the implications for rheumatoid arthritis, which was that strength defeats inflammation. They did this in the laboratory and they took simulated muscle, and they were able to then create inflammation in that muscle tissue and demonstrate that the inflammatory markers reduce when that muscle tissue is strengthened. When that muscle tissue is stimulated and put through resistance and then its recovery process. People can find that podcast episode just by going through the archives of our podcast. The reason I tell you that is that I just wanted to say that if you have inflammation in the body and that soft tissue is strengthened, it is an anti-inflammatory process that’s very effective. What other things have you been able to discover that have been beneficial for you with this strength training? Has it been mostly confidence? Has it been physical? List all of the wonderful benefits.

Teresa – Well, I’m just going to tell you I don’t have rheumatoid arthritis, but I do have osteoarthritis. I was diagnosed in 2013 in my left wrist believe it or not. I could have gone to therapy and everything, there are some days when it doesn’t feel that great, but I truly believe if I keep it moving. It is like you must hit the nail on the head when you talked about inflammation. Then in 2016, I was diagnosed with arthritis in my neck and degenerative disc disease that was in 2016 before I really knuckled down and got serious. I used to do the, you know, how people squat with a bar on their back, I do not do that anymore because it’s not good for my neck. I use a hex bar when I do heavy deadlifting, which is a lot safer on your back and everything but getting off the subject. But I just I kind of wanted to let your listeners know. I don’t know what rheumatoid arthritis feels like, but I do know what it feels like to especially like in the base of my thumb, there are certain days. Believe it or not, I don’t know if you’re familiar with and I have not suggested anybody take supplements or anything, but I will tell you what I have found, it works for me. I’ve taken it off and on probably 8 years now and my doctor said, Just whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. But have you ever heard of ashwagandha?

Clint – It’s a spice or sort of herb, isn’t it?

Teresa – It is, it’s an herb, and I don’t know if it’s just a placebo but that seems to be very helpful for me off and on, and I told my doctor that I said I started taking this ashwagandha. This was like 8 years ago or something. And again, I am not recommending anybody to, you know, you’ve got to do your homework and talk to your own doctors and stuff. So when I do and I get off and on, like I’ll take some supplements and stop for a while. I had stopped taking that for a while and I had a major flare-up and I was like, Oh my gosh, that stuff works. Started taking it again. I have a mild little, but nothing that, I’m hanging off of a bar for 2 minutes, 3 seconds shy of 2 minutes.

Clint – What did your family say about your abilities now? And do you think it’s lifted the entire vibe of your whole family?

Teresa – I think so, I think my kids and my grandkids are proud of me. Just not too long ago, my grandson, who’s in College, actually sent me a video of him doing a deadlift and I was like Oh yeah, yeah. So yes, I hope I’m inspiring them to make good, positive choices. My husband’s always, you know, I remarried, so we’ve been married 10 years and he mountain bikes and snowboards, I do not do that, so I am like not into falling like I don’t want to do things. I’ll hang from stuff, but I don’t want to fall. I went with him a couple of times, like, that’s just not my thing. But we work out, not really work out together, but we both are very physical. So he kind of does his thing, I have my thing, and we support each other. That’s the other thing, you know, we’re just like, we’re going to grow old together, let’s grow old, healthy together.

Clint – Yeah, I love it. What about on Instagram? What sort of comments do you get under your really, really amazing sort of videos that you post?

Teresa – When I first decided to put myself out there, I was scared, I was like, Oh. I don’t even know little old me, you know? And the first time somebody said I inspired them, I mean, I just start crying because you just I’m just down here doing this is literally what I would be doing if nobody was watching me anyway. Do you know? I mean. I just am silly and I have fun and the people have been so nice and encouraging. So it’s been a very good experience, and I think I shocked a few people and but I hope I’m inspiring and encouraging others that, hey. 60, we’re just getting started. You know, there’s no reason you can’t start a strength training program at 60. I started when I was 52, I’d never really lifted weights until I was in my fifties. So yes, everybody on Instagram, the followers are amazing, I love them all, they’re just very encouraging. That truly is kind of neat because I was really worried about doing, it and it actually motivates me and inspires me and wants me to. That’s a reason I’m like, Oh, I got to, you know, I can’t wait to try this and post it so hopefully it’ll inspire somebody else and give them a chuckle or put a smile on their face if nothing else.

Clint – It’s a nice feedback loop where you’re doing something that’s wonderful for the community to inspire them. Things that you’re comfortable with doing and you want to share that you, as you said, would be doing anyway. In return from that, you feel like you have an audience. I mean, we all rise up to the expectations of our peer group and our social community. In that way, the Instagram audience is a part of that. And so you might find that extra partial wrap, just knowing that the video is on. This is a silly illustration, but some of the best that I have done on the Pull-Up bars that I go to, which are public outdoor workout equipment. Often there are children that want to come and play on those bars because they’re children, and let’s face it, bars and children go together right? When naturally inclined to want to hang from bars, swing from bars. We want to act like monkeys on the monkey bars, OK? And irrespective of our beliefs on a greater power and God and so on, we’re physically very similar anatomy to our brothers and sisters who do swing from trees. And so our bodies are configured in that way also. Anyway when there is a group of children who are waiting for me to do my set so that they can play again, often they count and they go 1, 2, 3. When the kids are counting me, I kind of feel like this extra swell of energy, you know?

Teresa – Yeah, and you’re inspiring them. It kind of get you in touch with your inner child, doesn’t it? It feels good, almost like play.

Clint – It is, it is play. The first time I ever did, I never, as I said, never did pull-ups until a year and a half ago. Just to just differentiate for the audience.

Teresa – And you look really good. The ones I saw, you’re good.

Clint – Thanks. As you say, it’s all still, improving a work in progress. But I used to do chin-ups as a teenager, 16, 17 years old, and that used to be fun. And so when I do my chin-ups, which are palms facing your face towards you. I always think back to when I was doing them as a teenager for fun, and I think this is what I used to do for finding that inner smile comes upon me and it doesn’t feel like, Oh, here we go again. It feels like, you know this I choose to be here, and I actually quite enjoy the suffering and it’s not suffering like the gym because you’re outdoors or, in your case, indoors. But it feels like, I don’t know it’s just you and the bar. It’s fun.

Teresa – Yeah, it is. It’s I think that a lot, it’s like just kind of reconnecting with my inner child. Most people would think, Oh, you should not be doing that, you’re 62, and it’s just like, I totally forget how old I am. Its age is not a number, you know, I’m just having fun and I’m fascinated sometimes. Wow, I just did that. You know, skin the cat. Have you ever done that where you’re flipping? Do you remember that when you were a kid?

Clint – No, I don’t know. Oh, I know what you’re talking about.

Teresa – When you flip all the way around.

Clint – Yes, I know what you’re ,talking about and then try and flip back again through your arms.

Teresa – I mean, 10 years ago, I would have never you could have told me I was going to try that I would say, you’re crazy and I have so much fun. My husband and I went to Venice, Florida, and we found this palm tree, walking. We walked the beach all day long and look for sharks’ teeth, that’s kind of our fun thing. But there was a palm tree and I thought, I’m going to put my beach towel on it and see if I can do pull-ups. Before I knew it, I had the towel wrapped around the tree and I was doing pull-ups, and then ended up doing skin the cat. And it’s so funny because I just lost all like, who cares who’s walking. And people thought it was really cool. You know what you mean? Like, the old me would have been like, Oh, don’t do that, you’re a grown-up, you shouldn’t be flipping around on it. But anyway, that’s what I get you to get in touch with your inner child and you kind of lose track of age, it’s just a number.

Clint – It is, isn’t it? And that, I think, is one of the sorts of overarching sort of philosophies that we’re learning from you, which is just we defy what the number is, we have fun, we say, look what if I try this? Or where else could my body go? And we just continue to strive for more and just say, Well, who knows, like you said, like, you’re getting stronger every week by week, getting stronger. That is I mean, that blows a lot of people’s minds, it really does.

Teresa – I’m also a firm believer in flexibility, I like to do yoga. I’m not a yogi, but stretching, some cardio. So I think we need all of that, but definitely the strength training, cardio andnd balance. I would like do the dishes and I’ll stand on one foot and switch or when I’m brushing my teeth, there’s lots of little fun things that you can do. You can look at it like it’s exercise or you can look at it like it’s just fun and being silly. Sometimes I just feel like a flamingo and brushing my teeth.

Clint – I have the same thing, it’s like you and I are separated at birth or something because I have a coffee grinder that I use to grind up flax seed in the morning. So I put a little ground flax seed on my oats in the morning. As that thing grinds which takes about 10 seconds, I stand on one leg as well. It’s just so funny that you were to say that it’s almost like that.

Teresa – We are like-minded.

Clint – That’s crazy. Yeah. Can people get hold of you and get some personalized help from you? Do you offer that service?

Teresa – I would be more than willing if they want to reach out to me on Instagram. They could private message me or just let me know. I’d be more than happy to share whatever I can try to answer their questions. So, yeah, right now I’m not doing any like online training or anything, but I would be more than happy to answer, try to answer questions. If I can’t, I’ll try to find an answer to their question for them.

Clint – Well, thank you. That’s really kind because you have a unique offering in that. A lot of other folks who are doing calisthenics stuff on Instagram, they can often be, 25-year-old men who look like they’ve been bodybuilding their whole lives. You’re coming at this from quite a different perspective, you’re coming at this from, look, I want to get old and be as strong as possible and inspire people by defying what age means and get stronger as I age. I mean, this sort of stuff is really, really appropriate to our audience who are mostly female, who also mostly over the age of 40. Hopefully this really connects with everyone.

Teresa – I want your audience to know that I am not a calisthenic trainer. I’ve never had a class, never took one. I just kind of looked at things and thought, Oh, I wonder if I can do that. So if I can do it, anyone can do it. I am not a professional.

Clint – Well, thank you for that clarification, is there anything else you’d like to share?

Teresa – Looking at my little notes here, I can’t think of anything I could talk to you forever, but just because you’re so fun to talk to

Clint – Talk about what you’ve got printed on your wall behind, if people are listening to this, they can’t see it. Tell us what it says on the wall behind you.

Teresa – That says the body achieves what the mind believes. To me, that is so true, like I said, I truly believe that. If you believe all your heart, you can do a push-up or a pull-up, you’re going to get there. If you think there’s no way, I’m never going to be able to do this. Probably we will never be able to do it. Yes, I am a firm believer in that in so many things. You got to believe it to achieve it, and that is half the battle. I heard once there was a test they did on strength training in a nursing home, and all of the patients that were bedridden. I don’t have any of the facts in the article I read. I don’t remember where it was, but anyway. They went into a nursing home and the patients that were bedridden after so many weeks of a strength training program were able to get up and use a walker. And the patients that were using walkers were able to walk alone. So to me, that’s why I say you’re never too old and it’s never too late and you got to believe that. Hopefully, I’ve inspired or encouraged some of your listeners, and I know what it feels like. I have pain, we all wake up and it’s like, Oh man, my back hurts or, you know, we’re stiff and things like that. But I have found when I start moving, it all goes away. So at least for that time that I’m moving and I’m not, I guess I think what would I feel like if I didn’t move? That’s a scary thought for me. So I am very grateful that I went down this path. Back in high school, I was a smoker, smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, and went to a smoking clinic to quit smoking. I’m so grateful that I made that choice in my life, 30 some years ago. That’s why I keep saying it’s amazing what our bodies are capable of doing if we just tune into them and honor them and treat them right. I think they will trea us good and serve us well.

Clint – It’s almost like the body wants to float up from a lower submerged level of activity and naturally float to a higher level of performance and existence on Earth. It just has it in it and we are holding that ability back by thinking that it can’t go there.

Teresa – But that’s a really good statement, you’re right. I agree. Once you tune in to really start listening to your body, like I said, you got to tune into your body. The body and the mind, I mean, it’s amazing, all that kind of stuff fascinates me. I’m not an expert at it, but I just get I love to listen to things about the body and the mind, there’s a lot there. There’s a lot of, when you like you said when you’re on the playground and the kids are cheering you on, you think I’m done and you had one more. We’re all stronger than we think we are. Yeah. So you just need somebody to believe in it or give us that little push and definitely believe in yourself.

Clint – Have you read the work or follow David Goggins?

Teresa – I’m gonna write that down. David Goggins,

Clint – David Goggins. If you can tolerate some strong language, then listen to his original version of his audiobook. It’s very raw. Just to give you sort of an idea of what it’s about. He tried for the Navy SEALS and it’s his journey to becoming a Navy seal and what happened thereafter and the challenges that he faced to achieve this and what he subsequently achieved, absolutely mind blowing.

Teresa – I do know who he is, I did not know his name.

Clint – He is an African-American.

Teresa – I definitely know who you’re talking about. Running with his foot broken and he ran.

Clint – Yes, that’s him.

Teresa – Such an inspiration. I love stories, to follow people like that.

Clint – Listen to him, you’ll love him. He holds the world record for a number of pull ups in 24 hours.

Teresa – 24 hours, I couldn’t imagine.

4200 and something, yeah. But Teresa, I got to tell you your form is impeccable. And the form that you’re allowed to go through when you’re going for records like that doesn’t have to be as great. Yes, you can use the momentum of your body to create like a wave like effect just to get your chin over the bar. As opposed to having stationary legs and using your entire upper body strength and core strength. So we’re not comparing apples to apples with that record, your form uses no momentum, but going for records like that, you’re allowed to use any form you’re like.

Teresa – Good, I have to see how many I can do if I’m flailing around.

Clint – But you’ll develop an imperfect form inside you’re playing.

Teresa – Part of doing em slow too, as you can kind of feel. Oh, you know what I mean? You can really feel every muscle, and that’s kind of fun, I’m sure you know what I mean.

Clint – Yeah, that’s right. You connect with all those parts of your body as opposed to just like you say, flailing around which I love. So thank you so much for this, you talk about inspiration and you really inspire me. I think if Teresa can do it, I’m 46, so I think, okay, if I can be only doing as much as you are at 62, I’ll be over the moon, that would be amazing. That’s aspirational for me if I could be where you’re at your age. Thank you very much for today, and thank you for just being setting up a standard that is really, really high for yourself that makes the rest of us say we can step up our game as well. You do that and you’re humble and you’re easy to chat to. So thank you for doing this.

Teresa – Oh, thank you for having me on. It was really fun. And yes, as I said, if your listeners want to reach out to me, I will be happy to answer any questions I can. I’ll be looking forward to watching your pull-ups.

Clint – Thanks so much.

Teresa – Take care. Thank you.