Mindful Strength

Welcome to our second solo episode of 2025! If you have not already listened to episode 255 we suggest you start there.

In todays segment Kathryn is talking about the value of writing down your lifts and keeping track of your numbers over the long term. 

When you write down your lifts you collect valuable data about yourself, your patterns, and you gain a lot of context. If training isn't going well or feeling great, you have a log to look back through which will help you make strategic changes. 

Tracking your lifts over time also shows gaps in the training, shows where you might need more consistency, more or less volume etc...

Listen to this episode to learn more about writing down your lifts and why it's so useful.

To join our next strength program in January, Pull-Up Club click here!

If you are newer to strength training and want to browse our many classes and equipment tutorials, click here to check out the Mindful Strength Membership

Thanks for listening!! If you are loving this podcast and listening on Apple, scroll down and leave us a review. We appreciate you being here.

Welcome to Kathryn's first solo episode of 2025! In this segment Kathryn talks about the big mistake a lot of people make when it comes to strength training, which is rotating the exercises too frequently.

Building strength means repeating the same exercises over long periods of time. There is a lot patience involved with strength training. Kathryn talks about certain exercises she plans to train forever, and how to make those decisions based on your goals.

She also talks about how most people underestimate how much they are capable of lifting, what to do when you can lift your goal weight, and why you won't be able to add more weight to your lifts forever.

To learn about Kathryn's upcoming Pull-Up Program click here.

To learn about the Mindful Strength Membership and how you can take a range of our different strength, mobility, and relaxation classes click here.

Thanks for listening everyone, if you are loving this podcast and listening on Apple, please scroll down and leave a review!!

In this episode Kathryn and Laurel talk about how they both got into running and what they have learned about cardiovascular exercise. We want to emphasize that you do not need to begin running, there are many ways to build up your cardio including the bike, rower, elliptical machine. In this episode you will learn why strength training and cardio are the perfect match and why it's essential to have both in your weekly routine.

They talk about how adding cardio has changed their lifting routine, their relationship to carbohydrates, and the practical elements of doing varied training consistently.

Both Kathryn and Laurel do running and lifting, but they each excel in different areas which makes this conversation even more interesting. 

To learn more about Laurel click here.

To follow Laurel on Instagram click here

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To learn more about the Mindful Strength classes and programs click here.

To follow Mindful Strength on Instagram click here

Today we welcome dietician and body image coach Deb Benfield for a conversation about finding strength and joy in midlife. Deb talks about the main times in many women's lives that their bodies change quickly, puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. She speaks about how these are moments when we are at higher risk for developing disordered eating behaviours as a means to control our naturally changing bodies. Kathryn and Deb also touch on internalized agism, the longevity movement, the importance of strength and nutrition for muscle and bone strength, and our culture's strong emphasis on macro and calorie tracking.

Deb mentions the following resources in this podcast...

Briefly Imperfectly Human By: Alua Arthur

Ashton Applewhite Ted Talk: Let's End Ageism

To learn more about Deb Benfield click here to follow her on Instagram and click here for her website

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To check out our library of classes and strength programs click here!

To follow Kathryn on Instagram, click here

Today we welcome Chantal Lalonde for a conversation about exercise in general. So many people fall into the trap of hyper specialized exercise, correcting movement patterns or setting lofty unattainable goals. In this episode we unpack the physical activity guidelines and how to focus on more consistency and less on doing things perfectly all the time. 

Learn about the balance of cardiovascular exercise and strength training that are recommended for all adults. Chantal and Kathryn also talk about fitness trackers, mindset around training, and what it's like to be very average, but highly passionate athletes.

Chantal is a passionate and innovative public health professional with over 15 years of experience in health promotion, physical activity and chronic disease and injury prevention. She holds a B.Sc. Human Kinetics, B.Ed., and a Master of Health Studies.  She currently work as a program manager at a local public health agency overseeing the chronic disease prevention and wellbeing, injury prevention, and health equity programs.

To learn more about our upcoming Strength & Conditioning 2.0 Program Click Here!

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To follow Chantal on Instagram click here

To follow Kathryn and Mindful Strength on Instagram click here

In this episode we welcome exercise physiologist Raphael Bender for a conversation about a few popular topics where we often see mixed messages and sometimes even misinformation. If you are a person who loves to learn about how muscles fire, how strength is built, and what current research is saying about certain topics, this is for you!

Kathryn and Raphael talk about how muscles fire and whether or not we need activations in our warm-ups. They also discus the idea of feeling a muscle working and how many people who can't feel muscles working get told they are doing things wrong. They talk about the difference between building muscle and building strength, and why building the strength to lift heavy things is a coordinative skill. They finish the conversation with the topic of pelvic instability, if a pelvis can really be unstable, how this research is conducted and the problems with manual assessment of an area like the S.I. joint.

To listen to Raphael's podcast click here.

To follow Raphael on Instagram click here.

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To learn more about Mindful Strength and our upcoming classes and programs click here!

For inquiries email support@mindfulstrength.ca 

Today we welcome award winning journalist and life long athlete Christine Yu to talk about the menstrual cycle tracking craze that we have seen in recent years. Christine will walk you through the different phases of the menstrual cycle, some of the physiological changes that happen week to week and why these fluctuations can effect our exercise. She also dives into some myths about cycle tracking and why it's not as simple as giving general guidelines like, high intensity around ovulation and stretching during luteal. At the heart of this episode is the importance of cycle tracking as a way to get to your own own body, your unique rhythms, symptoms, strengths and challenges so you can better support yourself through your ever changing menstrual cycle.

To learn more about Christine Yu and her book Up to Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes click here.

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To learn more about Mindful Strength and our online programs click here. Make sure to join our email list to get all our updates!

To follow Mindful Strength on YouTube click here.

Today we welcome dietician, coach and strength athlete, Em Palmerton for a conversation about nutrition and why carbs are so important for strength. We hear so much about protein intake, but what about carbs?

Em talks about fitness trends, how carbs have been demonized in many circles, and why healthy exercise is about more than just being lean. Kathryn and Em talk about why carbs are specifically important for strength training, how to navigate blood sugar information, and why macro tracking can be useful in certain advanced situations, but isn't always helpful. 

To learn more about Em click here

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To learn more about Kathryn's work and Mindful Strength classes and programs click here!

To watch our FREE barbell classes click here.

This week we welcome physiotherapist, educator and researcher, Greg Lehman. Kathryn and Greg tackle a few topics that require a lot of nuance, like, is technique important for preventing injury and spinal flexion across different demographics including people with osteoporosis. Greg shares insights on what we know from the research, and topics where we don't have enough evidence (yet) to make black and white claims. They talk about the importance of strength training, loading gradually over time and actual risk factors in class settings. 

Greg also answers a couple of listener questions about pain science, anticipating pain, and whether or not pain decreases as damage heals. 

Kathryn and Chris will do a recap of this episode in the coming weeks to talk about what they learned from this conversation.

To learn more about Greg Lehman, his courses and work click here.

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To learn more about Mindful Strength and building strength online with Kathryn, click here!

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Previous episodes with Greg...

Click here to listen to Ep 158 Explaining Pain Research, Biomechanics & Strength

Click here to listen to one of our first episodes with Greg (2019!) Pain Science and Biomechanics