Today I’m joined by Brianne Grogan of FemFusionFitness.com for a great discussion about female health, pelvic floor health, and when Kegels aren’t such a good idea.
Resources from Brianne Grogan
Other episodes to check out
- 106: Why to Stop Doing Kegels & Squat Instead with Katy Bowman
- 109: Vaginal Health, Menopause, and Hormone Therapy With Dr. Anna Cabeca
- 235: Signs of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction & How to Stop Pelvic Pain Naturally With Isa Herrera
Thanks to all of you for joining me and listening to this week’s podcast episode. I’m really enjoying recording these podcasts and hope you are as well and are leaning a lot from them.
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Katie: Hi and welcome to the Wellness Mama podcast, where I provide simple answers for healthier families.
A random fact for your day. Did you know that researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine used FMRI machines to monitor brain activity while women and men listened to a passage from a novel? While most of the men showed activity exclusively on the left side of their brain, which is typically associated with listening and speech, most of the women showed additional activity on the right side of their brain, which is usually associated with creativity and expressiveness. So this could be why women are usually credited with hearing what’s left unsaid in the conversation, and it also speaks to the very vast difference between men and women on a lot of things. With today’s guest, we’re actually going to be touching on the difference between men and women when it comes especially to movement and fitness and health. I couldn’t be more excited. Brianne Grogan is a doctor of physical therapy, with a specialist in women’s health. She writes at Femfusionfitness.com and had a program designed especially for women to learn how to move their bodies correctly for optimal health. She’s reversed her own IBS and anxiety, and she’s just such an inspiration all the way around.
Thanks so much for being here, Brianne.
Brianne: Oh, thank you, Katie. I’m so excited to be here. I’ve been a fan of yours for years. So it’s fun to be on your podcast.
Katie: Oh, and ditto. I’ve been your fan for a long time too.
Brianne: Aw.
Katie: Well, to jump right in, obviously one thing that you talk about a lot and that is one of my favorite things to read about from you is movement and especially how women should move. Because I think, so often when we think of movement, we just think of exercise, and we fit into like . . . We should be running on the treadmill like a hamster on a wheel or just excessive cardio. But you talk so much about how it’s so much deeper than that and how there are very feminine-specific movements. I think it’s fascinating. So can we delve into that?
Brianne: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, essentially I like to think of the way we want to . . . I’m just going to lead into this . . . burn calories. Although, that’s certainly not what it’s all about anyway, but stay healthy and stay active. People think of exercise, but I just like to call it movement. I mean, just moving, moving, moving, moving more. Whatever makes you happy is what ultimately you will want to do to add more movement to your life. So for some people, that is spending plenty of time at the gym. But for other people, that’s not spending time at the gym. It’s just moving in different ways, maybe walking or hiking or just moving more throughout the day by way of what’s called incidental movement, which is just fitting more random movements into your day, as far as the basic things we always here, such as taking the stairs or parking in the farthest parking spots or really getting into it when you clean and really getting under the couches and around the chairs and just finding ways to be more active in your daily life. So that’s really key, is just moving more and finding something that you really love. As far as one thing I talk about is feminine movement. I call it feminine movement, in that it’s just movements that you think of women doing. Men can certainly do them too, but hip circles and figure-eights and swirling, wonderful, sinuous, snake-like movements are so wonderful for your core muscles, including your hips, your back muscles, your abdominal muscles, your pelvic floor. All of those muscles really benefit from feminine movements, like hip circles and figure-eights and all of the ones that I just mentioned. So that’s something that I kind of promote that might be different from what other people promote and talk about. It’s just a fun way to move your body. Men, like I said, can certainly do it too, but women tend to have a little more fun with booty circles and moving their bodies that way.
Katie: Definitely.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: I know that you’ve written about it, and I’ve written about it as well, how important it is not just to sit all day, because that happens so often in our culture right now. In this sense, maybe women and moms especially have a little bit of an advantage. Because if you have young kids at home, you’re not usually sitting that much.
Brianne: No.
Katie: But let’s talk about some ways to kind of either break up the sitting specifically or some things we can do to mitigate, maybe those of us who have a job where we do have to sit. What are some things we could do to add in the movement there?
Brianne: Yeah, absolutely. One of my favorite things to do is what I call the 30/30 rule. That is something I learned in physical therapy school. Every 30 minutes that you spend sitting or in one position, even if you’re standing, say . . . Ultimately we don’t want to necessarily just be in one posture all day long, whether it’s sitting, standing, standing on one leg. You just don’t want to overuse your body in any one position. So every 30 minutes that you spend in one position, take 30 seconds and either just move your body, shake it all out, or stretch yourself out in the opposite direction. So that might sound difficult to do if you’re in office jobs, say, or some reason you have that you really need to be sitting and focused in one spot, but it’s definitely possible, just to at least look your head up toward the sky and stretch out the front of your neck and maybe roll your shoulders back. Maybe do a little press-up, where you’re pressing your bottom up off the chair by pressing down into the arms of the chair, just kind of taking some of the pressure off your bottom and stretching out your hips a little bit. So I love the 30/30 rule. You can . . . There are apps you can get that are like timers that can give you some kind of alert every 30 minutes, or you can just keep note. Put a little sticker on your computer screen or something like that to remind yourself to do something every 30 minutes that is opposite of what you’re doing for that long 30-minute period of time. It’s really easy to forget, but the more you can try to remember, the better your body will be. I also have a little technique that was kind of fun. It was just a fun video that I did, but it kind of went, for me, kind of viral. I was like, “Yay. This is so fun.” I call it bathroom fitness. This is just a fun way to fit more movement into your day. It’s to just attach, because it can be hard to remember to move. So to attach movement or a little mini fitness routine to something that you already to multiple times a day, so that you don’t even have to think about doing it. It’s attached to something you already do. So essentially what you do multiple times a day, one thing you do, is use the restroom. So I said, “Heck, every time you use the restroom, if you do 10 squats, maybe 10 countertop pushups where you’re just at the countertop and doing some pushups, maybe 10 tricep steps if you have a bathtub that you can do little tricep steps on the edge, or just whatever floats your boat.” If you do that every time you use the restroom, you could be getting 40 to 50 extra squats in, 40 to 50 extra pushups in, just kind of having fun too. It’s easy to do. It’s quick. It takes no time at all, and it’s just, like I said, a fun way to get a little strength training in and a little extra movement into your day without really having to think about it.
Katie: Yeah, I love that tip. I saw when you posted that.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: That’s a great idea.
Brianne: I thought that was fun.
Katie: One thing that’s somewhat specific to women, men obviously have this in a different way, is pelvic floor health.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: I know this has become a huge issue. You see it a lot in the mainstream media. I think it must be a growing problem because of the amount of press it’s receiving. So can you talk about maybe some of the problems that lead to pelvic health problems, and then some of the things we can do to remedy them?
Brianne: Yes. This is kind of my baby topic. This is really close to my heart because I started out my career in women’s health physical therapy, which focuses on pelvic floor health. Some of my thoughts and views have shifted just a little bit over time, but the main foundation of what I have to say is the same. So I guess to kind of first address the question about how you’re hearing about it more and more. I don’t know. I think that… I think it’s hard to say, because this women’s health physical therapy is a fairly new field, and doing research on pelvic health issues is . . . There hasn’t been hundreds of years of research on it or 50 years of research even on it. It’s more like within the last 20 years or so that it’s really been researched significantly, of course, starting with Dr. Kegel that many people have heard of. That was quite a long time ago, but it’s really grown since then in terms of being researched. But I think that one thing that has caused it to become more of an issue you hear about is that people are just more willing to talk about it as an issue. It’s being more brought about into the open, and thank goodness for that because bladder control issues and pelvic organ prolapse are extremely common and also pain with intercourse and pelvic pain. Very, very common issues. I think people were just embarrassed to talk about them for a long time, but people are becoming more open about it. So thank goodness, because women need to really know that they’re not alone. However, that said, I do think that it very well could and likely is getting more and more prevalent, even with people . . . just simply the fact that people are talking about it more, because one thing you need for a healthy, healthy pelvic floor is to be moving. It goes back to what we were saying. It’s that as people get more and more sedentary and thinking maybe that their 30 to 60 minutes at the gym in the morning is good enough for their exercise for the day, and then they sit or are primarily sedentary for the remainder of the day, that is just a recipe for disaster for your back health, for your total core health, for your pelvic floor health, and can definitely contribute to problems such as pain, weakness, or tension in the pelvic floor and hip areas and all sorts of problems that can ultimately lead to pelvic organ prolapse and bladder control issues and that kind of thing. So yeah, I think that it’s something that women need to
keep talking about. Awareness needs to keep spreading that this is an issue, and people need to keep moving. Did you want to talk about Kegels at all?
Katie: Yeah, I was just going to say let’s delve into that, because I know that’s something that most people, when they think of pelvic floor health, they think, “Oh, yeah. I should just do Kegels.”
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: You recently wrote about this on my blog, and it was so informative of why they
can be really, really good, but they may not be for everybody.
Brianne: Exactly.
Katie: So can we talk about that?
Brianne: Yeah, absolutely. This is, again, another near and dear subject to my heart because I definitely treated quite a few women who came through the clinic where I was working, with Kegels, because that is sort of the standard among women’s health physical therapists, as far as a treatment option. But I did have the benefit of being able to examine the women that I was seeing, to see what their pelvic floor muscles and the rest of their core muscles were doing and really what they needed. I did find Kegels to be helpful for a lot of my patients. I think that they can certainly be helpful for a lot of women, even if they don’t go see a women’s health physical therapist or get examined. However, they are not something to be just taken lightly. I mean, they really have to be used responsibly, as funny as that sounds, because some women are so tense in the pelvic floor or just have a lot of excess tension. It can cause problems to do Kegels.
Tightening the pelvic floor muscles, especially if you’re not doing Kegels correctly, which involves a contraction of the pelvic floor and then a full release . . . If you’re not able to do that full release, and if you’re essentially just contracting and contracting more and more and more and then following some people’s advice that you read in popular media, which is to do hundreds of Kegels a day for everybody, that is not going to be helpful. It could be harmful. So it’s just something that you really need to understand, Kegels, before you start doing them on your own. You need to know your own body and know if you’re having problems like pain with intercourse or if you’re having . . . Sometimes if you’re having problems where you’re trying Kegels, and actually your problems are getting worse, then you need to stop. You need to probably go get checked out by a physical therapist or a nurse practitioner or somebody who understands pelvic floor physiology and anatomy and how things should feel and work. Get it checked out by somebody or stop and work more on relaxing the pelvic floor and other core-strengthening exercises, really strengthening your glutes and walking, plenty of walking. I just read this great article that said walking is the superfood of fitness, and I love that. I think that is so true. It’s really an exercise that everybody . . . Well, okay.
Knock on wood. I try not to say everybody for anything, but almost everybody can do safely, and it’s effective. It’s great for your entire body. It moves your hips. It moves your pelvis. It really works your whole core. It works everything and is so beneficial for your pelvic floor. So there are other exercises you can do besides Kegels. Kegels can be great though, simply to . . . I think it’s important to know how to do a Kegel, so that you can effectively and quickly really kind of give yourself a backup by contracting the pelvic floor muscles when you really need to have that backup. So for example, if you’re sick, and you are coughing and sneezing a lot . . . You can feel that little tickle in your throat or tickle in your nose, and you can feel that a cough or sneeze often is coming on, especially a big one. So if you can engage those pelvic floor muscles extra . . . Do a little Kegel, like you’re pulling a marble into your vagina and holding it there, and then cough or sneeze, and then let it go. That will do wonders toward keeping you dry and keeping you from leaking, because I can’t tell you how many women have problems with leaking when they’re ill, when they have coughs and sneezes and that kind of thing. So it is important to know how to use them for coordination issues and control issues, but they’re not always the best answer for everybody, as far as a general exercise. It’s a really big topic. It’s a very fiery topic. It’s something that really brings on a lot of emotion in many women, I think. Some people have very strong opinions one way or the other, as far as Kegels, if they’re good or bad. I really think that so much of that boils down to the fact that it’s talking about a very . . . an area of our body that has a lot of stigma attached to it. The pelvic floor is right at the base of our pelvis. So it’s the sexual center. It’s the area where we carry our children. It’s right in that pelvic area where we birth our children. It’s the root of our body. It’s the one area of the body that’s incredibly different than the males’, a male body, is the pelvic area and all of our pelvic organs that we have that males don’t have. It’s a really fiery place, and it’s a fiery topic in some circles, whether or not Kegels are good or bad. But again, I just think they’re not good for everybody, but they’re also not bad for everybody. So that’s my stance.
Katie: Yeah, definitely. I love how you always bring it back to . . . Don’t just focus on Kegels, even if they’re good for you. Walk and use movement.
Brianne: There you go. Yeah.
Katie: That’s one thing we’ve been even doing as a family and really trying to incorporate, is going for a walk together, maybe after dinner or early in the morning, but just . . . That’s something the whole family, even the one-and-a-half-year-old can do. We’re spending time together. You can still talk because you’re not sprinting. You’re outside. So you’re getting clean air and just all the different benefits, and you’re also helping your pelvic floor. It actually makes me think of another thing that we talked about before, which . . . When you look at children, they do movement so naturally, especially if you see a baby go down to pick something up. They do a perfect squat. Their back is perfectly flat. They go into a deep, full squat. Their butt is almost touching the ground. They’re so naturally perfect at it. But then we lose those movements when we get older. So can you talk about things like just learning how to correctly do a deep squat, which does also help relax your pelvic floor and your hip muscles and so many important things, but that we lose most of the time when we get older?
Brianne: Yes, so many women lose . . . People in general lose that flexibility and strength, because it’s both. You need flexibility to get into that deep position, and you need strength and balance too. So I just really do a lot of deep squats and all sorts of squats in the fitness class that I teach and a lot of the fitness videos and things that I do on my . . . that I have on my website. So I usually encourage people to hold on to something when they’re first . . . if they’re not able to just naturally get into that deep squat position. Some people just can’t. It’s just in them. They have no problem at all. But if you have troubles having that flexibility and that balance and that strength in the ankles and the hips and the back, then hold onto like a countertop or the back of a couch or something very steady and firm. Hold onto it and then sit your butt way back. Your feet can be fairly wide. Really sit down, down, down, down, down. Your heels can even be off the floor, maybe even supported on a rolled-up yoga mat, and just work on getting that butt down toward the ground and sitting way back and keeping your spine long and strong and tall and your chest lifted. So you can just kind of incrementally work on that over time. Then when you come up to stand, you want to really squeeze your bottom and exhale. So breathe out as you come up, whether you’re doing a full deep squat, or you’re doing even just an air squat. You really want to engage the glutes and exhale as you stand up. That’s really important.
Katie: Yeah, definitely.
Brianne: So yeah. Yeah, I think squatting is one of the best exercises. I know a lot of your community and a lot of people that follow you agree with that.
Katie: Yeah, and it’s amazing how just incorporating those movements, and not even on an extreme level, can make such a difference. I know with my last pregnancy, I made more of an effort. As my health journey has gone on, I’ve learned more and read your information. So I made a lot of an effort to do things like just loose, deep squats during the day and just stretch out my hips and my pelvis and do things like kettlebells, which I loved when I was pregnant. It just felt good to do that. I had a sister-in-law who was pregnant at the same time, and we went walking together all the time. I knew I felt better, but the amazing part was that that labor was 10 hours shorter than any of my other labors, and she was breached. So it technically should have been longer.
Brianne: Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
Katie: Just the difference it made, and recovery was a piece of cake. Physically I felt great right after and just no trouble with bleeding. It was just such night-and-day difference. You don’t really think that those little things make such a big difference until you actually see it, and then it’s amazing.
Brianne: I agree. I think that because that’s the way we were meant to be. That’s the way our human bodies were designed to move. We were designed to work and move and walk and have to really strive for our resistance, when back in the olden days and the caveman days and beyond that, we were designed to move. We weren’t designed to be on . . . Some people need to be on bed rest, of course, but we weren’t designed to really just put our feet up during pregnancy. That’s not really what humans were designed to do. So you need to have that movement throughout pregnancy for a healthy one, as long as your body can handle it, which most people’s bodies can. I agree with you. I know that my pregnancy as well . . . I know that it was very helpful for me that I had an extremely active job that had me walking through this huge . . . It was a really big nursing home actually. I was in a nursing home at that time, walking and working with patients all day long. I was hiking . . . In addition to my job, I was hiking right up before
the day I gave birth. My gosh. I had a very quick labor and no tearing and a quick recovery as well. I really owe it . . . I owe so much of it to the walking.
Katie: I love it.
Brianne: So walking is great. Yes.
Katie: Yes, for sure. That brings me to another point, which is it’s easy, well, easier, I think to start incorporating these things yourself. But then the real challenge sometimes is how do you get your family to do them with you, whether it comes to the exercise side or the food side. I know you talk about both of those. I know that’s a hot button for a lot of people listening, is how do you actually get your family to do it.
Brianne: Yeah. So I’d say my main thing that I like to tell people, in general, when it comes to any healthy lifestyle change, is really to . . . You have to put on your oxygen mask first. You have to take care of yourself first, and you have to ultimately be the light for your family. Be the one who . . . If you’re the one who wants to make the change, and if they’re not necessarily the ones who want to make the change, then you get onboard first. You show them. You just start living your life that way, and they’ll get on board. It might take more than that, and I know that might sound a little idealistic and pie-in-the-sky, but it really is such a key. I’ve just seen that so much in my own life with my son. He’s actually not a very active kid. I mean, he is active, but he’s one of the types of kids that would love to just sit and play Legos and watch TV and play video games all day long. Luckily we don’t actually have a TV. So thank goodness that’s not an option, but he would probably love that. He’s not particularly sporty, and we really have to kind of work to get him moving. But at the same time, I would say that since he sees me doing my exercises and going on my walks and all that, he’s started really getting into it himself and will now just go into our fitness room by himself and say he wants to exercise. He wants to go on the trampoline or that kind of thing, and he’ll choose
sometimes to walk to his friend’s house with me. If I say, “Well, do you want to drive? Or do you want to walk today,” hoping he’ll say walk, and he’s starting to get to the point where he will choose walking. Even his friends will often choose to walk home rather than be driven home. I really think it’s because we’ve just kind of shown . . . We’re kind of being the light in our tiny little community here where I live. It’s a really neat feeling. I think that you just have to be the example and, slowly but surely, people will get on board. Other than that, just making things fun and incorporating like . . . We always . . .
When we walk, we often . . . There’s a park nearby our house. So we’ll often just walk to the park. So that gives kind of incentive for my son to play at the park when we’re there, and then we’ll walk home. Sometimes we’ll bring a ball and play a little bit of catch wherever we stop. There’s different things you can do like that. You just have to make it a family activity. Really the main thing is mom and dad have to be on board with it, because you can’t just expect the kids to do it if mom and dad aren’t doing it as well.
Katie: I completely agree. Even kids who you say, like your son, who aren’t just naturally in love with sports and stuff, but they love spending time with their parents.
Brianne: Exactly.
Katie: And if you make that a special time . . . Sometimes I’ll just take the girls when I go for a walk or just the boys and just let it have special time to talk with them, and they love that. They’re getting exercise too, but they don’t really even notice because we’re just hanging out and talking.
Brianne: I’ve also found that with my son, that he prefers going on a walk when it’s just me or just my husband with him, even though we like to do it as a family. But I think he really enjoys that special one-on-one time. So it might be that idea, like you said, of just
the girls or just the boys or however a family would want to break it up. That’s another way to think of it, as making it like a date almost.
Katie: Yeah, exactly. Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: That’s one thing. Not to keep delving into this subject too much, but with our kids, we’ve wanted not to make every celebration about food. I’ve talked about this a lot on the blog, but how our culture, every time there’s a birthday or good grade or a home run or whatever it is, we celebrate with food and sweets and junk food. So we try to always make it more about experiences and family time together, whether it be walks or just even . . . For their birthday, we’ll go hiking, or we’ll go to the zoo, or we’ll go somewhere and do something and not just eat. I think that’s one important distinction moms can start making. Your kids really just want you. They want your time, and they want your attention.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to give. It’s easy just to give them a snack and let them watch a movie, but my hope is that that’s going to pay dividends later, because both for their health, obviously from the movement side, but also from the relationship side. So it’s kind of a win-win.
Brianne: Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yes. I have a friend who did . . . For Easter, she did the plastic Easter eggs. Instead of candy and all that that the kids were collecting in their Easter basket, she put little tasks that they had to do or little things like 10 jumping jacks or whatever it was, little different activities they had to do in the Easter eggs. Then if they did all of them . . . I can’t remember exactly how she did it. But somehow, if they did all the tasks or whatever it was, they could pick a prize from a prize box. The prizes were all like going to the movies. They weren’t food-related. So I really. . . The point is . . . I can’t remember exactly how she did it, but I thought it was really neat because she really focused on active things, and then she really took the focus off of the chocolate bunnies and the jelly beans and brought it to more family activities and one-on-one time and then also active activities too. I thought that was really cool.
Katie: That’s a great idea. I love that one.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: I might start doing that too.
Brianne: Yeah. Yeah.
Katie: I hate that we’re almost toward the end already, but I want to respect your time and everyone listening time. So I have three questions I usually ask at the end.
Brianne: Great.
Katie: The first one is: What advice do you wish someone had given you earlier in life,
that you want to share with everyone else now?
Brianne: Yes, I think this is a great question. I think that probably the best advice I could give . . . Again, I think that your community really already does this, but it’s just to think outside of the box when it comes to mainstream advice, because I . . . I’d say that mainstream advice is that you need to go, again, like we’ve been talking about, like you need to go to the gym, and you need to do your exercises, and then you’re good for the day. But that’s not . . . There’s so many other ways that you can fit exercise or movement into your life. It’s not necessarily a jazzercise class or step aerobics or cross-fit or whatever. You can find whatever your body loves, whether it’s African drumming or just at dance parties in your living room. It doesn’t have to fit inside a box of what “exercise” should look like. Then the other key for that is . . . I mean, there’s so many keys, but another big key is food. I mean, I lived my whole life being told . . . I had stomach problems and horrible constipation and horrible emotional issues and all sorts of things. I was always told to eat more healthy whole grains and eat more fiber and the conventional wisdom really when it came to diet. It took me so long to stop just looking at that conventional wisdom and just that narrow focus of what we have been told for so long. It took me a long time. But once I finally did start looking outside that box and realizing that I really am the master of my own health, that was when true healing happened, and I finally got healthy. So you just need to listen to your intuition and know your own body and not necessarily take everything from the TV doctors or your personal doc. I mean, you need to listen to medical advice but also listen to yourself too. So think outside the box in that way, is a big key.
Katie: Yeah, that’s so great. Secondly, what is one actionable step that people who are listening, maybe that have pelvic health problems or just want to be proactive, what is one step they can take right now?
Brianne: Oh, gosh. Okay. So if they have pelvic health problems, if they’re having like bladder control issues or something like that, then I actually would say that you probably should go see a women’s health physical therapist because there are plenty of them out there now. It’s a growing field. It’s great to actually get an examination and go to someone who’s been trained in this subject area. You might want to quiz your women’s health physical therapist and say, “Now, you’re not necessarily going to prescribe me Kegels. Right?” Obviously she will know what she’s doing, but you might want to show that you do have the knowledge, that it’s not just about Kegels. There’s more to it. You may want Kegels. You may not want Kegels. You’re definitely going to need other core strengthening exercises. You might need some relaxation training, all sorts of core-strengthening exercises. But anyway, see a women’s health PT. If it’s an actionable step for someone who just wants to get some more movement into their life, I would say do my miracle morning, which is so simple and so easy and so fun. It’s just when you get up. The first thing you do after you take a big old glass of water and maybe do some tongue scraping, which I do . . . One of the first things you do is you get up, and you just do something that gets your body moving because I really think that sets the tone for the rest of the day. So I love doing like windmills, where you reach down and touch your toe with the opposite hand and then stand up and reach down and touch the other toe with your opposite hand and stand up. Then I kind of twist out my spine. I just have like three or four, sometimes more, but just a few moves that I do. It’s quick, and it just feels good and gets my blood flowing and my muscles kind of buzzing. That’s a really quick and easy thing you can do if you just want to kind of start your day off on a good note, movement-wise.
Katie: Yeah, that’s a great tip. Then lastly, what is the best resource, besides your own blog, which we’ll definitely link to in the show notes, but that you’ve found for health in this area or just in general? Maybe it’s a book or an article or a movie. But where would you send someone that’s a great resource?
Brianne: Yeah. I would send people to podcasts. This is not a specific answer. I’m sorry. It’s general. I love my podcasts, and there’s so many great podcasts out now. Just go to iTunes and search for things that are interesting to you, whether it’s fitness or wellness in general or business or nutrition. There are some amazing ones. I love your podcast. I also love Dr. Low Radio. I love the Land of Business. I love the Biz Chicks podcast and Businesswomen Rock. I know that Balance Bites is a great podcast for nutrition. There’s just some really amazing resources out there and amazing minds out there. We can all learn so much from them. It’s just really kind of a fun . . . I like to listen to podcasts when I’m making dinner or doing the laundry. So yeah, I think just listening and expanding your knowledge in that way, maybe more than just one . . . Maybe find three or four that you like and can kind of go between.
Katie: Yeah, I love podcasts too.
Brianne: Me too.
Katie: I usually have them on when I’m walking if I’m not with the kids. Yeah.
Brianne: Yeah. Yeah.
Katie: They’re great.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: Awesome. Where can people find you if they want to learn more about your movement programs and your philosophy and all your great information? Where can they find you?
Brianne: Femfusionfitness.com. That’s just F-E-M-F-U-S-I-O-N fitness.com. I have a blog that I’ve been posting things on for years now, I think like five years. So I have a blog, and then I have some group fitness classes, but they’re mainly in Germany right now. So that probably isn’t helpful for much of the world. I do have some live group fitness classes that are a lot of fun. Then I have some online courses, videos, and I have something called the Eternal Radiance Collection, which has all of my videos and e-courses that are related to fitness and nutrition, to really give people the idea that it’s a lifestyle. It’s not just buying one video and thinking that’s it. It’s really an all-encompassing lifestyle when it comes to stress management and fitness and nutrition. There’s more, of course, but those are the main things I cover. I also have some group health coaching program that’s brand new for me. It’s called Lift. It’s actually launching this week. So I’m excited about that. It’s called Lift, and there’s more information on my website about that. So I’m really, really enjoying the work online, but I also really enjoy interacting with people. So that’s why I was excited to bring in the coaching aspect to my programs.
Katie: Perfect. Well, it sounds like you have a busy week.
Brianne: Yeah.
Katie: So thanks for working us in. We’ll link to all of that for sure in the show notes. So people can find it directly. Thank you so much for your time and being here. I love that we could coordinate it with you in Germany and me in the U.S. . . .
Brianne: Yes.
Katie: . . . and that I could have you on. Thank you so much.
Brianne: Thank you, Katie. It was fun.
Katie: Thanks. Have a great day. Thanks to all of you for listening. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Wellness Mama podcast, where I provide simple answers for healthier families. If you would like to get my seven simple steps for healthier families guide for free, head on over to Wellnessmama.com and enter your email, and I’ll send it over to you right away. You can also stay in touch on social media, Facebook.com/Endlesswellness, or on Twitter and Instagram, @Wellnessmama. I would also really appreciate it if you would take a second and subscribe to this podcast, so that you’ll be notified of future episodes. If you’ve ever benefited from something I talked about on this podcast, I would be really appreciative if you would leave a rating or review, since that’s how others are able to find this podcast, and so we can help spread the message. Thanks, as always, for listening and for reading and for being onboard with creating a future for our children that’s healthier and happier. Until next time, have a healthy week.
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Thanks, as always, for listening and for reading and for being onboard with creating a future for our children that’s healthier and happier. If you have any questions or have suggestions for future podcast guests or topics, please leave a comment below.
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