Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to Life and Limb, a podcast from Thrive magazine all about living well with limb loss and limb difference. I'm Jeff Thiessen, publisher of Thrive magazine and your podcast host. My guest. This episode is exercise and fitness expert Megan Williamson. Megan is the head fitness coach at Ocean Rehab and Fitness in Vancouver. She's also the head instructor for the North American Council of Inclusive Fitness and co author of a resource called Breaking Barriers, which is or teaches the fundamentals of training clients with physical disabilities. She's all about bridging the gap between rehab and fitness, making exercise inclusive for everyone, no matter what. And she's a good friend of Thrive magazine, too. She's the regular contributor to our health and wellness department. So, Megan, welcome. Thanks for joining me. How are you?
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Awesome, thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I know we talked about this a while back and yeah, I'm really looking forward to being here and chatting about all of the things that we both love to talk about.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Yeah, it's important stuff for sure. And, you know, there's lots of obstacles and reservations and excuses for us where fitness and our health is concerned. But, you know, let's start with, you know, in the day, in the life of Megan Williamson at work, of course. What does that look like for a health and fitness, a certified fitness instructor?
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Awesome. So my days are pretty all over the place, I will say. Since the COVID era, I have expanded my business. So there's a team of us. And so I spend my time.
I spend my time either at the Rick Hansen foundation, where I do some contract work there with their founder, or I'm at home, which is where the COVID era comes in. I had a lot of transitioning into clients online, which is amazing because I get to see clients from New York and India and all sorts of places. So that added a little bit more accessibility there. And then I also split my time a couple days a week at the bless and spinal cord center, which is here in Vancouver. It's part of VGH, our Vancouver coastal Health, and it's actually called the physical Activity Research center. And it's actually quite an amazing place. It's a fully adapted facility that is essentially a gym. And I get to see clients there and use that space about two days a week. And so myself am either found there or I'm at home or I'm in Richmond. At the foundation, I am an early riser, so I do my own workouts in the early morning. That's usually how I start my day.
And then I see clients throughout the day. And then do you know some admin work here and there?
And I usually work Monday through Thursday. And then the odd time, as Jeff knows, sometimes I do a little bit of traveling and I will do some seminars or speaking events. And then when I'm really busy or feeling like I want to load my schedule up, I will go and teach some of our breaking barriers courses, which tend to actually be lately have been like Ontario and Alberta. And I'm hoping to start getting more teachings here in Vancouver. So, yeah.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: So how many hours are in your day?
[00:03:29] Speaker B: I actually got away from counting that, but I try and end my days around.
Most days are around one. Some days are pushed to about 330.
In terms of like, working with clients, there's, when you run your own business, there's always some stuff you have to do after that.
But I do have a three day weekend, so I pushed to get that. I've had that for almost two years now. And that was a really big, big thing because for me, I've had to work really hard to find balance because I do love what I do and it's really easy to do all of it. And so I've strived really hard to find that balance so that I can be fresh for everybody that I spend time with in my work day.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sure you teach and preach in a good way balance to your clients. And that's what I wanted to talk to talk to you about next. Your clients. Is that exclusively people with disabilities, mostly with people with disabilities, where's that balance?
[00:04:29] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good question. So the company ocean rehab and fitness is primarily people with disabilities, and that can be invisible disabilities as well. It's mostly just because we are such a niche and that's the experience that our team brings. So if we do have somebody that reaches out to us and say they aren't working with a disability, but maybe they're an older, aging adult and they're just dealing with osteoporosis or maybe arthritis or any of those things, obviously we will take them on. But given the nature of our business and how our website is, is showing and how we advertise, we typically don't attract more able bodied individuals that are looking for maybe just plain strength training. But having said that before, I was fully 100% in my business. I did a lot of subcontracting for other, like, trainers. And I have life for clients that have stayed with me from those years. And so I do have spaces where I do. I hold those spaces for those individuals because they're clients, friends. They've been with me for eight plus years. So.
But as they age, even they are finding that they are and expressing that they're very happy that they have somebody like me with the knowledge, because as they age, they're starting to notice certain things that might become barriers for them and we work through those. So that's the simple question. So if we get anybody who is, say, a young athlete and maybe is just aspiring to join the rugby team or something like that, I would typically hand that client off to one of my colleagues who does his own side business with more basic strength training, able bodied clients, just because my passion is more people with disabilities and I can help with them with that.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: So, yeah. And I was going to ask, and I'll qualify it as well. To my knowledge, you do not have a physical disability, right?
[00:06:36] Speaker B: I do not. No, I do not.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: So then that kind of leads, or begs the question, why this focus on the adaptive fitness on the disability community?
[00:06:46] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question. So I didn't plan it, that's for sure.
I was living in LA, in the beach cities, and I was working at Equinox, which is a very high end fitness club. We actually have one here in Vancouver. I think there's a few in Toronto, actually.
And I was kind of tapped out. I was one of the top trainers there. I was working. Those hours were crazy and I didn't really have anywhere to grow in the company except management, and that wasn't really my jam. I love the one on one work. I love being with individuals on the floor. And I had actually had a couple clients there who had disabilities, lots of like posts, like big post surgery disabilities that were more acute. I had one client with cerebral palsy, so I had a little bit of knowledge there, but I didn't really know that it was going to be a huge part of my future until I moved to Vancouver to go back to school for physiotherapy. And part of applying to physiotherapy is getting a lot of volunteer hours. And so I've started volunteering at the facility where I now work at the blessed and spinal cord center. And I just realized how much of a gap there was with those individuals because a lot of them had maybe been injured from a spinal cord injury or they were diagnosed with MS or they had a congenital disability and they were moving into that lifestyle of working out, using a facility in a gym. But they didn't really, they weren't ever given any direction on how to adapt equipment properly or how to. How to work out at home if they can't get to a facility, because not everybody has a state of the art adapted facility. That's just, that's just the reality of it. And I started seeing this huge gap in that it was either people were going through acute rehab and learning how to dress themselves, use the bathroom, you know, become independent and leave and then go live on their own, but they weren't really given any skills on anything past that in terms of fitness or adaptation, sport, even. So I kind of just didn't go for physio. I changed gears and I started just working there and charging clients, and my schedule filled up really fast because there really wasn't any. No one knew of any other resources of anyone who was willing to take the time and had some expertise in that area.
And then fast forward. Now there's usually three or four of us working on my team, and, yeah, it's. And there's just tons of still, like, gaps out there, especially here in Vancouver, where we do need other people, fitness professionals, to be educated on working with clients with disabilities. And that, that was the goal with the course, was to try and spread that awareness and knowledge and just give other fitness professionals that basic awareness so that they can take on clients with disabilities and break down those barriers in their communities.
So that was. It really wasn't planned. I just saw a need and I'm good at it. So I grew up a dance teacher, and so being a teacher and a movement teacher has been my life. And so being creative and being able to adapt things, it just really lights me up, and I love it. Yeah. So it's just a lot of fun.
[00:10:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Knowing you, I know how much you love it.
He said something really poignant, and that's, you know, after an injury, be it an amputation, a spinal cord injury, whatever it may be, someone you know has a stroke, there are things that always seem to be, well, there are things that are more important than going to a gym now. You know, our physical health is so important to our rehabilitation sometimes, but it's those activities of daily living. It's driving again, it's being a parent again. Maybe it's going back to school.
Fitness, exercise, recreation, sport, they're often kind of a lower rung on the ladder. So you're dealing with a big gap when you talk about bridging that gap. So how do you, what is that bridge? How do you span that gap for people to see the importance of what you do, really, for all these other things that I just talked about, yeah.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: It is tough, but I think part of where I work at the blessed and spinal cord center, like in Parc, I think that plays a big role because when a lot of individuals, our big public acute rehab here is called GF strong in BC. And so when a lot of people leave there, I know that they're given some resources and packages to look over for later, but it's so overwhelming for individuals, like you just said, their fitness is not something they're thinking about because they just need to know how to fully make their house accessible or how are they going to be a dad again and so forth and all the things. So I think being at a place like park has really helped because individuals are told about this location and it's completely free because it's a study, essentially.
So I'm already in that environment of people that are very aware because they've already taken that first step of seeking out exercise. And I think that's usually from word of mouth through their physio, or maybe they work with like a kinesiologist or rehab assistant at some of the neuro specific physio offices. We have some called neuro motion neuro ability. It's very specific to, like, neuromuscular disease or disability. So I think a lot of people that I see that come through that door, they're already knowing that that's something they need to take on. But a lot of them don't know where to start because they're just. They understand the benefit.
Maybe it's because they're seeing themselves progress. So maybe it's somebody who has an amputation and they're aging, and it's not necessarily the amputation that's, that's causing changes, but it's just the natural aging, and they haven't really been doing anything to help that. So that kind of, that uncomfortableness or whatever it is, it could show up as pain or maybe not feeling good in their body or whatever that is, but that's enough to get them to make that change. And then they still, they're there, but they don't really know what to do after that. They still need that guidance. So I think that really helps is having that space of people already kind of showing up and knowing, like, I know that this is something I need to do, but I don't really know what to do first.
And then I also think social media is a really big part of it, spreading awareness through social media. I know there's tons of athletes and people with disabilities out there advertising their home workouts and para athletes and all sorts of stuff that we wouldn't have seen or heard about that 20 years ago. And I think that can have a really big impact on individuals, too, because I know that we get a lot of people reaching out because they see people doing certain things in workouts or, oh, that person has the same spinal injury as me and he's doing that. That means I can do that, too. Where could I get that piece of equipment to do at home? Right where we wouldn't have seen those opportunities before.
So I do think that technology and social media plays a big role as well.
Yeah, I think those two things for sure.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I can see that.
I love riding my bike. I love swimming at the Y pool, and to start the day, I could be the poster guy for gold's gym. I am just so motivated and ready to go. But as the day rolls on and other life's priorities, the excuse list can build quite quickly for me. And come the end of the day, I can generally find a reason why I'd rather be doing something else than working out. But for folks that are just getting started, what are those biggest objections or excuses?
And I don't necessarily mean excuse in a really bad way, but how do you finish the sentence? Or what do you hear the sentence finished as? I can't do that because. What are those objections?
[00:15:19] Speaker B: Yeah, you know what it's, I would say these days, it's a lot of time is what I. Is what I would hear.
Time tends to be one.
I think confidence is another. I hear a lot of individuals that people that are. Because also the people that are. I'm. I'm talking to are individuals that are usually making that next step to coaching. So they're. They're either not doing anything and they already feel like they see the benefit of having a coach with them. So they know, like, okay, you know, you have the appointment, you're committed, right? You have someone showing you it feels safe. But even I've even had some individuals reach out and they know all that. But even just getting them started is still. There's still those excuses, as you would say. Right. Or just barriers for them. Right.
So time is definitely one that I hear that's common for those people that might reach out, but then they end up stalling a little bit.
Sometimes you hear cost. Cost can be one.
Especially because I feel like some individuals think that they need all this fancy equipment, which is super not the case. We actually, I think. I think you might have had it in the thrive magazine. We did a blog on an adaptive home toolkit for, like, under $100. And so it is, you can make working out accessible in terms of cost, but I think people just assume that that's what they need, because where we work out, for example, at the physical activity research center, it's all, like, adaptive equipment. Like, it's all made for people to wheel up in a wheelchair or use a chair in front of it.
All that type of stuff. But the reality is you could adapt stuff at home and you could adapt stuff in a community center that doesn't have fancy equipment if you have a bit of knowledge and a little bit of creativity. Right?
So I think hearing that that cost of seeking it out on their own is another. And then I also think that, and this is interesting. I'll speak to this. I hear that people aren't motivated.
They think. They say, okay, I know, I know. Like, logically, I know that exercise is good. I know that eating is good for me, eating the right foods to support my body and my goals, but they're not motivated. And I think this is one of the chats I have with quite a few clients of mine that come in with kind of thinking that motivation is not something we can ever really change. It's not. It's not an external thing that someone can come to me and say, make me motivated. I can't do that. So I find that once we accept that and we realize, you know, there may be a day where we're never motivated, the point is, is how do we set up systems so that we do it right? It's not about becoming motivated, because we mean, we just may never do be motivated. But if the systems are set up in your life so that you just do it, that becomes a habit. And that habit is what builds those changes over time. So an example is, and this is just a really simple example, but let's say going to the gym for someone is the challenge, and they're not motivated. And it's in the morning, like, like you said. I agree, Jeff. In the morning. If I don't get my workout done in the morning, it is not happening. I am not motivated at night. It is in the morning. And that's fine. There's no shame around that. But I know that. So I'm going to set up my. My own life to work with that. So I will put my alarm on my Google Nest instead of next to my bed. So when I have here that alarm, I have to get out of bed because it won't hear me go, hey, Google turn off the alarm. So now I'm up, my gym clothes are laid out, they're ready to go, and I have no excuse, and I'm up and. Right. So that's the hardest I could roll over, hit the button and go back to sleep. But instead that works for me. So that's just one example. Someone else's is maybe if their husband does the cooking and the grocery shopping, they only bring what's on the list. So if something isn't in the house, say it's cookies or ice cream or whatever isn't aligning with their goals, if it's not in the house, they're not going to go. They're not going to be able to have it and they're not going to go and get it. And that works for them. Right. So it's setting up those foolproof systems so that we are succeeding. And it just, it kind of just builds that reinforcement over time. We don't have to like it, we don't have to be motivated, but it works. Right. And that's where we need to get that mental switch.
And that is what creates success. If we wait for motivation, it may never happen.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: I've never heard that one before. Yeah, because I was going to ask you what keeps you motivated? And you just answered that question.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Don't leave the alarm clock or the phone next to the bed. Okay.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: I also don't allow myself coffee until I'm done my workout, and I will do a lot of things for coffee. So those days where I'm really tired and the alarm goes off, I'm like, just do it. And then you get to go have a coffee and I'm there.
[00:20:39] Speaker A: The reward?
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Going back a lot to unpack and talk about what you just talked about. But yeah, I do remember the home based toolkit and I was just really impressed by that, that you shared with us how simple and inexpensive it really is. So for those that really don't want to go to the gym for, you know, self image reasons, not confident, like you said, using that excuse word again, that doesn't have to be one yet. You can do that at home. And you do that so well with your blogs and just simplify. And the article that you just contributed, the defying aging, I thought, is this possible? But the way you broke it down in the five aspects of that and how to regain, maintain, or gain mobility and strength and balance, that's all important stuff to amputees, especially lower limb amp. So there's that kind of reward or reinforcement. So let's talk about that defined age blog, because first, when I looked at it, resistance training. Oh, that sounds like a young person's thing. That's not the way you present it or the cardiovascular training. So, yeah, just talk about that simplification of some of these big fitness concepts that we.
Yeah, we don't need to get hung up on.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I agree. Because I think the word resistance training and because of how I talk, because of where I work, a lot of people assume you have to be in a gym, but that just simply isn't true. And I think the example I use in the blog is that swimming counts as a resistance training.
The water is resistance. And the great thing about that is it's creating resistance with every movement. So it's not just like picking up a weight, doing an overhead press where you're working your shoulder.
This is every movement you do. And that's also why if you look at competitive swimmers, they burn so many calories in their training. If you look at Michael Phelps, how much food he has to eat to maintain, right. They're constantly under that resistance.
And in terms of walking, it doesn't even need to be swimming laps. It's actually shown that if you do, like, upright work in the pool, typically you want to have it about neck height. So you're below shoulders, below the water. That translates a lot better to gait than it does doing, say, like a front crawl or a breaststroke or something like that. So even people maybe at home that have a pool or they have access to, maybe it's a community center and it's more of a kid based pool, but not a lap pool.
Even just getting in that water and coming up to about neck height with that water and doing some movement, simple walking. If you're new or you're a beginner, just walk, right? Walk. Use your arms like you were walking. Things like that can actually can really help. It's also really good for the joints because it's so easy on your joints because you're essentially a lot lighter in the water. So anybody that might be dealing with some joint pain or osteoarthritis or just overuse injuries or anything like that, the pool is a really, really great way to get that, that work in.
You can also do resistance training at home without even weights. Therabands are another way that are very accessible.
I probably don't get applauded for saying this, but I tell all my clients this. If you have a physiotherapist or you go to a physio office. They have roles of those physio bands, of the thera bands. So you can typically. They'll just typically cut you one at one of your appointments, and you can. They'll just give it to you because typically you'll have. You'll have to buy them online in big roles, and they're not expensive, but if you just need one bandaid, you can just get one that way. There's also ones with handles that you can use. So if anybody needs, like, something to grip a little bit better, you can get the bands with handles. And those are like, you can wrap them around on door handles. You can put them on banisters.
Sometimes I wrap them around my feet for certain things and do, like, rows. Clients can put them on their chairs. There's, like, all sorts of ways you can do that, and you can do that from the comfort of your home. I've even had some clients show up that didn't have any thing like that to our sessions. And they use some tights, like some women's tights, just for. It's resistance. Right.
So you really don't need.
I don't find that you need, like, crazy equipment or big gyms if. Especially if you're just getting started. I know for some people it is more motivating to go to a location, and I totally understand that.
But there's tons of free classes online now that are adaptive.
I teach one on Thursdays at 12:00 p.m.
pacific time. Totally free, totally adapted. So there's lots of resources, too, that if you are new and you don't want to make that step to go out, you can make that work at home really easy. It's just getting a little creative and just kind of learning what the options are. I think you talked about some.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: A couple more things I want to talk about with that article, that blog you talked about. You know, the misconception is that we can't. That we cannot gain muscle mass in our senior years, but we can. Right. And both strengths, particularly those that are leaning toward osteoporosis or, you know, other conditions like that, so we can make gains and not.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Right, absolutely. And it's. It's interesting because the creating more bone, like, more bone density over time with resistance training is a newer study. We actually thought that we could slow it down.
And this is talking about someone who maybe isn't in the stage of osteoporosis where they're taking some medication that will help increase bone density. I'm just talking about maybe somebody who hasn't been diagnosed and isn't at that stage yet because drugs can change your density as well. Um, but yeah, it's been shown now that with resistance training, typically three times a week is going to be your, like your minimum three to four times a week strength training. Um, yeah, we can actually make some changes there, um, because it's, it actually starts pretty young when we start to lose muscle mass. Just, and this is even just for able bodied population, so if somebody is using a wheelchair, they're maybe only walking part time. These numbers are going to be a little bit different because the weight bearing isn't there. But typically it's about anywhere from three to 8% every decade after the age of 30, which is quite a lot if you think about it. So I hear sometimes people say, oh, but it's too late. I'm old and there's no point. And I didn't learn strength training when I was younger, but it truly, there really is no too late. You can start at any age. And it's our insurance, that's how I see it. It's the insurance for the body because as we start losing muscle mass, we don't have any to pull from.
Right. That's when, that's when we start to get in trouble and that's when that fall happens and we don't have any cushion to land on. Right. That's when things can go sideways. So building that insurance, no matter what age you are, is so important. And I think everybody, whether you're walking or part time or using a chair, anytime you can be weight bearing, I think, is really, really good. And resistance training.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great advice. I also, you talked a little bit about walking in the pool, I think is what the context you're talking about. But you also said in that blog that for you, one of the most underestimated forms of exercise is walking. Right. Getting for a walk.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: Talk about that. Absolutely. Yeah. Walking, I find depending on where we are, where you're living. Like, I know when I lived in LA, we don't walk anywhere because it's just not accessible. Everything is so far away. You drive like, I used to drive three blocks to the bank. It just wasn't something. And I was, I was super fit. I was doing bodybuilding shows and working out way more than I do now. But you drove everywhere. And once I moved to Vancouver, which, you know, you would think, oh, you probably drive everywhere because it rains all the time. I was, I walk everywhere and it feels, it's just more of an accessible city. And I feel so much better. And it's just so good for our, it's. It's like free lubrication for your joints.
It's really good for weight bearing. It is a reflex. Walking is actually a reflex. So it's something that our body, we don't really think about it much. It's just something that we do. It's not like an activity like swimming, where you kind of have to think about what stroke you're doing.
So it's. It's definitely something that makes a big impact on the rest of our movement, how much we walk or how we don't. Because if we're not walking too, we have to think, how. How is our body otherwise? Then we're usually sitting, right? If we're not walking, we're probably sitting in a car, right? Or what's the other, what's the other option? Maybe. Maybe somebody's biking or something.
So, yeah, walking, I find, is such a good way to increase your exercise, and it's a really low impact way to do it. And it doesn't need to be done in big chunks.
If somebody wants to start with a couple ten minute walks a day, maybe they have ten minutes in the morning, maybe they have ten minutes at lunch, or maybe someone has 20 minutes in the morning and then another 20 minutes at night. It doesn't have to be all together to get the benefits.
Sometimes I call them, like, exercise snacks. You can even do, like, a little bit of, even if it's not walking. Like, if you want to do part of your workout in the morning and then you can get to the rest at night.
We are now knowing that that's just as beneficial as carving out a full hour and getting out your exercise. So I think just walking whenever you can is really good. And I know all that old. I think we were told this probably ten years ago, but, like, the magazines would say, how to get in better shape and how to create habits. And one of them is like, always take the stairs or always park the furthest away from the store so that you can walk in and get those extra steps. Those are all still such great, it's such great advice, because in our society now, we're just so much more sedentary than I think how we should, should probably be. Like, we're not meant to sit all day, so any extra walking anybody can get, I think, is really huge and makes a difference.
[00:31:39] Speaker A: You talked about lubricating the joints and then last question on this blog, and I will move on. But it was so good motion is lotion. You said motion is lotion. So just quickly, Megan, explain what that means.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: Yeah, so someone told me that one of my coaches back in the day, like, I think they were pretty much based on rehab, but for athletes and getting back and, yeah, motion is lotion. Essentially, all of our joints are lubricated. Right. We've got some synovial fluid in a lot of our joints, depending on what joint we're looking at, and even our spine. And as we age, we naturally start to lose some of that, some of that fluid.
So one of the best ways to actually stimulate that is by moving. So walking is a really easy way to get that done.
Workouts. Something as simple as a sit to stand. Right.
A form of a squat, essentially.
Anytime where you're moving your knees, you're moving your hips, even arms and upper body. But getting that lubrication moving can help increase arm mobility. It can help with pain.
Any stiffness in our joints, that's typically what we're going to be feeling.
There's also another instructor that talked about, he calls it the fuzz, and it's our fascia that connects all of our. It's essentially, it looks like saran wrap, and it kind of, like, lays on top of our muscles. And our fascia, believe it or not, is connected throughout our whole body. So we have fascia that connects from our tongue to our toe. And when we don't move joints, that fascia actually ends up getting, like, sticky and it gets stuck, and it. It creates. When they open up the cadaver, it actually looks like it's got a fuzz on it. And so when we move and we keep the lubrication going in our joints, we avoid that. So if somebody comes to me and they have, say, frozen shoulder or something like that, and they have pain and they can't move, it might not even be. It's not a muscle or strength issue. It's usually a stiff joint and fascia issue, and they need to, you know, we need to address it. In that sense, their strength is. Would be there, but it's going to be a joint issue. And the lack of lubrication from lack of movement. So things like that. Motion is lotion, I think, is just a really good, easy way to remember just why it's so beneficial for everyone at any age to just keep moving as much as you can.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: Yeah. What a way to sum up. Keep moving at any age, any ability.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:34:23] Speaker A: A couple of fun ones to end. What was your first job that you can remember?
[00:34:30] Speaker B: Well, I started teaching dance. So I used to be a dance, a professional dancer, and I started teaching dance at age 14. I took on my own classes and I guess right before that I was probably 13. I did like, the admin front desk at the dance studio. So taking checks, you know, from the dance parents and tracking attendance and cleaning and making sure the bathroom had toilet paper. And then after a year of that, I was given my own classes. So I literally have been coaching my whole life.
[00:35:04] Speaker A: Well, those are details you just shared about maybe the more mundane things about that first job helps a lot when you're running your own business, right?
[00:35:14] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: You got to do it all.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:35:18] Speaker A: Wrap up with my guests is talking about sort of the recipe for a good day. If a good day, a great day for you is a recipe, what would be the ingredients that would go into a super day for. For you?
[00:35:32] Speaker B: For me personally?
[00:35:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Well, I think I love my morning routine. So I will say a really good workout in the morning with a good coffee.
I love sweating getting that workout done.
I live at the beach, so definitely getting to the beach in some form, whether it's walking or just hanging out at the beach and maybe reading. And I do love dancing, so definitely going out. And I'm a big salsa and bachata dancer, so I do love going out dancing with friends and getting that in as well. And probably some yummy food in there somewhere. Um, maybe a nice dinner. But.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Well, you're a scuba diver too. If you could throw in a dive with that.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I don't think of diving here because it's so cold here. But yes, if I could transport in that day also and transport to Micronesia or Mexico or something like that, I would absolutely add in some, a wreck dive and a wreck dive and a wall dive and maybe a cave dive and I would be happy.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: Okay. Not to be greedy about the dives, but yeah, this has been great. Thanks so much. And the information you're sharing is so motivating. And yeah, I'm not skipping that workout tonight.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Or to the gym or someplace. So no excuses.
Lots of information on your website about bettering our physical health. So that is oceanrehabandfitness.com. so check that out, everyone. Oceanrehabandfitness.com. great blogs there, info about the in person training and the online coaching. And tell us again about that noon offering.
[00:37:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. So at 12:00 p.m. vancouver time.
So I guess it would be 03:00 p.m. your time.
We do offer through the disability foundation. They have a program called Connectra, and you can look up Connectra on Facebook, or you can just go to the Disability foundation website. And we do offer a 12:00 p.m. adaptive fitness workout completely free. It's on Zoom.
You can log in and share your face with us, or you can have your screen blank and just follow along with within your own private of your own home. If you can't make that work out, they post it every week, so you can access it the recording on Facebook forever if you want. There's tons on there. So usually it's hosted by my colleague Julie. She's lovely. She has lots of experience, especially with older, aging adults.
And then I will occasionally step in, teach, and I think I'm teaching again next month and I think she'll be teaching this week. But yeah, so just check out the disability foundation and it's one of their Connectra programs and they also have a Facebook page.
[00:38:26] Speaker A: Terrific.
I certainly will. And we'll share that with our thrive readers. Awesome in the magazine.
Thanks again. This has been life and limb. Thanks to all for listening and joining Megan and I on this episode. You can read about others who are thriving with limb loss and limb difference at Thrivemag, Ca. That's thrive magazine. And you can also listen to previously recorded podcast episodes there, too. So until next time, live.
[00:38:57] Speaker B: Well.
