Emily Kiberd: Working Out with Hashimoto's: How to do it right!

In this episode we talk about exercising with autoimmunity, especially Hashimoto's, and why the extra gentle approach is not going to help. My friend Dr. Emily Kliberd is here to guide us in building the exercise routine that will truly create the results we are looking for.

Show Notes

In today's episode, Dr. Emily Kiberd shares her experience and expertise with us regarding the right way to work out with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, or any autoimmune disorder.

Dr. Kiberd is a chiropractor, mother of two, and the creator of Thyroid Strong; a workout program for women with Hashimoto's to learn how to work out without the burnout.  She put her own Hashimoto's into remission, and now helps other women do the same.

Dr. Kiberd shares her all too familiar journey with hypothyroid and challenges in getting a proper diagnosis.  Like so many, she was told that she was tired and had brain fog because she was a new mom.  Once properly diagnosed and making the lifestyle changes needed to begin healing, she continued to struggle to lose weight.  Turning to aerobics and intense exercise didn't help.
Once she switched gears and focused on a resistance training routine to fuel muscle, she began to get results with greater ease than imagined.

Why most doctors have it wrong:

Often those of us with autoimmunity are told to only do gentle exercise such as stretching, walking, or gentle yoga or pilates.  Dr. Kiberd has a completely different approach.  We need to fuel muscle, which is the largest endocrine system, in order to improve metabolism, reduce inflammation, and support soft tissue to improve pain.

With hypothyroid, systems are slow and we don't turn over tissues as quickly as other people.  Regeneration takes longer.  It is imperative to avoid overuse injuries.
Tendons also get stronger under load, which is why resistance training is so important.

Frozen shoulder syndrome is often related to hypothyroid, not injury.  Stretching isn't the answer.

Ask yourself...
What is not moving enough (stiff)?
What is moving too much (hyper-mobility)?

Hyper-mobility is a common issue with autoimmunity.
It can be assessed using the Baten Score.

Doing the basics consistently is key!

Using kettle bells, low reps and rest period in between is key.
Dr. Kiberd typically starts clients off with two 12 kilo bells, equivalent to 50lbs.  It may sound like a lot, but LOW REPS!

All of the power you need is in there!

Don't be under a load for more than 20 seconds.
Don't suck your belly in for "skinny belly".
Use an audible exhale to tap into your power.

Check out Thyroid Strong for the six or twelve week program!

#1 thing to do:

Get enough protein to build muscle.  30 grams per meal.

Creators and Guests

Host

Julie Howton

What is Inspired Living with Autoimmunity?

The podcast for high achievers who want to stay sharp, focused and full of energy despite their diagnoses. Those who know there has got to be something better than simply accepting decline.

Hosted by Julie Howton, a National Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who used to suffer from crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis until she learned the tools and strategies to take her power back from autoimmunity.

In this podcast, Julie brings you interviews with thought leaders in the Functional Health and Wellness space. You will get actionable recommendations to Take Your Power Back and catapult your health. No fluff, just concrete, useful steps to improve your health!

Welcome back to the inspired
living with autoimmunity podcast.

I'm your host, Julie Michelson.

And today we're joined by Dr.

Emily Kiberd chiropractor, mama of
two and creator of thyroid strong,

which is a workout program designed
specifically for women with Hashimotos.

We're talking about why your workout
approach might be all wrong, whether it's

gentle or intense and how it's essential
to feed our muscles using resistance

training in order to support healing and
get the results we desire without the

overload, better results with less output.

Dr.

Kiberd, welcome to the podcast.

Thanks so much for
having me excited to be.

I am so excited to dig into this topic
because from personal experience,

as well as clinical experience,
I know how important it is.

And we were.

Talking before I hit record as to,
you know, that this is, it's such

an important topic yet, so few
are talking about it and you have

this amazing perspective and lens.

But I'd love to start with story
because I'm guessing that you, you know,

weren't dreaming of creating thyroid
strong when you were a little girl.

So how did you get to be doing.

Yeah.

So I've been a chiropractor
for 14 years since 2007.

And.

Had a baby in 2015, and I had all these
symptoms that you would kind of put

under this umbrella of you're a new mom
symptoms, extreme fatigue, losing my hair.

Outer.

Third of my eyebrow.

Couldn't lose the baby weight.

Couldn't finish my sentence, right.

That brain fog and.

I just thought, okay, this is my new norm.

Like my mom, friends, my patients, my
colleagues are like, you're a new mom.

Of course you're tired.

And you can't, finish your sentence.

Your baby's probably not sleeping.

And you're getting up a bunch of
times a night, 18 months postpartum.

Same symptoms.

And I was like, this cannot
be how I live my life.

This is like, you know, I run
a clinic in New York city.

I run a team, my new baby, I can't
be present with like, I didn't

feel like I could, could connect.

And so I started to kind of,
you know, walk down that path

that a lot of us walked down
conventional, you know, primary care.

Endocrinologist two functional
medicine docs and wasn't ever

really given a clear diagnosis.

And one of my girlfriends said, Hey
why don't you go meet my friend, Dr.

Gabriel lion.

And so I met Gabrielle, she
took a bunch of blood work.

She's a functional medicine doc.

And she's like, you have
an autoimmune condition.

You have elevated Throid antibodies has
no one tested that or told you this.

I was like, no.

And I had brought her past
lab work and she's like, oh,

everyone's only tested TSH.

And my TSH was, it was like, I
think it was like 2.8 to three.

It wasn't, you know, off the charts, but.

It was elevated.

And I had all the symptoms, right?

The, you know, the two biggest
struggles for women with Hashimotos,

which is what I was diagnosed
with was difficulty losing weight.

And that extreme fatigue,
like fatigue, worse than first

trimester, pregnancy fatigue.

And so we just started to take those
steps to clean up how I was eating.

Some environmental factors, mold,
parasites, heavy metals some

adrenal insufficiency, you know,
burning the candle at both ends.

And the LA you know, about nine
months later, I started to feel

better, like started to feel better.

And I know a lot of women
would think that's a long time.

But for me, I thought I
will do whatever it takes.

Just gimme a game plan.

I'll execute.

So you tell me no gluten, no gluten, no
dairy, a low histamine approach to eating.

And so, you know, the one piece that I.

Kind of waited to clean
up was the exercise piece.

I was trying to really lose the
baby weight with a lot of cardio.

So I'd go to a spin class or I'd
do two spin classes back to back,

Ugh.

or I'd do like a spin class and then I'd
walk across the street and do a hit class.

And so I was like the
weight wasn't coming off.

And I was also extremely, you
know, tired for days after one

inflamed.

Yes,

And inflamed.

Yes.

Like I just felt like boggy all over.

I know that's not a official medical term.

And so I had a trainer
working in my clinic.

He's amazing.

He was a trainer for 22 years,
Matt, Emrick still a trainer.

And he's like, you know what?

You sound like you are expending
so much energy and why don't we

just make it really, really simple.

And we, he put me on a
kettlebell resistance training

program three days a week.

20 minutes.

And my joints didn't hurt my muscles.

Didn't ache.

I felt better.

And the weight started to
come off and I was like, he's

like, let's do this smarter.

Like what you're doing.

Sounds exhausting.

And.

You know, I have a background
in kettlebell training and, you

know, a lot of people ask, well,
why didn't you tap into that?

And I think, you know, that cultural
narrative of like do cardio lose

weight has just been so ingrained.

I used to do triathlons and
marathons and half marathons, and

I kind of just defaulted to that.

So I started to do that felt way better.

Lost more weight by doing less.

And I was co-treating patients
with functional medicine doctors.

So they were in New York city looking,
you know, at the body from the inside.

And they were sending those patients
to me to build their muscle mass,

get them strong and address the
joint pain and muscle aches.

And that was really the
birth of thyroid strong.

Working with those women playing with
what worked on me and finding, okay,

what am I repeating over and over again?

That just more women need to hear
and can learn in a very simple way.

Amazing.

I love that.

And, and we do, we go
to our default, right?

If you were a runner and a triathlete,
that's, that's what you're gonna go to it.

It's like you know, we may know,
you know, calories and calories out.

Isn't really the thing, but that that's
still you know, we have certain defaults.

And again, I love that.

Then you were like, wow,
there's a need for this.

Like, it's not just, you.

We could spend an hour just talking
commiserating about, because I'm sure

most listeners with thyroid issues had
that similar experience of, you know,

TSH, T H Ts H and you know, just really
glad that you finally got your answers

and, and if you're listening and, and.

You're like, oh, I tick those
boxes, but I've been told

for years, my thyroid's fine.

Like make sure you're getting a
full thyroid panel, including,

you know, all the antibodies
free T3, all, all the goodies.

All the things.

I mean, I think the especially
important piece to that story is

my Hashimotos went into remission.

Luckily, because it was caught
early before there was too much

destruction in my thyroid gland.

Was I on thyroid medication for a little
bit, for maybe three to six months?

Yes.

But.

You know, probably 18 months after
starting the, you know, from getting

diagnosed to starting the work and
starting the protocols like remission.

So don't have symptoms, you know,
blood work is optimal and you know,

no presence of Throid antibodies
and even through a second pregnancy.

I stayed in remission, which I know for
a lot of us, like pregnancy is a stressor

on the body and we can get a flare above
our Hashimoto symptoms, but even through

a second pregnancy, I stayed in remission.

So I feel really grateful to
listen to my gut, like walk the

path, keep, I mean, even two
functional medicine doctors before.

That's unheard.

Like, I, I don't, I don't know that
I've ever met a functional medicine

doctor who doesn't do complete thyroid
panels, so that's unbelievable,

but that's also, it doesn't matter,
you know what the shingle says.

There are great thorough
doctors in all walks.

And, and, and some that aren't
digging down as far as they need to.

So, yeah, but you, you continue to
advocate for yourself and you didn't

give up, most people would be like,
well, you saw all these doctors already,

so why would you go see another one?

And so good for you.

And, and that's an important message too,
for everybody is to just keep looking.

yeah.

To really be your own advocate.

Like, no, one's gonna take
care of you except you.

And no one has to live
in your body except you.

So if you don't feel good, keep

Yeah.

And, and the other pet peeve is, and we
all, most of us have gone through it.

At least those of us that
have kids that, you know, that

whole, oh, you're a new mom.

Like I wish no doctor would ever
say that to anybody ever again.

We know the difference between I'm tired.

And I'm fatigued to
the center of my bones.

It's completely different.

And if, if you've experienced it,
you can tell the difference away.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So let's dig into, I think everybody
listening could be like, okay, you

know, you you've got thyroid issues.

You've got, Hashimotos clearly that
over exercising that you were doing,

you know, not the best approach.

We, we can all relate to that.

And, and I see it all the time
and, and I did it as well.

As my health started to decline
for me, it was more of a Like,

I'm not giving up this thing.

Like my RA had taken so much
and it wasn't gonna take the

physical activity that I loved.

So I pushed and I pushed.

But.

I wanna get into most, I, I think most
of us experience the opposite, right?

We're not over overdoing cardio we're
being, or maybe we were, and then

we go 180 and it's gentle and slow
and told, gentle, stretching, do

some yoga and, and full disclaimer.

I love yoga.

Like nobody's saying don't ever do yoga.

But I wanna talk about
the resistance training.

Yeah.

you love yoga too.

See, we, so we're not nobody's
nobody's hating on yoga.

Yoga's great.

Pilates is great.

Like if you find these things that, that
you enjoy and you love, I'm guessing

you're not gonna say totally give them up.

But we wanna get into why.

That's not what you need and this idea of
feeding muscle and resistance training.

So let let's dig into to some of that.

Yeah.

I mean, I'll just put out there.

I'm a yoga instructor.

I taught yoga.

You know, for 14 years in New York city
in the corporate setting in yoga studios.

So I too love yoga, you know, travel
the world with what yoga tree treats

probably got some parasites on those,
but so if you frame the autoimmune

condition around muscle tissue, muscle
tissue being the largest endocrine

organ in the body, what does that mean?

It means that when you contract muscle
newer research, Shows that you secrete

proteins Mykines cytokines and those
things that you secrete can reduce

inflammation can affect your hormone
pro profile can affect your metabolism.

So.

It's kind of cool to think I can
directly affect like the uptake

of glucose into the muscle.

I can directly affect the inflammatory
load in the body by contracting my muscle.

So while yoga, Pilates, low impact
exercise stretching is nice in theory

with like not overdoing, you know,
it for, from an adrenal perspective.

Right.

You're not going to feed the
muscle tissue in the way that

you need, which is underload.

And so to get that stimulus, you need
to pick up a heavy weight with amazing

form and put it down and do it again.

You need to hit this fatigue of,
if it was on a scale of zero to 10,

you need to kind of hit an eight.

So by the last rep, You're thinking
like if 10 is like, no way I can pick

up this weight and eight is maybe
I have two more reps in the tank.

So you have to hit that exertional
point to get that muscle stimulation.

You could probably do.

You know, 20 Chos

I was.

Totally what I was just thinking.

She's gonna say chatter.

Onga I know it.

or you could do, you know, five floor
presses with or, you know, like you

could get that in a different way.

And in terms of having an autoimmune
condition specifically, A condition that

has an underactive thyroid component.

Like Hashimotos where there's
slower tendon turnover.

I would rather choose
something that has a lower rep.

Whereas if I did 20 Chungs, I
might predispose myself to tendon

injury or an overuse injury.

Because with high, with that
hypothyroid component, you know,

all our tissue is regenerating and
replenishing throughout the day.

When we have an underactive thyroid,
you know, every metabolic process in

the body, including our muscle tissue
in our tendons needs thyroid hormone.

When we have a low thyroid, you know,
low functioning thyroid, It just takes

longer for that regeneration to happen.

So, you know, a lot of women will
complain like, oh my shoulders, like my

bicep, you know, they won't say bicep
tendon, but they'll point to the front

of their shoulder or the knees, right.

That infra pat teller, tendon, right.

Where the kneecap goes down into
the little leg, they'll be like, oh,

I don't wanna go get on the floor.

Cause I'm afraid I won't
be able to get back up.

Cause my knee's ache.

Well, that's that tendon aching.

So it's important to create that
strength and stability feed the muscle

so that those tendons can be strong.

I love that.

And I, I love I'm a visual learner.

And so I'm like listening
and I'm like, what?

I just, the way you said that makes
so much sense and I've never heard

anybody just put it out there simply
for us with, of course, if you think

of all these processes are slower.

Suppress thyroid, you know, with Hashi
with even if it's not autoimmune.

And those with autoimmune, obviously
we've got we're extra special.

But that, just that visual of
like, oh my gosh, of course your

tissue's gonna regenerate slower.

And, and You know, I, no, I don't
wanna do 20 shotter and why should

we, you know, there's this fine
line again, between yes, we need to

stress the muscle to, to strengthen.

But we don't need to stress
the body to strengthen.

And I, I love that differentiation.

Yeah.

I mean, even specifically the tendons,
the tendons get stronger under load.

There's no amount of stretching,
massaging, rubbing, stimulating

in that sense that's passive
that can strengthen at tendon.

The only way at tendon strengthens
is when you put it on load.

And I think, you know, another
interesting kind of injury that

women experience with Hashimotos.

It often picked up in menopause, menopause
as frozen shoulder syndrome, where your

arms kind of glued to your side and
you can't wash your hair or comb your

hair, even put your arm into a jacket.

And there is, I think there's two
research articles on it, where they took.

People with known hypothyroidism
and checked, like, what is the

prevalence of frozen shoulder syndrome?

And, you know, so there's a correlation,
same thing, like low thyroid.

The tissue is kind of like getting
contracted and now, you know, you can't

put your arm in, in your, in your jacket.

So, you know, that's another
thing that comes up often.

Menopause female.

So, you know, anytime I, a patient comes
to me and they have frozen shoulder, I'm

like, oh, did you get a thyroid panel?

Full Throid panel?

And usually it's no.

And then usually I ask them to go
ask their doctor for one, because

the, the rehab is so long and brutal.

Like you could do, you know, one to two
years of rehab going three times a week.

Wow.

And then it might get better.

And then a lot of women will
experience that on the other

other shoulder.

Yeah, my

is it the other

mom went through that.

Yeah.

Yep.

Whereas if you got that thyroid
component addressed, like if there

was something that needed to be
managed with medication, whatever.

Healing would probably be faster.

You know, sometimes women will go,
they'll do manipulation under anesthesia

where they put you wonder, and then
they basically like tear the tissue.

And so yeah, like if anyone could never

so what we're talking about
prevention here, right?

Like, yes.

There's obviously, if somebody already
is experiencing it, like you said,

you're, I love that you're sending
them like, get a full thyroid panel.

But this is preventative.

Like we can all be strengthening and doing
these things and, and that's, I love that

you gave that example, cuz that is the one
I think that most people would think like.

Well, they, they weren't
stretching enough.

So it got stuck, you know?

Yeah.

There's a lot of like cultural blame
shame, like, whoa, what did I do?

Like, and it's, well,
maybe nothing, you know,

Wow.

That is a amazing, so.

When you, so you're, are you when you are
working with people and they're coming

to you with their stretching and or yoga
routine, or maybe they're just walking?

Cause I that's where we tell people
to start, you know, is, is move right.

Just start moving.

What, what does that look like?

Are you, I know you said for you, it
was 20 minutes a day, three days a week.

But where do you have people start?

Yeah.

I mean, I start them, I
do a movement assessment.

I'm always looking at what
is not moving enough, which I

think listeners can understand.

And then on the flip side, you also
look at, okay, what is moving too much?

Like too much movement
is also not a good thing.

And so.

And I don't mean movement is in, like,
you're not doing enough in your day.

I mean, movement is like from
a joint perspective, is there

too much range of motion?

So we start there.

Usually we take a history of
like, okay, where, where are they

starting in their exercise journey?

Like, are they mainly just doing yoga
or Pilates or stretching or walking,

which, you know, walking is great
from a cardiovascular perspective.

And then we get them.

Pretty quickly on a resistance training
program doing functional movements,

we call 'em the essential seven.

So it's a, a hinge like a deadlift,
a squat, a push, a pull, a carry,

like you're carrying groceries.

And then an anti rotate.

and you know, part of the
assessment is looking, I check

a bait and score on everyone.

And a Baen score is a physical
therapy orthopedic test looking at

nine points in the body to see if
there's signs of hyper mobility.

And why am I doing this?

Because from a clinical aspect, looking
at the autoimmune population from a

movement and strength perspective, I
have noticed clinically that a lot of the

autoimmune population has this element
of tissue laxity joint, hyper mobility,

almost like the joints are kind of.

Lucy goosey and where it comes up
and is really easy to see is in the

knees hyperextending, like the knees
traveling back behind the ankles.

elbows.

So for example, we go back to yoga.

If you're always that person in
yoga class, in down dog or at the

top of a plank, and the instructor
kind of comes over is like, put a

little bend in your elbows, you know?

And you're like, oh, I thought
my, our elbows were straight, but

they're actually hyperextending.

You can touch the your thumbed,
the soft part of your forearm.

And then if you could bend your pinky
back beyond 90, and then the last

point to check is if you had your
feet together, knee straight, You

just bent forward knees straight.

You could Palm the floor,
which I know every yoga

wait a minute.

Aren't we?

What?

the

Isn't that?

The goal?

Yeah.

That's actually not normal.

So

Oh, my gosh, you just totally made my day.

I just broke every
Yogi's heart right there.

Awesome.

so those are those nine
points for a bait and score.

And I notice a lot of women with an
autoimmune condition have that element

of like the knees are hyperextending,
the elbows hyperextending, they

can Palm the floor, no big deal.

And so they don't need things
that create more mobility.

They need things that create strength
and stability and joint integration.

So.

We go to those functional moves that
you would do in life, like a hinge

like carrying your groceries, you know,
being able to push something, being able

to pull something really basic moves.

You know, I think people, especially
with this day and age of social media,

it's like, okay, the sexy moves.

It's like, you don't need the sexy move.

Like the experts like.

Yeah.

The people who are experts in, in
lifting, they do the basics consistently.

That's the only difference is
they do the basics consistently.

And so I wor you know, if the, if the,
if the person I'm working with is more

sedentary, it's working up to three days a
week 20 minutes, you know, you, sometimes

it's only, you know, starting out.

Two days, 15 minutes, you know,
whatever someone can do and

meeting them where they're at.

Usually I have them get a weight
that they could press or push.

So that might be eight kilo, 10 kilo.

And then I usually start, you know,
especially in a dead lift, two 12

kilo bells, which is 50 pounds,
which I know some listeners are

like 50 pounds, but you need enough
resistance to turn on the muscles.

If it's too light, you're just gonna be.

Standing up over extending your hips.

You're not gonna get any proprioceptive
feedback to like give you feedback

of where you are in time and space.

So you need enough load
to get things to turn on.

And that's usually, you
know, I start with 50 pounds.

So

way more than a soup can

yeah, that's where

right.

Like

know, I think there is a certain
population of autoimmune women

who like they can't get outta bed.

Right.

Of

Yeah, and that, and that could be
their starting point, but I think,

body weight, you know,
even just right, right.

But we're, that's not

But what if you did, so I'll, I'll
counter that with like, what if

you did instead of body weight?

Cause actually like for example,
body weight, squat is actually

much harder than if you just did
it with a little load to offset,

gotcha.

Sure.

Yeah.

if you just did like one
rep and then you parked it.

And you took a walk like you
took like a two minute like

break and then you did two reps.

And I know that's not, you know, for
like professional lifters, that wouldn't

be enough stimulus, but for the woman,
who's very sedentary and deconditioned,

that might be the starting place.

So,

And you answered.

That was gonna be my next question of,
because again, I'm going through like,

okay, well what's in my data bank of,
you know, 50 plus years on the planet.

And you know, if you can only do a
couple of reps, it's too heavy and

you're saying not necessarily, that's not

Yeah, cuz two reps will very soon,
you know, it gives you a, the

stimulus and the muscle memory.

We'll just simply call it muscle memory.

So that the next time you do
it, it won't feel so foreign.

You'll come back to it
and you'll be like, okay.

Yeah.

Like this is the setup.

This is where I breathe.

This is how I sit my hips back.

This is how I pick it up.

So maybe you come back the next
time and it's like two reps.

Take a minute break, three
reps, take a two minute break.

You know, I think that the other
key here is, you know, oftentimes

fitness, especially with the
high intensity interval training.

There's not a lot of rest.

And when you look at people who
are lifting heavier professional

lifters, they do low reps, they do
heavier weight, and then they take

a three to five minute rest break.

If you go to a fitness class,
there's no rest break until the,

you know, the end of the 50 minutes.

So I think it really, we have to,
part of it is like changing the

mindset of what our workout is.

Quote, unquote, supposed to look like.

You know, I think when I was
younger, it was a good workout.

Quote, unquote is
there's a puddle of sweat

your butt.

Yeah.

in the face.

I'm huffing and puffing
and that's my good workout.

And I think expecting that six days
a week, three days a week is unreal.

And now my workout is more to
get me strong to energize me.

It's not to break me down.

I love that.

And I can see, you know, when we're.

Addressing any kind of exercise
with, especially Hashimotos, but any

autoimmune because much like in your
story, there's, there's typically some

sort of an adrenal load issue going on.

A and it just makes total, like, it's
just so logical now that you said

it of like, oh, but the rest break.

In between,

We'll give you time to

we need that reset.

We need that recovery and it doesn't have
to be, you know, well, we're recovering

for the next three days because we were
red in the face with a puddle of sweat and

our body, you know, it was just too much.

So you mentioned, which of
course makes also perfect.

You know, form is so important, you're
working with people and you're, you're

guiding them and you're, I'm guessing
correcting form as you go so that they

can build that proper muscle memory.

You know, how, first of all, do, are
you working just with people in person?

Like where, where would somebody start
and, and know that they're doing it right.

Help us

Yeah.

I mean, the majority of people
I work with now are online.

And I think from working with people
so much in person, Getting really

good at queuing and getting people set
up in the right quote unquote right.

Position is really important.

And you know, you can sit, you know, if
you go back to like this yoga example,

like if you can tell someone like trying
to get them into Don dog, like, okay,

so like, sit your hips towards the sky.

Lift your butt towards the sky, you know,
like there's so many ways to say it and

like, what's gonna click for someone, you
know, what's gonna click for the majority.

So after working with a lot of
women, I'm like, okay, I know if

I tell my women step your feet,
like outer hip width, your toes.

If there was a clock are gonna point
to like one o'clock and 11 o'clock,

you're gonna put your hands right in
like your bikini line, hip crease.

and you're gonna sit your hips
back and you're gonna fold your

belly to your tops of your thighs.

Like you're squishing your hands and
that's your hinge like 95% of the time.

It gets

You're gonna get it.

right.

Versus, you know, I mean, you'll,
you'll hear trainers be like, okay.

So like, like they won't
tell you where to exactly.

Put your feet and they'll be like, okay.

So like just sit back

Well, and even the

get too Squatty,

specificity of outer hip width,
because most of us, myself included.

If I'm not consciously thinking about
it when, when it from this is years of

different classes, you know, if somebody
says hip with I'm never actually hip

with, I'm always in I'm, we're all,
always tend to think our hips are

Like a little

narrower than they are.

Maybe, and maybe it's just,
cuz I've had three children.

I dunno.

So what, but just that queuing, like
outer gets you to think like, okay really?

Where are my feet?

And I love the use of one and 11
cuz that's where my feet go anyway.

So I like that.

You know, and there's cues.

So when you're picking up a weight, it's
important to know how to build tension, to

like recruit your own strength and power.

So for example, a lot of women, when they
press a bell overhead, or they're doing

any push movements, they think mentally.

This is an upper body movement.

My upper body's weak.

Well, when you press something overhead,
it's actually, you're recruiting all

the way from your feet up your legs.

You're squeezing your butt.

You're breathing into your belly, you're
bracing, and then the bell goes up.

So it's actually a full body movement.

And there's cues.

You can give for example, foot
dialing or which can be queued

different ways, you know, like.

Feet or at that position,
like outer hip width, one 11.

And you're squeezing your heels, but
you don't move your feet almost like

you're screwing your feet into the floor.

Like that will immediately
you'll feel your quads turn on.

You'll feel your butt squeeze
you'll feel everything engaged.

And that is what is part
of helping lift heavier.

So like all, yeah.

So all that power is in there.

You just have to teach
someone how to recruit that.

Tension.

So, you know, I'll start with women
and they'll be like, oh, like 50 pound.

Deadli like, they're scared, right?

Like weights are scary.

Kettle kettle balls.

which people call 'em.

But they're kettle bells are scary at
first, but if you teach someone really

quickly how to build that tension, like 50
pounds goes up really easy, really fast.

And they're like, okay, time
for heavy weight, you know?

So.

Yeah.

So I think that's the
beauty of using weights.

And I think it's also, you know, it
has carryover into a mental state.

Not only is there, like,

Well, yeah, we all, you
know, especially everybody.

Anyway, I mean, I have a daughter,
you know, I, everybody needs to

feel strong, but especially those
that have been knocked down with

autoimmune or hashies and, and there's.

That's empowering.

And that's why I do this
is to help empower people.

Why you do it?

You know, it, it, that's the
key to, to creating wellness.

Yeah, absolutely.

last question.

I, I don't wanna keep you over
time, but I'm like, I have

this whole list of questions.

And so I wanna make sure
short of working with you.

I, I guess I'm looking for like a, what
not to do, cuz I could see me listening

to this conversation and like running out
to my gym to sign up for kettlebell class.

Right?

Like You know, what, what would be,
I guess, some mistakes listeners

might make feeling really motivated.

Like, ah, I'm gonna build muscle.

I'm gonna do it.

Like what, what should
they not run out and do.

Yeah.

I think when you're holding a weight, when
you're under load, you probably shouldn't

be under load, especially if you're
first learning more than 20 seconds.

So like I've gone to workout classes
and they're like, we're gonna do

kettlebell swings for two minutes.

Like, I've never done.

Like I do 10, which is about 20 seconds.

And then I park the bell I break.

So that like long in, you know, especially
with more ballistic movements, like a

kettlebell swing, like that's meant to
be done in short doses, not for, you

know, one to two minute periods of time.

I think the other thing that's really
common and was one of the things

that I always have to retrain is
when someone says, like, engage your.

Tighten your abs, like what
does that actually mean?

And as women, especially those
who've gone to Pilates, they think.

I'm going to pull my belly
button into my spine.

I'm going to suck in, I'm going to
skinny my waist, and you don't wanna

do that under load, cuz that will
actually . We, it will decompress the,

that intra abdominal pressure and that.

Natural core strength and what
could actually, you know, give

your disc herniation or back
injury when you pick up a weight.

So you want to learn how
to breathe down and wide.

And then on the exhale, you want to learn
how to like, keep that tension that brace.

Like as if you had a little
tank of strength in your core.

And so, yeah, I think that's a, that's
like one of the number one things I

always have to retrain is like, when you
pick up a weight, don't suck your belly

in which I get a lot of women that are
like, wait, I'm not supposed to do that.

So I think those would be
the, the two biggest things.

And I think the third thing is.

We get power.

So, you know, oftentimes we are told
to exhale on the exertional part.

Like if you did a bicep curl, it's
right on the bending of the elbow.

So especially with kettlebells,
especially when you're teaching someone

to recruit their own, their own tension.

If you have someone do an audible exhale,
they will be able to access that brace.

Sometimes you see
people, they like inhale.

And then they pull the weight and they're
like, like, they're blowing through a

a little

right?

Yeah.

Like it's just, there's no
like power to it and you really

want to access your own power.

So when I have people do it, it's inhale.

Exhale, sh.

To like really that audible aspect really
helps you find your brace in your core.

So I think one of the other,
which, you know, some women in a

workout class might be like, okay,
I'm gonna look like that person.

Who's really breathing really loud.

Yes.

Be that person because it will
make you stronger and it will

help you protect your back.

So you don't injure yourself.

I love that that's, that's amazing
advice and, and things to look for.

So how, how can I, and I, I
do think it's so important.

to, to have those ideas of this
may not be the class for me.

You know, if they're doing a a, a
five minute, you know, arms, whatever

it is, like, you just, just heat this
advice because it is worth lots of gold.

Tell me a little more about how
listeners can work with you or

tap into your knowledge and E.

Yeah.

So I have a program called thyroid strong
two versions, intermediate six weeks for

people who have picked up a weight before,
but maybe haven't done it in a while.

And then there's a 12 week program for
people who've never picked up a weight

for those people who are deconditioned
or just more, you know, more sedentary.

And so that's called thyroid strong.

And it's super fun.

Cuz if you think about how many times
have you done a group program or a

challenge and people are getting results.

Like a lot of women come
in doing like beach body.

They're just like, I'm
not getting the results.

Like everyone else.

It's like, okay, well, your
body's a little different.

You have an autoimmune condition.

Like everyone in thyroid strong Hashimotos
and, you know, we experience similar

things like squats and lunges really hard.

Like they're just hard going
back to that, that tendon aspect.

And so you have to modify
and people have questions.

And so it's nice that like everyone's
on the same page and speaking

the same language and it's just a
really great community of women.

And yeah, that can be found
at dremilykiberd.com and it's

@dremilykiberd across all the
social platforms, including TikTok

again, oh, check her out on TikTok.

And Instagram.

Yeah.

I, that you, I love that.

You just answer all my
questions before I ask them a.

And all the links are, are gonna
be included in the show notes.

But I do always ask cuz I
like to listen on the go.

And so now people know where to find you.

What is one step that listeners
can take today, starting today

to start to improve their health?

It could be anything,

Anything.

Ugh.

I know.

I would prioritize protein intake, minimum
30 grams per meal to stimulate muscle

protein synthesis, which is basically.

Muscle tissue grow your muscle tissue.

Cause how you eat can
affect your muscle tissue.

And that's a beautiful thing.

So yeah.

Start, start your day with protein.

Try and hit 30 grams minimum.

I love that.

And that was one of the things I
wanted to get into and, and talk

about how do we, you know, feed
ourselves to, to build muscle.

And, and.

Protein intake is so important.

So I love that you went there.

And we could talk about that for 10
more minutes, but I promised I wouldn't

keep you too long this morning.

So I am so, so grateful for the
just amazing knowledge and tips

that you've shared with listeners
really, really appreciate.

Thanks.

Thanks for having me.

For everyone listening.

Remember you can get the
show notes and transcripts by

visiting inspired living.show.

I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.

I'll see you next week.