Ready to elevate your health and fitness game through the power of self-advocacy? I highlight the importance of self-education, clear communication, and finding the right fitness environment that resonates with your personality and goals. I underline the pivotal role of asking questions about recovery timelines and preparation for procedures in the medical world. I hope to empower you to confidently assert your needs!
Podcast Disclaimer:
The Pain-Free Podcast is presented solely for general information, education, and entertainment purposes. Any information presented in this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional diagnosis. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. As always, users should not disregard or delay obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition that they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.
Ready to elevate your health and fitness game through the power of self-advocacy? I highlight the importance of self-education, clear communication, and finding the right fitness environment that resonates with your personality and goals. I underline the pivotal role of asking questions about recovery timelines and preparation for procedures in the medical world. I hope to empower you to confidently assert your needs!
Podcast Disclaimer:
The Pain-Free Podcast is presented solely for general information, education, and entertainment purposes. Any information presented in this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional diagnosis. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. As always, users should not disregard or delay obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition that they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.
Welcome to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones. I am a certified personal trainer and I'm here to help you achieve your fitness goals without pain. In each episode, I'll share tips and strategies that will help you stay safe and pain free while you're working out. I'll also interview experts in the field of fitness and pain management. So if you're ready to learn how to stay active and pain free, then subscribe to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast today. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Pain Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones.
Dana:
Today's topic is about advocating for yourself. I've had a couple of situations this week and I've had a couple of clients ask me questions about certain things, and so I feel like I need to kind of give the Dana Jones pep talk on how to advocate for yourself, or at least feel like I don't know you're not getting played or people aren't taking advantage of you, whatever it may be. Anyway, the two different ways, of course, because I can't make it simple enough, but two different ways that I want people to advocate for themselves is you know? Number one you know in the fitness world, right? You know what your needs are. You know hopefully you've done the research for the type of trainer you want, the type of gym facility you're willing to work out with. Whatever it may be right, there's something that is, I guess, like magnetic something drawing you to a particular environment, and so if you don't get that right, then you have to have some well, you have to do some research, you have to do other things. We'll talk about that in more detail.
Dana:
The other way that I'm kind of thinking about, advocacy is for you in the medical sense. You know, I'm again working with clients that are a little bit older and they're having some issues in terms of, you know, rural of the age now, where we're getting like knees replaced and you know this kind of stuff, and hips replaced and back pain and whatever. And I keep getting asked questions about like, well, what do I do next? And, as flattering as it is, I am not a medical professional and although I do believe that I know how to navigate the medical system compliments of all my ailments and for me, you know, really asking for what I wanted and what I realized is that that's not a natural skill that most people have, and so I thought it would be important for me to sit down and just kind of talk about. You know the 10 top steps of what people really need to do when they're running into a situation where they want to make sure that they're being heard or that their needs are being met, and so here are my top 10.
Dana:
So number one is educate yourself. If it is, if you receive a diagnosis about something, then you know I know Dr Google's a bad place, but you know, sometimes it's not so bad. So go and look for things right, find out. Okay, they say that I'm bone on bone with my knee and that's why it's arthritic. And you know, do a little research and find out. You know what are the typical. You know what's the typical protocol for recovering from such a thing. Do you recover from it? You know, if I go to physical therapy, what does that look like? Those types of things, right? So you want to make sure that you're getting some information so that when you go back, maybe there's a second appointment or something like that.
Dana:
You have questions, right, and that's a big thing If it's in the fitness world. It's really about making sure that, again, that you know where you're going. You do not want to go to CrossFit gym if that is not on your agenda because you're going to be offended, right, because there's a lot of screaming, yelling, running around, throwing weights, all that kind of good stuff, which is very exciting for somebody who may be interested in that, but if that's not what you want, then probably shouldn't go to that gym, right? So you have to make sure that you really know what you're doing and what you're getting yourself into. Number two communicate clearly. What does that mean. If you have questions, concerns you know, little stomach feelings and going oh I don't know if that's 100% correct or whatever you have to make sure one that you write all that information down. Right, so have a notebook that is dedicated to whatever this is.
Dana:
So, even if it's researching a gym or a fitness trainer or whatever, write down what do I want from that person, what are the personality characteristics that I'm looking for? And then how do I ask for that and how do I interview somebody to be my fitness trainer or to be the gym you know? Walk around. I always remember when I was purchasing my house and the woman said make sure you go there at night on a weekend and see what it's like, right, because you know during the day everything's pretty. Probably everybody's at work, the kids are at school, so you're seeing like just the house and you're like that's so beautiful. But then if you go there on a Friday night and everybody's rocking and you know kids are screaming and all that kind of stuff and that's for you, or your kids are screaming and you're like, yay, okay, this is cool, nobody's going to complain about my kids because your kids are screaming, then that's fantastic. If you're somebody who's looking for a quiet space, that may not be appropriate for you. So, again, those are the things that you take note of and you keep track of. The other thing is that once you have all that information, you know you write everything down.
Dana:
Then, like, how do I formulate questions? How do I ask for what I need? So, say, you're going in for a procedure. Like, what is the timeline for recovery? What do I have to do before the thing? Whatever the thing may be, right, the surgery, the procedure, whatever, right. What do I have to worry about in terms of medications? What kind of care do I need? What kind of support am I going to get for you after this procedure? Those kinds of things you want to create a, I almost say like an air of intelligence, right, which sounds horrible, but you do. You want to come across as like I'm not going to let you just tell me what's going to happen. I want to know and hear my questions and concerns and you're not going to do anything to me until these are answered, right? So, and that leads into number three ask questions. Nothing, what's the worst thing that anybody could ever say is no, right. You know to anything, right? So you always ask questions.
Dana:
Ask questions about what people are doing, how they're doing it. Again, you know medical procedure. You already know because I've mentioned that. But you know your fitness trainer. Like, what are you going to make me do? What does a typical workout look like for you? How do you view recovery? Like all the things that are rattling around your head that you may be concerned about. That is what you asked for, right? Being informed is a wonderful thing, right? You don't want to be in a situation where you don't know what's going on or you don't know what somebody's purpose behind what they're doing.
Dana:
Number four seek second opinions. If you are receiving a medical procedure and you're not comfortable with it, that says everything, right, then you need to go out, and I know it's going to cost money, maybe not, but get somebody else to take a look at those x-rays or whatever, and then decide from there. And if the second opinion doesn't work, get one, get a third right, because you don't want to be doing something that is going to make whatever situation you have worse. And so getting everybody to kind of collaborate on your healthcare is a good thing for you and it's going to make you go into any kind of situation especially if it's a surgical procedure with some more optimism, and optimism is definitely one of the core components of having a good healing space and good recovery time.
Dana:
Number five have realistic goals and set realistic goals, right. So don't go to your fitness trainer and go I want to lose 100 pounds in a month, right, or I'm going to do X by this or whatever it may be. Have a conversation with that person and then say what do you think is a reasonable goal? And then you check in with your gut, your brain, whatever you know, whatever is your driving force, and find out like is that a reasonable expectation? Because if a trainer pushes you beyond what is reasonable, you're going to get hurt or you're going to lose trust, which is definitely not an ideal situation for a fitness trainer and a client and then, of course, for the doctor, same thing. You know, if they're expecting you to be running in a month but they just replaced your knee, it's probably not a realistic goal. So, again, it's being in that mindset of really saying, like, what is okay for my body, what is okay for me mentally, emotionally and physically, all those things.
Dana:
Number six, you're going to keep records, everything right. So know your medical history, get copies if you need it, know your test results. You know, write down your workouts, look back right, oh, I was. You know you go. Oh, I didn't think I was doing so well. And then you look back on something you're like oh, I'm totally fine. You know you may be tired and physically exhausted, so that may be the feeling that you are feeling, but it's not the same thing. So having records and having the ability to reflect back will allow you to know again your needs right. Plus, it's always good to have your medical history with you because you know things happen. I live in an area of the country where you know there are wildfires and having those types of records with me, like if the hospital burns down, I want to have, like the ability. Of course, a lot of things are digitized now, but it's still something that at least I can look at and know that I have right and hold on to your x-rays or that kind of stuff Tracking, progress, tracking, you know, medications all that is always good to have.
Dana:
Number seven advocate for preventative care. What can I do? Right, that is going to keep me in a nice, streamlined, healthy flow, right? So I was just talking to a client about, like simple things. Like I know this is hard for some people. Go to the dentist, right. I know this sounds weird coming from a fitness trainer, but there are a lot of things that can happen if things aren't okay in your mouth, right? So sometimes that is a peek into your health history. So go to the dentist, get your teeth cleaned, make sure you check all that stuff out.
Dana:
But then there's other things.
Dana:
Right, you need to go to the doctor. You need to know your blood pressure. You should be updated on vaccinations, right, especially if you're traveling or whatever it may be. You also need to know, like, what does your blood work look like? Do I need to make some lifestyle modifications as a result of the information that I'm getting, you know, and that could be cholesterol screenings right, all the screenings.
Dana:
You're paying for this benefit to have the medical coverage, so use it right. And I know with my particular insurance, we get one free physical per year. And when I go in there, I go in with a notebook Everything that I've been worried about, everything I've been thinking about. I'm going to write this down and the doctor, like you, can tell they're trying to run away and I'm like, oh and about this? And I go through because I want my money's worth. I'm paying thousands of dollars a year to have this coverage. So you need to listen to me and you need to make sure that you address all my concerns and let's get all these things taken care of before it turns into something else. And that's the biggest thing. Number eight stay informed, right. So know what the latest research is.
Dana:
You know, I remember when I first got into fitness training, when people got their knees replaced, you were casted, immobilized, whatever, weren't allowed to move. Now let's go. You're walking right. You're walking every day. You're walking a couple of times a day. We're moving why? Because we found out movement aids and healing. So moving your body does that A lot of people don't know, especially if you're dealing with older family members or whatever, they're like, no, I'm not going to do that, because that's, you know, whatever.
Dana:
And it's like no, you are, you're going to move, you're going to do the things that you need to do because you want that healing. The same thing with fitness stuff. You know, like we've talked about before. I come from the world of you know you go down to 90 degrees and that's a good squat. Now, you know, going back and looking, it's like holy smokes. It's like, no, you do a full squat because you want all the muscles in your legs to get worked and you want to keep that joint pliable. So research is key. So, by staying informed and doing your research and you know now, like, youtube has a bunch of stuff and you can end up going down a rabbit hole forever with those kinds of things but check out the latest research and find out where you're heading for whatever you may be doing. Number nine seek support. Right, if it is something, you know, there's a Facebook group for it. That's the reality. Right, there's something for everybody. But that's what you want to do. Right, you want to talk to people.
Dana:
When I had sinus surgery, so I had my turbinates reduced. And so I found a blog of some woman who had the same surgery and half of the things that she said, hey, you should buy I bought or not have, we're not listed on my medical paperwork and they were helpful. And it was ridiculous how helpful some of the things were and it's like damn all right. But she just went through. She knew what the surgery was going to look like because, honestly, when I went in I was kind of afraid. I said I can't breathe. The guy shoved cameras up my nose and then he's like you need surgery and left the room, and so I wasn't getting that kind of information from a surgeon who sometimes behaves the way some surgeons do. And so I decided to go outside and receive some support and some help, and by reading this woman's blog, my recovery was so much better and so much nicer than just the basic paperwork that your doctor's office prints out.
Dana:
And the same thing with fitness Get a group, go out, get a walking buddy, get a swimming buddy, you know, get a buddy for everything that you do Like oh, I like to run. Okay, then this person, I call for that. Oh, I like to swim. This person, I call for that. Oh, I like to lift weights Right, get somebody to go, because you're more likely to stay engaged in that activity. If you have somebody who's going to support you in your goals, right, and that's what you want. When you're having a medical procedure, you need a team, right. Who's going to help me Get to the bathroom, who's going to help me get up out of the bed, you know, who's going to help me with food, medication reminders, those kinds of things Right. You need some kind of support and it's always good to ask for help.
Dana:
And number 10, back to the gut Trust your instincts. If you feel that something's not right, you're probably right. So go with those instincts. Do a little research on there. If it's really not right, then you know. Then you back out of it. There's no shame in saying not right now. There's no shame in telling a fitness trainer you are not for me. That is okay. I'm not going to be offended because ultimately, my goal is to make sure that your needs are being met. And if that's not for me, then I'm hoping you'll find somebody and that's the ultimate right.
Dana:
Is that what advocating for yourself does? Is that you're setting boundaries, right? You're saying what your expectations are. You're saying what you need for yourself and that you have to be an active participant and you don't want to be in a situation where you're just kind of monitoring your life from afar. Right, you want to be in there. You want to make active decisions. You don't want people making decisions for you. Plus, the more conversations you have, then people know what the expectations are, your family understands what you want and, again, that allows you to have a supportive environment and then you can reach your goals.
Dana:
So just a brief recap right Of our top 10 is number one educate yourself to communicate clearly. Also, take good notes. Three ask questions. Four seek second opinions or third opinions, whatever works. Five set realistic goals. Six keep records. Seven advocate for preventative care. Eight make sure you stay informed of all the up to date, latest research developments, et cetera. Nine is seek support. And 10, trust your instincts. I don't know if this is foolproof. Yeah, I can say stuff, but for me, learning how to really be an active participant in my own life has really changed the way that I view things and I think for the younger audience members it's appropriate right. A lot of times you get intimidated and I'm saying don't be intimidated, do the things that you need to do for you, because, in the end, you're the only one that matters. Anyway, that's all I got for you today. Thank you so much for listening, and don't forget to like and subscribe, and I will catch you next time.