Pain-Free Athlete's Podcast
Are you tired of feeling pain? Are you recovering from a surgery? Do you want to learn how to stay active and pain-free? I'll share tips and strategies that can help you stay safe and pain-free while you're working out. I'll also interview experts in the field of fitness, rehabilitation and pain management.
Pain-Free Athlete's Podcast
Balancing Athletic Life: Empowerment and Recovery with Dr. Mary Burmeister
This episode emphasizes the vital connection between physical health, mental well-being, and empowerment in fitness. Dr. Mary Burmeister shares her journey as a collegiate athlete and the lessons she learned about burnout, nutrition, and the importance of holistic health practices, specifically tailored toward women.
• Discussing the impact of collegiate athletics on personal development
• Recognizing the dangers of an all-or-nothing mindset
• Implementing balance and self-care in fitness routines
• Exploring the crucial role of nutrition in performance and recovery
• Sleep as a key factor in athletic success
• Personal experiences with bodybuilding competitions and their challenges
• Emphasizing foundational movements and their significance
• Addressing mindset issues stemming from past athletic experiences
• Details on coaching services and programs with a holistic approach
• Invitation to connect with Dr. Mary for further guidance
Dr Mary's Contact info:
Website: https://www.themaryburmeister.com/agelessathlete
Social links: https://www.instagram.com/empoweredwithoutlimits/
Dana’s Links:
https://www.painfreeathletepodcast.com
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.
@djsfitnessevolution
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 to the Pain-Free Athlete Podcast. I'm your host, dana Jones, and today I am joined by Dr Mary Burmeister. She is an empowerment and fitness coach out of Colorado. Welcome, mary.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:So you and I connected and we have so many things in common and, of course, you are a collegiate athlete. Yes, you were a collegiate athlete, yes. So how does that, how does that, you know?
Speaker 2:wrap into everything that you're doing right now. Well, it absolutely shaped who I am, I'm sure with most athletes, especially collegiate athletes, you know four years of dedication and you know discipline and drive and you know constantly competing. You know that just doesn't go away. So you know definitely has shaped everything moving forward in my life for the last. You know 15, 20 years which I'm sure you can relate to yeah, for sure, and I just always.
Speaker 1:The key is you know, so you are. What is your official title? Because you have a lot of things that kind of fit under you um.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm a doctor of physical therapy and then um also a fitness and empowerment coach and so how does what have you used or pulled from your experience because I think a lot of times we as athletes, you know, become the things that possibly we didn't receive in terms of support, especially as female collegiate athletes, because, um, for those of you who haven't had that experience, it's pretty entertaining. You know, the guys get their uniforms washed and get brand new equipment and all that other stuff, and sometimes the women are just lucky to wash their own clothes, you know, or have the good facility. But there's things you know, like to be an empowerment coach, there's certain things that people need, and how do you feel that your experience as an athlete kind of played into your role now?
Speaker 2:So, you know, being an athlete, it's an all or nothing mindset, it seems like, and the more I travel down this journey, understanding that that all or nothing mindset has really, you know, impacted my life in positive and negative ways. You know, we, we tend to constantly think we need to be, you know, pushing ourselves and not taking breaks or resting. And you know, for me, that that led to a lot of burnouts over the years, and I see so many women lead. You know that leads to burnouts because we just constantly feel like we have to push and prove ourselves. And you, you know, funny, you say that about like the men, like what we don't.
Speaker 2:What a lot of people don't understand is, you know, with females with hormones and men that don't have that same makeup, they can continuously go for, you know, hours on end where, you know, learning that we need to take breaks and it's okay to take a break, learning that we need to take breaks and it's okay to take a break. But in this society it's a very masculine driven society that we just constantly have to prove ourselves. And that's where I kind of have realigned my visions and how I coach, because coming out of that state of burnout there's a lot of beauty behind it and you know getting people to buy into that and you know speaking with you. You know something similar you know having happened to you as well right?
Speaker 1:well it's. I think it's always interesting when you're dealing um with women, especially because of the fact that there is this like we got to fucking drive on, right it's. You know, the military mentality is is like fight, oh, fuck it and drive on. And I think women have to do that more often because of the fact that there is this societal pressure, of course, on men to be breadwinners and and really there is no rest, right, that they're supposed to be working 15-hour days or whatever that kind of thing, and we're supposed to be wrapping everything up and doing stuff ourselves as well as care for little humans, if you have them, or you know whatever it may be, or that we can't look weak. And so I guess you know.
Speaker 1:My question is, like, you know, you have a very interesting job, because it's like, how do you teach balance? I guess it would probably be the best thing, right, because that's got to be your biggest challenge, right? Is that? A lot of times, women are very like all in, so how do you teach them to kind of, you know, taper off or or have a balance that leads to a healthy lifestyle?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 2:So you know, just starting off getting them to, you know, buy into just taking on simple habits. So, you know, starting with a very basic fitness program to move their body, just doing body weight to reconnect their mind to their body, decrease some of that high intensity, fight or flight, constantly feeling we need to push, just keeping it very simple. And then, with the nutrition a lot of people try to take on, I'm going to take this new diet and then I'm going to take this exercise and I'm going to do it all and I'm just going to do it. I know I can. Well, then they burn out.
Speaker 2:So, again, you know, making one small change in their nutrition to start with. And you know, the biggest thing that I've noticed with a lot of the women is, you know, they're eating in such a caloric deficit to start with because they feel like the less calories, the more I move, the more weight I'm going to lose, but I'm still stuck at this stagnant weight, feeling puffy and swollen. And so just implementing one full meal with them has made such huge changes in their energy levels. And when I say full meal is, you know, something balanced with, you know, a dense carb, like whole food carb, a protein and a vegetable, and just making sure they have that one sustainable meal. And you know, things have. Their energy just skyrockets. And so then they start buying in to just making small changes, and so then they start buying in to just making small changes.
Speaker 1:How much does nutrition play, because you specialize with people over 30.
Speaker 2:How much does nutrition play in sleep? It's pretty significant. Personal experience, just, you know, doing a bodybuilding competition and being in the low-carb state, realizing how crappy my sleep was at times when my carbs were so low. So learning that carbs, really they aren't bad and society has made them seem so bad. And it's more obviously the processed foods, foods, the sugars. But when we start eating, you know whole foods and you know dense, complex carbs. It's amazing how much more you sleep and you stay asleep through the night because your body is not in this constant state of survival and starvation.
Speaker 1:Basically, which is interesting because you're doing this right to show. You know, for those of you, dr Mary's participated in the MPC competitions, which are kind of intense, and so you're in this ideal. Right, you have to look a certain way, you're? I mean, this is probably the worst nightmare of a woman is to be judged on your body, for, you know, balance of muscular size, you know as well, and obviously posing plays a big part in it. Right, the positions that you put your body, but for the most part they are looking like there's nothing to hide. You're in a bikini, right, right, and, but you need to be, um, you need to look a certain way. And so, with that sleep, right, sleep is a part of your recovery program. So what happens, right, like with muscular recovery, when you're not getting good sleep, like, can you like? Is there a comparison to what, how you felt before you competed, versus like while you were? You know, getting prepped?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I mean, I thankfully with my job, I could you know if I wasn't getting, you know, quality sleep or a lot of it was, I couldn't fall asleep. So you know, making sure you're getting seven to nine hours of sleep because your body needs to recover. And if those days that I still wasn't getting quality sleep and I'd get up and do my workout, I just was miserable. And I hit a point, 10 weeks out, that I was like I can't sustain this. I was literally miserable, couldn't even get myself energized to work out and just making some small changes in what I was eating and reevaluating, because it is super important to going down that road to really evaluate, because everybody's different and I have a super high metabolism where somebody else may not. So being in such a deficit and being monitored by somebody that has experience in it is also super important because you're going through a lot of changes and, being in that deficit, your hormones just you're not giving enough to sustain your vital functions, basically to cut all of the fat.
Speaker 2:So, yes, I did this mainly so I could learn what it was like, because I wanted to feel how people that are eating in a restrictive state might feel on a daily basis and why they don't have the energy to work out, just doing, you know, simple 20 to 30 minutes of light exercise. And I got my answers. That's awesome and it's it's been a, it's been a journey after competition, to like come out of that state, like it's it's a gradual process and you can't just go back to eating 3 000. Like you have to gradually because, let me tell you, I've had episodes of binging and it's very common and that's the same with, you know, people that take on an all or nothing diet or like this new fat diet, and they restrict and lose weight quickly. Well, they gain it right back because when you let loose, like it's so hard to stop the binge if you're restricting, you know, significantly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, it's. I mean, I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that have competed who have some kind of disordered eating as a result of it, and I'm sure, a lot of my stuff, because back in the day I was bodybuilding, um, and it was, I was, I was at the no fat, no carb thing and it was a nightmare and I made myself sick, I mean, and I didn't have. I had the coaching on the you know bodybuilding piece, the posing and you know all the things that you need to do to prep for the competition, but I did not receive any nutritional advice except for don't eat that, and so probably for like three months out, I was eating chicken and broccoli, boiled chicken and broccoli, and it destroyed my gut to the point where I made myself lactose intolerant, like all these things happen because if you're not digesting these foods on a regular basis, your body's like, oh, I guess we're not doing that anymore, and so then it doesn't happen. So I learned, unfortunately, the hard way, because I was so sick and then, you know, had to recover by using, like nutritional enzymes and all these things to get myself back. And we won't even.
Speaker 1:You know I was, I was a heavyweight and I was 130 pounds and I was competing, and I'm five foot six and I was competing against women that were like 5'10 or 5'11 and 130 pounds, and so, needless to say, I did not look great next to them because, you know, they're all like absolutely shredded and I'm looking good, I'm feeling proud of myself, but you know, when you look at the pictures, you're like, well, you look a little puffy and it really does make you very critical of yourself. I mean, you become very hyper vigilant in a bad way. So I you know that is so. You have all this experience.
Speaker 2:Now One, of course, the burning question is are you going to do it again? I haven't decided. I mean walking going on stage for the first time and literally like making the decision 18 weeks out, not really like fully training bodybuilding. Up until that point, I mean I'd been lifting consistently, but I'd also been running marathons and such. So, like my body composition has changed so much over the last three years. But, you know, going on that stage and knowing that I, you know the way I felt and that was the biggest thing was just more confidence, learning how to. You know what it would feel like. You know, having that confidence on that stage and just like at the out-of-body experience was the most amazing feeling after.
Speaker 2:You know, a lot of insecurities, low self-worth after a divorce, um, things like that. But you know, walking away with a fourth place medal, I, I was very honored and um, props for you. So, and I mean in the back of my mind, I know, if I trained and, you know, actually focused on it for a year and went back, you know I like how good could I, you know, actually be and really dialed in on the posing, because that was the hardest thing. I was resistant to it. You know practicing, but I had to force myself, especially, you know, during that state of like, starvation and kind of going into a low mood. It was really hard to do something, uncomfortable that I was like I don't like this, Right, but yeah, so it's, it's still up in the air. Um, this reverse process has been a struggle, so I don't know if, you know, depends on how my body comes out of it and you know it is a lot of negatives, you know, on the body going through that cut and depletion stage.
Speaker 1:Well, it's similar to I've competed in triathlon. Similar to I've competed in triathlon. And especially when you were talking about the, the caloric deficit, of course I giggled because probably the most dramatic rides I've ever had, cause cycling seems to do something more than other parts. Right, the run, you know it's like you can feel horrible, but then you just walk, walk um and there's some negative, you know, communication that's happening in your head or whatever. But there's something about being on a bicycle and being all alone and being in that caloric deficit because you're a nut and you know you start to like I have no friends, like going through it and it's just ridiculous and you have no idea. And then you stop and you have like a bar or you, you know you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or something like that and then all of a sudden you're like I love you man, you know, and it's just to do that consistently.
Speaker 1:I mean it really does mess with your body and I know that as women we are sensitive to the set points of, you know, changing our body composition and you know. So that's always a thing. Like you know, you're in that phase where you're still fairly young, so you may not be messing with it too badly. But I think, if you know a lot of times, if you go for a number of years, eventually you know, I think if you know a lot of times, if you go for a number of years, eventually you know you felt comfortable at whatever 150 and then all of a sudden 150 turns into 160 and then 160 turns into 180, you know, just because your body doesn't like the yo-yos and we just don't have the hormone production to kind of do that. So you have stuff that you've been doing. Um, you've been working on mindset with clients. You are, you are doing what I love, which is a holistic approach. Do you want to explain, like, if I'm a client and I come and see you, what am I getting?
Speaker 2:so, like I kind of mentioned before, we really, you know, focus on just basic fundamental movements to start. Because you know, as a physical therapist and you know seeing being a gym rat most of my life and like I can do this and you know, starting, going back to just doing basic fundamental movements and strengthening those non-glamorized muscles you know, within the hips and the pelvis and the core, like just to build a strong foundation and you know, release a lot of tension because we carry so much stress in, like our pelvic area and there's so many imbalances. You know, especially if you've had kids or you know, an injury playing sports, like things just shift and we get so off balance, like physically, so just retraining that aspect. And then you know going into a more nutrition based, you know, just a mindful eating, building a sustainable. You know going into a more nutrition based, you know, just a mindful eating, building a sustainable. You know habits and then focusing in on the mindset which helps truly reduce, like the stress and the constant.
Speaker 2:You know, chaos in the brain, like it's not okay to rest it. I feel guilty, I you know there's a lot of shame if I rest, like I should be going harder and just really, you know tapping into that and you know I have, um, the last six months or so I've really focused in on that for myself and it's made a significant change in my performance and just my daily life. And then with my business, managing all of that mentally, there's a lot of stimulation but if we can start down-regulating that and down-regulating the stress, that's where rest really is important with my clients, because the first 30 days you're going through a huge change, bringing yourself out of that survival state and I get a lot. I'm super exhausted. I have energy but I just crash hard. I'm exhausted.
Speaker 2:It's like, yes, your body like in this high arousal state and now we're bringing it out of that. So it's like, oh my God, finally off this roller coaster, I can take a break, you know. So, really, you know giving them encouragement to take an extra day if we need to. And that's why we're not scheduling seven days of workouts where you know three to four, maybe five, depending on you know, to four, maybe five, depending on you know where they started and just gradually building you know, one habit at a time okay and you have multiple levels of programs that you offer your clients right.
Speaker 2:So yeah, right now I have a six week. You know just basic, you know starting from the basics. And then I just recently implemented a six-month program. You know, for that athlete who wants, you know, a total body recomp, because it takes, you know, if you're in a caloric deficit or, um, you know you're not fueling properly, it takes quite a while to get out of that state. You can't just do that in you know a week's time. So you know gradually going out of that and then, you know, building a long-term plan. You know, especially if they have a specific goal, like right now I have a marathon runner who you know put herself in a survival state and it's like you'd look at her and think, like, like you run marathons, but it was just a lot of inflammation because not eating enough. And you know, when she finally realized, like she's not eating enough, and it's like I don't know how you, you know, ran these many marathons and you know having different injuries.
Speaker 1:So but that does happen, right. I mean, and that's I've never seen. Um, you know, like, if you ever go to marathons, there are people that the older ones, especially the people who have been doing marathons for a long time, I mean there is that marathon, or look where their shoulders are slumped, um, you know, they're probably, you know, underweight or whatever you know, because they're doing there is that, you know, and I think it's just, I think it's also hard to run and eat, to be honest, you know right. So there has to be some intelligence about it, and I don't know how much information is really out there about knowing how to fuel during the run. And I, you know what is your opinion on the choose, the goos and all the things yeah, so I did.
Speaker 2:I've done one marathon and um, you know, I did a half marathon the year prior to that and I definitely was not fueling properly outside of you know running, because I was stressed and for me personally, when I'm stressed, I just I don't have an appetite, knowing that I needed to eat but I just, like, could not force food down. So that was one of my challenges. But it also led to, you know, after effects. You know hair loss and um, just the. You know hair loss and um, just the. You know different things with my body after the race. So then the next year I really focused on like, trying to, you know, eat more. Do you know smaller meals? Making sure I had things made, like just being very mindful and trying to reduce my outside stress so I could eat.
Speaker 2:Um, but like marathon, you know, like during the race and such, I, you know I crashed in the last six miles, which is very common.
Speaker 2:Um, you train up to about 20 miles and you know learning about, again, nutrition in that aspect and timing wise, and maybe eating differently up until that race.
Speaker 2:But again, everybody's different and you know how they're going to process the fuels for that long duration. And yeah, and you know, I just did gels and goos, and then you know gatorade and water, but you still, again, you completely deplete your body, right, and so the best I, I don't, I don't, I personally don't know the best thing, but I mean, yeah, it's a lot of like the stuff that I've researched is, you know, the gels and the goos that give you quick glucose. But if you don't have long-term stores because a lot of people get super lean, so you don't have anything to really tap into, and you know muscle breakdown does occur and I've experienced that personally too. You know that first half marathon year I trained, you know I experienced a lot of muscle breakdown because I wasn't eating enough. So you know again, everything is like a huge balancing act. But understanding everybody is different and every person is going to respond differently, different and every person's going to respond differently, you know, so it's it's kind of a trial and error with different people.
Speaker 1:And you know, along with your training, you know dabbling in different things, trying things out to see what feels best and you know, just for those of you who may be thinking about it, do not do anything new within three months of your race. Don't go. Oh, I'm gonna change my shoes. Oh, I'm gonna try this gel, it's gonna be great, you know, because so and so, because it'll all be bad if anybody's raced a lot. You know that it's just gnarly if you make any change and it's like it's an epidemic. We all want to change something. We're like there's gonna be that one thing that's gonna make it better and it doesn't make it better. I've never heard anybody say I did this and it was fantastic. It's like I did this and I cramped for three miles or I had blisters the size of Texas on the bottom of my feet. You know, it's like never a good idea. So you have your programs and you have your recomp for the six month and then your ageless athlete is how long the ageless?
Speaker 2:athlete is a 12 weeker Just really to get you started implemented, and there's definitely long-term options after that. But it's just very intensive one-on-one coaching, virtual coaching, just to give you a lot of the basics and, you know, get you back to the fundamentals that you know as an athlete. It came down to you know a basketball player. It comes down to the fundamentals and how well you can do those fundamental movements. So that is the same with fitness is you know perfecting those fundamental exercises without the weights before we start building, and you know loading the barbell.
Speaker 1:Do you find that you get a lot of athletes that kind of need, um, almost like retraining or you know so like I, I'm older than you, so I get a lot of people that were totally tormented during physical education at school and you know we're told they would never amount to anything. They failed the class because they couldn't run or couldn't climb the rope or whatever. Do you? Are you seeing those types of people where you're having to recover their self-esteem as well as get them toward their goal?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, I mean.
Speaker 1:So nothing's changed in.
Speaker 2:No, I mean, which is sad, those ideas don't leave our brains Like they're there. It's again, it comes down to the mindset. And for everybody it's again it comes down to the mindset. And know, for everybody that's listening, you have access to a you know my amazing tool of nine strategies to start reframing your mindset over some of those things and processing because, yeah, every, you know every male PE teacher that told you that you weren't good enough I had male coaches that constantly were in your ear and telling you things that you didn't always feel like you were good enough and utilizing the tools to overcome that has definitely been super helpful in just calming the mind and you know being able to reframe and tell yourself like I can do this, like I'm an athlete, I can do it. And then you know just building a foundation and taking it one step at a time.
Speaker 1:Fantastic Well, Dr Mary, thank you so much for joining me. How can we reach you?
Speaker 2:So, like I said I sorry. You can find me on Instagram at empowered without limits, and you can head to my website and grab that fearless focus guide at bitly forward. Slash fearless focus and the link will be in the show notes and you can reach me from there as well.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you, it's been a pleasure. All right, we'll talk soon.
