How Exercise Can Help You Be Your Best Self: Talking Health and Fitness with Julianna Trumpler

Have you ever passed by a gym late in the evening, only to see it packed full of spandex-clad people enthusiastically working out and thought: “why are all these people—who could be at home watching TV like the rest of us—exercising after what for many was likely a long day at work?”

By now we all know the physical health benefits of exercise. It helps control weight, fights off disease, boosts energy, and even promotes better sleep. But what if exercise could calm your mind, improve your mood, ease symptoms of stress and anxiety, and generally, just make you less irritable? In a nutshell, what if exercise could make you the best version of yourself?

According to numerous studies, being active does just that. Exercise has now been associated with better mental health and overall emotional well-being. Not to mention the findings from the 2018 Copenhagen City Heart Studythat showed how playing sports and exercising also increased your life expectancy. Of the sports examined in the study, tennis topped the list, adding close to a decade to your life!

If this isn’t enough to convince you that regular physical activity should be non-negotiable, we decided to reach out to West-Island-based fitness coach Julianna Trumpler to get her take on why exercising is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

“I’m a newer coach,” Julianna tells us over Zoom, but “the main thing you see is people looking for weight loss or body composition change. They want to decrease their body fat percent. That’s the main thing.” This isn’t surprising as the pandemic has been especially tough on our waistlines. Job loss, stress, sedentary behaviours, and inactivity have contributed to considerable weight gains and many of us have had a hard time shedding the extra pounds. So we asked what her recipe for weight loss is.

“Cardio and weight training give you unique benefits,” Julianna explains. “They’re both important for your overall health. Cardio improves your health, heart endurance, and increases your caloric expenditure. So really great for weight loss. But weight training increases your muscle mass, which increases your metabolism and strength. They really both work hand in hand for an overall healthy person. So, it’s good to do both and not only one aspect.”

But the benefits of exercise go well beyond losing excess weight (and keeping it off). According to the Mayo Clinic, being active actually boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, aka the “good” cholesterol, and decreases unhealthy triglycerides, significantly lowering your risk for cardiovascular disease. “Cardiovascular exercise has countless benefits,” Julianna agrees. “It improves lung capacity, helps with weight management, and enhances mood. One thing I like to do with new clients is get their resting heart rate.” (A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute but the range for healthy adults is more along the lines of 55 to 85.) “You can see that as your fitness improves, your resting heart rate will decrease. And when your resting heart rate is lower, it means that your heart is stronger, it’s working more efficiently, it doesn’t have to beat as much to get as much circulation. Cardio should always be included in a fitness regimen for heart health and well-being.” The best part? Exercise “doesn’t have to be crazy intense,” according to Julianna. “Just even going out for walks will still benefit you enormously.”

We asked Julianna what advice she would give a fitness newbie or someone looking for a more balanced fitness routine. “Always ease yourself into it [exercise]. Start with two to three days of a mix of cardio and weight training. A good one is doing a cardio [exercise] that you enjoy. Some people really enjoy going hiking, so focus on that, or swimming. For me, I like to rollerblade. Whatever it might be, just do it. And then for weight training, you can start with body weight to get comfortable with the foundational movements that you’ll need to weight train. But I really believe that getting a coach can be super helpful, especially if you don’t know where to start. And if you don’t know how to get to your goals, or even if you’re not able to push yourself to get through those workouts and do the work. I think having a coach for someone who’s not confident in the gym can be really valuable.”

Speaking of weight training, we wanted to know why lifting weights (or strength training) is so important, especially as we age. “It’s really important to weight train to have healthy aging, which is what we all aspire to have,” states Julianna. “It [weight training] increases your muscle mass, it maintains and increases bone density. And increased muscle mass ensures functionality in daily tasks. For example, as you age, you want to still be able to carry your grocery bags from A to Z. You want to be able to play with your grandkids and keep up with them, pick them up maybe. So that’s very important.” One need only scroll through Julianna’s Instagram feed to see that she really practises what she preaches.

But we also checked in with the experts. According to Harvard Health, the combination of age-related changes, inactivity, and inadequate nutrition leads to bone loss at a rate of 1% per year after age 40. The good news is that strength-training builds more than just muscle. It can actually slow bone loss and even build bone. “Maintaining bone density is vital to reduce the risks of osteoporosis, of breaking bones,” Julianna continues. “A lot of people break bones and they have a hard time recovering. You want to make sure that you’re limiting those chances and staying strong […] And this is really important for the mental health of the aging population. Because once you’re unable to do things, then you have higher risk of depression and not being as happy with life if you’re not able to move like you were before.”

So how should we adjust fitness routines for older adults? Should 60-year-olds be pumping iron? “Depending on the client’s capabilities, as you age, normally you want to have lower impact cardio. Walking, swimming, or a stationary bike are all great. And the duration and intensity can be decreased as well. And when you’re weight training, the routines will just incorporate lower weights and focus on functional movements, which helps your flexibility and stability. And both of these will allow for less risk of injury, but still give you the benefits of cardio and weight training.”

Just remember, whatever exercises or sports you engage in, some level of soreness is normal. We asked Julianna if she had a few tips to ease sore muscles and bounce back more quickly after a hard workout. “Hot and cold therapies are fantastic for speeding up recovery,” she told us. “There’s a big fad on cold plunges and saunas, but obviously not everyone has access to them. So being able to use the localized Magic Bag on where you’re sore or where you need it, it’s so helpful. And you don’t have to have it plugged in, so that’s super convenient. My favourite is compression socks, because after a lower body session, you just put them on and then it helps with your [blood] circulation. And it’s really helped for me because I used to have calves that would cramp up all the time. And now I don’t experience that much at all, so it’s really improved.”

Still not convinced that physical activity should be a part of your daily life? A 2011 Norwegian study showed that exercising at any level contributed to better mental health, while a study presented to the American College of Sports Medicine found that exercise alleviated mild symptoms of anxiety disorders and eased feelings of irritability. Basically, physical activity bumps up the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters (aka endorphins), acting as a stress reliever and distracting you from your daily worries. Basically, exercise makes us happier, calmer, and more tolerant people. And with everything going on in the world, it is safe to say that we can all use more calm, happiness, and tolerance in our lives.