Practicing gratitude or having a grateful mindset can actually lead to somebody participating in exercise more.

It seems really logical as well that if we focus on the positive things in our life, if we focus on the things that we’re grateful for, that helps us to have a positive outlook.

Welcome to the Strength Changes Everything podcast, where we introduce you to the information, latest research, and tools that will enable you to live a strong, healthy life. On this podcast, we will also answer your questions about strength, health, and well -being. I’m Amy Hudson. I own and operate three exercise coach studios. My co -hosts are Brian Sagan, co -founder and CEO of The Exercise Coach, and Dr. James Fisher, leading researcher in evidence -based strength training. And now for today’s episode.

Today’s episode is all about gratitude. Here in the United States, we have Thanksgiving coming up and we’re approaching the holiday season. You know, it can feel two different kinds of ways for people. Sometimes people look forward to the holidays with a lot of anticipation and joy. It can be a very celebratory time with family and a time to, you know, reflect on the goodness of life. We also want to acknowledge that it can be difficult, right, and bring up things that are more challenging.

But overall, you know, there’s a connection between gratitude that we feel in life and our overall sense of well -being. And holidays can bring that out, especially holidays like Thanksgiving, where we’re thinking about the gratitude we face in our life. So, Dr. Fisher, I actually came prepared today with two different articles that I came across citing some research on gratitude. And I want to know, you know, what you think about these. OK, can I share what I found?

Yeah, I’m excited to hear them.

OK, perfect.

So this first article that I came across is from Harvard Health, and it’s talking about some findings that researchers have linked gratitude with some outcomes. So it talks about, you know, in positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. This article cites some research done by some professors in California and in Miami where this is really interesting. Listen to this. So they had some participants write a few sentences each week focusing on particular topics.

One group wrote about things that they were grateful for that had occurred during a week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that it displeased them. And the third wrote about events that affected them, one way or the other, with no emphasis necessarily on being positive or negative. And after 10 weeks, those that wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, and this is interesting for us too, they also exercised more. and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation.

What do you think about that?

Wow, that’s a fascinating piece of research. And I love that you brought that to the show today. I certainly wasn’t aware of that. But it seems really logical as well that if we focus on the positive things in our life, if we focus on the things that we’re grateful for, maybe our friends or our health or our family, um, or, or wherever it might be, then that helps us to, to have a positive outlook. Whereas if we were to focus on the things that are bringing us down or the problems or any negativity, then we naturally would feel more negative from it.

So yeah, it makes perfect sense, but I love that there’s research around that in, you know, like you said, positive health psychology. I also love that people who had a more positive outlook. we’re more likely to engage in exercise. So that’s definitely a two -way street because people who exercise feel more positive. But if you feel more positive, then you are clearly more likely to exercise as well. So that’s fantastic.

Right.

And then to build upon that, and some of these outcomes that they studied have lasting lingering effects in these participants as well. They cite another one in this Harvard article about an assignment they gave these participants to deliver a letter to somebody to thank them properly for something that they did that positively influenced their life and deliver it to this person. And after doing that, these participants felt gladness and joy for like a month afterwards. It’s just really interesting that these interventions and these decisions can actually have these lasting, lingering effects in how people feel. Of course, we want to acknowledge at the same time, it’s not proving a cause and effect, but there is always this strong association between gratitude and somebody’s well -being, and we talked about that. But to build upon the health outcomes part, so we talked about, yeah, this is cool that Practicing gratitude or having a grateful mindset can actually lead to someone participating in exercise more or having less visits to the doctor.

The second article I came across is from UCLA Health. so they talk about, and it’s called, it’s all about the health benefits of gratitude. And it says, you know, research shows that practicing gratitude and a practice of gratitude consists of, here’s an example of it, 15 minutes a day, five days a week for at least six weeks, okay, that would be considered like a gratitude practice, can enhance mental wellness and possibly promote a lasting change in perspective. Gratitude and its mental health benefits can also positively affect your physical health. So now they’re going to break down how improving somebody’s mental health through a gratitude practice then has effects with or may have potential effects in your physical health. They talk about in this article that taking time daily to be thankful may reduce depression or symptoms of depression, lessen anxiety, support heart health.

And just to expand on how that how that works. It talks about many benefits of gratitude also support heart health, improving depression symptoms, sleep, diet, and exercise, reduces the risk of heart disease. Several studies show that a grateful mindset positively affects biomarkers associated with the risk for heart disease. And then finally, it talks about how gratitude can help relieve stress and improve sleep. So this episode isn’t just a feel -good episode, it’s directly going to impact, you know, doing something like this on a regular basis has direct implications for your health. What do you think of that?

I love it. I’ve stood here almost agog at this. It’s really fascinating. This is an area of research that’s unknown to me. So I love the learning of it, if nothing else. So I’m very grateful for that.

Thank you for that, Amy. But I love this idea that we can really have this positive impact and this lasting positive impact Whilst you were saying that, some of the things that were coming to mind were the idea that, um, you probably, you probably know the old kind of mirroring studies where they say that if you go on the street and you smile at somebody, they’re more likely to smile back or if somebody smiles at you. Yeah. So, so this comes back down to this empathy and, and it’s obviously not exactly the same, but it made me think about how, when we’re positive, we kind of spread positivity. When we’re grateful and we show gratitude, we probably spread that positive emotion.

And of course. goodness, whether it’s psychological or physiological kind of, uh, kind of grows and catalyzes further good feelings and positivity.

So I love it.

I love it.

That’s great. It’s like that joyous feeling you get when you do something kind for somebody else. The example that comes immediately to mind is at the coffee drive -thru. Some, sometimes people will pay it forward and that means they paid for your order and you get to the window and you hear that and you’re just like, Oh my gosh. I feel so loved. And then what do you want to do?

You want to turn around and do that for the next person in line. And then you feel doubly good. It is very, very true. And I know everybody listening has direct experiences or examples that they might think of as well when it comes to this. And of course, you know, to express gratitude, there’s various ways you can do that. You can give somebody something like a gift or a tangible thing that you know is going to help them.

You can write down your thoughtful or gratitude, things that you’re thankful for, you can just reflect and think to yourself, take a few moments and step outside and take a deep breath and just ponder and reflect to yourself on things or you can share it with other people. You can use your words and talk to somebody else about it, right? And so let’s talk, you know, right now together about some gratitude. And, you know, we wanted to take the rest of the time on this podcast to really verbalize some gratitude that we have for certain individuals, and those are the exercise coaches. that work in our studios, the trainers every day out there who are delivering workouts that change people’s lives. This show is about the fact that strength changes everything and all of the wonderful benefits that those people participating in strength training are getting every day from their workouts.

But the people responsible for delivering these workouts are the coaches. So Dr. Fisher, what are your initial thoughts on this?

What comes to mind when you think of the value of trainers? Yeah, well, I mean, we really can’t put a price tag on the value of trainers. I often kind of talked as an academic and as a researcher and a scientist, uh, all of the things that I can do within a lab are great, but if they never transitioned to the real world, then it’s all for naught. It doesn’t mean anything. So it has to be down to somebody on the front line. And I always say that, you know, exercise physiologists or exercise coach trainers are there on the front line.

delivering the workouts, working with the client, using those soft skills, as well as that academic knowledge and that physiology knowledge and biomechanics knowledge of strength training and, and health and so forth to really work with the client in front of them get the most from that client. And then of course, Do it over again and over again and over again. So there’s this continued, you know, energy required from an exercise coach, a practitioner with every single client that walks in their door, they need to have their A game with every single person. And it’s just such, it’s a wonderful thing. to see. I’ve stood at the back of exercise coach studios and really watched coaches deliver this to client after client or to small group sessions.

And, um, it’s really admirable.

And I love the idea that we’re devoting this Thanksgiving episode to, uh, to the coaches themselves. Yeah. Have you ever heard that quote? I, and I might, I’m going to butcher this because I don’t even know if I’m saying it correctly, but the point being.

People won’t remember, you know, like the things that you say, they’ll remember what you, how you make them feel.

Have you heard that quote? Yeah, absolutely. And I think about, you know, the environment that our coaches create, um, in, in studios, clients enjoy coming. We want to create environments that clients enjoy coming to. They look forward to seeing their coach because the coach is almost like family, you know, and when everybody wants to go and, and work with somebody that they enjoy being with. You know, and if you don’t enjoy the person you’re going to go see, then you’re going to have less motivation to go and do that.

And so we really focus on bringing the energy and the connection personally, you know, to our client experience for them to feel seen, cared for and feel like family. We celebrate that, that connection that coaches can make where they become what we call a precious and permanent part. of a client’s life. What we mean by that is that we would love to see clients get to the point where the exercise coach experience, which includes the workout itself, and the family connection that they have, that feeling that they have seeing the coaches, becomes a precious and permanent part of their life, something they don’t want to give up, something that is high value to them, that they like, that they appreciate, and they don’t want to give up. They don’t want to stop doing because of all of the positive that comes from it. We hope that if you listen to this podcast regularly, you believe in the profound value of strength training itself.

But of course, human relationships is what life is about as well, right?

So let’s combine these, these two things to truly live our best life.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What a wonderful sentiment. And you might have thought I was going to get through an entire episode without talking about some research, but I am going to jump in now and talk about some research. All right. One of the studies we did some time back, we looked at uh, perceptions of clients with their trainer. And many of them even past kind of specific comments that they saw their trainer, uh, you know, in the same view as they saw their kind of family physician, uh, you know, there was a real trust relationship. There was an identification of their education level.

Um, you know, we know that the effort it takes to become a trainer, you know, to go through the studying and qualify in that way, but also the continued education, um, And obviously this show is even a big part of that because of the, the, the science that we discuss here. Um, but the clients will look at their trainers in the same view as, as their doctors and their dentists and as other medical professionals. And of course, we’ve talked about the idea that a trainer is viewable as a medical professional, because what they’re delivering is preventative healthcare and it’s rehabilitative or prehabilitative healthcare. But they’re often not seen with that level of esteem by society. And hence really us giving them a big shout out today with this episode, because we know that many clients do see them in that way. Um, and they really should be seen in that way.

Uh, I was at a conference number of years back and, and somebody spoke and, and they said. that statistically after a certain number of workouts, and I don’t recall exactly how many, but if you’ve delivered a certain number of workouts then you’ve probably saved somebody’s life.

Uh, and that’s such a wonderful thing to think about. I hope all the coaches listening to this, you know, really, really can hear that and, and, you know, give themselves a pat on the back and, uh, and, and think about all the, all the things that they’ve done that positively impacted people’s lives, both in the, in the time that they’ve been training them, but also in that person’s future. Um, you know, all the physiological and psychological health benefits that they will see over the longterm. And you know what else I think about just to expand upon that point is not only the life change that a client receives firsthand as a result of working with our coaches, but the ripple effects to that client’s family and that client’s direct community and relationships. When that client is healthier and happier because of their interaction at the exercise coach and whatever else is feeding that to, There are implications for that person’s grandkids and that person’s children about the quality of this person’s life moving forward and society as a whole, those people’s friends and networks. You truly are, you don’t even know sometimes the impact that you’re making on not only this person directly, but other people.

And so I just don’t know of something, hardly anything more meaningful than that. And that’s what motivates me owning businesses like this to knowing the impact that we make every day. I’ve had clients tell our coaches that their life is completely different because of the exercise coach. I’ve had coaches get invited to funerals. I’ve had coaches get invited to cabins and boats because they become like family.

And so these are the ways, coaches, that you make a difference. And the benefits of strength training that we talk about on the show would never happen without you. They wouldn’t. So thank you for being kind of that intermediary to bring this change, this positive change to the masses in the work that you do every day. We cannot overstate our gratitude to you. Thank you for all you do.

Yeah. You know, James, I don’t know.

I’m just thankful for being able to work with you and the show and the way that it makes me feel good to know the good that people receive from listening to this, I’ve been told directly that it’s extremely helpful and motivating. And all we want is for people to take this information and use it to fuel their fire for changing their life for the better. Ultimately, at the end of the day, that’s our goal. And so I appreciate the opportunity to do this and as a listener, if you’re listening to this today, we appreciate you listening. So thanks, Amy. I mean, obviously, we’re both so grateful to each other for what’s going on for what we deliver in the podcast.

But we’re really grateful to the listeners as well at the show who are obviously taking the time to engage in strength training and engage in the podcast to positively impact their own health. And as Amy said, the ripple effect on to to other people, their friends and their family and their co -workers and so forth. So thank you so much for engaging in the show itself. Remember, if you have any questions or any comments, any thoughts, please join us at strengthchangeseverything . com where you can ask any questions and we’ll answer anything that we can. And thanks for everything.

And remember, strength changes everything.