Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Jessica McCauley as they discuss the benefits of movement and exercise on both physical and mental health.
Born and raised on a farm in Blairsburg, Iowa, Jess McCauley spent her early years in nature, camping, and riding horses. A lover of art, she pursued graphic design at DMACC in Ankeny, IA, before venturing into the food and beverage industry. For 16 years, she worked in various roles – serving, bartending, and managing. This journey not only forged lasting connections, but also provided countless valuable lessons, sparking a passion for connecting with people on a deeper level.
Jess began her personal fitness journey 13 years ago, realizing the positive impact exercise had on her mental health and body confidence. Since 2009, Jess has faced injuries stemming from repetitive movement patterns, postural issues, and hypermobility/flexibility challenges. These experiences compelled her to deepen her understanding of her body and refine her workout routine to maximize benefits at every stage of life. In turn, she uses that knowledge to help others in their fitness journey.
Certified in behavioral change and correctional exercise, Jess has worked with clients from 3 to 94, believing in the holistic benefits of consistent movement. She advocates that mindful, regular exercise can elevate every aspect of life—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Jess lives with her husband Matt in West Des Moines, IA, with their two dogs, Dexter and Bandit.
TRANSCRIPT
Sarah Noll Wilson
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of Conversations on Conversations where each week we explore topics to help us have more powerful conversations with ourselves and others. I’m your host, Sarah Noll Wilson. And joining me today is my my newest friend, colleague, trainer, Jess McCauley, and we’re going to be talking about the importance of movement as it relates to mental health as it relates to aging, as it just relates to living a better life. So let me tell you a little bit about Jess and then we’ll get into our conversation. Born and raised on a farm in Blacksburg, Iowa, Jess McCauley spent her early years and nature camping and riding horses, a lover of art, she pursued graphic design at DMACC in Ankeny, Iowa before venturing into the food and beverage industry. For 16 years she worked in various roles serving bartending and managing this journey not only forge lasting connections, but also provided countless valuable lessons sparking a passion for connecting with people on a deeper level. Just began her personal fitness journey 13 years ago, realizing the positive impact exercise had on her mental health and her body confidence and we’re going to hear more about her journey. As we kick into this. She is certified in behavioral change and correctional exercise, just as worked with clients from three to 94. Believing in the holistic benefits of constant movement, she advocates that mindful regular exercise can elevate every aspect of life physically, mentally, and emotionally. She also lives with her husband, Matt, and West Des Moines, their two dogs, Dexter and Bandit. Hi Jess, welcome to the show.
Jess McCauley
Sarah, I’m so excited.
Sarah Noll Wilson
So just full disclosure, the way that Jess and I were connected is, like a lot of people over the pandemic, I stopped moving when I moved to working remotely. But let’s be really honest, I wasn’t probably moving that much more beforehand. And I just realized how much, not only muscle did I lose, but just I was tired a lot. And so in a person, what do I want to say like, in wanting to improve myself, we discovered an organization called GYMGUYZ. Which I’m going to be honest, I can say this, Jess can’t, don’t love the, don’t love the name, but (laughs) because – GYMGUYZ is all about working with people who maybe can’t get to a gym, are intimidated by a gym, maybe don’t have the schedule that allows them to work with a personal trainer, where they come to your house. So we’ve been working with Jess for about nine, ten months now, about eight, nine months. And it has been really transformative for us. So I wanted to bring her on so we could talk about you know, as we kick off this New Year, not necessarily like exercise for like weight loss, all of that, but just movement as medicine. So Jess, what else should we know about you?
Jess McCauley
Oh, goodness. I can’t sit still. (laughs) If you haven’t noticed.
Sarah Noll Wilson
So for people who are listening, you know, she and I will both be just like fidgeting in our seats and moving around. She’s a busy body.
I’m looking at a foam roller right now. Right?
Yeah. (laughs)
Jess McCauley
Oh, goodness. Yeah. I just enjoy connecting with people. It’s a really vulnerable experience going into people’s home.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And connecting on a really, I mean, you get pretty close with folks, and just how they’re dealing with their day to day lives. I like connecting with the social aspect. Hopefully pain relief, their physical and mental well being, I really enjoy what I do, I’m really lucky to be able to do it.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, no, that’s something we can, we can talk about a little bit later because it is a unique experience. Like, you’re literally coming into someone’s house and you’re walking them through movements and showing them movements. So take us back 13 years, what started this journey for you because one of the things that I have appreciated about the partnership we have with you is that this idea of fitness which can be really intimidating for those of us who aren’t athletic naturally or that’s not our background, but just this idea of like movement is medicine. So take us back and what what was your journey to this point?
Jess McCauley
I started like everybody does just the Shape Magazine. I think it was one of the girls from The Hills cast. Just one of those circuits. It was lunges, it was how to get your tight core, your, back then it was thin everything –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure, yeah.
Jess McCauley
Anything – glute focus wasn’t the goal. It was to be thin and it was really truthfully started as vanity. And as I started to hide in my room with my Shake Weight (laugher) magazine clip I noticed I was in a lot better state of mind. So I’d go to work and my ability to be tolerant of certain customers and guests, I was a lot more carefree. Just giddy, I guess like, before that science came out, it just I, I performed better, I felt better, my body confidence was better. So I started to plateau from doing the same workout every day. And that just sparked the learning. So did weights, more weights. I did – used to be cardio was how you lost fat. And that’s back in 2008. It was cardio was everything. So I wasn’t sure if it was going to work. But it did. It really helped right away, mentally and mood wise. And I was young so I don’t know that there was too much stress.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure, yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
Pay your rent and car.
Sarah Noll Wilson
So how, so how, how has your journey with that shifted as you’ve navigated injuries, as you’ve also worked with people? You know, when you think about, and I really appreciate your honesty, I can tell that you’re like, ah, it really started from a vanity like it was a Hill’s actor, and I want it to look like them. I mean, like, let me let’s just own it. (laughs) And there’s nothing wrong with that. And, you know, we maybe have a conversation about like, culture, obsession with fitness, and fat phobia, all of that, but maybe not for today. But, but your relationship with movement shifted. And the work that you do with clients is different. I mean, at least the work that we experienced with you is very different. And so talk to us about, like, what has become clearer for you now, not only for yourself, but as you’ve been working with more people, right from your ages three to 94.
Jess McCauley
I would say there was a huge passion as far as the mental, mental rewards. So endorphin rush, I really liked high intensity. And then life humbles you as you age.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And you experience, (laughs) you experience an injury that takes you out of work, like I did, from repetitive movement patterns. I was doing a lot of burpees with push ups, and it was really wonderful and that was valuable in the whole experience. But then going to work and serving, bartending, and everything basically, was stuck in a forward position just from work from pattern overload. And I actually was told I could not bartend, serve ore work that industry anymore, because my back pain was related to that. It was recommended that I didn’t lift the way I was lifting, work in the industry that I had already worked and developed in and that quite literally provided the lifestyle that my husband and I had obtained over the years. It was, it was really devastating.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
So going through injury yourself? A little bit, right?
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
It can really mess with your, your, your self worth, –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
Your perceived self worth.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Your perceived – yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
And all the things that I enjoyed I thought were being taken away.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure.
Jess McCauley
So I had a pity party few months and some mental hurdles, probably more so than physical but being told there was an absolute no for any of the things that I did leading up to that point was really hard. So physical therapy. It just wasn’t the right fit, just like anything, a hairdresser –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
A doctor, you know, a trainer sometimes isn’t – you guys, if you don’t have chemistry with someone or they don’t like the same movements as you do it sometimes it’s just not a good fit. So I did not have a good experience. And I thought I was going to be like this forever. And then I just kind of got back to let’s focus on if, if nobody can fix me, it’s on me, I guess. (laughs) So. If I could obsess over the feeling of the endorphin rush, all of that, could I put that obsession into learning, breathing, gentle breathing techniques, stretches? It got to the point with pain and I had arthritis diagnosed in my cervical spine and both bone spurs, C4, C5, C5-C6. So tickling nerves, numbness down the fingers. And I misunderstood all of that. If you hear the word bone spur, it’s quite, it’s confusing. You think that’s a death sentence if you’re in your 20s. But honestly, movement, honestly was medicine. The more I rested and iced it, the worse it got. It felt like my head was gonna pop off my body because it didn’t have any muscles holding it up and my spine was deteriorated quite advanced for the age that I was. It was late 20s, mid late 20s. So yeah, I learned one by one, just things that worked, things that didn’t. And that I was going to be the one that was going to make me better and that was all that, that’s all that I could do.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, yeah. Well, you speak to – I mean, it anyone who’s experienced some kind of major injury, but particularly in your situation and injury that not only is taking you away from a hobby that you’ve developed, but literally your occupation, you know, what you were good at, what your identity, right, as a, as a, being in the restaurant industry. And there’s a lot of loss with that. And I think that, you know, when we think about, again, this being like, how do we talk to ourselves? How do we support other people? We had a previous guest, Neha Sampat, that talked about, you know, just really navigating, like chronic migraines, and just how exhausting that can be. How much of a burden it can feel, and also the loss of identity, right? Like, I can’t imagine being in you know, late 20s and going, Oh, I have severe arthritis. I can’t do the job I’m supposed to. How, you know, you talked a little bit about like, okay, I needed to take care of myself, I need to do this. What, what beliefs did you have to let go of? If, if where your journey started was like, intense, right? Very focused on the visible to now, now it’s more about health. And now it’s more about – like, what were some of the beliefs you had to let go, either about yourself, what health look like, even what movement looked like?
Jess McCauley
That I had to learn it all at once? You know?
Sarah Noll Wilson
Oh sure, yeah.
Jess McCauley
(exhales) When you build up, like with fitness journeys, the start is humbling. So that feeling of starting over again was really tough. But I didn’t have to start and know everything. You know –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
God bless the internet, right? So just, just trying to really just stop, stop the absolute thinking.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
The I know nothing. And the frustration had to go because I was very frustrated. And that causes, you know, injury depression is really real.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
It was just just, you know, if I’m going to be in pain anyway, (laughs) what movements can get me out of this funk, but not declined the progress I had made? From a, you know, it was physical therapy movements, or even just accessory work is what I like to call it now. Because when I say rehab movements to someone that’s not injured, it doesn’t set well. So joint maintenance, I had to learn joint maintenance. So it wasn’t that I was so broken I couldn’t fix. I really had to stop thinking that.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, sure.
Jess McCauley
Because it does feel like that for a while.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And I had to stop saying it out loud to other people.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure.
Jess McCauley
That was a hard thing.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure.
Jess McCauley
Because when you speak about yourself that you’re broken, or that I have arthritis, and I can’t – I had to get rid of the word I can’t, because some things I shouldn’t do. But I could, but it’s not going to help long term, so.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah. That, you know, when I – so when I experienced my frozen shoulder, I would be like, ah, that’s my bad shoulder, you know, and my therapist, like, stop calling it bad. It’s just a shoulder. It just needs to be worked on and stretched and all of that. (laughs) And, but it’s hard. But you know, I mean, that that point you made of injury depression, is very, very real. I feel like I am, I’m witnessing that with – I mean, I say this with love, my mother probably is like a year overdue for a knee replacement. And I can see the impact that it has, like having to manage that chronic pain, having to manage the limited mobility and, and then to adjust what can you do? And to you know, there’s some grief there too, like, especially if the issues you have can’t necessarily be resolved. It’s, there’s a grief of, oh, I can’t do that anymore. And how do I how do I move forward? When you think about, like, it’s interesting to hear the language you use of like accessory or, or joint. And it’s funny because I’m, you know, I’m 40, I’m 42. And now I’m thinking about how do I take care of this body so 50-year-old Sarah will feel better. And that was not – like 10 years ago, if you’re like, we’re gonna do joint prevention or whatever, (laughs) I’d be like, ah, I’m young! Like it’s fine. (laughs) Even though like I wasn’t even then. So for people who, who may be intimidated, for people who may feel overwhelmed, or maybe even have the belief that like movement and fitness needs to look a certain way, right, it is for purposes of like just how we look. What would you recommend they start? Or where would you recommend they start?
Jess McCauley
Just starting, I mean, it’s the start that stops most people, right. But if I could go and do over and learn things and what I would think would be the proper integration.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
But you know, I’m stubborn, and I learned backwards. (laughs) I would say, the thing I was missing for a decade of my own fitness was as silly as it sounds, breath. Because if you think of how long you can go without food. And a lot of those questions, people start with health, how long without food? How long without water? But how long can you go without breathing? That, it’s just, not long. (laughs) So when people exercise, we tend to hold our breath.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
Especially when we strain. So that really creates some bad habits. And that caused a lot of pain.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
I’m sure of, breath would be the first thing I would, if I were to start over. How to get your fight or flight to calm down. How to not, you know, tense up and carry all this strain. I had, I had no idea how to breathe. When I lifted, my sister went with me to the gym and she said stuff holding your breath. And I was – I am? (laughs) Then, you know, well how do you breathe when you lift? If you Google that, my goodness, like it, It’s too much. So, breathing. So you know, learning when to inhale and exhale. And another trainer, you know, I asked when I started working in a big box gym. It was a trainer I really admired, still do. I said, What do you tell your clients? You know, because you can look at pictures and videos and if you’re, you’re just watching the movement. And then they come to the gym, and they’re just learning from watching you do the movement. What benefit? Why couldn’t you just watch a YouTube video for free? And they said, Well, you’re going to overwhelm them. So, so I tried to just, you know, this is the movement, inhale, you know, exhale at the hardest part. If they’re overwhelmed with that, I said, just breathe. Just don’t hold your breath is the only. That’s how I would start.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, no, I love that. And you’re right. I mean, I always joke that as a theater major, I took like classes on breathwork. You know, that that was such an integral part of endurance and being able to sustain and being able to project and you know, and some of that you forget, and when you are working out, or even if you’re like lifting something heavy, or you’re doing something stressful, even if it’s emotionally stressful, it’s really easy for us to just hold in our breath. And that that’s definitely something that I’ve learned through our work is just that importance of essentially, like when you’re at that which is like, it’s kind of a beautiful metaphor, actually, that when you’re dealing with the hardest point of it, when you’re doing the hardest part of the rep, that’s when you want to exhale, that’s when you want to release and isn’t that a great metaphor for life? Like when we’re in the hardest? When we’re facing something really hard, how do we use that as a moment to go? (exhales) And so you know, something that you do a lot with us is that that that mind and body connection. And so I’m curious to explore that a little bit further, because it isn’t just, you know, breathing isn’t just because, oh, well, it feels good, because we’re taking a breath. Right? There’s a lot that’s happening chemically, there’s a lot that’s happening, happening with our muscles to allow us to be able to release or connect more effectively. So when you talk about this idea of mind body connection for the layperson, the pedestrian, what the hell is that? (laughs)
Jess McCauley
So the neuro muscular system, we’re gonna go back to science class.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, I love it. Let’s nerd out, Jess. Nerd out with me.
Jess McCauley
That my thing. I love it. Your brain has to tell your muscles to move.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
So mind muscle connection, our glutes, like right now I’m sitting and my hip flexors are tight. We just are in these positions that are stuck. So, for instance, since you can see my arm, so your neck and traps get tight. And so you’re gonna go lift a shoulder press, a lot of times it goes into our tight neck muscles. If you really think about the muscle that you’re trying to work. And there’s science now that shows if you touch the muscle you’re trying to work, your brain has to not just auto go to your traps, your neck or your tight neck. It has to, you have to really think about the muscle and turn it on. So your brain is sending a neurotransmitter to that muscle to contract to lift the weight. So mind muscle connection is difficult if you don’t – if you’re not sure how to do that, it does sound silly. But, there’s different techniques. We’ve tried all of the weird ones that are all very unconventional.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, the touching the muscle, it’s a real thing folks, like when you want to work a muscle more, touch it. And it’s – well, the thing that when I, so when I had my frozen shoulder, and I just go back to that, because that’s part of my recent lived experience. So if people have never experienced a frozen shoulder, it’s literally where you just lose access to any kind of movement, couldn’t brush my hair, couldn’t dress myself, was in an incredible amount of pain. And it takes about a year and a half to two years to recover. And part of, part of the therapy, this is when I first learned about the mind muscle connection, is that there are times when the injury, when an injury happens where you actually lose that connection. And you have to retrain your brain basically to be able to send a signal down to your whatever it is. And that was so fascinating to me of like that it’s not just from a standpoint of being able to do an exercise properly. But it’s really, you know, think about is just like we’re being really intentional about movement, and there are things we can do that, that can disrupt that. And so I literally had to retrain my brain to learn how to move my arm again, in a way that I had moved it for 40 years before, but because of the severity of the pain, my brains, like we’re shutting that off. (laughs) We’re not doing that anymore. And you know, and there’s something also connecting back to the mental health of, again, one of the things that I appreciate in our work together is that it isn’t about quantity, it isn’t about how much you can lift, or how much, how many reps you can do. But it’s about that quality, it’s about that really, I almost think of it like a mindful practice, in how we work with you. And that intentionality that obviously not only helps you not injure yourself, but it puts you back into your body. I feel like we spend a lot of time as humans, not in our body. We spend a lot of times just like going through the motions. We know, we know, we spent a lot of time on autopilot. But we’re just like disconnected from how do we feel? How are we showing up? And I’m just like curious to hear your thoughts on that?
Jess McCauley
It is a huge problem. Because you know, we have a computer in our hands all day long with our cell phones. And it’s really easy to get into a state where you’re just constantly thinking of the next thing and the next thing the next thing and I don’t know if everyone experiences this, but it tends to throw me into kind of a depressed state, where I’m just then not really feeling anything, I’m just burnt out, exhausted. Constantly feeling like I’ve – even if you sleep, you know you’re distracted. So exercise, mind muscle connection, that’s a way to fight that back. If you can listen to your music and get your brain chemicals going and get your breath to connect, and you’re actually feeling the brain connect with certain muscles. Because if you have to consciously think more about that to get more value out of the movement. It really does help with your mental state. In just making – it’s very therapeutic.
Sarah Noll Wilson
It’s, you know, it’s – one of the things my therapist actually, as I’ve been exploring various things on my personal journey of healing and releasing shame or recovering from trauma, is that’s that’s one of the things she talks about is like, the more we can get in touch with our body that actually can be very healing and even just as simple as the touching of the muscle like yes, that that helps you engage that muscle but also is just making you so much more aware. And again, just more present not as disconnected because I feel like when I’m disconnected from my body, I feel disconnected in other ways. Or I feel like I’m in a sprint like I feel very jittery instead of being just more physically grounded. x
Jess McCauley
Exactly. I really like, with any therapeutic method, with PTSD, if there’s trauma, when you’re triggered, and I experience if you’ve ever had trauma triggers something that’s could be a picture, a word, anything, a smell, a sound, your heart rate goes through the roof. You’re out of your body completely. So any trigger, the only way to change your state because your heart, your triggers are bound to happen, right? The only way to get out of that state is to manipulate your energy. And or use your breath. So really feel your breath, you know, when they tap. So that’s kind of that mind muscle connection as well. And when you’re listening to, if you’re listening to your playlist, and it’s music you like, then you can start to get out of that trauma trigger.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And get back into your senses, kind of. So working out is really, gosh, it’s, you know, sometimes I’ll work out a little too much. So physically, maybe not the healthiest, however, mentally if I’m experiencing a trigger, and I’ve got to get on with my day, it’s you know, that you can only go so many days experiencing that, that you’re not in big trouble with life. So it, gosh, you know, it’s really difficult to work out. But I just have to talk myself, if I’m in a really bad day, or I’m triggered, and I’m my brain, starting to take me back and ruminate. The only way really is, pick a good playlist, go breathe. And if I work out, my brain can then oh, it’s, you know, you go do something, say you’re gonna shower after your workout, you’re a totally different person. In my opinion, I am at least.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, it’s the, it’s the, I love the practice of there are times when we can navigate things inside out. And then there are times when we need it outside in. Right? There are times when we can hold different perspectives, we can think differently about a situation whether that’s, we’re navigating anxiety, or you and I, you know, we’ve talked offline about like OCD and panic disorders and, and then there are times when you just need it to be outside in. And you know, and similarly that whether it’s going for a walk, or literally physically grounding yourself, sometimes that’s me, if I get really spirally it’s like, I just literally need to lay on the floor and just breathe and re anchor myself. Yeah, cuz it’s that outside in, like to just start to disrupt that parasympathetic nervous system that – or the sympathetic nervous system, rather, that is getting, you know, all frazzled. One of the things, one of the things that we’ve talked about, and it’s something that we don’t talk about a lot, is like, so we talked about, like, the health of the muscles, right? And how people look, how they, you know, like, how fit, they feel like, how do they feel? How do they fit in their clothes? All of that. But there’s a part of our body that’s really, really important, and both men and women have this. And we do not talk enough about strengthening our pelvic floor muscle. Some people get weird about it, or giggly about it. But we all have a pelvic floor muscle, and it is critical for our well being. And we don’t talk enough about how to like, keep it strengthen. And so I know that that’s something you’re also passionate about. It’s not again, it’s not just about the like, external health, it’s the internal health too. So can you just like, what’s the pelvic floor muscle? What’s the value of it? And how do we strengthen it or keep it keep it healthy?
Jess McCauley
Right? Okay, so the pelvic will go to anatomy. That’s something, if I’m starting with a new client, it’s really important to me because when you say something’s life changing, I know that sounds dramatic. However, it was life changing. You know, I had saw something online with using your exhale to wrap your transverse abdominus and I was lost. I did not have a clue. So speaking of breath, and the rabbit hole of, you know, looking anywhere on the internet to figure out how exactly I’m supposed to breathe. (laughs) That was part of the discovery and it’s like, I struck gold. (laughs) So it’s really underrated, especially in, gosh, modern medicine and fitness. There’s a little bit of resources now for postpartum mothers.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
After they have a baby but not until there’s extreme dysfunction. And surgery is what they sew them with pelvic floor mesh. But that’s not when it’s problematic or the only time. I have never birthed a child and you shouldn’t pee a little when you jump rope, and that still started to occur. So it’s just, you know, you’re, you get comments like, Oh, you’re too young for that, or you wouldn’t know you’ve never had a baby. Sure, but men have a pelvic floor as well. So, (laughs) you know, when they get different issues with incontinence, with hernias, usually what men have if they’re mismanaging their breath and air pressure in their abdominal cavity. So with women, for instance, myself, when I was lifting really heavy weights, I started to experience what I thought was my abs were getting shredded, in a good way. (laughter) And in a bad way they were so there was a, you know, separating, and –
Sarah Noll Wilson
They were literally getting shredded. They weren’t like,
Jess McCauley
Yes.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah. They were literally shredding.
Jess McCauley
In a bad way. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, if you have a large space, and you’re what you would call your linea alba, but your, your ab muscles. We all want a six pack and we want the visual abs. However, some –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Some people do. Yeah. Yeah, no, I know.
Jess McCauley
That’s what they –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Society, society sells us that, that we should all want that. Yeah.
Jess McCauley
Yes. So what we do is the opposite of what we should be doing, is stuck in, pull the belly button to spine and I’ll even use that term sometimes, brace your core. How do you do that when you don’t know where to start?
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
What does that mean? So your core muscles are your pelvic floor, your diaphragm, your multifidus, which is in your back. Your inner and outer obliques and when you say things like pelvic floor, that’s what you would use to stop peeing. Sometimes it was men, I say toilet muscles. (laughs)
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And with breath, you want to manage that pressure in your abdominal cavity. Or, you know, if you do something, and you are not breathing correctly, and you’re not holding your core, you haven’t learned yet how to hold your core. What happens is the air pressure bulges out, causes a hernia and or abdominal separation, or with women, we really start to get uncomfortable and our sexual organs can push downward.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
So it’s just uncomfortable. So that’s so important. And it’s very under taught. I have three certifications from very credible, um –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Institutions.
Jess McCauley
Thank you. And never once was that covered.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And not in gyms – powerlifting they do a different kind of breath. And that’s great. But what if you don’t want to lift? You know, deadlift your body weight? Or what if you just want to simply feel more comfortable. It can actually impact your sexual health, your ability to –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Well, I was just gonna be like, if you’re willing to go there. I think that’s like, let’s, let’s like talk about that. It’s particularly with women.
Jess McCauley
Yeah.
Sarah Noll Wilson
You know, the, yeah, I mean, the pelvic floor is not only important, right, for us to be able to control our bladder. But if we have too tight of a pelvic floor, right, or if we are experiencing a lot of anxiety that can make intercourse or right, like, really painful. And so, so I’m starting to see more, not only more physical therapist focus from a postpartum perspective, but even just from a standpoint of releasing, so that sexual relations can be even more pleasurable for women. But there’s a huge relationship between that, that, like that was something and again, like, that’s something that I’ve learned on my personal journey, too, from the standpoint of if you have a lot of anxiety, if you have a lot of shame, if you have, right, like all of that is tightening up and it makes it very, it can make it very difficult. And really impact your ability to be present, your ability to experience pleasure, you’re, you know, XY and Z.
Jess McCauley
Well, right and in love and marriage. We’re all adults, sex is a part of emotional connection, especially for women. So if you’re not, you can become really hard, hard on yourself, like this should be a activity that connects you know, a couple deeper if it –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Or not, I mean, like, I’m very much like, I don’t yuck, anyone’s yum. Like, you know, and if it’s not a relationship, that’s cool, too. So, (laughs)
Jess McCauley
You still should be able to feel –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Relaxed, enjoy it.
Jess McCauley
Exactly. Right.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
So when, yeah, that is a big problem is, it used to be kegels and just hold the kegels and hold the keygels, which is actually problematic. Just like if you did too many, if you only did chest presses.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure.
Jess McCauley
So if you only do kegals, you are isolating a muscle, when your body doesn’t move like that. You’re a movement system. So everything should work systematically. And it should, your pelvic floor should relax and lengthen, and contract and strengthen ideally. So we get in trouble when we’re too flexed, right? So stress can do that with pelvic floor, then your hips, everything starts to become tense. Emotions get stored in your muscles. So hips, pelvic floor area, shoulders, neck, and it can be years. It can – the threat is far, like long gone.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
But your body does not forget muscle wise, trauma, or stress or emotional pain. And it happens with, you know, if you’re running your business and your stressed. If you just had a baby, and you’re not sleeping and you’re stressed. If you’re – and men and women, you know, experiencing, if you do have physical therapy, specifically for pelvic floor, which those do exist now, I have heard from female clients that they cried, you know, they just considered –
Sarah Noll Wilson
It was such a release.
Jess McCauley
And they had no idea why they were at – what was wrong. It just was so much tension stored in the muscles. So it’s just really important to learn how to relax it. That’s just as important to learn how to strengthen your pelvic floor and to protect your, all of your muscles, your, you know, and get more out of your movement.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
Quality of life, quality of movement.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, it’s that was that was such a profound insight for me when I, ten years ago, was diagnosed, well, almost 11 years now, I guess, with panic disorder. It was the first time I had gone to a therapist. And I remember being, I asked her, I said, Why? Why is this happening now? I’m literally in a job that I love. I’m no longer going to grad school while working full time. For all intents and purposes, my life is pretty great, right now. I’m like, why am I losing my shit? And she was like, I want to do an assessment (laughs) of like, really common stressful events. And I want you to tell me if in the last two to three years you’ve experienced, and you know, and it was things like, even positive stress. Moving, getting a new job, very exciting, stressful. Losing somebody, stressful. And when she started to go through this list, and I was like, what I check off a lot of those, and that’s when she explained, our body holds stress for like at least two years, which is so, that was so eye opening to me, and we might not even realize it. And that that being able to move isn’t just about physical. It’s not just about wanting to look a certain way, when we talk about the mental health component, some of it is and again, this isn’t woowoo. This is hard science, like the body keeps, you know, the stress in and and, and you know, the other thing you said that was really interesting is that I don’t know that I’ve thought about this is that we are, how did you say it? Like we’re a system movement, muscles system? You said the muscle system, right? Like because it’s problematic if we only work one thing, can you say more about that?
Jess McCauley
Yeah. Movement system. Core, for instance, if you’re thinking you’re going to strengthen your core with crunches or leg lifts, that is not just abs, right, you’re, you actually need your breath to integrate with your, so your lungs actually, your lungs, your diaphragm. If you think about voice. When they cover diaphragmatic breathing in theater, your breath and your lungs, your diaphragm, your pelvic floor move integrated. So your pelvic floor when you’re exhaling, with any lifting movements or core movements, you would want to imagine your pelvic floor like a telescope and bring from the pubic bone up, and integrating your scapula, your shoulder blades are floating bones so the muscles around your shoulder blades have to come into play with your core and how their predisposition for different movements can enhance the movement or take it away.
Sarah Noll Wilson
See, I just love the complexity of humans but also like our human body too. I just have to say this, I’m guessing many people listening to this, were trying to breathe like telescopic, as you were describing it, because I was like, oh, I’m totally doing it. (laughs) Or when you’re talking about the kegels, or whatever. I’m like, it’s okay if people if you’re like doing this along with us, as we talk about it. (laughter) But yeah, that idea again, that’s, that’s why I love that that mantra you have of movement as medicine, it’s being connected to the whole body, it’s that, that being able to be functional, at whatever level you can be. You know, that’s one of the things again, that I’ve appreciated in our work is that there are times when it’s like, Jess, we’re coming off a really tough week, we got a little bit in the can, but like, let’s do something. So at least we’re still moving. And that’s been really helpful when I think about the relationship I’m having with movement is just like some, like any movements better than none. And instead of thinking about it as like, oh, my goal is to lose this many pounds or to lose this many inches. It’s like, no, my goal is to just move and to move intentionally and to move thoughtfully and to be connected with my breath. And boy, do you need to remind yourself of that, like all the time, you know, because it’s so easy to be to be disconnected. Jess, I feel like we need to leave people with like, all right, focus on your breath. Think about your pelvic floor in a way that you never have before. Because it will serve you really, really well. And that mind body connection, like those are, those are the three kind of like practices I think could be valuable.
Jess McCauley
Yes. And consistency, like you were saying you, the importance you’ve, in the relationship you’re having with movement, consistency wins every time.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
Intensity, I used to get very hard on myself. And if I wasn’t excelling, in more weight, or more reps or better time, my brain felt disappointed in myself.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure.
Jess McCauley
But listening to your body and getting into your breath, you’re going to have better luck with, speaking of just brain chemistry, cortisol levels rise when you do high intensity workouts.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Sure.
Jess McCauley
They can stay that way. So on days, you’re not feeling energetic you do, there’s a time to push yourself a`nd I’m not saying that’s not valuable. But when you’re feeling just beat down, it might be more beneficial to do breathing, mind muscle connection, you’re getting the good, the feel good endorphins, you’re releasing stress. So you’re not storing fat. Because if you’re just stressed all the time, as we age, you’re really not ready for that. (laughs) That stress, it doesn’t matter how much you work out, you can run, run, run, do burpees and all of this intense movement. And some people still find that they’re gaining fat and they’re very confused. And it’s happened to me, it’s, you’re very stressed and your body can’t handle that and your store cortisol, is not healthy. So yeah, that’s something maybe they warn you about but I didn’t –
Sarah Noll Wilson
No, they don’t and then it’s when your hormones change, and you know, and then then your body stores stores it in different ways. I, you know, for people who are listening who are like I’ve just always struggled with this. One of the things that I have adopted are my exercise snacks. So like my exercise snacks are things I can do really quickly when I’m standing in line. So, you know, I’ll tell you, here’s like my one of my favorite exercise snacks that Jess has us do a lot is just calf raises, right just like really simple calf raises. Or, I, every time you get up from a chair see if you can like really push through your heels to like, push you up from your heels while keeping your knees out a little bit. Right? Exercise snacks literally might be just as simple as engaging your glutes and nobody knows. Like I’m standing in line in the bank, but I am like, I am working my, you know and and, and part of that is that consistency, and again with a goal to just take care of yourself. I, as I age, I do think differently about endurance, I think differently about longevity, I think differently just about my health in a way that I didn’t when I was younger. So I just sit there and go like what can I do to make it better for me now but also like future Sarah. And so, I do appreciate that perspective that you bring like it’s about consistency of movement, not necessarily intensity, or quantity, but just are we doing something you know – when I’m traveling a lot, you’re always like just get like a couple of simple little like, you know, squats in or whatever it is just to kind of keep that that consistency going is so important. Jess, we’re winding down our time together. Since it’s the first time you’re on our show, I want to ask you the question we ask all of our new guests. It’s been awhile since we had a new guests. This is fun. Jess, what’s a conversation you’ve had with yourself or someone else that was transformative?
Jess McCauley
Oh, actually, I like our mailbox talk.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jess McCauley
When we’re in our, after our workout and our, you know, neurons are firing.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah. Nick’s like I’m done. You both have fun.
Jess McCauley
Right? I get very idea fairy.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah. I love that you call them our mailbox talk. So just so people know what happens is, usually when we’re done working out, I walk like, Jesse will walk out to her car, and then I go and get the mail. And a lot of times, we’ll just stop and just talk about life or business or whatever. So that’s why the mailbox talks.
Jess McCauley
I love it. And it’s my favorite. When you point out some, when I, like I said, I have to stop with myself with the absolutes. When I put an absolute on any movement, if it’s glutes. If I say men don’t like this movement.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Oh Yeah.
Jess McCauley
You’re like, oh, I mean, maybe because you pointed out, but,
Sarah Noll Wilson
Is that true? Or is that true sometimes? (laughs)
Jess McCauley
Right, exactly. Or all the time. Just changing. I like the way you prompt different thinking patterns. What’s the –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Oh! You’re making this about me? Thanks! I appreciate it!
Jess McCauley
I love it.
Sarah Noll Wilson
I mean, we all, I mean, we all get into that right? Like I’ve just well even just like you were talking about the absolutes of oh, this is what workouts need to look like. And but no, that’s not what it needs to look like.
Jess McCauley
And everything’s just evolving all the time. So that’s something I’m trying to really focus on myself and my own patterns and behaviors even in my thinking path, just everything. The way I think, the way I move, that I don’t have to be so hard on myself because I, with movement, there’s a little bit of just you can become addicted to anything. I really do think that with myself, I overdo, I can overdo anything. (laughs) Talking, lashes, makeup, exercise, different movements, that in my brain I’ll tell myself that if I don’t do them it’s almost a fear of, if I don’t do them will I look and feel the way I do? Will it cause me to be in pain. So a question I often ask myself is, what if, will it really affects your day that much if you don’t move before your first client, if you don’t get your whole complete workout in? My anxiety will skyrocket.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
But is that because I’m telling myself I’m not going to survive if I go to my first client without getting my own workout in and then it’s been done before? And (laughs) guess what? Everything was fine and it was a great day.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, you survived it.
Jess McCauley
Yep, I did.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Aren’t we funny creatures, I love us. Jess if people want to connect with you and learn more about, you know, you and your work. So I feel like I do, before you say this, I do feel like I have to. I said at the top of the hour didn’t love the name GYMGUYZ and I just have to explain why, like. I was at an event and I saw GYMGUYZ and I was like that’s not for me because I’m not a gym person and I’m not a guy but like I get the Z. But then when your boss explained like, no we’re the gym guys who come to you. We come to the people and I was like, oh, well, that, you are for me then. That’s, that’s why I don’t have the name because I think it’s like unless you know the –it wasn’t as clear for me. Anyway, but I do love working with you. And not only do you work with people in person but you also work with people virtually. So what is the best way for people to reach out to you who might be interested in learning more about the work you do?
Jess McCauley
You can reach out on Instagram, Facebook, it is Jess Move It.
Sarah Noll Wilson
We’ll put this, we’ll put this all in the note. Jess Move It. Like just move it. You guys get it? I love it.
Jess McCauley
Yeah. Jess Move It. It’s sticks. Or GYMGUYZ. Just search GYMGUYZ all caps with a Z, it’ll search your area, if there’s trainers in the area. You can do virtual if you have someone specific you’d like to stick with. You don’t have to have a specific goal. What’s cool about GYMGUYZ is they try their best to match you at the trainer that meets the goals that you’re looking for.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And that can change and evolve. So yeah, I like, I really do enjoy the company, specifically Iowa and our team because there’s a lot of support. My boss Jade, she reaches out to clients to ensure that they’re getting their needs met often.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah.
Jess McCauley
And we talked about, sometimes we bug clients too much. (laughter) Or, you know, we’re reaching out to make sure they’re getting their needs met, if they’re wanting to do an assessment, to see their goals, if they –
Sarah Noll Wilson
Or not.
Jess McCauley
Want to set the bar higher or not, yes, some – numbers don’t work well for some people. And I’m one of them, because I get obsessive so it’s valuable for some and not for others. And I really enjoy the support and the different services that we offer. So assisted stretching at home, balanced training for seniors. I’ve done that. If you’re having behavioral issues with children, I am spectrum myself with ADD or ADHD, if you couldn’t tell. (laughs) And exercise really was something that was underrated. But I felt right away from movement, and especially learning and retaining information and mood and management and some behavioral issues. It helps with children with adults too.
Yeah, sure does.
And I love that we can cater to all of that, which is really nice. Yoga.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Yeah, all of that. So we’ll put all of that in the show notes. Jess! Thanks for being on the show. Thanks for keeping me moving.
Jess McCauley
Yes.
Sarah Noll Wilson
And I appreciate you.
Jess McCauley
It was an honor. I appreciate you. We’ll have another chat here soon when we work out. (laughs)
Sarah Noll Wilson
We’ll do a mailbox talk. We’ll let everyone know. We’ll take a picture and post it on social. We’ll do a mailbox chat. Alright, thanks so much, Jess,
Jess McCauley
Thank you so much.
Sarah Noll Wilson
Our guest this week has been Jessica McCauley. And one of the things that I’m holding on to is just a reminder of consistency, consistency over intensity, consistency over quantity. And that just that reminder of breath. That has been really transformative for me and the work that I’m doing with Jess, and something that I’ve forgotten about from my theater days, we just forget to breathe. So we want to hear from you, what resonated for you, what came up for you? You can always reach out to me on social media where my DMs are always open. You can send me an email at podcast @ sarahnollwilson dot com. If you’d like to support the show, please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to the show on your preferred podcast platform. This helps us get exposure and continue to have really great guests and conversations like we did with just today. Also, if you want to support the team that makes this show possible, you can become a patron go to patreon dot com slash conversationsonconversations where your financial support 100% of it will go to support the team that makes this show possible and you’ll get really great swag.
So speaking of the team, let’s give them a shout out. So to our producer Nick Wilson, our sound editor Drew Noll, our transcription Becky Reinert, our marketing consultant Jessica Burdg, and the rest of the SNoWCo. Crew. Thank you. And to each of you. Thank you for joining us. And thank you to Jess McCauley for coming on today. This has been Conversations on Conversations. Thank you all so much for listening. And remember, when we can change the conversations we have with ourselves and others we can change the world so please be sure to rest, rehydrate, move and we’ll see you again next week.
Sarah Noll Wilson is on a mission to help leaders build and rebuild teams. She aims to empower leaders to understand and honor the beautiful complexity of the humans they serve. Through her work as an Executive Coach, an in-demand Keynote Speaker, Researcher, Contributor to Harvard Business Review, and Bestselling Author of “Don’t Feed the Elephants”, Sarah helps leaders close the gap between what they intend to do and the actual impact they make. She hosts the podcast “Conversations on Conversations”, is certified in Co-Active Coaching and Conversational Intelligence, and is a frequent guest lecturer at universities. In addition to her work with organizations, Sarah is a passionate advocate for mental health.