When you think about exercise, what is the goal?

For many of us, the answer has traditionally been tied to weight, appearance or hitting a certain fitness milestone. But physical therapist and world champion weightlifter Jen Dieter offers a much more compelling reason to get stronger: your future life.

Can you carry your groceries? Get yourself off the floor? Catch your balance if you trip? Pick up a grandchild? Travel, garden, hike or play a sport you love?

Those everyday abilities are easy to take for granted until they become difficult.

In this episode of the NHA Today Podcast, host Dr. Stephan Esser talks with Jen about building strength not simply to perform better in the gym, but to remain active, capable and independent for years to come.

Muscle Is an Investment in Your Future

Jen describes muscle almost like a retirement account. You want to build it while you can so you have something to draw from later.

Without continued use, strength can gradually disappear. And Jen believes one of the biggest mistakes we can make as we get older is simply accepting that loss.

She has seen the opposite firsthand.

Jen has worked with people ranging from their 30s to their 80s who want to become stronger. Their goals may look completely different, but the reason behind them is often the same: they want to keep doing things for themselves.

One of Jen’s patients summed it up perfectly when someone asked what she was training for.

Her answer was simple: “I’m training for life.”

Strength Is About More Than Lifting Weights

The words “strength training” can bring to mind barbells, heavy weights and intimidating gyms. Jen encourages people to think more broadly.

Functional strength is about training movements you actually use.

Sitting down and standing back up is a squat. Bending over to pick something up is a form of a deadlift. Carrying groceries requires strength. Catching yourself when you stumble requires balance, coordination and the ability to react quickly.

That means training can begin wherever you are.

Jen describes working with a patient on a deadlift using an eight-pound ball placed on a bench. The goal was not to lift an impressive amount of weight. It was to practice bending and picking something up safely so that same movement could become easier and more confident in everyday life.

Do Not Stop Practicing the Things You Want to Keep

Running, jumping and moving quickly can begin to feel like activities reserved for younger people.

But Jen argues that these are exactly the abilities we may want to preserve.

Life does not always happen slowly. You might trip on a sidewalk, need to regain your balance or move quickly to help a child. If your body has not practiced reacting quickly in years, doing it suddenly when it matters becomes much harder.

Jen uses simple quick-foot drills with some of her patients, starting with stepping forward, backward and side to side across an imaginary line. As confidence and ability improve, those movements can progress.

The point is not to turn everyone into an athlete.

It is to train the abilities you do not want to lose.

Fear Can Make Your World Smaller

There is another barrier Jen sees frequently in physical therapy: fear.

After an injury or period of pain, people can become afraid that a particular movement will hurt them again. So they avoid it.

Over time, that avoidance can mean moving less and becoming less confident in what the body can do.

Jen believes having the right guidance can help people rebuild that confidence. A physical therapist, skilled trainer or other qualified professional can help you learn how to move safely and gradually progress from where you are.

For someone who has never exercised or has not exercised in years, that may be a much better starting point than trying to figure everything out alone.

It Is Not Too Late to Get Stronger

Jen knows what it feels like to start again.

Despite her athletic background, there was a period while raising young children and working when she realized she had gone about two years without intentionally exercising.

She eventually tried CrossFit at 38.

Today, she is an 11-time CrossFit Games qualifier, holds five world records in Olympic weightlifting and has earned two World Championships.

Most people are not trying to become elite athletes, and Jen does not expect them to. Her story simply illustrates a larger point.

You can start where you are.

The goal is not to become Jen Dieter. The goal is to become stronger and more capable than you are today.

Train for the Next 30 Years

One of Jen’s most important pieces of advice is to stop thinking only about the next 30 days and start thinking about the next 30 years.

What do you want your life to look like then?

Maybe you want to travel with your family. Carry your grandchildren. Live independently. Keep gardening. Play pickleball. Walk through a new city all day without wondering whether your body can handle it.

Those goals change the purpose of exercise.

Instead of training only to change what you see in the mirror, you begin training to protect what you want to keep doing.

Jen offers three practical places to begin:

Lift something heavy for you two or three times a week. It does not have to be a barbell. The appropriate weight depends on your current ability.

Give your cardiovascular exercise a purpose. Challenge yourself with periods of greater effort followed by recovery rather than always moving at the same intensity.

Test your real-world capacity. Can you get off the floor without using your hands? Can you carry something heavy? Can you move quickly when necessary? If something is difficult today, it may simply give you a goal to work toward.

Strength is not just about what you can lift.

It is about what your strength allows you to keep doing.

And the work you put in today may give your future self something far more valuable than a number on the scale: the freedom to keep participating fully in your own life.

Learn More About Jen Dieter

Jen Dieter, MPT is the founder and lead clinician of REAL Movement Physical Therapy, where she works to bridge the gap between traditional physical therapy and performance coaching.

REAL Movement Physical Therapy:
http://www.realmovementphysicaltherapy.com

Instagram:
@jensmash13

Listen to the Full Episode

Listen to Build Strength That Keeps You Active for Life with Jen Dieter on the NHA Today Podcast, hosted by Dr. Stephan Esser.

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