Muscle Mom Mode: Laura Lee Musson on Strength & Motherhood

[0:00] You make my knees weak. Just kidding. Yesterday was blank leg day. Very good. If you had 10 minutes and one dumb, what are you doing with this? I like this one. Okay. Bald eagle, right? I can swear if I want to. Good. Let’s nail the basics down first, cuz I don’t want to give you this supplement if you’re not doing this other stuff first. Yeah. What up now? All right. Welcome to — welcome to everybody. Welcome everybody to the PTCH Podcast. First of all, thanks

[0:31] for all the support for the show. We’re just assuming people are supporting the show, right? So there’s probably a bazillion of you by now. Look out Joe Rogan. We’re coming for you. So, but if you haven’t subscribed yet, be sure to go ahead and subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts so that you don’t miss any episodes. So today, Kathy, why don’t you introduce our guests? Okay. So, Laura Lee, so happy to have you here today. Yes. She is a

[1:02] competitive bodybuilder. Mom of four. She owns her own fitness company called Lavel Fitness. Leveled up with Lavel. Yes. Yes. That’s right. Level up. And she’s an authentic voice in a filtered fitness world. Yes. Welcome. Thank you. Thanks. And she’s also my wife’s best friend. I am. Got to love me some Andy. Yes. Yes. Like a backup mom to my children and everything. You’re a best friend-in-law. Yeah, best

[1:32] friend. I guess that’s what it means. Yeah. So, yeah. So, we tricked Laura Lee into being on the — yeah. We kind of ambushed her. We’re like, “Hey, if you come here, we’re going to have Diet Coke and bodybuilding.” Yeah. We’re going to be doing some bodybuilding. We got protein powder. I’m waiting for it, guys. I’m sure it’s around here somewhere. So, okay, Laura Lee, what we do here on the PTCH is this is a health podcast. I

[2:04] don’t know if we told you that, but we have people that are interested in pretty much all things like healthcare, right? And so, we want to kind of highlight you and get your perspective on health and wellness because we think that what you do is a little bit unique. You know, we live in a time of influencers and highly curated, you know, messages that people get to send out there. What we like about you is that you’re so authentic and your message to people is a little bit different. So, tell us, how

[2:37] did you get into fitness? Okay, this is a really good story. So, if you knew me growing up, I was a Pixie Sticks girl. Like I love Pixie Sticks. Anything sugar. That was my main objective. Exciting. Yeah, it was great. I bet people who I grew up with are really confused about what’s going on with me. Let’s do a different podcast about sugar and snacks, cuz I like that one. Can I be invited to that one? Yes. Stay tuned. First guest. I had my kid, my first one, Addie. How many years ago? She’s 18 now. Holy smokes. Wild. Okay.

[3:07] So, after I had her, I was told I would lose all the baby weight nursing. It didn’t happen. Didn’t happen at all. Didn’t lose any weight with any of the kids. Dang it. Yeah. So, I decided — I should have nursed harder. We didn’t do it right. Supposedly, we didn’t do it right. I guess I didn’t either. Yeah. Shoot. So, I decided I wanted to — I started actually with step aerobics in my like living room. Yep. I started with step aerobics. I just

[3:38] wanted to lose the weight. I remember coming home once telling my husband I ran a mile. So proud of myself. And he — it was more of a weak sauce. That’s my warmup. And I was like, “Oh, that’s so sad.” Ouch. But — and then where’s his body buried? I’ll tell you after the show. Just promise me some protein. No. But I just started to kind of go to the gym. He kind of told me what to do and I kind of liked seeing the results and what I could do with it. So then I started taking it kind of small steps at

[4:08] a time. I liked — I remember there was like an only women’s section in the gym. So I would go to this only women’s section. I don’t even think we had pink dumbbells, but I hear that that’s a great place to meet women. Yeah, if you’re in the market. Okay. It’s a great place. Okay. But no, I just started — I just started like lifting and trying to lose the baby weight. Okay. Yeah. So, you’re saying that — and this is like, we do

[4:38] healthcare news here on the PTCH Podcast. So, the news is that step aerobics does not make you lose weight. Well, it’s the cardio. So, you will lose it. But okay. It’s the gateway. It’s — yeah. It’s the only thing I knew, something I could have — like, cuz back then

[5:08] we didn’t have like influencers or anything. So, I only knew like my sister-in-law told me she did step aerobics. So, I was like, “If you did it, I’ll do it.” So, you get your information from a magazine. You do? Yeah. No, I did. Like the — what were those magazines? Yeah. Like I was reading a lot of — Men’s Health. Yeah. It was Women’s Health. So, I probably wasn’t reading Men’s Health, right? Okay. So, yeah. And that’s a — I mean, that’s the thing, is I think everybody starts with a story like yours with really good intentions, and a lot of times the intentions are way ahead of the information. Right. It’s like they

[5:41] have the desire, they have a problem they’re trying to overcome, but they just don’t have the right information to match up with the motivation. Yep. Right. And then today we have an environment where you still have that, because it’s really easy to get the wrong information. And just like — it was back then when I was — okay, when I was doing macros, like you have those apps now, I wrote them out by hand. I did everything by hand on like notebook paper. So, pen and paper — I had a notebook

[6:13] with all of my meals on it. Oh wow. And I tracked it that way. So now it’s like scan it and move on. Like, this is way easier. Can I pump the brakes for a second? Yeah, pump them. Can you just explain what a macro is to some people? Oh yeah. So it’s how calories are broken down. So you have your protein, carbs, and fats. So protein is a hot word right now. Everyone can’t get enough. It’s kind of a little too much right now. I feel like trendy. This has 50 g of protein in it. I’m like, what are we going for? Right. But no,

[6:46] yeah, it’s the macronutrients of your calorie intake for the day. Okay. And so where do you land on this whole calorie in calorie out thing? Wait, wait, what do you mean? I can plan a little differently. Where do we — it’s a couple hours. All right. So to lose — part of my background is I have a degree in nutrition. I did know this. And they didn’t, though. So, I’m just flexing. I was — yeah. Thank you.

[7:18] so, but there’s so much like it’s just as easy to find somebody who says that it is all calories in, calories out as it is to find somebody who says calories don’t matter. Oh, you know. Oh, and so, eat as much steak as you want. Yeah. Eat as much steak as you can. Oh, right. Or you have people that are like carnivore, we just want to do carnivore diet, or you got to be a vegan, or you know, like I I’ve got a friend

[7:50] who found out that he was a type two diabetic. And so, his doctor, when he got this diagnosis, his doctor told him, “Okay, what you need to do is you need to become a vegan.” Yeah. Which I was like, seriously? Which is — if you’re a type two diabetic, especially a newly diagnosed one, I just want to let you know that’s a terrible recommendation because I mean there’s nothing wrong with being a vegan if you’re a type two diabetic, but it isn’t going to get you across the finish line. It’s not going to accomplish your

[8:20] goal, because being a vegan doesn’t do anything to regulate your blood sugar, right? So I guess when I’m saying like, where do you fall on the whole calories in, calories out — like, you’ve helped a lot of people get in shape, you’ve done this yourself. Are calories important? Do you need to count them? Do you need to know what they’re made up of, where they’re coming, where they’re going, those kinds of things?

Kathy: Well, knowledge is power, right? So I feel like you do need to know what you’re eating, what you’re consuming. I am a believer in calories in, calories out.

Jason: So,

[8:51] you’re saying you believe in science?

Kathy: Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Because if you don’t — like, I even have a tour where clients will do really good for the week and the weekend they

Jason: Yeah.

Kathy: fall out and they’re like, “Why am I not seeing progress?” I’m like, “Okay, well, let’s see. Let’s take it back here.” But, no, I’m a big believer in calories in, calories out. But how that works for you specifically, I let the client guide. So, if they want to do more carbs, if that works for them, let’s go that way. If they want to do higher fat, I let them lead, and how

[9:21] their body is responding to it.

Jason: And I like that because the climate today is carbs are the enemy. Yeah. If you’re eating carbs, you’re getting fat. Yeah.

Kathy: No, I eat a lot of carbs. Yeah. I love carbs.

Jason: Okay. Good. And if you want to build muscle, you got to eat. Like, you can’t build out of nothing. Like, you need some substance.

Kathy: Yep. Absolutely.

Jason: So, is that surprising to people when they’re coming to you for help? And you’re like, “Well, I — ” because I know, like, you’ve worked with my son in terms of trying to help him

[9:53] get his fitness right. Right. And instead of — fitness food into his — I cannot — I cannot not make that pun whenever I say fitness. Fitness. Yeah. I’m fitting this sandwich into my mouth right — do fitness. So yeah, that’s — it’s not a — that’s not a dig on my son. It is my failure as a man to not make a certain dad joke every time I hear the word fitness. That is what you need to be doing. This way I’m fitting this joke into the show again. Anyway, but I think he was

[10:23] pretty shocked whenever you were like, “Okay, so what do you like to eat? Like, what kind of stuff do you want?” It was like, “Huh, and she’s just supposed to tell me what I’m supposed to eat.” So, like, how does that work? How do you have that conversation with people?

Kathy: Um, because you can’t just eat whatever, right? But like, how do you have that conversation with people and help steer them towards a way that’s going to be effective for them? So, I don’t want to go balls to the wall. Every time I have a client that’s like, “I will do whatever it takes,” they run

[10:53] out of motivation. So, I like to see what they’re already doing and make small tweaks and small modifications so that they can keep going. And I don’t want them to think that food is the enemy, because it’s actually not. They need the fuel. They need it to progress and to move forward. And also, one of my big things that I have for check-ins is, are you feeling deprived? Because if you’re feeling deprived, you’re going to hate your life. Like, no one wants to do that. Nobody. No. So, if you want to fit some chocolate in there, if you want to have a peanut butter and jelly, let’s figure out how you can consume that,

[11:24] love your life, and then still just make progress with it. So mac and cheese is a big one. You want mac — Aldi’s makes a great one. I think that’s how you say it.

Jason: Okay. Well, and I just wanted to point out that I did not say “fitness chocolate into my —”

Kathy: You said sandwich.

Jason: You just did. But yeah, when you said “fit chocolate,” I did not make the joke. I just wanted to give myself a point for that. We’re going to play a game later and I’m giving myself a point.

Kathy: Okay. Sweet. Ding.

Jason: If I can get points.

[11:54] Kathy: Yeah, I hope you do, too, because it’s a fun game. This is a good one.

Jason: Did you — I haven’t shown you the game yet.

Kathy: No.

Jason: Oh, it’s a good one. Stick around for the game, y’all. Yeah. It’s going to be a surprise for all. Um, so your focus whenever you’re working with people — it’s mainly like women that you like working with, right? So, why — what do you have against men? Why do you hate men?

Kathy: Yeah, that’s the question. Why do you hate men? They’re just the worst. No. So, what made you decide that this is where you wanted to focus?

[12:26] It’s my background. I’m a mom of four kids. A lot of moms make sacrifices for their families, for their children, for their household, for their pets, for anything — for family, friends — but they also need to be taken care of, too. Like, you cannot — what is that saying on the airplane? Like, you have to put your face mask on first before you can help other people. Like, I want to show up for my kids. I can’t show up if I’m not healthy, if I can’t move, if I’m not going to live longer. So, I want to help women empower themselves and also

[12:57] be an example for their kids. Because just because you’re a mom doesn’t mean you don’t matter anymore. You matter. Yeah. So, take care of yourself and be an example to your kids, or whoever’s around you. Even your dog. Be an example to your dog. Write that down.

Jason: I don’t hate men.

Kathy: Yeah. Okay. Of course you don’t. Let’s just throw that in there.

Jason: How do you balance all of that? There’s — it’s not a — you should see my house right now. It’s a lot. But I think you have

[13:27] to find what works for you. And what works for me is not going to work for everyone. So right now, like for nutrition, I buy pre-made chicken. I buy pre-made — like it’s just how it’s going to be right now. For my kids to eat protein, I have them tell me what they like and then I buy what they want. And fitness — oh my gosh, I used to get up early and now I just — I know before we started you were talking about like, “Hey y’all, I sleep in now. I don’t sleep in till 6.” Sometimes 6:30, guys. Today was 6:30.

[13:59] Jason: Lazy. We’re lucky. We’re lucky we even got you here, right? That was bedtime. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So, do you work out in the mornings then?

Um, I work out — it depends when I have clients. So, I make sure I’ll take a couple clients in the morning and then I make sure I can fit my own workout in, too. I would take all the clients because I actually enjoy that more. I like being with the person and — I can make someone else work out all day. So, bust a myth for us. What’s a myth? Working out in the morning without food is the best time to work out?

[14:30] That’s what I thought.

No, it’s whatever works for you. If you —

Jason: Yeah, you’re like mic drop. Let’s go. You pass. No burpees for you. Right. Well, and I think that with that, there’s — I mean, there’s people that are trying to biohack their way into just the perfect body and everything. And it’s kind of funny. Okay, sometimes I’m just going to backtrack a little bit. Sometimes I get people who come in, they’re like, “Hey, I heard that you’re

[15:00] the chiropractor for the Oregon State Beavers.” And so, man, if you’re good enough to take care of those high-level athletes, you’re good enough to take care of me. And it’s like — sir, you’re in terrible shape and you’ve got nine kinds of diabetes. You’re 400 lb overweight, you’re smoking as I’m talking to you. It’s like you’re not in great shape. But like somebody like that, they want a biohack, you know, like — oh, well, I’m lifting weights

[15:32] while I’m fasting because — yes, like — no, no, no, no. You probably need to go back to square one.

Yes. Right. Which is like, let’s get you eating a vegetable, you know, or something of a color other than brown.

Jason: Yes. Exactly. Or how about if you take a walk every day, you know? Do you find that a lot with people that you work with — that they’re trying to start at step 16 instead of step one?

Yep. Okay. And they’re always surprised when I take them back and I’m like, “Okay, I know you want to go here and I love that for you, but let’s take a

[16:02] couple steps back and nail the basics down first, because that’s the most bang for your buck. I don’t want to give you this supplement if you’re not doing this other stuff first that will actually give you more results.” That actually kind of sucks. Like it’s not very fun to watch what you’re eating, right? But it’d be awesome to take some creatine and be like, “Yeah, what up now?”

Jason: Yeah, exactly. I love me some creatine. So, okay, I’m going to ask you to give something away here. Okay, so if

[16:32] somebody’s listening and they’re like, “Oh man, what kind of advice would she give?” Pretend like you have your average person and they come to you with the average problem. Like what are you telling them they need to do first?

Oh, this is easy. Protein is the first thing. Okay, first — how much protein are you taking in? You don’t know? Let’s start tracking it. Let’s just start there. Let’s say that I’m taking — four grams of protein. Yeah. Just four. Kids, this is why units are important, right? No. Well, okay. So, let’s say that I’m somebody who,

[17:03] you know, I’m getting maybe 30 grams of protein a day. So, I don’t actually want to jump you up to the goal amount because that’s going to feel awful — like you’re probably going to feel like a brick is in your gut. I would say let’s actually start building up towards that. Let’s do a small — let’s maybe get protein two times in a day. Okay. Or maybe easier things like a Fairlife or something that’s easier for them to handle.

Jason: I love how you’re dropping all these potential sponsors for the show. Are you listening? Fairlife, contact us. Okay. So that’s good. So that’s what

[17:34] you’re talking about in terms of making small changes along the way.

Yes. Okay. I like that. And something with the massive — like people were like, you need to get x amount of protein, which I think is fine and there are formulas for it and I think they’re fine. I think there are a lot of people that don’t get enough protein, but the timing of the protein is important because your body can only handle so much protein at once. There’s no agreement on it, but it’s probably not much more than like 30 to 40 grams of protein in one sitting. Like your body just can’t do

[18:05] anything with the rest of it. And so you’ve got to spread it out over the day, right? And so those kinds of conversations are important too, right?

Yep. Especially right now with protein being that hot word. Yeah. And everyone — like I see a recipe and I’m like, 50 grams of protein — I’m like, why? Why? Like, think about it — you’re doing more work. Split it up.

Jason: I’m glad you said that. Yeah. Well, and then people like — they want to say, oh well, that’s not a complete protein. But

[18:36] for the most part, it’s like just start at square one. Exactly. And then just start. When you see that square one isn’t working, then you can add some other things in, but get the basics done first.

Mm-hmm. I like it. So, can you tell us how you went from just wanting to be a good, in-shape mom to — how’d you get to the bodybuilding? Right. Because that’s kind of the big jump there. Like, I want to get into shape and lose — no, I want to be a bodybuilder.

Yeah. So, I — the magazines, because they had the fitness

[19:07] people in there. So I started following — can’t remember her name — Jamie Eason or something, and I was like, what does she do? She looks amazing. And then I’m a competitive person. I was raised with four brothers. I did not want to be treated like a girl. I wanted to be wrestling with them. So I just wanted to see what I could do. Yeah. It was hard. But I just saw those people and I loved the muscle they had and I just wanted to see if I could do it.

Tell us about your first time.

Oh gosh. Okay. The first time it was during

[19:38] training for my husband, so I couldn’t afford a coach. I decided I was just going to coach myself. Yeah, that was a bad idea because you’re in your head and you’re like, “This person —” It’s like the whole thing. LeBron James coaches himself. Yeah. Okay. I’m not a LeBron James. But yeah. No, it’s like there’s so much information out there, ‘cause one person carb loads and one person doesn’t, and they deplete water, and which way is first. So I was going crazy trying to figure out the best way to do it. But I just started coaching myself and just trying to figure it out when

[20:08] some posing lessons. It went — it was — it was a lot. I was in my head a lot. So I did two shows like that on your own. Yes. Was it fun? It sounds like — it sounds like a lot of work. It was a lot of work. But one show that was really cool, it had a mom category. So yes, so one of the categories — like so we had like open and they have heights, and then one was like just moms went out there. So we all were like from the same background. We all had stretch marks. We all like complained about our kids and

[20:38] like — and then loved on our kids backstage. But it was really cool to be with like other — a mom comes out there in a bikini and she’s got a kid on the — yeah. Pose down. Yeah. Yeah. Get your hands off your brother. I see you back there. Oh my gosh. That’s her pose. Yeah. Yes. Know what you’re doing. Oh my gosh. And so is it still something that you enjoy? I mean, you had fun that first one. It was eye-opening

[21:08] and everything. And like, has it always been fun? No, it’s not fun cutting. I hate cutting. Like, it’s not — it’s not great. Like, I join everyone else when I have a client that’s not having a lot of fun. I’m like, join the rest of us. It’s not — it’s not super pleasant. I’m not going to lie. But I’ve been doing it for a long time, ‘cause I took a big break, had another kid. Mhm. And then one of our businesses was born, but then we decided to go back to — to competing, and then I hired a coach. So it was their problem to like worry about me and

[21:39] I just followed directions. So that was awesome. That’s always the best. Yeah. So he could worry for me, tell me what to do. Okay. And then yeah. And that makes life a little easier. It does when you can rely on somebody else. Yeah. It’s their brain, it’s not mine telling you what to do. Yeah. Yeah. So, ‘cause you got five people you got to tell what to do. Yeah. I’m really good at telling people what to do. Mhm. It’s hard to follow your own advice. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you get like — you just get so caught up in it, and then you start seeing other people and like you start comparing. Like that’s just the worst is

[22:09] when you compare. You’re like, well, that person’s there and where am I? And well, but the whole thing is to stand there and be judged, right? So it’s like that’s a piece of the sport — we’re going to tell you whether your body’s good or not. We don’t care how hard you worked. When someone’s like, “How do you stick with it?” I’m like, “Well, if you’re going to stand in a bikini on stage, I think you would stick with it, too.” Yeah. How do you deal with the criticism? I know what they’re going to say, ‘cause like I know what they’re looking for and I know what I’m signing up for. So I know what they

[22:39] tell me each time. It’s the same thing for years. Okay, let’s — let’s get — let’s get weird though. Like, what’s the part where you’re like, when they see this they’re going to be like, oh my gosh — like, what’s your part like that, where you’re like — for me it’s like, look at those biceps. Yeah. Thank you, Kathy. She said like, I put these up. Look at those biceps. I hear that all the time. Right. Look at those. Like, my quads. I’m like — I’ve actually been told to streamline my quads. So I have

[23:10] to pose different. So actually — it’s actually, you got to streamline the quads. I’m telling — I’m telling people this all the time. Calm down. Streamline your quads. Take it down, bro. Flare them up. Flare them up. No, I actually got docked because they were so out — like they were. So I have to point my toes a little bit more in so that — or twist my knees in. They hold up like a red card. They say her quads are too good. A crime. Big quads. Yeah, they’re intimidating. They’re overtaking — crying. Yeah. No.

[23:40] Yeah. And then sometimes my hamstrings will be too lean. Like, it’s weird. So they have to pose a little different that day. Uh-huh. ‘Cause if one part takes over, you’re supposed to — like, look up a bikini competitor on stage and not have one spot stick out a lot. So nothing should be too exciting. Exactly. No, that’s exactly — no, it is. That’s what they say. They’re like, if they can point out one thing and say she has like awesome this, and I’m excited about her quads — yeah. You just need mediocre quads. You just need mediocre quads. You

[24:11] just need big glutes. That’s kind of where we are. You need a booty. You need a booty. Sign me up. A glute. I can’t — I’m canceled all of a sudden. I can feel it. No. So, but it’s like — so you can’t be like, your quads are your blue steel. You know what I mean by that? Like Zoolander, right? And it’s like, I’m about to look like that. So it’s not like, oh man, I feel like I’m really behind in this competition. Well, watch this. And you like get the — the stance.

[24:42] Check it out. No. I wish. That’d be awesome. Wow. Okay. I would have thought that maybe — because then otherwise you’d have somebody who’s just like, I’m just working on my quads the whole time. I’m going to out-quad everybody. But you can do that with a booty. You can. You can. You can. Okay. Actually, I think people have done it. So if you get out there and you’re like — scratching your — belt, but you get out there and it’s like boom, glutes, perfect booty. It’s like, woohoo. Give her the — is it a medal, or a cup? It depends. I want a piece of cardboard. That’s all I want right now. Even if it’s a sticky

[25:14] note, I’m happy with that. What’s the — what’s the card? It’s a pro card. I’ve been going after it for a long time. Long time. The elusive — the elusive pro card. I lost it by one spot like this last year. Yeah. For like — I know — five, six shows. Do you have the names of any of these judges? Yeah. Yes. Because we have the power of the internet. Yes, we do. Let’s go after — public. No, they’re literally — you may not know this, but a dozen people watch this podcast at least. Hi, Mom. Yeah.

that? I know. She did her hip flexor work. She did her stretching. She did the things that I asked her to do and she was almost 2 seconds faster. And so last night she came to me and she’s like, “Hey mom, can we work on this again?” Like, “Of course we can.” I mean, there we go. Yeah. And

[32:28] so that is the moment. That is the real trophy right there. Yes. Like that trumps any pro card, right? Because now she’s going to take these habits and these things and just run with them. Yeah. And you know, Kathy, you know, as like a physical therapist, I know that you really appreciate like this mom is doing the real work. Absolutely. I love it. Honestly, I think it’s huge. I mean, yes, it translates to sports performance. But more importantly, just like you said, the habits that you’re building for these girls. And it’s really true. Like their relationship with food, their relationship

[32:58] with their body, their relationship with exercise, like all of that stuff is being formed right now. And you’re right there guiding it. And honestly, to use the verbiage, the the words that are connected to health and not to vanity, right? Like not to the way you look, but to the way your body functions and feels. I think that is so impactful for young women. Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, no, that’s a big deal. And and Addie’s going to be a runner? Or is she a multisport? So she runs. She’s she’s a

[33:28] sprinter, right? Sprinter. And she’s a sprinter and she plays soccer. She’s a soccer player. She’s a soccer player as well. And she was so fast this off season, I guess. Um, she did. She wants to she was talking about long jump too, but we’ll see where we go with that. She did hurdles. That’s amazing. And I mean, the way that you described your approach is really so spot on, like because it’s not about the scale. It’s not it’s not about a number on the scale. It’s about how your body performs and how your body feels. Yeah. And I think that like

[33:58] you know I always I kind of, I always like to point this out to people cuz sometimes they get wrapped up and like like even in practice people get like “Oh I gain three pounds.” and I want to be like well you know I have I’ve seen athletes drop a pants size and gain weight. Right. Like because lean muscle tissue is denser than fat tissue. And so um that’s a great thing to be able to teach people. And and um you know the scale to me that just, the scale measures gravity. That’s all the scale does. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. And

[34:28] so um one of the things that um I like to think about is like, you know, I do a lot of treatment in terms of like helping people with pain, right? And so people will come in for pain. And one of the things that I’ve always found super interesting is that there is this relationship between body composition and pain, right? Um, and pain is complex, right? Kathy? There’s a lot of different Yeah. It’s very complex. And so there’s, it’s complex. And so the relationship between fat tissue specifically and pain is complex too. Um, but

[34:58] there are some things that we know, um, one of the things that I’ve shared before is that fat tissue is an endocrine organ, right? So it doesn’t just store fat. It actually like um, creates and secretes hormones. And um and and and so when you have excess adipose tissue, you create hormones that are pro-inflammatory. Um, so you’re just, you’re sort of turning up the volume on the on the inflammatory side of things which can increase pain. And then you have like um you know, obviously like

[35:28] mechanical considerations right where if you have excess weight it puts more strain on your joints. Um, but I think that one of the most underrated things that that goes hand in hand with body composition is muscle mass, right? Um, and that’s like a big one for pain because if you’re not managing your muscle mass and you’re losing, there’s a process called sarcopenia. Yep, sarcopenia. And sarcopenia is natural. It happens to all of us. Yeah. Um, but there are things that you can do to limit

[35:58] it. And um, you know, if you don’t have that muscle mass, you start to lose joint stability, right? And that’s where you get like, you know, people come to me and they’re like, “Oh, my knees hurt.” And it’s like, well, okay, let’s look at how much muscle you have around that knee. Um and let’s talk about that. Like that may be playing a role. Um and so I think body composition is like a really interesting thing. I mean there’s also like the vascular side of things right where like if you have excess adipose tissue, it can affect blood flow and nerve conduction and that can also play a role in

[36:28] pain. So it’s like a multi-faceted conversation. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh and so um you’re in a sport and you’ve been doing this for a while and so I kind of want to know like what does what does your body feel like, right? Like how are you feeling? Like both like you know, your body, do you have aches and pains? And then also like emotionally, like how is your body doing? Well, it depends what season I’m in. Right. So let’s talk about like where you are. Where are you now? I’m in my bulk right now. Okay.

[36:58] So right now I’m feeling great. I’ve got energy. My workouts are great. I’m recovering well. Um, I will feel great up until about 2 weeks before. Okay. Before the cut. Yeah. And that’s where you’re kind of on the prep side and you’re starting to get to the prep side, right. And how do I feel in prep? My joints hurt. Okay. You don’t have the cushioning. Yeah. I’ve actually I’ve had some things come up that I have never had before. Interesting. So my elbow started to bother me and I’m like, “This has never happened.” And I’m like,

[32:28] that? She tried. I can make your kids listen. No, no, no. She actually tried to tell Reese last night this and she looked at me. She’s like, “This is so frustrating.” I’m like, “Welcome to parenthood. You’re going to get a taste of it now.” But she like she told me cuz she like cut two seconds off in a year. And I was like, “What did — like how did you do that?” Cuz not that I didn’t think she could. I just knew her as my gymnast. That’s what she did. She’s like, “I started listening to you by eating protein, like trying to eat better foods. Not really eliminating sugar, but

[32:58] kind of watching it a little bit. She upped her water intake. She worried about her sleep. She started taking creatine. She lifted the whole like year, cut two — like two seconds off, which is huge for hurdles. She’s now like fifth in the state. Yeah. Just to jump in here, she destroyed everybody at the track meet. 300 meter hurdles. And like she — I didn’t know anyone else was racing against her when you — Yeah, I sent you the video. You can’t see other kids in the video. She cooked them.

[33:28] like, “No, I’m so sorry.” Like, to other parents who had kids in this race, but you saw what I saw, right? And so, like, she cleared all these hurdles. She gets to the end and like she — she put everything into it, too. It’s not like she was even kicking back. You can tell that kids have been working really hard. So, I think that’s another part is she wanted it. Like, you can tell someone all you want what to do. They have got to want it. So, that’s what she tried. That’s what she kind of saw last night with Reese is I was like, “Re, we got to get some kind of protein in you. You just did gymnastics. Like we can’t like

[33:59] you’re leaving your gains on the table. Like stop it.” Oh, I like that. And then Addy jumped in and she was trying to tell Reese and I was like, “You tell me what you like and I’ll buy it.” And then we — we finally got her to eat half a protein bar. But it’s better than nothing. It is. Yeah. But I just loved Addie when she was — Yeah. She was like preaching. I was like, “Can you come and talk to my clients for me, too? Like, come with me, girl.” Yeah. But get her on the payroll or earn her keep. Well, there is that. Yeah. Well, let me jump in real quick.

[34:29] I’m going to do like a a mid-show call to action here. So, if you’re loving this episode, take a second just — like hit that follow button. Yes, just tap it. Tap in. Share it with somebody who really needs to hear this talk. Like I’m — I’m sure you know some moms that could benefit from what Laura Lee is saying. Absolutely. Yeah. So, really great stuff. Yeah. Um, let’s see. Should we — should we have her like squash a few more myths real quick? Yeah. And

[35:00] then I think that it’s — we’re probably getting pretty close to this game. Don’t look at my screen and try and cheat. I know I am. I know. Okay. But don’t — like surprises. All right. Well, here we go. Kathy, what do you have for — Kathy, what do you have? The myths. The myths. Yeah. Or any tips for busy moms? Anything like that? I have a question more about — do I need to take creatine to build muscle. You don’t have to. No, you don’t have to at all, but it will help a

[35:31] lot. You’ve already got creatine in your body. Yeah. Right. Do I need extra? It’s in there. It can help, right? Yeah. Monohydrate though. That’s the most studies done. Monohydrate. Monohydrate. Okay. Yeah. I feel like — okay. Well, and a lot of the studies show that it’s not just good for muscle building — cognitive. Yes, absolutely. That’s the hugest thing right now. It’s a big — Yeah, it’s big right now. Yes. It’s not just for people that want to build muscle. It’s for people that want to avoid things like dementia. You want to reduce your caffeine intake because you need a little like mental stimulation. Creatine’s good stuff.

[36:01] Adverse effects. Are there digestive issues? Some people do. Well, this is the best part is I got an email from someone saying, “I gained five pounds” or “the scale went up.” And I’m like, “Well, it does hold water in your muscle. Like it’s not anywhere else.” Cuz they’re like — I’m like, “Are your clothes fitting?” That’s another thing. Muscles get big. Yeah. And like, are your clothes fitting the same? She’s like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “So then if they’re fitting the same, but you — like the water, it’s in your muscles.” Like, that’s exactly where you want it. That’s what the scale says. Exactly. Yeah. If you weighed 1,000 lbs, but you look like

[36:31] a Greek god. Are you going to complain? No. No. Cuz you get euros and like — like the stuffed grape leaves and stuff. That’s wonderful. Love Greek food. I’m hungry. I’m actually hungry, too. Yeah. Let’s go get some shawarma after this. It’s my Avengers moment. Okay. So, okay. If you had 10 minutes and one dumbbell, what are you doing with it? I like this one. Okay. I am doing the most bang for my buck. I am doing probably — if one dumbbell. So, a single

[37:01] one or two. One dumbbell. Any weight. Of any. I’ll let you pick the weight. Okay. I’m going to be doing heavy weight. I will do one-legged things though, then I can do some upper body with it too. So I’m doing like unilateral things — either Bulgarian split squats which I wish death on those. Now we have to call them American split squats because of the current political climate. You know there’s no Gulf of Mexico anymore. So they have to be American — American split squats. Patriot split squats. Patriot — bald eagle — bald eagle split squat. Right. I can’t — I

[37:34] can’t do the screech. No, my ears. Yeah. I’m sorry about your microphone. My face is the best. I think I broke it. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So, I’m doing that or I’m doing — I call them step downs because I want a slower movement on the way down because that’s more time under tension. It’s eccentric movement. Negative. Yeah. I don’t need to be preaching. But this is how I get the Zoolander blue steel look. Absolutely. Yes, sir. So, I’d be doing that or I’d be doing like one-legged hip thrust. I would be doing an overhead press with both hands on it. Rows. I’d be doing a lot of big movements with a heavy

[38:05] dumbbell, mostly unilateral. So, what I’m hearing is you don’t need a lot of equipment. You don’t. You don’t. Okay. Yes. Yeah. Good. I like that. Thank you. Like, it’s a great way to get started. And I think that that’s the challenge is people want to know, how do I get started? Legs is a great one, too, because it’s a lot of bulk. Get more muscle, you burn more. So, tell me this because I think that we’re running close on time. If people are interested in working with you, is that possible? Like

[38:37] Guest: Absolutely. Like, how does somebody get in touch with you? Like, what would it take?

Yes, they can contact me. I have my website hooked up to where it goes to my email, or they can email me, send me anything, a text message if you want to.

Jason: Well, we’ll put all this stuff in the show notes and stuff so that people can go to the show — only after they subscribe.

Guest: Yeah. And get this information. But do you work with people remotely or do they have to be in Corvallis with you?

I do three options. So I do in person, I do

[39:07] a hybrid, and I can do remote. So I have an app where everything is on there.

Jason: You have an app?

Guest: There’s an app for it.

Jason: There’s an app for that. Gosh.

Guest: So I do everything through it.

Jason: We’re interviewing Steve Jobs here, guys.

Guest: I am down with it. I am so hip. No, but they have like check-ins there. I do video recordings back to them because I feel like if you get a text from me, it always sounds mean. And I don’t mean it to sound mean. So I like —

Jason: More protein. What are you doing?

Guest: No, but it’s more like I just want them

[39:38] to hear my voice and know that life happens. Like, it’s fine. Just let’s move on. But we have check-ins. I have workouts on there. I have guidelines for that personal journey for their nutrition, because some people don’t want to do what I do and that’s totally fine. Like, I just want to make it work for them and how their lives are, because I’m a little crazy and I get it.

Jason: Okay. So some people are like actually trying to get the app right now. I can see you. Yeah. What are they searching for if they want the app?

Guest: Lavell Fitness. But you have to have a

[40:09] login and you have to go through me first.

Jason: Okay. And Lavell is spelled weird.

Guest: Yeah, it is, because — okay, so this is the Norwegian word for “live well.” So my husband — yeah, long story — his mom came from Norway, and Lavell. L-E-V-E-L. So —

Jason: So it’s kind of like “level up.”

Guest: Level up with Lavell.

Jason: Mm-hmm. There you go. I like it. All right. So yeah — level with Lavell.

Guest: Lavell. Level with Lavell.

Jason: Yes. Sweet. Level up with —

[40:40] And you have any socials that you want to put out there? Like, you can mention — we’re going to put them in the show notes and everything, but just —

Guest: Lavell Fitness is, I think, the biggest one. I have my one that I compete with. If you want to follow my competing, I do that different, just because I feel like it’s just a different world.

Jason: Separate.

Guest: Yeah. That’s on the gram.

Jason: That’s on the gram.

Guest: I’m like — I think it’s lurly.fitness. I don’t know. Maybe you should figure that out.

Jason: Okay, I should. I’m on that one a lot. I’m on the other ones a lot. Well, should we

[41:10] get to the game?

Guest: Yeah, let’s go.

Jason: All right, here we go.

Kathy: Okay, cringe.

Guest: Yeah, this —

Jason: Oh, you’re cheating. Okay. Okay, I’m going to move this over.

Guest: I’m the worst.

Jason: All right. So we know that you said that if you had like one kind of weight that you could lift, it would be a heavy weight. So this game is called Heavy Cringe. Okay, now I’m going to explain to you how the game is played. And the prize for this game, if you win this game — like, maybe we’ll give

[41:40] a subscriber a t-shirt or something like that.

Kathy: Yeah, give them a t-shirt.

Jason: It was probably just going to be a blank Hanes t-shirt, but it’s a t-shirt. It’s a t-shirt up for grabs, right? And it might be the first one that they’re like ripping off on stage, because that’s part of the competitions, right? Okay. Anyway, so this game’s called Heavy Cringe. So you’re going to fill in the blank of these cringey gym signs.

Guest: Oh my gosh.

Jason: — that are found on shirts, bumper stickers, or social media posts. And these are 100% real. I went searching for these.

Guest: Okay.

Jason: Yes.

[42:11] These can all be found online. Yes. So, number one — you ready?

Guest: Mm-hmm.

Jason: I can’t do it. You make my knees weak. Just kidding. Yesterday was blank.

Guest: Was leg day.

Jason: Very good. All right. Number two. My favorite machine at the gym is the —

Guest: Carton. Hold on. Hold on. Carton.

Jason: My favorite machine at the gym is the —

[42:42] Guest: I don’t know what it would be. The weight — is it something like on a bumper sticker or a t-shirt or something like that?

Jason: Think about that. This is somebody probably trying to be witty.

Guest: Yeah. It’s a squat rack.

Jason: Squat — incorrect. That’s the television. You’re looking for television.

Guest: All right. Here we go. Number three.

Jason: I was getting really — it’s my workout. I can blank if I want to.

Guest: I can swear if I want to.

Jason: Good one.

Guest: I can cry if I want to.

Jason: Yes. All right. Number four. Hustle for that —

Guest: Hey, there we go.

Jason: All right. Number

[43:13] five. Sweat is your fat blank.

Guest: Crying.

Jason: Crying is correct. Wow. Wow. Wow. Number six. If you don’t want to — oh, sorry. Erase that. I don’t want to look blank. I want to look like I could kick your butt.

Guest: I don’t want to look — I don’t know. I want to — I don’t want to look weak. I don’t want to look skinny. I want to look like I kick your butt.

Jason: Right.

Guest: I get accused of looking skinny all the time.

Jason: Yeah.

[43:46] Number seven. Life is short. Lift blank things.

Guest: Heavy.

Jason: There we go. Good. Number eight. The only BS I need in my life is breakfast and Bulgarian split squats.

Guest: I thought BS. Hold on.

Jason: Yes, we will accept that. We will accept it.

Guest: Breakfast and — I don’t even know what that one is. It’s squats. Breakfast and squats.

Jason: Number nine. The guy on the blank next to me didn’t know we were racing.

Guest: Oh, the treadmill.

Jason: Yes. Oh, there’s always a race.

[44:17] And the final one. Work hard and blank. Let your success be the noise. Wait — blank hard. Work hard in blank. Work hard in blank —

Guest: Sweat in. Wait. Work hard —

Jason: Let me talk. Okay. Work hard in blank. Let your success be the noise.

Guest: Work hard in life.

Jason: Do you know what it is?

Kathy: Yeah, I have the answers.

Jason: Oh, that’s right. And this is like a very coachy thing, right? We’ve

[44:48] done a lot of coaching. And work hard in life — and let’s — I’ll give you a clue. Work hard in air.

Guest: Oh crap. Mind — mental.

Jason: No.

Guest: Silence.

Jason: Silence!

Guest: Silence. No. Work hard — silence. I don’t work in silence. I have four kids.

Jason: Let your success be really nice. Okay. Well, thank you so much.

Guest: Thanks for having me.

Jason: I think you said some really important things that hopefully will change some people’s lives. And you know, I actually mean that. Sometimes people’s moment of when they decide to do

[45:18] something is they hear somebody like you sharing their story, and they’re like, “Man, I could do that.” They see themselves in you, and then like years later they’re on some worse podcast than this one and they’re sharing their story, right? So yeah, thank you very much for joining us today. Kathy, you got anything else that you want to say?

Kathy: Like Jason said, I think that people are going to listen to this podcast and they’re going to say, “Hey, I know somebody who needs to hear this message.” And so I think your message is

[45:49] Always well-received. It’s always good to have you. Oh, I love you guys. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. And thanks to your kids. And yeah, so that’s going to do it for this episode. I think that we already told them to subscribe. I don’t know if there’s any of you left that need to subscribe, because you probably all subscribed by now, right? Yes. But no, this is the PTCH Podcast. Join us every week. And also let us know what do you want to hear. What do you want to hear about? Leave a comment. We love

[46:20] your suggestions. We want to make shows that you want to watch. And so that’s going to do it for us today. And I think that there’s just one more thing to say, and that is that there is no “I” in PTCH.

[46:55]