Hi, and welcome back to Bounce Forward with me, Tiff Hall, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I'm recording this podcast, the Wrendar people of the cooler Nation. I pay my respects to elders past and present. Catherine DMed me with a great question, Tiff. Joints cracking and popping during a workout.
Does that mean you should stop that move? Should you modify it?
If it's not hurting and just a bit of noise, is it okay to keep going or are you causing damage? Gosh, Catherine, this is such a great question and something I think about all the time because my husband always says that he can hear me coming before he sees me coming up the stairs because my knees crack so much going
up the stairs. They pop and they crackle, and I actually have stage four osteoarthritis in my knees right, So they crack and they pop the whole time because it's bone on bone and there's no cut there, there's no lubricant against the bones, so they are really really noisy. But the bottom line is if there is no pain accompanied with the noise with it from the joints. Then it's absolutely harmless. Okay, So snapping and popping of your joints maybe you know, I love cracking my knuckles.
Hang on, I wonder if I can do it.
Yeah.
There, I just cracked my knuckles into the microphone.
The sound you hear is caused by air bubbles in the synovial fluid, right, so the liquid that surrounds and lubricates your joints, and by the snapping of tightly stretched ligaments as they slide off one bony surface onto another.
So it's really good. You can really picture that.
And the sound is sometimes called crepitus, which especially you hear it in your knees going up and down the stairs.
It's like that great creak sound.
I wouldn't recommend forcing joints to snap or pop like I just did. I I can't help it, but it just feels so amazing. I crack my hips, you know. I pull one leg to the side and I crack, and then I crack, and it feels really great. Don't go doing that because when a joint cracking sometimes it can put a little bit of inflammation there, and especially when a joint cracking is accompanied by pain, or swelling.
It usually indicates that there's some kind of mechanical problem or even disease activity within or around the joint, such as a torn of frey cartilage and arthritis, and you just really want to make sure that you go and see a doctor or a professional if you're having pain around that pop snapple crack, okay, But if the cracking is you know, you've got consistent pain and swelling, you've got to say, Yep, this is wrong. Definitely need to go see a doctor. But really it's just gas escaping
from the synovial membrane. And you just got to remember that in the joint there two bones which are connected by capsule of membrane, and inside that capsule is that fluid. And that fluid is like a motor oil for our joints, okay, so it provides that lubrication and its slick and it moves really really nicely. The fluid also contains oxygen, nitrogen,
and carbon dioxide. So a popping joints stretches a capsule and makes that cracking sound because you're creating a negative pressure inside that synovial joint space, which is kind of really really cool, And that's why I like to really crack my hips every now and then I just think about how cool it is and then I like to hear it.
But it's not a good thing to do again.
It can be that ligament or tendon passing over the bone, and it can also be you know, like I said that crepitas, which is the wear and tear on your joints. A simple solution can be to move more. Definitely, if you sit or stand a lot in one position or you are more sedentary, you get more stiff and those joints will crack more often.
So you want to.
Really take breaks at work and in life to move around. And it always comes back with I'm a personal trainer, so it does come back to movement all the time, but does come back to moving and gentle.
Stretching some mobility.
The dynamic and static stretches are really important here, and you know, just keeping yourself loose and mobile. So coming back to your question, Catherine, if it's not hurting, don't be afraid of the noise.
You don't have to modify the movement. It is just your body being your body.
Bodies are amazing and you are not causing any damage, So enjoy the noise. I find it quite cool and then just keep moving. Mackenzie came to me with a great question, Hey, tif, why do I still look soft and fluffy when I lift weights four to five times a week?
I don't get it. I'm working my ass off over here, yeah, and.
Not looking strong. I feel so deflated, like giving up? What am I doing wrong? How long will it take me to put on lean muscle mass and see some results? Okay, so there's a few things here, Mackenzie. Are you lifting weights or are you lifting weights with purpose?
Intentionally?
There is a huge difference between picking up the weights putting them down versus focusing on three important things like the mind to muscle connection, strong muscular contraction, and the range of motion. And you know, when you focus on these things, the mind to muscle connection, honing your mind in on that muscle you're working and squeezing and making sure your technique is on point and your form is good, you're working through a full range.
You'll be blown away by the results.
So it really you really do need to be ask yourself whether you are very focused in your workouts. You can just be moving around picking up the weights, putting it down, going through the motion or are you really present in that workout challenging yourself with the weights, you know, not just sitting at the same weights every week. Okay, it's really important to get that progressive overload and to have that progression. Then I need to ask you how's
your cardio. If you're trying to recomposition the body and build lean muscle mass and get stronger, then I recommend weight training being the high frequency which you're doing, which is great, and your cardio training being just a little bit part of the plan, but it should.
Be in there.
You should have some aerobic activity. It's important for your heart health, so you need just a little bit of it. And just remember cardio does not keep muscle on your body. The weight training does, so you're doing all the right things. Weight training is all about the retention of muscle mass, really important.
But if you have some.
Body fat to lose and you're talking about being soft not that hard, look, then you might want to implement one to two times a week training some smart cardio focused on like tobata or hit training, which is great because it won't compromise your muscle mass at all, so that softness could just be a little bit of extra body fat or water retention, which you can easily fix with a bitter cardio, just a little bit on the
side of that really important weight training. Then I need to ask you about your calorie intake, and I've got to ask are you under consuming your food one day and then over eating the next. The thing is, muscle is very expensive tissue. If you're eating too little calories for your body or insufficient protein, your body will want
to sacrifice muscle before fat tissue. Meaning you can be lifting weights even with intention and being really really good with your weight training with those three factors in eating protein at most meals, but not eating sufficient or consistent protein, and the body just won't want to retain or keep that muscle tissue and it will still be soft and
fluffy as you call it. It takes intention to make sure the body holds onto that muscle, and so maybe a protein powder supplement could be good to increase your protein intake. If you're putting your muscle through trauma in the gym without proper fuel and recovery outside the gym, then you won't be putting on that lean muscle mass and you will still look very soft. So rebuilding the muscle actually happens outside of the workout, in the recovery phase,
not during the workout. So it's very important to ask yourself if your calories.
Are good and your.
Protein intake is adequate, and are you tracking and paying attention to your nutrient intake.
That's another important point.
So calories won't transform your body from soft to shredded, and they won't change your body composition, but nutrients will. So you've got to pay attention to the nutrients like your protein, carbohydrates, your fats, and you know, just toning up requires losing fat and maintaining muscles, so you've really got to look at those macros and make sure that
you're hitting them adequately. Determining the best macro nutrient ratios for building muscle depends on your age, weight, your high your level of physical activity.
Personal health goals.
So for a forty year old woman like myself looking to build muscle, it's important to focus on balance intakes of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. And when you're looking at protein, you want an approximately two grams of protein per kilogrammar body weight.
It's really important.
Sources like lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy, plant based proteins like lentil, chips and quinoa all great things. Carbohydrates should be forty to sixty percent of your daily calories if you're looking to put on lean muscle mass, and they're the primary energy source fueling all forms of your activities, so you really want to make sure that they're in
there because they also aid your post workout recovery. And then fat should be twenty to thirty five percent of your daily calories, okay, and they're essential for your hormone balance, which is crucial for muscle growth and overall health. So think of your good fats, your avocados, your nuts, your seeds, olive oils, fatty fish.
These are all great stuff that you want to include.
Just make sure that nutrients are there, that you're eating enough protein, that you're lifting those weights with intention, and maybe adding some protein powders to kind of get that protein intake, but also adding a little bit of cardio as well if you want to decrease the body fat.
This will help to harden your overall look.
And bring out the lean muscle mass a little bit more and you won't be as soft. It's not everyone's goal to look hard and you know have such definition. But if that is your goal, I hope that this answers your question. Thanks so much for listening to Bounce Forward. I love having your company, So please DM me on Instagram at tifhaul Underscore XO and let me know what topics you'd love me to cover. Don't forget to rate and review me on your podcast app Speak soon, Happy Days,