Mini-Ep 413: Help! My Glutes Have Amnesia
Elise has dead glutes, and you might too! Plus, listeners wonder if Doree still plays the piano, ask for Elise’s favorite spots in Seoul, and share their own tales of petty theft, dish towel recs for your kitchen, and career alternatives for those tired of the therapist and/or writer grind. Plus, rare sighting of Amy’s tofu scramble burrito in the wild!
To leave a voicemail or text for a future episode, reach them at 781-591-0390. You can also email the podcast at forever35podcast@gmail.com.
Visit forever35podcast.com for links to everything they mention on the show or shopmyshelf.us/forever35.
Follow the podcast on Instagram (@Forever35Podcast) and join the Forever35 Patreon.
Sign up for the newsletter! At forever35podcast.com/newsletter.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
Transcript
Doree: Hello and welcome to Forever 35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Doree Shafrir.
Elise: And I'm Elise Hugh. And we're just two friends who like to talk a lot about serums,
Doree: And this is a mini episode where we hear from you, our listeners. We share your comments and your thoughts, and we answer your questions to the best of our ability. But please remember, we are podcast hosts. We are not medical or mental health experts, and we do always encourage you to seek support first and foremost, from a medical and or mental health professional as needed. Now, Elise, before we get to our listener, questions, comments, and concerns?
Elise: Yes.
Doree: In our last episode, I brought up the fact that I am currently doing a strength program on the Peloton app called Glutes and Legs with Adrian Williams. It's a four week program. And you were like, did you say glutes?
Elise: They are so vital. They are so vital.
Doree: Well, because I had said that I think as, and I was like, I don't think this is revelatory information, but as we age, the glutes so much is connected to the glutes, knee trouble, hip trouble. A weak glute is a real problem.
Elise: Your entire back chain can be affected. So if you're having lower back problems, it often stems from weak glutes. It's wild. And I started learning about this a couple years ago when I was going to my pt, who I was originally seeing because of a dislocated shoulder that he was helping me rehab from like
Doree: 20 18, 20 19. You have weak glutes, that's what
Elise: Affected your shoulder.
Yes. No, no, no. Though I wouldn't put that past him because it was constantly my weak glutes being a problem. But no, I brought up how my hip was starting to hurt after I ran and he checked me out and then he was interesting and then he diagnosed me with my weak glute problem and he put me in PT Pilates so that I could do clamshells and do just more work to strengthen my glutes. And then last year my neighbor two houses down is a personal trainer. She was at Equinox and then she also has a gym in her house. And so she talked me into getting eight sessions with her and as I'm doing the sessions with her, she was interesting, kind of the same way my PT was. And he is like, she was like, one of your glutes doesn't fire. It's like your brain.
And then she would test me to see if the nerve was actually, I would do a lunge or something or she would ask me to do something and she's like, yeah, it's like your quad is compensating or a different part of leg is compensating for your glute, just like not firing when it's supposed to. For the last few years I've known this about myself and how I have this glute problem that doesn't fire and I actually have to activate it. I have to do a lot more working out to get my butt to activate. And then a couple weeks ago at the beginning of September, I'm flipping around my New York Times app and I catch a headline sitting all day can cause dead butt syndrome.
Doree: Oh my god.
Elise: The name might make you snicker, but addressing gluteal amnesia can help you avoid chronic pain. And I'm reading this article to Rob and I'm like, oh my God, I have this, this is my syndrome. There's a name for it and it can be called gluteal amnesia or dead butt syndrome. And so every once in a while he'll slap me on the ass and he'll be like, did you feel that at all? Or does the dead butt syndrome get in the way?
Doree: My God. That is hilarious.
Elise: It's a potentially debilitating condition. And so gluteal, I'm just going to quote from the article, gluteal amnesia happens when the muscles in your rear become so weak from inactivity, they seem to forget how to function, meaning they fail or become slow to activate. This is different than a leg or arm falling asleep. And so some people may feel dull ache while sitting, but most people don't feel any pain until they go for a jog or a hike. And so what happens is the other muscles in your body have to pick up the slack, especially your lower back and your knees, and it can especially have an impact on runners and tennis players. And then they go into what causes your butt to shut down. So if they were truly completely dead, we wouldn't be able to stand at all.
Doree: Right? Sure.
Elise: But if you have gluteal amnesia, the glutes aren't activating first, other parts of your knee might be taking the brunt of it or your lower back might be working harder than they should because your glutes just aren't activating. So the only way to alleviate the symptoms of dead butt syndrome are to do strength training for your butt, especially the mid glute. I can't remember the correct anatomical term for it, but the mid glute is really hard to get at and work if it hasn't worked very hard. So I'm thinking your Peloton app and your strength training specifically for glutes is targeting stuff like that.
Doree: Since I started playing tennis more, I will periodically get some knee pain, especially my right knee for some reason. And it's the kind of knee pain, it's not debilitating. I don't feel it all the time, but when I'm going upstairs I'm like, oh, that kind of hurts and I don't feel it right now. And then I was reading about knee pain and it was like knee pain is often because you have weak glutes. And I was like, oh no. So I was like, before I go back to pt, let me try to strengthen my glutes.
Elise: At some point your glutes can get amnesia.
Doree: So I do try to get up and walk around, get a snack once an hour or when I remember, because yeah, you are sitting a lot of the day. So I'm with you Elise.
Elise: We'll link y'all to the article about this
Doree: If
Elise: You're hearing this and feel called out
Doree: Because I read that
Elise: Article and I was like, oh, I feel seen.
Doree: Right. Do I have dead butt syndrome? I have dead butt. Excuse me. Okay, so we did get some great communications from our listeners today. First one is a text. Are we taking Rex for your new combo name? I like Doree Love from Seattle.
Elise: I do too. I mean it's better than El
Doree: Door.
Elise: Well, that's kind of funny too. Actually. That's kind of funny. I love a port. I love a port. So yeah, Doree is great. If you have other ideas then send them in. Send 'em in. Yeah. Our dog's last name is a Port Manto because we combine my last name in Rob's and it's an Asian Jewish dog, so it's a Houston
Doree: Nice
Elise: At the vet. He's Oscar Houston. That's really cute. Yeah, I think it works. I didn't want him to just to take Rob's last name.
Doree: No, of course not. Okay, so we also got a text that said, Doree, I'm chuckling this week hearing about your trips to the dermatologist. I recently went and asked about a dark spot on my face and the doctor said it's something that comes with wisdom.
Elise: What a euphemism.
Doree: Took me a minute to realize what he meant. Not sure how I feel about that change in language, but made me laugh. My doctor was like, he wasn't even speaking in euphemisms. He was just like, oh yeah, you're old. Yeah. Okay. We also got a couple of suggestions of alternative careers that I wanted to share. Okay.
Voicemail: Hey gal, I on another caller's message that they left about becoming a technician in means of getting steady work and reliable and something that doesn't cost a lot of money in order to become, and I would suggest teaching or working in the public school system in some capacity, if you have a bachelor's degree already, there's probably a lot of transferable classes that you would need to go toward getting your credential. And lots of school districts will pay for you to get your credential and oftentimes if they know that you're in a credentialing program, the school district will hire you on an emergency credential. So a lot of people that have skills like writing or journalism for example, that are highly educated, are really needed in the field of public education. And we really need more people who are brilliant and smart and have skills you'll feel good about possibly getting to work in the area of your passion and helping our community and helping our children through our future. So think about teaching and consider that all of you artists out there who have lots of great skills, we need you and technicians too. There's my plug teaching.
Elise: I love the end of that. No, it's, I think about the adults that made the biggest impact on my life besides my parents and it was my teachers and it was often my public school teachers in elementary and middle and high school. So it is such a noble profession. The benefits are improving, the pay and benefits have improved over the years, but really it is what our caller said just about feeling good about what you're doing morally and then also being part of the community and having just a direct impact on the next generation. So yeah, that all sounds, that's compelling, that's compelling. I wouldn't want to teach phone addicted 11th graders, but I'd be okay with teaching kids that aren't addicted to phones yet. So maybe fifth or sixth grade, right?
Doree: Yes. Yes. I have a bunch of friends who started substitute teaching in the LA public schools recently
Elise: And
Doree: They've really enjoyed it. And it does sound like in some other states it is as easy as literally signing up. And in Los Angeles you have to go through a somewhat long process. It's a little bit more complicated than just being like, I'm here to sub. But once you kind of get all set up, then you can get pretty consistent work. Cool. So alright, we're going to hear one more voicemail before we take a break. Okay.
Voicemail: Hi Doree and Elise, I called in to recommend the Williams Sonoma dish towels that are the wire. I treated myself to them right before my baby was born. And we just get so much use out of them. They wash really well and they feel nice and they're nice that I like them. I don't think I've ever related to a message more than the person who wrote in wanting to organize. I feel the exact same way. I love organizing, but sometimes I worry that if that were my job I wouldn't like it as much. I dunno. And then this other big barrier to us all pursuing the entrepreneurial passions that we have is healthcare. We don't get healthcare when we do that. And I need some healthcare and I, I'm lucky to like my job, but one of the things I love about it's, it has healthcare and I can pay my mortgage among other things. Okay, that's it. Thanks. Bye.
Elise: Things have gotten better after Obamacare in which you can opt into the state marketplace assuming your state participated in the healthcare marketplaces. But yeah, it makes us stuck in our jobs more, makes us stuck when we are so reliant on our private employers for healthcare. It is not the case in so many other countries and I feel like it would unlock so much entrepreneurial potential and just so much more churn in the job market. Agree. I agree, Elise, if we all had reliable healthcare.
Doree: I agree. And this listener also teased, well they mentioned a dish towel recommendation and we have some more dish towel recommendations coming after the break. Okay, great. Before we take a break, I just want to remind everyone that you can call or text us with your Dish channel recommendations at 7 8 1 5 9 1 0 3 9 0. You can email us at Forever 35 podcast@gmail.com. Our website is forever 35 podcast.com for links to everything we mentioned on the show. And we are on Instagram at Forever podcast. We have a newsletter at Forever Podcast newsletter and shop ours. All right. We have returned.
Elise: Hello?
Doree: Hello. Okay, so this first text is about dish towels as promised, and they linked us to a set of dish towels from Target that are the waffle kitchen towel that are now on clearance that cost $2 and 55 cents.
Elise: Ooh, fantastic.
Doree: At least the orange ones do that. They linked us to and about these dish towels. This listener says these from Target are the best I've ever used. I think they might be selling out and I hope they bring them back. I bought 10 as soon as I saw them go on clearance. Maybe we should start a write-in campaign.
Elise: I'm just glad to have dish towel recommendations because when a listener asked for some and we couldn't provide them, I was like, you know what? I have shitty dish towels. I also need dish towel recommendations. So now they're coming in from you all. Thank you so much. Let's see how many we can get before these clearance ones from Target or sold out.
Doree: Okay. We have another dish towel recommendation that I would like to play here. It's voicemail. Here we go.
Voicemail: Hi, Doree Elise. I had to pause the pod while I was baking my challah this Friday morning and cleaning up the counter and the mixer when I heard the listener ask about dish towel recommendations. I was just using my favorite dish towels and thought I would let you know. I have two different kinds. I use a brand called Geometry for drying my hands and drying dishes in the kitchen. It has a waffle back and it's really absorbent. It doesn't get stinky. They have great patterns that don't show dirt and they wash really well. I also have a set of Williams Sonoma outlet, almost like little washcloths, and I use that for messy jobs like cleaning up a really dirty counter, cleaning the mixer after I make hala or anything else that is kind of messy and I want a cow that's a little bit sicker. So I hope this helps. Love listening to the two of you. You Thanks. Bye.
Elise: Okay, that's two votes for the William Sonoma Kind.
Doree: Yeah, I'm thinking maybe I need to check those out.
Elise: I got a set of William Sonoma dish towels when I got married in 2010, and now that I think back on it, they were probably the best dish towels that I've had in my history, but they were so
Doree: Expensive and other people, did they outlast your marriage?
Elise: They did not outlast my marriage, but very nearly so because I think I just didn't bring them back from Korea.
Doree: Oh, okay. But it's not like they disintegrated.
Elise: No, they were great. They were great. I also like the Williams Sonoma croissants that you can bake. They have the croissant dough and then you order it from them and then you just bake croissants
Doree: Yum
Elise: At home. Oh yeah, they're awesome. They're awesome. We used to serve those when I threw a lot of bridal showers and things back in my twenties.
Doree: Elise, you just brought up Korea, which is a great segue to our next question because a listener is wondering if you have wrecks for what to do when visiting Seoul. I recently discovered Korean dramas, so naturally I have a new obsession with all things Korean and want to know if I should add soul to the bucket list? Thanks.
Elise: You should absolutely add soul to the bucket list. It is one of the most vibrant cities in the world. It's also on the really strategically important or historically important 38th parallel. The dividing line between North and South Korea and the US has this very complex relationship and history with Korea following the end of World War II and the beginning of the Korean War. So there's lots of reasons why it should be on your bucket list, not just for historical reasons, also because it's new and hip and fresh and it's old and new in one city, but the food and the culture is incredible. So a few neighborhoods I really love Mong, which used to be traditionally where all the K beauty products were, but now most people are shopping online so it doesn't have as many storefronts. But I used to call it consumerism trick or treat, where you would get so many freebies just as you went up and down the street.
There were people passing out free moisturizers and face masks and foot masks and peels and all these things that they would just give you for free to try and lure you into the store. So that was incredible. But that neighborhood is called Mong. And in Mong there is a restaurant that's been there since the early 1960s that has really good kasu, which are the knife cut noodles and dumplings, and that's called Mja. And we have an approximation of this in K-Town actually. It's called MDK Noodles here in Los Angeles, but the original of Mja is in Mong in Seoul. And then I think if you're going to be in Seoul, you've got to take a DMZ tour. It's a must. You got to book that in advance. And if you can't go to the DMZ and see those little blue huts on the border between North Korea and South Korea, you've probably seen photos of that.
Then the War Memorial of Korea is really good too. And just understanding the history of the peninsula is fascinating. And then the War Memorial Museum also has a kids' War Memorial Museum that's very hands-on and tactile. And so my kids spent a lot of time there when they were two and ages two to five. I have so many food places that I love. The one that really stands out to me is at the end of an alley behind the JW Marriott in Donte Moon, and it serves something called Duck Han Ma, which is one full chicken in a cauldron, and then they throw, and it's really salty chicken. And then you can make your own sauce with a lot of garlic and soy sauce and gochujang and flavor the chicken that's in the cauldron that you share with whoever else you're eating with. But then they throw really fat Korean rice noodles doki into the cauldron, and so you have yummy chicken, delicious soft, giant fat noodles. It's great. It's a great meal. And then in terms of all the hot places to get facials and various treatments that you can get in Seoul, that's all in the Gangnam neighborhood, popularized by
The SI hit Gangnam style, and if you want to try whatever newfangled things that Koreans are doing to their faces, then there's plenty of options for that. And I feel like Instagram is a good place to see what what's on offer. I feel like that's my r and d lately because the trends change so fast in terms of what to put on your face. But we've talked on this show about how PDRN, which is the salmon sperm serums, the salmon, DNA injections through rejuan. Those are all pretty hot still.
Doree: Those are some hot tips.
Elise: I could keep going but don't want to filibuster.
Doree: Well, I mean that might be a good thing to post in the Patreon. Sure. Elise's Soul Rex. So check those out. Okay, one last question before we take another break. We just got a text that said, Doree, are you still playing piano?
Elise: Are you?
Doree: I am not. Oh, a plumber. Because the lessons, they just got to be a little too expensive and we need to cut the budget, but it was like, this isn't goodbye. This is not goodbye. This is see you later, or however that, you know what I mean? I wasn't like, I'm quitting forever. It was just circumstances of life have dictated that I can't really, and it's one of those things where, yes, I could just sit down and play and for a little while I was doing that, but I find it hard to do without the structure of having a weekly,
Elise: I feel the same
Doree: Way lesson. The other thing that I will say is I had been feeling in the last few months of taking lessons that it was getting a little hard for me to really progress because I didn't have an actual piano. I had a keyboard with weighted keys. I had the kind of digital keyboard that is most a good one that is closest to feeling like a piano, but it's really not the same. And it was just sort of like, well, until I can really get a real piano, not that it seems pointless to keep playing, but it's like I want to get a real piano that just wasn't happening. So I put it on pause. Matt suggested that I take the next year to learn Vanessa Carlton's 1000 miles and play it at the Next Mom retreat talent show, which I didn't think was a terrible idea.
Elise: That's so good. Yeah, that was like last year. I was like, I love the succession theme. So I taught myself the succession theme. I was like, I just want to be able to sit down and play the succession theme anywhere. There's a piano, but now I don't remember it. I spent a very concentrated couple of nights making sure that I knew how to play it, and then now I don't remember. Everything leaves my brain so fast.
Doree: Okay, now we're going to take a break.
Elise: We'll be right back.
Doree: Okay, we are back. I have to play this voicemail because it just really made me laugh. This is on a completely different topic.
Voicemail: Hello. Long, long time listener here, but I'm tuning into your most recent episode and all these tales of petty thief are fevery, I should say, are just conjuring up some massive preschool mom, PTD moments from a couple years ago when my daughter and every classmate of hers had the same aqua colored Yeti water bottle and hers had these really adorable custom name label stickers on them. At any rate, one day as we inevitably thought would happen, my husband took another kid's version of this water bottle home in a rush, and then we realized it right away. We typed into the school app and we were just like, Hey, we think we left our daughter's water bottle there and someone else must have grabbed hers, so we're just going to go ahead and leave this one in the morning in the lost and found. At any rate, we get her water bottle back a few days later and all of her name tag stickers are removed.
There were three of them, but the adhesive circle underneath was not properly washed off, so it was covered in from the playground sand and whatnot. And we just thought it was so funny that there's this parent in this class who saw her name on this water bottle and yet proceeded to remove the stickers or the labels. We were like, did they think we took their kids' water bottles initially, or were they just so anxious that they lost their forever that they're like, whatever. They're all the same. It was just a puzzle because as, I dunno someone who's not super into petty thief diy petty theft, I figured I would just see another kid's label and reason that this is not mine. This does not belong to my daughter
Elise: Who, boy who boy, it's just so dishonorable. I think it is. It
Doree: Really
Elise: Is. Stealing water bottles. I mean, come on. It's like cheating in bar trivia. Why?
Doree: Why,
Elise: Why?
Doree: Just why. Anyway, what else
Elise: Have we got? Yeah,
Doree: Alright. We have a text on the same petty theft beat listening to Elise talk about someone trading up with her running shoes and thought I'd share my story. I just moved to Seattle on Sunday and left my son's cheap travel stroller on our front porch, folded up the next morning. We found it halfway down the street on the sidewalk, still folded. I think someone tried to take it but couldn't figure out how to open it, so they gave up seriously porch pirates. I also had left a half eaten croissant in the pocket that went missing, so at least they got a little snack.
Elise: That could have been an animal though. Do we think it was a human
Doree: Or a raccoon? True. That's true. That's true. This did make me laugh though, just this idea of someone stealing a stroller and then being like, fuck it. So anyway, Elise, do you want to read this next text? It is kind of directed to you.
Elise: Oh, okay. Okay. Hi, I work for a frozen food company. Tell Elise Amy's tofu scramble Burrito is back. Sorry, I'm reading it as a question because I'm just, this is news to me, but she actually wrote it with an exclamation point. Amy's tofu Scramble Burrito is back. It has new packaging. I don't know what retailers have it in California, but I've seen it on shelves in a few different retailers across the southeast. What? This is amazing news. I love that tofu scrambled burrito so much and have been missing it for years, the last three years or so, and I have lamented this on the show, so this is incredible news. I still haven't seen it though, so it's still kind of like a shooting star or a unicorn situation for me. I will look, I look.
Doree: I just love that. Of course we have a listener who works for a frozen food company, you know what I mean?
Elise: Yeah. It's like when we wanted to be therapists and everybody was, all our listeners who were therapists wrote in. Totally.
Doree: Alright, one last comment. I just want to note that Trader Joe's, it is pumpkin season at Trader Joe's.
Elise: Yes, it is. I know this is very controversial pumpkin season and pumpkin spice. I know that Sam takes a really hard line or a hard, very strong position on it. I think they just did a vibe check about it. So I know that not everybody loves it, but I can get down with pumpkin flavored things. I am down with it. I'm pro. I'm pro pumpkin. Where are you Doree?
Doree: I personally am not the biggest pumpkin fan, but my child is a huge pumpkin fan and I procured the frozen pumpkin waffles, which he has deemed a big hit. Big hit. Great. The pumpkin ravioli. Also a hit and wait. There was one other pumpkin thing that I got him. Oh my God, now I'm blanking on. Oh, oh, of course. His favorite. The pumpkin ice cream mini cones.
Elise: Those are so good. Those are so, so good. That's also one of my favorites. Henry and I have similar palettes. Clearly similar tastes. Smart boy,
Doree: Smart boy. Look, what can I say? So that's what I got this week.
Elise: Delicious
Doree: To go grocery shopping. Thank you, Elise. Thank you listeners, and we'll talk to you soon.
Elise: Okay. Until next time. Bye.
*Transcripts are AI Generated.