Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi, I'm Shelly Maurer and I'm Cher Emrick. Welcome to Life.

Speaker 2: 0:04

Lessons from Pickleball where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court.

Speaker 1: 0:12

Thanks for joining us. Hi everyone, welcome to Life. Lessons from Pickleball. For those of you who are new, welcome. And for those of you who have been with us from the get-go, welcome back. Thank you so much. We are really in for a treat today because Linda Gose is with us. Linda, you started out as an elite gymnast, went on to become a Pac-10 all-decade honoree at Oregon State University and even coached at the University of Washington.

Speaker 2: 0:45

You worked in sports, psychology, physical rehab and then took a bit of a detour, spending 20 years in marketing at Microsoft.

Speaker 1: 0:59

And we're really glad that you found your way back to your first passion fitness and wellness, because we're all benefiting. You're now an ACSM certified personal trainer, a functional aging specialist and the founder of Studio Bloom, a beautiful new space in Kirkland, washington, focused on helping women in midlife and beyond build strength, mobility and confidence.

Speaker 2: 1:22

Linda, let's start at the beginning. You were an elite gymnast growing up, and that's really incredible. What stands out most for you from that time in your life and how do you think it shaped the person you are today?

Speaker 3: 1:35

Yeah, I think actually the thing that stands out most in my life about that whole time period is my parents' dedication to, you know, getting me to the gym every day, often waiting for four hours for me At practice. I lived over in Seattle and my gymnastic school, northwest Orioles, was in Kirkland, and so, instead of doing the drive back and forth, my parents generally stayed there for the four hours and then brought me home. My parents generally stayed there for the four hours and then brought me home, so that's a huge piece of it. Also, just you know, the friends and the teammates that I made along the way. It's an enormous commitment to compete at that level and I still have many of those friends that I started off in gymnastics at seven years old are part of my life today, so that's definitely been a huge contribution.

Speaker 1: 2:25

And your sports carried into universities. Come on, tell us about that.

Speaker 3: 2:30

Yeah, well, I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to Oregon State University and competed there for four years. We had an incredible team. It was, you know, one of those experiences of a lifetime where I'd never give that up, and it certainly made me into the person that I am today being able to compete for my school, represent my colors, represent what the school stood for and have an exceptional team as well along the way. So we actually qualified for the national championships every year and my senior year we ended up fourth in the nation. So that was super, super exciting.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Wow, congratulations. Yes, thank you.

Speaker 2: 3:12

That is really exciting. It's funny. My daughter went up to level six at Northwest Aerials, so I was feeling your mom. I spent a lot of time there. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, it was a great gym. That was really fun times. How exciting. Yeah, so did you work in sports medicine then for a time right out of college, before you started marketing? Or tell us about that.

Speaker 3: 3:37

Yeah. So at the university I studied psychology and I also studied exercise and sports science, and I was so interested in the mental side of sport because I really felt like that was what made the difference between you know, great athletes and incredible athletes and those that were consistent and consistently consistent. And so I went on to study sports psychology and got my master's degree at the University of Utah in sports psychology, and so when I graduated from there, I immediately started working with athletes in that area. I also was certified as a personal trainer. I worked in physical rehab with the general population and then I also went on to coach at the University of Washington and ran some of their coach balance beam there, as well as ran their strength and conditioning programs for the team.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Wow. So how did you get into marketing with Microsoft? I mean, that's kind of a leap.

Speaker 3: 4:35

It is. Yeah, it was a kind of a funny transition. So when I was coaching at the University of Washington, they needed somebody to run a national level gymnastics meet. We really wanted to host it at the University of Washington it's a great location for athletes to travel to a wonderful facility and so they asked me if I would be willing to host this meet, which included a lot of different elements that I had never had any experience in.

Speaker 3: 5:00

I'd never put on an event before, other than maybe a little gathering at my house. I'd never done any marketing before and certainly hadn't organized a meet like this. So, you know, I reached out to the people in the community that were best suited to help me in all of those different areas. I learned alongside of them how to put on a great event, and so that kind of led me down the path of marketing. I really enjoyed that work that I did. We had a successful meet and I ended up in event marketing after that and then pretty soon went on to another marketing role and another marketing role, and then found myself at Microsoft. Ultimately, yeah. And how was that? How was your time at Microsoft? Ultimately, yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:41

And how was that? How was your time at Microsoft?

Speaker 3: 5:44

Oh, it was great. I mean it was. You know everything that everybody says about it. It's a lot of you know very smart, eager, qualified people, and then on top of that, it includes a lot of hard work, a lot of you know long hours. But I was able to experience so many different things because I could work in so many different departments, learn from a variety of people and really challenge myself, and that's what I was looking for at that point in my life was to really find a challenge, something that I hadn't done before, and it certainly offered that to me.

Speaker 2: 6:20

And so then, how, since you loved being at Microsoft, how did you end up returning to your passion?

Speaker 3: 6:26

Yeah. So while I spent about 20 years doing that, I was full time for many years and then I decided I wanted to spend some more time with my son and so being a consultant and working part time afforded that for me. So I worked 20 to 30 hours for the last 10 years of my time there at Microsoft and while I was doing that I really wanted to figure out, like what my next thing was, because I knew that my son was going to be not meeting me as much pretty soon. He's growing up he's 17 now and he was probably 13, 14 at the time when I started really thinking about what was next for me and I decided that ultimately it was going to be outside of marketing. I was feeling kind of a little bit of a dead end with that that job and felt a little bit aged out quite honestly, and decided and now I'm in the fitness industry, where you'd think I'd be aged out there even more. But yeah, I just.

Speaker 3: 7:23

I was working with a coach at the time, a personal coach and career coach and you know he asked me is there something that you've ever really wanted to do that you haven't taken advantage of? And I said there is, you know, I've always wanted to own a fitness studio and at that point in my life it was kind of like the perfect pairing because I felt like my population was the exact population that wasn't being served very well in the fitness industry. And so, combining kind of my knowledge, my experience that I've had in the fitness industry, at Microsoft, in marketing and then in my personal life, as far as not being able to really find a studio that was meeting my needs, I felt like I could bring that together and have something, you know, really special in the marketplace.

Speaker 1: 8:12

And that is how Studio Bloom was born.

Speaker 3: 8:15

That's right. That's how Studio Bloom was born.

Speaker 1: 8:18

Yes, Awesome, yeah, so tell us about the studio.

Speaker 3: 8:23

I know you work helping especially not especially but one of the things you offer is for women who have osteoporosis or what's the one that's pre-osteoporosis narrow O N E R O, and it's specifically designed for um, not just women, anyone that has osteopenia or osteoporosis or even maybe just genetically predisposed to that condition.

Speaker 3: 8:50

So, anybody who has low bone density. This is a program that can benefit those people. In my studio I mostly serve women, um, but there are, you know, men that could come and take that class as well. It comes out of a study that was conducted in Australia on women who had low bone density, and so this is a research-backed program that's accredited and a certified program that is offered around the world and is just really coming to the United States more recently around the world and is just really coming to the United States more recently.

Speaker 1: 9:26

That's so important. I really appreciate you focusing on that.

Speaker 3: 9:27

And then what else do you offer there? Yeah, so I also focus on building strength. So my primary offerings are on the strength side, but also work on mobility, you know, range of motion and movement. We work on mobility, range of motion and movement. We work on balance and agility as well, and then I have nutrition programs that I offer for clients and workshops as well. So we do some things like Renew and Restore, which is a nervous system regulation program, and also have sound baths in my studio, and we'll offer other workshops that are specific to women's related topics.

Speaker 1: 10:04

So for those who don't know what a sound bath is, can you explain that?

Speaker 3: 10:09

Yeah, so there's essentially a musician who comes in and plays sound bowls which create this very relaxing sound, allow individuals to just kind of lay down in the comfort of our space here. They can bring blankets, they can bring eye masks, they can bring whatever makes them comfortable in the space. We do a little bit of kind of like breathing and meditation and then we're led through this sound experience that really is soothing, it's relaxing, it's rejuvenating and you come out of it just feeling like a new person.

Speaker 1: 10:47

Shelly, I know you have something to say and I want you to say right after I ask, but I just wanted to mention that I know that a lot of the hospitals now are using music as a legitimate way to create healing, and I love that you're offering that as well, shelley.

Speaker 2: 11:05

Yeah, so I was just gonna ask you to just go a little more detail about the health benefits of the sound bath.

Speaker 3: 11:11

Oh yeah yeah, provide enormous benefits for people, I think, very similar to meditation, any kind of relaxation, visualization, gentle movement that you might do, but it helps to restore the nervous system. So we have a lot of anxiety in our lives. We have a lot of go, go, go and not a lot of rest and restore, and it's something that can really help people who are experiencing that level of anxiety or stress in their life to really restore their nervous system, be able to come back to a state that you know allows them to operate in a more meaningful way in their life as opposed to running from one thing to another.

Speaker 2: 11:57

Yeah, I love the way that you're not talking about aging as declining, but really a time we can focus on strength and strengthening ourselves. So what would you, what would your advice be to somebody that has maybe never lifted weights, never worked in a gym, never done that? Where do they even begin?

Speaker 3: 12:18

I would say you can begin anywhere. So strength training is for everybody. You can do it, no matter what your restrictions are. You can always benefit from incorporating strength training. You may be starting at a very basic level, maybe you're just sitting from a chair and standing up and that's absolutely fine. Everybody starts somewhere, but the benefits of strength training are immense.

Speaker 3: 12:40

It's been part of my life my entire life but I work with a lot of women who have never done strength training or they haven't been doing it for a long time. There's a lot of people who were impacted by COVID. They left their gyms at that time because they weren't operating, they weren't doing anything on their own, and now they're really feeling the pains of not having that strength in their body. We start moving differently when we don't have the strength that we need, and that moving differently means we're making compensations. We may not be using the right muscles as we move. It leads to a lot of aches and pains and injuries, as well as not being able to do the things that we need to do in our life and the things that we want to do in our life.

Speaker 1: 13:20

Good point. So how did you, how did pickleball enter this world of amazing strength, strengthening fitness stuff?

Speaker 3: 13:30

Yeah, well, I was introduced to pickleball when I was, you know, probably in my early teens, because my uncle and aunt we grew up in this area and my aunt and uncle, they lived in Poulsbo and brought us a pickleball set and of course we didn't really know the rules. Maybe it came with rules, I don't remember, but I don't think we ever read it, so we were kind of playing like tennis on a tennis court, but I have images of us playing at a pretty young age. I don't recall playing much after that until maybe I got into my adult years. And then I remember playing several times with some friends just for fun, and, again, not really sure we knew the rules. And then, just a few years ago, I was looking for something social.

Speaker 3: 14:14

I felt like because my job kept me so much at home and working alone that I just wasn't interacting with people. I felt like I was missing a network of people and I felt like pickleball could afford that to me and so I started doing some research. I talked with a friend who was also interested in playing pickleball. We started playing a little bit together, I played with my brother and then eventually we started finding, you know, some community spaces to play. And the other thing about pickleball that it added another element to my overall health and wellness. I was doing the strength training, I was maybe doing some yoga, I was doing some cycling, some swimming, but that balance, agility, quickness, the reactionary elements that come with pickleball it's hard to get that into your life unless you are purposely doing something that's bringing that into your life. And pickleball has just been such a great addition for me and that way I feel like it rounds out all of the health elements that I incorporate into my life.

Speaker 2: 15:21

Wow, and I was thinking earlier when you were talking about the sports psychology Boy. That really comes into play with pickleball, doesn't it?

Speaker 3: 15:29

Yes, it does, and I love that about it. I mean, I love that it is a very mental game, right, and one of the things I love so much about it is you can really put yourself in the position of just saying never say never, right, and you can apply that to your life, like there's never a point at which in a pickleball game, I will give up. There's always a chance. Even if I'm about to be pickled, there's always a chance, and so hanging in there is, you know, one of those lessons that I've definitely learned from pickleball.

Speaker 1: 16:00

And for those who might not know, being pickled means you don't win a single point.

Speaker 2: 16:04

The other team wins all the points.

Speaker 1: 16:07

And I have been pickled on occasion. Other team wins all the points and I have been pickled on occasion. So, for those who are playing pickleball and who want to work on something that would make their game more effective, are there certain strengthening exercises that you would recommend?

Speaker 3: 16:26

Yeah, it's interesting because I don't think people think too much about how strength training might help them in their movement patterns and pickleball. But if you want to move your feet quickly, you have to have fast twitch muscle fibers, and fast twitch muscle fibers are developed by lifting heavy weights, and so if you want to be able to move quickly with your feet, you need to be lifting heavyweights and then you also need to be moving in those similar patterns and training that quick foot movement. So in the programs that I offer, we definitely do that strength training component. But we'll also do things like ladder drills, where you're moving your feet quickly through a ladder. We'll do shuffling side to side and front to back.

Speaker 3: 17:09

We do things like with elastic, with bands around people's waist, and then they have a partner that's holding the band behind them and they're sprinting as fast as they can with the band and everybody has their level of quickness on that. But it's things where it's really challenging us to move our feet in ways that we may not be doing in everyday life. So many people are out there walking and walking is great. However, you're only moving in one pattern straight ahead, and so making sure that we're moving in various patterns in our life are super beneficial to our longevity.

Speaker 1: 17:45

Good point, and that helps with the mental too. What were you going to say, Cheryl?

Speaker 2: 17:48

Yeah, yeah, no, I was just, my light bulbs were going off. Wow, I haven't done that, just as you said that Linda's light was at the sunshine.

Speaker 1: 17:58

I don't know Something just lit up the room.

Speaker 2: 18:02

No, yeah, I was thinking, I used to do that years ago. You know, the run those ladders and do sideways movements, and no, I haven't done that in a long time and I didn't even think about that. Yeah, of course.

Speaker 3: 18:14

A lot of women that I work with haven't done that in a long time and they really struggle at first, but it's amazing how quickly they'll start to make that it's a basically a brain to body connection right, that that is no longer. That neural pathway is no longer there because we just haven't used that in so long. And once you start doing it repetitively you'll rebuild that pattern and it will come back pretty quickly if you do it in a consistent manner.

Speaker 2: 18:41

Yeah, and, like you said one thing, I used to do yoga quite a bit, but now that pickleballs consume my life, I don't, and it was the yoga that helped with my balance and I can't think that the pickleball is giving me balance and I need to. Today I was playing on an asphalt court and I was going back and my feet stuck and I almost fell back, you know, and I think, oh, I'm not working on balance. We really have to work on a lot of things.

Speaker 3: 19:07

Yes, yeah, and it can really improve your game if you do work on that balance and agility and quick feet.

Speaker 1: 19:16

For those who have low bone density, I'm sure there's some anxiety that comes up when they think about doing any kind of weight training. Right, it's like, oh no, if I lift something I'll break my bones. Yeah, so how do we get past any anxiety around that?

Speaker 3: 19:34

Yeah, I mean I think one is recognizing that it's progressive. You start with no weight to very little weight, depending on where you are in your fitness journey, and you work it up from there and so it's. You know this type of program is not a pressure situation Like you come in. We assess where you're at, you know, make recommendations on where to start as far as the weight, and then we work our way up. And it's always based on the comfort of the individual and we also really focus on form and make sure that the movement patterns are down before we increase any weight. And if any point they're not mapping with that movement pattern that we'd like to see, then we would just be reducing the weight back down or leave them where they are.

Speaker 3: 20:22

I think the other thing is that the study that was done, the Lift More study there were no fractures during that study and it involved 101 women. They were split in half during the study and that is because it was a supervised program. They were managed closely as far as making sure that the exercises were being done correctly and then also progressive nature of it was managed. So as long as they're participating in a program that is supervised, it can be safe Does pickleball influence the bone density at all.

Speaker 3: 21:02

I don't think there's any specific research out there on that, but we do know there's a difference between certain types of sports as far as the bone density of those athletes. So there's been studies that have been done on athletes who participate in gymnastics running, swimming, cycling and what they know about those different athletes is that gymnasts have the highest bone density, followed by runners, followed by cyclists and then swimmers. So as it gets less weight-bearing, the bone density decreases and the impact activity we know is important alongside the strength training. So making sure that there's impact activity that's happening. So kids, you know, going outside and running and jumping is critical and that's when we build most of our bone is prior to the age of 20. So if the kids aren't outside, running and jumping like we used to do, potentially could be, you know, detrimental to the level of bone density that they can build during that time frame.

Speaker 2: 22:11

Oh, I didn't know that, wow.

Speaker 1: 22:13

That's actually kind of distressing. We need the parents to hear this because you know we hear about what it does emotionally and intellectually for kids to be on their screen at home sitting down all that time. But boy bone density is so important and, yeah, let's put that message out there, that that's another reason get outside run around, jump around, yeah yeah, are there things that we shouldn't exercises or things we shouldn't do as we age?

Speaker 2: 22:43

you know, I had a gal at the pickleball I was talking to the other day. She broke her ankle doing box jumps. You know I'm thinking. You know I used to do box jumps and I haven't tried that, but maybe I shouldn't anymore in my 60s be trying to do a box jump. You know your brain still thinks you're young, but what things you know? Are there things that we shouldn't do as we age?

Speaker 3: 23:11

I mean, I think it all depends on the individual and what fitness level you're at and how you're progressing. Hopefully she didn't just try the box jump after not having done a box jump in 10 years, right, like there's ways to work up to that. You can do step ups first, where you're just moving your feet up and down, and then, you know, progressive, maybe just a jump forward over a line and back, and then start building it up progressive, maybe just a jump forward over a line and back, and then start building it up slowly. But I think what people generally do is, like you said, they have this idea that they're still, you know, in their their 20 body and doing this all along and then attempt something that their body's just not ready to do.

Speaker 3: 23:45

Um, I still do box jumps. I can. I can jump up about four feet high onto a box, but I do it regularly, right, so I wouldn't recommend it for somebody who's not doing that regularly, but I like to challenge myself to continue doing things like that. So I think we should do what feels comfortable in our body. Yeah, you probably still do flips too.

Speaker 3: 24:06

Well, I don't flip much. You know handstands, you probably still do flips too. Well, I don't flip much, no handstands.

Speaker 1: 24:13

Yeah right no-transcript when they're on their hands or doing the horse or you know whatever. Yeah, Good for you, Good for you.

Speaker 2: 24:22

What would you like all women to know about their own strength?

Speaker 3: 24:25

Yeah, I mean it's limitless. Everybody has the opportunity to build strength and I mean I see a lot of women who feel embarrassed or ashamed that they are where they are with low strength, and that's not the message I ever want to send. I think it's terrific when they're taking the step to build the strength and it doesn't matter where you're starting from. It's always you're going to be building, regardless of where you're starting from, and it's progressive. What matters the most is consistency being consistent on a weekly basis. It doesn't mean you can't miss a session here or there and you know be hard on yourself about that, but it means consistency over a lifetime, and so it's not something that you start and stop and restart and you know stop. It has to be consistent throughout the lifetime, and so how do you implement that into your schedule so that you can be consistent and that it's a fun experience for you?

Speaker 1: 25:23

Beautiful, beautiful. So with all of your experience, my goodness, you've had an amazing life, linda, and I love how much is focused on helping people and and your interest in pickleball for community and all those other things. So what are some of the life lessons either that you've learned in life that you find yourself using on the court in pickleball, or you learned them while you were on the court that, oh man, I'm going to put this into practice in my life.

Speaker 3: 25:53

What are?

Speaker 1: 25:54

some.

Speaker 3: 25:55

I think probably one of the top ones is just enjoying the moment that you're in.

Speaker 3: 26:02

You know and that goes back and forth for me between pickleball and life.

Speaker 3: 26:05

I think in pickleball it's really easy to, you know, be frustrated, maybe with your partner or with the you know the pair that you're playing against, whether it's too high a competition or too low a competition, and there's always something that can be learned in the moment. If it's somebody who's under your play level, well then try some different shots that you know. Maybe you're not going to slam the ball on them because that's no fun for them, but maybe you can take some angle shots or play your soft game and you know, work on that. And if you're playing with somebody that's super competitive and you know is above your game, then maybe you can learn from that person and, you know, ask some questions but make the most out of that moment. And I think I've found that to translate to my life really well too, because we find ourselves so often wishing we were somewhere else or, you know, with someone else or doing something else, and it's just, it's a silly thought, because we're missing life when we do that.

Speaker 1: 27:07

Because this moment is all we have.

Speaker 3: 27:09

That's right.

Speaker 1: 27:10

Yeah, and this moment is really lovely being with you. Thank you, it's really lovely being with you as well, so how can people find you?

Speaker 3: 27:20

People can find me at studiobloomfitnesscom that's my website or they can always email info at studiobloomfitness. I'm also on social media on Instagram and Facebook, studiobloomfitness. You can find me there, and I am in downtown Kirkland, so I'm right across from the Kirkland Performing Arts Center and so they can always swing by the studio as well.

Speaker 1: 27:46

Perfect location. People can park in the garage at the library, just a block down the street and then walk to your space. If there isn't street parking right in front, which is often available as well, yeah, you're just perfectly located. And Kirkland what a great place to get our strength back, that's right.

Speaker 2: 28:07

Just to end, what are some of the mental shifts you see happen with women? You know that haven't been strong in a long time and they're getting their strength back.

Speaker 3: 28:16

I mean that must feel so good Like it's such a great question because I think it might be the number one benefit that women gain from strength. It's not just the physical body being able to do more, but it's mentally recognizing that they can go out and do whatever they want. It's feeling good in your body, it's feeling good when you move. It's being able to say, yeah, I'm going on a vacation and I'm going to do that excursion, I'm going to do the zip line, or I'm going to do the hike or I'm going to do the kayak that you know, otherwise maybe I wouldn't have taken, you know, the chance to do that. It's being able to lift your grandkids up and be able to grocery shop on your own for as long as possible, right, I mean, everybody wants to maintain their independence. I think that's something we all strive for and those are some of the greatest things that I see coming out of building. Strength is just the confidence it gives people and what it affords them to do in their life.

Speaker 1: 29:17

And I'm sure that applies for the men as well. If a man is wanting to strengthen his body and it helps him feel better about who he, is. And all of us. We just want, as you said, we want to be as independent for as long as possible and feel like we are living up to our potential.

Speaker 1: 29:35

So I want to thank you, on behalf of all of us, for making that possible. For those who are Now. Do you do any online training? It's all in your studio right now. On behalf of all of us, for making that possible for those who are now.

Speaker 3: 29:46

Do you do any online training? It's all in your studio right now. Yeah, I'm not doing anything online at this point it's all in studio and most of the reason for that is because I do think there's benefits to be in person, especially as we age, to really have a close eye on the movement pattern and make sure that I'm providing the feedback to keep people safe.

Speaker 1: 30:03

Brilliant. Well, thank you for everything you're doing and thank you for taking the time out. I mean, starting a new business is not an easy task and we know you're super busy already, so thanks for taking time to chat with us today.

Speaker 3: 30:16

Oh my gosh. It was so fun. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Our great pleasure and thank you all again. Thank you for joining us. Share this with your friends, with Instagram, facebook, wherever, and if you haven't subscribed, please do follow us. We just love having you in this community. So thank you all and we look forward to a new conversation next week. Bye-bye everyone.

Speaker 2: 30:41

Bye-bye. If you love our podcast, we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball. This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations.

Speaker 1: 30:56

On Apple Podcasts, spotify or wherever you listen, go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner and on YouTube, click the subscribe button under any of the episodes.

Speaker 2: 31:09

Thanks so much. Hope to see you on the court.