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Episode 1

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Published on:

1st Apr 2025

S02E01 - Is Walking the Way?

Marko shares his journey from being a sports hater to discovering the joy of walking. He emphasizes the importance of scaling exercise for those over 50 and the euphoric feelings associated with physical activity, particularly through endorphins and endocannabinoids. He encourages listeners to start exercising, even if it's just a walk around the block.

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Transcript
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Hiya there all you fitness

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curious grownups. Scale to Fit

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fit in your 50s is back and it

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took only a little bit less

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than 5 years. Oh my how fast

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time flies. I'm your sporty

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soon to be host Marko Lindgren.

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In this first episode I will

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look back in time to clear

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the path to the present and

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also reveal what made a sports

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hater like me to go for regular

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exercise. And what I always

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like to say, don't do nothing,

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do something and scale it back.

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So it really has been almost 5

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year pause between the seasons.

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But now we are on again

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and I am so excited. Putting

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all the internal pressure aside,

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let's dig into the topic.

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So this season we will talk

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about scaling and getting fit.

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Not anymore in the context

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of CrossFit but more from the

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point of view of all activities,

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especially for us grownups

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over 50. Because the best

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exercises are those you do, not

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those you don't. And doing

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something

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and scaling down is always

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infinitely better than doing

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nothing. Before we get going on

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that, let's look back to see

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what happened to me and how on

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earth I found my bliss or

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in other words how I started to

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enjoy exercising. So let's go

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back. As a kid I was never very

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sporty. In my pre-teens I

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danced in a folk dance group on

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a national level but PE was

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not my thing at school. I never

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liked it with all the

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competitions, football and

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gymnastics.

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Mainly because those things

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were never taught to us and

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thus I never learned them. You

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just

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knew how to do it or you didn't.

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And I just sucked on all of

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them. Totally. I couldn't

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climb a rope and I was always

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among the last two to be picked

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for the team in the football

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games. I always played the

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defender, that is I was

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standing near the goal and

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trying

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not to be hit by the ball. So

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week after week for years it

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was no wonder that PE was my

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least favourite school subject,

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as it has been for many others

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as well. In my first university

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years I did regularly some

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weight lifting but my muscles

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never grew. I didn't know

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why and I couldn't afford a

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coach so I stopped doing it.

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Now I would know better,

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understanding

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for example the importance of

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the right kind of food and rest.

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And a decade or so later

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I went to an Astanga Yoga class

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with some colleagues and fell

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in love with it. After the

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first

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class I was breathing like

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never before. It was fresh and

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somehow open and clear. And

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I quit smoking instantly. I

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just didn't want to ruin the

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wonderful feeling of breathing.

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The smoking I had smoked by

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that time about maybe over 10

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years anyways. The training

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also helped me with other

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hardships in life. It gave me

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sort of a beacon to sail in the

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stormy seas of life. I knew

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that whatever would happen I

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could always do yoga. I could

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always go to my sun salutations

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and stretching. So for about a

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year I did Astanga regularly

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five to six times a week. Then

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somehow all the apparently good

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reasons not to do it anymore

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became stronger and I stopped.

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The reasons included having a

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new job, feeling tired,

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having to walk the dog and the

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bus ride to the Astanga class

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taking too long and so on

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so forth. And let's jump

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another decade later I went to

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CrossFit. That was fun from the

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get go and the atmosphere in

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the box was supportive and

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positive. The biggest thing for

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a PE hater

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like me was that the coaches

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taught every movement and

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exercise thoroughly first and

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then gradually eased into the

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complete set. But again after a

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year some difficult roadblocks

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came up and I stopped doing

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CrossFit regularly and

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gradually. Then all together.

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In the first

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season of the podcast I talked

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with my training buddy about

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how to get back into CrossFit

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after being off it for a while.

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It happens quite often that in

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the CrossFit box the pressure

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can get rather high to use

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bigger weights, do more reps

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and always improve your results.

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In the first season we wanted

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to encourage scaling and doing

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just the right amount of

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reps to keep workouts enjoyable

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and not to break yourself or

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get hurt. In spite of all

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the encouragement from the peer

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athletes. But as it turned out

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CrossFit wasn't for me after

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all even with a lot of scaling.

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But then something unexpected

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happened. Something that if

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somebody

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had told me a week earlier I

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would have laughed it off.

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Earlier, 2023, I had a pretty

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bad

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and painful throat infection

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for about a week. After getting

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well I went to take some

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bottles

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to the recycling station about

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a kilometer away. And then

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after returning I felt really

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good. Unusually good. Since I

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had some time and nothing

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particular to do I decided to

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go for an actual, a little

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longer walk. That walk ended up

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being over 5 kilometers and

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it took more than an hour.

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After the walk I was in total

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bliss. I walked 6 kilometers

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the following day and 8 the

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next. I had never before felt

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so good after an exercise. Not

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even with my asanga yoga

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training or forked downs, not

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with weightlifting or CrossFit.

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Did I ever get such bliss? But

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after that walk everything was

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different. So why did

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it feel so great? Was it

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because the moon and the stars

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were in the right conjunction

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or was it just because the

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weather was nice? I pondered

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this to myself and it seems the

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simplest explanation for this

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exhilarating feeling was runner's

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high, as many call it.

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It supposedly has something to

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do with endorphins. The good to

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no corner. Endorphins are amino

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acids, natural chemicals that

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your brain produces. They have

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two main effects. They help

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relieve

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pain and they promote feelings

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of pleasure or well-being. The

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term endorphin combines

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the words endogenous originating

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within the body and morphine, a

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pain reliever, highlighting

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their role as the body's

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internal painkillers. When you

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experience pain or stress your

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brain

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releases endorphins to help

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alleviate discomfort and

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improve your mood. These

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chemicals act

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on the opiate receptors in your

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brain, reducing the perception

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of pain and triggering positive

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feelings. In summary, endorphins

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are your body's natural way of

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managing pain and enhancing

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pleasure, contributing to the

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positive feelings often

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associated with exercise. The

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term runner's

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high, or in my case walker's

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high, describes a state of euphoria

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and reduced anxiety, a

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feeling of profound contentment

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and well-being that comes from

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continuous or intense exercise.

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My experience after the first

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walk is a real world example of

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this. I unexpectedly discovered

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this euphoric feeling through

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walking, a state of total bliss

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that I hadn't experienced with

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other forms of exercise. While

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it was once believed that endorphins

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were primarily responsible

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for this sensation, recent

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research suggests that endocannabinoids,

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another type of natural

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chemical produced by the body,

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may play a more significant

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role. Endocannabinoids can

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cross the blood-brain barrier

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and are thought to contribute

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to the pleasurable feelings

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associated with sustained

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physical activity. They

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activate cannabinoid receptors

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like weed,

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so they are actually internal

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weed. In summary, a runner's

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high is produced by a

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combination

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of different compounds in your

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body, including endorphins, endocannabinoids,

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and phenethylamine,

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so internal pain blockers,

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natural compounds similar to

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cannabis, and then a natural

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stimulant.

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However, endorphins may

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increase the positive effect of

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exercise on anxiety and

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depression,

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and they also may play a role

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in exercise addiction, sort of

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a good kind of addiction.

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After regular and intense

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exercise, the brain may produce

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fewer endorphins during rest to

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maintain balance, causing a

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person to exercise even more to

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get the same feeling, to get

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the same high. Since several

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internal euphoriates are

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responsible for this exercise-related

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euphoria, it is not at all an

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exaggeration to call it a high.

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A runner's high or a walker's

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high. The good to no corner.

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Routers high had been evading

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me for most of my life, and now

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just good old time brisk

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walking gave me that high. Who

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would have known. So why did it

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happen? Was it that my

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grown man's body was finally

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ready for it, or was it simply

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because when walking I do

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the warm up longer and more

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thoroughly? After all, it is an

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elementary part of the overall

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exercise.

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Earlier I might have been too

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eager to get to the real

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exercise and skipped a part or

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the whole warm up. Or like so

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often in CrossFit, the warm up

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itself was already pretty

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intense,

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like an exercise for me.

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No matter the reason, it is not

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as important as the outcome,

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the consequence. It has made

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me exercise actively for over

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two years now and I have

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adopted new ways to move and

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new

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ways to keep track of what I am

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doing.

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I will get deeper into my

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journey and how to start

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exercising over 50 after a

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lengthy

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pause in later episodes. But

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before that, why don't you just

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put on your walking shoes

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and go around the block? Or

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longer, if you feel like it.

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And what I like to say, don't

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do nothing, do something and

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scale it back.

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This was Scale to Fit, fitting

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your 50s with Marco Lindgren.

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All sounds are made by me.

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Send us your feedback via email

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at feedback@scale2.fit or visit

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pottracer.com/scale2fit to

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leave a

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comment. Don't forget to check

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the show notes at scale2.fit,

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all the links are there. Thank

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you for tuning in.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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(upbeat music)

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About the Podcast

Scaled to Fit
Fit in Your Fifties
In the podcast, Marko shares personal fitness challenges and successes. His primary focus is making exercise enjoyable for those over 50, encouraging listeners to take action and adapt workouts to their needs.