Naomi Gottlieb-Miller

Hey Reader, I have big news. For the past 8 weeks, I've been working really hard on something and I've been itching to tell you about it, but I had to keep it under wraps until today. I BUILT AN APP! And it's finally available for everyone who wants to use it, today. My app is called Strength in Midlife -- A Daily Movement App for Aging Well. I created this app for women in perimenopause (and also those who are postmenopausal), who want to feel stronger as they get older by building a daily...

Hey Reader, Do you ever get tired of doing 100 chaturangas in your yoga classes? I do. This is partially because I don't need or want my yoga practice to be my primary workout. But I also think that there is more to "flow" that sun salutations. From a practical standpoint, not everyone can easily put weight on their hands. Now, as a trainer, I also believe that this doesn't mean they never should try or work to build strength in their wrists but it's also important to have movement practices...

Hey Reader, I really like lifting heavy weights. It makes me feel strong and powerful. But lifting heavy isn't for everyone. Part of the issue is that not everyone has access to barbells. They might be space-prohibitive or cost-prohibitive or it just feels intimidating to even imagine lifting something so heavy. Whatever the reason, not everyone is going to gravitate to lifting heavy weights. And that's ok. Turns out that getting stronger is less about the weights you lift and how close to...

Hey Reader, Vasisthasana is one of my favorite yoga poses. In the fitness world and also within yoga communities that limit the use of Sanskrit, vasisthasana is more commonly known as side plank. The thing is, Vasistha (the namesake of the pose) was a sage, not a plank. Setting that important detail aside, folks frequently refer to vasisthasana as side plank for 2 main reasons: First, Sanskrit can be a tricky language and lots of western yogis are not invested in using the language of yoga to...

Hey Reader, Whoops! I was supposed to email you Sunday and then got sidetracked with family stuff. So I was going to email you yesterday but I was working really hard on something (that I am so excited to share with you in a few weeks), and I was so deep in working on this other thing that writing this email just slipped my mind. So here I am, 2 days late. It happens. I guess the good news is that I am not a robot and this email is clearly not being written by AI, automatically every Sunday....

Hey Reader, Here's something I think everyone needs to know about strength training: You have to do the same things over and over in order to get stronger. This is a slight oversimplification, but the basics are true. In order to increase your capacity to produce force, you have to work the same exercises consistently, slowly adding load to continue to challenge your muscles (and bones). Strength training can be really repetitive and really boring for this reason. What makes this bearable, at...

Hey Reader, Have you ever avoided going to a yoga class because you knew the teacher was working on a particular pose? For me that was always revolved triangle. Or complicated seated poses. I remember many years ago, one of my favorite teachers started class with agni stambhasana (fire log pose) -- I'm talking FIRST POSE -- and I nearly left. Anyway, it can be really frustrating when you show up to a class and the teacher does that one pose that just does not feel good in your body. So you...

Hey Reader, Should women train differently as they age? There are a lot of people in the health and fitness space trying to answer this question and many of them say, "yes! Women do need to workout differently as they age!" Here's one thing you should know about this kind of message: A lot of health and fitness language is marketing. It's designed to get your attention and ideally to get you to consider working with the person sharing it. And sometimes people need to see something geared...

Hey Reader, Just a quick reminder that the How to Get Stronger workshop is tomorrow, Friday February 20th at 11am ET. It's 30 minutes long and I'll be talking about what actions and exercises are actually going to help you build strength. ✔️ We'll talk strength training vs yoga/pilates/cardio. ✔️ We'll talk hand weights vs barbells. ✔️ We'll talk reps, sets, and how many days per week you need to lift. ✔️ We'll talk about weighted vests and if they actually work. ✔️ And of course I'll answer...