Build Bone, Build Nerve, Build Self: The Real Case For Women’s Strength

A rainy parking lot, a few resistance bands, and a coach who chose education over ego—that’s where this story of sustainable strength begins. Claire sits down with Niko, owner of Odyssey Strength and Conditioning in Howard County, to unpack how women and families can trade gym intimidation for measurable progress and everyday confidence. From immigrant grit to launching a thousand-square-foot studio, Niko shares why small groups, precise cues, and clean technique beat hype and fads every time.

We dive into the real reasons to lift: stronger bones, improved insulin sensitivity, and the resilience that carries you through perimenopause, postpartum recovery, and the demands of daily life. Forget the myths—yes, your knees can travel over your toes, and no, deadlifts aren’t anti-back. With a practical focus on squats, hinges, presses, and pulls, we talk about how to load movements safely, why progression matters more than novelty, and how a supportive group can spark friendly competition without the self-critique spiral.

Movement is medicine for everyone in the house. We connect strength training to kids’ development and cognitive benefits for adults, showing how new skills and consistent practice boost both mind and body. The result is a training culture that feels human: no yelling, no ego, just clear standards, steady challenge, and coaches who adapt the plan to your needs. Whether you’re a cardio loyalist, a barre fan, or brand new to lifting, you’ll leave with a simple blueprint to get stronger, protect your bones, and enjoy the work.

Stronger, smarter movement starts with one conversation—and this is a great place to continue it. Curious to learn more or take the next step? 💪
 Visit odysseystrong.com, follow instagram.com/odyssey.strong 📲, or reach out at niko@odysseystrong.com ✉️.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Nico And The Gym’s Origin
• 2:45 From Immigrant Roots To Coaching Path
• 7:15 Starting Odyssey And Early Hustle
• 12:10 Community Events And First Impressions
• 16:45 Why Strength Training Beats Fear
• 21:30 Small Groups, Big Personalization
• 27:00 Women’s Strength, Bone Density, Longevity
• 33:20 Mindset Shift From Aesthetics To Ability
• 38:00 Movement As Medicine For Kids And Adults
• 43:00 Consistency, Joy, And Sustainable Habits
• 46:30 How To Get Started With Odyssey

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Hey friends, and welcome to Mom Talk Maryland. I'm your host, Claire Duarte, founder of the Columbia Mom. And this is your spot for real conversations, local love, and a whole lot of community. Whether you're folding laundry, running errands, or hiding in your car for some peace and quiet, let's dive in.

SPEAKER_00: 0:16

Thanks for having me. Oh my god, I'm so excited you're here. I was like, I hope she asks me to be a guest one day.

SPEAKER_02: 0:23

I love like, first of all, for the record, for anybody else watching this or listening to this, like, if I haven't asked you, just know that I basically plan on it, and it's not that I haven't thought of it. Like some of my close friends, they were like, oh my god, thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 0:36

It's fun. It's it's fun. And I love, I'm excited to talk about what we're gonna chat about.

SPEAKER_02: 0:41

Yes. And honestly, actually, oh like, well, you and I first have to decide how serious are we being today?

SPEAKER_00: 0:46

Um, we'll see where it goes. We're gonna see where it takes us. It's it's hard. Like, I'm I'm really like just stuffing it down right now. You are out of respect to your audience and and you, because you're working hard on this.

SPEAKER_02: 1:01

I have to remind my I feel like my podcast, I've been like pretty good, but then you you you kind of see some of my my weird shit that pops up on the page every now and then.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09

So I don't know. Weird is better. Weird is so good. Everyone in my gym, and they're like, is he schizophrenic? Does he have like multiple personalities? Or is I'm just doing acting. One little girl was like, Are you a theater kid? And I was like, Should I be offended by that? But I'm like, maybe I'm just a thespian.

SPEAKER_02: 1:30

Well, you have Greek roots. We've talked about that. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:33

Very into drama, very into theater performance, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 1:37

And real quick before we jump in, I you you have two hands. You're very serious right now.

SPEAKER_00: 1:42

This is the most comfortable locked in. My hands, my elbows are propped up.

SPEAKER_02: 1:46

Maybe this is the way to do it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:47

I'm uh I'm very savvy with biomechanics per my career path. But my elbows, I swear, I'm barely even trying. And this this mic is heavy.

SPEAKER_02: 1:58

It is heavy.

SPEAKER_00: 1:59

Elbows posted up, I'm leaned back, I'm actually pretty comfy.

SPEAKER_02: 2:02

Yeah. Well, you maybe maybe it's your career path also. Tease you up for that, right?

SPEAKER_00: 2:07

Yeah, just so effortless to hold this microphone strong as hell.

SPEAKER_02: 2:11

Oh my god. All right, well, let's jump into it. Um, first of all, I'm so glad you're here. This is my friend Nico, uh, owner of Odyssey Strength and Conditioning. Um, I have actually just celebrated my two-year with you guys. Wait, that's like uh probably almost to the day.

SPEAKER_00: 2:29

I think so. Yeah. I was just leaving, and the clients I I just left uh working with, they were like, oh, by the way, in like a week it's three years, and I was like, I can't believe it. Yeah. We're super lucky. We've like, I just I made this like little sentimental Facebook post yesterday about our three years. And you know, we got our son now, and he's just playing with other stuff. So I'm super lucky for people like you, for everyone who's stuck around and just I don't know, retaining clients. Oh my gosh. Yeah, right? It's like oh yeah, it's hard to do, but I feel like you know you're killing it. Yeah, we've created a good environment. I'm super lucky.

SPEAKER_02: 3:06

Oh my gosh. Um Well, give me okay, I love an origin story. Obviously, I know you. Um, you know, you have a little bit of first of all, like tell everyone, obviously, us a little bit about your background, um, how and why you got started with Odyssey.

SPEAKER_00: 3:21

It's all started May 9th, 1991.

SPEAKER_02: 3:23

I thought so.

SPEAKER_00: 3:24

GBMC Hospital, Baltimore City. If you didn't start there, that would my parents came here from Greece in the 80s just with not a dollar in their pocket.

SPEAKER_02: 3:36

Wait, sorry, real quick. Did your dad have like the thickest like beard?

SPEAKER_00: 3:40

Yeah. Yeah. I just he does. He actually he's he's bald but super hairy. Like I'm like, what a curse. You know, like the rest of you. You can't have hair on the top of your head, but like your shoulders have more hair. But he did. He did, he's always had a big beard. You know, when like dads shave their beards and like go up to their kids, you know, like ah, that's strange.

SPEAKER_02: 4:03

Literally, literally, my dad did that too. Uh and I apologize. First of all, I'm queen of tangents on these things, you know. It's lucky if we stay on topic. But my dad was the same thing, yeah. It was just all white. Yeah. I was like, oh God.

SPEAKER_00: 4:14

I can't grow, I've got like little whiskers. I can't grow a beard. And then my son looks at me and is like, just shave it. He's nine months. Those are his words. He's like, oh, first words, like, ugh. Um, anyway, origin story, yes, tangent. Um, so you know, I played sports my whole life. Um I kind of knew that I wasn't gonna be, say, a pro athlete, even though I feel like that's every kid's dream that's really into sports.

SPEAKER_01: 4:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 4:40

Um, but I also really enjoyed the training aspect, like working to get better. Um, I just always thought it was I was always kind of like wiry, bouncing off the wall. You? Yeah, me, I know. And I was like, I just started drinking coffee when I started the business, and I never did. I've never drank alcohol in my life. Wow. And at college, everyone thought I was hammered at like parties, but I was just completely sober, just like happy to be here, you know. But um, so I started, you know, in high school, I asked one of the football coaches, and I played soccer, I wrestled, played basketball, it's a bunch of sports. But I was like, I don't what am I gonna do with with my my life? I was like a junior in high school, and one of my coaches said, you know, I think you'd be really good at coaching in this aspect. And so he told me there's something called the strength conditioning coach, and he played for the Eagles a long time ago and stuff, and so he was telling me all this stuff. I was like, Oh, that's pretty cool. So then, you know, we are we are Greek immigrants. My parents worked super hard, yeah. Um, you know, kind of maybe cliche, but truly had nothing. Um, so I was just trying to save a buck and and go to college.

SPEAKER_01: 5:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 5:57

Um, so I landed on Frostburg, which was an awesome exercise science program. I was like, I'll just go there.

SPEAKER_01: 6:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 6:03

It's cheap, good program. Yeah, around the corner. I met my mentors, my best friends there. Um, and I tell people, oh yeah, I was at Frostburg for eight years. And they're like, wow, that's cool. And they think I it took me eight years to get my bachelor's. That's right. And I was like, no, no, no, I got my bachelor's in four, master's in two, and I worked there for two more. So I went to Frostburg and just really put all my eggs in that basket, and I loved it. Um, I'm very science-y, very nerdy when it comes to that, but I just um I really care about helping people and gym intimidation, yeah, gym lifestyles are kind of um overthrown by social media and expectations and comparisons, and it's kind of cruel. Um I was more on the athletic side at first, but I trained a lot of local, just like general population. Right. Um, and it was great. And then after I left Frostburg, I was the college strength conditioning is not a good career path because you just don't get paid much, you work a lot.

SPEAKER_02: 7:14

Right, yeah, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_00: 7:15

And then you gotta bounce around from like school to school until you land a real good job. Right, right, right. So then um I said, you know what, I miss my family, I'm gonna go back to uh uh Baltimore. Got a job in Montgomery County, worked there for about a year, left, um, found a job in Howard County, was there for four years, really loved it. Yeah. Until I felt like, you know, I just really needed. I met my wonderful wife, um, and I've always, always, always wanted above all else, be really good husband, be a really good father.

SPEAKER_01: 7:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 7:53

And I felt like the only way for me to unequivocally do that where I'm in control of that, is if I just started my own business.

SPEAKER_01: 8:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:04

Um, and you know, uh, it's been the best. So now we're three years into that. I've got a really good experience in the private gym sector. Um I'm trying to turn it on its head a little bit, just not be um, I don't know, it's just like overly competitive. Uh gym gym owners and fitness, especially the guys are just so insecure about their knowledge. It's like, oh, I know better than that guy, I know better than that guy, I know better than that guy.

SPEAKER_01: 8:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:36

There's so many gyms in Howard County. Right. And they're, you know, for the most part pretty good. Right. Um, but I'm really lucky to be in a county that has resources, um, that that has people that prioritize their health and wellness. And I think it's just becoming more and more um of a prevalent thing in people's lives.

SPEAKER_01: 8:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:56

Um, but that's kind of a uh crash course origin story. Yeah. Um and uh yeah, we're looking to roll with it here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 9:07

Well, and fast forward to now. So when how long have you been in your Fulton space again?

SPEAKER_00: 9:12

Three years now. Three years. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02: 9:14

Because I couldn't remember if you had like started training like sorry, prior to that three-year mark or what?

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

We were in our um uh condo. I hope my landlord doesn't because you know I put my two weeks in and it was real scary. And uh it was just a culmination. I just had to do it, and I was just paralyzed with fear. Yep. And I was really, really, really still am. Um maybe I'm insufferably uh modest, which sounds arrogant in a weird way, right? But uh just all credit goes to the people that were loyal to me and followed me and allowed me to build the business and um be profitable within the confines of our main bedroom that my wife and I turned into a gym. We moved into the guest bedroom, yeah. And then I just had a bunch of people just be willing to support me and uh and train with us there. And then I really, really always liked the Mapleon Fortn area. Um and so I just wanted to find a really good small space that was a uh smart beginner business decision. Yeah. Uh biggest mistake gym owners make, I think, are just finding a way too large of a space and just think if I build it they will come. Right. Um so we've been there for three years now, um, looking to expand, hopefully. Yeah. Um if that opportunity comes. Right. Right now we're doing a really good job with just a thousand square feet. Um and uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 10:51

And yeah. Well, and then and and then I met you at it was the Fit Crawl event.

SPEAKER_00: 10:57

Yeah, shout out to Leah from Anne Fitness. She put that on for a couple years. And uh uh Leah's a really, really good friend of mine, super sweet person, runs a great business there. Yep. Um and she invited me and I was super grateful.

SPEAKER_01: 11:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 11:15

Uh we're co-Lululemon ambassadors for Howard County, and that's how we met. Initially, I opened I opened the gym, I started posting. I'm like, hey, we got a new gym. And I think Leah was like, Who's this guy opening this gym? You know, yeah. And I'm like, no, you know, we're we're pretty different in what we do, and we can still be friends, and and uh we've been friends ever since. So she invited me, which was very nice of her. Um, and we were set up in a parking lot with a bunch of tents.

SPEAKER_02: 11:43

It was raining that day.

SPEAKER_00: 11:45

That was hard because I was like, you know, I would have preferred if people were somehow shuttled to my gym, but I'm like, that's completely selfish and also just not feasible.

SPEAKER_02: 11:56

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00: 11:57

It was fun. We made it happen. We had a bunch of bands. I had our amazing Anna that was working with us. I know we miss you, Anna. I know. Uh Anna helped me a lot. My wife was posted up on the merch table, you know. Um it was a lot of fun, and that's how we met.

SPEAKER_01: 12:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 12:11

And I think you liked the workout enough, Bill. Let me check this guy out.

SPEAKER_02: 12:14

So that's a little goofball talking about some some strength and weight stuff, cracking a few little like snide jokes, and I was like, oh. But actually, you know what's kind of like one of the things that struck me that day, other than it being like, yeah, the weather was crap, but she I got Hampedalia. She still had a great turnout. It was my first time going to that one.

SPEAKER_00: 12:33

Um, and um super organized.

SPEAKER_02: 12:37

Very well organized, and you know, yeah, it was a little rainy, but we still I still had fun going to the different spots. It was great time. You were one of my last stations in that rotation, and listening to you talk, I mean, granted, we're just kind of doing like a very I forget if it was 30-minute segments or not.

SPEAKER_00: 12:52

So it's like I think it was 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_02: 12:54

Yeah, so it wasn't super long. Um, and some of it was just maybe resistance type stuff. Anyway, but I'm listening to you talk and you're describing some like form and things like that. And again, I guess I just hadn't trained fully like that in a while. Um, or in more what I would call not that I'm not them saying that what you do is classical strength and conditioning, but just um I've been doing things like, I don't know, everything from boot camps to soldier fit to like, you know, all these other like uh like circuit training, you know, what people call hit.

SPEAKER_00: 13:26

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 13:27

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00: 13:28

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 13:28

Um so I was familiar with strength training, but probably more of like the Peloton classes.

SPEAKER_00: 13:34

Sure, which is all great, which is all good.

SPEAKER_02: 13:36

Nothing wrong, like yeah, you know, we'll talk about strength as as a whole anyways, but um, and I could just tell how knowledgeable you were about it when you were like even things like I remember I asking you, because I don't know if we were doing lunges or if we were stretching and you were meant to saying, like, you know, don't be afraid to have like your knee go over your toe. And in my brain, I'm like, I was like, I was triggered back to like that eight-year-old in the soccer field when they were like, you know, freaking out about little things like that.

SPEAKER_00: 14:00

Which is hilarious because they're fear-mongering that, and you're like, how the hell do I run if my knee doesn't go over my toe?

SPEAKER_02: 14:05

Right. Well, and I was just thinking, so when you said that again, like if you're triggering a 30-plus-year-old me, and I was like, wait, but I'm like, obviously, okay, clearly this kid's younger than me, he definitely's gonna know more than me in this regard, but I just like okay, this guy definitely knows his stuff, and I love the vibe that you and Anna had, and it was like, then the rest is history. Yeah, thanks so much. It's it's awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 14:25

It's you know, with having 30 minutes, it's raining, people are cold, uncomfortable, we don't have much equipment with us because we're not in my facility. We brought bands, maybe some 10-pound bumper, like weight plates.

SPEAKER_02: 14:38

Yeah, the plates.

SPEAKER_00: 14:38

You know, and then open space, and then it's like, how do I make this enjoyable? And I think one of the best ways to go about it is just educating, just and sometimes it can be boring, right? But it's like I have to kind of be a little lively, be very candid with stuff, and why strength training is so important for everyone that was in front of me. Yeah, and also these people were coming from other workouts. Literally by the time they were coming to me, they're like, we are exhausted, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 15:05

Well, and that's what's kind of interesting too, is um, you know, and I historically I'm I call myself like a cardio junkie or a recovered cardio addict. You know what I mean? Granted, like we still do need at least, you know, most people still need an aspect of endurance training and hit. Like, and I and I admit that um like I did one of those metabolic testings like earlier this year, and um, you know, I'm like, well, I'm so strong that I should be great now. And they were like, no, you still like so yes, we all still need yeah aspects of that. So I'm trying to work that out.

SPEAKER_00: 15:38

Um what did you have to do with that? Do you remember the metabolic testing?

SPEAKER_02: 15:41

It was like it was a it was a resting one, not the um active one. Oh, got it, got it. Yeah, where you breathe and it does all those markers. Um so yeah, so some of the results were like, um, yeah, you still need it in uh even only like once or twice like a week of like 30 minutes or something, like a brisk walk. Like but I'm you know, um I mean now that I'm like really great with you know having my strength routine, it's like trying to build that aspect of it in, especially during the cold months of the year, which is challenging. But that's a whole nother thing.

SPEAKER_00: 16:10

Yes. I think you know, we figured, you know, and we we we implement every form of exercise or every training parameter that people want, right? But I figure what's the lowest hanging fruit form of exercise anyone can do, and that's cardio. Anyone can go jog, anyone can go hop on an elliptical bike, run, whatever. Yeah, right. What's the least intuitive form that I think people maybe be s are scared to try, and that is actual strength training. Yeah, because so much of heavy lifting is fear-mongered, and it's just like it is the secret to longevity, uh, you know, aside from going on a walk, which is like Right, which is excellent. Yeah, it's so easy to do, but also, you know, bone density, osteoporosis, all these things that can be mitigated through resistance training, it's right there. Yeah, you know, and so um, you know, I think that's what we do best in that sense. Uh is just introducing that in a real easy, um friendly environment, not rah-rah in your face. Like, come on, one more round. You know, it's we're never some of those moments from time to time.

SPEAKER_02: 17:18

Uh-huh. If you catch Jack on a bad day.

SPEAKER_00: 17:22

Dude, Jack rocks because shout out Jack Pryor, he's our assistant strength condition coach. Um, and he's like so low, monotone, and chill.

SPEAKER_02: 17:32

So when he says something like demanding, you're like, you're telling me to do 10 box jumps, like up five feet.

SPEAKER_00: 17:41

We will never make anyone do 10 box jumps, by the way.

SPEAKER_02: 17:43

That was that has never happened, and I would probably walk out.

SPEAKER_00: 17:46

No.

SPEAKER_02: 17:47

But um, well, this is the perfect kind of segue um into talking kind of the next segment here, which is obviously one of the main reasons why I wanted to have you come on.

SPEAKER_01: 17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 17:55

And I mean, I talked about this with um my friend Lisa Massey, who also trains here and become like literally I call her my um my sister in strength.

SPEAKER_00: 18:06

She rocks super strong.

SPEAKER_02: 18:07

Become, yeah, and I remember early like I was like, is there any other like uh women as strong as me here? And then I think like you or Mike were like, yes. And I was like, like the mirror mirror on the wall. Like, who else it could have been who are you talking about? And you're like, what did you do? And then I met Lisa, she like walked in and was like, Yeah, Lisa kicked the door down literally. And I was like, oh, okay, this is what they meant.

SPEAKER_00: 18:34

Yeah, Lisa's so sweet, so nice. Oh my gosh. Very strong, very positive, very encouraging to everyone. Bring some like make 6 a.m.'s lively.

SPEAKER_02: 18:43

Oh my gosh, it's been fantastic. And so that was really fun to have I love having her in there. I mean, I I talked about this with Mike and with Lisa, but what's um awesome, like she pushes me even more because I think for a while I was sort of feeling like um I mean I came in with my own you know, baseline of s of strength and and things like that, and have progressed a lot, you know, but I think like, you know, in some of the groups I felt like I was probably a little bit on the upper tier compared to some of the other group members, which is nothing nothing wrong with that, but having Lisa there like just pushes me that much more.

SPEAKER_00: 19:21

Absolutely. And I and I I get that. Um I think the cool thing about our groups is they're small groups, everyone is encouraged to methodically progress from where they are.

SPEAKER_01: 19:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 19:32

It is hard sometimes though, like if you're comparing yourself, and I don't necessarily want anyone to compare themselves, but unless they're using it as like a motivating factor, yeah, um, and not just a self deprecating one.

SPEAKER_01: 19:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 19:46

Um, because eventually we'll get there. Yeah, oh my gosh. Uh it really helps though to have someone that you see like, damn, they're really pushing it. Maybe I can squeeze out one more at, maybe I can go up a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01: 20:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 20:01

And and sometimes, you know, the reality is we work for our clients. Yeah. And there's this whole um, you know, generic joke about trainers, you know, uh having everyone complaining and all that. And that that's true.

SPEAKER_02: 20:16

I think I walked in my first day and I was like, I'm the queen of complaining. Like, kind of names Clay.

SPEAKER_00: 20:20

Julie knows okay. I am the worst. Um But you know, it's uh it really helps to have a group member or friend that you're working out with to push you. We can only do so much. Right.

SPEAKER_02: 20:34

Um, well to give you guys a little credit though, um, I mean, uh, you know, going back like when I first started, it's like you were like my probably like primary trainer when it first started. And then um then I I kind of shifted in at the 6 a.m. and I realized I was like, oh, I'm much more focused when you and I are together and we're a little dangerous. Yeah. Um but um Mike's amazing. And what I think, regardless of whether it's you or Mike or any of your trainers and coaches there, um, you guys do a phenomenal job. Like the groups, I'm sure this is the same with the teens and the other groups, is that obviously there's gonna be people of all levels of strength and capabilities, and you guys do a phenomenal job of catering to everyone and not just making sure they're they're lifting safely appropriately, but also pushing themselves within the appropriate range. But I mean, Mike is just laser focused and he can go in and he's still giving everyone sort of that one-on-one attention.

SPEAKER_01: 21:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:32

Which is what I also love about these small groups. It's not it doesn't just feel like a hey, everybody do one thing. He's still giving like laser-focused attention to form, laser-focused attention for making sure you're lifting, like, or making sure you really are challenging yourself. And so I still really feel like I'm getting one-on-one attention.

SPEAKER_00: 21:53

Yeah, no, thanks for relaying that because that's what we try to do uh the best job at. Um, you know, some people are reluctant to join groups, but some people are also reluctant to just start. But it's if we assure you, like, look, I know what it seems like, we are gonna cater you as an individual, even though we're with groups. Right. It's not an impossible task. It's simple and it's easy for us to modify for anyone else. Um and we modify exercises on the fly, improvise. Mike is awesome. I'm I'm I can't tell you how lucky I am. I've always been, you know, having your own business, managing people. I don't have to manage them. I don't have to manage Mike, I don't have to manage Jack, I don't have to manage, didn't have to manage Anna. They're all just they're super young, yep, they're very responsible and very hardworking. And um Mike, who's our head strength condition coach, um I I trained him when he was in high school. Yep. And we just kept in touch along the way, interned for me a couple times, and then he interned under some r other really, really um good strength condition coaches. But he is, he's it's 6 a.m. Yep, and he's so ready. Like oh, he's always early. Yeah, yeah. He's uh he's he is a true practitioner in every sense of the way. He is really cares about technique, which we all do, it's gotta be scrupulously clean.

SPEAKER_01: 23:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 23:14

Um, but uh yeah, I appreciate you, I appreciate you saying that. It's good to hear that because um now, especially with the kids, right? We train right we train kids all the way from you know eight years old and train, right? That's for the kids, it's like physical education, advanced physical education. Yeah. And then we graduate them through our curriculum of like elementary, middle, high school, and then we have college college age uh athletes or or clients in that sense, but everyone gets the same treatment across the board.

SPEAKER_02: 23:46

Um well and and you know, and it's kind of funny, like this is why I love these conversations, because you know, as I'm talking through, that's why I was like, you know, that's probably what what made me fall in love with you guys so much is like the you know, even though yes, I did do a start off with a lot of like the one-on-one training and kind of progress into the groups and stuff like that, but um I was like, Well, I didn't I didn't feel like I fell into a group. I d I never felt like I lost good that customization.

SPEAKER_00: 24:15

Yes, good.

SPEAKER_02: 24:16

Even though it is a planned program, everything still always felt and still does feel that way.

SPEAKER_00: 24:23

Yeah, you know, I think I think part of what it's become is exercise has become there's too many variables and there's too much variety sometimes.

SPEAKER_01: 24:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:32

A lot of the times um people can get bored with doing the same old exercise, but it's just like, are you actually progressing? Right. Are you seeing yourself getting stronger in this movement? If you're just bouncing from exercise to exercise every week, then you're not really getting a good idea as to if you're improving in this exercise that can change your life if you get, you know, really strong and and good at it.

SPEAKER_02: 24:57

Um well, and like to your point earlier, it's like there's not if you're going to exercise, exercise, right? We're not we're not saying that there's anything like quote unquote wrong if you're going to kind of do a bunch of things, but I think the point that you're making, and this might be kind of perfect uh way for us to kind of keep segueing into women's health, women's strength, and then talking about um some of the kids' bit is you know that progression is actually really important, um, and actually extremely vital the older we're getting. This is both for men and women, but today I want to talk a little bit more specifically about women. Absolutely. Because it's been an absolute evolution for me, since obviously this is not my education and background, it's something that I've always loved and personally enjoyed and sought out, primarily, you know, starting for kind of like slightly more vanity reasons, like just losing weight or whatever.

SPEAKER_00: 25:48

Which is fine.

SPEAKER_02: 25:48

But the education for me has come kind of along the way.

SPEAKER_01: 25:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 25:54

And the more that I'm like, you know, in this setting, like again, um, I'm just going back to this one thing when I first started with you too. I had also been doing a lot of um pure bar. And I remember saying to you, I was like, I've been improving over there. And you didn't in no way snub. First of all, this is not this we're not here snubbing any type of workout program. But I remember what you said to me, and you were like, it, you know, yes, it's great to work those smaller muscle groups, but he was you basically like you need to work the larger muscle groups. Like at the end of the day, like that's what your body really needs.

SPEAKER_00: 26:26

I mean, look, I love, like I said, I'm a I'm a proponent for exercise. Right. Anything that anyone loves or even remotely likes doing that gets them up and moving, do it. Do it. I you know, I'm not I'm not a strength training snob. Um, I can be a little pretentious when it comes to the technique and all that stuff, but it's only because our standards are incredibly high. Yeah. I don't want anyone getting hurt.

SPEAKER_01: 26:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 26:55

But I also want to see people progress, you know. And the reality is there are very few people that are willing to get under a barbell.

SPEAKER_01: 27:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 27:04

There are very few people that are willing to learn how to deadlift because and it's to no fault of their own, but it's just been a lot of misinformation, a lot of fear-mongering. Oh, it's bad for your back, it's this, it's that. None of that is true. You know, your your muscle tissue is not just for locomotion, it's not just for moving, it's for making you um insulin sensitive. Yeah, you know, for all of our like uh type one and type two athletes, diabetes and clients, yeah, like uh it's it's super imperative for their health. The residual benefits of strength training is not just vanity driven, although it's a good one, right? It's yeah, there's nothing wrong with starting there, yeah. No, yeah, in fact, I mean I look I love training anyone for whatever the reason may be. Yeah, you know, if someone comes to me and tells me I want to look better than I ever have, I'm like, great. But that's a huge motivation.

SPEAKER_02: 27:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 27:54

That's a huge motivator, you know. Um but uh Pure Bar is great. It I mean, I love Pilates, I love Pure Bar. Yeah. Um when we talk about bone density, uh maintenance and in and just bolstering that, um, the reality is you have to wait there.

SPEAKER_02: 28:15

Yes. Uh and that's that's the point that I'm trying why what I want to drive today, especially especially in regards to women, because uh and we all lose bone density and muscle mass as we age. Yep. Um, but you know, women more specifically, you know, we are going to lose that at a higher rate.

SPEAKER_00: 28:32

Right, whether it be, you know, just uh perimenopause, menopause, all these things. Um, you know, and there's a lot of statistics in terms of, oh, what age do you reach the plateau of building muscle and building bone density? I've seen 35, I've seen 40, you know. As long as you start at some point, just do it. It's never, ever, ever too late. We have 70 plus year old clients that came in who have never lifted before and they're deadlifting and they're bench pressing and they're loving it, and they feel confident. Yes, and their DEXA scans are better, their bone density is improved, they're able to get up off the floor if um, you know, God forbid there's a fall or something like that, there's no broken bones, you can get right back up. The the the possibilities and the benefits are endless here. Right. And so um, you know, I think I think it's such a bigger um conversation piece in terms of women's strength training and women's health and fitness because there's um, you know, and in no way I just want to preface it. Right. I just want to try and reciprocate um what I've seen through my clients and my experiences, right? Um and my wife is super into fitness, has been before she even met me. Um I'm trying to get my mom to live more, you know, all these people that I care about. Right. Um, but it's just like if you're if you're a lady trying to train, you know, I think there's just been a big stigma in terms of gym intimidation, yeah. And what's oh, I don't want to look like a bodybuilder, which I hear all the time. Yeah. And that breaks my heart because I'm like, I don't want that to be.

SPEAKER_02: 30:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 30:21

Um, I want everyone's body image to be up to par with what they want to be. Right. But the most important piece of advice I can give to anyone, especially our women, is like if we synonymize training with aesthetic solely, yeah, then it's gonna be harder to sustain a long um, you know, a long fitness journey or strength journey, right? Right. We have to just enjoy the process. Yep. You have to really like feeling strong. Yes. And which you will. I think it's you will it's slowly but surely you will.

SPEAKER_02: 31:01

Um well when it's done the right way, you know, and that's obviously that's been my experience, you know, coming in. I mean, I think I had shifted into more strength training around the time that I'd met you, even though I was still doing lots of other hit things. So it kind of like timing-wise mentally for me and my journey worked out well. Um, but then I was again, as I went through the journey with you guys, I was like, oh, I kind of was really falling in love with it. And I was like, oh, this is I can challenge myself in a very and completely different way.

SPEAKER_01: 31:34

Couldn't.

SPEAKER_02: 31:34

And I feel like since, you know, and obviously, you know, I enjoy having this platform where I get to share things with more women and parents, um, and and moms specifically, but as someone who's, you know, I'm 37 years old, I'm gonna be approaching perimetopause probably any minute now, right? And um like I I feel like the absolute strongest I've ever been in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 31:56

That makes me so happy to hear.

SPEAKER_02: 31:57

And um, and like when I had Lisa on here, I was like, I've I've, you know, obviously I'm like I mean why I love 6 a.m. for instance, it's like you know, that that's the hardest thing that I'm gonna do that day. Probably that week. Yeah. Literally. And it's dark, it's cold.

SPEAKER_00: 32:12

Oh god. I'm gonna lift heavy weights at some point.

SPEAKER_02: 32:14

It's pretty brutal, but you know, um we've got a real you guys have just got a really great group of girls in there now. And so it's we we look we all look forward to it and we've really rallied together.

SPEAKER_01: 32:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 32:25

Um but you know, I think with the messaging that I'm also trying to drive for other moms and women too is like, hey, like, you know, I want to keep educating educating moms and women, you know, whether whether you're my age, whether you're my mom's age, you know what I mean? That same thing of like, you know, let's train for life, right? You know, you you don't have to um, you know, yes, you can pick, throw on your sneakers and go for a run, you can get under a barbell and things like that, but you know, I also think too, if I can be strong enough so that like God knows I have the shittiest knees and ankles on the planet Earth, like I'm going to fall. Like I literally am going to fall. But if I if when I do, can I get myself back up? Yeah. Can I will I have this the strength to be able to recover faster and better?

SPEAKER_01: 33:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 33:08

You know what I mean? Because that that's the reality. I mean, I think that's we are going to fall. We are going to get injured. We these things are going to life is going to happen, right? Or uh other things, like you can still be at your peak level of strength and then get like a crazy illness and then use lose muscle mass even from that.

SPEAKER_01: 33:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 33:24

You know, it doesn't have to be a traumatic injury. No. Do you know what I mean? Like, we need I think what I'm trying to drive this, like we need strength for actual necessity. Not not just for aesthetics that we're talking about. Aesthetics are great, and that's fine for a motivator and getting you in the door, but like we need our strength to carry us through life, literally.

SPEAKER_00: 33:47

Yeah, absolutely. Because at some point there's gonna be, you know, a rate of diminishing returns. And um you're just gonna get up and you're not gonna be as strong as you once were, and you know, and this isn't this sounds like it's we're just talking about like a 55 and older I know, which by the way, who decided 55 is the age where it just like goes downhill, you know. I always felt like there was like a such a back-handed thing or like uh um a negative connotation with that, but um, you know, you kind of have to zoom out, and whether you have kids or not, which having kids makes you way more existential and um in that sense, but you know, it's also about self-care, it's also about taking care of yourself. Yes. Being a mom is the hardest thing on earth, it's super hard. Um being a parent is tough, but yeah, you know, especially being a mother, um, having to deal with um postpartum, yeah, um uh you know, obstacles in that sense, but uh and then having to juggle all the guilt that comes along with it and wanting to take care of yourself but not just feeling like yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 34:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 34:59

And then I feel like a lot of the times the best thing you can do is move.

unknown: 35:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 35:04

Get moving. Movements. And and not just you know, put your baby in a stroller and walk, but it's like let's see if we can get strong again. Let's see if we can start feeling better about ourselves in that sense. Right. Being becoming strong and proving to yourself that you can overcome a weight, right? Say like a bench press or just a squatter, you just feel like you're accomplishing something.

SPEAKER_01: 35:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 35:28

You know, um, is such a satisfying and rewarding feeling, and then you just want more of it. It's a lot of people. And there's there's it it's only up from there, you know, if you do it safely and all that, but right.

SPEAKER_02: 35:40

Well, and you just made the point too, and I know we're not gonna have enough time to go in depth about like the training with the kids and things like that, but which we'll just have to do a part two. Maybe um, but you know, even something that I've been like learning about with my son Grant, which is obviously a whole nother conversation, but um and and a lot of this, and you you maybe you're familiar with this research too, um, that I mean I don't need to tell you this that movement is medicine. Absolutely. Literally, and I mean that from every way that you can digest that possible. But you know, I have a five-year-old son, and he uh, you know, two and a half um through infants and toddlers was assessed for a developmental delay, speech delay, um, who's made and he's been through lots of different programs and lots of different things over the last two and a half years, and he's in this new program now that's doing a lot with um multimodal sensory um exercises, and it's a non-medical approach. And I've through this program learned a lot more about the brain, the brain's like neural connections, um, primitive reflexes, which is stuff that you might know a little bit about too from your um education. Um, but you know, one of the main premises of that this neuropsychologist found in starting this program was um the key indicator for um uh uh uh having there be a less chance of neurological and f developmental challenges was A, having those primitive reflexes like the ones that your son still has, you know what I mean? If they're not integrated by age one, they can lead to more developmental um challenges and things like that. But the key, so and that's that's actual fact, that's not proprietary research to them, that is studied and has been uh, you know, you see that in PT schools and all of that. Um, but you know, the methodology through I mean there's a couple components with that, but is movement. And so we're thinking about that from a child, right? From a developing baby, right? How like and you know, that's why we we, you know, play is necessary, because when we'll play is necessary because they're yes, there's you know, they're imagining and things like that, um, but they're moving, right? And then like when we grow into adulthood, right, we stop moving. You know, and the reality is like our brains might not be developing anymore. Like, you know, we we reach pr uh peak adult development by about 25 years old.

SPEAKER_00: 38:08

Yeah. Um I don't think I think though, if and I'm cutting you off and I'm sorry, but I just want to say, like, um I think there's definitely opportunity to create more synapses in the brain with a new skill that's learned, and I don't have the studies in front of me. Um and you know, and it's important not to just to read headlines or or or just the abstract, like actually, you know, try and read it. But um, you know, we develop, but you know, at 25 and neither neither of us are, you know, in the neurology brain. But um, you know, what you hear is I got 25 brains fully formed, develop, right? That's who you're gonna be in that sense. But um, you know, uh when you learn new skills or you or you do something new, um, you know, cognitive performance is correlated to exercise. Yeah. And that's I mean, that's from, you know, my my yeah yeah, my grandmother's 93. Yeah. You know, and sh the good the example is when we get older, we're scared. We become more scared of falling. So we hold on to the railing a little bit tighter and we take smaller steps or or slower steps.

SPEAKER_02: 39:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 39:25

Um, and we're a little more cautious, and then we become sedentary, and then from there, um, you're just you're just speeding up like your own mortality.

SPEAKER_01: 39:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 39:35

Yeah. Movement is medicine. Yeah. And I think we need to be considered medicine.

SPEAKER_01: 39:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 39:39

I think people have asked me, can we use RHSA? Can we use insurance? I'm like, I wish.

SPEAKER_01: 39:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 39:44

I mean, physical therapy does, and they literally use strength conditioning practices. There's very literally there's a very thin line between really good strength conditioning and good physical therapy. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Um, but I mean we're going on tangents now. But granted. Is doing great though. He is. I've been watching, and he's so cute. Oh my gosh. And uh and I think he's made like leaps and bounds and strides, but it just goes to show you how powerful movement is and just and just off of screens, um, which is so hard. I mean it's like impossible nowadays. Um I mean my son's nine months old, and we're just trying I'm trying not to be on my phone in front of him all the time. Oh I know or or you know, throw on the TV or something, but um, you know, I think it's so evident as to how helpful it's been for Grant.

SPEAKER_01: 40:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 40:33

Just the the movement, the play, using his imagination, being creative, making decisions on the fly, chaotic environments, colors, right, lights, like all these different different um senses happening. Yeah. And he's just working hard, but having fun. I know. I think a lot of I think the biggest obstacle is is this enjoyable?

SPEAKER_01: 40:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 40:55

Is it fun for you? Same goes for kids, same goes for adults, same goes for um, you know, 55 adult. Yeah, that's really good. It's but it's gotta be enjoyable. It has to be enough. You know, and I think that's a key that unlocks um just a the possibility of doing this as a new habit that's formed and and all you know and all the the attributes that line you up with consistency.

SPEAKER_02: 41:24

Right. Well, and you know, and and to kind of wrap up here too, for you know, especially for moms and women, um, you know, it's it's it's really unlocking the potential that you didn't even know that you were sitting on. You know, um for any strength level, if you're feeling scared or intimidated or, you know, um what whichever bucket you fall into, like, you know, I think like it doesn't matter what your goal or driver is for getting started, um, but I think at least especially for me, I know that once I kind of started detaching my goal and motivation for aesthetics, um, is where I feel like I really took off.

SPEAKER_00: 42:01

Yeah, good.

SPEAKER_02: 42:02

Right. And um and I think if more women can kind of we can help more women move in that direction. Yeah. Because just like you said, we're doing it for health, we're doing it for longevity, you can and still will have that cognitive challenge, you know, you learn to find enjoyment in different ways, and that is cognitive flexibility. You know, we can we could literally noodle here for probably five more hours.

SPEAKER_00: 42:23

Yeah, it's it you know, and aesthetics, like we said, it's important and it's good and it makes you feel better about yourself in most cases, um, but they don't have to go hand in hand. They're related and and maybe they're distant cousins or ought to be, but it's it's um if you just think of it from a self-care standpoint, like you know what, I'm gonna do something for myself today. I'm gonna work out, I'm gonna get a massage, I'm gonna do it should fall under um right, you know, that same that same bucket.

SPEAKER_02: 42:57

Exactly. Well, and and and my final point that I'll kind of wrap up here too is um again, my uneducated experience and and kind of perception really is that not just your gym in general, but like I don't know, I kind of see what you guys do as the gold standard. If you're going to work out, like that I mean, that's why it's a priority in my life, and I do it because I'm like, I mean, I yeah, I can go out there and do all kinds of different things, but I'm like, I know this is not only gonna move the needle, of course, like I'm going to get stronger, but like I know that I'm doing the right things for my body, and not not just for like a few years from now from down the road. So, like, that's yeah, that's just not just not here to fluff you up, but like I really do feel that. I really do believe that.

SPEAKER_00: 43:40

I really appreciate that. It's all it's all I want to accomplish. I I always tell everyone like I'm such a bad capitalist, like I'm learning business, but my business model, and it may not be a good business model, but I literally tell everyone I literally tell everyone like I want you to tra I want to train you so well and educate you so well that you may not need me anymore.

SPEAKER_01: 44:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 44:03

That's the point. I want you to get confident enough, strong enough, love the fact that you're moving, you're fit, you're you're getting stronger, um, to where you can do it on your own and not be intimidated or not be scared. You can walk in any gym. Hell, you could be in a park with no equipment and know what to do, and just be like, you know what, forget this. I'm just gonna move for like 30 minutes. If you're super busy and a professional, a mom with a career, it's like 20 minutes of something you'd love doing. Just do it.

SPEAKER_02: 44:32

Absolutely. You know, cheers. Cheers. Oh, I'm so excited. I'm so glad you could be here. So um to wrap, where can tell us um uh where can people find you? How can they get started if they were curious to either try out a class or get involved?

SPEAKER_00: 44:47

Um Yeah, well, um, so on social media we're Odyssey Strong. On on Instagram, I think we're Odyssey.strong. Um I'm Nico Halkeus, H A L K I A S. Kind of it's a we got lucky with a short Greek name, not like a papa babalopalopolis.

SPEAKER_02: 45:03

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00: 45:04

Um so you know, our our website is odysseystrong.com, which we'll be revamping here soon. Because it's been three years. I just kind of want to you know brush things up.

SPEAKER_01: 45:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 45:14

Um and if you Google us, we've got very fortunate, we've got awesome reviews. Um I'm adamant on never asking for a review.

SPEAKER_01: 45:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 45:22

As want I want you to like it enough to feel compelled to do it. But you'll Google us and we'll come up as Odyssey Strength Conditioning. Logo is very recognizable. For sure. Um and um and just feel free to text me that number that you see pop up is me directly. Perfect. Um email OdysseyStrong.com. You're just sitting at home waiting for how many plugs can I do?

SPEAKER_02: 45:47

Um but they can um, you know, and then again for any any parent um eight and up, you've got um groups from elementary, middle, high, and college.

SPEAKER_00: 45:58

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and that's you know, uh one of our main niches, so to speak, is athletics and athletic performance, sports performance. Um, and you know, in business, people tell you like, hey, just pick one thing, but it's like I really can't, because I love training everyone. I know. Um we are very good at training everyone across the board, whether it be special populations, Parkinson's, type one diabetes, cancer uh rehabilitation, all of these things. Yeah. Um so you know, we're kind of like the Swiss Army knife of training, literally um, all in all, while being personable and just deeply caring about everyone.

SPEAKER_02: 46:34

I love it. Cheers! Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. This was so fun. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mom Talk Maryland. If you loved it, leave a review, share it with a friend, or tag me at the dot ColumbiaMom on Instagram. I'd love to hear what you think. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode. Until next time, keep showing up, keep supporting local, and keep being the incredible mom, woman, and human that you are.