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@shopyourtv/TikTok

We all need a reality check from time to time.

We all know that the level of fitness achieved by celebrities we see on television isn’t attainable for many, if not most everyday people. And yet, when their sculpted bodies grace our screens, it can still activate a little voice that says “clearly you’re not doing enough."

That’s why it’s so helpful and grounding when a celebrity is actually transparent about the work it takes to achieve their physique, so that it might quiet that self deprecating narrative and help us get a little more realistic about achieving whatever fitness goals we might have. Jessica Biel’s recent response to a fan who asked her to share her workout routine is a perfect example of that.

It all started with a clip from her Prime Video thriller series, The Better Sister, where she plays a super fit character…as is evident by how clearly toned she looks in a backless white dress worn during the show’s opening.

Several women have shared the clip on TikTok, while muttering something along the lines of “I need to get back to the gym.” One person even asked Biel to share the workout routine she does in order to get that toned. Biel saw the request, and acquiesced…but not without delivering a truth bomb or two.

“Everyone is talking…about the white dress…and I just wanted to share that that peak shape in that show is not maintainable unless you are living the strictest, most rigid lifestyle with your nutrition and with your fitness,” she said, admitting that not even she, someone who’s been notably lean and athletic their entire adult life, who has access to the best foods, best gym equipment, etc. etc., can sustain that look indefinitely.

 
 @jessbiel Replying to @tori I’ve heard y’all are talking about the white dress 😏 I’m no expert but I want people to be healthy, safe, and strong. Remember to warm up and cool down, and let me know what other workouts you’d like to see! A big thank you to #AshleyBrown and @Ben Bruno ♬ BIRDS OF A FEATHER OFFICIAL INSTRUMENTAL - Dan Swift Del Rey 
 
 

This bit of candidness incited a whole slew of praise in the comments section, from folks who thanked Biel for "being so real."

“THANK YOU for saying that many if not most actors look amazing for a moment in time during shooting and that it is incredibly hard to enjoy life and look like that all the time,” on person wrote.

Another said, “Thank you for speaking about the lifestyle that comes with maintaining! this kind of transparency is so important 🙏🏼.”

But Biel didn’t stop there. She also took the opportunity to raise awareness on how important it is, especially for women, to prioritize maintaining muscle strength and flexibility as you get older…not just achieving an aesthetic goal, or, for the love of all that is holy, getting skinnier.

And, as requested, she did end up sharing a sample lower body workout routine—something she’s currently doing to get back in Better Sister shape—which consisted of dumbbell exercises like hip thrusts and Romanian deadlifts, as well as curls with a large stability ball and banded kickbacks.

She was even so kind as to break down proper form for all the moves, and didn’t edit out her being out of breath at the end of the routine, saying, “my body’s not twenty years old anymore, you know?” She’s a real one for that. For sure.

Biel then concluded her video by saying, “let’s get older and stronger together.”

 jessica biel, jessica biel workout, the better sister, jessica biel arms, ben bruno, fitness, getting toned, full body workout Biel performing a Romanian deadlift as part of her lower body routine. @jessbiel/TikTok

The video garnered a lot of gratitude from viewers, who commended Biel for “keeping it real” and “being a great advocate for women.”

"JB is a girl's girl," one person gushed.

At the end of the day, it is possible for us to achieve amazing fitness goals all while juggling what life throws our way. But we are doing ourselves a disservice to think that a) it can be done with a quick fix and zero lifestyle changes, and b) that we are supposed to remain at peak fitness levels 24/7. Not even the pros do that.

If getting more fit is a goal of yours, rather than simply stealing Biel's routine, it might be beneficial to also try to adopt her mindset about it all as well. Just sayin’.

Luckily, if you are still on the hunt for a Biel-approved workout, one of her long-time trainers, Ben Bruno, does have fitness programs to try out.

Here's to getting older and stronger together.

A map of the human nervous system and a stressed woman.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of Americans who experience chronic pain, disease, and mental illness. According to the White House, six in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more chronic diseases. A 2023 CNN survey found that 90% of Americans feel we are in a mental health crisis, and according to Pew Research, 38% more people are in mental health care since the onset of the pandemic than before.

What’s the cause of this rising tide of poor physical and mental health in the U.S.? Brittany Piper, a 36-year-old Somatic Experiencing practitioner and author of Body-First Healing, believes there is a single cause for this destructive trend. "It is my personal and professional belief that the drastic rise we are seeing in chronic physical and mental illness can be attributed to this one thing. Basically, we have created a world that our nervous system no longer wants to live in,” she said in a TikTok video with over 900,000 views.

@healwithbritt

We created a world our nervous system doesn't want to live in #survivalmode #chronicillness #anxietyrelief #chronicpain #mentalillness #nervoussystemregulation #fightflightfreeze

To explain her theory, she said we should look at our nervous system—the body’s command center that transmits brain signals throughout the body—as a security system. Whenever this system detects a perceived threat, it releases survival hormones into the body, such as adrenaline and cortisol, to prepare you for battle. “Now, as survival becomes priority number one, all of the other working systems within the brain and body, like your hormones, your immune system, digestion, muscular, skeletal, etc. These all fall to the back burner and become disrupted,” Piper posits.

Piper argues that prolonged exposure to these stressors means that we continue to produce stress hormones, creating a vicious cycle. “Walk through the doors of my practice every single day with my clients. Symptoms like anxiety, depression, burnout, fatigue, chronic illness, chronic pain, digestive issues, fibromyalgia, migraines, TMJ, dissociation, and so much more,” she said.

 nervous system, stress, human body, healing, work, pain, chronic illness, therapy A stressed woman talking to her therapist.via Canva/Photos

Piper outlined six reasons why we are stuck in survival mode:

1. Pressure to succeed

2. Divisive political climate

3. A culture of emotional suppression

4. Unhealthy environment

5. Constant catastrophic news

6. Personal guilt

The good news is that Piper didn’t just describe the problem, but also shared six ways to heal our stressed nervous systems.

Six ways to heal a stressed nervous system

 feet, water, hike, stream, healing, nature, boots A woman crossing a pond.via Canva/Photos

Step 1: Slow down

Permit yourself to slow down to the slowest part of you.

Step 2: Get into your body

Get out of your head and into your body, which is where your nervous system lives, operates, and constantly communicates with you through your emotions, feelings, and sensations.

Step 3: Become present

Your nervous system is always being pulled into the past or to the future. Instead, when you slow down, take the time to be present in the moment with your body and senses.

Step 4: Take time to validate

Acknowledge what sucks, what's hard in your life, what triggers you. But also take time to acknowledge the positive parts of your life.

Step 5: Focus on what you can control

Give more power to what you actually can control and influence.

Step 6: Regulate the chaos

Identify what regulates your nervous system. These could include activities such as nature play, co-regulation, spending time with family, music, expression, dance, and other forms of creative engagement.


Piper’s post brings up a very important question in American life: Has our dependence on technology, high-pressure work ethic, disconnection from nature, and culture, obsessed with negative news and division, finally reached the tipping point where the society we’ve created no longer bears any resemblance to the world in which we evolved to thrive? If so, how can we create a more harmonious way of living that fosters both health and material abundance?

via Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels and Dinielle De Veyra/Pexels

How long can you hang out? The answer may say a lot about your potential lifespan.

Would you really want to know how long you have to live? On one hand, it’d probably inspire you to go out and complete your bucket list. On the other, it may be depressing to know just how many days you have left. Well, science has yet to discover a way to determine the average person's life expectancy, but some indicators can show whether someone is in danger of having their life cut short by deteriorating health.

You could, if you were so inspired, shell out a bunch of money for fancy genetic and biological testing. Chasing immortality is all the rage with billionaires, so if you've got the money, you can find out an awful lot about how long you're likely to live.

Or you could just hit the gym or local playground and find out for free.

A study published by Clinical Interventions in Aging in 2019 determined that handgrip strength can be a reliable proxy for how long one has to live, or longevity.

One of the best ways to judge handgrip strength is to time how long you can hang from a bar. To test your grip strength, find yourself a pull-up bar, whether at a gym or local park, take a deep breath, and start hanging. Don't worry, you don't need to be able to do a pull up!

Ironically, the move is called a "dead hang." So-called, because you literally just hang there for as long as possible.

The literature revealed that 30 seconds is a good target for women and 60 is an excellent goal for men.

Therefore, if you go longer than the goal, you’re looking at a long life. But if you can’t quite get there, your life may be shorter than you’d like.

 longevity, aging, living long, getting older, seniors, dying, mortality, health, fitness, longevity test Cats are undefeated in grip strength.  Giphy  

Dr. Peter Attia, founder of Early Medical and author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (2023), believes that grip strength is a great way to determine one’s overall health.

“It's just a great proxy for overall body strength and muscle mass, but I think it's also a very functional form of strength,” he said on The Drive podcast. “Basically, everything in your upper body is mediated through your hands. And if your grip is weak, everything downstream of that is weak. When you watch someone who's got a weak grip deadlifting it's very difficult for them to deadlift correctly because they don't create a proper wedge."

There are may ways to measure grip strength, but the dead hang is likely the simplest. When you think about it, it requires an incredible combination of shoulder mobility, spinal stability, core strength, and overall fitness. Not only are these all positive biological health markers, they're also all key to preventing falls as we get older.

Regularly practicing the dead hang, on the other hand, has incredible benefits including stretching your muscles and deloading your joints and spine, giving them a much needed rest.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

Doctors Eve M. Glazier and Elizabeth Ko at UCLA Health say poor grip strength is connected to numerous diseases. “Research continues to link a decline in grip strength to a range of adverse health issues, including heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. It has also been found to be a predictor of the likelihood of post-surgical complications, post-surgical recovery time and mortality,” they wrote on the UCLA Health blog.

Weight can also significantly affect how long a person can hang from a bar. So, do lighter people have an unfair advantage over those on the heavier side? Well, weight is also an important indicator of longevity. A study published in Aging Cell found a direct correlation between increased body mass and decreased longevity.

Other studies have elaborated on the findings: More important than your absolute grip strength and dead hang ability may be how it changes over time. Losing grip strength is a negative sign for your overall health, but maintaining or even building it is associated with better outcomes.

Another good reason to hit the gym regularly, at any age. No matter where you're starting, you want to do everything you can to maintain that level of strength as long as possible.

The good news for people who didn’t quite make their hang time goal is that you can improve it by practicing dead hangs.


 longevity, aging, living long, getting older, seniors, dying, mortality, health, fitness, longevity test Practicing dead hangs will help you maintain grip strength no matter what your starting point.  Photo by Charlotte Karlsen on Unsplash  

How to perform a dead hang (according to Healthline):

  • Use a secure overhead bar. Use a step or bench to reach the bar with your arms easily. You don’t want to jump straight into a dead hang.
  • Grip the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you). Aim to keep your arms shoulder-width apart.
  • Move your feet off the step or bench so you’re hanging on to the bar.
  • Keep your arms straight and stay relaxed.
  • If you’re new to the exercise, hang for 10 seconds. Then, work your way up to 45 seconds to 1 minute at a time.
  • Slowly step back onto the step or bench before releasing your arms. Repeat up to 3 times if you wish.
Grip strength is so strongly correlated with longevity that many medical professionals advocate for it being considered a true biomarker. A biomarkers is a regularly measured state of the body that's used as a key health indicator, like blood pressure or cholesterol. Grip strength, some say, should be regularly evaluated at medical check ups as an indicator of healthy aging.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

Popular

20 doctors share their favorite 'health hack' from their specialty

Doctor Mike gathered colleagues to offer tips from 20 different areas of medicine in less than 12 minutes.

There are many fields of medicine doctors can specialize in.

The human body is complex, which is why there are dozens of medical specialities for different body parts and systems. Keep all of those parts and systems functioning optimally is what we call "health," but considering how many years of schooling doctors go through to learn about their chosen speciality, a lot of things about our bodies remain a mystery to most of us.

Wouldn't it be nice to ask a doctor in every specialty for their No. 1 "hack" for better health in their specific field? Wouldn't that be a super efficient way to boost our overall knowledge of our bodies and hopefully make life a little easier on ourselves?

 group of doctors, doctor specialties Two doctors is better than one. Photo credit: Canva

Thanks to "Doctor Mike," we've got it. Doctor Mike is a popular YouTube account run by Dr. Mikhail "Mike" Varshavski D.O., an actively practicing board certified family medicine doctor. In a video with over 5 million views, he asked 20 doctors from 20 different specialties to offer one health tip they often give their patients. The result is nearly 12 minutes of solid, expert advice.

For instance, Doctor Mike shares that he tells patients never to put anything smaller than their elbow into their ear canal. "Too many people are using tools like Q-tips to pull out earwax, when in reality they're only packing earwax deeper in and even damaging the skin, potentially leading to an infection."

 

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

 

Opthamologist Will Flanary (who goes by Dr. Glaucomflecken online) shares that if you lose a contact lens in your eye, don't worry about it migrating back to your brain. There's tissue that keeps that from happening, and your lens is most likely just stuck way up in your eyelid.

Emergency room physician Ed Hope shares that it's super helpful to bring to an ER visit a list of any diagnoses you have and medications you're taking, the dates of any operations or significant illnesses you've had, and a phone charger (since the wait is often longer than one would hope).

Period stains, ladies? OBGYN Danielle Jones says powdered meat tenderizer is the key to saving your underwear. Yes, really.

 health hacks, health advice, teeth brushing, dentist, dental hygiene How you hold your toothbrush makes a difference.Photo credit: Canva

Did you know you've likely been brushing your teeth wrong your whole life? Dentist and orthodontist Benjamin Winters says most people brush their teeth back and forth, with the toothbrush flat against their chompers, but the key is turning it at a 45-degree angle and going in circles.

Ever dealt with a toenail fungus? Podiatrist Dana Brems says Vicks VapoRub is one of the most effective ways to treat it. "It has eucalyptus and menthol, which are both antifungal," she says.

Not all medicine is about health, of course. Plastic surgery can be for purely cosmetic reasons, but according to plastic surgeon Anthony Youn, you don't have to go under the knife or even involve needles to plump up your lips. "Put a drop or two of food-grade peppermint oil into your lip gloss, and then mix it up, and then apply the gloss to your lips," he suggests. "It should create a very mild tingling sensation, and your lips will gently plump up a bit." If you don't feel the tingle, add a little more oil. If it burns instead of tingling, toss it and start over with less peppermint oil.

 nasal aspirator, nasal suction, snotty kids, cold and flu season Helping kids out with their snot might be gross, but it can make them feel better.Photo credit: Canva

Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatric hospitalist, suggests that parents help our their snotty babies and toddlers with a nasal aspirator or nasal-suctioning device. "It clears their nose, helps them sleep better, eat better, improves their mood, and potentially prevents a problem from getting worse," Patel says. "It's also kinda satisfying."

Gastroenterologist Austin Chiang explains that the best way to prevent colorectal cancer is by being screened with a colonoscopy. During a colonoscopy, doctors can find precancerous growths and remove them before they have a chance to become cancerous.

Speaking of bowel health, general surgeon Karan Rajan says the the most underrated life hack for optimized bowel health is eating plenty of fiber: "Just increasing your fiber intake by 10 grams of fiber per day reduces your colon cancer by 10%. It's not a bad exchange."

Ten other docs weighed in with their best advice, from a urologist telling people to drink when their thirsty (not necessarily 8 glasses a day) to a psychiatrist advocating for daily personal check-ins with our feelings. Watch the full video here:

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

 

You can follow Doctor Mike on YouTube.