Why Muscle Is Your Longevity Organ with Barbara Birke

When your body stops responding to the same old strategies, it's not because you're broken—it's because your hormones are changing, and your body needs something different now.

Barbara Birke is a German sports scientist and nutritionist who specializes in supporting women through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond. She studied sports science with a focus on psychology and motivation, managed an orthopedic rehab center, and has spent years teaching women how to build strength, optimize nutrition, and thrive through hormonal transitions. But her most powerful lesson came from her own body in her 40s, when she realized that muscle wasn't just professional advice—it was personal survival.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why muscle loss accelerates when estrogen declines (and why muscle quality degrades if you don't actively work against it)
• How strength training acts as metabolic medicine—pulling sugar from your bloodstream, releasing protective myokines, and improving blood work markers
• The connection between strength training and bone health, brain health, and mood
• Why managing stress becomes harder in perimenopause and how to set better boundaries
• What "strength training" actually means for women who've never lifted weights before
• How building outer strength creates inner strength and empowerment

Theme Song: "Unstoppable" by Sia

Connect with Barbara:

• Website: Optimum-U.com
• Instagram: @strongwithbarbara
• Programs: Power & Balance (strength training), Clean Up (nutrition), Thrive Formula (12-week holistic program)

If you're feeling dismissed by conventional medical advice or struggling with a body that suddenly won't cooperate, this conversation will give you the framework to understand what's actually happening—and what you can do about it.

Subscribe to The Hole Shebang Podcast wherever you listen, and visit blueberrytherapy.ca for more resources on pelvic health and wellness.

Connect with The Hole Shebang on Instagram @blueberrytherapypelvichealth

In this powerful episode, Kristen sits down with Michiko Tsukada Caringal, a pelvic health physiotherapist in British Columbia who brings both clinical expertise and deeply personal experience to her work. Michiko spent three years recovering from vulvodynia before becoming a physiotherapist, and that journey shapes everything about how she treats patients today.

What You'll Learn:

Michiko opens up about her non-linear recovery from pelvic pain, including the moments she gave up hope and how she eventually found her way to being symptom-free for over 10 years. She shares the golden nuggets from her journey—particularly the critical role of hope, finding your own advocate, and believing recovery is possible even when the path isn't clear.

You'll hear about Michiko's unique approach to gender-inclusive pelvic care, her work as a subject matter expert with TransCare BC, and how she navigates the tension between maintaining professional boundaries while creating genuine human connection with patients. She explains her "detective cap" approach to understanding each person's unique story and why relationships are the foundation of all healing.

The conversation also covers practical topics like post-prostatectomy incontinence recovery, functional pelvic floor training that makes sense in real life (not just on a treatment table), and why the best healthcare professionals can be both your cheerleader and your source of evidence-based facts.

About Michiko Tsukada Caringal:

Michiko is a pelvic health physiotherapist with a master's in bioethics who treats people of all ages and genders at two clinics in BC: Inner Circle Physio in Burnaby and Kaia Health Care Center. She specializes in gender-inclusive care, works as a subject matter expert for TransCare BC, and is passionate about empowering anyone with a pelvic floor to understand and heal their bodies.

Theme Song: I'm a Believer by The Monkees

Connect with Michiko:

• Website: Happy Down There
• Email: Available on her website
• Clinics: Inner Circle Physio (Burnaby) and Kaia Health Care Center (BC)

Visit blueberrytherapy.ca to learn more about pelvic health services in Hamilton, Ontario.

Subscribe to The Hole Shebang Podcast and connect with us on Instagram @blueberrytherapypelvichealth

Dee Hartmann is a pelvic health physical therapist who spent nearly three decades specializing in chronic vulvar pain. After treating thousands of women in her Chicago practice, she discovered that conventional approaches were missing critical connections - between old injuries and current pain, between visceral tension and pelvic floor dysfunction, and between pain elimination and pleasure cultivation.

In this conversation, Dee shares her journey from treating incontinence to becoming a leading voice in vulvar pain treatment. She explains why pelvic floor dysfunction is a symptom rather than a cause, how seemingly unrelated issues throughout the body contribute to vulvar pain, and why her approach now centers on pleasure as a pathway to healing.

What you'll learn:

• How Dee's own experience having five children in six years led her to specialize in pelvic health
• Why treating just the vulva or just the pelvic floor isn't enough
• The five exercises that can decrease vulvar pain before penetration of any kind
• How pleasure and arousal fit into physical therapy treatment
• What to look for (and avoid) when seeking pelvic health care
• Why a multidisciplinary approach matters for chronic pain

Dee retired from clinical practice in 2017 and co-authored "The Pleasure Prescription" with Elizabeth Wood. She now travels internationally teaching her approach and speaking about the intersection of physical therapy, sexual health, and pleasure.

Theme Song: Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac

Connect with Dee Hartmann:

Dee Hartmann Physical Therapy Website: Dee Hartmann Physical Therapy

Book: The Pleasure Prescription on Amazon:

Find Dee on Facebook and LinkedIn

Connect with Blueberry Therapy:

Website: Blueberry Therapy

Instagram: @Blueberrytherapypelvichealth

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