Dr. Dan Ginader: Your Glutes Don't Fire and Your Kegels Are Wrong - What Midlife Women Need to Know | #157
4/21/202649 min
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Resting your pain away is not a strategy. It is how women lose strength, mobility, and years of active life.
I sat down with Dr. Dan Ginader, DPT and Clinic Director of Mims Method Physical Therapy in Manhattan, to unpack the real root causes behind common aches and why movement, not rest, is almost always the answer.
What we explore:
- How resting after injury creates the very weakness that leads to the next one
- Why pain is more often a signal of weakness than structural damage
- How the Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause affects every tissue as estrogen declines
- Why frozen shoulder demands a stage-based approach; forcing it only backfires
- How glute weakness drives most "itises" in active women
- Why the pelvic floor is the hidden key to glute activation and pain-free movement
- Why it is never too late to start; it does require more consistency and patience
About Dr. Dan Ginader:
Dan Ginader is a Doctor of Physical Therapy based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. He is widely recognized for his popular social media content, where he explains the common causes of aches and pains and offers simple, actionable ways to address them. With millions of followers across various platforms, Dan remains deeply committed to his in-person practice, where he treats a diverse range of patients, including professional dancers and Broadway performers. Over nearly a decade of experience, he has worked with manual laborers, corporate professionals, athletes, singers, and actors. This broad expertise enables Dan to connect with and provide effective care to people from all walks of life.
Connect with Dr. Dan Ginader:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.dan\_dpt/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danginader/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsXbGLEiQGSFFd9Klj3oufw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dr.danptdpt/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.dan\_dpt
Book: The Pain-Free Body: Simple Stretches and Exercises for Common Aches and Pains https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628606134
Timestamps
00:00 Intro: Why rest is rarely the answer to pain
01:46 The injury-rest-atrophy cycle explained
03:13 Rebuilding confidence through progressive movement
05:27 Injury pain vs. workout discomfort
09:41 Menopause and the musculoskeletal system
12:00 Osteoporosis, bone loss, and active women
15:02 How PT adapts for midlife women
20:26 Frozen shoulder: the two-phase approach
24:08 Glute tendonitis: weakness is the real culprit
30:47 Pelvic floor PT and why Kegels often backfire
33:33 The posture reset habit that actually works
40:00 Is it ever too late to start?
40:58 Myth-busting: foam rolling, stretching, heat vs. ice
44:10 Best recovery tool after heavy lifting
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About Dr. Vonda Wright
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsVonda Wright· Host0:00
What is the one body part most women neglect in their training?
Dan Ginader· Guest0:03
Glutes.
Vonda Wright· Host0:04
That's right.
Dan Ginader· Guest0:05
They think they're working their glutes, and they wanna work their glutes, but a lot of them haven't quite figured out how to do it.
Vonda Wright· Host0:09
Heat or ice for acute injury?
Dan Ginader· Guest0:11
Neither.
Vonda Wright· Host0:12
What?
Dan Ginader· Guest0:13
No.
Vonda Wright· Host0:13
Talk to me about that. This week on the Dr. Vonda Show, I have Dr. Dan Genader, who is a doctor of physical therapy. When people feel a pain, their first inclination is to sit down and rest. To which I say to my patients, "Listen, if you have a pain in one arm, you've got two legs, another arm, and a core that can still function."
Dan Ginader· Guest0:34
When people hear public floor, they think, "Oh, I've just gotta do my Kegels." And if you ask every public floor physical therapist, they'll tell you that Kegels are the devil. I've had so many patients that when they learn how to relax the public floor, all of a sudden everything else just becomes unlocked.
Vonda Wright· Host0:47
What is the basics we have to do, in your experience?
Dan Ginader· Guest0:50
First of all, everybody should be exercising, period.
Vonda Wright· Host0:52
You haven't gotten the message at 30. You haven't gotten it at 40. You find yourself, it's usually at 70, they're like, "Oh my God, I'm just hearing this. Is it too late for me?" What is your thoughts on that?
Dan Ginader· Guest1:03
There's no such thing as it being too late.
Vonda Wright· Host1:04
All right, my friends. So this week on the Dr. Vonda Show, I have a new guest that I just cold DM'd, because sometimes I do that when I see experts out there that align or not align, but I think will add a lot of value to what you're thinking. And Dr. Dan Genader, who is a doctor of physical therapy with a s- physical