Get Fit TOGETHER - The Powerful Impact of Community on Fitness & Longevity - With Claudine Cooper

26:44Yes, you can. Virtual is where we are right now. We're in 2025. We're literally sitting down recording a podcast together, which is going to be seen by I don't know how many people. But what I do know is the virtual world mirrors our real life world as well. So if we are watching people online or watching negative videos or toxic content, we will be taking that in. We are responsible for what we put in our bodies nutritiously, but we're also responsible about what we look at, who we surround ourselves with. We're responsible for all of that because it has an impact on our bodies, believe it or not.

27:24Shawn Stevenson:Facts. Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back. It cannot be overstated how much stress can wreak havoc on our mental and our metabolic health. And there's one nutrient, one antioxidant nutrient that stands out above all others when helping our bodies to manage and metabolize stress. Data published in the Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences states that both emotional and physical stress can affect a person's vitamin C status. It increases the requirement for vitamin C to maintain normal blood levels when under stress. Stress depletes vitamin C levels in the body and reduces the body's resistance to infections and diseases and increases the likelihood of further stress.

28:12Shawn Stevenson:So this truly does become a vicious circle. And when vitamin C intake is increased, the negative effects of excess stress hormones are reduced and the body's ability to cope with the stress response improves. Now I've been sharing this information like crazy and enlightening people to this little known fact, but more and more people are realizing this, that the vast majority of vitamin C supplements on the market, those little vitamin C supplements, those little packets out there at the checkout counter, for example, are made from genetically modified corn syrup and cornstarch. It is truly bottom feeders, the worst forms of vitamin C from these very, very low quality sources.

28:57Shawn Stevenson:And it simply does not work as effectively in the body. In fact, a randomized placebo-controlled study published in the Journal of Cardiology had people that were undertaking a pretty oxidative habit, which was smoking, to have concentrates of my favorite form of vitamin C, which is from camuberry, versus standard vitamin C supplements, which come from, again, genetically modified cornstarch and corn syrup. What the researchers found was that over the course of the one-week study, participants taking the concentrate of camu camu berry had significantly lowered oxidative stress and lowered inflammatory biomarkers.

29:39Shawn Stevenson:And there were no changes in the group when they're taking the synthetic form of vitamin C. Bottom line, we definitely want to make sure that we're getting in high quality vitamin C from our food and also superfood concentrates that have camu camu berry, amla berry, and acerola cherry. These are the top tier forms and sources of vitamin C, all organic from Paleo Valley and their incredible essential C complex. Head over to paleovalley.com forward slash model and you're going to get 15 % off your entire order, including their essential C complex. That's P-A-L-E-O-V-A-L-L-E-Y.com forward slash model for 15 % off.

30:29Shawn Stevenson:Hook yourself up. Hook your family up. This is the vitamin C supplement that I've been utilizing for years, especially during times of stress. Check them out. paleovalley.com forward slash model. And now back to the show. So what are some of the challenges that, and I know you've seen a lot, what are some of the challenges you face in getting people together to work out in the spirit of fitness and wellness and wholeness? What are some of the challenges with doing that? Okay. So like, I would say the biggest challenge I face hosting big group workouts is that people always tell me they're going to come and then don't come.

31:09And then they feel guilty when they see me, but they don't realize I'm good. I'm good guys. I'm good. Whether you come or whether you don't come, whether you went for a hike, whether you did the stairs instead of an outdoor workout, whatever it is, I'm not judging. If you say you're going to come to the workout and you don't come, it's all good. It's all good. It's going to be there as a resource for people who need it and people who want it. But I never want people to feel like I'm, here comes Claudine. She's going to ask me why I wasn't at the workout. I just don't roll like that. Yeah.

31:45Shawn Stevenson:I've seen that too. I don't want you to come up to me with excuses. I didn't ask and it's cool. It's all right. But just to actually, let's just highlight this point. Yeah. You said it a little bit, just a little sprinkling of it earlier, but you've been doing something phenomenal. and as you mentioned just being able to yes you have to sustain your livelihood you know you have a career yes but you know how important it is to give and you know how important it is to uplift our community especially coming from the conditions you come from absolutely same as me you know uh I'm just thinking about I met I met Ann when I was living in Ferguson Missouri and I would you know just get out my neighborhood I'd run from my apartment up to the park and run back.

32:31Shawn Stevenson:People were known for getting shot in that park. I'm just going to keep it a thousand. You were risking your life for Ann. But, you know, no, she was risking her life coming over to see me. To see you. She didn't have no business being in the neighborhood, to be honest. But, you know, just getting out my doors and finding a way. And there was like a pull-up bar at the park and just doing what I could do with what I had, you know. And fortunately, I had access to the university gym, right, which was just 15 minutes away, the university I was attending. and so but there wasn't any other gyms in our area in ferguson florison in florison there was like a club fitness eventually they popped up okay but um you know again it's just being able to for for us to be aware that there are options there are opportunity but also creating that for other people yeah right and so what i started to do was you know start to have events you know Oh, and like free classes for people to attend and to learn about nutrition, you know, exercise classes and giving people the access that I didn't have.

33:32Shawn Stevenson:Right. And so if you feel like you don't have that access, create the access. Right. Bingo. So that's one of the things that you've done here in Inglewood. And again, you mentioned you don't need any money. No, you don't need any equipment. All you need is your body and a little bit of fun, a little bit of preparedness to have some fun. You know, just show up and the rest when you push play is beautiful. You know, we're talking we got kids, maybe like three years old up to folks who are like 70, maybe 80 years old. And everybody's engaged and having a great time. And also what I saw was you're providing levels for everybody along the way.

34:12Shawn Stevenson:Just your experience, your expertise, your care, you know, so everybody can can participate. Right. And I just want to thank you for that. because this is we need this so much and doing that what was the inspiration for you to to create that and create that accessibility for everybody right so so as you said I too am from the inner city I'm from Minneapolis Minnesota and where I come from there are gyms but they are you know more like we would say like family friendly type facilities. So in my mind, when I moved to Inglewood, I was like, Oh, I'm sure there's gonna be something similar here. Well, I moved here 25 years ago.

35:00And there weren't a lot of wellness resources. So I did what I've always done. I put my tennis shoes on and I started walking outside in a neighborhood where people didn't walk, They got in their cars and they drove to where they needed to go. And I'll never forget one of my neighbors who used to sit out on the front porch and smoking and drinking and doing whatever they're doing was like, girl, what are you doing? I said, I'm walking. Where are you walking to? I said, I'm walking for exercise. He said, what? Well, you look great. I said, thank you. Next thing you know, somebody he knew was like, I want to walk too.

35:38ooh, those same neighbors from 25 years ago come to my workout. And I could get choked up thinking about it, but what I've been doing is just being a demonstration of what it looks like to use what you have and just do what you can. And so when I noticed there were limited resources in my neighborhood, instead of complaining about it, instead of rattling cages, I just said, how can I? What can I do? and a woman from the gym classes that I was teaching said she could no longer afford her gym membership and I've been on hard times before so I know what that feels like so I was like well maybe I'll create a outdoor boot camp in the park and I'll do it while my kids are at sports so that it's kind of like I'm able to do two things at once and so I asked her if she wanted to come to that and she said yes and I felt like also I was connecting it to my service something that I really feel passionately about is that all of us have gifts and we're all called to serve each other with those gifts and not to be in expectation mode just doing it because someone else could benefit and so she did come to a couple of those workouts that were outside in the park But what was surprising was other people came and then more people came.

37:06And by the time 2020 hit and all the gyms shut down here in California, you know, California was one of the most strict environments during the pandemic. This outdoor workout that I had created years before became like a mecca for human connection. and it went from maybe 20 people every week to 200 people every week and every single week Sean someone would come to my free outdoor workout during the pandemic and break down in tears and I'll never forget even listening to you and and how human connection is a pillar of wellness But to remove that, and believe me, I took a lot of flack for continue to gather people during a time when we were not supposed to gather.

37:58I would do everything exactly the same if given the opportunity again.

38:03Shawn Stevenson:Yeah. You were outside, by the way. Outside in a park that is massive and held hundreds of people for the purpose of movement and connection. And it was one bright spot in a week where people didn't see a single soul. Yeah. Yeah. We need each other. I'm just going to keep on saying that. We'll put a study up for everybody to see. But this was just published and these researchers were looking at, yes, we know that relationships, healthy social bonds are quite actually the number one determinant on how long we're going to live. But the opposite is true as well. And so these researchers accumulated all this data and they found that social isolation is deadly.

38:50Shawn Stevenson:It is deadly. And there's a big difference between being alone and being lonely. Right. So just to be clear. So what they found was that having some time when you are by yourself, that's perfectly natural. That's normal. But when we're disconnected from each other, it starts to create these epigenetic changes in our bodies that make us less resilient to stress. We need human connection. Even the most introverted among us, we need each other. We need human connection. We need, it is an important part of processing stress. And also just being in a space together with other people. You know, I think, again, some of these things are very primal.

39:37Shawn Stevenson:And we can't explain it yet. We're trying to figure out why it's so powerful. But we see in this particular study about a 30 % to 40 % increase in early mortality when you are socially isolated. It's deadly. It's very, very bad for us. And so being thrust into conditions where you're no longer around other people is, it's, you know, we've got data on some of the outcomes. Don't get me started. Don't get me going. You know, and again, looking back in retrospect, many of the health authorities have changed their tune. But certain things are just like very, very obvious and we knew what was going to happen.

40:14Shawn Stevenson:But with that being said, I want to ask you about, again, when somebody is in a situation where they want to get started, right? They want to get healthy. They want to exercise. But they're, we'll just say they're scared. They're hesitant. They're uncertain about getting into a gym environment or coming out. What would you say to that person? To be honest, I'm not in the business of thrusting people into environments that make them anxious or nervous or make them feel uncomfortable. So I wouldn't press anyone to go into the gym if they're not a gym person. I also wouldn't press anyone to go to my massive workout, my big workout.

41:04But what I would say is find a place where you can just lace up your shoes and you can just walk. You can do it for 30 minutes, 10 minutes, whatever works, because that's really how I started. I started by walking and then I moved into putting a VHS tape into a VCR and then I moved into working out at the gym. It was a progression. And with anything, progression helps us feel a little bit more confident and a little bit more comfortable. And then we can go to the next level.

41:35Shawn Stevenson:I love it. Just steps. Baby steps. Baby steps. You mentioned a VHS. What's a VHS? What is that? If you don't know what a VHS is, this conversation is not for you. But yeah, I did used to have to steal my mom's videotapes of the back then. Those would have been the influencers. They were aerobics instructors who made videotapes. And I used to, I didn't like the music, but I used to pop the tape into the VCR and I would turn on my own music. and you know I was a teenager so it was west coast rap for me since probably the time I was in the ninth grade west side and and so I would pop the music in and I would turn the videotape off or the music and I would use my own music and I would do those moves and you've been to my workout 30 something years later I still use a similar technique I play the music I enjoy and I do the moves that you might find on an old videotape of the aerobics instructors from back in the day.

42:42Shawn Stevenson:Yeah, that's the thing. It's contagious. You can't help but dance. You can't help it. And yeah, that really speaks to, again, for me, my experience with you is just vibes. It's just such a fun vibe. And that end of itself, it helps to bring down those walls of hesitation, worrying about, do I look a certain way? Everybody seemed so free and just engaged. And that's such a blessing. Those are the type of things that you can't turn off. It's just, it's on you. It's a very powerful testament of who you are. So again, I just want to share that, but how'd you get here? All right. Because obviously those baby steps also come with your own education and training and your researching and what you're reading.

43:32Shawn Stevenson:So what have you been doing for yourself to really kind of build up that reserve that you have and this bank of knowledge that just is beaming from you? Well, I still feel like a baby in the industry. And even though I've been doing fitness for over 30 years, I am open and I'm a sponge to learn. I love new information. I have started to read a lot of information about the connection between the mind and the body and how we are holding on to a lot of our stress internally, especially as I enter this next phase of my life, which would be like the menopausal phase. I've noticed that a lot of my peers are also having high stress, toxic stress, trouble releasing weight.

44:24And so I've made it a mission to read more about how our body holds on to stress and how movement can actually move that stress out of us. And so you say at my workout people felt free. that's the highest compliment because that means that I'm allowing people for even an hour a week to just release their inhibitions and to feel more free and more connected to one another. There's a few things I've discovered in my reading. One of them is exactly as you mentioned isolation is terrible for our soul but it's also bad for our physical health. People who suffer from chronic illnesses or people who suffer from sedentary lifestyle tend to be alone a lot.

45:13And it's interesting, O'Shawn, because it's hard to say what comes first, the chicken or the egg, because people who live a sedentary lifestyle are also depressed. Not 99 out of 100, but a lot. And then they tend to expel a negative energy. So then does that make people want to be around you? No, it doesn't. So there's this sort of symbiotic relationship between having less movement in your life and also having less relationships in your life. And so when you open yourself up to moving. You're also moving your body, but you're moving out of your chair. You're moving out of your living room and you're making way for new connections to find you.

46:05Yes. And that's what happens at my workout. It's social, it's emotional, it's physical, and it's mental.

46:12Shawn Stevenson:Yes. Going back to what we talked about earlier, making room, you're making room and making it possible that's so powerful I love that you mentioned you're a student you didn't go to like yes I am such an expert I know this which you are respectfully you just went to I'm a baby I still feel like I'm a baby I'm a sponge that's why I'm sitting here with you today right there and you could probably see it on my face but like I'm a fan all right the people who sit here I'm a student I'm a fan. And sometimes people, you know, they talk, you know, maybe they listen to my show or read my books, whatever the case might be.

46:49Shawn Stevenson:I don't care. I'm a fan of you and your greatness. You know, there's something extraordinary about you. And I'm just here to learn. You know, sometimes it might be like, you know, all this. I don't. All right. I don't want to know that I know or talk about that. I know I want to hear it from you. I want to hear how you say it, you know. And so everybody listening, that's such an important quality to keep that kind of childlike state of mind or perspective and to stay curious and to never feel like you got it all figured out. These are some priceless qualities. And I got to say this. You're a fan of me, but I'm a fan of you.

47:25And speaking back about relationships, the relationships that I have had to let go over my time of learning and growing and processing are the relationships where people say things like, yeah, Claudine's cool, but I'm not a fan. And those are people that you might find close in your circle that as you elevate, there are people who say, wow, I'm a fan of what you do. I'm a fan of what you do. But there may be people who knew you from back in the day who might not be a fan. They may still be holding you to the version of who you were when they knew you in seventh grade. And guess what? That's okay because that just tells you where they are and where they've stayed.

48:11but me I want to grow I want to learn I want to take in as much information as possible and if the people around me aren't committed to that level of learning and growing having a beginner's mind it tells me that they may not be able to go with me if they can't grow with me and that's no offense it's just that I want to make sure that I am in the right place with the right minds at the right time. And I'm a huge fan of the work you do. But the fact that I could sit here in this chair after you've had people who I've read books of, who I listen to, and you ask me and I say, I don't have all the doctorates.

48:55I don't have all the letters behind my name. I'm still trying to absorb as much information as I can to this day and until the day I die.

49:05Shawn Stevenson:Yes. All right. This has been awesome already, but I got to ask you practically for the people listening, get some tips. Oh, tips, tips. So if, let's just say, you know, that we're still, as of this recording, we're still in the summer. All right. Summer bunnies are still out here. All right. What are, and I know it's, again, there's going to be, there's a lot of answers, but I'm going to ask you for three. Okay. What are your top three tips if people are wanting to slim down, tone up a little bit, get in better shape? We're not going to put a specific label on it, but people are wanting to lose some body fat.

49:44Shawn Stevenson:They want to feel a little bit better. What are your top three tips for having to glow up? My top three tips for how to get in the best shape of your life, the first one is find something you actually enjoy doing that's active. It can be pickleball, it can be dance, it could be running, it could be hiking. As long as you enjoy it, you're most likely to commit to it. The second thing I would say is surround yourself with like-minded people once you find that thing. So if you lock into something that you enjoy doing and then you have healthy social relationships with people who also like doing those things, you're more likely to stay committed and to stay consistent.

50:26The third and final thing is limit sugar and limit alcohol. I'm talking to myself right now. Those are two things that we never need, but we enjoy them socially. And one thing I've noticed as I have limited my intake has had an impact on my skin, has had an impact on my mood, has an impact on my sleep. And all those things lead to better overall health.

50:51Shawn Stevenson:I love it. Mic drop. Period. Amazing. Amazing. listen so where can people find out more where can they find out about your classes where can they follow you please share okay this is the hardest part for me I gotta take a breath because I'm like I hate promoting myself and this is so hard for me but I'm gonna do it so if you're looking for me you can find me online I have social media on Instagram TikTok Facebook, all of the above. You can also go to my website at claudinecooper.com. I teach free workouts almost every Saturday in Inglewood, California, but I've also traveled and done them in other cities.

51:33So I'm happy to welcome new people and to meet up with anybody who's interested.

51:39Shawn Stevenson:Boom. Amazing. Amazing. I got one more question. What is the model that you're here to set for other people with the way that you live your life personally?

51:51what is the model that I'm here to set with how I live my life? Hmm. Oh, that's a tough question. I guess I would say, I can't really talk about anything related to my journey without expressing my dedication to my faith walk. I'm a woman who believes in a spiritual power, whatever you may call it. But I truly feel like having God at the center of my life has been a game changer for me, not only in my physical health, in my mental health, but also in my marriage, in my parenting, and the way that I meet people where they are. I can only give credit to God. That part.

52:38Shawn Stevenson:All right. We're talking spiritual fitness, physical fitness, mental fitness, all of the above. I appreciate you so much. This was awesome. Thank you. I'm so glad you had me here. I feel so honored to even be in this space with you. Thank you, Sean. Thank you for all that you do, and especially how you showed up for us during the pandemic. That was big. It's my honor. The honor is all mine. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. The one and only Claudine Cooper. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today. I hope that you got a lot of value out of this. This is so rich with priceless insights.

53:11Shawn Stevenson:We need each other. We need community. And this time, more than ever, it's important for us to be intentional and proactive. AI is here. More virtual experiences are here than ever before. And they're just getting started. We need to be more human than we've ever been. We need to connect. We need to be together more often in the real world. it is an opportunity as more and more things are shifting into this AI paradigm for us to focus on being more human for us to connect and not to say that the virtual revolution that's happening isn't a way that we can connect yeah that's awesome we're going to be able to step into put the goggles on boom you're in the room with your distant cousin in Croatia and you're over in Brooklyn or whatever you're going to be able to like instantly be in the same room with people and see them as if they're right there.

54:08Shawn Stevenson:That stuff, it's already here. And that's wonderful. These are ways that we can foster and support relationships. But our genes don't know nothing about that. It takes thousands of years for our genes to really make significant changes. Of course, there are mutations that can happen. Shout out to the X-Men. But we've evolved to be together in the real world. And there are certain things that are unseen that we need. We need that microbial exchange, that data file sharing that helps to keep us resilient to build our immune system. It's like a light workout when we get together. We need that energy exchange.

54:48Shawn Stevenson:And I'm talking about this, not just in this kind of soft science, but very, very important science when looking at the quantum level and also looking at our innovations and being able to take certain measurements and scanning the human body and the energy fields that we emit. We have these things are very common in hospital settings today and in healthcare, right? EEGs, EKGs, reading the energy that the human body is throwing off, this electrical energy. We have an electrical field, We have an electromagnetic field that extends beyond our bodies. A tube torus, according to the researchers at HeartMath, extends from the human body several feet from your body.

55:33Shawn Stevenson:It's an energy field that interacts with others. And there's a data exchange. There's an energy exchange that you just can't explain or replicate. And again, we need that. We need to be around each other. We need to foster these relationships. We need to play together. we need to grow together we need to train together we need each other more than ever we need to eat together I can go on and on but please show some love to Claudine today she's a very very special individual and very impactful with the work that she's doing share your love share your heart She's at fitwit3, so F-I-T-W-I-T, and the number three on Instagram.

56:17Shawn Stevenson:Again, Claudine Cooper, look her up. Share your heart, share a message with her. I'm sure it will blow her away, truly pour into her spirit, and she gives so much to others, so please pop over and show her some love. And listen, speaking of showing you some love, what we've got in store for you is going to blow your mind. and keep up leveling your life. We've got some amazing masterclasses and world-class guests coming your way very, very soon. So make sure to stay tuned. Take care, have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com.

56:53Shawn Stevenson:That's where you can find all of the show notes. You can find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome. and I appreciate that so much. And take care. I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.