The Thyroid Fixer Podcast Ep. 566

How to Rebuild Muscle and Relieve Pain Without Hours in the Gym

Host: Dr. Amie Hornaman
Guest: Alex Baker Burks (Muscle Tech Expert, Founder of Suji)
Date: October 3, 2025

Episode Overview

In this game-changing episode recorded live from the Health Optimization Summit in London, Dr. Amie Hornaman sits down with Alex Baker Burks, a muscle technology expert and founder of Suji, to explore how muscle health underpins healthspan, prevents pain, and can be dramatically improved with cutting-edge, at-home tech—no hours at the gym required. They demystify targeted compression training (a form of blood flow restriction training), explain why maintaining muscle is critical as we age—especially for women in peri/menopause—and discuss practical strategies for anyone seeking to regain strength, mobility, and pain-free living.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Role of Muscle Health Across the Lifespan

• Muscle as the 'Organ of Longevity': Dr. Amie emphasizes that muscle is not just for athletes or aesthetics—it's foundational for healthy aging, hormone balance, blood sugar regulation, and independence.

  • [10:00] “...your experience with muscle health will largely dictate your quality of life as you age.” — Alex

• Aging, Hormones, and Muscle Loss: Both men and women face muscle decline—women through menopause/estrogen loss, men via falling testosterone—with downstream effects on pain, injury risk, metabolism, and disease.

  • [19:22] “Muscle health is purely about enabling you to go and live whatever activities of the living you have, whether you’re an athlete, a middle-aged person, or a grandparent." — Alex

• Muscle Loss and Disease: The decline in muscle mass and function directly connects to increasing risks for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and loss of mobility.

  • [14:08] “How do you connect muscle with diabetes?... that loss of muscle...is going to dysregulate glucose, dysregulate insulin. Here comes type 2 diabetes." — Dr. Amie

2. Barriers to Strength Training and the Intimidation Factor

• Many avoid strength training due to pain, fear of “bulking up,” lack of education, gym intimidation, or time constraints.

  • [25:13] “That walking into the gym will keep someone away. It’s that intimidation factor.” — Dr. Amie

• The current fitness narrative still skews toward aesthetics rather than holistic health, especially for women, but awareness is growing.

3. What is Targeted Compression Training? (a.k.a. Blood Flow Restriction Training)

• The Concept:

  • Wearable cuffs are placed at the top of the limbs, allowing blood flow into muscles but making it harder for it to leave, ramping up muscle fatigue and cardiovascular load during low-intensity exercises.
  • This allows muscle growth and strength improvements with less mechanical stress on joints.
  • [30:16] “We’re not cutting off blood flow. We’re allowing blood flow into the working musculature...but making it harder for it to leave.” — Alex

• Practical Benefits:

  • Simulates the benefits of heavy weight training with basic movements or bodyweight exercises done at home, on the road, or on the sidelines.
  • Significantly reduces pain and stiffness, and can accelerate recovery.
  • Useful for a wide range of people: post-surgery, older adults, busy professionals, those with chronic pain, and high-level athletes.
  • [31:07] “You can literally do less and it will equal the same amount...15 minutes could fatigue muscle similarly to 45 minutes of normal resistance training.” — Dr. Amie & Alex

4. Simplicity and Accessibility: Designing Tech People Will Actually Use

• Alex designed Suji after experiencing frustrating, cumbersome rehab tech himself. The device is:

  • Cable-free and portable
  • Personalized based on user's limb circumference and blood pressure (prevents over-compression)
  • Usable with minimal set-up, making compliance and consistency dramatically easier

• [38:23] “The relative comfort level of Suji compared to other solutions...no cables, completely cable free, and it guides you through your entire session of use.” — Alex

5. Tackling Pain and Injury

• Powerful for Pain Relief:

  • Utilizes “exercise-induced hypoalgesia”—raising heart rate briefly leads to a system-wide endorphin dump, cutting pain levels for 2–24 hours.
  • [47:59] “The pain part essentially works...you dump a boatload of endorphins that are systemic...significantly relieve pain.” — Alex

• Injury and Post-Surgery:

  • Even passive use (resting with the device) can help prevent muscle wasting and support recovery when movement is restricted, such as after surgery.
  • [51:28] “You can offset for a period of time...the significance of muscle loss...but generally we encourage movement if you’re trying to build strength.” — Alex

6. Research-Backed Benefits and Broad User Cases

• Used and validated by 40% of US sports teams as well as medical researchers globally.

• Data shows especially high user engagement among older adults (40+, 50+, and seniors), who use the device far more frequently for mobility, pain relief, and independence.

• Ongoing studies—especially in MS, COPD, and those who physically can't tolerate intense activity.

• [44:23] “Over 40 [users]…massive increase in frequency of use compared to the younger demographic.” — Alex

7. Women, Men, Aging—and Muscle Health

• Comprehensive discussion of hormones, menopause, loss of testosterone, age-related muscle and bone loss, and why resistance training matters more with each decade.
• Discussion of muscle’s role in heart health, diabetes prevention, and mortality.
• [46:45] “Grip strength and quadricep strength are strong predictors of all-cause mortality.” — Alex

8. Application for Special Populations: GLP-1 Drugs and Muscle Preservation

• GLP-1 drugs (e.g. Ozempic, Wegovy) accelerate muscle loss during rapid weight loss.
• Targeted compression training can help offset muscle loss—making it a critical combination for anyone on these medications.
• [61:08] “Can we offset the negative impact of GLP-1s on your muscular health, bone density, tendon strength, muscle strength?” — Alex

9. Contraindications & Safety

• Current contraindications relate to significant cardiovascular history (stroke, recent cardiac events), listed on Suji’s site and app.
• Compression always personalized—don’t use makeshift bands, as over-restriction is unsafe.
  • [64:04] “If you just go and pull something tight around your limb, you could be putting yourself at risk.” — Alex

Notable Quotes & Powerful Moments

• On Muscle as Health Currency:
  [12:27] “If people paid more attention to their muscular health, they’d have a better quality of life.” — Alex

• On Breaking Fitness Myths:
  [19:31] “Too many people associate [muscle strength] with being a jack-todonist. That’s not what it’s about.” — Alex

• On Pain, Activity, and Barriers:
  [21:41] “One in two American adults over 30 will experience chronic pain for 30 days or more in a year...that’s the biggest cause of disability worldwide.” — Alex

• On Tech That Actually Helps:
  [39:46] “One of the key things about wearables...is it’s easy to implement into your life and it facilitates you achieving some goal...That’s how we’re trying to build Suji.” — Alex

• On Aging and Prevention:
  [46:23] “If you want to live independently, guess what? Don’t have pain. Build sufficient muscular strength and coordinate all of it and you’ll be able to move.” — Alex

• On GLP-1s Muscle Loss:
  [59:09] “That muscle loss is real. Now, I have a lot of people on GLPs...and this can come in as that key component.” — Dr. Amie

• On Universal Applicability:
  [65:41] “It really is for every person, every age, at every stage of athleticism or fitness. This is really the first device that can span all of that.” — Dr. Amie

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Muscle Health and Aging: [09:06 – 19:22]
• Why Most People Avoid Strength Training: [21:16 – 25:28]
• Intro to Targeted Compression Training/Blood Flow Restriction: [27:56 – 33:17]
• Simplicity, Comfort, and Tech Evolution: [36:01 – 41:45]
• Pain Relief Mechanisms: [47:59 – 51:28]
• Muscle Health, Independence & All-Cause Mortality: [46:23 – 47:16]
• Women’s/Men’s Health, Hormones, and Changing Needs: [42:25 – 46:04]
• Applications for Seniors and the Injured: [45:29 – 52:12]
• GLP-1s, Drug Companions, and Acute Muscle Loss: [59:02 – 61:52]
• Contraindications & Safety: [63:02 – 64:12]

Resources & Calls to Action

• Discount for Listeners:
  Try Suji at trysuji.com/doctoramy with code DRAMIE for 15% off. Eligible for HSA/FSA accounts.

• Further Reading:
  Blog stories at trysuji.com including user testimonials (like the 71-year-old cyclist).

• Instagram: @trysuji

Summary

This episode explores the critical, yet often ignored, dimension of muscle health for longevity and quality of life—and how new wearable technology (Suji) can break down the biggest barriers to achieving it. Muscle loss doesn’t have to be inevitable. Whether you’re in your 20s, fighting through perimenopause, recovering from surgery, struggling with pain, or hoping to stave off frailty, targeted compression training offers a safe, research-backed, and time-efficient alternative to traditional gym routines.
As Dr. Amie and Alex conclude, muscle health is the missing vital sign—and the biggest lever most of us have for better aging, less pain, and full-bodied living.

“Honestly, for most people listening, [muscle health] will be the answer to a lot of the joint pain and stiffness they’re dealing with.”
— Alex ([65:52])