Episode 142|Hypermobility: Why "Just Get Stronger" Isn't Enough|Heidi Pasch

If you live with hypermobility, EDS, POTS, or MCAS, you've likely been told to stay "safe," stay small, and never push — advice that can leave you feeling like a jellyfish with no sense of where your body is in space. Heidi Pasch offers a different path. A trainer, author, and artist who went from competitive athlete to disabled after seven surgeries, she rebuilt her body by ignoring the templates and learning to read the body in front of her. In this conversation, Heidi and Dr. Adam Rinde unpack why flexibility without control is the real danger, what "earned range of motion" means, and how strength — not restriction — protects a hypermobile joint. They dig into why the scale misses everything that matters, how a body can show up completely different day to day (mast cell reactions, POTS flares, hormonal shifts), and why recovery is where the real rebuilding happens. Heidi also shares her book, *Beyond Weight: Body and Context*, and her art exploring the lived experience of connective tissue. It's an empowering listen for anyone told their body's limits are fixed. \------------------------------------ ABOUT HEIDIHeidi Pasch is a trainer, author, and artist who specializes in movement for hypermobile bodies. After a series of orthopedic surgeries took her from competitive athlete to disabled, she rebuilt her body by developing her own approach — grounded in control, strength, and reading "the body in front of you." Living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, and MCAS, she trains hypermobile clients around the world, works across ballroom and circus-arts movement traditions, and is the author of *Beyond Weight: Body and Context*, which explores the disconnect between movement, measurement, and medicine.--------------------social links: Hypermobility and joint-stability training: https://www.heidipasch.com/training-for-hypermobility-and-joint-stability Beyond Weight: Body in Context: https://www.heidipasch.com/shop/p/beyond-weight-body-in-context (also available on Amazon) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidi.pasch/ about the One Thing Podcast with Dr. Rinde *(Featured this episode: Three Square's BackPack for Kids — if we reach 300 listens in the first 30 days, we'll make our donation there.* n Heidi's honor, - **Three Square Food Bank — BackPack for Kids** (Las Vegas): sends backpacks of food home with kids who may lack weekend food security — because food should be an equal-opportunity foundation for lifelong health. https://www.threesquare.org *Discussion: Discussion question:* If you're hypermobile, what's one piece of standard fitness advice that never worked for your body — and what did you find instead? #hEDS, #EDS, #POTS, #Hympermoblity About The One Thing Podcast with Dr. Adam Rinde Host Dr. Adam Rinde, ND brings together leaders in functional and naturopathic medicine for actionable conversations on gut health, brain health, metabolism, and longevity. Subscribe and share at https://onethingpod.com.