FHP 325 – Perfection Hinders Progress

FHP 325 – Perfection Hinders Progress

Guess what? 

You’re human. You’re never going to be perfect.

I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true.

And honestly, if you ever look back at a project you’ve done and there is nothing you would change?

You’re either…

A. Not being honest with yourself…

Or…

B. You’ve stopped learning and started standing still.

Because as we learn and grow, we will always find flaws in earlier plans.

And it’s key we realize this because so often we hold ourselves back from ever getting started because we want something to be “perfect.”

We have to recognize that perfection can actually hinder progress!

If you’re ready to make a change, check out my RS Recipe for results. These 3 steps are key… 

–> Learn More About How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off For GOOD!

 

FHP 324 – It’s Going To Be Hard

FHP 324 – It’s Going To Be Hard

Ok so we all do this…when talking with someone, looking back on the path we had to take for results, we’ll say, “It wasn’t that bad.”

Because in the end it was worth it AND we’ve adjusted to the new habits so they feel easier.

But I guarantee many of us to start did some whining about how sucky or hard or confusing the process was.

Because, guess what?

Change IS hard.

Reaching a goal we’ve never reached is OVERWHELMING AND TOUGH.

The learning process sucks.

It’s not fun to not be good at something.

But even the master was once a beginner.

It’s funny though how we start to dislike the discomfort of learning, of feeling out of our element more and more as we get older.

We believe there are things we are slightly entitled to….that shouldn’t be tough.

But if we haven’t learned the way to do something previously, it isn’t going to be easy and we are going to mess up.

Think back to being a kid…I don’t know about you but there were plenty of times I whined about things being hard.

And 99% of the time I was told, yes? Things are hard. But learning how to do them makes it easier!

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now with making a change, if you’re feeling frustrated by things being hard?

Well, maybe it’s time to tell yourself to suck it up buttercup and recognize that new can be difficult.

But by practicing and working through it and LEARNING, it gets easier!

Because the path to success means you have to go through the hard to get the result.

Sorry you can’t dodge that learning process.

3 Fat Loss Myths Holding You Back

3 Fat Loss Myths Holding You Back

The simple fact is, one size doesn’t fit all. And so many things can work for so many different reasons.

And ultimately what leads to our success, especially when it comes to fat loss, is something that we can do consistently LONG-TERM.

Even then, the exact diet or workout routine we follow will constantly be evolving because nothing in life ever stands still.

Your needs and goals change and so should your routine.

Yet, especially with diet, people become very “passionate” about their specific beliefs. It often stems from their own dietary preferences or unique needs based on specific health issues.

They start to demonize specific lifestyle things and tell others they should too.

And these things can turn into fat loss myths that ultimately hold us back from achieving the balance and sustainable routine WE need to see results.

What worked for your friend may NOT work for you. And trying to fit everyone into the same mold leads to disaster.

That’s why today I want to bust 3 fat loss myths and help you dial in your workout and diet routine so you can truly achieve results through a plan that matches YOUR needs and goals.

Myth #1: Carbs make you fat. Fat makes you fat.

Carbs don’t magically make you gain fat. And neither does fat.

So all of those low carb advocates or low fat advocates that say it’s the only way to lose weight?

It’s just because they’ve found the macro ratio right for them and their body and lifestyle.

But no one macro is evil or bad. Each plays an important role in the optimal functioning of our body.

And depending on our needs, goals and training routine? We may need more or less of one or the other to achieve our ideal body composition and lose fat.

Now if you’re about to be that person to comment about all of the evils of carbs or fats (because I guarantee there will be one of each) and all of the health issues they can cause…

Do you not realize the irony in the fact that you will both not agree on which is actually evil?

There are so many factors that may make eating more or less of a specific macro better or worse for us PERSONALLY.

Now if you have a specific health issue?

You may need to eliminate or limit specific things.

That may help you even to lose weight too.

But just to demonize that macro completely if you don’t have any health concerns COULD actually lead to health issues not to mention hold you back from the fat loss results you want.

Now you may be thinking, “But when I cut carbs I lose so much weight on the scale so quickly!”

But that isn’t true fat loss.

When you cut your carbs, you deplete your glycogen stores and lose water weight.

So, sure, you’ll see a quick change on the scale. But it isn’t fat being lost.

And the second you add carbs back in?

You’ll likely gain all of that weight back and more.

Plus this restriction, especially if you love carbs and want to include them at a future date, doesn’t teach you how to actually create a sustainable lifestyle change.

And something we can do consistently is ultimately what helps us achieve the best result.

So don’t demonize a macro because someone else said so. Consider your specific needs and even your training routine.

If you’re less active? You may not need the immediate fuel of carbs so going low carb may help you lose fat.

However if you’re super active and training intensely lifting and doing cardio? Cutting your carbs super low may actually hinder your fat loss results.

Instead you may find going higher carb and lower fat ultimately allows you to feel fueled while achieving your ideal body composition.

It’s why focusing on protein while not demonizing carbs or fat but simply even potentially cycling them based on your training may be best!

Myth #2: Cardio Is Better Than Strength Training To Lose Fat

As much as I love training, as much as I think it can assist in the looking better as you lose fat…

You don’t technically need to work out at all for fat loss.

Working out in general can make the process easier, help us maintain our results long term and can help us create that calorie deficit, but we can’t out exercise our diet.

And often in our attempts to create more of a calorie deficit through exercise, we sabotage our fat loss results.

The focus of our workouts shouldn’t be on how many calories we burned. It should be on moving better and building muscle even so we look leaner, stay healthier and even help ourselves avoid metabolic adaptations as we do lose fat.

So if our workouts aren’t really a tool for fat loss, why are we told we need to do more cardio if we want to lose weight?

Studies have shown you burn more calories during a cardio session. And because of these studies, mainstream media started touting the benefits of cardio for weight loss.

You may even have seen those benefits yourself when you started running after a long time off.

Simply increasing our activity helps us burn more calories. So even without changing our diet at first, we begin to lose weight from those extra calories being burned.

And cardio, especially to start, burns more calories on average than strength training sessions.

However, over time you adjust and adapt to those cardio sessions. It’s why you can run or cycle further faster without fatiguing.

But those gains in your endurance also mean you don’t need or use as much energy.

So even though your watch may say you still burned a ton of calories, your body has become more efficient and you aren’t utilizing as much energy as you did when you first started.

It’s why you may feel like you’re not getting the same results as you once did from those same cardio sessions.

Not to mention, if you’re constantly trying to do MORE in order to burn more calories, you may be holding yourself back and actually creating more metabolic adaptions as you diet and lose weight.

Steady-state cardio can be catabolic to muscle tissue and losing muscle mass can negatively impact our metabolic rate.

Muscle takes more energy to maintain AND it becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle mass as we get older, which may be why we feel like it gets harder to lose weight the older we get!

This is why focusing less on cardio and actually more on strength can be so key.

Not only is it easier to constantly create progressive overload in our strength workouts, BUT we can also help ourselves build lean muscle which will help us keep our metabolic rate healthier and burn more calories even when at rest.

Fighting to maintain that lean muscle even while working to lose fat will help you achieve better body recomposition results and maintain those results long term.

So while you may have turned to cardio in the past, you may actually see better fat loss results by cutting back on cardio as you get leaner while focusing more and more on strength work.

Of course if you love cardio, you do not need to cut it out and the best results happen when we create a sustainable routine, but it may be a reason, besides even better performance for the cardio activities you love, that you do include some strength training in your routine!

(For even more on Is Cardio Key For Weight Loss?, check out this Fitness Hacks Podcast.)

Myth #3: Tracking is restrictive

Tracking is not fun. It’s tedious. Boring. Overwhelming to start. Annoying.

All of those things.

But it isn’t restrictive.

What IS restrictive is our MINDSET toward it.

It’s because we don’t recognize that the tracking is just data.

Just like you measure out ingredients so your cake turns out instead of looking like a burnt mess, you want to measure your food to create the recipe that leads to your body recomposition results.

We aren’t measuring necessarily to cut things out. But simply to make sure we get the right portions to match our needs and goals.

Tracking isn’t just for weight loss. It can help us gain muscle, fuel better. Recognize foods that may even be giving us digestive issues.

We can track to make sure we’re even optimally fueling for our sport to set a PR in our next race.

So we need to separate tracking from restriction in our minds.

Because that food logger isn’t judging – you are!

(For more on why Tracking Is Key, click HERE!)

SUMMARY:

We have to remember that we are each unique and one size doesn’t fit all. So don’t fall prey to fat loss myths that would lead you to create restrictive diets or train for hours upon hours doing cardio.

Focus on smalls sustainable changes based on your current routine and get ready to be consistent as those results take time to add up!

If you’re ready to dial in your workouts and your diet so they work together to get you the best results possible, check out my Macro Hacks!

–> Macro Hacks

The Most UNDERRATED Dumbbell Upper Body Exercise

The Most UNDERRATED Dumbbell Upper Body Exercise

I feel like there are always moves that sort of get “forgotten.”

They fall out of popularity or get hated on because of one specific issue, or don’t seem “hard enough” and then people stop using them.

Even when they’re crazy amazing and beneficial.

One such move is the pull over.

This upper body exercise is controversial and often overlooked yet it is truly an amazing and efficient upper body move.

So why is it often overlooked and underrated? And what’s the controversy when it comes to pull overs?

The pull over has fallen out of popularity because it became demonized for causing shoulder pain.

Much like squats and lunges are blamed for knee pain and deadlifts for lower back pain, pull overs are blamed for causing shoulder pain.

But none of these moves are evil, they are just often misused. And often misunderstood.

While the pull over may not be right for someone with shoulder impingement issues or restricted shoulder mobility, it is an amazing move for anyone without current shoulder issues.

We have to remember that just because a move may not be right for someone WITH an injury or issue who can’t recruit the correct muscles, doesn’t mean it isn’t right for someone without any issues at all.

And demonizing and fearing the pull over for causing shoulder pain may be causing you to miss out on an absolutely amazing compound upper body move.

One that could actually even keep your shoulders healthy and happy long-term.

A move that is incredibly efficient at working your upper body, making it great for anyone short on time and looking to work multiple large muscles all at once.

So if pull overs are so amazing, why are they so controversial?

Part of the pull over debate is…

What do pull over actually work?

Are they a back exercise?

Or a chest exercise?

Or even a tricep movement?

There has long been a debate about which training day, pull overs should be placed on.

But the simple answer is….

Pull overs actually work all three of those areas!

They can even be used to strengthen your serratus anterior.

So if you’re really looking for a full upper body workout all in one move? The pull over may just be the answer you’re looking for.

When you do the dumbbell pull over, you can lie fully supported with the entire length of your back on a bench or even with just your upper back on the bench. Especially if you’re just starting out and going lighter, plus want the extra glute and ab work, the upper back only variation is great.

If you’re looking to really max out on loads and have built up the strength, you may want to perform the pull over with your back fully supported so you aren’t tempted to use the momentum of dropping your hips as you pull over.

You will want to keep your elbows soft as you reach the weight back overhead. Do not lock out your elbows. However if you end up only bending or extending at your elbow, you’re going to turn this isn’t more of a tricep move than a lat or chest one.

Feel a stretch through your lats as you reach overhead. Then really focus on pulling your elbows back down and over your head as you pull the weight back up toward the ceiling.

Think about the sides of your back working as you pull the weight over to make sure you’re engaging your chest and lats.

Then slowly extend back overhead to repeat.

You can also vary how much you activate each muscle by when you use the move in your workout.

The pull over may be a great move to include toward the end of your chest day to fully fatigue the muscle.

Or it can be a great way to create a bit of pre-fatigue for the lats and establish that mind-body connection when used earlier in your workout on a back day.

It is also a great accessory lift if you’re working to improve your pull ups!

But do NOT fear this amazing upper body move!

If you’re including pull up work or overhead pressing? You have the mobility to include pull overs!

Just start light and build up.

Remember every move is only as good as our implementation.

But if you need a very effective compound moves to target…well…debatably almost every muscle of your upper body (at least almost), you want to include the pull over in your routine!

For a great follow along workout I did including the pull over, click below!

Try This Dumbbell Upper Body Workout! 

FHP 323 – Don’t Confuse Effort With Results

FHP 323 – Don’t Confuse Effort With Results

The simple truth is, you can work really hard and not achieve the results you want.

And I see this becoming more and more the case as people want to post about how hard they’re working. About how they’re spending hours in the gym.

Doing some crazy restrictive diet where they cut out a ton of stuff.

But then they’re frustrated by their lack of results at the end of it.

The thing is…they’ve almost put more of an emphasis on the work than on the plan to get the result!

They’ve confused effort with results.

The sucky truth is working hard doesn’t mean you’re making progress forward. 

You can have a destination and get in your car and start driving, but that doesn’t mean you get to your ultimate location if you don’t have a plan and know the direction.

Actually, it’s a surefire way to get lost.

You did the “hard work” of driving, but you had no clear path forward. No direction.

And honestly you’d have had to have worked less hard, had you just mapped out directions and actually followed them.

Instead you get lost, have to ask for direction. Get more fatigued and frustrated. Buy more gas. Stop for snacks. Get lost again…

It’s why we need to stop focusing on the EFFORT and instead focus on the PLAN.

How many times have you really set down to think about each component and how it may be helping you move forward?

How often have you really planned out a progression and macro ratios and then truly tracked how they were going and HONESTLY HIT THEM to know if they did or didn’t work?

I know it can be scary to back off the effort because it feels like you’re less in control, but trust that GPS. 

Often when we trust the process and implement systems, we get far better results with far less effort!