FHP 340 – Do The Minimum

FHP 340 – Do The Minimum

So we’re entering the time of year that well…we often slack a bit on those healthy habits. We get busy. There are tons of work things and family events…

Let’s face it…often the holidays are when our motivation fades and often our healthy habits fall by the wayside.

But I think part of the reason why we ultimately lose progress so we feel we have to start over in the new year is because we’re holding ourselves to too high of standards.

Say whaaaat?!

Ok don’t get me wrong. I believe 100% in hard work.

But I also think we hide behind having to be all in or the “go hard or go home” attitude so much so that we end up doing NOTHING when we can’t do everything and be perfect with our implementation.

It’s why I want to prepare you for this time of year by giving you permission to do the minimum.

Yup. The minimum.

Because sometimes by simply doing as little as we can to MAINTAIN our current results we move ourselves forward.

I mean think about it this way even…

If you started the New Year even where you are NOW over, say 5lbs heavier from all of the holiday eating, wouldn’t that be better?

And on top of that, by often doing the minimum and being slightly better than we were the year before, we ultimately enter the New Year BETTER OFF than where we are currently.

Because consistency adds up.

It may not happen as fast as we’d like, but those results do snowball.

So I wanted to really highlight how you can do the minimum and still see results with these tips…

TIP #1: Focus on one nutritional habit or goal.

Ok so you may want to hit x macro ratio and x calorie count and prep everything at home and only eat super whole, natural foods….

But what if you can’t do that right now? What if it isn’t realistic?

What if you have meals you’ll be obligated to eat out at? What if you’ve never tracked before and the idea of logging feels overwhelming in and of itself?

START WITH ONE THING!

The more we break things down to make habit changes the easier they actually are to sustain long term.

And they allow us to build on them as we do enter the New Year when motivation may be higher and we have more time to implement all of the things we want.

We have to see this as a time to create habit changes that don’t require willpower to maintain because that is what makes them last.

So pick one thing.

Just track your food.

Just add one healthy food in consistently.

Just cut out one snack.

Just swap one restaurant meal for something lower in calories or higher in protein.

Just remember that because you have one cookie, you haven’t ruined the day so log it and stop.

Remember that little diet tweaks add up and you can always build off of them.

But be realistic for the time you’re in.

Even planning around holiday meals or events out with friends!

TIP #2: Consider your realistic schedule and design for that.

Ok so maybe usually you love to train 6 days a week for 1 hour per session…

If you don’t have time right now though to do that, trying to force that will be a recipe for disaster.

You’ll be inconsistent and missed training sessions will be a bit mentally demoralizing. Not to mention inconsistency leads to worse results and even puts you at a greater risk for injury.

You also may not be training everything ideally.

That’s why it’s best to honestly reflect on the time you have and design a routine, or even a plan B for that schedule.

If you only have 3 days and 30 minutes a day?

Create more full body routines with lots of compound moves. Avoid full rest periods and instead work other muscles so they can rest as you work another area.

Design for the time you have so you can get consistent!

By staying more consistent, you also maintain the habit which makes it easier to get back into the swing of things when you do have 6 days a week to train.

TIP #3: Just move forward no matter what.

There are going to be things that come up…unplanned events during the holidays that lead to skipped workouts and messed up macros.

Don’t beat yourself up.

Focus on just moving forward.

And don’t feel guilty like you’ve ruined the day.

Too often we let something lead to more, which is truly the issue.

As much as you can tweak. Hold yourself accountable. Find a minimum so you can mentally end each day on a high note even when a curveball has been thrown your way!

Maybe you end up eating out and your macros aren’t perfect? Just don’t eat extra feeling like you’ve ruined the day. Or at least pick a dish out that allows you to stay under your calories or hit your protein.

Or maybe just be proud of yourself for logging and staying accountable.

Maybe a work event means you’re drained and can’t get in your usual session. Try even just a 5 minute mobility routine to do something to move and prep your body to move well the next day!

Focus on what you CAN do to move forward. And never feel guilty. Learn from it even to see if there is a way to plan better or prepare for the situation in the future…

Like picking the restaurant or doing your workouts in the morning vs afternoon during these busier times!

TIP #4: See this time as practice.

Instead of seeing this time as you can’t do everything you want, see this time as a way to practice specific habits or PLAN for the New Year.

Write up workouts. Test out moves or training types.

Test out recipes that you can add to your food tracker so they are easy to enter when you can really dial in your ratios.

Get in the habit of logging so it feels easy as you do tweak your macros.

Try planning out options to hit your ratios.

Try meal prep. Find healthy restaurant meals to get on the go.

Use this time to work on those mobility restrictions if you can’t make it to the gym.

Find little things you can do that will only benefit you as you can really dive in 100% to your programming in the New Year!

FHP 339 – PROGRESS BRINGS SETBACKS

FHP 339 – PROGRESS BRINGS SETBACKS

Funny how any time there is a blip or bump in the road toward results we feel like we’re failing.

But we often ignore the fact that technically we can only suffer a setback because we’ve moved forward.

And trust me…I get it.

It’s frustrating when you’re working hard and things don’t work out.

It’s hard when you’ve emotionally and physically invested in something for it to not only not move you forward but even cause you to lose some of the progress previously made.

But the sucky truth is, sometimes you don’t know until you’ve tried.

Progress is never linear.

Setbacks come with success.

That’s why I did want to share how I approach setbacks to hopefully help you take them in stride as you work toward your goals this week.

Because with results, with progress, will come failures.

#1: I plan for them.

Any time I do something new, I recognize beforehand that there are going to be issues that come up.

And that many of the issues I simply won’t be able to plan for or predict.

By mentally preparing myself for this fact, it often helps me take the situation in stride when it does arise.

#2: I find something to learn, no matter what.

When I first suffer a setback, I may curse up a storm, whine, complain…do absolutely nothing productive. BUT as soon as possible I pause my brain and say “What can I learn?”

Because setbacks often teach us something super valuable that can lead to a bigger win than we even thought possible.

I swear some of my biggest failures have also led to my biggest successes!

Because often setbacks happen when we are striving to do something super new, something we’ve never done. 

And to learn the ups and downs, ins and outs of that new thing, we have to TRY IT first. 

#3: I assess whether it is a problem to be solved or a downside to the upside.

Not all setbacks are “solvable.”

Sometimes we run into issues we won’t be able to fix…that just come with the success.

So as you encounter “setbacks” or what feels like failures, assess if it is really a problem to be solved or simply the downside to the upsides you’ve achieved.

It can also help us avoid wasting effort trying to handle something you really can’t change or even that shouldn’t be changed.

And maybe even realize it wasn’t a setback to begin with.

Like as weird as it sounds, cheat days.

Maybe it felt like a setback to “eat off plan” for the day.

But maybe part of what will make you successful is actually these days. 

They may not be ideal and it may stink to see the scale increase after, but maybe long-term they actually help you stay consistent.

Maybe the setback is actually for the better even.

Not everything we do directly moves us forward too!

SUMMARY:

So much of how we view setbacks is really about our perspective. And I think even realizing we can’t have a setback if we haven’t moved forward is a key mental switch.

Progress is never linear. So these setbacks are a part of success.

They show us we’ve moved outside our comfort zone to even make the changes that WILL help us reach new goals!

The Most UNDERRATED Ab Exercise

The Most UNDERRATED Ab Exercise

One of the most underrated ab moves out there is also one of the simplest. It’s also one of the most hated.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love hanging ab moves and extended plank variations and ab roll out type moves.

I think they are amazing core moves everyone needs to include and I work them in as frequently as possible to client’s programming.

But one oh so basic move I think we often just gloss over that SHOULD be utilized more is the basic bodyweight crunch.

Yup that’s right I’m not demonizing the crunch but actually telling you it may be an essential ab exercise to include.

While crunches are often blamed for back pain because they require spinal flexion, we have to remember that our abs actually flex the spine. And spinal flexion is even required in many sports.

So while planks are great, they work the abs to stabilize and prevent flexion or extension, and to target our abs we also want to include spinal flexion exercises.

We also have to remember that to get the best muscle hypertrophy results for especially stubborn areas, we want to include a combination of both compound and isolation moves.

And the crunch is a perfect way to isolate your abs.

Hypertrophy research has shown dynamic exercises, like the crunch, to be superior for muscle growth over isometric moves, like the plank.

This is due to not only increased muscular damage but also the increased metabolic stress of those dynamic movements

So if you want to have stronger abs and even optimize the appearance of your six pack, spinal flexion moves are key.

And before you start to comment that “Abs are made in the kitchen,” I will remind everyone you can’t spot reduce an area by simply doing a 1000 reps of a move to target that muscle.

You will not get a six pack by just doing 1000 crunches. You won’t get a defined six pack through exercise alone…period.

But moves like this are a great way to build the lean look you want as you dial in your diet.

And on top of the fact they add benefit to your hypertrophy programming to improve those muscle gains, crunches can also really help you establish that mind body connection to know how to better engage your abs.

Taking time to isolate muscles and really understand how it feels when they work can help you better engage them during compound moves, especially as you speed up the tempo of those exercises.

This ability to recruit muscles correctly can be essential to helping us avoid overload and injury.

And it is easier to focus on what you feel working to start with more isolated moves as other muscles can’t as easily compensate.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 key form tips to help you get more out of this very basic ab exercise and focus on that mind-body connection.

Tip #1: Use That Posterior Pelvic Tilt

The posterior pelvic tilt has been shown to help with activating the lower portion of the rectus abdominis.

By using it here you can better activate your abs and get more out of this basic crunch.

As you set up for the crunch, tilt your hips up toward your ribs and feel your abs engage to do that very small tuck.

Focusing on this engagement before you even crunch is key.

And then don’t lose this positioning. Often after crunching, when we relax back down, we lose that engagement.

We start to almost use momentum to crunch, and allow our lower backs to even slightly arch up.

By keeping that posterior pelvic tilt, you’ll help yourself isolate your abs.

Tip #2: Focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time.

You want to focus on your abs really powering the crunch. A great way to do this is to slow the move down and think about lifting one vertebrae at a time.

This also helps prevent you simply tucking your chin or yanking on your neck.

Remember your abs power spinal flexion so focus on using those abs to power ever inch of movement by thinking you’re rolling up one vertebrae at a time.

This also helps you slow down and control the movement to get more out of it.

And by slowly lowering back down one vertebrae at a time, you’ll also get more out of the eccentric portion of this small move.

Tip #3: Don’t just go through the motions, focus on engaging those abs to power the move.

Too often we are focused on the movement pattern, not on what we feel working.

We are just trying to do the exercise and get through the workout.

We think “Just crunch up.”

But instead focus on engaging those abs using the first two tips and stay intentional with the move.

If you fatigue or lose that mind body connection, don’t just keep forcing out the reps. Don’t do wasted volume.

Make every rep count!

SUMMARY:

We need to stop the binary thinking when it comes to moves and instead see the opportunity in implementing exercises to fit our specific needs and goals.

While no crunches aren’t right for everyone, I think too often they get written off when this very basic move can be a great way to improve your mind-body connection to actually AVOID injuries not to mention improve your muscle hypertrophy to reach the aesthetic goals you’ve set.