Change Your Habits Not Just Your Diet (For Fat Loss)

by Cori Lefkowith | Jul 14, 2024 | Blog, Diet

And that’s one of the biggest pitfalls sabotaging our diet and our success…

We go in thinking we’ll do something short term to then go back to the lifestyle we want.

The habits we had before.

But that’s not how things work.

You can’t do one thing to reach your goals then go back to what you were doing before and expect not to lose all of your progress.

If you want lasting results, you have to actually change your habits and build…yes…a new lifestyle.

Yet so often how we approach making changes doesn’t allow us to create new habits.

We do think of it as “going on a diet,” instead of adjusting our diet.

And because we have this short term focus, often we jump to doing more, which means restriction.

It also means overwhelming ourselves with changes we often can’t maintain.

Changes that sometimes stop us from even starting and definitely stop us from sticking with anything long term.

Changes that make us feel like we just don’t have the willpower or self control to ever see results.

And this all is caused by this pressure we feel to hit some ideal over assessing our current lifestyle and habit swaps that would meet us where we are at currently.

By why does this happen?

I think it’s because we have been brainwashed to believe that dieting has to mean restriction.

We’re also constantly bombarded by all these ideal diets and made to feel less than when we can’t hit someone else’s arbitrary standard of clean.

I see it when clients try to follow some fit-fluencers standard of “clean eating.”

Heck, I kept myself stuck never seeing the body recomp I wanted, constantly losing the weight only to regain it when my motivation and willpower ran out because I was trying to force myself to fit a clean eating mold…

A diet that is so different from our own it seems impossible and even miserable to maintain.

But we see this as what we “should” do…

What we NEED to do to see results.

So we start to try to make all of the changes.

We adjust our meal timings, making ourselves stare at the clock fantasizing about our next meal.

We force feed ourselves bland meals that lead to us feeling like we’ve just got to make it through till we lose the weight….then we can eat tasty things again…

We restrict all of the foods we love till we can’t take it any longer and we go devour that whole pint and ice cream and bag of chips giving ourselves a food baby….

And then we think, “I’ll never see results! I’ll just have to start over Monday!”

Only Monday doesn’t happen for a few more weeks.

Instead we yo-yo back up, not only regaining the weight but often more.

And in the process we often negatively impact our metabolic health.

But honestly…what’s worse than the weight gain, is the mindsets we’ve now created.

Each negative experience…each time we feel MISERABLE doing what we feel we “should,” we become more mentally set against the healthy changes we feel we need.

Think about tracking macros for instance…

So many of us feel tracking is restrictive.

But it’s because of how we’ve used the tool in the past.

When most of us have first tracked our food, we eliminated whole food groups.

We starved ourselves, slashing our calories super low.

We restricted foods we loved.

We made ourselves miserable.

We felt judged and deprived.

So of course, now thinking about tracking to hold yourself accountable or make changes sounds absolutely miserable.

And we think tracking is restrictive.

But the tracker wasn’t judging. It didn’t make us make those changes.

We CHOSE to make those changes and adjustments.

The tracker is now just associated with those feelings which makes it harder to use again.

So now you have to find ways to separate out the tools from the improper implementation in the past.

And this is why one of the most important things you can do for yourself if you want to avoid sabotaging your diet is to…TRACK WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY DOING.

And do this without making changes!

If we want to make changes to our nutrition and see not only the results we deserve but LASTING changes is to truly understand where we are starting from.

Not only does logging without making any changes help us realize that tracking our food isn’t restrictive so that we can regain power to use this tool and shift our mindsets…

But getting this clear picture of where we are starting from allows us to make habit changes that meet us where we are at.

Too often we try to just force ourselves into a dieting mold with no thought as to how those habits will fit long term.

And while not every change we will have to make will feel sustainable, especially to start, we do want to do as much as possible to reduce the “pain” of change.

I say “pain” because change can cause mental push back.

And the pain of staying stuck has to outweigh the pain of change.

It’s why when we get that initial motivation to make changes after realizing nothing in our closet fits…

We are willing to make more sacrifices.

However, those sacrifices are often short lived when the motivation fades.

And unfortunately we can’t just manifest motivation whenever we want.

So since we often can’t make the pain of staying stuck greater…We have to find ways to reduce the pain of change.

That means we have to make the habit changes EASIER.

Because what feels easy and comfortable and sustainable is just what we’ve always done.

But too much discomfort in the changes will make us run back to our comfort zone.

It’s why at some point when we try to force all these clean eating standards on ourselves, we often hit the hard we can no longer handle and say FORGET IT and give up.

So instead of repeating this same pattern, track what you’re currently doing.

Get an accurate picture of your lifestyle…

Then make one small swap.

A change that almost feels too easy. From here you can build.

Sure maybe ideally you’d like to be eating lean protein sources and vegetables at every meal.

But if right now you’re having pizza or take out for most meals and vegetables don’t seem to exist in your diet, instead of forcing yourself to choke down salads and steamed broccoli at every meal, just add aside salad with your pizza.

I know probably someone in the comment section is getting made about this…

But too often we sabotage our success by not building from where we are currently.

If you want to get to your goal, your destination, you need to set your current location in your GPS.

That’s the only way to map out the route and start moving forward.

Same thing goes for your diet changes.

So stop worrying about ideals.

Stop restricting yourself and making so many dietary changes you can’t maintain them and you’re powering your way through a 21 day or 6 week fix only to fall back into old habits…

And instead get that accurate picture of what your lifestyle is and make one change that feels almost painless.

This will then help you stack more and more habits on to move forward.

Because the more you do, the more you do.

But you have to be able to take that first step and adjust your diet…instead of repeating the same pattern going on a diet only to fall off!

Break out of this yo-yo dieting cycle. Here’s my 3-Step Recipe To LASTING Results!

2 Intense Ab Exercises (Most People Skip)

by Cori Lefkowith | Jul 7, 2024 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness

No you can’t spot reduce the fat around your middle by doing a bazillion crunches or sit ups…

BUT focused ab work can help you get that lean, defined core when your nutrition is dialed in.

Yet too often we skip the core work.

If we add it in, it’s an afterthought.

And too often we think we’ve done even enough core work because we’ve included heavy lifts like squat and deadlift.

And while those moves do benefit your core, they’re working it only in one way…to stabilize.

But our abs power spinal flexion and don’t only resist extension or stabilize.

Not to mention our obliques twist and turn, and laterally flex not to mention help us prevent unwanted rotation.

This means we want to target all of these movement patterns to see the best results.

That’s why I want to share a few of my favorite core moves, specifically two moves focused on your abs, to train these muscles both with flexion and anti-extension exercises to not only help you build a stronger core but a more defined one.

However, first I want to touch on two essentials to core training that will help you see better results faster and are too often IGNORED…

I’ll then also show you how to use my favorite moves while addressing these two key components…

#1: Make sure your abs are ACTUALLY working!

You can’t just rush through moves and let your hip flexors and lower back compensate.

And you may just write this off, labeling those others weak.

But, if these areas are compensating, THEY are getting the work from the moves you’re including…

Not your abs.

What you feel working in a move is what is BENEFITING from the move.

So whether your hip flexors and lower back are actually weak or whether they are taking over because a move is too advanced and your abs have to rely on these other muscles to keep up because they aren’t strong enough…

You have to address this compensation if you want results.

This may mean changing your form or it may mean regressing the move to build up!

But if you don’t feel your abs, your ab exercises aren’t paying off and you’re wasting time and energy.

#2: If it challenges you, it will change you.

Just like building up any other muscle, you need to progress the moves you’re doing to see results.

And no, we aren’t trying to bulk out our middles, which is why we may not just focus on heavy loads.

But we need to advance moves to drive that muscle to change which will help us see that definition as it is revealed through proper nutrition.

This also means strategically designing your workouts to include core work you can progress as too often core work is just an afterthought in our training.

We add a move here or there. And we may add a rep or two but don’t really do anything to continue to progress the exercise.

While you can add weight to progress a move, we often want to progress through the same but different, changes in types of loads or loading placements, ranges of motion or even instability as we keep the reps higher, even in that 15-25 rep range often.

Now I want to share a 2 of my favorite ab exercises to work your abs with spinal flexion AND anti-extension movements.

These moves are especially amazing if you’re looking to target your lower abs.

Yes, your lower abs.

If you’re about to say, “There is no lower ab muscle.”

You’re right. There is no separate lower ab muscle.

But we can target different portions of different muscles to greater extents based on the postures and positions used.

And leg raise type movements, if you can avoid overusing your hip flexors, as well as extended plank positions, have been shown to activate the lower abs, or lower portion of your rectus abdominis to a greater extent.

With both of these moves, I’ll show you how you can make sure your abs are actually working and even progress, or regress, these moves to fit your needs.

The first move is the Reverse Crunch Roll With Overhead Hold.

This lower body crunch variation is a great way to target those lower abs while also helping you prevent your lower back from engaging or relying on your hip flexors over your abs.

The key tweaks this move makes off the basic lower body crunch is the overhead hold and the heels locked back into a roller.

Both of these help you avoid compensating to better target your abs.

The overhead hold helps you more easily engage your abs without your lower back compensating because it creates tension through your lats to protect your back.

You want to pull down hard on the pole or even edge of a bench you’re holding onto.

This slight move to even flex your lower abs will help you protect your back further.

Then using the roller locked between your lower legs and hamstrings, you’ll be able to engage that posterior chain, especially your hamstrings, to prevent those hip flexors from activating.

With even these two tweaks, you still want to focus on ROLLING one vertebrae at a time up. Curl those knees in toward your elbows FLEXING your spine.

If you don’t have a roller, you can still do this move by just thinking about pulling your heels in toward your butt and hamstrings. That activation will help inhibit your hip flexors to focus on your abs.

But these two tweaks to that basic lower body crunch can help you really make sure you’re focusing on your abs with spinal flexion.

And then to progress this move, you can change tempos.

Or you can even do a straight leg variation, but not only perform a leg lower but an extra LIFT at the top.

This lift at the top as you raise your legs up is what gets that extra spinal flexion. But you have to make sure you’ve built up to this move and you’re not just relying on your hips to lift and lower.

While your hip flexors are working with hip flexion, the raise of your legs back up, you want your abs engaged using that posterior pelvic tilt, or tilt of the hips up toward the ribs to round the back toward the ground.

This protects your back and supports those hips so you aren’t only feeling them working. And that plus part of the movement and lift at the top further work the abs.

To further advance this move and even target your adductors and pelvic floor more, you could hold a med ball between your legs.

Or to even make this move tougher on your abs, you could use an incline bench.

This way you’re working more against gravity to even tuck up!

But the key is to progress only once you’ve mastered that basic variation.

And even as you progress, never think you’re above returning to this move as sometimes changing things up is the progression we need to see results as we can focus even more on really activating our abs with those basics!

The second move is Plank Extensions.

I also call these the Body Saw when done off the forearm over the hands.

You’re trying to brace your abs so you don’t get sawed in half…just kidding…but seriously!

This move is freaking DECEPTIVELY hard.

By extending your plank position, your abs and especially your lower abs, have to work very hard to prevent extension of your spine and stabilize.

This takes that basic plank up a notch!

You should NOT feel your lower back engaging or arching. If it arches, you may start to feel yourself even overusing and resting on your hip flexors.

So to modify this move, start off an incline, such as a bench.

Focus on engaging your abs as if you’re going to be punched in the gut as you even flex your glutes to walk back. That glute flexion helps protect your back and disengage your hip flexors.

If you can walk back into that extended position, maintaining that brace, lower the incline.

You can then move to this walk back from your hands on the ground before moving to your forearms.

These changes in postures can really help you target those abs and progress the move.

Then you can start to implement different tools even instead of adding loads to make the move more challenging for your core.

You can use sliders to slide over walk back (towels work too).

Or you can even really vary the move by changing the way you’re extending the plank, using a ball to roll out under your forearms instead of the sliders on your feet.

It’s not just weights that can make moves harder and drive progression! Those different postures, tools and even placements can have an impact!

If you’re looking to take your core definition to the next level, use these moves and tips to really work those abs and progress your training.

And yes, dial in that diet to truly reveal your hard work in the gym!

Want amazing workouts you can do anywhere? Check out my Dynamic Strength program:

–> Learn more about Dynamic Strength

7 Mistakes Women Make Trying to Lose Fat or Gain Muscle

by Cori Lefkowith | Jun 30, 2024 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

We’ve all fallen for the fads.

The promise of a quick fix to get lean and strong overnight. But real and lasting results take time.

Quick fixes often keep us trapped in a vicious cycle, making it harder and harder to see the results we want.

I say this having made almost all the mistakes myself.

That’s why I want to share the 7 most common mistakes I see my female clients especially making to help you not waste time falling into these traps.

And I want to start with what may be the hardest change in mindset to embrace..

The struggle to take days off when we really want results yesterday…

The struggle to give ourselves permission to take it easy at times…

But this is a HUGE mistake that will sabotage your results every single time…

Mistake #1: Under recovering.

You can only train as hard as you can recover from.

End of story.

But so often we label this as “over training” instead of under recovering.

And I feel this leads to us actually sabotaging our own success.

I’ve even seen a trend recently pushing people away from training hard.

A fear of cortisol levels rising because of working out intensely.

But exercise is a GOOD stressor.

It’s a stressor you not only want but NEED if you want to build muscle, be stronger and ultimately look leaner.

We WANT to challenge ourselves with intensity and loads.

But we can only do so in a way that actually allows us to push if our recovery is on point.

So we do need to cycle the intensity of our training.

We do need to vary how muscles are worked and even what muscles are targeted in sessions.

However, too often we only focus on the workouts, not all that we are doing, or not doing, between our sessions to help ourselves recover.

Instead of not pushing in your training, figure out ways you can go at that 100% intensity and truly maximize each session through how you’re fueling and recovering between workouts.

Focus on that quality of your sleep with a bedtime routine to wind down.

Focus on hydrating properly so your muscles can get the nutrients they need and repair.

And focus on making sure you aren’t depriving your muscles of the fuel they need to repair and rebuild.

Which is the next mistake I wanted to cover as it is very easy to fall for those diets with labels that lead to us not properly fueling to see results….

But jumping on that restrictive diet with a label train leads to us not only NOT truly seeing the body recomp we want happen, but ultimately sabotages our long-term success.

This mistake is what can lead to us feeling like our metabolism is broken and that we just have to accept the middle age spread.

We need to stop jumping into these diet programs that just completely restrict whole macros or food groups.

While yes, based on health concerns or activity level or goals, we may adjust our macros or the types of foods we include to move and feel our best…

We need to stop just DEMONIZING foods or macros because they may not be right for someone else.

Because this can lead to us not only sabotaging our fat loss or muscle building results,

but also lead to us creating hormonal imbalances that can impact our health.

Thyroid issues, adrenal fatigue, constant inflammation, low energy…

We blame our training too often for some of these things or even our genetics.

But often it is our diet.

We’ve cut out micronutrient diversity by eliminating whole foods groups.

Or we’ve even restricted a macro to the extent our body can’t handle based on our goals and activity level.

If you’re super active and want to lose fat and gain muscle?

Cutting your carbs super low even if you’ve heard it is better for a women in menopause may sabotage your results.

It may lead to you losing muscle and actually gaining fat as you see your thyroid health impacted and your energy and motivation to train severely decline.

Fear fats will make you fat?

That fear of healthy fats may be why you’re seeing chronic inflammation and constantly sore and not recovering from your sessions as well as you’d like. H

So stop just demonizing foods and realize that each of us may need different dietary preferences or macros to match our needs and goals even as our bodies change over time!

But eat to FUEL your body as you push hard in those sessions to see results and ultimately improve not only your functional strength but your cardiovascular conditioning.

This brings me to mistake number 3, which I find we often make because we’ve been scared away from pushing “too hard” in our training, especially as we get older.

But we NEED to challenge ourselves if we want to create change, ESPECIALLY the older we get and even as we go through menopause….

Our body doesn’t respond the same way it used to when we were younger.

That doesn’t mean we’re doomed. Or that we can’t build our leanest, strongest body ever.

It just means we can’t fear intensity in our training.

So stop skipping those SPRINTS!

Honestly this is a huge mistake not including sprint work often enough.

This doesn’t mean you should now start to do a bazillion sprints daily…

There is such a thing as too much of even a good thing.

But sprint work, and different sprint intervals should be included weekly.

So much love is given to Zone 2 training, and enough can’t be said about building that aerobic foundation…

But too often we fall in love with one form of training, one piece of equipment, one move and neglect other essential components that would make our systems more successful.

You want that diversity in your programming over the course of the week.

So include that short and killer sprint work!

Note I said SHORT and killer. Just because you have an hour to train doesn’t mean you always need to use it!

Too often we just focus on training longer, on doing more, over designing with a purpose.

Sprint work shouldn’t be stretched out into a long workout.

It’s generally a quick session, and often no longer than 30 minutes at LONGEST.

And honestly, the things that should impact the length of your sessions most aren’t even the length of the sprints themselves, but the rest between or the prehab work you include before and after!

Sprints really should be between 8-20 seconds, 30 seconds at longest.

Depending on what you’re working on you may do a work to rest set up of 2:1 up to 1:12 work to rest as intervals based on how much you’re working on true explosive speed.

And this variety of options can be used to your advantage.

Two amazing sprint protocols for women that are focused on body recomp while improving their cardiovascular health are…

20 seconds on, 10 seconds off or even 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off for 4-8 rounds.

The different work to rest intervals will help you target different energy systems over the week!

However, going back again to the biggest mistake I see people making, under recovering…

The harder you train, the more you need to make sure you’re truly getting your body what it needs.

So don’t make the mistake of NOT EATING ENOUGH to lose fat and gain muscle!

I know this was a mistake I made multiple times over the years.

Eating less to try to see faster results on the scale is a hard mindset to shift.

But as much as a calorie deficit is needed to lose fat, eating less will NOT yield better results faster and is often why we get stuck on that yo-yo dieting cycle never actually seeing the definition we want.

It’s what leads to metabolic adaptations and hormonal imbalances, especially as we restrict whole food groups or macronutrients.

If you want to see your hard work in the gym paying off, you need to fuel well.

And often that means eating more to ultimately lose fat and look leaner!

When you want to lose fat, you want to create a very small calorie deficit of only 100-200 calories off of what you’re eating to maintain your weight.

More than that and you do cause your body to find ways to conserve energy.

Our workouts can suffer, we can stop fidgeting or moving as much naturally.

Our body will even adjust other bodily processes to account for the reduction in energy coming in.

That’s why we don’t want to cut calories too low.

And if we’re training hard, we need to make sure we’re getting our body the fuel it needs to repair and rebuild.

Muscle requires more energy to be maintained.

So if you want to retain your lean muscle and even build more, you’ve got to eat enough to support the process to do that.

And the more muscle you then keep on, the more you then may find your calorie requirements increasing.

This is why you want to be conscious not to just cut your calories lower and lower, even if you do hit a weight loss plateau.

It’s also why you need to focus not just on calories but also on this essential macro everyone always wants to avoid prioritizing…

PROTEIN. Yup.

This is a big mistake we often make…Not prioritizing protein.

And while many of us hate being told we should eat more protein…

We should.

Especially if you’re a woman.

Especially if you’re feeling like your age is causing you to struggle to lose fat and gain muscle.

Especially if you train hard and “eat well” and aren’t seeing the results you want.

High protein diets are the only ones shown to help you build and retain lean muscle in a deficit and avoid gaining fat in a calorie surplus.

This gives you more wiggle room on your calorie intake and can help you make sure your hard work in the gym pays off.

And because we don’t use protein as efficiently as we get older, we need to make sure we’re getting bigger portions of protein in every meal to stimulate the same muscle building response.

So as much as you may hate being reminded of this tip, it’s a big mistake if you keep running from making this change in your diet.

And yes…It can be a challenge to start.

But instead of just saying it isn’t possible to eat more protein,

take one meal and your current protein source and just add one ounce. BOOM! More protein!

And if you’re still thinking “But I’m not a body builder. I don’t want to get bulky.”

Protein won’t make you bulky.

It can actually be key for seeing better fat loss because it raises your metabolic rate, aka requires more calories, to digest protein.

Which brings me to mistake number 6…and something too often also feared for making us bulky…

Heavy weights!

We need to stop fearing and avoiding low rep, heavy weight lifting.

And on top of this, which is mistake number 7, we also need to stop turning to doing more cardio when we want to lose fat.

This prioritization of steady state cardio or even only high rep, lighter load weight work is what can hold us back from truly gaining muscle or even losing fat.

Metabolic health, especially as we get older is key.

And while we may see a higher calorie burn on our fitness trackers from cardio workout, strength workouts may be more essential for our metabolism and body recomp goals.

Not to mention strength workouts can improve our cardiovascular health.

Workouts really don’t have to be only cardio or strength.

They can work a variety of energy systems while helping us build muscle.

But we can’t fear those heavy weights that challenge us for lower rep work.

Because the more we build that strength, the more we can lift to see better muscle gains and even then improve our strength endurance for any cardio endurance sports we do love!

But heavy weights are what help us truly challenge ourselves so our muscles are forced to repair and rebuild stronger.

And no, your age isn’t an excuse to skip those heavy weights. You honestly need them even more.

Use it or lose it!

We need to keep pushing ourselves to optimize our results.

So if you’ve been struggling to see the results you want, assess if you’re making one of these mistakes and focus on even a small habit adjustment you can make this week to start correcting your course!

Dial in your diet and your workouts to build your leanest, strongest body at any and every age!

If you’re looking for that custom program and coaching to help, check out my 1:1 Private Coaching.

–> Apply and Schedule A Consultation

3x The Effectiveness of Your Workouts (10 Tips)

by Cori Lefkowith | Jun 23, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Workouts

Guess what 1 of these 10 tips isn’t…

DO MORE!

Because too often in doing more we make our workouts less effective.

We waste time and energy.

And then we blame a lack of time for our lack of progress or our ability to stick with our plan.

We even start to get frustrated with our lack of results for all the effort we put in.

And this is because we’re constantly just doing more.

Which is why I think this first rule is so key….

#1: Design With Purpose.

Everything in your workouts should be done with a strategic reason behind it that drives you forward.

We only add reps or sets because that volume or training density is needed.

We change up tempos or types of moves or where we hold the weights because it targets what we need to work in the way we need to work those muscles.

We aren’t just including supposedly best moves.

We’re including moves that match OUR needs and goals and current fitness level and progressing and evolving those over time as our needs and goals change.

And if your goal is weight loss especially, you don’t just want to have the purpose of your sessions to be “burn more calories…

Which is why rule number 2 is

#2: Set A PERFORMANCE Focus.

While yes, working out does help us burn more calories and can be a way to create that calorie deficit for weight loss, seeing our workouts only as important for the calorie burn undervalues them.

It is also what leads to use often just doing more or workout harder only to end up frustrated when results don’t happen faster.

We end up wasting more time and effort.

And we often then give up when we aren’t seeing quicker changes on the scale.

But true body recomp, losing fat as you gain or retain muscle, is a SLOW process.

To help yourself stay consistent, it is key you also set performance goals for your sessions.

This allows you to measure success in other ways to keep implementing the habits you need to reach your goals.

It also helps you design your workouts to have progression and build.

So even if your ultimate goal is to lose weight, consider setting a goal for your workouts to also lift more weight on your deadlift or master that push up from your toes.

This will keep you pushing hard in your sessions to see those results snowball and allow you to design everything with a clear focus that is even more trackable to adjust!

Then just because you have the time, doesn’t always mean you need to use it.

Third Rule…Don’t just let workouts fill the time allotted.

Whether you have 30 minutes to train or an hour, you can design a workout to work for that time.

But just because you have the hour doesn’t mean you’ll always need to use it based on your goals or current fitness level.

The intensity you want to train at and what you want to work on should dictate how long the session is…not just how long you have.

If you’re wanting to include sprint work, you may only need 20 minutes, especially if working on more speed or power.

You don’t want to do wasted volume training at a lower intensity just to do more and fill the hour.

And if you do really want to fill the hour, maybe you do so by adding in mobility work.

However, you may need an hour if you’re planning to work on 1 rep max lifts.

Having only 30 minutes to train wouldn’t be ideal for this as you need long rest periods and more time to really hit the volume you need.

Design for the time you have to make your schedule work and see results, but also don’t just use the time because you have it!

Don’t waste your time…especially if you’ve ever used the excuse “I don’t have enough time!” as a reason to skip your session!

And to help you get the most out of each session, you need to focus on pushing that progression.

You need to find ways to challenge yourself.

Which means you’re not always just doing the top reps listed!

This 4th rule is really about pushing that comfort zone and not just stopping at the top amount of reps assigned because…well it’s the top of the rep range listed.

Especially if you’re advanced exerciser, you may even really want to push that lower end of the rep range in your programming.

You may even find you want to error on hitting 7 reps to then STICK at that weight until you can do 10-12 reps with it before then again increasing.

But if you want better results, even if a weight feels hard for the top end of the rep range, GO UP as long as you can maintain form.

Do fewer reps with that heavier load to challenge yourself and add reps the next week to progress!

And then remember that adding weights, or even reps, aren’t the only ways to advance your workouts and drive those results.

Rule 5…Create Progression Through The Same But Different.

I think progression through the use of different movement variations is too often undervalued and underutilized.

The smallest of small tweaks is sometimes all we need to see results and bust through a plateau.

Because changes in movements can activate muscles to different extents, putting a different emphasis on what is working while challenge our mind-body connection in new ways.

Slight changes in our posture or position with an exercise can have an impact.

Like the chin up or underhand grip vs. the pull up or overhand grip.

The underhand grip emphasizes more bicep and requires less scapular control while the overhand grip emphasizes the back more, requiring more control of those shoulder blades to engage the lats.

Both can and should be used based on what you need!

Diversity when used strategically can be used to our advantage – it just needs to be included with purpose.

And we need to be intentional with those moves we use.

We can’t just seek to zone out and be mindless with our workouts if we want better results.

We can’t just try to get through or rush through the workout.

We need to truly focus on what we feel working and push ourselves…which is uncomfortable.

That’s why this next rule is…Is to be intentional and present.

This is something I harp on probably to an annoying extent with clients and one of the issues I have with follow along workouts.

With those workouts, people just try to keep up. Or do what the instructor is doing.

They aren’t focused on what they feel working or what they need to do.

They’re often just going through the motions, thinking even that doing a harder move is better.

But every move is earned.
And doing a harder move isn’t better if we aren’t working the correct muscles.

Honestly it can be worse, leading to overload and injury.

It can mean we’re doing a ton of moves that aren’t fully paying off!

If you want to get the most out of your workouts, you want to feel the correct muscles working. You want to be focused to truly push your boundaries and challenge yourself!

Because just going through the motions may mean we’re spending time training, but not maximizing that effort!

Because where our attention goes, our energy flows.

And this is even why rule #7 is to…

Pay Attention To Workout Order

This rule honestly means a few different things…

It means putting exercises in specific orders based on your goals, prioritizing lifts first that you want to be freshest for so you can lift heavier, while honing in on muscles with more isolated moves as you fatigue…

It means being strategic in how you include strength vs. cardio sessions, prioritizing what you value and want to be freshest for first…

Like if you’re training for a race, cardio should be done first.

However, if body recomp is your goal, strength work should be done first with cardio implemented strategically after or even on other days.

And even order how you split up what muscles you work and the moves you include should be considered for over the course of your weekly schedule.

For example, putting heavy barbell deadlifts earlier in your week may be key, especially if you’ve ever struggled with back pain as you want that move after you’ve had rest days and are fresh instead of later in your week when muscles may be tired.

You may even notice that by changing order of moves, you feel different things working!

Ever been sore from a previous workout, where maybe you did more core work, to only then realize how much your core is engaging during push ups later that week?

That exercise order has an impact!

But no matter what order you choose to include moves in…

There’s one thing you can’t skip to start EVERY single session.

And that’s your warm up.

But if you want to get more out of your training, a warm up isn’t just about “getting warm.”

It’s about actually MOBILIZING those joints and prepping your body for work.

Your warm up should be about addressing previous injuries, movement compensations and even daily postures that may impact your workout as you also warm up your body.

You want to make yourself get benefit out of that very first rep of your training session vs. feeling like it takes you a few rounds to get into things.

A proper warm up helps you make sure you’re able to strengthen through a full range of motion and engage the correct muscles so you don’t compensate, which can lead to injury.

So focus your warm ups on foam rolling to relax overactive and tight muscles…

Dynamic stretching to mobilize joints and improve your flexibility…

And then activation to establish that mind-body connection to get underactive muscles working and improve your stability.

You’ll be amazed at how much that warm up you want to skip now really pays off so you get more out of your workouts and aren’t being sidelined with injuries or feeling like you’re recovery is super slow!

Which actually leads me to the final 2 essential rules…and something that can be mentally hard to embrace when we equate feeling worked and working harder to better results faster…

But no pain, no gain is not the best attitude to have!

Rule #9…Soreness can’t be the goal and Rule #10…Low intensity sessions are essential!

We can only train as hard as we can recover from.

And if every session is leaving us feeling destroyed…

We will start to see our performance and results go backward as we aren’t giving our body the recovery it needs to rebuild
And…
We may end up burned out and injured struggling to find the motivation to get back into things

Basically we’ll be working hard to see lackluster results.

And I mentioned soreness because too often we seek to be sore and use that as a judgement of working hard enough.

But soreness doesn’t mean our workouts are moving us forward.

We can be sore because of the types of moves we include or even because we did NEW moves.

Soreness is even an indication that we aren’t creating clear progression but just randomly stringing things together that aren’t building or even that our recovery in between sessions, such as our fueling isn’t on point.

Not being sore isn’t a bad thing.

It may even be a good sign you’re progressing at an appropriate pace.

However, because of building and even moves like the deadlift that cause more muscle tissue damage, you may get sore at times even with proper recovery.

This though is why lower intensity sessions can be key.

They mentally help you recharge and allow you to move in a non-stressful way that can even enhance recovery.

So don’t skip the yoga or the mobility work or even that casual walk because it doesn’t feel as worth it…because it may be the key to getting more out of your other sessions!

SUMMARY:

The more purposeful and intentional we are with our training, the better and faster the results we will see.

Don’t just go through the motions or string together random free workouts that look hard.

Stay focused on your needs and goals and create a plan to move forward!

Want amazing workouts to help you rock those results?

Check out my Dynamic Strength program!

FHP 643 – What Is A Heart Healthy Diet?

by Cori Lefkowith | Jun 18, 2024 | podcast

LISTEN HERE

WATCH HERE

TRANSCRIPT

OPEN TRANSCRIPT

Cori (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating or even better share with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in. Our diet really gives us so much ability to control and impact our health for the positive and for the negative. And after seeing a comment this last week about making changes, feeling like all of a sudden something was out of their control in terms of their heart health and their cardiovascular health, I really wanted to bring Julia in to talk about nutritional changes we could make to improve our cardiovascular health, take care of our heart, fuel our body well, because there is so much we can do to really impact in a positive way how we’re feeling and our health.

(01:01):
So Julia, thank you so much for joining me. I want to jump into right away some background on what a heart healthy diet really is. Some of the changes we can even see, because I think especially this one client was struggling with some new changes in her blood levels despite not necessarily eating any differently than she had previously. And there’s some things that can happen as we get older and go through menopause that can impact our heart health as well. So can you dive into a little bit of background for me?

Julia (01:27):
Of course. Yeah. I’m excited to dive into this. I think we hear all the time what a heart healthy diet is, but we don’t exactly know what to do, so we’ll definitely get into that. But first off, just some signs that you should be focusing on your heart health. Like you were saying as far as blood levels, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, if you have high blood pressure as well, or if you are someone in that menopausal time period, because we know that our estrogen declines during menopause and that really works hard to have a positive effect on your blood vessels. Keeping those inner linings flexible and then just for overall health as well, right? Because you always want to be on the preventative side versus that reactive side where you’re getting back those blood levels and you’re kind of feeling that frustration. So really just for anyone looking to improve their health overall as well.

Cori (02:14):
And it’s key to note that these numbers will change. Again, with menopause, we might see changes with changes that are fueling with changes, even our weight loss. During the weight loss process, our numbers can be impacted. So not everything’s necessarily a sign that we need to freak out and do a whole bunch of dramatic changes, but at the same time, when we do see that change in blood numbers, we want to know where it’s coming from and what we can do to really positively impact that. Usually we hear a lot about those healthy fats For your heart, can you go over the different types of fat and the impact they might have?

Julia (02:47):
Sure. So first off, we have saturated fats, which are those that are really highly demonized when we talk about heart health. They’re mostly found in animal foods, but they can also be found in things like coconut oil or palm oil. Next step, we have trans fats. These can increase the bad cholesterol while simultaneously lowering the good cholesterol. So overall really increases our risk for heart disease and these can be found in things like commercial baked goods, margarine, microwave, popcorn and non-dairy creamers and fried foods. And then finally we have those good fats that we want to add in. So these are our unsaturated fats. These can be our monounsaturated and our polyunsaturated fats, which are found in those plant-based foods. Things like almonds, avocados, nuts and seeds, and then those omega threes. So we hear so much about these and these can really help lower those triglyceride levels or reduce inflammation and prevent blood clots to really support our heart health. And these are found in things like fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, tuna, shrimp, sardines, and also plant-based foods like walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds at aama and olive oil. And for this, we really want to be within that one to 1.5 gram range per day. So this can be as simple as having four ounces of salmon or a tablespoon of flax seed.

Cori (04:08):
I love that you mentioned all the nuance and the different types of fats because I think often they just get demonized as, oh, low fat is key, but really there is not just a blanket statement that you can make. You want to make sure that you’re adjusting the type of fat that you’re consuming and paying attention to those quality sources that will impact you positively. And not only increasing potentially the good ones, but taking a look at, hey, maybe I’m already including a ton of positive ones, but I have a lot of the ones that are not necessarily promoting health in the way that I want also included. And so you can cut back, but it’s that fine line of addition, but also sometimes subtraction off of that, we hear often demonize salt when it comes to our heart health. Can you talk a little bit about the impact that salt really has and whether or not we should be as worried about it as we are?

Julia (04:56):
Of course. So we hear all the time to cut sodium because a high sodium diet can lead to high blood pressure and that is a risk factor for heart disease. Ideally, we want to be under that 2300 milligram range per day, but if you are someone who maybe you know this is something you need to work on, your doctors told you you have high blood pressure, some things you can do would be limit eating out as those are higher sodium foods. Typically limiting processed meats, whether this be lunch meat sausages, things like bacon burgers, opting for no salt added options if you’re buying canned foods. So for things like tuna or beans or veggies, just opting for a no salt option if they have it or just seasoning your food differently. So instead of going for those really high salt seasonings, going for things like herbs, garlic, onion peppers, or just lemon juice or I know they have that brand mustache, the salt-free seasoning. So that’s another really great option to watch that. But overall, if you are someone who is sweating every single day, you’re pretty active. Watching your sodium probably isn’t going to be super important for you, especially if you are an athlete who is very active and endurance athlete, you most likely have higher sodium needs. So this doesn’t exactly apply to every single person.

Cori (06:12):
It’s really key. We note that point that it doesn’t apply to every single person because I think often when something is not recommended for a specific population, it starts to hit mainstream and we think all of us shouldn’t be having it and that can hold us back whether or not it’s reducing carbs or reducing sodium. So really understanding your needs is very key as well. And realizing the importance of sodium potentially in your diet. So don’t just write something off because someone else might need to adjust that for their health. Also assess what your current intake is to make those tweaks. And I love that you brought up the different seasonings because salt can be hidden in things sort of deceptively. And if we don’t pay attention to that overall intake, if we’re not tracking, we might not notice some of the places we’re getting it that we didn’t even realize with that too. We’re talking about hydration off of sodium as well often, and hydration is multifaceted. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of not only hydration but that electrolyte balance even for heart health?

Julia (07:11):
Of course. So a lot of times with these high sodium levels, we also see a lack of other really important electrolytes and these other electrolytes really work to keep that sodium balance in our body. So one of them being magnesium. Magnesium is essential for proper electrical signaling and muscle contractions of the heart, but also works to manage sodium levels as it helps transport potassium into our cells, which then regulate that sodium and water balance in the body. So if we see a lack of magnesium and potassium, that could also be contributing to high sodium levels in the body. Some ways to improve magnesium will be consuming foods like pumpkin seeds, darvy, green vegetables, rolled oats, cashews, nuts like almonds, peanuts, whole wheat bread, avocados, and this is a really big one because again, we see that such a large majority, I believe it’s over 70% of the population in the US is magnesium deficient. So again, a really great one to maybe even look into supplementing with if you are struggling to meet those needs through diet

Cori (08:16):
And even recognizing that those needs might change as you go through menopause, as you have different things going on and as we even do see changes in our blood numbers. So just because you might’ve been getting enough so to speak at one point doesn’t mean that right now you’re filling that nutritional gap. So paying extra attention to your needs as they change is really important. And I think so often we do jump right to what we should cut out when we want to improve our health over what we should add in. Can you go over some really great things to add into our diet if we are looking to improve our heart health and even manage some changes we’ve seen in our blood numbers with menopause or even with weight loss in general

Julia (08:54):
Of, so another big one when it comes to heart health, especially if you are someone who you struggle with, high cholesterol fiber is going to be really, really key just because fiber goes bind to that cholesterol and it helps us excrete it through our bowel movements. So getting this from foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and even plant proteins like tofu, Tempe, lentils or beans can really, really help. And for most of us, we should be aiming for that at least 25 grams of fiber per day. We can always add in a fiber supplement, but it’s not necessary in most situations if you are eating a balanced diet. So even just hitting that 25 gram range per day can look like having a half cup of oatmeal at breakfast, an apple as a snack, a half cup of black beans with your lunch, and then a cup of Brussels sprouts at your dinner.

(09:41):
So really just a balanced diet overall. And then when it comes to just overall health, menopause health, vitamin D is going to be another really, really big one. Again, a huge deficiency that we see across the board, but also really important for heart health is because it can improve bone and heart health and it’s really critical for that absorption of calcium. Calcium helps our blood clot normally. It helps our muscles and nerves to function properly. So overall, it really supports our heart and there has been some research conflicting in the past 10 years or 10 years or so showing that both dietary and supplemental calcium intake actually led to an increased risk of heart issues, whereas because it was believed to really contribute to that calcification building up in the blood vessels. But researchers have recently been finding that when supplementing with both vitamin D and calcium together, they see a decreased risk of heart disease as the vitamin D aids in that absorption of calcium. So again, a really big one to either supplement with or to get in through foods, things like egg yolks, fatty fish like salmon, tuna can also be really great sources through your diet

Cori (10:54):
And you’re going to hit on multiple things when you’re paying attention to these micros. Again, the healthy fats even. And going back to fiber, I think touching on the supplement part, and this occurred to me because while I am 100% in support of supplements to make things easier, I think always including and first going to that food diversity is so important and also recognizing why we want to supplement. A lot of times it can be good because we can’t get enough through our diet despite trying to include that diversity. But I think often with fiber supplements too, it’s because we want to so work in certain foods or not change our diet that we go to the supplement to increase overseeing how we can adjust and increase more fiber. And I bring this up because I actually had a comment just today on one of my posts about trying to decrease their sugar intake and wanting to pay more attention to that and break that down in their tracking.

(11:42):
And I said instead, why don’t you focus on that fiber intake? Because by focusing on higher fiber foods, you’re probably going to reduce just the sugar that you are consuming and get more quality carbs in instead of even turning to that supplement to increase fiber. So it slightly shifts the mindset from cutting out, which I think creates that restriction mindset, makes us rebel more to what we can add in, and I think that’s a super key focus with all of this, what can you add in that’s really going to help you see changes and results?

Julia (12:12):
Yeah,

Cori (12:13):
And I was going to say off of that, some key takeaways. If someone’s really looking to improve their heart health, they have seen their numbers change a little bit over time and they’re worried about it and they don’t want to turn to necessarily any sort of medication right now, if they’re really looking to make a change this week, what would you recommend? They start with

Julia (12:32):
Just taking anything that we talked about today, seeing where maybe in your diet you could be lacking, whether that be those omega threes that fiber that we talked about, or even those crucial micronutrients like magnesium and vitamin D, and seeing where you can really boost it in your diet. Again, it can be as simple as just adding a tablespoon of flay to your yogurt or your smoothie, something that already is in your diet. If you have eggs in the morning at breakfast, can you pair that with oatmeal on the side to really help bring down that cholesterol? Because adding that fiber in there while there’s so many different things that we can incorporate into our diet, also be honest with yourself about if you do need to supplement to fill in those gaps as well.

Cori (13:11):
And think in terms of diversity is a fun challenge to hit your macros if you’re tracking or even just to eat more of the rainbow. I think the more we find ways to make it fun or a challenge that’s positive over feeling restricted or deprived or just too overwhelming and we just focus on that one small change and see it as a challenge, the better off we’re going to be.

Cori (13:32):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack podcast. Again. This is the place where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the

Cori (13:44):
Podcast to leave a rating review

Cori (13:46):
Or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know

*Please Note: this transcript is auto-generated and there may be some errors in the transcript