(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 you know. So let’s jump right in.

(00:28):
So you want to see those muscle gains. Well, I’m going to talk about 15 reasons why you might not be seeing the results that you want, because there’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like you’re working really hard to not see the results snowball in the way that you feel that they should. And while effort doesn’t always equal outcome, there are lots of practices we often clinging to that we think are good, that we’ve heard are good for our health that helped us lose the weight that are actually sabotaging us moving towards another goal. Because what worked for one goal, what worked in one stage of life doesn’t mean it’ll be right for another stage, another goal. And often what even worked for one goal might hold us back from achieving another, especially when it comes to weight loss. So if you’ve done some of these practices to lose the weight and you’re a little scared to let go of them, I’m going to tell you, you might have to if you now want to focus on gaining muscle.

(01:13):
And there are ways to gain muscle without gaining fat, and it’s all about the systems working together. So I want to touch on 15 reasons you might not be seeing the results you want and what you should really focus on. So number one, you are not eating enough. It’s scary when we’ve lost the weight to first come out of that deficit because we’re going to see the scale increase because we’re no longer deficient in anything. You’re going to see those glycogen stores become full, and that means you’re going to gain some water weight. You are not gaining fat, but because you are no longer depleted from being in the deficit, you’re going to see a little scale increase. This is why the process of retraining your body to eat more needs to be done slowly. But if you clinging to that calorie deficit, if you clinging to trying to eat less and you fear that scale going up, you are not going to see the muscle gains that you want.

(01:55):
And the scariest part about all that is that as you see the scale increase, you might even need to increase your calories further to help you build and retain that lean muscle. Muscle is built slowly, but especially coming again out of that deficit, you’re going to see those stores become full and that is needed to be able to build the muscle. So make sure you are eating enough, make sure you’re slowly increasing those calories, maybe a 50 to a hundred daily and maintaining that over a couple weeks before you then increase again. But you need to eat more and as the scale increases in you’re training hard, you might even need to increase calories further because you’re burning more at rest. And this isn’t just the muscle mass itself that’s burning more calories, but it’s all the processes in place and even the thermic effect of the food that we’re eating is going to have an impact on how much we’re burning to digest it.

(02:35):
So again, building lean muscle, you’re going to have to eat more. Next, you are training fasted. I like intermittent fasting, I like training fasted, but also if you are struggling to build and retain that lean muscle, it might be because you are training fasted, you don’t have the energy supply there that you really need to be able to lift as much as possible. You’re not getting your muscles what they need to repair and rebuild right after. So I’m not saying that you have to give up training fast. If you feel best doing that, you’re training first thing in the morning, but if you’re unwilling to change that meal timing, consider adjusting your meal late at night the night before or even consider for this muscle building phase because you are a hard gainer because you’re really struggling to get in more calories to really create that calorie surplus you need.

(03:17):
Consider not training facet even if it’s something small and make sure that your meal timing even after is really good. But just because training facet worked really well for fat loss just because maybe it even feels best overall, if you have a specific goal you want to drive towards and you want to see better results, especially if you’re a more advanced exerciser where those 1% improvements and tweaks are really going to pay off because you’re adapted to so much training stimulus already, you might want to consider getting in a little meal pre-workout even if it’s a simple carb and a protein source as well. But you want those glycogen stores full because it’s not only energy, but it’s getting your muscles needed fuel to repair and rebuild quickly. Number three, you’re not eating enough protein. So while our protein needs are potentially a little bit higher when we’re in a calorie deficit to help us protect that lean muscle mass while we’re dieting down, and if you are in that deficit and trying to build lean muscle as you’re still continuing to lose fat, then yes, protein is even more essential.

(04:08):
But if you’re starting to go into that calorie surplus because you are at your desired level of leanness, you still want to keep that protein high because that’s going to help you avoid gaining unwanted fat. Your muscles also need amino acids to repair and rebuild. If you don’t get them the appropriate amount, they are going to break down muscle tissue to try and get the amino acids to build muscle tissue back up, which is going to basically negate all of your hard work in the gym. So make sure that you are getting plenty of protein to help you rebuild off of this. Number four, you can’t fear carbs or a meal timing. And I bring these up together because I already slightly touched on the facet training, but often we do fear carbohydrates, especially when trying to lose because you see more jumps in the scale, you see more fluctuations on the scale when you increase carbs because you also gain water weight.

(04:53):
Now the thing to note too with carbs that is extra interesting, at least in my opinion, is the more muscle you have, the more fluctuations on the scale you’re going to see potentially daily because the more glycogen storage you can actually have with more muscle, you can store more glycogen, which is really good because it helps you build more muscle. It helps you even if you’re going to train for a race and you want to be able to PR and have those energy stores, it’s great, but it can lead to more fluctuations. But you can’t see our carbs despite seeing that change on the scale or those fluctuations on the scale because they are that immediate fuel. When we’re training hard, a lot of times we feel like I’m going at a hundred percent intensity. I’m really, really working hard, and then we’re not quite pushing those loads in the same way.

(05:30):
We’re not quite advancing in the same way, and it’s because a hundred percent doesn’t mean a hundred percent, it means a hundred percent of what you have that day. So if you’re not fueling correctly, you might feel like you’re giving it all, but you’re going from a depleted state. So you need to make sure that you actually have the energy there to be able to push hard to keep progressing in your workouts, to see that stimulus for muscle growth. So make sure that you are getting enough carbs. They’re also protein sparing. That means that you can potentially protect your lean muscle mass while being in that deficit can also get the needed fuel. And then you’re not going to necessarily need even more protein to see the same results because it is protein sparing. And with that, it’s all about the meal timing. So if you’re like, I’m in menopause, I’m doing better on low carb ratios, but I really do want to see those muscle gains, or you are somebody with a health concern that might dictate lower carb being right, you can adjust your meal timing and this is where again, potentially giving up your FT training might be key or even making sure that you’re getting more carbs right around your workout.

(06:24):
Even post-workout can be especially important. So don’t fear adjusting your meal timing, whether you’ve usually done maybe two meals over six meals or six meals over two meals. Don’t fear adjusting your meal timing or even the breakdown of how you’re splitting up your macros over the day to make sure that you’re getting them when your body needs. And this is also why I don’t recommend carb cycling or changing macro ratios day to day because your body needs fuel on the days you’re not training to repair and rebuild. And also keeping those stores full so that you go into your next training session, not in a depleted state is especially important when you’re trying to gain muscle without getting fat. Number five, you’re timing your cardio wrong. What I mean by this is a lot of times we will put our cardio as priority in our workouts, whether it’s because we’re training for a race or we think that that’s going to help us lose fat faster.

(07:13):
I see a lot of people putting cardio first, and if you put cardio first when you’re trying to build muscle, you’re going to go into your lifts more fatigued, and so you’re not going to be able to push the weights in the same way. You’re not going to see that same progression and growth. So you need to make sure that your timing, your lips lifts first. You also want to consider that you’re not doing your cardio in a way that impacts subsequent workouts so that you’re again, training in a depleted state. So make sure that you are timing your cardio if you’re doing any cardio after your lifting sessions around them so that you are maybe doing the cardio on a day where the next day you might be doing more upper body and so you’re lower body if it’s fatigued from the cardio, it won’t really impact the next workout.

(07:50):
Even consider how you’re timing your workouts based on your stubborn areas. So if you want to lose more fat off your thighs, if you want to lose more fat off your upper body, your core, what you train earlier in that workout will impact where the fatty acids are mobilized from. So no, you can’t spot reduce scenario, but if you are trying to really get lean and you’re dialed in your workouts and you’ve dialed in your nutrition and you’re still trying to maintain that lean muscle mass while losing fat, think about timing your workouts after those stubborn areas that you want to lose from. On the flip side with trying to focus on building lean muscle, do not put your workouts after an area that you are struggling to gain on. You want to focus those cardio sessions on days opposing like muscle groups that are not areas that you’re struggling to gain.

(08:34):
If you’re struggling to gain muscle on your legs and thighs, do not put cardio after it’s going to be catabolic, it’s going to hinder your results. So really be strategic in how you’re designing your workouts and where you’re putting that cardio. Number six is you’re doing too much steady state cardio if you are including more steady state cardio, and if you’re a runner cyclist, you love doing it. I’m not telling you not to include it, but I want to make you aware of the reward and cost of everything you’re including. That is a more catabolic activity to muscle mass. So I always recommend for my runners that we’re really trying to build new muscles so that they can PR in their next race that we lower the mileage for a point to make it easier, especially the more advanced in exercise where they are because they already have adapted to more stimulus to training progression so they’ve adapted to that they can handle more, so it’s going to take more to see the same results.

(09:18):
It’s those 1% improvements. So if you’re doing a ton of study, say cardio and wondering why you’re not seeing those muscle gains, this might be why, especially if you aren’t really, really extra super conscious of your nutrition, again, dialing in that diet to really make sure you’re in that surplus, you’re getting enough carbs, you’re getting enough protein can be especially important, so you have to be very aware of how everything’s working together, but it could be a perfect time if you want to focus on building muscle to lower your mileage and again, focus on that timing of even those cardio sessions so you’re not putting ’em after an area that you’ve struggled to gain muscle in. Then number seven, you aren’t creating true progression in your workouts. Part of this goes back to what I’ve mentioned a couple of times in that you aren’t actually training at a hundred percent intensity.

(09:57):
You are in a depleted state, you don’t have the energy, so while it feels like you’re giving a hundred percent, it’s not the a hundred percent you could truly lift because you don’t have the energy to do that. Also, a lot of times we’re not following a schedule. I’ll see people being like, why am I not gaining muscle? I’m like, well, what does your weekly schedule look like? Well, I kind of do this here and I kind of do that here. How can you track progression? You can’t say, Hey, I’m doing a reverse lunch and I lifted forties here and I’m going to lift 40 fives the next week. Or I lifted forties here and now the next week I did forties for an extra rep, so then therefore I lifted more loads. You can’t track the progression if you don’t do the same workouts week over week.

(10:28):
This doesn’t mean you have to have boring workouts over the course of the week and repeat the same workout multiple times. I don’t recommend that, but you want to have a weekly schedule. You do repeat and that you’re pushing progression in some way while staying focused on what you feel working, but you need that schedule so you can progress week over week. I also don’t recommend doing the same workout multiple times in the week because one day you’re going to be fatigued from another day, and so you won’t see progression the same way if you’re doing a sumo deadlift three times with a barbell, and that can lead to you tearing down the same muscles in the same way, which will not allow you to rebuild stronger and not see the same results. So with this being said though, when you’re creating the progression, you don’t want to stay on a progression too long.

(11:06):
I will find people get very comfortable with workouts and then they feel like they’re working really hard because it still hurts, but they’re not pushing that progression. They get a little too comfortable, they’re clinging to the same things, the same forms of progression, and therefore they’re not pushing themselves outside their comfort zone using those other ways to stimulate muscle growth. So don’t get so caught up in repeating a progression for too long that you aren’t really pushing that progress. Even though it might feel hard, then don’t fear a rep range or other forms of progression. I love lifting heavy. Lifting. Heavy is a great way to drive muscle growth is one of the easiest ways to drive muscle growth, but it’s not the only way. And the more advanced an exercise you are, the more you might hit some of those upper limits of what you can lift, especially without potentially addressing some weaker links or using other forms of progression.

(11:48):
Some of those things can make you realize, I actually haven’t hit my cap. I just was only pushing progression one way. So I would tell you, even if you love that heavy barbell deadlift or that heavy back row, try a unilateral move while it might feel uncomfortable, while you might not enjoy the instability because you have to really check your ego to go down in weights, that progression through the same but different by creating instability, by using that unilateral move can really pay off in even helping you increase weights in other movements. But it can also help you drive that muscle growth because there are so many ways besides loads to really drive that progression, create that stimulus from muscle growth. And it’s not only doing different movements, harder variations with different ranges of motion, it’s using different rep ranges. It’s maybe saying, Hey, I’ve been working in that eight to 12 rep, the six to 12 rep range with hyper hypertrophy, but I maxed out the loads.

(12:34):
Maybe I need to do some maximal strength to see if I can improve my strength to lift more for that hypertrophy rep range. Or, Hey, I’ve been neglecting the higher reps because I don’t really enjoy them or I have heard that’s not as essential for muscle growth, but that too can drive muscle growth because there are different drivers, three different drivers of muscle growth and using the high rep range can be really beneficial. Even how we combine those things can really pay off. So we can’t fear working outside our traditional hypertrophy rep range. We can’t fear not only or we can’t only focus on heavy loads as well. Number nine, you’re not using isolation moves. Compound moves are going to give you the most bang for your buck. If you are short on time, go to compound moves. Do not deviate from compound moves. And what I mean by compound movements or compound exercises is these are exercises that work.

(13:19):
Multiple joints require lots of large muscle groups to work together in unison. They’re things like deadlifts, they’re things like squats, lunges, the barbell row, the pushup things that require lots of muscles to work together. They’re going to help you burn more calories in a single session and they’re going to require you to move heavier loads. They’re going to be a great bag for your buck if you want to build muscle and see that great body recomp. However, isolation moves are really important if you are a more advanced lifter, if you do have the time to work them in, especially for stubborn areas because they’re going to help you bring that muscle to fatigue, especially some of the larger muscle groups potentially that with the compound exercises won’t be worked to fatigue because smaller muscles might fatigue first, but you need to include some of those isolation moves to really target and hone in on those moves to target and hone in on the stubborn muscles.

(14:07):
Hopefully I said that correctly brain cut out there. But number 10, you’re sticking with body parts splits. We see body parts splits all the time for the bodybuilding competitors, but not only are they generally using other things which impact recovery, how much they can lift all that jazz, but a lot of times we just don’t have the schedule ability to fully optimize those things. Not to mention, a lot of studies have shown that with pushing ourselves two to three times a week, training an area, especially stubborn areas can be really beneficial. So I would tell you if you’ve really fallen into the bodybuilding, ask type workouts where you’re doing glutes one day, biceps another, make it a little bit easier on yourself and make your schedule a little bit more efficient, make sure that you’re also getting that training frequency in for areas, because a lot of times you’re not going to stretch your workouts out to hours long and include a ton rest between things and it’s just not as efficient.

(15:00):
And with some of the advanced bodybuilding training techniques that we’ve sort of lost the old school techniques like compound burner 6, 12 25, you can get a lot of bang for your buck by increasing your training frequency. So let go of the body parts splits if you’ve been clinging to them, consider hemisphere splits. So upper, lower, consider anterior posterior of front backside. These things can help you really be efficient and even spend less time in the gym while seeing better results. And they can mix it up too if you’ve been clinging to those old or the more traditional body parts splits and not seeing the results that you want as you become more advanced in your training. 11, you don’t push to true failure, so you’re not embracing being comfortable in ways outside your comfort zone. A lot of times, again, going back to the thing I mentioned at the beginning, we’re not fueling adequately.

(15:44):
We’re not in that calorie surplus. We’re not giving yourself enough fuel to be able to push. Also with this, we’re not embracing discomfort through the unilateral moves, through creating that instability through increasing the drainage of motion, we get comfortable being uncomfortable in certain ways. We are okay feeling challenged by the heavier weight with specific movements. We might even avoid specific exercises. I know I personally really don’t like step-ups, but I’ve made an extra effort to include them because I know part of the reason I don’t like them is because they challenge me in a way I’m not comfortable with. And the more you do them, the more comfortable you become with that. But that can help you push to true failure. And I even bring this up when it comes to rep ranges because I’ll have people sort of fight against me sometimes with the higher rep ranges when I include a move, even specifically with the compound burners, I’ll have them do a compound exercise like a lunge and followed it up with 15 to 20 reps on a more isolated movement, whether or not it’s like a glute exercise or a quad exercise depending on the lunge variation, and they’ll sort of fight me on those higher reps until they really try it out and then they’ll realize wholly moly, I’m taking that muscle group to failure in a new way where I even have to stop at 15 reps with a lot lighter load than I thought.

(16:47):
And then even when I go back to that next round of lunges, that way feels so much heavier and that really pays off. So we have to find different ways to take ourselves to true failure and not just stop when something feels hard. There’s a lot of times we’ll stop put down the weight, and it’s like, could you do two more reps? Sometimes you got to try it, and yes, we don’t want our form to break down and put ourselves at risk for injury, but even if you’re a little afraid of pushing through, maybe you do rest pause technique. You say, I did my A reps. Put it down for just 15 seconds. Pick it up and do two more just to make sure your form is on point, but you’re still doing two more reps. But we have to push that failure, especially for women.

(17:21):
We are more endurance based and whether or not it’s truly genetic or whether or not, it’s also how we’ve always the sports we’re more usually into when we’re growing up, we can handle a lot more volume often and we can also, we have a lot more strength endurance. So pushing a little bit more to failure is really key for us, especially as we go through menopause. Number 12, you want to be sore and are constantly sore. Seeking to be sore is not our focus when we want to build muscle progression, seeing that we’ve done a little bit more each and every week throughout the weeks is what we need to see when we seek to be sore. A lot of times what we’re not realizing is that we’re just including movements that cause muscle tissue damage and not using the other drivers of muscle growth.

(18:03):
We’re potentially not recovering correctly and we’re not fueling correctly. So seeking to be sore is not what we want to do. It probably is holding us back, and it’s probably even meaning that we’re not repeating workouts consistently that we’re, again, not recovering, but then stringing together random new things, which is just keeping it sore because new makes us sore more than anything else. Muscle tissue damage, so moves like the deadlift and things that put more stretching the muscle under load are what caused more muscle tissue damage and that soreness, and it’s not a bad thing to be sore, but you should see over your progression that you’re becoming less sore as you’re able to handle more loads because you’re adapting and recovering correctly to build that lean muscle, then you’re not focusing on recovery. We can only train as hard as we can recover from Recovery is undervalued.

(18:46):
I’ll tell you that we focus so much on how can I burn more calories? How can I do more in the gym? How can I lift more? But if you’re not recovering, you’re not going to be able to push in the gym the way that you should. So focus on your sleep, focus on your fueling, focus on the macros that you’re using. Focus on the mobility work to get more out of your training sessions. But don’t ignore your recovery. Not every workout should be a hundred percent intensity. Even there are going to be some workouts that should feel easier so that you’re rebuilding in that time. We rebuild when we recover. So you need that recovery to see the results that you want in those muscle building efforts. Even consider how you’re including your mobility work and your activation. That activation really uses that metabolic stress to even drive muscle growth.

(19:23):
So there’s even a point to that and those pumper based movements that might not make you a sore the next day, but that will drive muscle growth in a very valuable way because you can recover more quickly from it. Then number 14, you’re not training a true a hundred percent intensity. I’ve mentioned not going to failure and not having the energy to train as hard, but you have to truly push that a hundred percent. So you’ve got to say, Hey, am I recovering to a point where I feel like I’m actually moving forward in my workout sessions? Am I able to lift more? Am I able to progress? Am I able to have that my body connection or am I coming from a depleted state? Assess those things because you might realize you need more calories, you need more carbs, you need to focus on protein, you need to focus on sleep a little bit more.

(20:03):
Maybe you need to take that deload week because you are even mentally not able to push as hard because I think that’s something we don’t focus on enough too. We think about how our body feels, but not how our mind feels. And mentally, if we are stressed at work, if we have all these different things going on, we might be depleted mentally and then go into our sessions and not have the wherewithal to push yourself to be uncomfortable in that way on that day. So assess where you are at mentally because sometimes you need to back off and let some of the other stressors be taken care of first and even use that deload week to maybe address some of the weaknesses that you have. So when you come back, you come back stronger, but then you’re able to make yourself more uncomfortable in the gym setting to push those forms of progression to see the results you want.

(20:43):
Now, last but not least, you expect results too fast. Not recognizing that experience actually slows progress. Muscle gains are slow. When we talk about, or people will mention faster muscle gains, a lot of times it is because now they have glycogen storage in the muscle mass that they built. But the more advanced you are, the slower those gains will be over the course of the year, and even one to two pounds over the course of a year might be all you can expect. Now, saying this, a lot of times we might see on some of those body scans, the body fat testers quicker changes, and it’s because those things are impacted by hydration. But also because in some of our dieting practices, even when we’re doing things strategically, we are going to lose a little bit more muscle. So all of a sudden and trying to retrain our body to eat more, even eating at maintenance, you might see a little bit of the muscle mass you lost come back on, and again, as that muscle is regained and you’re not in a deficit, you’re going to not be in a depleted state.

(21:31):
So you’re going to see that glycogen storage, that water weight. So that’s where the fluctuations on the scale might change while you still look even leaner. But just remember, results are slow, but only through constantly pushing that progression are we not only building muscle, but we’re retaining what we had previously as we get older, which it does become harder to build a retaining muscle because we’re not utilizing proteins efficiently and our hormonal environment is simply not optimal. So you need to keep pushing that form of progression, even if you’re just trying to maintain what you had. So hopefully these 15 tips are really helpful so that you can see those better muscle gains. But just remember guys, what used to work or what worked for one goal might not necessarily be what you need to drive forward towards the next one. So letting go of some of those tactics, realizing they’re not part of our identity is really key, as hard as it can be, especially when they did work to help us see the results we wanted prior. But I want you all to see those muscle gains and I hope these tips helped.

(22:28):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hacks 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 podcast to leave a rating review or share it with somebody 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 I.

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

Cori (00:28):
I hate the demonization of any macronutrient, and on a few posts recently, I’ve gotten things like there are no essential carbs, demonizing carbs. And while I think that low carb ratios can be fabulous and work really well for people, I think keto can be very beneficial for people. I think the second we start just demonizing a macronutrient, writing it off, saying that it’s bad, that there’s no purpose to it, we’re holding ourselves back from seeing results. And that’s why I’m super excited to have Julia on today to dispel some of those myths and really share some true facts about carbs and how they can benefit us, especially as women. And as she’ll mention to you, may is all about women’s hormones and there are some great benefits of carbs to that. So welcome. Julia, can you give a little background on why when I even presented this topic to you because of those comments, you were so excited to talk more about carbs?

Julia (01:23):
Sure, yes. I am so excited to be here When it comes to women’s health and just hormone health in general, I think low carb diets are often recognized. It’s a tool to really balance our blood sugar or to kickstart weight loss, but they’re not really the best solution to long-term health. And kind of going off of what Corey said, I don’t love the demonization of any specific food group. I think that those diets can kind of be very catchy and promise a lot of results, but at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves what’s most sustainable for us and what’s going to provide us with those long lasting changes? So super excited to be here. I know with hormones, fats get all the glory, so I really just wanted to dive into carbohydrates, how they affect our hormones, weight loss, and overall health as well today.

Cori (02:14):
So let’s jump right into myth number one. What is it in terms of carbohydrates?

Julia (02:23):
So there’s a few different factors here. The first would be kind of that adrenal dysregulation as we call it. Some of you may have heard of it in the term of adrenal fatigue. So when we are cutting our carbohydrates really low, essentially our body perceives that as under nutrition in a sense, if we’re under consuming carbohydrates. And it also perceives that in general as a stressor. So in someone who’s highly active, if you’re exerting a lot or for just a regular person, we need a certain amount of carbohydrates every day. And if we’re not meeting those needs, it really perceives that as to us because we’re not fueling properly for what we are doing. So when we experience this stress, our hypothalmic pituitary axis, otherwise known as our HVA access response by releasing cortisol, which we’ve probably all heard of, that’s our stress hormone. So this is a really normal short-term response to stress.

(03:19):
However, the issue arises when this becomes chronic and it happens day after day. So if we’re on a low carb diet for months, years at a time, continuously not getting what we need, our body perceives that as a stressor and it will continuously release that cortisol. And when this becomes chronic, that’s where we’re feeling burn out and just exhausted all the time. That’s where that kind of adrenal dysregulation fatigue term really comes in. And there are other issues that we run into it being fertility, thyroid that we can kind of dive into more as well.

Cori (03:53):
And I just want to go off of this a little bit because all of this really relates back to in summary, is myth number one is that low carb diets are good for your hormones. And I want to touch on this adrenal dysregulation specifically because we are seeing a lot more issues with adrenal fatigue, with thyroid health issues. And I’ve seen a lot of people recently blaming elevated cortisol levels on working out, and that is a stressor, which it is a good stressor. But what we’re so often ignoring with these things is we are blaming the wrong things in my opinion. And with that, we’re not paying attention to the impact that our fueling can have. And with the rise in popularity of low carb diets that impact that it can have when we’re already trying to train hard when people are already doing a lot of cardio. And off of that, even the nuance in what is low carb? Just because a ratio is high carb for somebody else, it might be low carb for you with your activity level. So even noting that low carb isn’t just one macro ratio, it’s a variety and it can really be impacted by your activity level as well. So going off of that, diving more into fertility and thyroid impact in terms of going low carb.

Julia (05:04):
Yeah, so we know that low carb can also affect our fertility essentially. If again, if we’re not eating enough for our needs, that’s really considered under nutrition and our body will respond to that by sometimes turning off ovulation, causing missed periods. And when it comes to the thyroid, we run into issues here because insulin is really necessary for our thyroid hormone conversion. So to get it from our inactive thyroid hormone known as T four to that active form known as T three, we need insulin to do that. And on low carbohydrate diets, it remains pretty low. So we’re not always able to effectively do that in turn affecting our thyroid.

Cori (05:45):
So it’s very key that we do pay attention to the carbohydrate intake that we have, especially based on our activity level. And then even our age might impact how many carbs are really necessary for us. So remember that there’s a lot of nuance to these things. Now you might be saying, okay, this is all well and good, but I want to lose weight, carbs make me gain weight. And I’ve gone on low carb diets and dropped weight very quickly, which I know is leading into myth number two that you brought up, which is carbs cause weight gain. Can you touch on that a little bit? I have a feeling there’s some people out there being like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I do eat carbs and I do gain weight.

Julia (06:24):
Yes, of course, of course. I love this one. So there’s been a lot of debate on whether low carb, low fat diets have produced better weight loss. And ultimately the research just shows that both our modest approaches at best. We do know that the weight loss on low carbohydrate diets can be attributed to really two main factors, and the first is just low caloric intake. So when we’re cutting out carbohydrate rich foods, it’s almost guaranteed that our caloric intake is going to be reduced as a result as well, kind of putting us in that deficit, which allows us to see weight loss. If you’re someone who is eating things like bagels, pancakes, even rice, things like that on a daily basis, even things like fruits, potatoes, whatever it may be, and you completely slash that out of your diet, that’s guaranteed to really drop calories significantly.

(07:16):
So that’s really the big first reason that we see that weight loss and sometimes blame it on carbs when it’s truthfully just caloric restriction overall. And the next would be a loss of fat-free mass. So when we’re cutting out carbohydrates, our glycogen stores, which are inner muscles become depleted. And as a result, we also lose that water weight that comes with it. For every gram of glucose taken out of glycogen, it brings with it about two to three grams of water weight with it. When we completely just deplete these stores, we’re losing that glycogen, we’re losing that water weight. And this kind of allows us to see that really quick, if you will, weight loss on low carb diets. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is actual fat loss.

Cori (08:03):
And that’s such a key point because carbs can cause weight gain in that you can see the scale increase because you’re storing that glycogen in your muscles. And the more muscle mass you have, the more stores you have. So the more, if you have a really carb heavy meal, more carbs in a day, the more you’re going to be able to store that, which is a good thing if you want to build muscle especially. But so it can cause weight gain. It’s just not causing fat gain. That’s a very key point too. So if you’re trying to drop pounds quickly on the scale and you deplete those glycogen stores, yeah, you’re going to lose weight on the scale, but you’re not actually losing fat any faster. And you might subsequently impact your fat loss results negatively, especially if you’re not getting enough fuel to maintain that lean muscle mass to see that body recomp happen.

(08:46):
So it’s very key. You also understand, yes, the scale might increase, but it’s not fat being gained. So it’s also separating out those two things and recognizing that as much as that number, it might hold some importance to you on the scale. What you ultimately want is to look leaner. And I always ask this question, would you really care what the scale said? If you felt like you looked fabulous in your bathing suit, your clothing, you liked how you looked in pictures, my guess is probably not. And you probably say, okay, well what do I weigh looking my most fabulous? And that’s the weight now I’m happy with, but that’s a whole other subject and I won’t fully tangent off onto that. Now going into the next myth, Julia, carbs aren’t good for your health. Can you touch on this? Because I think this goes back to even demonization of specific foods, and then we just write off whole food groups.

Julia (09:35):
Yes, a hundred percent. And we hear this all the time that carbs aren’t good for us, but it also goes back to the way that we identify carbs. So when we think of carbs, so many of us think of things like breads and pasta and cookies and donuts, not realizing that carbohydrates have so many different forms. Fruits are carbohydrates, vegetables are carbohydrates. So the point here being that all carbs aren’t created equal when we’re focusing on things like complex, complex fiber, rich carbohydrates, things like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, they really help with our weight loss efforts. So first off, they help us manage our blood sugar, they help us manage our cholesterol levels and really aid in a healthy digestion because they’re fiber rich, which really feeds that good gut bacteria versus if we’re constantly relying on more simple carbs, things like candy, cookies, honey, those really quick digestion carbs, this can often spike blood sugar. This can cause weight gain over time. And of course for athletes and certain individuals, these can be really, really helpful tools. But if you’re someone looking to lose weight and we’re consuming these on a daily basis as our main source of carbohydrates, that’s where we really see those issues of carbs aren’t good for our health. And that’s kind of where that comes in.

Cori (10:57):
And I like that you added that nuance that I’m going to point out. Just to clarify too for people, the main source, so this is where I think it’s also really important that we understand the importance of tracking macros overall. Because if you’re staying within that carbohydrate intake limit that you’ve set for yourself and you’ve matched that to your activity level, you have a lot of freedom to include foods you love too. And this is not to say that whole natural foods with a lot of micronutrient diversity and density aren’t more important for our health. They are. But I always like to add this in because I think a lot of times too, we struggle to make changes because we feel like we’re restricted in what we can and cannot have. And while there are foods we know are not as good for our health, they can be balanced in, especially when we enjoy them and have a purpose and be part of that balance as long as you’re tracking that overall intake.

(11:44):
So I just wanted to add that in too, because too often we just do demonize things and we make ourselves feel guilty for having those things instead of realizing that along with the other balance they can be worked in and we can see very sustainable body composition happen, very sustainable health results without not or with still enjoying life. We’ll say. Now off of that, because I did mention body comp earlier in the scale myth number, I don’t even know what number it is at this point, but cutting carbs means you’ll burn more fat. Can you touch on that because that is something that we hear said a lot. I’m cutting carbs because I want to burn more fat and this will help me burn more fat.

Julia (12:22):
Yes, of course. So there is this idea that cutting carbs helps us burn more fat because we think that we’ll become more fat adapted in a sense. So while our body can run on this higher fat, lower carb diet, it doesn’t automatically mean that we will burn more body fat in a sense. And actually studies have shown that the amount of carbs you consume has very little to do with how much fat you burn regardless of the amount of insulin that is in your body. So what we do know is that carbohydrates have been shown to have protein sparing effects in which the body will utilize them for energy when needed versus breaking down muscle. And this is really important. If you’re someone who you’re looking to complete a body recomp, you want to really make sure that you’re maintaining that lean muscle mass and targeting that fat mass when it comes to weight loss.

(13:13):
So if we’re not consuming enough carbohydrates, our body will turn to muscle and begin at breaking that down. And that’s where we come up with that term, that catabolic environment versus that anabolic environment that we want to be in where our body is utilizing those carbs for fuel and replenishing our muscles and helping us still maintain that lean muscle mass that we have. And in turn, when we do maintain that lean muscle mass, we’re also supporting our metabolism because we know that the more lean muscle we have on us, the more that we will burn at rest. So it all kind of plays together and supports one or another as well.

Cori (13:48):
And before we dive into some facts off of this, I also want to touch on the fact that protein is so key, and we’re talking about still retaining that lean muscle mass while in that calorie deficit burning fat versus losing muscle. And going back to even what you mentioned earlier of whether or not a higher carb diet or a higher fat diet is better, they’ve sort of been proven equal. The one caveat to that being is the diet always higher in protein, seem to always win out and study. So protein is especially important, but since we’re talking about carbs today, going into some fats to help you even better utilize that protein and create that anabolic environment, build that lean muscle, which is honestly not only metabolism magic, but I would say the key to living our best lives until our final day on this planet, facts about carbs, carbs create an anabolic environment. Can you go into what that means and why they’re so important for building that muscle?

Julia (14:43):
Sure. So I know we just touched on this a little bit, but for athletes or just people engaging in regular exercise, we need carbohydrate to help power those workouts. So essentially what happens is the body converts when we’re eating food, that’s glucose, it goes into our muscle stores as glycogen, and it converts this glycogen into a TP molecules to use them as energy during our training. So if you’re a little bit carb depleted on a lower carb diet, this could lead to a lack of energy during your workouts and really hinder your ability to be able to build muscle because you’re not able to push to your fullest potential. So to sum it up, if you don’t have enough fuel in your tank, your body’s going to turn to muscle and begin breaking that down for energy. So these carbs really work to create what we call an anabolic environment where your body builds and repairs that lean muscle tissue that, as Corey just said, is magic for our metabolism. Long-term,

Cori (15:40):
Having enough carbs is super key when you want to build muscle, and I want to go off of this with the benefits both in a actual muscle building phase and in a deficit or fat loss phase. Because if you think about it, if you’re in a deficit, you’re not really getting enough of anything. And so the more you can promote that optimal environment to help yourself build lean muscle with keeping protein higher, the better off you’re going to be. So you want that immediate fuel. It’s why often you’ll even see figure fitness bikini competitors with higher carb ratios to be more protein sparing, to make sure that they’re retaining that lean muscle mass as they’re leaning down because they don’t want to look softer, they want to look toned. So they’re trying to make sure they’re doing everything in their power to maintain that lean muscle.

(16:20):
And if you’re going into a muscle building phase, you want those carbohydrates readily available so that you can actually build up. And where I’m going into all of this is not only is it important potentially in a deficit and in building muscle, but so often when we are trying to lose fat while retaining lean muscle, we do even cut our carbs, right? To see those faster drops on the scale and that sabotages our results. And then we even say, okay, well now I lost weight. So that practice maybe did work to hit the number on the scale, but then we say, well, now I want to build muscle and we don’t let go of that practice that maybe worked to lose those few pounds to then build a muscle. And so we don’t come out of that carb deficit, so to speak. And so then we wonder why we’re not building the muscle while working so hard.

(17:01):
And so that’s another thing that I just want to make us aware of is that even what may have worked despite potentially something else working better, as I pointed out with more carbs to maintain that lean muscle mass when you’re losing what might’ve worked to see the pounds dropped on the scale might now be sabotaging your muscle building efforts despite you feeling like you’re doing a lot of the things right, I’m increasing protein, I’m lifting heavy. So you have to look at what practices got you to one goal and how they might be negatively holding you back from hitting another. Now off of that, I know we’re talking about the importance of carbs, but one fact you did want to mention, and I saw that you pointed this out, and I think is a very key thing to bring up because it goes to the nuance of everything with fitness and nutrition. Some women might benefit from reducing their carb intake. Can you talk about why that’s so important to note while we’re talking about the benefits of carbs?

Julia (17:52):
Yeah, of course. And I know like you said, there’s probably some people watching this who are like, I just don’t function very well on a higher carb diet. Some carbs don’t work for me. So I did want to touch on this a little bit because there are those groups that we know who they do benefit from reducing carb intake, but keep in mind that they still, it doesn’t mean that they need a lower carb diet or to cut out carbs completely, but this would really be those people who are more insulin resistant. So whether this be PCOS, if they’re dealing with an insulin, insulin resistance rooted PCOS or a type two diabetic, or maybe someone who is going through menopause, when we know that that insulin resistance is a little bit more common to see at that time period due to those change in hormones, again, I did just want to touch on while reducing carb intake can be beneficial particularly for these groups, it also comes down to, again, our carb quality, those sources that we’re focusing on, and making sure that we’re still balancing out those meals overall. Essentially with reducing the carb intake, we typically see a better control of our blood sugar, but we can also do this by making sure that we’re balancing out our meals, incorporating things like protein, healthy fats, enough fiber at meals that also really helps to stabilize those blood sugar levels. So there is that balance that you can find where you’re still incorporating nutrient dense carbohydrates in your diet without cutting ’em out completely and still managing that blood sugar if you are someone who falls into one of those categories.

Cori (19:23):
And reducing carbs doesn’t mean no carb, as you pointed out. It means a lot of different things for a lot of different people based on their activity level. But this also just highlights the importance of always assessing what we need and how our body needs and goals and even lifestyle are evolving because what ratio might’ve worked for you at one stage may not work for you and another. And even if you do find, hey, I run often better off of lower carb, you might find by doing a higher carb cycle in between your low carb cycles that you get the benefits of keeping hormonal balance of even seeing that whoosh effect. Because on lower carb, sometimes you can feel like you look a little softer and squishier even though you’ve lost because your fat cells are storing the water. And by increasing your carbs, you actually get what’s called the whoosh effect, and you can have your fat cells release that water. So even if you have found that you work better on lower carb or work better on higher carb, it’s never bad to test out slightly different variations because you may be surprised by how all those things build and even meet you where you’re at at a different stage of life. So off of all of this, Julia, give us those few key takeaways just to really highlight what we should be focusing on moving forward.

Julia (20:29):
Sure. So I mean, going off of what you just said with anything, pay close attention to how you react to things. How is your sleep? How are your workouts? How are your energy levels? How are your menstrual cycles? Take notes on how your body responds to different cycles and make an effort to try different things and cycle through different ratios where you’re able to actually explore what works best for you and gather that appropriate data. And then coming off of that, I know I touched on this a little bit earlier, but just focusing on the quality versus just the quantity aspect of things. When we hear about these low carb diets or whatever it may be, these kind of flashy diet options, I think they promise a lot of results. And for those of us who are sitting in a position where we want to see change and we’re not where we want to be, it can be easy to be like, yes, this is going to be the answer for me, this is it.

(21:21):
But just take a moment to reflect and keep in mind and answer yourself, is this something that is sustainable for my lifestyle? Because at the end of the day, what’s most sustainable for us, what’s most enjoyable for us is what we’re going to be able to actually sustain and do long-term. Like how Corey said, if you’re able to incorporate that dessert or whatever it may be that you like from time to time, that’s what’s going to make this worthwhile for you. So again, I did just want to point out focusing on what you can add to your diet versus what you need to restrict. So how can I add more fiber to my diet? How can I add more nutrient dense carbohydrates, vegetables, beans, berries, those kinds of foods versus just thinking that you need to default to cutting out carbs altogether.

Cori (22:04):
I love that focus on quality, and I love that focus on balance. I mean, both are really truly key if we want to see lasting results off of that too. I did want to highlight one other thing. We talk a lot about the health value of those quality carbs, of the quality macronutrients in general of the quality foods, but it’s not even just that, which sounds really weird because our health is everything, but let’s face it, some of us have aesthetic goals that even leads to us making changes that really impact our health positively. So even off of that, if you’re like, well, I just can’t get myself to care about my health, which sounds weird, but we’ve done some form of that at some point. I mean, I’m guilty of doing that at some point where we need some more immediate can see results in it satisfying way, but even off of improving the quality which will pay off massively for your health. There’s a higher thermic effect to those quality nutrient dense foods, which means that’s going to help in your weight loss, fat loss efforts too. And even in making your body, which is a machine function so much better to build the muscles. So also understand that there is a benefit even just directly for your weight loss goals in improving the quality of those carbs you might be consuming over just completely restricting them.

Cori (23:13):
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 podcast to leave a rating review 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 life with someone.

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