TAKE ACTION
a
M
TAKE ACTION
7 Habits Of Highly Consistent Humans

7 Habits Of Highly Consistent Humans

by | Jun 5, 2025 | podcast

Listen:

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Transcript:

Open Transcript:

Cori (00:00):
Welcome to the Redefining Strength Podcast. Everything you need to succeed on your health and fitness journey, even the stuff you don’t want to hear. You don’t need more willpower. If you want to succeed, you need a better system. And I really think it boils down to seven habits. So I was thinking about Stephen Covey’s seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and I wanted to boil down what I see as seven habits of people who succeed. And instead of saying it as Seven habits of successful people, I’m going to call it seven habits of highly Consistent Humans. And the reason I word it that way is because it’s not just about the outcome and what someone’s doing when they’ve actually succeeded, it’s about the consistency in the changes they’ve made in the boring basic habits. It’s not about perfection, it’s about finding that plan and putting in those actions and learning from every experience.

(00:56):
So that’s why I’m calling it Seven Habits of Highly Consistent Humans because that consistency in those changes, in those mindset shifts in those actions. That’s what makes them ultimately successful. Because I do think too, when we’re thinking about success, we look at a person who is successful right now and what they’re doing right then and there, not what even got them there and what they’re doing at their end goal is going to be very different than the habits they might have started with. So if we’re just going to be like, well, this athlete trains this way, they’re training that way at that stage to get to that stage, you might have to do other things and by only trying to mimic what they’re doing, then you might be holding yourself back from moving forward. So it’s consistency in those changes and in the habits and in the mindsets that I think really pays off.

(01:37):
I wanted to break down the seven habits that I find very, very valuable to help you be consistent. I will tell you that none of them are perfection. The most successful people aren’t perfect. They’ve actually probably failed a whole heck of a lot more times than any of us have. And in those failures, they have learned what they need to move forward. So we have to really reframe it in our head of, I won’t fail to, how can I fail and learn from it? But number one, and this leads into it, is assessing before we act. This is habit number one, assessing before we act. How many times have you seen a new program been like, that’s it. That looks perfect. They say that it’ll achieve all these goals, and you jump right in, it looks perfect, it looks ideal. Did you actually assess if that fits you where you’re at right now?

(02:23):
Is that person at all in the same lifestyle or having the same experiences that you’re having? What makes you think that plan will even work? So often what we’re really doing is we’re planting a seed in a field just full of weeds, but we have to clear that field first. If we want to see results, we have to do all the prep work so that the seed is primed to really grow, yet we don’t treat our goals the same way we’re planting this new habit, this new program, this new whatever in this lifestyle that’s just overgrown with all these bad habits. It’s why I always say when we’re learning new habits, there’s an unlearning phase that also has to come with it, but often we just try and force the new habit on top of what’s already there instead of even embracing that unlearning. So the best thing we can do if we want to see success, if we want to be able to get consistent with something is first assessing before we act, do the prep work.

(03:14):
Slowing down to speed up is not sexy and least, but it’s super important. Then set a personal GPS. Where do you want to go and where are you currently? And I say that because a lot of times we do have our goal. I want X. Okay, well what does X really look like? What does your destination really look like so that you can get a very clear plan in place to get there? But also where are you currently when you set your GPS, you have to enter both destination and current location to get an accurate roadmap. Yet so often we don’t really reflect on where we are now to see how far we have to go. We just assume and sort of point at a direction on there. And then on top of that, we pick a plan based on potentially what looks good based on somebody at the goal.

(03:54):
But what we don’t recognize is we’re looking at the last couple turns we have to make to get to our destination, not what they did at their starting location. We have to first start with the turn out of our driveway. I dunno about you, and maybe not quite this bad, but if we turn the wrong way out of our driveway, which I probably have done, honestly, we’re not going to be set up for success at all. We’re completely heading the wrong direction even. And then you have to turn around right from the beginning and no wonder we’re frustrated. That’s what it is when we go on a perfect plan versus assessing a plan that actually meets us where we’re at. So set your personal GPS really say, what does it look like to be at the destination? What does my current location look like and what are some steps I can do to build to get there?

(04:35):
Not just what are the last steps someone does while they’re at that destination. Then number three, spot the loop and break it. I call it the change loop because often what happens is we are really excited with a new program. We go all in and we create this habit overload where we’re doing so many changes that we feel like we’re just will powering our way through and we get more and more depleted and we think this isn’t sustainable. And then life starts to get in the way. We don’t see the exact outcome we want. The skill doesn’t seem to budge, right? And we hit a little emotional sabotage where we’re like, is this even worth it? And once we hit that point, it’s a very quick downturn into I quit and we fall off. And then eventually we get re-motivated because we don’t like where we are and we go for another program promise.

(05:17):
In order to break down a break out of that, we have to double down on what’s working. But that means that we also have to assess what’s causing that habit overload and even that emotional sabotage. So we have to recognize when are we trying to do too much? When are we trying to do habits that are too hard? When are we trying to do habits that do not match our lifestyle currently, even if they might be ideal or habits we need. Now, I’m not saying everything’s going to be easy as we’re making changes, but we do have to meet ourselves where we’re at. So if right now you are looking at a habit change that always creates that overload. And then if it doesn’t pay off that emotional sabotage where you want to quit, how can you break down one little part to double down on?

(05:57):
So if you’re like, Hey Corey, you always talk about macros. I want to track macros, but they just seem so overwhelming and I can’t hit my carbs and I can’t hit my fat. And I get really frustrated. Well, can you focus just on calories? Can you focus just on tracking? Can you focus just on protein? Can you focus just on adding protein to one meal and not even tracking to start? What is the habit you can do to build that success and that momentum over creating that overload? And then from there you can build more. But what we have to recognize is that effort doesn’t equal outcome. Effort doesn’t equal change either. It can feel like a lot of effort to do something that’s not making a whole heck of a lot of changes, which is why we’re not moving forward, which is where we can get that emotional sabotage when it doesn’t feel like the effort is paying off because effort doesn’t equal change.

(06:40):
We have to make changes to see that outcome, but we can feel emotionally like we’re working really hard without making a lot of changes just because the things that we are doing are very challenging to us. So really assess where am I repeating that loop? How am I causing myself to fall back into the same old pattern? And it’s not only breaking down habits, but recognizing things in your environment that are promoting it. If you put out your workout clothes and that always triggers you to go out, it’s not that you really got in the habit of just working out. It’s also that environment that shifted, that promoted you to do that or push you to do that. And so that can help you break out of the loop shifting your environment. If you’re always stressed and you always repeat the same pattern because you always walk into your house in the same way, how can you break that pattern, create that interrupt, that’s what will help you be consistent.

(07:24):
But you’ve got to recognize the hard you always hit that you want to turn back from. Then number four, sharpen your ax. So there’s the tail of the two wood cutters and they’re both trying to chop wood and the older wood cutter sits down to sharpen his ax at points because he knows that by sharpening his ax, he’ll be able to chop wood more efficiently. And he ends up beating the younger wood cutter who gets really mad because he didn’t take any breaks. And he is like, well, I should have beaten this guy because he only saw him as resting. It’s the whole slow down to speed up. He only saw him as resting, but really he was trying to be more efficient in his work. We don’t think about efficiency enough. We just think work harder, work harder, do more, do more, make more changes, make more sacrifices.

(08:08):
Instead of saying, Hey, how can I own? What is a non-negotiable to me? How can I own my lifestyle to plan for it? Because a lot of times when we do, we create a lot better consistency, we create a better mindset and we embrace changes more to allow them to snowball. When you feel successful with something, you want to do more of it when something doesn’t feel that bad to do, because if you’ve even owned all the struggles with it, you’re like, oh, I can do a little bit more. Right? And so we can create that efficiency in our work by how we plan ahead, how we assess what we want, how we even own that there will be struggles. And setting that GPS is a big part of it. Understanding where we are currently is a big part of it. Doing that prep work beforehand is a big part of it, but we’ve got to think about how can I be a little bit more efficient?

(08:49):
I even like to call it how can I be lazier? I’m always assessing how can I be lazier with something? How can I be lazier with hitting my macros? How can I be lazier with making it easy to get into my workouts every single time so I never miss one? How can I make it easier or be lazy with coming back from vacation so I get right back on track? The more you can start to say, Hey, I’m lazy. I want to own this and plan for that, the better off you’re going to be. It’s the efficiency of work. Number five, build systems. Don’t just rely on willpower. Things aren’t always going to be easy, but the more we make changes that meet us where we’re at, the more we’re going to build a system that drives us forward. And in building the system, it’s not just actions, it’s not just habits.

(09:27):
It’s not just tracking macros or doing workouts. It’s shifting mindsets too because our mindsets will ultimately dictate the actions we value and prioritize. And in creating systems, it’s recognizing when we don’t value or don’t prioritize something naturally, and then finding ways to make ourselves be able to do that. So something that if you don’t do at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day because you don’t fully yet value it, even though you know should value it, you know, should value meal prep, you know, should value doing your workout, but you don’t. And so at the end of the day when you are tired and you have to do all these other things, you’re going to do all those other things. You’re going to sit on the couch, well put that workout, put that meal prep first in the day, and then put at the end of the day the things you know that you will do no matter what because you do value them.

(10:10):
Creating that system is owning what you need to do to shift those mindsets, shift the environment, shift those habits, but it’s truly assessing what you need and steering into that. But it’s also making it almost so easy that you’re not relying on willpower because self-control isn’t an infinite thing. It’s like a gas tank. It gets depleted, it gets depleted from handling maybe kids getting sick and you having to pick ’em up or a boss at work doing something you don’t like, right? There’s all these other things in our life that drain our willpower and self-control when we have to respond positively or just handle them or whatever else. And so sometimes the things for us, there’s no self-control left for right. We deprioritize ourselves in favor of doing these other things. And so recognizing that to create systems that make it easy to not rely on willpower or self-control, that’s where success really happens.

(10:59):
And sometimes it’s not about doing more, it’s about doing less. It’s about learning to love the minimum even and embrace the minimum and maximize the minimum to move forward. Number six, turn pain into power. It’s painful to fail, it stinks to fall down, to have that setback, to not get the result we want, but in that is our power and that it is the best learning experiences. They stick with us. So anytime you have that struggle, own it. See the opportunity in it, see the power in it. See even that by saying, Hey, this is a positive. I can learn from this. I can get feedback from this. You’re showing yourself your own strength. That’s where strength is revealed, and confidence is built through what we overcome. So embrace that there is power in that pain and don’t minimize your goals. It might be five to 10 vanity pounds, it might be getting abs.

(11:49):
It might be things that you feel a little weird talking about, or they seem life or death are as important as your health or all these other things. Don’t minimize those goals though, because in what we overcome and what we conquer with those goals and the fact that we can dedicate ourselves and put ourselves first and get what we feel we deserve and optimize this one life too, and the struggles we overcome with those things, even if they seem for not as important a why, we’re even not valuing what we should value, that ability to overcome for those things, that pain almost, it’s powerful. And when we overcome it, it’s very, very powerful. Powerful. So don’t run from the struggles. Don’t hide from your goals. Don’t minimize them. Conquer them because they will teach you so much, which will help you move forward in so many areas of your life.

(12:38):
And honestly, the more we even say, Hey, there is pain in struggle, there will be setbacks. The more we own that and oversell the negative, the more we help ourselves get consistent with something or find minimums we can do even when there is that pain pushback. And then number seven, don’t start over. Just adjust. There honestly is no starting over in life because everything you’ve done prior has some impact on you. It’s not like a video game where you just come back and you get to restart in the size and you don’t have any of the negatives or the positives or any of those things. Don’t play enough video games, but you’re just starting over. But now with the knowledge, you’re not starting over. Everything that happened prior now has an impact. All those previous dieting attempts, they’ve turned different mindsets towards different habits. They’ve created metabolic adaptations.

(13:21):
There’s all these things that have built up. That’s why I always say when someone’s like, well, how long between these two photos? Well, six weeks, but my entire life led to what happened in those six weeks. Because I can embrace certain sacrifices. I can embrace certain tools or tactics because of the mindsets that have been created around them prior, my experiences with them, the knowledge that I have. So just recognize you are never starting over. So all you can ever do from where you’re at right now is just to keep moving forward. And the more you see it as that, the less guilt you also feel because you’re not starting over. You learn a lesson now you’re going to enact that lesson and you’re going to learn from it again. There is power in pain, but just recognize that you are not starting over. You are adjusting, and you’re going to be constantly adjusting because nothing in your life is standing still and nothing will work forever. So just remember when you are trying to move forward towards your goals, you can’t just think about the success you want. That’s why I call these the seven habits of highly consistent humans, because that’s ultimately what builds towards your goals. Getting consistent, but owning who and what you are and really reflecting on what you need at each stage to keep moving forward. That reflection, I can’t say enough about it because that really underlying all these different seven tips and habits is what makes you be able to utilize these as effectively as possible.

 

*Note: This transcript is autogenerated there may be some unintended errors.

Do You Stay This Lean Year Round?

Do You Stay This Lean Year Round?

by | Jun 1, 2025 | Blog, Diet

“Do you stay this lean year around?”

I’ve gotten asked this question and I want to set the record straight…

Yes and no.

Like any person, my motivation, my goals, my schedule and life all evolve. So there is an ebb and flow.

You can see in my videos shifts leaner and less lean at different times of year and even as I experiment with different techniques and macros.

BUT over the years, I’ve gotten leaner and stayed leaner.

It’s not from more discipline. Or better perfection.

It’s actually from trying to work less hard and instead constantly seek to evolve and meet myself where I’m at for balance.

I’ve focused on consistency with that long-term viewpoint.

And the longer you maintain, the easier it gets.

So what I’m doing now, isn’t what I did to start maintaining. And it’s not even what I did to get to this point.

What you do to reach your goal is not what you do to maintain it, but you also can’t go back to old habits.

I mention this because too often we copy just what someone who’s been maintaining their goal is doing over starting back at the beginning of the journey.

We miss all the steps that built to this point and don’t recognize how long it takes to make habit changes and have those changes stick.

That’s why I want to share the 3 fundamental facts I’ve learned that will help you stop repeating the yo-yo dieting cycle and maintain your results consistently forever.

And the first fact is that true and lasting changes DON’T always feel sustainable to start.

Because guess what?

They aren’t what you do forever!

It takes 3–4 months to build a habit. You’re practicing till you get it right.

Then it takes 16–18 months to build a lifestyle. You’re practicing till you can’t get it wrong.

Finally, it takes 3–4 years to transform your identity. You’re practicing till it’s part of who you are!

Do you remember learning to brush your teeth daily?

Potentially not at this point, BUT at some time, you had to be reminded to do it. It didn’t feel sustainable.

Thankfully we are parented into that habit and have no choice in most cases.

And at sometime it just becomes so routine and a part of our environment, we just keep doing it.

It is a boring basic we don’t even notice.

Over time, other lifestyle changes become that way too.

You may not always when you’re tired WANT to brush your teeth, but you do.

Over time, those other healthy eating and training practices will become the same way but we have to recognize they won’t feel that way to start.

Because what we do to lose fat or gain muscle may be more intensive than what we have to do to maintain it, especially the longer we’ve been at that point.

I have way more food flexibility and workout freedom now than I did when I first got leaner because my body now wants to STAY at this set point.

Just like your body doesn’t want to lose right now because it wants to stay at its current set point!

This evolution is also really fundamental fact number 2 is…

Maintaining and building a lifestyle isn’t a set it and forget it thing.

You aren’t doing one thing forever.

Have you ever started a new program and thought some version of, “This is amazing! It can be a lifestyle!”

Only to then become frustrated with yourself and feel like you just don’t have the willpower to see results when you can’t ultimately maintain it?

This is because one thing doesn’t work forever. And we should be evolving our habits over not only the years but the course of the seasons.

Your lifestyle probably looks different right at the start of the New Year than it does during the Summer or even the Holidays.

Family obligations, work and travel may impact different seasons in different ways.

Your 6 day a week training schedule that is perfect from January till even June may not fit with your Summer vacation plans or all of the Holiday fun.

Yet so often we try to enforce the same standards on ourselves all year around and this is ultimately what sabotages us.

Instead, seek to meet yourself where you are at.

Embrace evolution in those habits to keep doing something.

Because what may feel like doing less is often the consistency we need to keep moving forward.

It’s also often a lot MORE than we would have done otherwise.

Too often when we can’t do everything perfectly, we do nothing.

And that nothing is what creates the starting over again in the New Year cycle.

With making changes don’t think that the thing you start has to be THE THING. Honestly, that probably means you’re falling for another fad you’ll fall off of.

Instead approach making changes like getting to design your dream home.

Create a solid foundation and structure learning about the fundamentals and boring basics.

Then see those fun adjustments in moves or foods you include or even exact training schedule and macros as the decorations you get to put in your house.

Those may evolve BUT the house structure, focusing on tracking your food and a workout progression, will be that outline you can adjust within to always be moving forward!

And third and final fact…and probably hardest of them all to embrace is that…

Mindset matters most.

There is no perfect macro ratio. No magic workout plan.

And over the course of your life, you’re going to use a variety of both as you not only have fun, experiment but also work toward different specific goals and focuses while working to build your leanest, strongest body at every age.

What matters is your mindset behind everything.

Because so often it isn’t that we don’t have the tools or tactics…

It’s that we sabotage ourselves with unrealistic expectations – wanting results too fast, making ourselves feel guilty for not being perfect or trying to force somebody else’s ideals on ourselves.

Own who you are. Own what you want.

Be true to your goals and also realize that mistakes will ALWAYS happen.

The call of our old identities, that emotional eating pattern you’d thought you’d broken…Will always pop back up and at times we least expect it.

The more we have the mindset we will always have ebbs and flows, the more we will keep moving forward through it all.

And that consistency is what keeps us rocking those results.

So even as you start your journey toward your goals, realize your goal isn’t to avoid breakdowns or failures or setbacks.

It’s to speed up the time it takes you to get back on track.

The quicker we notice we took a wrong turn and turn back, the faster we ultimately get to our destination.

So as you work to adjust your diet to fuel your goals and push hard in your workouts, make sure you’re working on your mindset and belief in yourself as well.

Make sure you’re not giving up each time you hit the hard.

Even seek to reframe those times you want to quit as even more reason to keep going.

Because often the simple fact that we have given up at that same point in the past is why we’ve been stuck.

Now I know you were hoping for some magic move or macro ratio in this video, but these are 3 simple fundamental facts that yield results.

There isn’t one magic thing.

It’s meeting ourselves where we are at and assess what we need at different points in our journey to keep moving forward.

It’s our ability to pause and reflect on how things are going and then find a way to move forward no matter what that is truly key!

Stop trying to out exercise or out diet time.

Instead realize this is a forever process!

And if you are just starting out and need where to start to adjust your diet, check out my video – The Most Annoying Nutrition Tips ( 7 Things That Actually Work) next.

3 Tips To Stop The Self Sabotage Cycle

3 Tips To Stop The Self Sabotage Cycle

by | May 29, 2025 | podcast

Listen:

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Transcript:

Open Transcript:

Cori (00:00):
Welcome to the Redefining Strength Podcast. Everything you need to succeed on your health and fitness journey, even the stuff you don’t want to hear. It was a horrible day at work. You came home, you went to the cabinet, you know shouldn’t have done it, but you grab the bag of chips, then you go to the freezer, you grab the pint of ice cream, the couches call in your name, you head over and before you even get to the couch, half of the bag of chips is gone. And then you think, well, I’ve ruined the day. I’m not even going to go work out. I might as well just eat this pint of ice cream and then who cares about anything else? I’m just going to order some stuff on DoorDash. And all of a sudden you’re laying on the couch at the end of the night, completely miserable, feeling extremely guilty, and you just say to yourself, I just keep repeating this pattern.

(00:49):
I’m never going to see progress. You wake up the next morning, you don’t feel good about it, you feel extra super guilty. You were on such a good stretch. You step on the scale. Holy moly, it has just skyrocketed. This is what I call the flat tire situation. What happens is we get a flat tire, we go to the cabinet, we maybe have a couple of the chips even, and we do have that turn back point right then or that stopping point right then where we could say, Nope, I’m putting this bag back in the cabinet. I’m not grabbing the pint of ice cream out of the freezer. But instead, when we get that flat tire, instead of pulling over the side of the road calling aaa, put it on the spare, fixing it and getting on our merry way, instead of that, we get out of the car, we grab a knife and we go, ah, and we start slashing the other three tires.

(01:34):
We eat that bag of chips, we get the pint of ice cream, we DoorDash stuff. And then not only that, we light the car on fire for weeks on end because we just say, well, I ruined yesterday and tomorrow is Friday and I’m not going to be good on the weekend anyway, so who cares? I’ll just start over Monday and one day becomes four days and what could have even been a handful of chips or a bag of chips becomes thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of calories and bags of chips potentially over that time. And then because we feel worse about our situation starting over Monday doesn’t happen. We’ve all been there with a spiral and it can go on and on and sometimes it lasts for even months. And the simple fact of the matter is we have a choice and if we can get ourselves to pause at that initial choice and change this pattern, we can fix the flat and get moving forward a whole heck of a lot quicker.

(02:25):
And I say this with having a ton of experience with not only getting a flat tire but slashing the other three. And I will tell you the three tactics I’m going to share to really help you fix that flat faster. I sort of noted right there, it’s fix the flat tire faster. It’s not never get a flat tire. Honestly, I won’t even say it’s never slash the other three, but it’s fix it faster because that’s all we can ever do. We are human. We are going to have those stressful days that make us react, but we have to recognize that it’s not really a failure. We just panic a little bit and when we panic a little bit, if we own the mistake we can get moving forward and really ultimately what holds us back the most is that guilt and that sabotage that we do after not even the initial situation.

(03:13):
So I do want to go through sort of three tactics so that we’re not only fixing the flat when we get the flat, but we’re potentially only slashing one tire, not all three, and we’re definitely not lighting the car on fire and just walking away and saying, forget it. Okay, tactic number one, I want you to set a rule and I want you to set a 24 hour rule because one day, one bag of chips, well, it’s human, right? We have those stressful days, we react out of emotion. We want that comfort. That is even a pattern of comfort that we’ve taught ourselves to repeat, right? We feel better in the moment when we do that. It seems like a good idea. It gives us the instant gratification. So we go to it. What isn’t just human or one of those little slip ups is deciding the next morning that we’re not going to get back to those healthy habits or the morning after or the morning after that or the morning after that.

(04:05):
So I want you to set a 24 hour rule for yourself within 24 hours you have done something in a positive direction to put yourself back on the path that you want. And in that time, one of those actions can be to even reflect on what happened. How did your environment set you up to repeat that pattern? And I say environment because I think a lot of times we think about the stress, the emotion as causing it, and yes it does, but then it triggers a consistent sort of pattern to follow. And a lot of times that is only promoted by our environment. We walk into our house the same way the food’s in the same cabinet, we’ve gotten the same types of foods and if we shifted one of those things in our environment, we could actually prevent that pattern from repeating. So I want you to think the next day you’re back on track, so the 24 hour rule, but you’ve also paused within that time to reflect on what you could do next time to make it so that you’re again, maybe still slashing one tire but not all three.

(05:03):
And the more we have that pattern or that rule that we’re not going to do multiple days in a row, the more we can see that we’re even moving forward faster. And that can create that success mindset that allows us to really shift environments, act as if build that new identity that pays off, but we’re interrupting that spiral. So I want you to think how can you really think about creating a sort of rhythm reset or a pattern interrupt for yourself when this does occur, but reflect on it. Give yourself that 24 hour rule. You’re not doing it the next day no matter what happens, but then reflect on it to say, Hey, how can I change this environment? How can I create that sort of rhythm reset when I do get that urge to have the chips and how can I maybe stop myself from going to then to the ice cream or if I went to the ice cream and DoorDash something, how the next morning can I get right back up and on track?

(05:50):
Then tactic number two, track the bounce back, not the breakdown because so often we create that guilt and that’s really where the self-sabotage builds and we snowball down into a spiral of negativity and off track. So we want to think about how can we really focus on that bounce back over the breakdown and it’s taking pride in how much faster did I get back on track? How much did I get back to those healthy habits? Not all the things I did wrong when I made this mistake. So stop obsessing over the slip and start celebrating the rebound whenever you get back on track and maybe it does take you a week the first time, maybe it took you two weeks the first time, but say, Hey, great, I recognize this and now I have the power to reflect on it and not only did I recognize this the two weeks, but I’m going to write down it took two weeks and I’m going to reflect on all the things that happened and that reflection is something I’ve never done in the past.

(06:41):
So then the next time it happens, maybe it’s 13 days versus 14. That doesn’t seem like a huge win, but the more we can make those incremental improvements, the more we’re also celebrating our success, but the more we’re not having that guilt with it because we know we’re going to get back on track, we’re building that trust in ourselves to keep moving forward through it all. And that’s super key. Think about questions or even things to track as you’re reflecting on those things of how fast did I recover and then what did I do right afterwards? So what did I do right afterwards that might have delayed my recovery, but what did I do right afterwards to also promote improving my recovery from that little deviation? Okay, because the recovery speed really does matter more than the mistake. Ultimately it’s not the one day. If you think about it in the consistency in the grand scheme, it’s not the one day, it’s not the vacation, it’s all the 300 some odd days around it that too often we waste feeling guilty or being off track or not doing what we should or trying to force perfection.

(07:39):
So really think about how fast did I recover and then what did I do right after? It’s sort of reframing what progress is to us to help ourselves track the bounce back, not the breakdown because we’re human guys, we’re never going to be able to avoid mistakes, we’re never going to be able to avoid stress. We’re always going to reach for comfort and the call of our old identity no matter how far away or how long ago we thought we left that identity, it’s going to cause back in our weakest of weak moments and we need to recognize that. Okay? So we just want to try and minimize the delay from getting back on track into the healthy habits we know make us feel best. So one other reflection question that I do want to throw out there because I think this is so eyeopening, is what would you change if you measured your comeback, not your crash?

(08:23):
So if you measure how fast you got back on track, if you reflect on all the things that happened, that is really where the lesson is learned and the more we track that and focus on that versus what we did wrong, the more we give ourselves back power because you did it wrong, it happened, you’re human and it’s going to happen. So sometimes obsessing over this happened, I don’t have the willpower only makes things worse and only makes us feel like we just will never be able to move forward. So really track what you can control and that’s how fast you bounce back from that emotional response. And then tactic number, build your flat tire response plan. We plan for a lot of negative situations in our life, but so often we just accept these patterns. We say this is who we are. We don’t plan for how we can respond to ’em.

(09:09):
So even if you’ve had a stressful day and you’re on your way home from work, start to think about, Hey, what can I do to handle this stress? How can I have fun in a different way? What can I change in how I go home? Because I can already feel myself saying to myself, oh, there’s chips in this cabinet, there’s the ice cream in the freezer. I’m going to go to all these things. And then you start to think, well no, I shouldn’t go to all these things. Okay, the second you start saying, I shouldn’t be doing this, I won’t do this, no, and you feel that white knuckling happening, how can you instantly shift yourself out of that mindset? But think about a checklist you can do and even write out for yourself ahead of time when you have the stressful days or if you know you’re going into a stressful week, Hey, maybe you won’t get stressed out this week, but you know it’s really busy for X, Y, and Z things, which tends to lead to that stress response happening if it is going to happen.

(09:55):
So maybe you put your flat tire response plan as a checklist on your fridge so that when you walk in you can say, Hey, I am going to try and get water first. I’m going to go do my workout first and then I’m going to go from there and see what happens. And the more you have that plan in place and even something you can check off to feel really good about doing the things that you should be doing, the more you’re going to keep yourself in that success mindset and want to do more of those positive things, but really plan ahead. The more we do think about when do these patterns tend to repeat, the more we can prep ourselves for those situations and the more we can catch ourselves and not tell ourselves that something’s inevitable. We do say, well, I’m stressed out, I’m going to go home, I’m going to do these things, and then we even feel ourselves white knuckling against it or pushing back against it, which then only almost even makes it more sort of going to happen, right?

(10:40):
It’s probable. So have that response plan in place. Think about what you’re going to do. Are you going to do five minutes of movement when you first get home? Could you track your next meal? Could you even work in something saying, Hey, I know I really do want these. Let’s see if I can work this in. Because even doing that be like, now I feel like I can have it. You want it even less versus when you know you shouldn’t have the chips, you can’t have the chips and then you have the chips, all of a sudden you have this thing you shouldn’t have and that just makes you feel like you’ve ruined the day versus if they worked in you haven’t ruined anything you plan them in, even if maybe you go to a protein minimum and a calorie cap instead of hitting your normal macro ratios.

(11:15):
But again, think about that checklist and have it someplace you can really see so that it can help you bounce back quicker. Again, we’re trying to track that bounce back, not the breakdown because things are going to happen. We are human and honestly we’re really bad too at winging our recovery. So the more we can have a plan in place, the better off we’re going to be. So the more we can systematize it, the more we can create that environment for it, the more we’re going to make it easier to repeat and the more we’re going to help shift that mindset into that success mindset to keep moving forward. So even a great question to ask yourself is what three actions can help you reset instead of retreat when life throws you off because life is going to get in the way, it’s never going to stop, but what can you control when life throws you that curve ball?

(12:01):
So the last thing I want to leave you with is what if you just kept driving? So often when we have something happen, we don’t pause, we do say instantly I have ruined the day. But have you ever reflected on what that really means? How do a hundred, 200, 300, even a thousand extra calories that one day really ruin your long-term plans? Especially when you consider what usually happens if you don’t just fix that flat and you go slash the other three tires and even like the car on fire, 10,000 calories added up over that time has a much bigger impact than there’s a thousand on that one day and your ability to show yourself your grit and to pull yourself back up and to move forward, honestly, that strength that reveals is going to build a lot more success in the future than even those a thousand calories are going to cost you.

(12:53):
So I want you to think about what would happen if I just kept driving. What would that look like if I had the chips and I even did have the pint of ice cream and I did DoorDash things and the next morning I just got up and went to the gym and got right back on my macros and moved forward like nothing had happened. I fixed that flat and got right back on the road. Because I think so often we really do think about our trip towards results or getting in the car, driving towards results. We’ll even say as being on this racetrack going in circles and if we pause or breakdown, we’re just done. When really it is a road trip. There are pit stops, there are times we have to pull over to the side of the road. We have to stop to get snacks, we have to refill the gas tank. There’s highways and traffic jams, and all these times where we’re going faster or slower, that road trip is a much better analogy. We’re not just going at one speed around this racetrack perfect conditions all the time. So you need to really think about what would it look like to just keep driving after I fix that flat again? You’re going to get that flat tire. Sometimes it’s going to happen, but the faster we move forward, and that’s what all three of these tactics are about, the better off we’re going to be.

 

*Note: This transcript is autogenerated there may be some unintended errors.

The TFL Muscle (Tensor Fasciae Latae) – The Hidden Cause Of Low Back, Hip, Knee and Ankle Pain

The TFL Muscle (Tensor Fasciae Latae) – The Hidden Cause Of Low Back, Hip, Knee and Ankle Pain

by | May 25, 2025 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Pain Relief

There’s just this nagging pain you can’t seem to get rid of.

Maybe it’s your lower back. Your hip. Or even your knee or your ankle that feels off.

You’ve stretched. You’ve strengthened. You’ve rested even.

But the issue never really goes away. It keeps coming back.

The culprit may be one muscle that you don’t realize is perpetually getting overworked…

The TFL.

And this muscle can have a far reaching impact leading to aches and pains from your back down to your feet. 

In this video I want to break down… 

…where the TFL is and what it does, 

…how doing even the “right” moves can backfire and

…then how to adjust your movements to help you better activate your glutes

…while also doing the mobility work to relax this tight and overworked muscle.

So first, where is the TFL, what does it do and why should you even care?

The TFL or tensor fasciae latae is a small muscle on the outside of your hip.

To feel where your TFL is so you can notice when it is working, put your hand on the front top of your pelvis down your leg as you’re lying on your side.

Rotate your toe down toward the ground, turning your leg all the way up toward your hip. This internal rotation of your hip should make your TFL tense.

Ever notice that area really burning or working during moves like band walks where you’re trying to make your glutes work?

That’s your TFL compensating for your glute medius and becoming overworked and probably tight. And this is what can throw your ENTIRE lower body out of alignment and even perpetuate back pain.

Your TFL helps flex your hip, internally rotates your thigh, and abducts your leg.

Because it connects into your IT Band, tension in your TFL doesn’t just stay local.

It impacts your knee and even reaches your ankle. It even changes the way your feet strike the ground.

Over time, these changes in your movements, these compensation can lead to:

  • IT Band Syndrome
  • Patellofemoral pain (or runner’s knee)
  • Hip impingement or hip pain
  • Shin splints
  • Even chronic ankle issues

And here’s the kicker and why you need to care about this muscle… 

You might be seeing some of these other aches and pains and so focused on the point of pain you didn’t realize the culprit is this nasty little sucker of a muscle. 

So all of your work to correct those other issues doesn’t pay off and you just constantly struggle with aches and pains sidelining you.

Now if you’re like, but I am doing glute medius strengthening because I have heard it’s my TFL is the issue…

That’s great…BUT…

What do you feel working?

Because “good” moves, the “right” moves, done with the wrong muscles working? 

That’s only going to make the issues worse and lead to a lot of frustration that your hard work isn’t paying off.

Going back to when I mentioned band walks…

Ever do those and end up rubbing right where you now know your TFL is?

Or maybe it’s clams. Or a lateral raise…

If you don’t feel the side of your butt really being the main muscle working and instead feel the burn in your TFL…

Your TFL is still running the show.

You may even be trying to roll out other areas that feel tight…

Foam rolling your back when it gets sore or your lower leg because your ankles are having issues or even around your knees because they’re feeling twingy…

But none of this is addressing the original overcompensation pattern.

You can’t just fix the tight spots downstream. 

You have to go straight to the source.

So how do you change those recruitment patterns and get your glute medius working as it should instead of your TFL taking over?

I want to share 3 form tweaks that may help based on the move you’re doing that emphasis using that glute medius over the TFL and then even share other prehab exercises, both foam rolling and stretching, that you can use to relax that TFL further.

That relaxation of the muscle even prior to the glute activation moves can only help you change those recruitment patterns and make it easier to have that mind-body connection work correctly.

Basically, it helps you mentally find your butt to make sure it’s working when it should be!

Form Tip #1: Turn your toe in and down. 

Your TFL internally rotates your hip or turns it in and abducts your leg, lifting it laterally. 

But while you’ll often see your thigh and knee cap turn in with a tight TFL, you’ll also see your lower leg externally rotate and your feet turn out. 

If you find your knees really cave in with movement, give your TFL some love!

But turning that toe down toward the ground or back in can help prevent the movement pattern seen with a tight TFL to help avoid it taking over. 

While this may lead to you internally rotating all the way up your leg, this movement puts the emphasis on the glute medius to raise the leg laterally. 

I joking say it “distracts” the TFL, making that muscle even contribute to working to internally rotate so it can’t take over for the glute medius during abduction. It’s too distracted with the other movement!

So think of slightly leading with your heel as you raise your leg up or out to the side.

Form Tip #2: Use hip extension. 

Your TFL is also a hip flexor, meaning it works to bend your hips. 

You can therefore prevent it from working by extending your hip.

This has the added bonus of also engaging your glute max which can help your glute medius fire better. 

Just make sure that you aren’t faking that hip extension by arching your back or leaning over as a torso hinge is hip flexion.

Focus on using your glute to extend truly at the hip, even pushing back into something like a wall as you laterally lift your leg. 

You should feel not only the side of your butt but also the back of your butt working.

Pair this with turning your toe down for even better activation!

Form Tip #3: Play With Your Setup.

Ever notice when doing different moves some are way easier to feel your glutes working in? While with others you can’t get that TFL to shut off no matter how modified you make them?

If this is the case, play around with postures and positions. 

With our glute medius, different fibers contribute slightly to different joint actions. 

So don’t hesitate to lean forward or back instead of sitting straight up during seated abductions. This can help you target more anterior or even posterior fibers of the gluted medius.

Try even bridge abductions to use that hip extension to engage your glute max.

But don’t be afraid to play around with postures and variations, using both one sided and two sided moves.

And to help you master moves you can’t get your TFL to be quiet during, try including them AFTER a move where you’ve already gotten a little pump in your glute medius with. 

Often that little pump can make it easier to then feel the correct muscles working in the moves 

Remember if you’re not feeling it in the right place? You’re not fixing the right problem.

And if you’re really struggling with your TFL taking over…here’s a huge piece most people skip:

The foam rolling and stretching.

Prehab is a 3 part process – 

Foam roll tight and overactive muscles…

Stretch those muscles as you mobilize joints…

THEN activate to strengthen weak and underactive muscles and improve stability. 

So if you’re using the tweaks I mentioned above with activation moves for your glute medius and struggling with still feeling your TFL try these two moves prior…

TFL Foam Rolling and the Lunge and Reach.

Both are great to include as part of your warm up.

To roll out your TFL…

Place the ball on the front side of your hip, lying over it. You can roll it back toward your glute or slightly down the side of your leg in front of your hip bone. 

But focus on that spot that tenses as you turn your leg in.

Hold on any tight spots and breathe as you relax into the ball. 

Lift and lower your leg to tense and relax 5-10 times. 

You can also bend your knee toward your chest and extend your leg back out to hit this hip flexor as well.

You can use this foam rolling move during rest between activation or even strength exercises when you feel the TFL taking over, but for sure include it in your warm up or prehab before a stretch like the Lunge and Reach.

To do the Lunge and Reach…

Step forward on one side, keeping your back leg straighter as you lunge forward. Lunge deeper to intensify the movement and stretch.

Reach with your opposite hand overhead even leaning to reach further. You will feel a stretch down your side but into the front side of that back hip.

Really engage that back glute to drive your hip into extension.

If you are really struggling with TFL tightness or even using this in your cooldown, you can do a static stretch variation half kneeling on the ground near a way.

But focus on that hip extension engaging your glute as you reach toward the opposite side to stretch.

Remember, the point of pain is not always where the problem started.

If your knees hurt…If your hips feel stiff…If your ankles feel locked up…

If you’re doing a lot of the “right” things but nothing’s adding up, look at other areas that can have an impact, like your TFL

Because if you don’t address the TFL? You’ll just keep fighting the same battle over and over.

Try those form tweaks after the foam rolling and stretching moves today.

Focus on what you truly feel working to finally change those recruitment patterns and address that overload to alleviate those aches and pains!

Move and feel your best with Dynamic Strength workouts. Every workout includes the prehab work you need!

–> Learn More

Go From Surviving To Thriving

Go From Surviving To Thriving

by | May 22, 2025 | podcast

Listen:

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Change Requires CHANGE

If you’re feeling stuck and know deep down that you could be doing better, don’t wait any longer. Your life is not going to change until you take action and make a bold move towards your goals. If you’re ready to take control of your life and start moving towards the results you want let us help you achieve your goals. ⬇️

APPLY NOW

Transcript:

Open Transcript:

Cori (00:00):
Welcome to the Redefining Strength Podcast. Everything you need to succeed on your health and fitness journey, even the stuff you don’t want to hear. If you’re taking pride in being able to do it all on your own, you’re actually taking pride in staying stuck. So we have this image of the lone wolf thriving on its own, but the lone wolf is actually just trying to survive. So this realization came to me that we keep ourselves stuck by trying to do it all on our own. When I was up at three 30 in the morning, and I was thinking through this conversation with this woman that I had had on email, and she was very proud of herself for I know it all, I can do this on my own, and I’ve been there. So I get that ego in feeling like you can do it on your own.

(00:49):
You are strong enough, you’ll find a way. And again, it goes back to I’m a lone wolf. Well, I actually then had this idea at three 30 in the morning, why do we have this image that the lone wolf is this strong successful thing on its own? And I was like, is it even? How did this come about? So I went and Googled it because that’s what you do when you don’t know what something is at three 30 in the morning, of course. And I realized that the lone wolf is actually trying to find a pack. It is not trying to survive on its own. It doesn’t want to. It wants that pack to really thrive. And it made me realize, do we sort of do the same thing? We go out on our own thinking, we’ll be better off thinking we’re strong enough to do it on our own and ultimately hold ourselves back because we aren’t utilizing the knowledge of others, the perspective of others.

(01:36):
And so we’re not going as far as we really can and we’re limiting ourselves and it’s ego that’s getting in the way. So if you’ve been sort of saying, I’m a lone wolf, I can do this on my own. You need to question if you’re just trying to survive or if you really want to thrive, potentially leaning on others. And it’s hard to be vulnerable in that way. This is where really showing ourselves our own strength, our own ability to be receptive to feedback is so key. So I wanted to go over some strategies to help because I think the shift from feeling like we should or need to do it on our own and getting our ego out of the way is really what ultimately leads us to see better results faster and avoid so many pitfalls. I can tell you that the more I’ve embraced help from others, the further I’ve actually seen myself go.

(02:21):
So I wanted to share some really big, important tactical ways to give yourself that perspective shift. Because accepting help, accepting support is what will ultimately get you further. And if you even think about it, and this is something that really helped me because I was like, well, I know a lot knowing isn’t doing. And also we often can’t know what we don’t know. If you think about Olympic athletes, they’re often technically more skilled, more talented, even than their coaches are. Yet they have coaches to give that perspective. Anybody who’s succeeded at something, if you look down their path, you’ll see all the mentors. They talk about having all the different perspectives they’ve done, all the different they learned from some, gave them really positive experiences and some not so positive experiences. But even the things we do that don’t feel as positive in the moment, that feel like they set us back, we can learn something from.

(03:11):
So the more experiences we have, the more perspectives we get, the more we grow. So I wanted to go over some steps to help you embrace putting that ego aside and getting help. And number one, our step number one is stop overestimating your self-awareness. We simply don’t know what we dunno. And I can tell you that even the more I seek out contradictory opinions, I will literally say, I believe in tracking macros. I want to go read everything on why you shouldn’t track macros. I still am looking for all these things that contradict what I believe from my own perspective and lens. And often in this, we miss the little nuance of things, the little tweaks that could really add up. Maybe it isn’t that I should be finding perspectives against tracking macros, but maybe it’s that I should find perspectives against my belief that X person needs higher carb or this food is important and that’s really what adds up.

(04:01):
But I can’t see some of those things because I don’t know what I don’t know. And so by having outside help to see those opportunities and the nuance, I can start to question what I believe and even improve and grow. When we think about even our movement patterns, you’re focused on what you feel working and how the movement is going. There might be one little way you can cue something differently to get yourself to have an even better result from it, or you might be able to do a little heavier weight or slower tempo in a different way if you do a slightly different posture or position. But all these different things are just things we might not have been introduced to yet. And by putting ourselves out there and asking for help and asking for perspective and looking to constantly learn and grow and be receptive to that feedback and even normalizing feedback, we’re going to ultimately move forward faster.

(04:46):
But I would really encourage you to take a step back and say, I think I’m very self-aware. I think I know all these things about myself, but in what I’m perceiving as the self-awareness, where am I actually missing strengths and where am I missing flaws? Because in that too, we think about our weaknesses just as weaknesses, but a lot of times they’re attached to our strengths as well. And we can’t necessarily change the weakness without a detrimental impact on our strength. However, we do try going to changing the weakness. But what if you just double down on the strength? Instead, all these things are perspective shifts that we might not be able to see because we don’t see where things are attached, and we need that outside perspective. That’s step back to really help. So step number two, to putting yourself out there, being more vulnerable, risking the support of others.

(05:33):
And I say risking because sometimes it can be really uncomfortable is borrowing perspectives before you break. Often we do only seek out help when we’ve really fallen down, when we feel at the lowest of low. And instead of getting to that point, instead of failing, be like, Hey, I’m making great progress. How could I make better progress? Because I think too, we hesitate, our ego pushes back against asking for help because we’re usually asking for help at an uncomfortable time, A time we don’t feel like enough. And if we instead are asking for that perspective shift when we do feel great, when we do feel like enough, we’re going to be way more receptive to it. It doesn’t feel like that negative. It doesn’t feel like that thing that’s a ding to our ego or pride, our knowledge. So instead of saying, oh, I don’t know, be like, I do know all these things, what more can I learn?

(06:21):
Or because I know, I realize all that. I don’t know. If you think about Bruce Lee’s comment about I more respect and I more fear the person that’s practiced one punch a thousand times than the person that has practiced a thousand punches one time, or it might have been kicks if I butcher the quote. But it’s that ability to recognize that the better we get at something, the more we’ll realize there’s more opportunity in it. The more we can improve upon those basics, the more we even have to take ourselves back to those basics to keep improving. And so the more receptive feedback we really get, so instead of seeking out perspective when you failed at your highest of highs, say, what more can I do? Because that’s really where you launch even further faster. So borrow perspective before you feel broken. It shifts your whole mindset.

(07:10):
And even thinking about it that way of like, oh gosh, I’m not looking for support because I don’t know. I’m looking for support because I realize all that there is to know because I know a lot in this area. The more I learn about macros, the more I realize there is to learn and the more nuance I see in the things. So there’s always more to learn. And the more we have that positive association with asking for support, the less our ego pushes back. Step three, learn to love the pushback. The more I’ve almost seen getting feedback and pushback as a good thing, the more I seek it out, the more I want to do it, and the more I realize how much it’s pushed me forward. So think about the last time you did start a new program. You did ask somebody for help and how much you learned from that experience.

(07:53):
But the more you see that pushback is a good thing, the more you’ll find opportunities that weren’t even meant by the initial feedback that you got. But if no one’s pushing you, you are not going to grow. If you really think about everything in life, it’s kind of forged out of a hard, it’s forged out of a pushed, so to speak. We don’t often succeed because we don’t have any struggles. We succeed because of those struggles. If you think about the last time you became more confident, stronger, you saw results or progress, it was often hitting a hard and pushing through anyway, legitimately. Our muscles grow because we tear them down. They hit this hard, we force them into the struggle, and that’s what makes them adapt and grow stronger. That’s how everything sort of works. And the more we see that opportunity, the more we can embrace that pushback and realize how much that pushback is why we ultimately leap forward faster.

(08:47):
So I want you to really change your perspective to recognize that it’s your ego. And I say this, having had lots of ego and trying to do it on my own, but it’s our ego that wants to keep us in the comfort, keep us in the safety, but also keeps us stuck, right? We don’t want to feel bad at something. We don’t want to feel like we failed. But support and seeing opportunity in that support in that perspective isn’t failing. It’s believing in ourselves that we can achieve so much more. We don’t want to just be the lone wolf surviving. We want to be that wolf that finds its pack and really thrives. So I would love to hear how you are stepping back and embracing support, embracing perspective, how you made that mindset shift to allow yourself to see opportunity in the different perspectives. Because again, we can’t know what we don’t know. And only through asking for help, asking for support, seeking to see other vantage points and viewpoints, can we grow and prove to ourselves what truly is possible beyond our own limitations or beliefs?

 

*Note: This transcript is autogenerated there may be some unintended errors.