TAKE ACTION
a
M
TAKE ACTION
10 DUMBBELL CORE Exercises You’re Not Doing

10 DUMBBELL CORE Exercises You’re Not Doing

by | Jul 31, 2022 | Blog, Core, Exercises

Looking to spice up your core training routine? Then these dumbbell core moves will help! Whether you want to target your abs, obliques or glutes, there is a move here to help. And these exercises will help you improve both your rotational and anti-rotational core strength. Plus they can be done from a variety of different postures, whether you want to do something standing or get down on the ground.

Pick a few of these moves to start implementing into your programming based on your needs and goals!

1: Turkish Hinge:

This core move is based off of one step in the full Turkish Get Up and is a great way to improve your hip and shoulder stability. It is an amazing way to target those obliques and especially that glute medius.

When you do this exercise, you want to focus on that lateral hinge, really pushing your butt to the side. This allows you to load and use that glute to hinge and come back up to half kneeling. It also helps you keep your weight centered so you could technically hinge over without having to put any weight on that hand on the ground until you’re ready.

If you simply just lean over, you’ll lose your balance and really struggle with stabilizing that raised shoulder. So focus on loading that glute as you hinge over then using that glute and your oblique to pull you back up!

Make sure as you set your hand down to the side as well that you aren’t reaching out wide but setting it closer to your body.

If you can’t kneel on the ground, you can do a similar move called the Windmill standing. Just make sure to start with a light weight for both to focus on stabilizing that raised weight!

2: Plank Pull Throughs:

This anti-rotational core move is a must-do plank variation. It is a great way to really work everything from your shoulders to your knees down not only your frontside but also your backside!

As you do this move, you want to focus on keeping your core still and your hips level. You want to pull the weight fully across without rotating. Don’t rotate just to pull it further. And make sure to brace those abs and glutes to fight that rotation! It’s key you also make sure your hands are under your shoulders as you set up. This will help you avoid overloading your neck and shoulders to better engage your back to support your shoulders and fight that rotation as well.

Move slowly. While it is tempting to rush if you feel unbalanced, DON’T!

To modify this move, you can start with a reach over pulling a weight. You can also place your hands on an incline and pull the weight on the bench or stair.

–> VIDEO OF ALL 10 MOVES BELOW <–

3: Glute Bridge with Cross Body Chops:

Our lats and glutes must work together efficiently if we want a proper transfer of force and power through our core. This keeps not only our shoulders and hips healthy but also promotes better pelvic stability.

That’s why this move is an amazing one to include in your routine!

Holding the dumbbell in both hands you want to reach overhead to one side then chop the dumbbell across your body down outside your other hip. And you want to maintain that solid bridge hold as you perform the chop. Make sure as you hold the bridge, your glutes are powering the hold. Use that posterior pelvic tilt to avoid overloading your lower back. And focus on driving your knees toward your toes so you aren’t just pushing yourself backward as you hold, which can lead to your hamstrings taking over for your glutes.

As you do the chop, across to your hip, really feel your lat pulling the weight down from overhead. Move slowly with this move!

To progress this exercise, you could even do an 80/20 or single leg variation!

4: Rotational Lunge:

Don’t want to get down on the ground to work your core? Want an amazing rotational move you can do to target those abs, obliques and glutes? Then try the Rotational Lunge

This move is a great way to work on that rotational core strength and learn to not only accelerate and power rotation, but decelerate and control that rotation.

When you do this move, you want to treat the lunge as more of a hip hinge than focusing on sinking that back knee toward the ground. You really want to load that front glute so you can drive off that foot to power the rotation and come back up to standing before lunging back on the other side.

Even focus on that exhale as you drive out of the lunge to help you brace those abs and protect your back. Make sure to focus on loading that glute so you don’t twist too far and load your lower back. Make sure too that you’re not caving or rounding over to try to reach back further, but really only hinging at the hips.

To modify, you can adjust the amount of knee flexion you include, especially if you have knee issues. Do not step or lunge back as far to start!

Speed up the movement too as you feel ready over moving at a slower pace to start.

5: Seated Ab Presses:

This move is deceptively hard and a great way to work your abs and shoulders. You will also feel your hips working as well as you hinge but do not solely rely on your hip flexors. Focus on that c-sit curve as you lean back, rounding through your spine.

This rounding helps you brace and use those abs over just making this a hinge at the hips, which can lead to you only feeling your hip flexors.

Press the weight out as you hinge back to work your shoulders and even counterbalance the movement.

To modify this move, or if you can’t get down on the ground, you can do this move off a bench.

You can also vary this movement by performing a unilateral press over holding the weight in both hands!

6: Two-Way Raises:

This is another great anti-rotational plank variation to really improve your shoulder health and core stability. Because this is really targeting that shoulder, start with light weights.

While holding the plank position, you will raise one weight straight out overhead. Lower down, then fly the arm out to the side. Keep your elbow soft but your arm straight. And really fight the urge to rotate as you perform the two raises on one side.

You can then make the move harder by alternating sides where you have to fight rotation as you stabilize to raise the other arm out both ways. Or you can modify slightly to start by sticking with all reps on one side.

You can modify the plank position further if you find your hips sagging or butt going up in the air by performing this move off a bench or incline. You can also start with a raise without the weight.

Just make sure you don’t rush or shrug your shoulders as you do this move. Make sure to really engage your back to support the shoulder of the hand that is down to keep that shoulder unshrugged.

And if you feel unstable or uncomfortable on the weights while holding the plank, place your hand down on the ground instead while performing all reps on one side.

7: Pull Over Crunches:

This is a killer crunch variation that will work your abs, quads, lats, triceps, chest and serratus anterior. But it is also deceptively hard because of the weighted extension overhead. Make sure your lower back down not arch and ultimately become overloaded. Focus on that posterior pelvic tilt to brace your abs as you do this move.

When you perform the reach overhead, your elbows will be slightly bent but do not turn this into just flexion and extension at your elbows. You want the movement to come from your shoulders, reaching overhead to then pull the weight down over your body and in front of your knees.

Focus on feeling your lats and the muscles around your ribs really working over the course of the reach overhead and pull down.

As you extend your legs out, you can kick out higher to modify. Just make sure you engage your abs and even your glutes as you fully kick out.

To modify this move further, you can perform a bent knee tuck instead of a straight leg kick out. Or you can even keep your feet on the ground to start.

8: Extended ROM Lying Lateral Raise:

Changing the range of motion on an exercise is a great way to progress a movement.

In this case, the extended range of motion allows you to put the glute medius under more stretch during the exercise while also adding load with the dumbbell to advance it.

With this move, you want to make sure you’re really focusing on that glute medius and not letting the TFL compensate. If you struggle with feeling that TFL, which is also a hip flexor, taking over for your glutes, turn your toe down toward the ground as you perform the lateral raise. You can also slightly kick back as well. And then don’t rotate open to try to increase the range of motion and lift up higher.

Also, make sure to fully lower your leg down to get that extra stretch on the muscle at the bottom.

If you don’t have a bench, you can do this movement from the side plank position as well to still get that bigger range of motion and even the oblique work bonus.

9: Standing Dumbbell Chop:

This standing unilateral, or one sided, exercise is a great way to work on your rotational core strength and glute power. If you’re a tennis player, baseball player, golfer or any athlete wanting a powerful rotational swing, you want to include this move in your strength work!

It’s key with this move, you work on that powerful drive from your glute to power the swing up and across. And you want to make sure to brace your abs to prevent rotating too far as you swing the weight up and over your shoulder.

To load your glutes to power the rotation, you will sit back slightly and to the side the weight is on. It’s a very small hip hinge. As you drive forward to propel the weight up and across, pivot that foot. Don’t simply just come up on your toes, really rotate as if squashing a bug under the ball of your foot to better power the swing and use your glute.

Focus on that exhale as you rotate to brace your abs and avoid twisting too far!

Your elbows will bend more as you twist the weight over your shoulder.

10: Side Plank Row:

Target your obliques, abs, glutes, back and biceps with this great side plank variation.

By adding in the row, you not only work your back and bicep but also really force your core to work hard to stabilize as you hold that plank position.

Make sure that as you lower the weight toward the ground in front of you that you keep your back engaged to support the standing hand. You will rotate slightly toward the ground to protract that shoulder blade, bringing it away from your spine, before you row the weight up and retract your shoulder blade, or bring it back toward your spine.

You want to focus on the row not just coming from your arm, but instead focus on that scapular movement to really use your back.

Do not let your hips drop toward the ground as you row in that side plank position.

To modify, you can do this move with your hand up on a bench to start, even off of your forearm if you do have wrist issues!

SUMMARY:

Use these moves based on your needs and goals. You can combine a few into a quick finisher to a workout or even just select one to include in your circuits or trisets based on what you’re trying to target!

Love my workouts and exercises?

Subscribe to my YouTube!

–> Redefining Strength On YouTube

FHP 430 – Fast vs. Sustainable

FHP 430 – Fast vs. Sustainable

by | Jul 26, 2022 | podcast

I think something we too often like to gloss over is the sacrifices and challenges involved in achieving results.

Getting a new and better result, making a change is NOT easy.

Even something that eventually feels sustainable can be hard to start because it isn’t instinctual. It isn’t what we’ve always done.

So when I work with a client I like to discuss the options in how we move forward.

While I don’t believe in fad diets or quick fixes, I do believe we have a choice in the speed of our results…

And how fast we choose to move forward toward a goal is dependent on how much we are willing to go all in, embrace change and make sacrifices.

While everything in our program needs to be focused on the basics of macros and a clear workout progression IF we want to create sustainable habits we can adjust as we transition to maintaining our results, how we dial in our programming off of these foundational things at any given time can shift based on how quickly we want to make progress vs how much we want to really just create something that’s a lifestyle.

So basically what I’m telling you is…

If you want something that really feels like a lifestyle right from the start, you’ve got to be prepared for results to take longer to build.

However, if you are willing to go to the faster side of this sustainable continuum, you can see results faster…you just have to be ready to make more sacrifices. You have to be ready to be more “perfect” and precise for awhile.

You almost have to be ready to overcorrect to then slowly come back to more of a lifestyle as you reach your goals or even need a break.

And then you have to recognize you may adjust over time. You may be more motivated at points to push harder. Or you may need to back off because other things in your life take priority.

And this isn’t a bad thing.

But it’s key we constantly assess what we need to realize that WE control how fast we go or how much we focus on just that lifestyle balance.

We also have to recognize that we can’t necessarily have both all of the time!

That’s why I wanted to share some things I discuss with clients so we can determine what they need or truly want in terms of results vs. the habits they are willing to commit to.

And again…just remember, once you understand this balance, you can choose to change at any time. You may have an event you’re willing to do more to feel and look a certain way for.

Or you may have too much going on right now and need to back off. No right or wrong but we want to know the “cost” of any decision we make.

1: Know thyself!

The biggest thing to first consider is who you are and what has derailed you in the past.

Do you tend to get too gung-ho to start and ultimately derail yourself with too much restriction?

If this is the case, maybe ease in. Start with more of a lifestyle balance and, as you adjust, maybe then consider periods to kickstart things.

Don’t overwhelm yourself with strict macro ratios or 6 days a week of training. Start with something more manageable. Maybe even just tracking. But allow yourself to make the transition in easier by breaking things down so the changes become innate before you build further.

However, if you know you’re a person who will give up if results don’t happen fast enough to start, maybe you consider jumping in with more of a cut ratio or more dramatic change to ease up a bit after you’ve built that momentum.

Maybe you do habits that you know aren’t fully sustainable with a game plan to transition progressions or ratios as you settle in and see progress happening.

The key is assessing you and knowing what will help you settle into changes and stick with things.

2: Know you’re going to adjust.

Creating a lifestyle doesn’t mean doing one thing the rest of your life. You can have periods you’re more intense and times you’re less intense. And if you feel motivated, use it.

If you don’t feel motivated, also don’t be afraid to give yourself that strategic break or transition to minimums.

We have to remember that part of what leads to lasting results is sometimes embracing the ebbs and flows and even accepting minimums.

The more you allow yourself breaks at points, often the more we can capitalize on those times we are motivated because we are fully charged to go.

But this is also why it is key we embrace the learning process. When we understand macros, we can adjust ratios to be more dialed in or even more maintenance. We can know how we’re truly fueling to adjust.

Same goes for workouts. We can know what is or isn’t working and even tweak our schedule to work for different realistic schedules based on what our lifestyle is at that point. But when you think through how you’re programming, you can truly adjust for the time you have so you keep moving forward.

The key is not ignoring our mindset so we can even plan ahead and adjust accordingly so we don’t just fall off!

3: Remind yourself of your decision.

We always want results faster. But I think reminding ourselves of the sacrifices involved in going faster can be key if we’ve chosen NOT to implement all of the habits that are needed.

I think at times we need to remind ourselves we COULD go faster, but we’ve chosen something more based on a lifestyle.

I think it’s key to remind ourselves it is our CHOICE because it also allows us to reassess if we want to get results faster. We can CHANGE our decision.

Too often with lifestyle changes, with trying to reach a goal, we act like things are done to us. This takes away our control and makes us feel like we’re suffering more.

Realizing that we are “inflicting” these things on ourselves can often be helpful. Because then we can change things if we need!

Just remember you can change at any point. Remind yourself of why you’ve chosen the habits you have and why they relate to the speed of progress you’re going to make!

4: Plan end dates and cycles.

Honestly, it may even be best to plan in set cuts. To plan in set times you’re going to do a diet break or even just maintain. It can make things easier when you know you have an end date.

It can be helpful to allow you to know you won’t have to “suffer” with more sacrifices forever.

It can even allow you to embrace different times in your life where you may have more or less time to commit. It can also help you capitalize on motivation when it strikes to use bigger events to drive forward and make more sacrifices while also allowing you to embrace those times you can’t do as much because you can see them as the breaks you need.

But don’t be afraid to even look at your overall year and plan in times you know you can bring that intensity while also recognizing times you may have to strategically back off. I think knowing there will be times you get a break can motivate us to do more during the more ideal times we have!

We don’t do well with suffering indefinitely and driving forward faster does mean more sacrifice!

SUMMARY:

Remember we have some choice in how fast we get results. And while we shouldn’t turn to crash diets and need to focus on those fundamentals, we can choose to make more sacrifices or focus more on the lifestyle balance based on how quickly we want results.

And we can change our focus over time…but it’s key we’re constantly assessing to adjust based on what we need and what is possible at that time!

Want A Strong Back? (Do This Back Exercise!)

Want A Strong Back? (Do This Back Exercise!)

by | Jul 24, 2022 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

Too often we waste exercises by not actually working the muscles intended.

And then we wonder why we aren’t seeing the results we want.

But we have to remember that if we don’t feel the correct muscles working, those muscles aren’t reaping the benefits.

For example, if you feel your lower back during ab work, your lower back is what is being worked, not your abs. So all of that ab work isn’t going to pay off the way you’d like.

And it may even result in injury as your lower back becomes overworked and overloaded. This can even lead to your lower back engaging when it shouldn’t in other compound moves and lifts.

So not only is the muscle group we want benefiting NOT benefiting, but we may be creating recruitment patterns that can lead to other issues and injury.

The same thing goes for those back exercises you’re including in your workouts.

Tend to feel your neck or shoulders or even your biceps working instead of your upper back during rows or pull ups?

Struggling to feel like all of that back strengthening work is leading to the results you want, like improving your pull ups so you can do that first full one?

Then you need to make sure your back is actually what is powering your pulling moves.

And if it isn’t, you need to potentially modify so your arms can’t compensate.

You need to start by addressing your scapular mobility and stability to actually get your back powering the pull!

That’s why I love this amazing move – The Back Shrug.

While we need to include mobility work and that full prehab process of foam rolling, stretching and activation in our warm up routine, we can’t out mobility work improper movement and recruitment patterns when we lift.

It’s why we need to be intentional with moves and see every exercise as a a chance to assess.

And it’s why, when the correct muscles aren’t working, we sometimes need to modify moves and even try other variations to improve that mind-body connection.

It’s why if you struggle with with using your back during rowing, you may want to switch to the Back Shrug to start focusing on that scapular retraction to engage your back and power the pull.

How Do You Do The Back Shrug:

This move boils the row down to just that initial scapular movement to learn to control that back engagement.

When you row, the movement should start because you’re you’re drawing your shoulder blade toward your spine to use your back to pull.

This movement isolates just this component of the row, removing any elbow flexion that may lead to us compensating and using our bicep instead.

Too often with rows, we end up performing a bicep curl, curling our wrist in toward our chest over driving the elbow down and back as our shoulder blade moves toward our spine.

That’s why focusing on just that scapular movement to start can be key.

To do the Back Shrug, hold a dumbbell in each hand and hinge over standing with your feet about hip-width apart.

Let your arms hang down and unshrug your shoulders while keeping a neutral spine. Make sure you’ve hinged over to load your glutes while keeping your knees soft.

From this bent over position, you are going to try to pinch your shoulder blades together while letting your arms hang down.

Draw your shoulder blades toward your spine. Don’t just shrug your shoulders. Focus on that scapular movement.

Do not bend your elbows or start to row.

Just pinch the shoulder blades together, pausing, then relaxing the weights back toward the ground. Do not shrug your shoulders up toward your ears as you retract!

You will be able to add weight as you can fully control and feel the movement on both sides.

This is a small movement. Don’t try to make it bigger by standing up or bending your arms. Make sure to keep your neck long. Your only focus is on drawing the shoulder blades toward your spine then relaxing them away. Even pause as you do the pinch over rushing.

Variations:

There are so many ways you can then vary this move based on the types of rows you general include in your training and even the other muscles you want to target and tools you have available.

You could do this with a band instead of dumbbells. Or even off a suspension trainer. All of these are great to include to prep your body to row using these different tools and postures.

Because we can struggle with that scapular retraction in different positions, it can be key to include a diversity to make sure we’re initiating those rows with our back.

And if you find you struggle even with proper mobility and strength on one side, you can even make this movement a unilateral exercise, working only one side at a time or even doing rounds or reps on only one side.

If you don’t have any equipment, you can even do a unilateral variation called the Single Arm Scapular Push Up. This is great as an activation move in your warm up before any strength work even.

But as you really work to translate that activation to the full row with weight, consider the these variations to prep the body to initial that pull with that proper scapular movement.

SUMMARY:

Moves are only as good as their implementation. And if we want to get the full benefit of an exercise, we need to make sure we’re actually engaging the correct muscles to power the movement.

If you’ve struggled with feeling your back during rowing exercises, try this scapular retraction focused back exercise to really isolate and work on that initial back engagement.

It can easily be included as part of your accessory work for a few rounds of 10-15 reps! Focus on that scapular movement over just going heavy, but don’t be afraid to progress the movement by adding loads as you can truly control that retraction!

For more amazing videos and tips, subscribe to my YouTube:

–> Redefining Strength On YouTube

FHP429 – Oversell The NEgative

FHP429 – Oversell The NEgative

by | Jul 19, 2022 | podcast

Often when we start a new program, we tell ourselves it’s going to be THE THING. The lifestyle change we’ve been looking for.

We tell ourselves it’s going to be easy and magical (ok maybe not the magical part).

Heck maybe we’ve even been convinced of this by friends who claim it was soooo easy to do and the BEST thing they’ve ever done.

We can even manage to convince ourselves there won’t be struggles.

But this is exactly the OPPOSITE of what we should be doing.

It’s honestly what often sets us up for failure.

Because if we think or believe that a change should be easy? We’ll only end up super frustrated and overwhelmed when it isn’t.

Which 98% of the time…IT ISN’T!

Something almost always comes up.

And when it does, if we’ve told ourselves things SHOULD be easy?

We’ll feel like there is something wrong with us because it isn’t, especially if we’ve been told it was easy for someone else.

We have to realize instead that there will ALWAYS be set backs and hiccups and mistakes.

And that often when someone is LOOKING BACK and saying it was easy, even they encountered struggles when first starting out.

So instead of trying to convince yourself that the process will be easy, OVERSELL THE NEGATIVE.

That sounds…well…negative but it is the best way to set yourself up for success.

Because if you recognize that the changes WILL be hard…that there WILL be setbacks…that life WILL try to get in the way…

You’ll be ready for it when it happens.

And being prepared makes it so much easier to embrace the hard.

The more we even slightly “oversell” the negative, the more we can make the hard times even feel…well…easy because they aren’t as bad as we expected.

So as you’re starting to make changes in this program, don’t try to gloss over the challenges that will arise.

Instead prepare yourself for them admitting there will be struggles.

Oversell that negative to prepare yourself!

Take some time right now to think of a few problems you could see popping up…

If you aren’t sure of what may be the hold up or hiccup, consider what has caused you to fall off of programs in the past.

Will life try to get in the way? Will you get so busy you can’t stay consistent with your workouts?

Will you struggle to track? Will it be hard to stop snacking?

What struggles have derailed you before so you can recognize they may pop up again to try to hold you back?!

Here are 4 big points to consider and make notes on…

What’s been the biggest challenge for you in the past when it comes to being consistent with a program?

What’s been the biggest workout struggle for you? consistency or making time for it?

What’s been the biggest struggle for you in terms of adjusting your nutrition? Have you struggled to track?

What makes you the most nervous about this program? What do you think will be the hardest part?

SUMMARY:

Plan for the worst! It will help you better handle hiccups and issues when they arise.

INTERMITTENT FASTING – Yay or Nay?

INTERMITTENT FASTING – Yay or Nay?

by | Jul 17, 2022 | Blog, Diet

I actually personally don’t consider Intermittent Fasting to be a “diet.”

It’s a meal timing. One that can be used with a variety of dietary preferences and macro breakdowns.

You can be Keto and use it. Or high carb and use it.

And it’s actually personally a meal timing strategy I’ve found not only useful but freeing over the years.

But as much as I personally enjoy it and find it to be a useful learning experience for many of my clients even if they don’t stick with it long-term, I don’t believe that Intermittent Fasting is right for everyone.

That’s why I want to discuss what Intermittent Fasting is and when and who may benefit from it so you can decide if it is right for you.

Because from our meal timing to our calorie intakes to our macro breakdown, the systems all have to work together to get us results.

And we have to be willing to adjust and change as our needs and goals change over time.

You may even find that things like Intermittent Fasting work for you to reach certain goals but fight against you when your goals or lifestyle change.

And we can’t be so married to something we aren’t open to shifting!

So before I dive into whether IF is right for you, I want to give a bit of background on what it is…

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

There are a few different types of Intermittent Fasting:
– Time Restricted Eating – A daily set eating window
– The 5:2 Method – Two days of a 500 calorie cap
– 24 Hour Fasts – Once to twice a week of a full 24 hour fast.

Basically Intermittent Fasting is restricting when you eat.

While there are different length fasts you can include, a very common form of IF is the 16/8 time restricted fast.

You will fast for 16 hours and then have an 8 hour eating window.

For many, this is really just skipping breakfast.

While technically you can skip any meal, the key is that you’re keeping all your meals into a specific shortened window each and every day.

If you do one of the other set ups, you may have a calorie allotment or full day you aren’t eating over just skipping a meal.

So Why Is Intermittent Fasting So Popular? What Are The Benefits?

Intermittent Fasting has gained mainstream attention over the years as not only a great thing to do for your health but also for fat loss.

And part of the reason why it became so popular is because people claimed you didn’t have to change what you were eating at all to see results.

You just had to ONLY eat within this set window and POOF magically the weight would melt off.

And having a set eating window does to some extent often help people get started losing weight – it creates a calorie deficit for many without them having to track just like cutting out a food group can often do with other forms of dieting.

It can help cut out mindless snacking and when you are restricted to only a set amount of time, it is easier to fill up when eating your daily calorie intake in a condensed period.

Plus for many it can feel more satisfying when in a calorie deficit to have this bigger meals over more frequent snacking. You can slightly get that “eat till you’re full” feeling.

Not to mention there simply isn’t as much meal planning to do which can make it easier to stick with the healthy habits.

So many find the simple lifestyle change sustainable while leading to the habits they need to lose weight.

From a more “scientific” perspective of why some believe IF to be so helpful for weight loss….

It is argued that it can promote stronger insulin sensitivity and increased growth hormone secretion – both of which also can help with gaining muscle, which in turn leads to better fat loss results.

The more we are able to focus on muscle mass retention, the less metabolic adaptations we suffer from as we lose weight. Muscle mass is metabolically costly, meaning it needs a lot of energy to be maintained.

In a deficit, we can often end up using muscle mass for fuel, especially if the deficit is too great.

So by promoting an anabolic environment we can prevent metabolic adaptations and burn more calorie at rest by promoting better muscle mass mention and growth!

It can also lead to better fat burning results, especially when at the end of a longer fast, part of why that 12-18 hours is recommended for IF. Some even argue it is especially helpful when you have that last little bit you want to lose off of stubborn areas.

The argument for this is that the low insulin levels reached during a fast, and the more time spent in this low insulin state, equates to a great time spent where fat can be mobilized from stubborn areas. And this state is different than the one seen with a low carb diet because triglycerides inhibit HSL or hormone sensitive lipase in a similar manner to insulin. HSL is basically activated to shuttle the fat out of the cell to be burned off.

But because of this fatty acid mobilization and the fact that some studies have shown fasting to increase specifically abdominal subcutaneous blood flow, the argument has been made that IF can promote better stubborn belly fat loss as well. Which may be a reason for women especially during menopause to consider trying IF while dialing in their macros as estrogen levels decreasing during menopause can lead to more stubborn belly fat accumulating.

And while many turn to fasting for the weight loss benefits, other benefits people tout with fasting include….

* Reduces your risk for cancer.
* Decreases triglycerides and LDL as well as cholesterol and inflammation markers.
* Reduces blood pressure.
* Improves cardiovascular function.
* Improves your brain functioning and can even help prevent conditions such as Parkinson’s, Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

But as we know, nothing is a magic pill.

And part of the benefits often associated with fasting studies have shown may be achieved by simply creating a deficit and then maintaining a healthy weight overall regardless of your meal timing.

We have to remember that one size doesn’t fit all….

So….What Are The Downsides?

Now a downside is NOT that your muscle will melt off if you miss a meal.

And you do NOT need to eat every two hours and 6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism humming.

And no, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day and you’re doomed if you skip it.

So in terms of huge negative consequences from fasting, I just don’t really see that there are any, especially when it comes to weight loss.

But that still does NOT mean it is a magic pill or right for you.

You can’t just eat whatever you want in whatever quantity you want just because you are only eating in a set window.

Macros and calories still matter.

If you dial those in, any meal timing that fits your lifestyle is going to work.

Forcing a meal timing that doesn’t fit your schedule or lifestyle will backfire no matter how magical it is even touted to be.

And that’s all too often the main reason why Intermittent Fasting doesn’t work for people.

They’re forcing a meal timing that isn’t realistic or sustainable for them and then they don’t know how to truly dial in their nutrition to match their needs and goals when they take out the restriction of an eating window.

If you train first thing in the morning, trying to fast until the afternoon probably won’t work out. And while you can make your eating window earlier, many don’t find that lifestyle sustainable as it means you’re eating dinner earlier than you’d like to maintain.

For others fasting ultimately results in overeating. They become so hungry they end up overeating even though it’s during a set window. And they find that their cravings increase.

So if you aren’t finding that fasting makes your life EASIER, there is no point in doing it. Especially because you can simply achieve the same benefits through a calorie deficit and by dialing in your macros.

And if fat loss isn’t your goal, fasting may NOT be the ideal meal schedule, especially if you aren’t training late enough in the day to break your fast before your workout.

While fasted training can potentially help our fat loss efforts, it may backfire when we are trying to gain muscle.

Having full glycogen stores to create that anabolic environment and help your body repair and rebuild can be key, especially if you’re a hard gainer or advanced lifter who won’t see those newbie gains. Gaining muscle is a slow process and for many of us it requires really creating the right environment and having fuel readily available.

Not to mention fasting may mean your energy levels are lower than ideal so you can’t push your training in the gym as hard as you’d like to create that progressive overload.

Now that being said, many will still love IF even while trying to build muscle.

So now the question is….

Should You Do Intermittent Fasting?

There are two main reasons I most often use it with clients:

1. To help them better understand their true hunger cues because so often we just get USED to eating at set times over really understanding what our body is telling us.
2. To work around their schedule to make hitting their macros and feeling full and satisfied easier.

If this meal timing feels right for you, great. Use it.

Everything we include in our lifestyle should be focused on our needs and goals.

And for many of us, fasting allows us to eat when we are hungry and maintain the macros and calories we need to feel fueled while seeing results.

It gives us a freedom to adjust our meals around whatever works even that day.

But whatever your fitness goal, no meal schedule is going to get you results if your calories and macros aren’t in line with your needs and goals.

You still need to focus on overall macros and calories for the day. If those aren’t in line, you’re not going to see results PERIOD.

You can still overeat eating within a small window.

So it isn’t some magic fat loss fix.

Not to mention, if your goal is gaining muscle, and you’ve found you’re really struggling, sticking with IF no matter how much you loved it for fat loss, may work against you.

Change requires change and you may find you need to adjust your meal timing to help make sure you’re creating that anabolic environment.

While this could just mean a pre-workout meal to break your fast instead of eating first thing after, you may find you do need to swap to a longer eating window and more meals.

The key is finding what works for your current needs and goals!

And ladies, you may find you respond differently to IF than you men do.

Studies have shown potentially fewer benefits from IF for women, and even more adverse effects in terms of adrenal stress and even muscle mass loss in pre-menopausal women.

So it may be good, if you aren’t naturally a meal skipper, to start with a shorter fast and only build up to a longer length if it feels right.

However, for females, because of the changes we go through in menopause, Intermittent Fasting may become a more useful tool as we get older. Because we can develop insulin resistance during menopause and lower estrogen levels can lead to more belly fat being gained, IF may be a nice complement to changes in our macros to help us avoid that dreaded menopausal weight gain.

SUMMARY:

The key with IF is to realize that our meal timing needs to match our needs and goals. Experiment to find what feels best for you. But realize results come from all systems being dialed in focused on what you need. And that meals your meal timing, calories and macros all need to work together and you need to be willing to adjust over time!

Ready to create the perfect lifestyle for YOUR needs and goals?

–> Follow These 3 Steps…