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FHP 326 – 4 Things Successful People Don’t Do

FHP 326 – 4 Things Successful People Don’t Do

by | Jul 5, 2021 | podcast

I was thinking about what most often leads to a client being successful…and honestly it never boils down to the fact that they really have more willpower. Or better macros or better workouts.

It boils down to the fact that they truly take OWNERSHIP of the process. They focus on finding a way through the ideal, and not so ideal times.

And they recognize the power of their mindset.

Because so often we try to search for a perfect diet, a perfect workout. A perfect supplement or move. When really, it comes down to the fact that…

“What our mind believes, our body achieves.”

That’s why I wanted to share 4 things successful people DON’T DO with some tips to help you avoid these pitfalls.

#1: Blame things outside themselves

No not everything that happens in life is within your control. But recognizing you can ALWAYS control your reaction to events ultimately is key.

Because that puts you in a position of power to move forward.

Blaming the sucky thing that did happen may make you feel like it wasn’t your fault, but it does nothing to move you forward.

It makes you a victim over a victor.

We have to remember that we can’t control what we can’t control. And dwelling on it doesn’t change it.

If we instead see each situation as an opportunity or chance to learn and move forward, we can then find ways to achieve success even if the path isn’t what we initially envisioned.

Blaming something outside yourself may make you feel less bad about the situation, but it does NOTHING to move you forward. It does nothing to empower you so that you realize that you can CHOOSE to make a path forward.

So today if something happens, instead of making an excuse or blaming the event, focus on finding a solution. A way to move forward regardless!

#2: Focus on Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda 

Hindsight is always 20/20. You should always want to learn and grow so that you look back on the past and would have done something differently.

But the simple fact is…you can’t go back and change anything.

You can only move forward.

Reflect and learn from the past but stay focused on the future.

When you’re tempted to start moping about what you coulda, shoulda, woulda done, instead tell yourself, “I won’t make that mistake again!”

Find an action item out of the learning experience that you’re going to implement moving forward.

See everything you do as a learning experience. Even a new program.

So what if it doesn’t work out? So what if you weren’t able to be as perfect as you would have liked?

What did you learn so you can keep moving forward?

Take one positive from it and remind yourself of it!

#3: Give up.

Honestly success is about being punched in the gut and standing right back up. Rarely have I had a client say “Well life just went perfectly the entire time I was training with you and that’s why I got results.”

Actually often I have clients say, “I got results DESPITE (insert all the stuff that happened there).”

Failure is really not the opposite of success. It’s a part of it.

And the more we see each setback as a learning experience, the more successful we will ultimately be.

Instead of trying to forget your mistakes, remind yourself of them but with the key things you now know BECAUSE of them.

We can often learn even more from the things that didn’t work than the things that did.

So as you even start a new program, remind yourself it will be a learning experience. Track and make note of not only what does work but also what doesn’t!

That allows you to do more of the good while avoiding the bad.

But just remember there will be ups and downs.

And success is most often defined, not by what we do when times are perfect, but by how we continue on through the times life works against us!

#4: Expect immediate results

We all wish results happened yesterday.

But change takes time and there is often a learning process full of ups and downs we first have to go through.

And as cliche as it is, I think it’s key we remind ourselves at times that anything in life worth having takes work.

However, during the day to day grind it can be hard to keep your eye on that long-term prize.

So the more we can set goals that do provide the motivation of seeing immediate results as often as possible? THE BETTER!

So if you’re starting a new program, consider ways to celebrate those habit goals as wins. Set mini challenges for yourself even so that you can see progress in different ways more consistently to keep doing the things you know will ultimately lead to success.

And when you feel discouraged, remind yourself results are building and often when we want to give up? Well that’s the time to push even harder!

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How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

by | Jul 1, 2021 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief

Sit ups get a bad rap because of the spinal flexion involved in the movement.

But guess what?

Our abs are worked by spinal flexion.

Yes they work to stabilize and prevent extension and brace to protect our spine, which is why planks are key too, but they do power spinal flexion.

And yes, we do work our core through all the amazing compound exercises out there like pull ups and squats and deadlifts, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also safely include spinal flexion moves to target our abs with a movement pattern they are MEANT to perform.

The key is learning to do sit ups properly so we aren’t compensating and overworking our lower back or relying simply on our hip flexors to sit up.

Here are 3 tips to help you get the most out of this basic move to work your abs through spinal flexion.

3 Tips To Improve Your Sit Ups

#1: Don’t sit up – roll up!

If you want to really focus on using your abs to sit up, don’t simply hinge and sit up at your hips. Focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time.

Think about truly curling your spine to come up.

You’ll realize this makes your abs work a lot harder and you feel your hip flexors working a lot less.

We have to remember that our abs power spinal flexion. And that curl to roll up is the spinal flexion we need to target our abs.

When we simply sit up and lie down, we often are performing the movement mainly as hip flexion. To get that ab engagement, we need that spinal flexion.

So focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time before sitting up nice and tall at the top. Then roll back down.

Even slow down the movement to focus on your abs over rushing through!

#2: Drive your heels down into the ground.

One of the best ways to relax an overactive muscle is to engage the opposing muscle group.

Often with sit ups, you see people’s legs flopping all over the place. Their legs lift and their hip flexors engage.

Next time you do sit ups, set up at the top and drive your heels down hard into the ground. Even think about slightly curling them back toward your butt. This will engage your hamstrings ever so slightly and help shut off your hip flexors.

Then slowly roll down.

Keep that tension, pushing your heels down into the ground as you roll down and come to rest at the bottom.

Keep that same pressure, pushing your heels down, as you sit back up.

You not only won’t feel your hips as much, but you may feel your abs more.

If you really struggle with your hips becoming over worked, you can even do a little hamstring hack, looping a band behind your heels to help you better engage those hamstrings if you struggle with applying pressure down into the ground.

#3: Don’t swing your arms overhead.

I know it can feel like we need the momentum to help us get back up, but swinging your arms is not only a way to cheat and not use your abs, but it can also cause you to arch your lower back at the bottom of the move and result in your lower back becoming overworked.

When you lie back down, you can bring your hands under your chin and then extend them toward your legs as you sit up if you do need a very slight assist in rolling up or you can keep them extended toward your legs.

The key is slowing down this move over trying to power through more reps.

If you really can’t get up without using the momentum, try a Seated Hinge variation, doing a top down variation of the sit up. Start at the top seated and only round to hinge back as far as you can control instead of starting lying on the ground.

This can help you learn to roll back to start.

SUMMARY:

Too often we take for granted this very basic ab move. And we demonize it for causing lower back pain when we simply aren’t performing it correctly and using the spinal flexion to work our abs.

Try these 3 tweaks and make your abs work during this basic move and stop relying on your hip flexors while overworking your lower back!

FHP 325 – Perfection Hinders Progress

FHP 325 – Perfection Hinders Progress

by | Jun 28, 2021 | podcast

Guess what? 

You’re human. You’re never going to be perfect.

I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true.

And honestly, if you ever look back at a project you’ve done and there is nothing you would change?

You’re either…

A. Not being honest with yourself…

Or…

B. You’ve stopped learning and started standing still.

Because as we learn and grow, we will always find flaws in earlier plans.

And it’s key we realize this because so often we hold ourselves back from ever getting started because we want something to be “perfect.”

We have to recognize that perfection can actually hinder progress!

If you’re ready to make a change, check out my RS Recipe for results. These 3 steps are key… 

–> Learn More About How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off For GOOD!

 

FHP 324 – It’s Going To Be Hard

FHP 324 – It’s Going To Be Hard

by | Jun 21, 2021 | podcast

Ok so we all do this…when talking with someone, looking back on the path we had to take for results, we’ll say, “It wasn’t that bad.”

Because in the end it was worth it AND we’ve adjusted to the new habits so they feel easier.

But I guarantee many of us to start did some whining about how sucky or hard or confusing the process was.

Because, guess what?

Change IS hard.

Reaching a goal we’ve never reached is OVERWHELMING AND TOUGH.

The learning process sucks.

It’s not fun to not be good at something.

But even the master was once a beginner.

It’s funny though how we start to dislike the discomfort of learning, of feeling out of our element more and more as we get older.

We believe there are things we are slightly entitled to….that shouldn’t be tough.

But if we haven’t learned the way to do something previously, it isn’t going to be easy and we are going to mess up.

Think back to being a kid…I don’t know about you but there were plenty of times I whined about things being hard.

And 99% of the time I was told, yes? Things are hard. But learning how to do them makes it easier!

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now with making a change, if you’re feeling frustrated by things being hard?

Well, maybe it’s time to tell yourself to suck it up buttercup and recognize that new can be difficult.

But by practicing and working through it and LEARNING, it gets easier!

Because the path to success means you have to go through the hard to get the result.

Sorry you can’t dodge that learning process.

3 Fat Loss Myths Holding You Back

3 Fat Loss Myths Holding You Back

by | Jun 19, 2021 | Blog, Diet, Workouts

The simple fact is, one size doesn’t fit all. And so many things can work for so many different reasons.

And ultimately what leads to our success, especially when it comes to fat loss, is something that we can do consistently LONG-TERM.

Even then, the exact diet or workout routine we follow will constantly be evolving because nothing in life ever stands still.

Your needs and goals change and so should your routine.

Yet, especially with diet, people become very “passionate” about their specific beliefs. It often stems from their own dietary preferences or unique needs based on specific health issues.

They start to demonize specific lifestyle things and tell others they should too.

And these things can turn into fat loss myths that ultimately hold us back from achieving the balance and sustainable routine WE need to see results.

What worked for your friend may NOT work for you. And trying to fit everyone into the same mold leads to disaster.

That’s why today I want to bust 3 fat loss myths and help you dial in your workout and diet routine so you can truly achieve results through a plan that matches YOUR needs and goals.

Myth #1: Carbs make you fat. Fat makes you fat.

Carbs don’t magically make you gain fat. And neither does fat.

So all of those low carb advocates or low fat advocates that say it’s the only way to lose weight?

It’s just because they’ve found the macro ratio right for them and their body and lifestyle.

But no one macro is evil or bad. Each plays an important role in the optimal functioning of our body.

And depending on our needs, goals and training routine? We may need more or less of one or the other to achieve our ideal body composition and lose fat.

Now if you’re about to be that person to comment about all of the evils of carbs or fats (because I guarantee there will be one of each) and all of the health issues they can cause…

Do you not realize the irony in the fact that you will both not agree on which is actually evil?

There are so many factors that may make eating more or less of a specific macro better or worse for us PERSONALLY.

Now if you have a specific health issue?

You may need to eliminate or limit specific things.

That may help you even to lose weight too.

But just to demonize that macro completely if you don’t have any health concerns COULD actually lead to health issues not to mention hold you back from the fat loss results you want.

Now you may be thinking, “But when I cut carbs I lose so much weight on the scale so quickly!”

But that isn’t true fat loss.

When you cut your carbs, you deplete your glycogen stores and lose water weight.

So, sure, you’ll see a quick change on the scale. But it isn’t fat being lost.

And the second you add carbs back in?

You’ll likely gain all of that weight back and more.

Plus this restriction, especially if you love carbs and want to include them at a future date, doesn’t teach you how to actually create a sustainable lifestyle change.

And something we can do consistently is ultimately what helps us achieve the best result.

So don’t demonize a macro because someone else said so. Consider your specific needs and even your training routine.

If you’re less active? You may not need the immediate fuel of carbs so going low carb may help you lose fat.

However if you’re super active and training intensely lifting and doing cardio? Cutting your carbs super low may actually hinder your fat loss results.

Instead you may find going higher carb and lower fat ultimately allows you to feel fueled while achieving your ideal body composition.

It’s why focusing on protein while not demonizing carbs or fat but simply even potentially cycling them based on your training may be best!

Myth #2: Cardio Is Better Than Strength Training To Lose Fat

As much as I love training, as much as I think it can assist in the looking better as you lose fat…

You don’t technically need to work out at all for fat loss.

Working out in general can make the process easier, help us maintain our results long term and can help us create that calorie deficit, but we can’t out exercise our diet.

And often in our attempts to create more of a calorie deficit through exercise, we sabotage our fat loss results.

The focus of our workouts shouldn’t be on how many calories we burned. It should be on moving better and building muscle even so we look leaner, stay healthier and even help ourselves avoid metabolic adaptations as we do lose fat.

So if our workouts aren’t really a tool for fat loss, why are we told we need to do more cardio if we want to lose weight?

Studies have shown you burn more calories during a cardio session. And because of these studies, mainstream media started touting the benefits of cardio for weight loss.

You may even have seen those benefits yourself when you started running after a long time off.

Simply increasing our activity helps us burn more calories. So even without changing our diet at first, we begin to lose weight from those extra calories being burned.

And cardio, especially to start, burns more calories on average than strength training sessions.

However, over time you adjust and adapt to those cardio sessions. It’s why you can run or cycle further faster without fatiguing.

But those gains in your endurance also mean you don’t need or use as much energy.

So even though your watch may say you still burned a ton of calories, your body has become more efficient and you aren’t utilizing as much energy as you did when you first started.

It’s why you may feel like you’re not getting the same results as you once did from those same cardio sessions.

Not to mention, if you’re constantly trying to do MORE in order to burn more calories, you may be holding yourself back and actually creating more metabolic adaptions as you diet and lose weight.

Steady-state cardio can be catabolic to muscle tissue and losing muscle mass can negatively impact our metabolic rate.

Muscle takes more energy to maintain AND it becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle mass as we get older, which may be why we feel like it gets harder to lose weight the older we get!

This is why focusing less on cardio and actually more on strength can be so key.

Not only is it easier to constantly create progressive overload in our strength workouts, BUT we can also help ourselves build lean muscle which will help us keep our metabolic rate healthier and burn more calories even when at rest.

Fighting to maintain that lean muscle even while working to lose fat will help you achieve better body recomposition results and maintain those results long term.

So while you may have turned to cardio in the past, you may actually see better fat loss results by cutting back on cardio as you get leaner while focusing more and more on strength work.

Of course if you love cardio, you do not need to cut it out and the best results happen when we create a sustainable routine, but it may be a reason, besides even better performance for the cardio activities you love, that you do include some strength training in your routine!

(For even more on Is Cardio Key For Weight Loss?, check out this Fitness Hacks Podcast.)

Myth #3: Tracking is restrictive

Tracking is not fun. It’s tedious. Boring. Overwhelming to start. Annoying.

All of those things.

But it isn’t restrictive.

What IS restrictive is our MINDSET toward it.

It’s because we don’t recognize that the tracking is just data.

Just like you measure out ingredients so your cake turns out instead of looking like a burnt mess, you want to measure your food to create the recipe that leads to your body recomposition results.

We aren’t measuring necessarily to cut things out. But simply to make sure we get the right portions to match our needs and goals.

Tracking isn’t just for weight loss. It can help us gain muscle, fuel better. Recognize foods that may even be giving us digestive issues.

We can track to make sure we’re even optimally fueling for our sport to set a PR in our next race.

So we need to separate tracking from restriction in our minds.

Because that food logger isn’t judging – you are!

(For more on why Tracking Is Key, click HERE!)

SUMMARY:

We have to remember that we are each unique and one size doesn’t fit all. So don’t fall prey to fat loss myths that would lead you to create restrictive diets or train for hours upon hours doing cardio.

Focus on smalls sustainable changes based on your current routine and get ready to be consistent as those results take time to add up!

If you’re ready to dial in your workouts and your diet so they work together to get you the best results possible, check out my Macro Hacks!

–> Macro Hacks