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15 Habits To Level Up Your Health & Fitness

by Cori Lefkowith | Jan 19, 2025 | Blog, Diet, Exercises, Habit Change

We are what we repeatedly do. If we want to reach our goals, we need to implement new habits daily.

But creating new habits isn’t as simple as learning something new.

It’s first becoming CONSCIOUS of daily habits we’re doing that are so comfortable we don’t even realize we are doing them to unlearn AS we also learn the new routines.

This process is hard and it’s why so often we don’t make the changes we need or stick with the new habits for long.

It’s why I want to share 15 habit hacks I wish I’d learned sooner that have helped me now see fabulous and lasting results while continuing to grow and improve!

#1: Follow the one minute rule.

“I’ll just do one minute.”

Any time I don’t want to do something, I set a timer and just say I’ll do one minute.

I almost never stop at one minute.

I do more.

But this small commitment gets me going and it makes the change or habit feel manageable.

If you’re fighting doing something new and not feeling like it, focus on a change that only takes one minute or even set a timer and commit one minute to it.

You’ll be surprised by how much more you do!

#2: Make the habit EXCITING.

Don’t get me wrong, drinking more water isn’t exciting if you’re working on your hydration.

Trying to meal prep or workout at times isn’t always fun.

BUT getting a new and fun water bottle can make you want to use it.

Getting a new protein flavor or fancy lunchbox can make you want to meal prep.

New shoes or cool leggings? You’ll want to wear them to workout.

So find little fun things that can incentivize you to want to do the habits you’re trying to create!

#3: Do it FIRST.

New habits that aren’t comfortable, that aren’t yet a priority in our minds, easily don’t make the cut on a busy day.

“I’ll start tomorrow,” we may even think.

But when we won’t prioritize things when life gets in the way, we need to make sure they are done first.

By doing those habits first in the day before other priorities we know we will do no matter what, we make those new habits important.

And we make sure we make time for them before our energy or motivation slides!

#4: Share the love.

Ever notice you go back to a restaurant or place you thought was the best thing EVER only to realize it wasn’t that good?

When that happens it’s because the EXPERIENCE of that place got tied to other things in that day or event we loved.

We can use this love connection to our advantage and create good feelings surrounding the new habits based on what we connect them with.

Really love a TV show? Walk or do mobility work while watching it.

Love a podcast? Meal prep as you listen.

Connect new habits you aren’t crazy about to good feeling to find yourself mentally embracing them more!

And even recognize if you’re constantly connecting new habits to NEGATIVE emotions to create that push back too!

#5: Embrace the DIScomfortable.

Yes I know the word is uncomfortable but I say discomfortable because A….Discomfort is where growth lives but B. Because it makes you kind of chuckle and also lower that resistance against being uncomfortable.

It’s weird and that takes away some of the negative we often associate with hard new things.

But making yourself uncomfortable with something new every single day for a period of time really helps you create new habits.

Because the goal isn’t just the ultimate fat loss or performance goal you want. It isn’t just a long-term focus.

The goal is actually in the thing you do THAT DAY.

And the more comfortable you become being uncomfortable, the more bigger habit changes along the way don’t feel that bad.

So set a goal to do a new habit to be that beginner or learner and even feel awkward every single day even if the habit isn’t focused on your main goal.

Get discomfortable and see growth happen faster as you see your discipline with new habits improve because you’ve realized you can do hard things!

#6: Do as little as possible.

When we make habit changes, we try to do everything at once.

We want to do more because we want results yesterday. We want to be perfect.

And this is exactly why so many habit changes fail.

Instead we need to think of the overall habit we want and find the easiest, smallest part of it we could do almost immediately.

That guarantees action.

And feeling successful with that often allows us to do more and mentally resist the change less.

It makes it easier to become disciplined with each part as we build because it feels more natural to start!

#7: Think “How can I be lazy with this?”

The more we make things easy on ourselves, the more mentally we will resist the change and quickly embrace doing more.

And the simple fact is, we only have so much time, energy and willpower.

We do have other priorities. And if we don’t own them, they’ll become our excuses.

So any new habit I do, I like to think to myself not only “How can I make this easier?” but also “How can I be lazy with it?”

I buy frozen meal prep. I started with old workout plans I had that didn’t make me write something new.

I plan in meals I’ve already have made and frozen foods.

While sure, I wanted to cook more whole natural foods and create new routines that truly built, using these other things allowed me to be lazier and not have those excuses pop up.

So don’t be afraid to improve but find ways to make things easier on yourself and be a bit lazy.

Use those pre-packaged foods to start if you need.

Get a pre-planned workout routine even if you write your own eventually. But do something so you can move forward!

#8: Make the appointment.

When something is an appointment with a set date and time and even a reminder on it we can see we have to do, we are more likely to do it.

When we give ourselves wiggle room with vague goals of 3 days a week of workouts, it’s easy for us to say “I’ll do it tomorrow” until we run out of days.

So own your schedule, create the appointment and set a time and day with reminders!

#9: Let habits evolve.

Habits we create can and should change over time.

How we dial in our workouts or our diet during January when we’re motivated will be different than the balance we strike during the holidays or a busy time of year for us.

This isn’t a bad thing.

BUT we need to be open to evolution in how we implement things over getting focused on their being one perfect variation.

Always seek to assess where you are RIGHT NOW and let habits shift based on what you need to stay consistent at that time!

Sometimes less is more!

#10: Plan AHEAD.

Yup this hack is unsexy. Most of us know it. Yet few of us do it.

We try to track macros for the first time and don’t plan ahead then get frustrated when we haven’t met our numbers.

But change requires us to make changes and often the only way we can see the changes we need is to PLAN AHEAD.

Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by not preparing.

Break down new habits and actions into little pieces you can do so you are not only prepared physically but even mentally for the challenges that may be ahead too!

#11: Pause To Reflect.

When something works, we often just keep moving forward.

When something doesn’t work, we either get down about the setback and give up or we try to brush it aside.

We don’t try to learn from both of these experiences.

But we learn more in the reflection than even in the doing.

We see what works. And we see what doesn’t. This is the way we can adjust to keep improving.

So as you create new habits, set end dates at which you’ll reflect and even tweak based on what you’re seeing in your progress!

But don’t get caught up in the doing and never pause to learn from it!

#12: Shut off your brain.

We’ve all been guilty of it…getting caught up in researching and learning only to never actually take action on something.

It’s why we can even sometimes think, “But I know what to do. Why can’t I do it?”

Knowing isn’t doing.

And in trying to learn all the potential outcomes or flaws or find a perfect program…

We can ultimately freeze ourselves with inaction.

Instead sometimes if you want a goal, you just have to choose a habit action and take it.

Then as you go, assess how it is working.

But getting started is often the hardest part. Once you get that out of the way and build that momentum, you can then seek to even learn more and improve.

The more you do, the more you do so do something to get started because thinking about what you COULD do will never move you forward.

#13: Question And Learn More.

Of course, there is a flip side to the “just take action” hack I just shared.

We also can’t think we know everything and are above learning and constantly questioning our own habits and mindsets.

Because it isn’t even that we’re learning these big new “ah-ha” things.

It’s often that we’re learning to be reminded of something in a new way at a time we need to hear it.

We’re learning to get perspective on something we can’t see from that outside vantage point.

So while we need to sometimes just pause our brains and act, we also can’t ever be above wanting to question and learn more!

The more you know, the more you realize that you don’t know. Always more to learn!

#14: Ask WHY?

There are habits we will mentally resist even when we break them down.

And when this happens, we need to ask WHY?

Because so often there is an underlying reason we need to address or NO habit will truly stick and be successful.

Yet too often we just write the habit off as not right for us over trying to truly learn about our needs, mindsets and priorities.
But the more we build that self awareness the more we realize how we can make changes that match what we need.

And part of asking why isn’t just diving into our own mindsets and beliefs…

It’s also about understanding why the change is needed.

The more we see the value and reason for the change, the more we will prioritize making it. The more we will value taking the time and energy to do it.

So use this powerful question to help yourself really understand what you need and the value of the habits to help yourself embrace them!

#15: Love Your Failures.

No matter how much you make small changes…

No matter how much you tweak and adjust…

No matter how much you try to connect habits and set appointments and evolve…

You’re going to make mistakes.

Suffer setbacks.

FAIL at things.

Life will get in the way.

Learn to love these experiences and celebrate them for the learning you get out of them.

Learn to love them because they allow you to show yourself your own strength to overcome.

Success isn’t despite failures…it’s because of them.

So mentally prepare for them and plan to use the experiences to learn!

Which of these 15 hacks did you find most helpful?

Ready to create the habits and lifestyle to build your leanest, strongest body ever and feel your most fabulous?

Check out my 1:1 Online Coaching.

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5 Golden Rules to Lose Belly Fat

by Cori Lefkowith | Jan 5, 2025 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

I’m going to give it to you straight – the places we want to lose from first are often the LAST to go.

And in the process of losing fat, they often look WORSE before they look better because areas around them shrink as they stay EXACTLY THE SAME.

This makes losing belly fat even more frustrating on top of the fact that the area is scientifically more stubborn!

Yup…I say scientifically more stubborn because the lack of blood flow and the breakdown of alpha and beta fat cells in the area, make this area very hard to lose from.

Not to mention changing hormones levels can impact where we store fat, causing us to gain more around our middles!

So all in all…belly fat is annoyingly challenging to lose and while it’s the first place we gain, will be the LAST place we lose from.

That’s why I wanted to share 5 golden rules to help you lose belly fat.

I call them “golden rules” because these aren’t the shiny object, magic pill, quick fixes we get distracted by…

They’re the basics we need to go back to. The foundation off of which our healthy lifestyle is built.

Because too often the longer we’ve been working to see results, the more advanced and knowledgeable we even are, the more we get distracted by new things and details that only take us away from a focus on the fundamentals.

1% deviations in our habits add up. And 1% deviations can make all the difference in where you end up.

1% off in your heading on a flight from New York to Japan lands you smack in the middle of the ocean drowning.

So let’s refocus on these 5 golden rules to lose that belly fat…

Starting with our mindset.

And while some of you may groan at this or consider clicking back because you just want to be told WHAT to do, some magic tactic…Pause. And don’t/

This desire to just DO without reflecting on your mindset or attitude is why you’re stuck.

You’re stuck constantly trying to find an easy fix. Some magic program.

You’re stuck forcing yourself into habits you can’t maintain long term so ultimately give up on because they just aren’t sustainable.

And this is why you lose the weight only to regain it. It’s why you feel like you’ll just never lose the belly fat.

Don’t repeat this cycle…

This is why Golden Rule #1 is Ditch the all or nothing attitude.

We get super motivated…we see a picture we don’t like of our midsection or have that beach vacation coming up.

So we go all in.

We make a bazillion and one changes.

And then when the effort doesn’t feel worth the outcome, when we don’t see results fast enough…

We quit.

Or maybe the changes just even feel so overwhelming we never actually get started.

We don’t feel it is worth it to do something.

But A. Something is better than nothing.

And B. We have to make changes that build if we want to create something we can do consistently.

Because not only do we get good at what we consistently do….

We ARE what we consistently do.

Your current situation is a result of the habits you do daily.

So in order to get leaner and stay leaner, we need to create habits and changes we can repeat consistently day in and day out.

While not all changes will be easy, especially to start, we need to ditch this all or nothing mindset and instead focus on what we can do today to build.

And then even own that at times, less is more!

We can’t out exercise or out diet time.

Trying to is what leads to that feeling that the effort just isn’t worth it.

Not to mention, you can’t see true fat loss any faster by trying to train for longer or eat less.

These practices honestly only lead to worse results and burnout.

Which leads me to Golden Rule #2: Macros matter most.

You can’t out exercise your diet and you can’t out diet time but just cutting your calories lower.

Honestly we often need to go less extreme with the calorie deficit and eat more to fuel our muscle.

Because while calories in vs calories out matters for WEIGHT LOSS, macros matter if you want to truly focus on FAT LOSS and retain that amazing magical and metabolically beneficial muscle.

If you think I’m about to now tell you that protein is key, you’d be right.

Especially the leaner we are, and the more we want to lose those last few pounds, the more we need to avoid a more extreme calorie deficit and focus on protein.

This is where having 40% of your calories or even slightly more coming from protein is key.

Because protein will protect your lean muscle and actually cause you to expend more energy to digest it.

Now…as important as protein is, we can’t demonize other macros.

Fats don’t make you fat. And carbs don’t make you gain belly fat either.

Extreme restriction of either is actually holding you back from losing that stubborn belly fat, and putting you at greater risk to regain the weight you lost faster than you lost it!

Healthy fats are the building blocks of hormones, especially sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. They also help regulate inflammation and keep cortisol (a stress hormone) levels in check.

And carbs play a critical role in thyroid function, providing glucose for energy and regulating cortisol levels. Eating enough carbs helps balance insulin and cortisol, providing your body wtih the energy it needs without spiking stress hormone levels.

So focus on tracking your macros and, while keeping protein high, cycle higher or lower carb over the weeks and months to create balance!

Now, as much as I am a huge advocate of including foods you love and not demonizing any foods, and I practice what I preach, I also know the importance of focusing 80% of my diet on whole, natural foods.

Because the quality of our food has an impact!

That’s why Golden Rule #3 is Focus on quality fuel.

Not only are whole natural foods more micronutrient dense, providing the vitamins and minerals we all know we need for our body to function well and recover quickly, but they also often make the weight loss process easier for 3 other big reasons…

They have a higher thermic effect, meaning we burn more calories at rest to digest them over processed foods.

They are often less calorically dense and more nutrient dense, meaning we can eat larger volumes of them to make us actually feel fuller and more satisfied even while in a deficit.

Whole natural foods promote optimal gut health, containing fiber and pre and probiotics, among other nutrients, that are essential to a balanced gut bacteria. And a healthy gut is key for fat loss as it improves fat metabolism and our metabolic rate overall!

So while you want to work in foods you love to create something you can be consistent with, as the second we feel restricted we often find our willpower and motivation fading very quickly, we also want to recognize that this focus on whole natural foods will improve our results.

And we need our body functioning optimally to embrace losing that hard to lose fat while allowing us to train intensely.

Especially with being in a deficit to lose, we want to be conscious we aren’t creating nutrient deficiencies so pay attention to eating that rainbow.

And then don’t forget to focus on fiber!

Fiber will help you keep your gut healthy which can often pay off more than we realize in reducing inflammation and bloat that causes us not to see the ab definition we want!

For fiber, focus on 25g for women (or 21g if you’re 50+) or 38g for men (or 30g if you’re 50+) is the fiber intake you want to shoot for!

While diet is key for fat loss, the best results happen when your diet and workouts work together.

And so often we adjust our diet, lose weight, but never truly see the definition we truly want.

This is because we so often turn to more cardio in our workouts.

Instead we need to follow Golden Rule #4 and remember that muscle is magical.

We need to focus our workouts on building muscle and strength.

Because muscle is not only how we stay functionally strong till our final day on this planet, it is really the secret to overall health and looking more defined.

Less muscle means we look softer even when we’re thin.

Not to mention, muscle keeps our metabolic rate higher, helps keep our blood sugar levels more balanced, promotes optimal hormonal levels and even better recovery.

More muscle means we will maintain better body recomp!

Yet so often we do actually sabotage our own results by turning even our strength workouts into cardio sessions.

We do this by trying to get out of breath, feel worked in our sessions and cut out rest.

Instead we need to focus on feeling the muscles truly be worked and having a purpose for everything we include.

Whether you train at home or at a gym, you can challenge yourself to build strength and muscle.

The key is truly creating that challenge in our training. And the more advanced you are, the more you have to seek ways outside of just adding weight to really push that progression.

Use different training designs, combining rep ranges and compound and isolation moves.

Use different tempos.

Vary the types of moves you include and how you break up the areas worked in workouts.

But find ways to challenge yourself and your muscles, not just make you feel sweaty and out of breath!

Now that I just said to focus on strength over cardio, there is one form of cardio that is honestly super essential when our focus is fat loss and especially losing belly fat.

And that’s why Golden Rule #5 is To Walk Daily.

Go on a casual walk for even just 15-20 minutes every.single.day.

You’ll be amazed at how much this movement helps you see better results faster without stressing your body or mind any more.

Not only is the non-stressful movement helpful to the fat loss process, especially even timed after a meal to help with digestion or after a workout where you worked your core to utilize more of the fatty acids mobilized in your training…

But it is so good to help you change patterns that may lead to mindless eating or eating out of stress.

Instead of lazing on the couch mindlessly eating at night or going to the cabinet for those mini candy bars after a stressful day at work, go for a walk.

Break those habits by swapping in MOVEMENT!

You’re not only changing behaviors to help yourself stay consistent, but you’re burning more calories in a non-stressful way for your body!

Plus, you can use this activity to spend time with friends and family and destress!

And lowering our stress levels can help us lose fat more easily and even recover faster to be able to push hard in our training sessions.

But I’ll tell you, adding in walking was super key for me even personally to see the fat loss I wanted and maintaining those results long term!

Now the final tip I want to leave you with, that isn’t a golden rule, but something I think is so key…

Measure progress by tracking your habit consistency.

I mention this as UBER important for 3 big reasons so you don’t sabotage yourself and quit on habits that WILL work if you give them long enough…

True body recomp and fat loss is slow. Painfully slow. And the scale may NOT change.

And you’re going to have to stick with it when the scale and measurements aren’t changing.

Because those last few pounds you feel you have to lose, may not be lost on the scale while fat is.

And that’s because you’re not losing muscle or even managing to gain it through a small deficit and protein focus!

If you try to make the scale change quicker or get caught up in your goal weight, you’re going to ultimately do diet and training practices that cause you to lose muscle, not fat and still have that stubborn belly fat.

Areas will look worse before they look better.

Progress photos are key. But you’re going to look at your belly fat or the areas you want to change and they’ll be changing last. They’ll even look bigger as you lose off of other places first.

So if you use photos, you need to also acknowledge the changes in these other places.

Your workouts may at times suffer.

I love lifting heavy. I hate when I don’t feel super strong or see improvements in performance goals.

But I’m aware that during a mini cut or fat loss phase, my performance goals may take a backseat.

So only measuring progress to help you stay consistent with your gym performance may make you want to give up.

Don’t!

In the fat loss process, to get past a stick point you have and to reach that leanness level you’ve never achieved before, you do need a calorie deficit.

This can mean our gym sessions aren’t always PR setting workouts. So we need to be mindful of this fact when setting gym goals so you don’t give up on training sessions that are working!

But this is why celebrating those habit wins, the hitting of your macros, the focus on fiber or micros, the consistency that weekly training schedule, the daily walks…are all so key to celebrate!

Because we have to find ways to help ourselves STAY CONSISTENT past the point we want to quit if we want to reach a new goal!

Want a custom plan to dial in your diet and your workouts to work together and build your leanest, strongest body at ANY age?

–> Learn more about my 1:1 Online Coaching

The 3 Best Back Exercises (YOU CAN DO AT HOME)

by Cori Lefkowith | Dec 29, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Travel Workouts, Workouts

You can get in a killer workout without going to the gym. You can see amazing results training at home or when you travel.

So don’t try to use the fact that you can’t get to the gym as an excuse!

However, we need to recognize that there is often one muscle group overlooked and underworked in our bodyweight workouts, especially when we don’t have any equipment on hand.

And that muscle group is our BACKS.

We do push up variations for our chest, shoulders and triceps and even core.

We can lunge and squat and stair step ups and single leg deadlifts and glute bridges to work our legs, including our glutes, quads, hamstrings and even adductors.

We can do planks and crunches and sit ups to work our abs and core.

But our backs are often overlooked in our programming.

That’s why I wanted to share 3 of my favorite ways to target your back, and even your biceps, when training at home WITHOUT a pull up bar!

The first way requires your own bodyweight and a wall or floor…which thankfully all of us have on hand at any time.

So no matter what, we can all do forms of the Scapular Hold or Scapular Reps.

This move is honestly something I even include for my clients at the gym as well because of how amazing it is for back activation and scapular control.

And you can do it either as an isometric or hold to focus on what you feel working and engage as hard as possible or even for reps.

If you do it for reps, unlike traditional rows where your biceps can take over, the scapular wall or floor reps prevent your arms from assisting in that this move is actually a PRESS over a PULL for your back.

You’ll push off your elbows, pressing your chest out as you draw your shoulder blades toward your spine to row up and out.

Standing against a wall make sure you don’t walk out too far and end up shrugging.

And off the ground you can have your legs out straight or knees bent, but make sure you aren’t turning this move into a sit up.

The move needs to be powered by the back and pushing away through the elbows.

To do reps, you’ll lower back to the wall or floor each time. To do the isometric, you’ll simply hold in that pressed position.

But focus on feeling your back engage to press your chest out and open. And brace your abs as you flex your glutes and quads to keep your core engaged and that nice plank position, especially off the wall.

You will find too that the wall is a bit easier to control than the floor and the less you walk your feet away from the wall, the more modified the move is, making this easy to adapt to every fitness level!

And these aren’t the only back moves you can do with just your own bodyweight.

Plank Rows, scapular push ups and even scapular wings are all great options to really focus on that back engagement through targeting that shoulder blade movement toward your spine.

The Plank Rows and Scapular Push Ups have the added benefit of more core work too!

And if you do need to modify, they can be done off a couch edge or table and the scapular push ups can even be done single arm off the wall! This truly is an amazing move for ALL fitness levels!

The second home tool you can use to work your back is a doorway or stair rail to perform Doorway Rows, both single arm and two-arm!

With this move, your bodyweight will be your resistance. And you’ll feel not only your back and bicep but even your legs and core with this move.

It is a great way to work that full pulling movement. The key is not just pulling with your arms, but actually driving your elbows back.

You want to as feel your shoulder blades move toward your spine to engage you back to power the pull.

You can do this as both a single arm or two arm pull, but the single arm will often be more challenging.

You can also do this as an anti-rotational or rotational single arm row.

You can choose to fight any torso movement…

Or actually consciously include it, rotating toward the stair rail as you row in and opening up and toward the ground as you extend your arm out.

And to progress this move further, slow down the tempo of the pull, even pausing when you row in!

Just make sure you are truly feeling your back engage and not just pulling with your arm with this row!

The third tool I love to use when training at home is a towel.

Using a towel you can actually work your back in so many different ways – from rows to flies to even pull downs.

With using a towel, you can do self-resisted movements. This means you are creating tension through the towel to create resistance for the movement.

This can allow you to do single arm flies and rows, resisting the move by pulling with the other hand.

Or you can create tension by pulling out on the towel to do a bent over row or pulldown.

This pull out to create tension helps you better activate the muscles and you’ll feel them working as you perform the pull with a slow tempo. Just don’t let the towel lose tension!

Bonus, you can also get in that bicep isolation work, another muscle group that doesn’t get as much love at home, with a self resisted bicep curl.

And not only can towels be used to help perform a self-resisted movement, they can be used as sliders on the ground to help you work your back.

Side lying slides are great for your lats and a killer unilateral move that also hits your obliques.

Just make sure you’re really pulling the towel down to power the slide up with your lats over ONLY using your obliques.

And if slide lying slides are a bit too much to start, or you just want extra pull up type work, you can always use the towels to do lying w pulldowns too to work more on that vertical pull and scapular control and movement.

But no matter what, whether you have literally just your own bodyweight, a doorway, stair rail or hand towel, you can make sure you target this often overlooked area in your home workouts or when you travel!

There is always a way to get results training with what we have! Have fun being creative with tools you have around your home.

For amazing workouts you can do anywhere, check out my Dynamic Strength program!

4 Hamstring Exercises For A Powerful Lower Body

by Cori Lefkowith | Dec 15, 2024 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness

When we get caught up in a single best move to work a muscle group, we miss out on the opportunity in all of the options out there.

Often we need different movements to work different areas or muscles in a muscle group.

So including a diversity of exercises over our weekly training schedule is key to help us see the best results as fast as possible.

Especially when it comes to muscle groups like our hamstrings that control movement at multiple joints like our hips and knees.

That’s why I want to share 4 moves to help you target all 3 hamstring muscles, working them with different positions and movements at your hips and knees.

But to truly value the different moves, and even include the ones we most need, it’s key we know a little bit more about our hamstrings first!

Your hamstrings are a group of 3 muscles on the back of your thigh that control movement at your hips and knees.

They extend, or straighten, your hips and flex, or bend, your knees.

Two of the hamstring muscles on the inner portion of the back of our thing can also turn our lower leg in, or internally rotate, when our knee is bent.

While the hamstring toward the outside back of our thigh can turn our lower leg out, or externally rotate, when the knee is slightly bent.

That hamstring toward the outside of our thigh, the bicep femoris, has two heads, a short and a long one.

This is also key to know as the long head can also turn our thigh out, or externally rotate, when our hip is straight.

While the short head can’t as it actually only controls and works to bend the knee.

These slightly different functions all mean that different moves can be more valuable to target different portions of our hamstrings.

It’s why considering our toe angle in moves can have an impact as well as the position of our hips and knees during the exercises.

It’s also why if you only do deadlifts with a straighter leg where you’re only moving at the hips you aren’t targeting your hamstrings fully since they also work hard to bend the knee!

This is truly why there is not just one best move!

And it’s why I want to share these 4 hamstring moves that cover both knee flexion and hip extension but also while performing these movements with different degrees of both included!

I’ll start with a common hamstring staple of any routine…

#1: The Romanian Deadlifts or RDLs

While there is some different terminology sometimes used when it comes to deadlifts with a straighter leg position, RDLS are commonly a top down version of a straighter leg deadlift.

You will focus on pushing your butt back with soft knees as you lower the bar down just below your shins to feel a big stretch on your hamstrings.

You will not bend your knees more to lower down further or touch the bar down.

You may also want a slight anterior pelvic tilt, or almost to act like you’re lifting your butt up as you lower to stretch your hamstrings and sit back further.
Then to stand up, you’ll really focus on pushing the ground away.

Keep the bar close to you as you lower and stand back up.

This focus on the lower down and hip hinge movement is what targets and works your hamstrings.

Just make sure you sit back and don’t round your back but keep your lats engaged to push the bar back into your body.

If you struggle with the barbell variation, dumbbells or even a kettlebell that you drop down between your feet can be great options.

You can also slightly tweak this deadlift to hit more of that bicep femoris long head by turning your toes out! Remember this aspect is worked by that turn out of the lower leg and thigh!

And you can always do a straighter leg deadlift variation as a single leg deadlift too if you don’t have weights to further progress this move.

The next amazing hamstring move focuses on working the hamstrings while the hips stay extended unlike the deadlift that works them through hip movement.

The Glute Bridge and Curl makes the hamstrings work by bending the knees instead to curl your heels in toward your butt.

The thing I love about this move too is it is so easy to use even when training at home.

And you can progress it through the use of different tools or even by making it a single leg over a two leg variation.

Sliders, stability balls, towels, suspension trainers are all great tools to use.

But I will warn you, this exercise is much harder than it seems.

You want to focus on engaging your glutes to bridge up and extend your hips as you brace your abs with a very slight tuck your hips up toward your ribs.

This is key to protect your lower back.

You will then extend your legs out from this bridged position fully without relaxing on the ground before using your hamstrings to curl your heels back in toward your butt.

That curl back in as you bend your knees while you keep your hips straight will have you feeling those hamstrings working.
Really focus on that pull back in with your hamstrings.

Just make sure your lower back doesn’t engage or hips don’t sag.

Because this move is deceptively hard, you may need to start with just sliding one leg out at a time and alternating sides or even holding the bridge as you work on just one side.

While the single leg variation with one leg raised can progress this movement and make it even harder, this single leg variation with stability can help you modify and build up!

The next exercise will also work the hamstrings through powering that knee bend but this time with your hips bent.

The Seated Hamstring Curl is an amazing exercise you can do with a band, machine or cable.

This seated position with the hip bent actually puts the hamstrings under more stretch.

And studies have shown that working the hamstrings while stretched can actually improve your muscle and strength gains for this muscle group.

Not to mention, the focus on knee flexion of both this move and the bridge and curl make sure you hit that short head of the bicep femoris which isn’t worked by the hip extension of the deadlift.

Make sure to sit so that you can extend your leg out in front of you with your hips bent then curl your heel in toward your butt while seated against the resistance.

You can even change your toe angle to target the different hamstring muscles slightly more or less. Turning your toe in will hit the two hamstrings on the inner portion of the back of your leg while turning your toe out will hit that outer hamstring muscle.

You may also find that flexing your foot makes you stronger with this movement to really focus on your hamstrings.

But don’t be afraid to still start light to really isolate that curl in with your hamstrings and perform a full range of motion,

And if you are at home you can even get away with a seated single leg towel curl which is just a bent hip variation in a way of the bridge and curl.

The 4th and final move I wanted to share goes back to targeting the hamstrings with a hip hinge but this time with your knees flexed unlike the deadlift.

This move is a variation of the Glute-Ham Raise that looks very simple but is oh so deceptively destructive.

It’s the Glute Ham Hip Hinge.

To do this move you will need someplace to sort of lock your heels under with your knees on padding. You’ll want to be able to really flex your feet as you lock your heels down.

If you have a partner they can hold your feet even.

You’ll set up kneeling and lean slightly forward to create that tension up your hamstrings.

Then keeping that position, you’ll simply hinge forward or bend at the hips.

This won’t be the biggest of movements but you’ll lean forward, about half way to parallel, just only bending at the hips.

Then use your hamstrings and your glutes slightly to come back up and extend at the hips.

You don’t want to sit back or change your knee bend. You want that slight lean forward to be maintained.

All the active movement comes from leaning forward then straightening your hips.

You’ll feel your hamstrings work isometrically with maintaining that hold and knee bend but also to power that move to come back up after leaning forward.

What seems like a very small move is incredibly hard without any weight.

And it’s even a great move to include for higher rep with very light or even no loads.

All 4 of these moves address different postures and positions to really hit all aspects of your hamstrings.

And even little variations in them, such as foot positioning, can help you truly adjust them to what youneed!

But use all 4 of these moves to target all aspects of your hamstrings and utilize both compound and isolation movements to really make sure you’re seeing those strength and muscle gains!

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7 INTENSE Ab Exercises (Most People Skip)

by Cori Lefkowith | Dec 8, 2024 | Blog, Core, Exercises

You clicked on this video for 7 intense ab moves.

I know, I know…Just tell you the moves. Well I’m going to.

Here’s move #1 of 7 in total that will focus on not just your abs, but especially that lower portion of your rectus abdominis….

Move #1: Weighted Crunches

The Pull Over Crunch is one of my go-tos as a weighted crunch variation, but I wanted to mention weighted crunches in general because so often we forget how key it is to progress those basic bodyweight moves to keep challenging ourselves so we see results.

Even adding a weight to the basic crunch can take it up a notch.

While we aren’t trying to do a 5 rep max out on loads, we do want those higher rep ranges of 15-20 reps to really challenge us and adding a weight is a great way to do this!

And if you want to add not only weight but create an extra challenge for yourself, try the Pull Over Crunch.

The reach overhead with the weight challenges your abs to resist extension and brace to protect your lower back.

This is HARD, especially with your legs extended out off the ground.

You’ll then pull the weight from overhead down in front of your knees as you crunch your knees and upper body together.

This pull over is going to work your entire core and even your serratus anterior.

Then extend back out but don’t relax back onto the ground.

That brace to keep your hips tilted toward your pelvis and not let your lower back take over is really what works those abs with the flexion to crunch everything together.

If you’re finding that your lower back or hips are taking over, try lighter or now weight and even try a bent knee variation with touching your toes down between.

You can even modify further with just the upper body crunch or single knee tucks.

But note, what you feel working during this and every move I share!

Because if all you feel is your lower back or hips, your abs won’t get the full benefit and you won’t see results build.

And remember, this move, and all 7 actually, are ADVANCED moves.

I will share modifications like the single knee tucks to make sure you’re using the level that makes YOUR abs truly work!

Now…Move #2: Leg Lowers +

Leg lowers are an amazing move to target that lower portion of our rectus abdominis, aka those lower abs.

And by adding on this little raise and spinal flexion at the top of that leg raise movement, we make our abs work even more not only to brace as we lower and resist extension but to actually power flexion.

To do this move, I love adding in a hold overhead to help brace those abs more, but you don’t need to.

If you don’t hold on overhead, placing your hands besides you on the ground will provide a bit more support than if you place them behind your head.

With your legs squeezed together and feet up toward the ceiling, feel yourself tuck your hip bones toward your ribs to feel like your abs flex and engage.

Lower your legs as close to the ground as you can, then feel yourself pull your legs back up toward the ceiling using your abs.

As you lift them straight back up, feel as if a string is lifting them higher and pulling your butt and back off the ground.

You want to feel your abs flex and lift your pelvis up.

Lower back down before you again do the leg lower toward the ground.

This truly is a killer move especially if you avoid using momentum.

If you feel your lower back engaging, try a bent knee version instead or even test out holding on overhead to help you create that core tension to start if you aren’t!

Move #3: Slider Body Saw

This stability and anti-extension plank variation is deceptively hard.

That lengthening or extended plank position as you avoid letting your butt go up in the air or lower back arch and hips sink to the ground really makes your abs work.

And by doing this off sliders over walking in and out, you reduce any traction that may help you control the movement or push off.

You’ll even feel into your arms and around your rib cage working as you lengthen sliding back then pull yourself back into the plank position.

Make sure you don’t shrug but feel down the sides of your back to move back forward.

And make sure you’re actually extending back. It is easy to try to cheat and just rock forward over our forearms over truly lengthening back through our shoulders and core.

To modify, you can do this walking back over using the sliders and even add in an incline to reduce resistance.

A plank rock is also a more static option to start whether off the ground or an incline!

Always ways to adjust a move, reducing the strength demands through different postures, positions and even ranges of motion!

Move #4: Dip Hold Curl Up

I love moves that work not only our abs but even have bonus areas they target.

And that’s why I love hanging abs and even dip hold ab variations.

But when we think about abs off the parallel or dip bars, we often think leg raises or knee tucks.

While amazing options, this small, simple looking and deceptively killer move for our abs, especially our lower abs is too often overlooked…

Because it doesn’t look like much!

The tuck to pull UP and push the bars away, rounding through the spine is what really targets those abs using spinal flexion.

That pull up and in will make your abs shake if you focus on doing it intensely to almost pretend you’re sucking your body up.

Don’t just bend at your hips.

Pull your body up by rounding your back to hollow out your abs. Think about even curling up.

To modify this, do a foot assisted version to reduce the resistance on your upper body and core.

If you don’t have parallel bars, you can also do a slider variation off the ground, pushing the ground away with your hands as you lift your butt to slide your legs on the sliders back to tuck up.

For those of you without monkey arms, you may need stands or kbs or dumbbells.

Move #5: Incline Bench Abs

This is an amazing way to progress those reverse crunches and add in diversity if you also love hanging abs!

This is a killer lower ab move that also works your serratus or the muscles around your ribs.

That slight incline that challenges you to curl against gravity is what kicks this up a notch.

Just don’t rush through as you tuck and lower down. Really focus on the curl.

You will want to pull down hard on the top of the bench as you start with your knees bent and toes resting on the ground.

Use your abs to slowly curl your knees up toward your elbows, rounding your spine off the bench.

Touch your elbows then lower down with control.

The more you focus on even your upper body pulling on the bench, the more you can feel your abs over your hip flexors, especially if you struggle with your hips wanting to engage with leg raise movements.

And to modify this, lower the incline back to a flat bench variation or even off the ground.

Move #6: Ab Extensions

Ab extensions are another way to do extended planks, and a great way to mix things up.

That extended plank position is so key to include if you do really want to target those lower abs.

The most common version of ab extensions are done with the ab wheel as roll outs.

But you can also use sliders, a stability ball or even suspension trainer.
The provide changes to postures and even instability to help you create progression with this move.

Whichever tool you use, make sure that as you set up on your knees, you’ve engaged your glutes and slightly tuck your hips up toward your ribs.

Keep this ab engagement through the full movement.

Extend your arms out overhead on the ground keeping the brace and even a very slight tuck your chin down over looking out in front of you.

Then to move back up, really focus on pulling your hands back under you with the sides of your back while feeling the muscles around your ribs.

Your abs are working hard here to stabilize and avoid movement of your spine!

To modify, you can do a single arm extension, so reaching one arm out at a time or even limit the range of motion you work in.

Using a wall to guide you and stop the movement can help you work in a range of motion you can control.

But you do want to strengthen through the biggest range of motion you can!

And last but not least…Move #7: Bench V-Ups

This full body crunch allows you to work in a bigger range of motion than off the ground because you’re seated on a bench.

And you will feel your quads even often with this killer ab move. Just make sure you don’t rely soley on your arms to support you in the crunch but pull yourself up with your abs.

Seated on the bench, put your hands on the back of the bench behind you with your legs squeezed together and out straight in front of you.

With your feet hovering off the ground, lean back. Then crunch your torso toward your legs.

You will round through your spine as you crunch up.

Then as you lean back and extend out, your abs will work to avoid your lower back arching or engaging.

Really focus on your abs pulling your legs and upper body together each time you v up.

To modify, you can do a bent knee or even single leg version.

Off the ground is also always an option, especially if you don’t have a bench.

And to bring this full circle, you can even advance this move further by making it a weighted bench v-up, holding that weight even between your feet.

Just go light! This can really start to target your quads and hip flexors more to maintain that leg position.

You may find a slight knee bend, but not actively bending at your knees as you do the move is key!

Now go enjoy these moves and make sure you focus on what you feel working! Even consider adding in 3-4 for 30 second intervals and 2 rounds through as a finisher to your workout this week!

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The Weakest Muscle in Your Lower Body (Your Glute Medius)

by Cori Lefkowith | Dec 1, 2024 | Blog, Butt, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Runner's

Stop ignoring this muscle…

The Glute Medius.

The thing is…we THINK we’re doing a ton of exercises to work this muscle and target it at times.

But all too often we’re doing the “right” moves and compensating because of previous injuries and tight hip flexors from sitting for most of the day.

We’re letting our TFL, a hip flexor, or our piriformis, a butt muscle that turns the hip out and open, take over for the glute medius.

And this not only doesn’t help us build stronger glutes, but perpetuates the aches and pains and injuries FURTHER.

So all of that hard work we’re putting in to correct the problem is actually making it worse.

That’s why I want to break down how to actually make sure your glute medius is working and form tweaks to 2 basic glute medius moves I see people doing all of the time and not truly benefiting from.

I’ll also share a few bonus prehab tips to help you get more out of your glute activation exercises in general!

But first, I need to mention the most important part of activating the correct muscles during movements…

Not just going through the motions with exercises!

You need to actually ask yourself as you do the moves, “Where and what do I feel working?”

This mind-body connection is key. And starting out it may be more of a challenge.

You may not feel anything working when you think about it.

The key is learning to notice when other muscles are taking over.

Which is why I want to help you understand how to know your glute medius is truly working…

This starts with understanding where you DON’T want to feel the move.

And you don’t want to feel this move in your TFL, piriformis or down your IT band. Now if you have no idea where these things are, don’t worry, I’m about to break all of this down!

Let’s start with the TFL…

It is key to note that the TFL, or tensor fascia latae if you want to be all fancy, IS an abductor muscle like the glute medius so IS going to work with lateral raise movements too. It helps raise your leg out to the side and stabilize lateral movement.

But too often it is becoming overworked leading to hip, back, IT band and even knee and ankle issues because we aren’t aware it is taking over for the glute medius.

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.

You’ll feel the TFL flex as you do this movement. That’s where you then DON’T want to feel the main part of any lateral raise type movements you do if you want to target your glute medius.

Next the piriformis…

Now this muscle will assist more with external rotation type exercises, so moves where you’re lifting your leg out to the side but also rotating your hip open or turning your toe out.

To notice your piriformis working instead, you will want to lie on your side and put your hand were the top of your back pocket on your pants would be. Then turn your toe open toward the ceiling, externally rotating your hip. You’ll feel that piriformis muscle flex.

Again you don’t want to feel this taking over during those glute medius lateral raise, abduction movements.

And the last area I want to mention is the IT Band as often we can feel tension down the side of our thigh during these movements as we start to progress them.

Part of this is because of the TFL’s connection to our IT Band and that becoming overworked.

But also because we aren’t focusing on the lift coming from our glute.

If you feel tension down the outside of your leg, you will want to then check to feel if your TFL is really flexed during the exercise especially or if you feel your glute medius working.

Now…I want to help you find your glute medius so you can check to feel it working in moves when you can’t yet just feel it activating with that mind-body connection yet.

Then I want to dive into the 2 moves and form tweaks you can make to help you make sure this muscle is powering the movement.

To find your glute medius so you can place your hand on this muscle even during moves to feel it working and build that mind-body connection, set up half kneeling with one leg forward and your knee bent to 90 degrees.

You want your knee right over your ankle.

Take your hand on the same side and place your thumb in your hip crease with your palm resting fat at the outer hip joint.

Your palm is resting on your glute medius.

Keeping your palm there, lie on your side and lift your leg straight up to the side.

You “should” feel it working.

But if you don’t, this is where the tweaks to form with basic moves is key!

Because form with exercises isn’t so binary and just good or bad.

There are tweaks we can make to work with our builds and our recruitment patterns, or how we’ve taught our body to use muscles based on daily movements and injuries.

Since we used the basic lateral raise to find these muscles, I want to start with this move and the adjustments you can make to this exercise to really make sure you feel your glute medius working!

The Basic Lateral Raise:

The lateral raise exercise can be done standing or lying down and you can use a variety of tools, including mini bands to progress it.

But before you advance it, you want to be able to really activate your glute medius with just your own bodyweight.

You have to EARN the addition of resistance, or even a bigger range of motion. And you earn that by being able to engage a muscle with just your own bodyweight.

If you struggle doing the lateral raise with feeling those other areas we went over and not your glute medius, the first change to the move you may want to make is your hip rotation, which often we can see in our TOE ANGLE.

Is your toe and foot pointing straight ahead? Turned open? Or down toward the ground?

If you’re struggling to feel your glute medius, you may find it isn’t turned down toward the ground and that internally rotating your hip and turning your toe down toward the ground actually HELPS.

While having your foot parallel to the ground and toe pointing forward isn’t wrong in the slightest nor is turning your toe open, often those make it harder for us to avoid compensating to start.

If you turn your toe down and still don’t feel your glute, notice your body alignment.

Are your hips slightly flexed? Is your torso slightly forward or legs slightly in front creating a slight bend in your hips?

If so, straighten out and squeeze your glutes to drive your hips into extension. Do not arch your back. Just extend your hips with your glutes.

This engagement of your glute max can help.

You can also then slightly kick back as you raise your leg out to the side.

This also focuses the move more on your glutes to help prevent the TFL, which flexes the hips, from engaging.

Kicking back into a wall even and holding that pressure as you raise can even help further if the basic kickback isn’t enough.

Just to recap the tweaks…

Turn the toe down toward the ground, rotating your hip toward the ground. Keep this position during the move. If you’re standing, you’re turning your toe in toward your other leg.

Make sure your lying in a straight line with your glutes engaged.

Kick back slightly as you lift even pushing into a wall through the entire move.

The next move I wanted to cover is The Clamshell.

This is a move that anyone with back pain, hip pain, knee pain, ankle pain has probably been given in physical therapy.

And it is an amazing move, when done correctly.

But so often this move isn’t done while targeting the glute medius and we don’t even realize it.

With the clam, we tend to focus on range of motion and making it a bigger movement, which really is just more external rotation of the hip and often leads to us feeling the piriformis more.

To stop us focusing so much on the range of motion, place a yoga blocks between your feet. This helps you really focus on lifting from your glutes and makes the move very small.

Sometimes shrinking the range of motion on an exercise to start can help.

Because, while we do want to strengthen muscles through a full range of motion, we first need to isolate to activate at times.

So using the yoga block you can focus on just that small movement to lift the knee open.

This also helps you avoid any toe rotation and therefore extra hip rotation. This keeps your feet locked in parallel.

But if you don’t have a block, just like with the lateral raise, even turning your toe down over your bottom foot can help you focus on that glute medius and restrict the range of motion of the clam too!

You can also put your back against a wall to help you avoid rotating open or swinging your leg if you don’t have a yoga block while almost seeing the exercise as you working to STOP the lift open.

And just like the lateral raise, we also want to pay attention to the amount of hip flexion we have during the exercise or how much our hips are bent.

The more out in front of you your knees are, the more your hips will be bent, which can make it harder to feel your glute medius and easier for your TFL to compensate.

And while you may adjust the degree of hip flexion to target different aspects of the glute medius eventually, to start you want to find the positioning that allows you to make sure your glute is working.

Keeping your hips more extended can help and the wall behind you can be a guide to set up.

To recap these tweaks quickly…

Use a yoga block or wall to help you avoid making the exercise movement bigger than it needs to be and focus on that glute lifting.

Adjust how bent your hips are to even extend your hips more and engage your glutes better.

Turn your top toe down over your bottom foot to help limit the range of motion and focus on that glute even stopping the lifting through engaging.

Then as you feel your glute medius working in both of these moves, you can add resistance.

A mini band placed often on the thighs is a great way to start.

Placing a light resistance closer to our hips helps us really focus on still feeling our glute medius working as we create more of a challenge for the muscle to strengthen it!

Now if you’re still struggling with feeling everything but your glute medius working right from the start, you should NOT add resistance.

And you want to make sure you’re doing that full prehab process, including foam rolling and stretching prior to these activation moves.

Foam roll your TFL and your piriformis to help relax and release those muscles.
Stretch your hip flexors to allow your glutes to engage better.

THEN do these activation moves.

And don’t be afraid to pause in your activation to use those foam rolling moves especially if you do feel something compensating.

But don’t just keep pushing through!

Because what you feel working is getting all of the benefit of the exercise. Make sure the muscles you want are truly being worked!

If you want to improve your hip stability, avoid knee, hip and lower back aches and pains, lift more, run faster and cycle further, stop ignoring the importance of making sure your glute medius is actually benefiting from all the exercises you are doing!

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