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Exercises For Longevity

Exercises For Longevity

by | Dec 25, 2022 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, menopause-featured

If you’re looking for exercises to not only help you live a longer life but a healthier one, then this video is exactly what you need.

In this video I am going to share with you why explosive exercises are key to include, 5 moves to improve your functional strength and mobility and tell you how you can strengthen this key predictor of longevity!

If we want to live longer, we need to be strong, mobile and able to react quickly.

That means including not only the 5 strength moves I’ll share but also explosive exercises.

They help improve your functional full body strength and coordination.

And the 5th move in this video will help you strengthen these key muscles to improve this commonly ignored “secret” to living longer!

So let’s talk about being a freaking lean and strong rockstar till your final day on this planet.

Part of how we need to train and the moves we need to include come back to one basic principle…

Use it or lose it.

We need to train the movement patterns we want to maintain until the end.

But not every move has to be an exact replica of an everyday activity.

Being functionally strong means being able to control our joints through a full range of motion and react quickly, recruiting the correct muscles at the correct times.

That’s why we need to include a diversity of moves, tempos and even types of resistances while focusing on strengthening through the fullest range of motion we can.

It’s why it is key we not only slow down the tempo of some movements but actually even SPEED UP the tempo at times!

So…Why Explosive Moves Are Key:

As we get older, our risk for falls and factures increases.

And part of this is due to our inability to react quickly when we trip or stumble.

We need to maintain our mind-body connection so we can recruit the correct muscles quickly to respond and help us avoid injury.

This is why including some explosive and even jumping movements is so key.

By performing these moves that require speed, power and coordination, we can keep that mind-body connection strong so we can react quickly in everyday life!

These moves that are fast-paced and require more muscles to work together at once quickly, are a great way to improve our coordination in a controlled environment.

While I know explosive, jumping and coordination intensive moves can feel awkward and frustrating even at times, they are essential to include.

If you can’t do super high impact exercises due to injury, consider things like the agility ladder, med ball slams and throws, kettlebell swings or even other movements where you move quickly as if you were going to leave the ground like bodyweight squats coming up onto your toes!

But don’t avoid the moves that challenge your MIND and not just your body to respond.

This ability to recruit muscles quickly builds strength as well!

We have to remember that the more we use muscles, go through that full range of motion and really challenge ourselves, the more strength, mobility and power we will maintain!

Now what are 5 strength moves you should include along with that explosive power and coordination work?

Move #1: Step Ups

Step ups are not only a movement pattern many of us use every day, stepping up onto a curb or going up stairs, but they are a key compound move to include for functional leg strength and to keep our hips and knees healthy.

They are also a unilateral or one sided exercise, which makes them extra valuable as they can make sure we don’t perpetuate imbalances or overuse one side due to weakness or previous injury.

Now if you’re thinking, “Great….Step ups hurt my knees.”

Don’t stress.

While they can be blamed for knee pain, learning to control this movement pattern can actually help us AVOID knee pain as we get older…

Because if we can’t control knee flexion, we’re going to struggle sitting down to the toilet or going up stairs!

We need to learn how to correctly load our glutes and prevent our knees from caving in as we step up.

When you do the step up, think about your foot as a tripod, two points in the ball of the foot, one in the heel. Firmly press through all three points to move to standing on the box.

Focus on feeling that glute as you drive up to keep the knee in line and avoid it collapsing in.

If you find you struggle due to even previous injury, not only can you start with a lower box, but I’m going to share a video in the description that teaches you to do a top down version of this movement called the step down.

This variation is a bit more of a hip hinge to make it glute dominant, which may help you to start!

Move #2: Single Arm Anti-Rotational Row

The Single Arm Anti-Rotational Row is another great compound unilateral movement to include to target your back.

And it’s key we include lots of back exercises in our routines as we get older to not only avoid neck, shoulder and upper back aches and pains but also avoid that “old age” posture we can see developing.

Most of us spend far too much time hunched over our technology. And the longer we’ve spent at a desk job, the more this posture adds up with age.

So we want to include back exercises to help reverse this posture.

This row not only addresses that back strength but, because it works one side at a time, will help you correct any imbalances between sides to avoid injury.

And the anti-rotational aspect of this movement, you fighting the urge to let your body rotate open as you row, is also a great way to improve your core strength and stability.

Anti-rotational moves are essential for us as we get older as they help us avoid lower back and hip pain by improving our core stability!

So as you do this move, really make sure to keep your shoulders un-shrugged to engage your back, focusing on your shoulder blade moving toward your spine and then pretend as if you’re rowing up with both arms to get that core to work to avoid rotation!

You’ll feel your core working to avoid your hip on the side not rowing from dropping open toward the ground.

While I love doing this move from a suspension trainer, you can do it off a bar as well!

Move #3: Single Leg Deadlift

Lower back aches and pains can seemingly add up more and more as we get older. Picking something up off the ground can feel like a risky activity.

But that’s because we stop training this essential movement pattern – the hip hinge.

Deadlifts are so often demonized as we get older, but it is key we learn how to hinge correctly to use our glutes and hamstrings so we don’t overload our back when picking up boxes or lifting things off the ground!

Just like it is key we train that knee flexion during moves like step ups to keep our knees healthy.

That’s why I love the single leg deadlift.

This variation of the hip hinge not only helps you strengthen those glutes and hamstrings to protect your lower back, but also works to improve your balance and core stability.

And better balanced has been linked with longevity!

When you do this move, make sure to truly sit back as you hinge over. You aren’t just leaning forward. You’re thinking about pushing your butt back to touch the wall behind you as you then bow over.

Do not just round and reach forward or try to squat and bend your knee to sink lower!

If you struggle though with the full single leg variation and balance as it is a tough unilateral move, start with a slider or even an 80/20 variation.

And in the video description I’ll share a video with an in depth tutorial on form and modifications.

Move #4: Rotational Chest Press

You want to include pulling, pushing, squatting and hinging over the course of your workout routines.

And you want to include anti-rotational moves, like the row variation I mentioned, as well as rotational exercises to strengthen your core.

While anti-rotational moves help you avoid unwanted rotation of your spine to protect it, rotational moves help you learn to power rotation properly so you don’t overload your lower back.

And with this press variation, you’ll not only strengthen your core but also your chest, shoulders and triceps.

It’s also a unilateral move to help you stay mobile and strong while avoiding and correcting imbalances.

To do this move, you will want to use a staggered stance, with the foot back on the side that is pressing.

And while you are rotating open and then away, do not make this a bigger move than you need, letting your hand drift back and away from your chest as you rotate toward the anchor point of the band or cable.

You also don’t want to end up just rotating through your lower back.

Make sure you feel your obliques really working as you twist.

And don’t shrug your shoulder.

While you can reach out a bit at the end to work that serratus anterior, which is key to keeping your shoulders healthy, you don’t want to round forward.

Focus on that press coming off of the rotation!

This can even be a great accessory move if you are working to improve your push ups!

Move #5: Unilateral Farmer’s Carry

Now this move is one of the most essential and functional movements everyone should be doing at every age to live a long, healthy life.

Carries are such a key move to include as they work our grip strength and even our entire body.

And being able to carry heavy things is truly key if we want to be fully independent as we age!

With carries, you can include so many different variations to target a variety of muscles based on your needs and goals.

You can do bilateral carries, carrying weights on both sides to use heavier loads and challenge your legs even more.

Or you can do an overhead carry for more shoulder work.

You can even do a unilateral variation of any carry to work on that anti-rotational core strength.

When you do the unilateral carry, walk as if you are carrying a weight on both sides and avoid leaning! This is what gets you that anti-rotational or anti-flexion benefit and works those obliques to stabilize.

No matter which carry you include though, a carry variation is key to include not only because of the full body benefits and because we carry things in every day life but because of how important GRIP STRENGTH is to longevity.

Cori Hack: Grip Strength

Grip strength is a key indicator of life span and is believed to be an indispensable biomarker for older adults.

A stronger grip has been linked with better health!

Studies have shown that “grip strength is largely consistent as an explanation of concurrent overall strength, upper limb function, bone mineral density, fractures, falls, malnutrition, cognitive impairment, depression, sleep problems, diabetes, multimorbidity, and quality of life.

There is also evidence linking grip strength and all-cause and disease-specific mortality, future function, bone mineral density, fractures, cognition and depression, and problems associated with hospitalization.”

So do not ignore the importance of strengthening your grip if you want to live a long and healthy life!

Now that doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy a ton of fancy specialized tools to strengthen your grip.

Moves like carries are essential to include, but even the other moves listed here will all promote muscle growth and even grip strength.

The rows will challenge your grip as will the deadlifts and step ups, especially as you add loads.

So don’t stress grip isolation moves but exercises that force you to carry loads while also helping you build functional full body strength!

Use these 5 moves to build lean muscle and improve your grip strength so you can live a long, healthy and independent life!

And don’t be afraid to challenge yourself with moves that test your coordination and work not only your body but brain as well! Being able to react quickly is key.

For more tips to use these moves, don’t forget to check the video description.

And remember, mobility work is also key as we get older. Check out my Flexibility Secrets To Make You Feel Younger next!

STUDIES:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6778477/

https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.17626

OTHER LINKS:

More on Step Downs: https://redefiningstrength.com/hate-step-ups-try-this-move-instead/

Deadlift tips: https://redefiningstrength.com/the-best-deadlift-exercise-you-arent-doing/ 

The Most UNDERRATED Bodyweight Core Exercise

The Most UNDERRATED Bodyweight Core Exercise

by | Dec 18, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness

If you are looking for an amazing core exercise to work your abs, obliques, glutes, hamstrings, shoulders, adductors, serratus anterior and back, that requires no equipment so you can do it anywhere, then you’re going to love this video!

In this video I’ll show you one of my favorite bodyweight rotational core exercises and how to modify it based on your fitness level. And at the end of the video, I’ll even share a great quick bodyweight core burner to do using it!

Hey guys it’s Cori from redefining strength where we help you feel, look and move your best at any and every age. 

And building a strong core is essential to not only help us look amazing but also avoid common aches and pains especially as we get older.

Of course diet is also key if you are trying to lose that stubborn fat around your middle, which I’ll touch on later. 

But when we talk about building a strong core, we’re talking about strengthening everything between your shoulders and your knees, down your front side and your back side.

Which is why I love this amazing bodyweight plank variation which will help improve your shoulder and hip stability while strengthening your abs and obliques to control rotation!

And at the end I’ll share a great 5 minute burner using this move you can add on to the end of your lifting or cardio session!

It’s the perfect finisher to your lifting session or cardio workout.

So what is this fabulous move you can do anywhere?

It’s the Mountain Climber Turkish Bridge!

This move is deceptively hard, and can help you improve your shoulder, scapular, spinal and hip mobility. It truly works your entire core through rotation.

It’s a great move to improve your stability as you transition from both hands to a single arm.

Just remember every move is earned.

If you find that, even with these cues, you’re struggling to maintain proper form and feel the correct muscles working,

You don’t want to feel or you start to feel your lower back, neck or shoulder aching in a bad way, you check out the modifications I’ll discuss next.

To do this move you’ll want to set up in that high plank position with your feet about hip-width apart and your hands under your shoulders.

As you even set up, you want to be conscious of the muscles you’re engaging. Feel the sides of your back engage to support your shoulder.

Feel your quads flex as you drive back through your heels slightly in that plank position.

Focus on engaging your abs to brace.

Draw one knee up and across toward the opposite elbow. When you pull that knee across, focus on your abs even flexing to tuck. Don’t just tuck your knee in repeating the movement.

Even focus on engaging your back so you don’t shift forward.

Then kick the leg slightly back out, so your knee is about back in line with your planted leg, although you’ll keep that knee bent.

From here, twist that leg back and over toward the ground behind you as you lift the arm on the same side as that leg up toward the ceiling.

You’ll feel your obliques working as you twist.

And you want to feel the muscles around your rib cage working and the side of your back engaged to stabilize that standing shoulder.

Pivot onto the heel of that planted leg, feeling the hamstring and glute work. You’ll also really feel the glute of the bent leg.

Do not let your hips drop as you move into this single arm posterior plank, which also looks similar to a step in the Turkish Get Up.

Reach your top hand up toward the ceiling and pause to assess what you feel working.

Then lift that bent leg and lower that raised hand down, rotating back to face the ground. Make sure your standing hand is still under your shoulder and that your shoulders aren’t shrugged.

Do not put that raised leg down if you can avoid it.

Keeping it lifted as your rotate closed and move straight to pulling the knee in across your body will engage your adductor or inner thigh on your planted leg even more.

Repeat the move, moving at a controlled pace while assessing what you feel working!

This move, while it will improve your core stability, is challenging, partly because you are supporting your weight on one arm.

That’s why it is key we know how to modify to build up and recruit the correct muscles.

My favorite way to modify this move is off a bench because it allows you to do the exact same complete movement without variation to more easily build up.

The incline reduces the resistance on your upper body, which can allow you to engage everything correctly while maintaining proper form.

As you progress with the movement, you can slowly lower the incline working from a bench down to maybe a step or block before the ground. Just make sure each progression is earned.

If you have wrist issues, you may also find using an incline helpful as you can then perform this move off of your forearm.

Another option off the ground is to keep your wrist in a neutral position by gripping a dumbbell.

Just make sure that dumbbell will not move.

And because it’s key we’re creative to make sure we’re always meeting ourselves where we are at, if you don’t have an incline, you can also modify this move and reduce the strain on both your upper body, abs and hamstrings by performing the move from a bent knee position.

With this modification, you’ll start in a bulldog position with your knees under your hips. You’ll perform the same knee tuck and rotation open, BUT your knees will stay bent and you’ll be in more of a tabletop position.

Make sure that, while your hips may slightly drop in the rotation, you pause to really engage those glutes and extend your hips in the bridge for a second before rotating back closed!

Remember that at times we need to regress to progress to get the most benefit from a move.

Now how can you include this in a quick burner workout?

I love doing intervals over reps for moves like this because it allows us to focus on what we feel working and not rush to complete the reps.

A quick interval circuit with 30 seconds of work per move or side and 2 rounds through can be a great way to end a workout.

Use an anti-rotational move, a more glute-focused move and even an ab intensive move to complement this amazing rotational exercise.

WORKOUT:
30 seconds Bird Dog Plank
30 seconds per side Mountain Climber Turkish Bridge
30 seconds Reverse Crunch
30 seconds Frog Bridge

BONUS: Stubborn Belly Fat Tips

Adding in this amazing burner once or twice a week for a progression may be a great way to improve your core strength and stability. But you can’t ignore the importance of your diet if you want to reveal those lean, defined abs.

Next check out my Meal Plan To Lose Stubborn Belly Fat video with a full day of eating!

–> Check Out The Video Here

 

Flexibility Secrets To Make You Feel Younger

Flexibility Secrets To Make You Feel Younger

by | Oct 30, 2022 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Stretches, Workouts

Ever feel like you wake up and everything is more sore tired and achy than it used to be after your hardest workout?

Like you aged even a decade overnight?

Feel like your flexibility just POOF, disappeared?

What if I told you that to get it back there was one simple solution….

Stop just stretching more.

Because while most of us think we want to be more flexible, what we actually want is more than that.

We want to improve not only our flexibility but also our mobility and stability.

We don’t want to get up out of bed and feel like everything is in need of oil.

We don’t want to struggling with aches and pains going up and down stairs or getting up and down off the ground.

We want to feel like we can take on any hiking, biking or fitness challenge that comes our way.

That’s why I want to share 4 common reasons why our flexibility work isn’t often paying off the way we’d like and how we can get better results faster.

 

But first I want to clarify what the heck these three terms – flexibility, mobility and stability really mean.

Flexibility is really the ability of a muscle, or muscle group, to lengthen and stretch.

Mobility is the ability of joints to move through a full range of motion.

Stability is the ability to control and maintain joint movement and position.

All three of these things are linked. If you don’t work on all three components ultimately you won’t see the results you’re really after.

Without proper muscle flexibility, you will have restricted joint range of motion and stability.

Without proper joint range of motion, you’ll have restricted muscle flexibility and joint stability.

Without proper joint stability, you’ll have restriction joint mobility and muscle flexibility.

When we realize how much each component impacts the other, we can adjust our training to address all three components together to see better results faster.

And often not seeing these 3 components as linked is why our flexibility training is getting us the benefits we’d like.

Now how can you make changes that don’t waste your time and have you feeling like you’re moving better than you did a decade ago?

#1: We’re spending time stretching muscles we shouldn’t.

If a muscle feels tight, we often think we need to stretch it.

And while many muscles that feel tight can actually be shortened and in need of stretching, we have to realize that this isn’t always the case.

When this isn’t the case, stretching can actually make matters worse.

So it’s key we are able to determine the underlying cause of tightness first.

A muscle can become tight because of a lack of joint stability or even improper joint mobility or alignment.

Our body wants to protect itself.

If a joint is unstable, it will do what it can to create stability, which means potentially creating muscular tension.

It may mean we create tension in a muscle that really shouldn’t be working that hard to provide that stability.

Until you actually address the muscle that is weak and underactive not supporting the joint the way it should, this muscle will keep becoming tight no matter how much you stretch it.

And even stretching it may perpetuate the instability already there or make it harder to activate the underactive muscle.

Stretching may also make matters worse if a muscle becomes tight because of joint alignment or restricted joint mobility.

Muscles can feel tight because they are actually overstretched.

Take for instance our hamstrings.

They are actually a great example often of a lack of joint stability and joint alignment or positioning causing tightness over a muscle actually being shortened.

So many of us have thought to ourselves “I need to stretch my hamstrings more. They feel so tight!”

But often in the case of our hamstrings, they are actually overstretched due to tight hip flexors from sitting far too long at our computers or traveling in our car.

They may also be tight because of underactive glutes not doing their part to help with pelvic alignment and hip stability so tension is created to help provide stability where it is lacking.

Because of this, while it may feel like you should stretch your hamstrings, stretching actually makes matters worse.

Instead you’d be better served by doing activation work for your glutes and stretching of your hip flexors to restore proper joint mobility and stability.

This correction of postural distortions will ultimately actually HELP your hamstring flexibility without stretching them!

Which leads me to reason #2 we often aren’t seeing the results we’d like from our flexibility work…

#2: We’re not focusing on engaging the opposing muscle group during stretches.

How many times have you done a stretch and just tried to feel the muscle stretching?

Most of us have done this.

And sometimes you even do a stretch and think, “I don’t really feel this that much.” Priding yourself on how flexible you even are in that position.

Or…

“I stretch this all of the time, why isn’t it helping!?”

I see this often with hip stretches.

People supposed stretch their hip flexors a ton, but they never see improvements in their hip mobility.

But it’s because they actually aren’t really stretching the muscles they think they are in the movements.

Too often with moves we go through the motions, mimicking the movements.

And our body takes the path of least resistance, often finding mobility or flexibility from the easiest areas…often the areas that aren’t even tight.

So we end up doing a hip flexor stretch to arch our lower backs or not engage our glutes.

Instead of just mimicking a movement pattern or even thinking about the muscle we want to stretch, we need to focus on engaging the opposing muscle group.

The muscle driving the stretch.

If you want to stretch your hips, focus on squeezing your glutes to drive the hip extension.

If you want to stretch your chest to prevent those rounded shoulders, focus on engaging your upper back to open up your chest.

Not only does engaging the opposing muscle group stretch what you’re trying to stretch, but it can also improve your mind-body connection to activate underactive muscle groups which will also improve your joint mobility and stability as well!

If you’re looking to learn more about specifically improving your hip stretches, check out the video HERE.

#3: We’re sabotaging our flexibility gains with our strength workouts.

Strength work is essential if you want to maintain your flexibility, mobility and stability.

However, too often we do our strength training only working in one plane of motion or not through the fullest range of motion we truly can.

If we want to be more flexible, more mobile and more stabile, we need to build strength through a full range of motion.

This takes what we may passively be able to move through and makes it an active movement we can control.

Only when you do your strength work through a bigger range of motion do you keep the flexibility of muscles you worked hard to create.

If you do your strength work in a small range of motion, you will keep just tightening muscles back up!

So if you’ve worked to improve your hip flexor flexibility and hip mobility, make sure your strength workouts do include movements to go through this full range of motion even if it means going lighter to start.

Lunge lowering your knee to the ground.

Perform step ups from a higher box.

But strength through that full range of motion to maintain it!

Otherwise your flexibility and mobility work will constantly be negated by your other training and you won’t then improve your joint stability through that full range of movement!

#4: Stop just including a “recovery” or flexibility workout.

While having a day set aside each week to specifically and solely work on your flexibility, mobility and even stability is amazing, you need to address these components every single workout to see the best results as fast as possible.

We get good at what we consistently do.

And most of us aren’t truly patient enough for a single weekly session to add up over time.

Not to mention so much of the postures and positions we put ourselves in on a daily basis work against what we’re trying to accomplish.

So if we want the best results possible, every warm up should include this flexibility, mobility and stability work.

And this is why that 3-Part Prehab Process is so key!

By including foam rolling, stretching and activation exercises every single warm up, we can consistently be doing small amounts of the mobility work we need more often, especially to reverse our daily postures.

And not only that, we can prep our body to move better during our training so we can strengthen through that fuller range of motion, maintaining the muscle flexibility we’ve worked hard to create.

Doing this mobility, flexibility and stability work in our warm up also allows us to make sure the correct muscles are working so we don’t perpetuate muscles being overused and becoming tight due to improper joint alignment or instability.

Instead of stressing a super long flexibility workout, try just even 10 minutes as a warm up before every workout! Those small consistent sessions done to help you get more out of your workouts will add up more than you realize!

For my full podcast on the 3-Step Prehab process, click HERE.

Just remember if you want to improve your flexibility, you can’t ignore the importance of also working on your joint mobility and stability.

Be intentional with your training and realize that you want to always include things with a purpose while you focus on what you truly feel working!

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How to Build Muscle At Any Age (7 TIPS!)

How to Build Muscle At Any Age (7 TIPS!)

by | Oct 16, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises, Functional Fitness, menopause-featured, Pain Relief

“I’m too old to gain muscle.”

Stop lying to yourself. Stop giving yourself an excuse to not work hard and move forward.

Because while our body, needs and goals do change as we get older, and yes it 100% becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle, we can achieve fabulous results and build muscle at any and every age.

And honestly, often the reason we don’t see the results we want as we get older is because we cling to improper dieting and workout practices that we may have “gotten away with” when we were younger.

But at every stage of life, we need to be adjusting our training and fueling. Nothing works forever.

Our body and lifestyle are constantly evolving and so should our diet and training habits to meet us where we are at currently so we can always move forward and be functional strong till our final day on this planet!

That’s why I want to share 7 tips to help you not only maintain your muscle mass but gain muscle as you get older.

Tip #1: Use It Or Lose It.

So often the reason we see more dramatic shifts in body composition and lose more muscle mass as we get older is because we’ve STOPPED doing what makes us fitter and stronger.

We accept decline and use age as an excuse instead of finding ways to really challenge ourselves.

Things do get harder. We may feel more awkward with balance moves. We may feel like we recover slower.

We may even dislike coordination moves because they are uncomfortable.

Even mainstream media tells people to stop doing what once kept them strong.

But if you don’t use it, you lose it.

If you want to maintain your muscle, you’ve got to challenge your body.

If you want to keep your mind-body connection strong, which can lead to better muscle hypertrophy as well, you’ve got to do moves that challenge your coordination.

And if you not only want to gain muscle but stay functionally strong and avoid falls, you’ve got to do those awkward balance moves.

Use it or lose it. Keep challenging yourself and training those movement patterns in the gym so you move better in every day life!

Tip #2: Stop Dieting.

Muscle helps keep our metabolic rate higher. It helps us burn more calories at rest and stay leaner.

And we get older we become less able to utilize protein as efficiently making it even harder to build and retain lean muscle mass.

But this is why it is even more key we stop the dieting and extreme deficits.

While it can feel harder and harder to lose any weight we’ve gained so we feel we need to turn to larger and larger calorie deficits, this ultimately sabotages our results.

It leads to more muscle being lost in the process of us trying to lose weight which only leads to metabolic adaptations and worse body composition.

It leads to us actually making it harder on ourselves to lose the weight and keep it off. Plus the metabolic adaptations mean we burn fewer calories at rest.

This leads to us then slashing our calories lower and lower to try to keep losing, perpetuating the horrible weight gaining cycle as we get older.

Instead we need to FUEL that lean muscle.

We need to focus on macros first and a very slight calorie deficit so we can help ourselves retain that lean muscle even as we want to lose fat.

Or we maybe even need to first retrain our body to eat more so we can build lean muscle with a small calorie surplus before we consider a slight deficit to lose!

Tip #3: Do Moves That Challenge You.

Many of us have heard that strength training is key to gaining muscle especially as we get older.

And it is.

By challenging our muscles, we force them to rebuild and grow stronger.

It’s why we don’t want to fear lifting heavy as we get older.

The key is recognizing what lifting heavy is for us.

It may mean bodyweight training starting out, especially if you haven’t trained before or trained consistently in awhile.

Or it may be using resistance bands or dumbbells over barbells.

The key is not fearing loads and truly challenging yourself instead of going lighter just because you’ve hit a certain age.

Fitness is about ability PERIOD.

We always have to meet ourselves where we are at.

This also means we can’t avoid awkward and uncomfortable moves that challenge our mind-body connection.

Neuromuscular efficiency, or the ability to recruit muscles quickly and in the right sequences to perform movements properly, is key to us moving well and even improving our reaction times and coordination in every day life.

Not to mention that ability to recruit muscles quickly, that muscle activation, will also IMPROVE our muscle hypertrophy.

So if you want to be able to gain more muscle, you want to improve that mind-body connection with moves that challenge your balance and your coordination while also challenging yourself with loads!

Tip #4: Increase Protein Portions Per Meal.

As we get older we can develop anabolic resistance and we are less able to utilize protein as efficiently.

This means we actually need to increase our protein intake, especially when we’re training hard and lifting to build muscle.

Because our muscles don’t respond by increasing muscle protein synthesis in the same way as when we were younger, increasing a portion of 20 grams of protein to 30 may be super key.

And if we’re training harder, you may see an even better benefit from 40 grams, especially after a hard training session.

However, the reason I don’t just say increase protein intake overall is because, as we get older, we can also often see a decline in our appetite.

This decline can be purely age related but also based on how we’ve trained our body to fuel when trying to lose weight in a more extreme deficit, which can make it hard to eat a ton of protein in one sitting, especially because it is so satiating and can make us feel fuller.

By increasing each meal over trying to get in a ton extra at one meal, and even adding in a pre and post workout snack that is protein-centric, we can break up our protein intake to see results.

You may even find that you can see added benefits from a BCAA supplement consumed DURING your workout as Leucine especially is so critical to stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

There can also be some benefits of breaking up your protein to keep a positive protein balance at multiple times a day to promote better muscle growth!

Tip #5: Do Your Mobility Work.

We can see changes in our recovery and aches and pains can feel like they’re adding up as we get older.

Too often we simply blame our age over recognizing the movement compensations, imbalances, overuse and overload that have been occurring for years that we haven’t addressed.

But whatever the reason, we can’t ignore these issues if we want to be able to train hard consistently to see results.

It’s why mobility work is so key.

It can help us move better and recover faster, even helping us better manage chronic inflammatory conditions that could fight our muscle gains, so we can train consistently and challenge ourselves to build that lean muscle.

Without proper recovery, we end up training to a point of diminishing returns where we are just constantly beating our body down over allowing for proper recovery and growth.

When we rest, we rebuild!

Here is a full body mobility routine with the complete 3-step prehab process to address common aches and pains.

But it is key we do this mobility work in every warm up so we can train to build that lean muscle more efficiently!

You’ll be surprised by how much even just 5-10 minutes of mobility work a day helps you train harder without needing extra days off to recover!

Tip #6: Be Strategic In Your Meal Timing.

I say this as a person who personally loves intermittent fasting as a meal timing…

Fasting can backfire when gaining muscle is your goal – especially if you are a hardgainer.

And as we get older, we have to realize that fasting and fasted training may hinder us from gaining muscle, as in a fasted state, your muscle protein balance is negative.

Basically you break down more muscle than you build.

So we put ourselves at greater risk for losing muscle the more we put ourselves in this negative protein balance.

Not to mention, when you train fasted, you don’t necessarily have the readily available stored fuel you need to truly push through a hard session or rebuild from the damage you’ve created.

So consider including a pre-workout meal with protein to have amino acids readily available in your system and even a carb source for immediate fuel to allow you to push harder in your session without fatigue.

This meal will help create a positive protein balance even before your session.

Then post workout, consider consuming another 40grams even of protein.

Studies have found that resistance exercise combined with amino acid ingestion elicits the greatest anabolic response and may assist the “elderly” in producing a ‘youthful’ muscle protein synthetic response provided sufficient protein is ingested following exercise.

This post workout protein consumption can also even help you improve your recovery so you can include more hard training sessions over the week.

Tip #7: Stay Active On Days Off.

Recovery and rest days don’t have to be “do nothing days.”

And the more we can actually use these days to prep our body to move better during our training sessions, the better off we will be.

Include 5-10 minute mobility routines.

Go for a long walk.

Honestly, walking is one of the most underutilized tools we have to stay functionally stronger and improve our body composition even as we get older.

Walking can help us avoid unwanted fat gain, keep our aerobic base strong and even recover from previous training sessions without being catabolic to our muscle mass unlike more intense forms of steady state cardio.

Walking can also be a great way to destress and help our body, and mind, rest!

So as much as it can be hard to take a day off, your body needs it. Your muscles repair and rebuild when you give them time to recover.

But to stay active, don’t be afraid to include light movement and mobility work on those days off!

You may be surprised by how much even this light activity helps you sleep better!

SUMMARY:

We can, and should, focus on building muscle at any and every age.

We are NEVER too old to see results.

And our workout routine and diet should always be based on our needs and goals, meeting us where we are at. But our age, that simple number, should never determine what we can or can’t do.

We have to remember that if we want to stay strong, it really is a case of use it or lose it.

So use these 7 tips to help you feel lean, strong and fabulous till your final day on this planet!

And for even more motivation to never say you’re too old, check out the Fitness Hacks Podcasts I’ve linked to below.

FHP S2:E7 – Can You Gain Muscle As You Get Older? If So, How!?

FHP S2: E46 – I’m too OLD!

MORE STUDIES:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22313809/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6582369/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15438627.2020.1770251
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jappl.2000.88.2.386
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00488.2005

The Most Underrated Bodyweight Quad Exercise

The Most Underrated Bodyweight Quad Exercise

by | Aug 14, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness

The best muscle hypertrophy results happen when we include both compound movements and isolation movements to target the muscles we want to strengthen and grow.

But when we don’t have a lot of equipment it can be hard to effectively target specific muscles, like our quads, with isolation moves.

Often when we think about exercises to isolate our quads, we think about the leg extension machine or some sort of cable extension or maybe even band extension.

That’s why I wanted to share one of my favorite bodyweight moves to really isolate and target those quads.

This move is deceptively hard when done right.

And if you have knee pain currently limiting your knee flexion or your ability to kneel, I will go over modifications to still get in bonus quad work!

But do not just demonize this move because of the kneeling or knee flexion.

While not every move is right for every person, lean backs, also often called Reverse Nordic Curls, have even at times been used to rehab specific quad or knee injuries.

Our knees are meant to flex and extend and controlling this movement is key to actually keeping our knees healthy and happy!

Plus this move may be a great way to specifically target the rectus femoris quad muscle because the hip stays in an extended position during knee flexion.

But before I go over modifications and other quad isolation options, what is this amazing bodyweight quad move?

It’s the lean back!

How To Do Lean Backs:

This move looks super simple. But it is deceptively challenging for those quads!

I mention this because, in an attempt to extend our range of motion, often we cheat without realizing it.

To do the Lean Backs, start kneeling with your knees about hip-width apart.

While you can point your toes, I highly recommend starting with your feet dorsiflexed to provide that solid foundation and help with activation. This gives the added bonus of working on foot and ankle mobility. However, if you find it painful you may keep your feet plantar flexed.

If you do find you struggle with calf cramps while keeping your toes pointed, just remember you have the other option too!

Come to that full kneeling position up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes as you brace your abs.

You can reach your hands out in front of you to help with balance to start.

Keeping your glutes engaged, lean back. The movement is coming only at your knees.

While tempting to sit your butt back toward your heels, make sure to keep your glutes engaged and hips extended.

Bracing your abs is also key as it is tempting to just lean back from your lower back.

You’re working your quads to control that lean back and knee flexion. They are working to control and even decelerate that knee flexion.

You are basically using your quads to slow down the eccentric portion of the movement.

Allow yourself to lean back as far as possible with the movement coming at your knees.

Then pull yourself back up to kneeling, feeling your quads working to pull you back up.

Repeat the movement, slowing down that lean back to make sure you’re controlling it.

To advance the move, work through the biggest range of motion you can control and even slow down the tempo further, even including a pause when you’ve leaned back.

If you do have loads, you can always add them to the move to advance it, holding a weight in at your chest or by even using a band anchored behind you so that you have to work harder to press forward and even fight the band pulling you to lean back.

Modifications:

While we need to stop demonizing moves with kneeling or knee flexion and stop stating they are “dangerous” for our knees, they may not be right for people with specific knee injuries, especially to start.

You may seek to build up to the lean back eventually or you may find you never include it because it doesn’t match your needs and goals or fitness level.

If you can kneel but don’t yet have full control of the lean back, you can modify the lean back, by using a band anchored in front of you to assist or even even by holding on to something to control the range of motion.

But if you are looking to improve your quad strength, and find that kneeling or active knee flexion is tough right now, consider including isometrics in your routine to start.

These moves are a great way to really improve your mind-body connection and start to build that strength endurance.

Do not just hold with these moves but actually focus on really feeling those quad muscles work as you even try to engage them harder during the hold.

Moves like the basic wall sit or even bulldog hold are a great way to improve your quad strength endurance while eliminating active knee flexion.

They are a great way to make sure you can engage muscles correctly while even allowing you to strengthen muscles to improve your joint stability.

If you are looking to include some active knee flexion to start, you may even consider seated quad flexes. You can start with just bodyweight and focus on holding harder or even begin to add ankle weights, bands or cables as you feel ready.

Just remember that sometimes we need to regress to progress.

And instead of demonizing moves, simply find the ones that match us where we are at.

SUMMARY:

No matter what tools we have available, there is often a way to find a movement to match our needs and goals.

So if you’re looking for an amazing quad move, give these lean backs a try. They are great to include after a compound moves like lunges or squats to isolate those quads and really make them work!

Learn how to dial in your workouts and your nutrition to see the amazing and lasting results you want…

–> 3 Steps To Results

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