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Can’t Build Muscle? Try These 5 Strength Training Techniques

Can’t Build Muscle? Try These 5 Strength Training Techniques

by | Jun 25, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness

So often we focus on progression only through adding loads or doing another rep with a weight.

But at some point, you can’t just keep adding 5lbs every week.

You can’t do another rep.

That’s why creating progression through the same but different is so key.

You don’t need a crazy fancy new device or some new secret exercise.

You can make small tweaks to the moves you’re doing to see those strength and muscle improvements.

So stop getting caught up in only lifting more.

Here are 5 training techniques to help you create that progression through the same but different and see those better muscle gains!

The first way to use the same moves you love and create a new stimulus for growth is to…

Mix Up Equipment

Barbells vs. dumbbells vs. cables vs. bands can all be used to apply tension and create instability and resistance in different ways.

They often even require you to use a different loading placement which can help you change which muscles get more emphasis during a move.

While dumbbells are a great way to load down a step up and challenge your legs, you can emphasize your glutes more during this move by using cables instead.

The cable being anchored down low and the consistent tension as you drive up and then control the lower back down, can help you really feel those glutes more than even your quads.

It can help you keep progressing that step up if you feel yourself starting to cheat with the dumbbells while allowing you to shift how you use the move in your progression because of the shift in muscle emphasis.

You may even find you combine two types of resistances to get the different benefits each provide when you feel you aren’t able to just add more weight.

If you find you can’t really keep progressing loads with a dumbbell chest fly, try lowering the dumbbell weight you’re using while adding in a band for the movement.

The band applies resistance in a new way and even applies more resistance throughout the arc of the movement while forcing you to really control the fly open.

Just by adding in the band, you may be surprised how much lighter your dumbbell weights have to get, allowing you new room for progression.

Not to mention you can even increase the band tension over time as well.

The second tweak you can make to the exercises you’re already including to create progression is to Adjust Your Posture.

Good form isn’t a simply good or bad as we often act like it is.

There are slight changes in our form we can make to emphasize muscles involved in the movement to different extents while also even hitting different aspects of the same muscle.

You could take the same walking lungeand make it more glute intensive by adding in a more vertical shin angle and slightly angled out wide stride or more quad intensive by keeping it more narrow and allowing your knee to travel further forward over the ball of your foot.

Just like you can change your hand placement on push ups to make them more tricep intensive while requiring less scapular control with a narrow grip or slightly less tricep intensive while requiring more scapular control with a standard grip.

Even super small adjustments like slightly different degrees of hip flexion during seated abduction can help you better establish that mind-body connection and engage different aspects of the glute medius.

So often it isn’t even that we need a crazy new move to work an area, we just need to adjust our form slightly to change how it is working!

The third technique is one most of us often avoid because it can really force us to lighten loads and it can be a bit frustrating since it can make moves awkward…

It’s To Change Our Base Of Support.

If you’ve maxed out on a bilateral or two-limbed move, make it a unilateral or one-sided move.

This can create instability, challenge your core more and requires you to even change how you recruit muscles to improve your mind-body connection.

It can also help you address weak links or a weaker side, which may then allow you to lift more when you thought you’d hit your cap with the bilateral variation.

And even when you’re doing a unilateral variation, you can easily mix things up, because many unilateral moves are more challenging than we give them credit for even with lighter loads.

With something like the single leg deadlift, you may find that starting out you don’t have the balance to do the fully unilateral variation. Or you don’t like how much you really have to drop down in weight.

So instead, maybe you try an 80/20 option, or a bench supported option.

This can help you target each side independently while still going a bit heavier than you may be able to with the fully single leg variation.

And changing your base of support doesn’t always have to mean just creating instability or a new challenge for the exact muscle you want to target.

It doesn’t even always mean making that base of support one sided…

It can even be something as simple as doing a chest supported row over a bent over row so that you can’t bounce the weights or use any momentum.

This can be key if you are finding yourself starting to cheat as you’re getting up in weights to try to eek out more.

Sometimes we want to limit what other muscles can be used to get up more weight to help us better hone in on the areas worked.

This can force us often to even go down in loads to start.

With the chest supported row, you may find that having your core locked into the bench allows you to even better focus on that scapular movement!

The 4th way to create progression and even improve your mobility and flexibility in the process is to…Adjust The Range Of Motion

The best way to make sure your flexibility and mobility work sticks is to then strengthen in your workouts through that full range of motion you’ve worked hard to build.

It’s why progressing from a split squat to a deficit split squat may help you improve your hip range of motion while also giving you a new challenge.

That bigger range of motion will make the move more challenging and create extra stretch on muscles under load to help you drive muscle growth.

However, changing the range of motion to drive muscle growth or hypertrophy doesn’t always mean increasing it.

Because metabolic stress is another driver of muscle growth, shrinking the range of motion at times to keep a muscle under tension can also be helpful.

So instead of just doing dumbbell bicep curls, you can combine that move with a resistance band top only curl where you never release tension and only go halfway down in the movement.

This will create fatigue and push you to failure in a new way and help you get more out of your original basic curl without having to progress the weights past the point you’re able to!

With this curl option you’re also using a new tool to help drive growth as well!

Another way to adjust the range of motion to create a new challenge is to actually change the direction or plane of motion you are moving in.

If you’ve been including a single arm suspension trainer row, you may try a rotational row instead.

This changes the range of motion and plane of motion you are working in to not only target the same muscles in different ways but even get new muscles involved to make sure you’re building functional strength in every direction.

The 5th and final technique that can help you drive that muscle growth even using the same moves and weights you are currently is to….

Emphasize the Eccentric.

Small tweaks to what we are currently doing can really add up! Too often we make massive changes over seeing the 1% opportunities.

And emphasizing the eccentric portion of an exercise is a great way to even use your current workouts while pushing growth.

To emphasize the eccentric, you’re going to focus on the portion of the move that is stretching the prime mover or main muscle driving the exercise.

With a pull up, you will want to focus on slowing down the lower down from the bar.

On the squat, you want to slow down the lower down to the bottom of the squat.

This focus on slowing down the stretch of the muscle to spend more time under tension has been shown to be a great way to drive muscle growth.

And it can be used with so many moves.

Just realize you may find that this can make you VERY sore, especially starting out.

Focusing on the eccentric can also help you tackle movements or weights you can’t yet fully use, especially if you change the move to eccentric only with a reset at the start.

With the push up, if you’re including those to build muscle, but can only currently do them off an incline, you may find you can do an eccentric only version from your toes off the ground.

We are often stronger in that eccentric portion of the move.

And that progression to that full version, plus the time under tension, could help you progress a move you are stuck on to build muscle!

We have to remember there are so many ways to create progression that aren’t just about adding more weight or doing another rep.

And the more advanced we are, the more we need to see opportunity in creating progression through the same but different.

So even using your current workout progression, see how you can use these techniques to make small tweaks and see those muscle gains improve!

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Can’t Do Push Ups? Try These 5 Tips

Can’t Do Push Ups? Try These 5 Tips

by | Jun 18, 2023 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Push Ups

You’ve been working at them and working at them…

But you just don’t feel like your push ups are progressing no matter how hard you try.

Yet you feel like you’re soooo close!

That’s why I wanted to share these 5 tips to help you adjust your workouts and push up work to finally get over that hurdle and bust out picture perfect push ups from your toes.

Because we don’t just want to do one beautiful push up…we want to look like a push up rockstar!

First, don’t just include push ups for only reps and sets – use intervals instead to work on your push ups! 

A big part of improving our push ups is our mind-body connection, not just our overall muscular strength.

Often we are strong enough already, we just aren’t able to fully recruit the correct muscles in the correct order to work together as efficiently as we need.

It’s why our hips sag as we focus on pushing back up or our elbows flare or we can’t engage our back to support our shoulders.

That’s why interval work over counting reps can help.

Intervals allow us to focus on what we feel working during each and every rep. 

Because we don’t have to care how many we do.

We are just working for that set amount of time. We also don’t get to be “done” any faster by rushing through the reps.

So having that set time frame to work allows us to focus on each rep.

AND it allows us often to do a higher volume of work with a harder variation over getting focused on doing more reps while using a more modified variation.

Often when we see 3 rounds of 8-12 reps listed, we modify the push up to do more reps each round.

But this often only helps us improve our strength endurance to do more reps of that modified variation.

Using intervals, if you know you have 1 minute to work, you can do a rep of the hardest variation, pause. Reset and do another rep of that same challenging variation. Pause again and repeat. You can then modify if you can’t keep the rest about 10-15 seconds between reps.

This allows you to create a great training volume while using that harder variation to build up!

And you can stay focused on what you feel working over just trying to get a certain amount of reps done!

Next, don’t be afraid to mix up the push up variations you use! Push ups can be their own best accessory exercise! 

Often if we can’t yet do a full push up, we don’t consider mixing things up.

But different grips and push up variations can help us target our weak links and strengthen them while also allowing us to get in more push up work.

So instead of just using the standard push up multiple times over the course of the week, vary up the types of push ups you include.

Try close grip to work those triceps more while requiring less scapular control.

Try shoulder tap push ups to work on that anti-rotational core strength and shoulder stability.

Mix up the variations you use, modifying them even to target those weak links while still working on your mind-body connection overall for push ups.

And don’t be afraid to also change up tempos and ways of modifying. If you always use an incline, try a band assisted push up instead!

Which brings me to tip #3….Try doing push ups but ONLY the lower down. 

Often using even just one single aspect of a movement can help us strengthen it.

And when it comes to our push ups, we can see great gains by just focusing on the eccentric portion of the movement, or the lower down, because we are actually stronger during that part.

This means we may be able to slow down the tempo and spend more time under tension while doing a more advanced push up variation than we would be able to if we had to press back up.

So if you’re feeling stuck on an incline or modified variation, try going to that next advanced step up and do only the lower down, focusing on a slow 5-6 count.

Once you lower all the way down, simply reset at the top, don’t try to push back up.

Complete even just 3-5 reps this way or even an interval of work.

But focus on what you feel working and everything engaging correctly as you just control the lower down of the most advanced version you can!

And then even include PAUSES in your push ups, especially in this variation. 

While you can pause at points in any push up variation you include to work on those points you tend to get stuck, it can be extra beneficial to include pauses during the eccentric only push ups at the very bottom.

Hold in that perfect plank an inch or so off the ground. Focus on engaging everything as hard as possible and even run through a checklist of what you feel working in your head.

Hold here for a 3-5 count then relax down and reset.

This ability to hold tension at the bottom of your push up will ultimately help you maintain tension to do the full press back up.

Often when we hit the bottom of the movement, we struggle to shift from lowering down to pushing the ground away to press back up.

This ability to maintain that plank position at the bottom is key.

It’s honestly often the missing component in our mind-body connection and where we lose tension, holding us back from full range of motion perfect push ups!

So try using that pause at the bottom. Although you can also implement pauses throughout the movement if you find there are other points you tend to fail.

Like if you get stuck when your elbows are bent to 90 degrees, try holding there too!

But don’t be afraid to included these pauses to create more time under tension and even give yourself the mental ability to focus on what you feel working without having the movement factor in!

Then stop just trying to do more reps in a row. 

Often to build strength, we do want to do one more rep with a weight.

One more rep of that challenging movement to create progression and build strength and muscle.

But when working to progress a SKILL, simply doing more volume of a more modified variation can keep us stuck.

Instead we want to focus on fewer reps in a row of a harder variation.

We can build up volume by resting even 15-20 seconds between 1-3 reps to get the 8-12 reps we want to complete.

But we can’t just shoot to keep trying to do 10 reps in a row.

Or we will end up continuing to need to use the modified variation and only continue to get stronger with the modification.

Often when we get focused on hitting a higher rep range for a move too, we rush through the rest. This doesn’t allow us to fully recovery and requires us often to modify even more over the rounds.

Instead, rest more and do fewer reps in a row!

Seek to use a variation you can only do a single rep of. If you can even do 2-3 reps, try something harder!

If you’ve been stuck, feeling like you’re just at that tipping point to be able to do a full push up, try implementing these 5 tips in your workout progression.

Use intervals over counting reps.

Use different push up variations.

Focus only on the lower down and even include pauses.

And then don’t be afraid to do single reps in a row, building up that volume over the interval of work!

Want amazing workouts to build full-body strength?

Join my Dynamic Strength Program!

 

Squat Challenge! What Happens When You Do 100 Squats a Day for 30 Days?

Squat Challenge! What Happens When You Do 100 Squats a Day for 30 Days?

by | Jun 11, 2023 | Blog, Bodyweight, Core, Exercises

I get the draw of these challenges.

They are simple and hard and often not too time consuming.

And something is always better than nothing to get us moving and motivated.

BUT…

Honestly, these challenges are also what sabotage our long-term success and adherence to a workout routine.

They can even make us feel like we’re working super hard, staying super consistent, making ourselves super sore and not seeing results build as quickly as we would like.

They can lead to us feeling like we are finally getting back into a groove but them BAM! Always hit with an injury.

That’s why in this video I want to go over what results you can truly expect from these 30 day challenges – the good, the bad and the simply ugly…

So let’s break down these 30 day challenges and the results you’ll get over the weeks…

Starting with that first week…

In that first week, if you haven’t been doing anything in terms of training, and this is your motivation to get moving…

Be prepared to be VERY VERY SORE.

Did I say you’ll feel SORE?

Because you’re going to feel sore those first few days.

If you break up those first 100 reps over the day, you may deceive yourself into thinking it “wasn’t that bad,” but that volume will sneak up on you.

You’re going from 0 to 100 reps and doing a repetitive movement for a high volume of work. 

You’re also doing this movement daily so not giving yourself fully enough time to recover from the previous session.

So those first 4 days, you’re going to feel sore and even a bit beat down.

If you haven’t checked your squat form or are feeling a bit stiff and immobile from a lack of activity, you may also find your knees and hips and even lower back are extra achy. 

This may pass with movement or it may be the start of the end.

Too often we sabotage ourselves from getting in a routine by simply pushing too hard in that first week.

We need to rebuild slowly to make sure we’re doing moves correctly and using the correct muscles. 

Not to mention just because you can “do” a move and for that volume, like your muscles are strong enough, doesn’t mean your connective tissues, such as your ligaments, are truly ready for it.

It’s why doing too much too quickly leads to injury. 

Also if our form is off we overload joints and muscles also putting us at risk.

And squats, like a fundamental movement pattern are often blamed for knee pain because we don’t use them correctly! 

However, if we can stick it out for those first 4ish days, often we feel like we get stronger overnight.

While our muscles haven’t grown, our body starts to become familiar with the movement and we become more efficient at repeating it. 

It’s why toward the end of that first week we may feel like things got almost easier overnight.

While you are getting stronger by creating a challenge for your body, you haven’t really built muscle this quickly.

It is simply that mind-body connection first improving. 

We may also see some weight loss initially with the challenge.

You are moving more which can mean you’re now burning additional calories during the day.

But just like our body adapts to make the reps feel easier in that first week, our body adapts to be more efficient which means this deficit through added movement will be short lived.

If we don’t add on to our training, move more or change our nutrition, we won’t keep losing weight. 

In that second and third week, the weight loss benefits will stop as your body adapts.

And you’re going to start feeling more burned out from the daily repetitive movement and see yourself hit a point of diminishing returns.

You may feel more worn down. Weird places may hurt again. Despite you feeling just a little bit before like you are getting stronger, you may feel like you go backward.

You’re not giving yourself enough time to rest and recover from a high volume of the same move, over and over and over again. 

And as things hurt or feel sore, you’re going to start compensating.

Your form may break down more from fatigue and even from you starting to rush through just to get things done. 

Doing the same thing every day gets tedious and boring!

We start to just want to be done with it.

It isn’t the same fun mental challenge it once was.

So often this is where we stop. We go back to our previous workout practices and we end up feeling like nothing will ever be sustainable. 

Or we keep pushing through. Maybe finally at the end of week 3 our body starts to adapt and we do see those muscle gains if we’re fueling well.

But often we just start to see knee and hip aches and pains add up more and more. 

We also haven’t built up any other muscle groups. We haven’t worked our core or our upper body. 

And we have no plan in place to guide us.

We have no “exit strategy” from this challenge except to do another challenge. 

And at some point this pattern leads to burnout.

We never really create clear progression, a clear BUILD for ourselves with a road map to take us to the goals we want.

So what may have seemed like an “easy way” to get started ultimately is also what keeps us stuck!

Now maybe you’ve powered through to week 4. And honestly, that is freaking awesome. Most don’t make it past that 3 week hump. 

Injury. Boredom. Fatigue. Time. Some excuse gets most of us as we lose that initial motivation.

We’ve been doing the same thing day after day after day. 

And not only does that get tedious so we become less careful and conscious of our movements, not to mention we aren’t as intentional to maximize each rep, but often the challenge really isn’t there for our body any longer.

We won’t keep seeing muscle gains as we’ve adapted to the volume and load of squatting our own bodyweight.

So ultimately we NEED to do more or at least create progression through the same but different. 

And many of us reach the end of the 4 weeks with no plan. 

The same challenge of creating a program we faced at the start, we are now faced with.

The good part about having committed to the 30 days though is we’ve created a workout habit and gotten in a routine, prioritizing some time each day for us and taking care of our body with movement.

We’ve also hopefully built some muscle and even lost a bit of weight from the added activity. 

Because something is better than nothing when starting out.

But nothing keeps progressing if we don’t adapt as we grow stronger and fitter.

And if we are unlucky, this repetitive movement could have led to injury and overload. 

We went all in from the start over giving ourselves time to build that solid foundation and slowly build up.

We may see more aches and pains even adding up over the following weeks if we aren’t careful.

It also hasn’t prepped our body necessarily for other movements. 

We may still be starting out at ground zero when it comes to our upper body or even core training. 

We can’t skip building that foundation and these challenges don’t help us become well rounded.

They so often lead to us just doing too much too quickly over easing in.

Not to mention we may feel like the daily movement is unsustainable long-term but not be sure now how to design a schedule that actually fits our busy lifestyle.

And as simple as these challenges seem, they are deceptively inefficient at getting results. 

You could see better results from LESS volume and even less frequent sessions designed with the appropriate intensity and recovery.

You could have found something more sustainable!

And you could have even found something more FUN to do weekly that would have led to better results faster. 

Including a diversity of movements for your legs over the week would have targeted every aspect of your lower body and hit the muscles to different extents while moving you in every direction.

This could have created faster muscle gains, better recovery and all while avoiding injury and being fun.

By repeating that weekly routine for 3-4 weeks with a clear build to movements, you may have seen your results snowball faster while avoiding boredom that lead to you just rushing through the squats to get them done!

If you’re considering a challenge like the 100 squats a day for 30 days challenge, I urge you to seek out a clear plan that includes diversity and focuses on your entire body instead.

This will truly help you build that strong foundation. 

The more you rebuild safely, slowly and while addressing any mobility restrictions, the faster you will actually progress with less risk for injury.

So while something is better than nothing, and these simple challenges are tempting, find a plan laid out for you even if it is just 5 minute workouts to start back! 

Ready to have a plan in place to reach your goals? Check out my Dynamic Strength program!

How To Get Abs (For the First Time)

How To Get Abs (For the First Time)

by | Jun 6, 2023 | Blog, Diet

So you want to see your abs…Here’s what you need to know.

I’m going to tell you right now that often the first time you attempt to get leanlean
the process is often more difficult than you’d expect.

There are going to be mistakes, frustrations and it’s going to take a lot longer than you’d like because your body will fight against you.

Our body, just like our minds, doesn’t like change and will resist it.

Sounds fabulous, right?!

But honestly, as much as we like to try not to focus on the negative,

I think it is key we face the obstacles and struggles going in so we are prepared for them.

Too often we try to ignore that there will be challenges and that ultimately sets us up for failure.

So I want to share 5 things to be aware of in the process of trying to reach a new level of leanness you’ve never achieved before so you can be prepared to stick with the process!

But before I dive into those tips, I just want to remind you of the importance of MACROS for body recomp.

Macros matter most when we are really trying to lose that last little bit and do everything we can to preserve our lean muscle mass while losing fat. 

You need to focus on increasing your protein, but you also can’t fear carbs the more active you are. 

Your body will need the instant fuel.

And by cycling macros every couple of weeks, you can also help give yourself a wider diversity of foods, maintain a better hormonal balance and even MENTALLY feel more in control and motivated to keep moving forward because you have little mini “end dates” and points at which you know you get a little shift! 

Now, here are 5 things you need to know about getting abs for the first time…

#1: Realize you may feel like you look worse before you look better.

Often the areas we most want to change are the LAST to go. 

And often in the process of even losing off of other areas, the areas we want to change that haven’t look BIGGER and worse.

Not to mention, fat loss and body recomp are a slow process. Especially toward the end, results can feel like they aren’t happening when things are building and changing.

This is why it is key we use more than the scale. 

Use pictures of a ton of different angles NOT just the areas you want to lose so you can see fat coming off of other places.

Use measurements to track changes. 

And then even focus on tracking your consistency so you can trust in the process.

But realize that things will be coming off at a snails pace and you may even at times look SOFTER in the process.

You may have times where the scale doesn’t change…doesn’t change…doesn’t change…then BAM! It drops dramatically.

It wasn’t just the eating right around it that did it. 

You’d probably been losing fat slowly over time.

However, you didn’t lose until you dropped the water weight being stored in your fat cells. 

Which may have even been why you looked SOFTER for a bit!

One common time you can look softer is if you have been slightly lower carb. 

YUP!

So often we fear carbs BUT you can sometimes need to add them in to lose water weight. 

This phenomenon is known as the Whoosh Effect. And while the science on it is limited, it is something we’ve seen happen time and time again.

The hypothesis as to why this happens goes back to our body not liking to lose weight. 

We each have fat cells and the size of these fat cells change as we gain weight, increasing in size, or lose weight, shrinking in size. 

Fat cells are filled with triglycerides, which will be used as energy for the rest of your body. 

Working out, being in a calorie deficit, all make your body need to call on these stores to fuel. 

You’d think this would mean steady decreases as you draw from these stores during your diet. 

But instead, water is often stored in these fat cells as your body tries to maintain your current weight and avoid depletion of its energy stores. 

They store water to anticipate more fat filling them soon. 

So because of this water storage, your weight plateaus even though you are technically losing fat. 

And often it’s why we can feel like we look extra soft and squishy during the fat loss process at times. We will see this especially around our middle or thighs. It’s why you can hit dead zones where you feel you look WORSE even.

Then BAM! We get that Whoosh Effect and you wake up the next day and your body has let go of the stored water!

And often the cause of this water release comes from kicking our body out of the deficit temporarily so it no longer feels like it is “starving” and in need of holding on to the water weight to keep those fat stores ready to be filled! 

It’s why we may see this release after a cheat meal or day or even a carb refeed where our energy stores are “refilled” even if we still keep ourselves in the overall deficit for the week. 

But it’s why sticking with the process despite not seeing results immediately is so key!

#2: Know your whyS and set a motivational deadline.

The closer you get to your goal, the more cravings will probably have increased and your mind will work against you. 

You’ll want to eat. You’ve been in a long, consistent deficit and there are probably foods you’ve cut out for a period of time because they weren’t easy to work into your macros.

As much as you may think you want abs, well, just getting abs for the sake of…well…getting abs won’t keep you truly motivated for long.

Especially when your friends ask you to go out for happy hour after a long and stressful week. 

But precision is key. 

And especially if you’re pushing yourself to a level of leanness you’ve never been able to achieve before, you’re going to have to be ready to sacrifice. 

That’s why you need not only a why but WHYS and a deadline to keep you motivated.

I’d wanted to achieve a six pack for years before I did.

What finally got me to actually commit was setting a photoshoot, announcing it to all of my clients and wanting to be able to create a nutritional program to help clients no matter their goals. But I felt I couldn’t talk about getting lean if I didn’t personally know the struggles. 

So having that hard photoshoot deadline, public “pressure” and accountability and even a big investment of money in the process, helped me stay consistent when I 100% wanted to quit. 

Thankfully I’ve now learned a ton to make the process easier for myself and clients and even know how to maintain so my set point is lower, BUT that outside accountability and motivation beyond just wanting abs made all the difference.

So give yourself no way to wiggle out of your goal if you want to succeed!

#3: Plan ahead…With EVERYTHING.

You can’t be guesstimating. You can’t not track a bite of food.

You can’t be skipping random workouts or randomly stringing routines together based on how you’re feeling that day. 

You need to have everything planned out. Planning . 

A clear plan of action gives us added accountability and motivation to stay the course. It also allows us to make more accurate adjustments based on how we are progressing. 

It let us see what truly works, and what doesn’t.

Planning ahead also removes a lot of the stress involved in the precision required.

It’s hard in the moment, when you’re hungry or tired or stressed from a long day to figure out what workout to do or what to eat.

Because, often you don’t want to do what you know you should in those situations.

It’s why planning ahead, having meal prep frozen or having fast restaurant go-to options is so key. It takes the thought and guesswork out of it. 

It even takes the stress and emotion and CRAVINGS out of it.

The food is there. You know what you have to eat. 

Even already logging it in your food tracker adds accountability and makes things easier so you aren’t just having to track as you go! 

And by having your workout pre-planned, you are making sure you’re progressing. You’re not just doing what you feel like, as your energy at times may dip as you adjust and tweak ratios and calories. 

It’s easy when we are tired to slack. But everything in your programming needs to work as a cohesive system. Your macros are based on your training and visa versa. So both need to go together.

You can also see if your performance is truly decline because you have that clear progression you repeat to compare and track numbers against.

Data is key to helping you achieve results as efficiently as possible as well! 

#4: Find ways to move more.

By being in an extended deficit to lose that last little bit of stubborn fat, your body is going to find ways to conserve energy.

That means you’re going to naturally fidget less and want to move less. 

You want to be conscious of this and do little things to keep your NEAT or non-exercise activity thermogenesis higher. 

You want to burn more calories during your normal day.

This does NOT mean making your gym sessions longer. It does NOT mean even doing 2-a days. 

It just means being conscious to move more.

Too often we try to train harder or length out our training sessions which actually leads to less results and more metabolic adaptations.

Plus, the quality of these training sessions often decreases and we end up doing a lot of wasted volume we can’t recover from. This actually ends up diminishing our returns. 

Plus when we train harder as we try to cut calories lower, the deficit we are in grows. 

And our body fights that weight loss for survival purposes. 

This trying to do more in our training could actually lead to more metabolic adaptations and muscle loss instead of aiding our weight loss process. 

And I know we often think, well I won’t lift more, I’ll just add in even a quick HIIT training session.

But just recognize, these intense sessions can deplete our glycogen stores and actually sometimes even make us hungrier. Plus they can add more to our fatigue. 

This is why walking can be such a great thing to add in. 

It doesn’t detract from our energy for future training sessions. And it is low intensity so we can do more of it without causing further cravings. 

It can also really assist in fat loss, especially when included after workouts that have targeted our stubborn areas to increase blood flow to those areas and mobilize more fatty acids to be utilized.

So be conscious of when you start to feel like doing less to not fall into the couch but still include some fun activities over the week to move more! 

#5: Progress will feel slow. Your body will fight you.

I know I slightly mentioned this already, but I think it’s key we oversell the negative to ourselves so we stick with things when we want to quit and challenges arise.

We’re almost ready for them if we do make ourselves aware early on.

PLUS, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the same reason progress is slow…

The longer you’ve been above the weight or leanness level you want to be at, the harder it will be to reach that new point. 

Your body doesn’t like change. It wants to maintain balance and balance to it is where you’ve currently been at, especially if you’ve been at that weight for awhile. 

Your body will do what it can to stay there.

The positive part of this is that, once you get lean and start to transition into maintenance practices, it becomes easier and easier over time to maintain a leaner physique. 

But the initial getting there is often not easy. 

Progress will be slow. And this is actually a good thing.

When we try to see dramatic results, often we aren’t really losing more fat.

Often we are simply losing water weight and glycogen that’s been stored.

Plus, the faster we attempt to lose weight, the more we often lose muscle and not just fat.

Muscle is metabolically more costly to maintain. 

So when our body is in a deficit and looking to conserve energy, it will use muscle as fuel. 

That not only provides the energy it thinks it needs, but it also helps it conserve energy overall. 

So embrace the slow process.

The easiest way to do this is by focusing on those daily habits as goals themselves.

Put your focus on doing what you know will lead to results. Celebrate the consistency in those habits as wins.

That will help you stay focused on the actions that will build toward results.

SUMMARY:

These 5 things are key to be aware when you commit to a program to get abs for the first time.

The process will be slower than you’d like, and your mind and body will fight against you as you seek to achieve something you’ve never done before. 

But remember, maintaining gets EASIER!

Just focus on those daily habits and don’t freak out and do more when results are slow!

Ready to see the results you deserve? Learn more about my 1:1 Coaching:

–> Redefining Strength’s 1:1 Online Coaching

 

How To Get Lean & STAY Lean For Life (6 Tips)

How To Get Lean & STAY Lean For Life (6 Tips)

by | May 28, 2023 | Blog, Diet

Let’s be real here….

You want to be lean and strong to perform your best for the rest of your life.

Falling into old habits is the quickest way to lose your progress.

You need to create a lifestyle built off of habits you can maintain.

That’s why these 6 nutrition rules are key to staying lean and strong for life!

Rule #1: Don’t Ignore Your Gut Health.

Very rarely is gut health the first thing that comes to mind when you think about staying lean.

But if our gut microbiome is healthy, the rest of our body will function optimally. 

It helps reduce inflammation, keeps our metabolic rate higher to burn more fat, and helps reduce cravings.

An increase in “bad” bacteria has been shown to trigger an overproduction of insulin, leading to insulin resistance, which causes your body to stop burning fat and start storing it. 

The more insulin sensitive you are, the more likely it is that you’ll have a leaner body due to insulin’s anabolic properties — replenishing fuel stores while reducing the rate of protein degradation or breakdown.

Taking care of our gut health can actually help us feel fuller and balance our appetite. 

When the bacteria in our gut ferments fiber, it releases leptin which can help suppress appetite and help us feel more satisfied.

Aim to consume 25-30 grams of fiber per day and consume foods rich in probiotics and prebiotics, like yogurt, fermented foods, garlic, potatoes, bananas, and legumes. 

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is also important, as research shows that consuming at least 30 different types of plants per week can lead to a stronger and more diverse gut microbiome.

So have some fun with that meal prep over the week for great tasting dishes and a lean, strong body! 

Rule #2: Don’t Diet Forever.

If you’re still thinking of your dietary changes as something you’re doing until x date, you’re never going to actually create lifestyle changes you can maintain long-term.

You can’t maintain habits you hate for long.

If you feel restricted and hungry and deprived, at some point your willpower is going to run out. 

Find new ways to do the minimum if you want to create baseline habits that keep you consistent.

This is how you maintain the results you’ve built.

An easy way to do this is to pick a calorie range and a protein minimum. 

By having these clear guidelines, we can make sure we are allowing 012 – guidelines ourselves to enjoy the foods we love with guidelines to keep us in check! 

Life is unpredictable and there may be times when our priorities change.

It’s okay to reassess and adjust your approach.

Whether you’re juggling a busy work schedule or taking care of a new family, you can still make changes to your nutrition by constantly assessing your priorities and setting boundaries with tracking. 

Rule #3: Fuel Your Training.

Too often we sabotage our long-term success by NOT focusing on our performance while adjusting our nutrition.

We just accept low energy levels and sucky workouts. 

Because let’s face it…if we feel crappy, it impacts our nutrition choices.

Feeling strong and powerful and fast…well… it ROCKS.

If you want to maintain your aesthetic results, you need to make sure you’re fueling to be able to train the way you’d like. 

Properly fueling our training makes it so much easier to maintain our results long term! 

Fueling to build lean muscle is really the secret to being able to look leaner for the rest of our lives! 

You can’t stay in a deficit forever.

Focus on fueling your workouts to make sure you have full energy stores to perform at your best!

And if you’re doing any endurance training do NOT fear carbs! 

They are key even if you went lower carb to initially lose the weight! 

Rule #4: Set Meal Prep Staples.

You need flexibility to enjoy any of the foods you love or go out to eat if you’re in this for the long haul.

The more restricted we feel, the harder it is to stay consistent.

It’s key we have flexibility but If you want to maintain your physique for life, you need to have those meal prep staples always on hand.

Find delicious recipes you love to prep in bulk and freeze. 

Find easy canned goods or frozen foods you can always have to prep in a pinch. 

Create some go-to meals you can eat consistently that are always there for you in a pinch.

Create a few different variations of those meals like a higher and lower carb option so you can make adjustments based on other things you had that day. 

Went out to an unplanned lunch and had more carbs?

Use version B of your taco bowl and make it a taco salad instead!

Have some simple staples you always know you have on hand to make life EASY while keeping you consistent.

Rule #5: Embrace Change

Your priorities in life will shift. Your body is going to change with age

Even your lifestyle and activity level may shift season to season. 

Your routine during the holidays will be different than over the summer. 

Nothing will work forever.

So staying lean and strong for life will mean being open to constantly learning and adjusting.

You wouldn’t do the same workouts forever…so you can’t approach your diet as you’ll do the exact same thing forever either.

Don’t be afraid to adjust your macros or portions over time.

Try new foods and recipes. 

Experiment with including different supplements to help you work toward other goals or even make your lifestyle more convenient during busy days. 

Embrace that you can constantly make changes to find a balance.

Maintaining doesn’t mean you won’t fluctuate or that you won’t set goals to focus on.

It just means you have those boundaries to keep yourself in check and doing the minimum to maintain the hard work you put in to get these results in the first place! 

Rule #6: Put Protein First.

The simpler we keep things, the more sustainable the habits are.

Too many things to focus on splits our attention and with more balls up in the air, it is much easier to drop one when life does it’s best to get in the way.

Maintaining your results is about finding out the minimum you can do.

I like to think of it as a challenge to see how lazy I can get away with being.

Give yourself one focus.

Getting about 30% of your daily calories from protein will keep you dialed in enough to maintain your results.

This puts your focus on whole, natural foods and keeps your metabolism humming.

Paired with a calorie range this makes sure that you’re never getting too far off track even as you work in other foods or travel or enjoy cocktails out with friends. 

It also allows for more flexibility so you don’t constantly feel restricted or like you have too many habits to focus on repeating!

Focus on these 6 simple nutrition rules to stay lean and strong for life and don’t sabotage yourself in constantly overcomplicating things!

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4 Tips To Fix TIGHT Hamstrings (Stop JUST Stretching!)

4 Tips To Fix TIGHT Hamstrings (Stop JUST Stretching!)

by | May 23, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Stretches

Can’t touch your toes?

Hamstrings always feel tight?

STRETCHING Alone isn’t the answer!

In this video I want to share why stretching your hamstrings more may actually be perpetuating the issues and what you should be doing instead.

Now I’m not saying stretching is bad, BUT just because a muscle feels tight doesn’t mean that stretching is the answer.

In the case of our hamstrings, we have to understand why they are tight to realize why stretching is often making matters worse.

Our hamstrings can often become tight because they are actually already OVERSTRETCHED or even compensating for weak or underactive glutes.

This often happens because our hip flexors become tight and overactive or even our ankle mobility is lacking.

This shortening of our hip flexors can lead to excessive anterior pelvic tilt or a change in our posture that can lead to our hamstrings becoming overstretched.

And with this change in our posture, often our glutes don’t function as they should.

So then when we stretch our hamstrings, we may get temporary relief but we aren’t actually addressing the problem.

So what should you do instead?

These 4 steps can help us improve our hamstring flexibility by actually addressing the true mobility and stability issues!

First…Foam Roll Your Hamstrings.

If you always feel your hamstrings during any glute exercises they may be synergistically dominant and working instead of letting your glutes be the prime mover. 

Part of this happens because of our mind-body connection. We have that recruitment pattern ingrained which means our mind asks our hamstrings to work FIRST over using our glutes the way we should.

By first foam rolling your hamstrings, you can relax this muscle to better allow yourself to recruit your glutes. This is a great way to release the muscle WITHOUT stretching.

To roll out your hamstrings a ball on a bench works best. 

Sit on the ball with it under the back of your leg. Find a tight spot anywhere down your hamstring and hold on it. Lift your leg out in front of you to tense and relax the muscle.

Do this about 5 times and move to another spot. Focus on a few different tight areas before switching sides.

If you’re doing this for the first time, it’s not bad to roll along under your butt and then down toward your knee, even moving from the outside of your leg toward your inner thigh to find what’s tight for you!

Next…Stretch Your Hip Flexors And Ankles.

Part of that perpetual hamstring tightness might be a lack of mobility at our hips or ankles. 

This immobility leads to improper posture in everyday life, making our hamstrings feel like they’re constantly tight. 

That’s why you want to include this side lying hip and quad stretch in your routine to stretch out those tight hip flexors as well as the bear squat to foot stretch to improve your ankle and foot mobility. 

This can help you avoid your hamstrings being strained or overworked while being able to be better get those glutes engaged.

While you can do the side lying hip and quad stretch standing, the side lying variation is great if you have balance issues or can’t focus on that true hip extension while standing.

As you pull your heel back toward your butt, sqeeuze your glute to truly extend your hip. The knee flexion and hip extension will stretch out those hip flexors.

If you can’t reach your foot, you can loop a towel around your ankle to pull your heel back with that.

Relax out and repeat that same movement. Really focus on engaging the glute to truly extend that hip and stretch those hip flexors.

If you feel your hamstring cramp as you bring your heel back in, conscious relax your foot over allowing your ankle to flex. And focus on that glute!

With the bear squat with foot stretch, you’ll work to improve your ankle mobility as well as your foot mobility.

With this stretch, start on your hands and knees then sit back on your heels. You can rock side to side sitting back. Then place your hands back down on the ground and lift your butt up toward the ceiling as you drive your heels down toward the ground.

You can pedal your feet or hold for a second then lower down and sit back.

If you can’t sit back on your heels without pain, or have knee pain kneeling down, you can do a great ankle mobility movement, placing the ball of your foot on a plate weight or dumbbell and then driving your knee forward while keeping your heel down.

This move is best done without shoes on if you can but will then be more intense on your toes.

Now let’s address your glutes.

Focused glute activation moves like the glute bridge will not only stretch out your hip flexors but they’ll improve your hip stability through strengthening and activating your glutes. 

Strong glutes mean you won’t be relying on those hamstrings as much so they don’t just keep feeling tight from being overworked!

The one thing you have to be conscious of though is WHAT DO YOU FEEL WORKING?!

If you let your hamstrings compensate while doing the right moves, you’ll perpetuate your hamstring issues and they will keep feeling tight. 

In order for the glute activation work to pay off, you have to feel your glutes working as that prime mover.

If you struggle with even that bodyweight glute bridge, try the frog bridge instead. That external hip rotation can be helpful. Or you can use a mini band to even help engage that glute medius more which will help the glute max fire better. 

Just make sure you aren’t arching your back or pushing yourself backward as you do the move. 

Focus on a slight posterior pelvic tilt and only bridging up as high as you can control using your glutes! 

For more tips to help you really use the glute bridge to improve your hamstring flexibility by improving your glute activation, CLICK HERE.

Using these key moves you can improve your hamstring flexibility and see those results truly last.

Stop wasting time stretching and address the true mobility and stability issues that are going on!